New Delhi (TIP) – Former vice-president Venkaiah Naidu, Telugu superstar Chiranjeevi, yesteryear stalwart Vyjayanthimala, Sulabh founder Bindheshwar Pathak, and Bharatnatyam exponent Padma Subrahmanyam are the five people awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second-highest civilian honor, the government announced on Thursday, January 25.
For 2024, the President approved 132 Padma awards, including 17 Padma Bhushan honours, and 110 Padma Shri awards. Thirty of the awardees are women and the list also includes eight people who are foreigners, non-resident Indians, people of Indian origin or those who hold overseas citizenship of India. Four of the five Padma Vibhushan laureates hailed from south India. Nine awardees were posthumously honoured — including Tamil actor-turned-politician Vijaykanth and India’s first woman Supreme Court judge, M Fathima Beevi who were both awarded the Padma Bhushan.
Among the 17 Padma Bhushan awardees were actor Mithun Chakraborty, singer Usha Uthup, industrialist Sitaram Jindal, Taiwan based Foxconn chairman Young Liu, politicians Ram Naik and O Rajagopal, and journalist Hormusji Cama.
At least four French citizens from different fields were given the Padma Shri award this year, including Charlotte Chopin (Yoga), Pierre Sylvain Filliozat (literature and education), Fred Negrit (literature and education), and Kiran Vyas (Yoga). French President Emmanuel Macron is the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations this year.
“I extend my warmest congratulations to the change makers of our society who have been selected for the Padma Awards for their distinguished contributions to different fields. PM Shri @narendramodi Ji has rationalised the Padma Awards ceremony to make it a platform to appreciate individuals setting pioneering examples for social change. The individuals conferred with the Padma Awards have not only created brilliant examples for others to follow but also have elevated the pride of the nation with their service,” Union home minister Amit Shah tweeted soon after the list was released.
The government flagged 34 of the Padma Shri winners separately as “unsung heroes”. These, to name a few, included Jankilal, a third-generation performer from Bhilwara who is a master in the fading Behrupiya art; Badrappan M, an 87-year-old Valli Oyil Kummi folk dance guru from Coimbatore; Chami Murmu, a tribal environmentalist and women empowerment champion; Omprakash Sharma, a Mach theatre artist from Malwa who has devoted seven decades to this traditional dance drama; Gopinath Swain, a centenarian from Ganjam who has been performing Krishna Leela for over nine decades; Uma Maheshwari D, the first woman Harikatha exponent who has performed globally in different ragas; and Parbati Baruah, India’s first woman mahout from Assam who started taming wild tuskers at the age of 14.
The prestigious Padma awards are conferred in three categories – Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri – and given in various disciplines ranging from art to social work, science to industry, medicine to literature, and sport to public service. The awards, announced on the eve of Republic Day, are conferred by the President at ceremonial event held at Rashtrapati Bhavan in March or April every year. Source: HT
Tag: Venkaiah Naidu
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Top Padma honors for Venkaiah Naidu, Vyjayanthimala, Chiranjeevi
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150 Thousand people from across the world to participate in World Culture Festival in US: Organizers
WASHINGTON, D.C. (TIP): More than 150 Thousand people from across the world will participate in the fourth World Culture Festival which is being organized by the Art of Living Foundation here later this year, the organizers have announced. District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser along with spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar kicked off the preparation of the mega event, which is often called the Cultural Olympics.
According to the organizers, more than 150,000 visitors from around 180 countries are likely to participate in the three-day mega event that will be held here from September 29 to October 1 this year.
”It is the mission of this time together that we come together as world citizens, as fellow humans, to celebrate our humanity, to reconnect, to demonstrate, that we can do big things when we work across cultures, when we work across backgrounds and beliefs and work as human beings to make this a better world,” Mayor Bowser told reporters at a news conference here on Thursday that was jointly addressed by Sri Ravishankar.
Praising the significance of such events, she said: ”We’re expecting to welcome over a hundred thousand people, I’m told more, from more than 180 countries will come to our National Mall. And you won’t be surprised that I’m gonna say that this is the perfect place for the world to come together. We do it every single day”.
”I want to thank the World Culture Festival organizers and the Art of Living Foundation in advance for the hard work that we have ahead of us in partnership to welcome tens of thousands of human beings to Washington, DC,” the city mayor said.
Sri Ravishankar said that so far more than 50,000 people have already registered for the mega cultural festival in the city on the historic National Mall in the US capital. The previous three editions of the once-in-four years’ World Culture Festival were held in Bangalore, Berlin and New Delhi.
”It’s time that we have to spread the message of harmony and peace. … In a world where there is a post-pandemic, especially when there is an aggression on one side and depression on the other side, and a huge mental health crisis that we are facing, I think it’s timely for us to come together in a spirit of celebration and honor our diversity, which is the wealth of humanity,” Sri Ravishankar said. He also announced that the Art of Living Foundation will honor frontline workers and health workers during the festival.
”We would choose two of them from the whole of the country here, United States, and would like to honor two healthcare professionals, workers; two of the firemen who have been fighting fire, two environmentalists, and then two from union leaders who are putting their heart and soul to keep life going on, on our cities and our countryside.
”We need to honor these people. And the World Culture Festival will be an occasion to recognize their contribution to our society,” he said.
The three-day event at the National Mall would be seen by billions of people across the world.
”So, the message is very clear from all of us that we are one global family and we need to care for each other and share our rich heritage with each other,” Sri Ravishankar said.
”We need to bridge the gap. There is a lot of polarizations in the world. The World Culture Festival is an occasion for people to come together and celebrate each other’s differences. It is the need of the hour, to bring people together in celebration and to spread the message of peace and to say that we are one human family,” he said. He said the World Culture Festival is expected to attract more than 150,000 visitors.
According to city officials, this festival is expected to rake in over USD 30 million in revenue.
Art of Living Foundation said at least 50 world leaders, including current and former heads of state, members of national parliaments and international governmental organizations, have already committed to attending the Festival. Prominent among them include former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Chan Santokhi, President of Suriname; Pravind Jugnauth, Prime Minister of Mauritius; Vicente Fox, former President of Mexico; Federico Franco, former President of Paraguay and Venkaiah Naidu, former Vice President of India. A global Faith Advisory Council is being convened in support of the World Culture Festival.
The Council, composed of leaders from faiths of the world, will share messages about common values of peace, harmony and partnership to nurture greater unity and togetherness, a media release said.
In addition, there will be a diverse international food festival associated with the event that is expected to attract thousands to sample international cuisines made by chefs from around the capital region.
(With inputs from PTI) -
Hate speeches: Onus on Supreme Court, ECI to stem the rot
Hate speeches have come under judicial scrutiny, with the Supreme Court agreeing to hear a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking an ‘independent, credible and impartial’ investigation by an SIT into the inflammatory remarks made by speakers at last month’s Dharma Sansad in Hardwar and an event in New Delhi. The petitioners have claimed that no effective steps have been taken by the Uttarakhand and Delhi police to arrest those who targeted the Muslim community in their speeches. Another petition, filed by the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind in the apex court, has sought a ban on anti-Muslim speeches and programs, saying that ‘it is not just a matter of religion but of the Constitution, law, unity and integrity of the country.’
Uttarakhand is among the five states going to the polls next month. The Election Commission of India (ECI) has already cautioned political parties over hate speeches and said that it is keeping tabs on social media posts. Even as a SIT formed by the BJP government in the hill state is probing the Hardwar case, the ruling party is being accused of dragging its feet on the sensitive issue due to electoral considerations. What seems to have emboldened the hate-mongers is the silence of the Central and state governments on the ‘genocidal’ speeches, which were also delivered at a recent conclave in Raipur, Chhattisgarh.
‘Practise your religion but don’t abuse and indulge in hate speech and writings’ — that’s what Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu said at an event held in Kerala last week to mark the 150th death anniversary of Saint Kuriakose Elias Chavara, a 19th-century Catholic priest and social reformer. His strong disapproval of attempts to ridicule other religions and create dissensions in society ought to spur politicians of all hues to call out the black sheep. However, most of them are preferring to remain mute spectators with an eye on their vote banks. With the political class generally reluctant to condemn bigotry and intolerance, the courts and the ECI would have to go the extra mile to ensure exemplary action against those spreading hatred and inciting violence in the name of religion.
(Tribune, India)