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Gautam Gambhir, 106-yr-old environmentalist among others receive Padma Awards

Agencies
March 16, 2019

New Delhi, Mar 17: Folk Singer Teejan Bai, Larsen and Toubro chairman Anil Kumar Naik, scientist S Nambi Narayanan, actor Manoj Bajpayee and 106-year-old environmentalist Saalumarada Thimmakka were among the 54 noted citizens conferred the Padma award by President Ram Nath Kovind here on Saturday.

Teejan Bai and Naik received the second highest civilian award Padma Vibhushan.

RSS leader Darshan Lal Jain who is trying to find the mythical river Saraswati, MDH founder CEO Mahashay Dharam Pal Gulati, medical professional Ashok Laxmanrao Kukade, Nambi Narayanan, mountaineer Bachendri Pal and former CAG V K Shunglu were among those awarded Padma Bhushan.

The ceremony in the imposing Durbar Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan saw the attendance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his cabinet colleagues Rajnath Singh, Harsh Vardhan, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Vijay Goel besides senior BJP leader L K Advani and senior government officials.

As many as 112 'inspiring' personalities were selected for this year's Padma awards and their names were announced on the eve of Republic Day this year.

The awards were conferred in two ceremonies with 47 dignitaries receiving the honour on March 11, while 54 were honoured on Saturday.

Besides Bajpayee who was conferred Padma Shri for his portrayal of unconventional and critically acclaimed roles, noted tabla player of Lucknow Gharana Swapan Chaudhuri, lawyer H S Phoolka who fought a long legal battle for 1984 anti-Sikh riots victims, scientist Sudam Laxman Kate considered a pioneer in sickle cell research, veteran archaeologist Muhammed K K and particle physicist Rohini Madhusudan Godbole also received the award.

Former editor of RSS mouthpiece 'Panchjanya' Devendra Swarup was conferred Padma Shri posthumously. A pracharak for 13 years, Swarup enjoyed close relations with four RSS Sarsanghachalak from M S Golwalkar to K S Sudarshan, according to an article published in Organiser after his death. His wife received the award.

Daitari Naik, 70-year old tribal from Keonjhar district in Odisha who single-handedly dug a 3 km-long canal with mere hoe and crowbar to bring water to his field in village Baitarani was conferred Padma Shri in 'social work' category.

Saalumarada Thimmakka who has planted thousands of trees over a period of 65 years, earning the sobriquet of 'Vriksha Mathe' for taking care of them as her children, was also conferred the coveted award.

Tsering Norboo, a surgeon based in Ladakh, who served for 50 years in remote and high altitude regions; Chinnapillai, a woman farmer who led microfinance in Tamil Nadu through her Kalanjiam movement; and Rajeshwar Acharya, a Hindustani singer were among the recipients of Padma Shri.

Footballer Sunil Chhetri, archer L Bombayla Devi, cricketer Gautam Gambhir, captain of Indian women's basketball team Prashanti Singh were also conferred Padma Shri by the president.

Bhojpuri singer Heera Lal Yadav, plastic surgeon Ramaswami Venkataswami who works for acid attack victims, farmer Bharat Bhushan Tyagi who promotes organic farming, archaeologist Sharada Srinivasan, former IPS Jyotinivas Kumar Sinha, pisciculturist Sultan Singh, Sanskrit scholars Brijesh Kumar Shukla and Mohammad Hanif Khan Shastri also received Padma Shri.

Other notable recipients included nature photographer Anup Shah, tea seller Devarapalli Prakash Rao who provide free education to poor children, Director PGI Chandigarh Jagat Ram, tribal activist Kamala Pujari who preserves endangered seeds, farmer from Jhalawar Hukamchand Patidar, promoter of Chhattisgarhi tribal music Anup Ranjan Pandey, first transgender Bharatnatyam dancer Narthaki Nataraj, Bundeli folk writer Kailash Madbaiya, Kutchi rogan artist Abdul Gafur Khatri and papier mache artist Fayaz Ahmad Jan.

Dogri poet Narsingh Dev Jamwal, folk writer Joraversinh Danubhai Jadav, social worker Droupadi Ghimiray, Madhubani painter Godawari Dutta, Parsi Gujarati theatre artist Dinyar R Contractor, Telugu lyricist Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry Chembolu, organic farmer Kanwal Singh Chauhan, Sayyad Shabbir alias Chabbu Sayyad Budhan who cares for cows, German national Friederike Irina Bruning who takes care of sick cows, Uttarakhandi folk singer Pritam Bhartwan, epidemiologist Omesh Kumar Bharti and grass root innovator Uddhab Kumar Bharali were also conferred Padma Shri.

This year's awardees were selected from across the nation and segments of society, with the government going beyond excellence and recognising larger impact and the awardees' selfless service, an official said.

The nomination process for Padma awards was made online in 2016 and a simple, accessible and secure platform was put in place to encourage citizens at large to participate. Erstwhile 'Government Awards' transformed into 'Peoples Awards', another official said.

A record 50,000 nominations were received for the 2019 awards, over 20 times more than 2014, when there were just 2,200 nominations.

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News Network
May 15,2020

Marriages will have to shed decadence as the state government, in an advisory, has restricted the number of guests to 50 and barred consumption of liquor at such events. 

The advisory was issued in anticipation that the COVID-19 lockdown will be eased in a phased manner. 

The advisory, issued by the Department of Health & Family Welfare, states that events can be held in a “suitable public place with good natural ventilation (no air condition).”

For latest updates on coronavirus outbreak, click here
All guests must have the Arogya Setu app on their phones and the contact details all marriage attendees should be maintained. 

No person from a containment zone will be allowed to attend the event, and persons aged above 65 years, pregnant women and children below 10 years are not permitted. 

Sanitizers are to be provided at the entry and at “appropriate” places. Thermal screening is a must at the entry point of the venue. The scanner should be held 3-15 cm away from a person’s forehead. “Anyone found having a fever (37.5 degree centigrade or 99.5 farenheit), cold, cough, difficulty in breathing shall not be permitted to attend the event and immediately referred to seek medical advice,” the advisory said. 

Besides prohibition on consumption of alcohol, the advisory said paan, gutka and tobacco will not be allowed. 

Face masks are compulsory and all persons should maintain a physical distance of more than one metre. The venue shall be clean and hygienic, with a prohibition on spitting in public places.

A nodal person should be identified to oversee the arrangements, the advisory said.

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coastaldigest.com news network
June 28,2020

Mandya, Jun 28: Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised an 83-year-old farmer from Malavalli taluk in Mandya district of Karnataka for his efforts in water conservation.

While urging the people to focus on saving water, Modi, in his 'Man Ki Baat' on All India Radio quoted Kamegowda from Dasna Doddi village who single handedly dug small 16 ponds over the years in his farm land and in nearby hill while taking his animals for grazing.

"Kamegowda ji is an ordinary farmer, albeit possessing an extraordinary personality. He has achieved a personal feat that will leave anyone awestruck! Kamegowda ji, aged 80-85 takes out his animals for grazing but at the same time he has taken it upon himself to build new ponds in his area", the PM said in his Mann Ki Baat, a monthly radio address on Sunday.

To overcome problems of water scarcity in the area, Gowda started building small ponds. Thereby, he contributed a lot for water conservation, the PM said.

"... An octagenerarian like Kamegowda ji, till now, has dug 16 ponds through his hard work and the sweat of his brow. It is possible that the ponds he has constructed may not be very big but then his efforts are huge. Today, the entire area has got a new lease of life on account of these ponds," the PM said.

A little effort by us helps nature and environment quite significantly. Many of our countrymen are putting extraordinary efforts in this endeavour, the PM said. 

Kamegowda, used to take his sheep and goats to nearby hill for grazing. After finding no water to sheeps, he started digging ponds to address water scarcity. With collection of rain water, these lakes are brimming with water even during peak summer.

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News Network
June 12,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 12: Karnataka Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar on Friday said experts have indicated a surge in coronavirus cases in the state after August 15 and the government was taking all precautionary measures in that direction. Speaking to reporters in Ballari, Sudhakar said, "About 97 percent of over 3,000 active cases in the state are asymptomatic.

Experts after studying the developments in other countries and states have said that there will be a surge in infections after August 15."

He said the government was taking all precautionary measures in that direction.

 As of June 11 evening, cumulatively 6,245 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, which includes 72 deaths and 2,976 discharges, the health department's bulletin said.

It said, out of 3,195 active cases, 3,185 patients are in isolation at designated hospitals and are stable, while 10 are in ICU.

Meanwhile, in a tweet pointing out that nearly 60 per cent of the COVID cases in the country are from 10 cities, Sudhakar said, despite being the fourth most populous city in the country Bengaluru has been successful in containing its spread.

"Nearly 60% of total COVID-19 cases in India are found in 10 cities. Despite being 4th most populous, Bengaluru has been successful in containing spread of virus.

I urge people to keep up the fight, continue vigil & together with #CoronaWarriors we can defeat the virus," Sudhakar tweeted.

Bengaluru that does not figure in the list of 10 cities shared by the Minister has reported 581 coronavirus cases till last evening, out of which 258 are active.

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