How many people were awarded Padma Vibhushan in 2021?

Concept: The Padma Awards are India's civilian honours, announced annually by the Government of India on the eve of Republic Day and conferred by the President of India in three tiers — Padma Vibhushan (for exceptional and distinguished service), Padma Bhushan (for distinguished service of a high order), and Padma Shri (for distinguished service) — based on a fixed list recommended by the Padma Awards Committee and notified by the Union Home Ministry.

Application (2021): The 2021 Padma Awards were announced on 25 January 2021, comprising 119 awards in total, split as 7 Padma Vibhushan, 10 Padma Bhushan, and 102 Padma Shri. The seven Padma Vibhushan honourees that year were former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, playback singer S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, physician Belle Monappa Hegde, scientist Narinder Singh Kapany, Islamic scholar Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, archaeologist B. B. Lal, and sculptor Sudarshan Sahoo — several of them conferred posthumously.

Cross-check: This tally of seven is independently confirmed by both the Government of India's official press release announcing the 2021 Padma Awards and the government's own Padma Awards portal, which separately lists the tier-wise breakup for that year.

So the number of Padma Vibhushan awardees in 2021 is 7.