Former bus conductor Anke Gowda has been honoured with Padma Shri this year in the field of social work. He has been honoured for building one of the world's largest free-access libraries. The 75-year-old is a bibliophile who hails from Haralahalli village near Mysuru in Karnataka. He established 'Pustaka Mane' which comprises over two million books in 20 languages.