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In view of India’s 66th Independence Day Celebrations on 15th August 2013, 'Eminent Indian Sports Persons' have been selected by the "Sports Awards Selection Committees", for the prestigious "Khel Ratna Award" and the "Arjuna Awards"-2013.

“Khel Ratna Award”-2013:

Indian, Ace Shooter Ronjan Sodhi,

the first Indian Shooter to win two back to back World Cup Medals has been recommended for the “Khel Ratna Award”-2013.

Ronjan Sodhi, who had lost in the last year’s London Olympics is a Former World ‘Number One Shooter’. He was a 'Double Trap Gold-Medallist at last year's Asian Games and a ‘Silver-Medallist’ at the Commonwealth Games.

Ronjan Sodhi was conferred the ‘Arjuna award’ in the year 2009. As and when the nomination of Ronjan Sodhi for “Khel Ratna Award”-2013 is ratified by the Indian Sports Ministry, he will be the 7th shooter to receive the “Khel Ratna Award”.

And it will be notable that for three consecutive years the “Khel Ratna Award” has been going to Indian Shooters:

Gagan Narang-2011

Vijay Kumar-2012

Ronjan Sodhi-2013

"The Arjuna Award Selection Committee"was headed by "Three-Time Billiards World Champion"- Michael Ferreira and the members included the following Persons and among others:

Zafar Iqbal-Former Indian Hockey Captain,
Limba Ram-Archer,
Ravi Shastri-Cricketer and
Indu Puri, Table Tennis Player.

The following is the list of the 14 Sports Persons, selected for the “Arjuna Awards”-2013:

Virat Kohli - Star Cricketer

P.V.Sindhu- Woman-Shuttler/Badminton Player

Sindhu became the first Indian woman “Shuttler” to get a ‘Bronze Medal’ at the recent World Badminton Championships.

Renjith Maheshwary- Atheletic-Triple-Jumper

Renjith won a ‘Bronze Medal’ at the 2010 Commonwealth Games with a national record.

Gaganjeet Bhullar- Golfer,

Kavita Chahal -Woman-Boxer,

Joshna Chinappa- Woman-Squash Player,

Saba Anjum -The Former Women’s -Hockey- Captain,

Neha Rathi- Woman –Wrestler,

Rajkumari Rathore- Woman Shooter,

Chekrovolu Swuro –Woman Archer,

Rupesh Shah –Snooker-Player,

Mouma Das -Woman Table Tennis Player,

Dharmender Dalal- Wrestler

Amit Kumar Saroha- Para Sports.

The present popular 'Bollywood Actress'- Sridevi

was born on 13th August 1963, in Sivakasi, Tamilnadu to her parents , Mr.Aiyappan (Tamil) and Mrs.Rajeswari(Telugu), and she has just turned 50 on 13th August 2013.

Sridevi As a Child Artist

Sridevi had started "Cinema Acting Career" as a child artist at the age of just 4 years in a Tamil Movie “Thunaivan”, in the year 1967,as young boy ‘Lord Murga’.

Sridevi continued to act in Tamil Movies as a child actress and the following are some of the Tamil Movies:
“Kandan Karunai”- Sivaji Ganesan’s Movie-1967- As Boy - Murugan

Sridevi as Boy Muruga in Kandan Karunai Movie

“Nam Naadu” MGR Movie-1969

Sridevi with MGR and Kutty Padmini in Nam Naadu

“ Babu” –Sivaji Ganesan Movie 1971,

Sridevi with Sivaji Ganesan in the Movie Babu

“ Vasantha Maaligai”- Sivaji Ganesan Movie 1972.
"Kanimuthu Paapa" -Jaishanker / Muthuraman- Movie-1972
“ Prarthanai”- A.V.M.Rajan Movie-1973

Sridevi got the “Kerala State Film Award” for the “Best Child Artist” for her acting in the Malayalam Movie “Poombatta”-1971.

In the year 1975 , Sridevi acted in Bollywood/Hindi Movieas a Child Actress, in the Hindi Movie “Julie” as the younger sister of Lakshmi,at the age of 12 years.

Sridevi in Hindi Move Julie with Lakshmi

Sridevi acted in her first adult role at the age of 13 years in the Tamil Movie, K.Balachander’s-“Moondru Mudichu” in the year 1976 with Kamal Hassan as the hero and and Rajnikanth as the villain.

Sridevi in Moondru Mudichu with Kamal and Rajni

Sridevi had been a leading heroine in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi Movies and the following are some of her notable movies Till the year 1997:

Tamil Movies:

“Gayathri”-1977, based on a novel by Tamil Writer "Sujatha" with Rajnikanth and Jaishanker

“Kavikkuyil”-1977 with Sivakumar and Rajnikanth,

“Padhinaaru(16) Vayadhinile” -1977, Bharathi Rajaa’s Movie, with Kamal Hassan as the hero and
Rajnikanth as the villain,

“Sigappu Rojaakkal”-‘’Bharathi Rajaa’s Movie-1978, with Kamal Hassan as the hero in negative role,

“Priya”-1978-with Rajnikanth as the hero,

"Pilot Premnath" -1978 – in Sivaji Ganesan Movie
"Pagalil Oru Iravu"-1979 with Vijaya Kumar

"Kavariman" -1979-with Sivaji Ganesan

Sridevi in Sivaji Ganesan Movie Kavari Maan

"Pattakathi Bhairavan" – 1979-in Sivaji Ganesan Movie with Jai Ganesh

Sridevi in Pattakathi Bairavan with Jai Ganesh

"Viswaroopam" -1980 with Sivaji Ganesan (son)

“Johny”-1980 with Rajnikanth,
“Varumaiyin Niram Sivappu”-1980, with Kamal Hassan as the hero.

“Meendum Kokila”-1981, with Kamal Hassan as the hero, Sridevi got the Filmfare Award for the “Best Actress” for ‘Meendum Kokila’

“Moondraam Pirai”-1982, with Kamal Hassan as the hero, Sridevi won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for the “Best Actress” for ‘Moondraam Pirai’.

"Vaazhve Maayam"- 1982- Kamal Hassan Movie

"Santhippu"- 1983- with Sivaji Ganesan

Sridevi in Sivaji Ganesan Movei Sandhippu

Telugu Movies:

“Padaharella Vayasu”-1978- Telugu remake of Tamil Movie-“Padhinaaru (16) Vayadhinile,
“Aakali Rajyam”-1981 with Kamal Hassan as the hero,
“Aakhari Poratam”-1988,
“ Jagadeka Veerudu Atiloka Sundari” 1990,
“Kshana Kshanam”-1991. –The Film Directed by Ram Gopal Varam won Sridevi the “Filmfare Award for the Best Actress” in Telugu and Andhra Pradesh Government's “Nandi Award for the Best Actress”.
“Konda Veeti Simham”,
“Vetagadu”,
“Sardar Paparayudu”
“Bobbili Puli”
“Mudulla Koduku”
“Premabhishekham”,
“ Bangaru Kanuka”
“Premakanuka”
“ Kanchu Kagada”
“Kalavari Samsaram”
“ Krishnavatharam”
“ Burripalem Bolludu’
“Khaidi Rudrayya”
“ S. P. Parasuram”
“ Govinda Govinda”.

Hindi Movies:

“Solva Sawan” -1978,
“Mawaali”-1983,
“Himmatwala”-1983,
“Tohfa”-1984,
“Masterji”-1985,
“Karma”-1986,
“Mr.India”-1987,
“Waqti Ki Awaz”-1988,
“Chandni”-1989,
“Chaalbaaz”-1989- with Rajnikanth and Sunney Deol-A remake of 1973 Hindi Movie-“Seetha aur Geetha”,
“Khuda Gawah”-1992 with Amitabh Bachchan and Akkineni Nagaarjuna,
“Gumrah”-1993,
“Laadla”-1994,
“Judaai”-1997.

From the year 1997 Sridevi has not acted in any movie and devoted her full time in looking after her family and children.

In the year 2003, Sridevi returned to acting field and acted in the ‘Small Screen’-Television Serial the Sahara Sitcom’s "Maliny Iyer" telecast from the year 2004 to 2005 and in “Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai” in the year 2004.

Sridevi appeared as a judge in the TV show “Kaboom” in the year 2005.

She performed a medley of some of her musical numbers at the 52nd Filmfare Awards 2007 function. And she has been a member of the ‘Board of Directors’ at the “Asian Academy of Film & Television”.

On 19th September 2009, Sridevi appeared along with her husband Boney Kapoor along with Actor-Director Prabhu Deva, Actress Ayesha Takia and the Music Duo-Sajid and Wajid on the Sony TV show “10 Ka Dum” hosted by Bollywood Actor Salman Khan, the for promotion of the Bollywood movie “Wanted”.

Sridevi has also appeared on ramps in “Lakme Fashion Weeks” in the years 2008 and 2010 and the “HDIL Couture Week” in the year 2009 as Showstopper for designers like ‘Neeta Lulla’, ‘Queenie Dhody’ and ‘Priya-Chintan’.

In the year 2012, Sridevi returned back to "Acting", after a gap of 15 long years and acted in the Hindi Movie “English Vinglish”

and she has made a history of successful come back in the history of Bollywood.

Sridevi had developed a passion for painting and in March 2010, her paintings were sold by an international art auction house and the amount collected was donated.

In 2011, Bollywood Actress-Kareena Kapoor performed a number of Sridevi’s Songs in the “Global Indian Film and Television Awards” function.

In May 2012, Sridevi appeared in Aamir Khan's TV show “Satyamev Jayte”, as a surprise to an interviewee who had been sexually abused as a child.

Sridevi in Aamir Khan's 'Satyameva Jeyte' Program

Sridevi has signed a letter to the Government of India, in support of passing a law criminalizing sexual abuse of children initiated by the Bollywood Star -Aamir Khan.

Awards and Recognitions:

In her acting career Sridevi has received the “Film Fare Awards” for 5 times, including a ‘Special Award’. In the year 2013, Sridevi has been awarded “Padma Shri” by the Government of India.

Sridevi has been voted as the 'India's Greatest Actress in 100 Years' in a CNN-IBN national poll conducted in the year 2013, on the occasion of the 100 years of of Indian Cinema’.

Personal Life:

In the year 1996 Sridevi married the Bollywood Producer Boney Kapoor, the elder brother of Bollywood Actors, Anil Kapoor and Sanjay Kapoor. Sridevi has 2 daughters.

India’s largest Private sector Bank – ICICI Bank

has launched on 13th August 2013, an SMS-based Trains Tickets Booking Service in partnership with“IRCTC”

and the "Bharat BPO Services Limited",

a Spice Digital Group Company.

The following are the Steps for booking Train Tickets by Mobile “SMS”:-

Step-1
Send an SMS :

From the Mobile Number already registered with the “IRCTC” website
To the Number- “139” in the following Format:
BOOK (upto 6 passengers)ICICI

For Example:
For Booking a Train Ticket in Train Number 22105/Indrayani SF Express (From Mumbai CST To Pune Junction):

From Kalyan Junction/KYN
To Pune Junction/PUNE
For Mr.Rakesh
Gender: Male
Age: 55 years
In Second Class Sitting/2 S
Date of Travel: 30th August 2013
By SMS through ICICI Bank.

Send an SMS Message as given below:

BOOK 22105 KYN PUNE 3008 2S Rakesh 55 M ICICI
After successful delivery of the above SMS to the Number:“139”, the user will receive a text with the following details:

Transaction ID
Ticket amount
IRCTC service charges
Total amount payable and
Seat availability.

After receiving this SMS,
the subscriber will have to send another SMS to 139 for making the payment in the following format:
PAY

After the online/mobile payment is processed, a Final Confirmation will be sent to the subscriber.

According to the ICICI Bank, this “SMS Trains Tickets Booking Services of the ICICI Bank in partnership with the IRCTC and the Bharat BPO will provide a convenient way of booking Train Tickets without the use of Internet.

According to the Bharat BPO Services, this innovative service will make the Train Tickets bookings easy for the passengers as they can book for train tickets from anywhere, which would be a new dimension in the use of mobile phone services.

In India, for achievements in the field of ‘Sports’ the “Arjuna Awards” are being given every year, from 1961.

However, it was decided by the Government of India to have an award higher than the “Arjuna Award” for the most outstanding performance in ‘Sports’ by individuals or a team.

And, the “Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna” Award was instituted in the year 1991-92, in the name of the former Prime Minister of India, Late. Mr.Rajiv Gandhi.

At present, the “Khel Ratna Award” is the highest honour given to eminent Indian ‘Sports Persons’ for achievement in ‘Sports’. “Khel Ratna” in Hindi, means “Gem of Sports” .

The “Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award” consists of the following:

A Medal,

A Scroll of Honour and

Cash (Rs 7.5 Lakhs)

From the year of institution of the award 1991-92, the cash component of the award had been Rs 5 Lakhs until the year 2004-05 and the cash component had been increased to Rs 7.5 Lakhs from the year 2004-05.

The following is the List of Indian Sports Person who have received the “Rajiv Gandhi-Khel Ratna Award” from the year 1991-92 Till Date -2012-13:

Year/Name of the Awardee /Sports Discipline
1991–92 /Viswanathan Anand/Chess

1992–93 /Geet Sethi/Billiards

1993–94/Not Conferred

1994–95 /Cdr. Homi D. Motivala & Lt. Cdr. P. K. Garg /Yachting (Team Event)

1995–96 /Karnam Malleswari/Weightlifting

1996–97/Nameirakpam Kunjarani/Weightlifting

1996-97/Leander Paes/Tennis

1997–98 /Sachin Tendulkar/Cricket

1998–99/Jyotirmoyee Sikdar/Athletics

1999–2000 /Dhanraj Pillay/Hockey

2000–01/Pullela Gopichand/Badminton

2001–02 /Abhinav Bindra/Shooting

2002–03 /Anjali Ved Pathak Bhagwat/Shooting

2002-03/ K. M. Beenamol/Athletics

2003–04/Anju Bobby George/Athletics

2004–05/Lt. Col Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore/Shooting

2005–06/Pankaj Advani/Billiards and Snooker

2006–07/Manavjit Singh Sandhu/Shooting

2007–08/Mahendra Singh Dhoni/Cricket

2008–09/Mary Kom /Boxing

2008-09/Vijender Singh /Boxing

2008-09/Sushil Kumar/Wrestling

2009–10 /Saina Nehwal/Badminton

2010–11/Gagan Narang/Shooting

2011–12/Vijay Kumar/Shooting

2011-12/Yogeshwar Dutt/Wrestling

2012-13/Ronjan Sodhi/Shooting

Every country in the world has got a‘national flag’ of its own, which is a symbol of the country. The Indian National Flag represents the hopes and aspirations of the people of India. It is the symbol of our national pride.

In India, over the last five decades, several people including members of armed forces have un-grudgingly laid down their lives to keep the tri-colour flying in its full glory.

The former Indian Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru called it "a flag not only of freedom for ourselves, but a symbol of freedom to all people."

Indian National Flag is a horizontal tricolor flag, with the following colours in equal proportions with the “Ashoka Chakra” in the middle of the flag, in navy blue colour with 24 equally spaced spokes:

Deep saffron/kesari colour at the top,
White in the middle and
Dark green at the bottom

The Size and the proportions of the Indian Natioanal Flag – 9 different sizes:
Length and width (cms) /Size of Ashoka Chakra (cms)
630 × 420/129.5
360× 240/74
270 × 180/55.5
180 × 120/37
135 × 90/28
90 × 60/18.5
45 × 30/9
22.5 × 15/4
15 × 10/0.2

The ratio of width of the flag to its length is two to three 2:3

The Meanings of the Tri-colours of the Indian National Flag:

The Saffron at the top, indicates the strength, courage, sacrifice and the spirit of renunciation of the country,
The White in the middle band indicates peace, truth and purity of the country,
The Green colour shows the faith,fertility, growth, prosperity and vibrance of life of the country and
The Ashok Chakra / wheel in the middle, represents the righteousness, progress and perpetuity of the country and the 24 spokes of the wheel represents the 24 hours of a day.
The Ashok Chakra depicted the "wheel of the law" in the Sarnath Lion Capital made by the 3rd-century BC Mauryan Emperor Ashoka. The chakra intends to show that there is life in movement and death in stagnation.

In the centre of the white band is a navy blue wheel which represents the chakra. Its design is that of the wheel which appears on the abacus of the Sarnath Lion Capital of Ashoka. Its diameter approximates to the width of the white band and it has 24 spokes.

The History of the National Flag Adoption in India:

In the year 1906, the following flag was used unofficially as the flag of India. The first national flag in India had been hoisted on 7th August 1906, in the Parsee Bagan Square/Green Park, in Calcutta now Kolkata. The flag was composed of three horizontal strips of red, yellow and green.

In the year 1907, the following flag was hoisted in Paris by Madame Cama and her band of exiled revolutionaries in 1907. This was very similar to the first flag except that the top strip had only one lotus but seven stars denoting the Saptarishi. This flag was also exhibited at a socialist conference in Berlin.

In the year 1917, the following flag was hoisted by Dr.Annie Besant and Lok Manya Tilak during the “Home Rule Movement”. This flag had five red and four green horizontal strips arranged alternately, with seven stars in the saptarishi configuration super-imposed on them. In the left-hand top corner (the pole end) was the Union Jack. There was also a white crescent and star in one corner.

In the year 1921 the following flag was unofficially adopted, during the session of the “All India Congress Committee”, which met at Bezwada in 1921 /now Vijayawada. The flag was made up of two colours-red and green-representing the two major communities i.e. Hindus and Muslims. Gandhiji suggested the addition of a white strip to represent the remaining communities of India and the spinning wheel to symbolise progress of the Nation.

In the year 1931, the following flag was adopted and the same had been the battle ensign of the Indian National Army. A resolution was passed adopting a tricolor flag as the national flag. This flag, the forbear of the present one, was saffron, white and green with Mahatma Gandhi's spinning wheel at the center. It was, however, clearly stated that it bore no communal significance and was to be interpreted thus.

The following is the present Tricolour flag of India, originally designed by Pingali Venkayyaa and officially adopted by the Government of India, in the meeting of the Constituent Assembly held on the 22 July 1947, a few days before India's independence from the British Rule on 15 August, 1947.

After the advent of Independence, the colours and their significance remained the same. Only the Dharma Charkha of Emperor Asoka was adopted in place of the spinning wheel as the emblem on the flag.

Indian National Flag Code:

On 26th January 2002, the Indian flag code was modified and after several years of independence, the citizens of India were finally allowed to hoist the Indian flag over their homes, offices and factories on any day and not just National days as was the case earlier.

Now Indians can proudly display the national flag any where and any time, as long as the provisions of the "Flag Code" are strictly followed to avoid any disrespect to the tricolour.

For the sake of convenience, Flag Code of India, 2002, has been divided into three parts.

Part I of the Code contains general description of the National Flag.

Part II of the Code is devoted to the display of the National Flag by members of public, private organizations, educational institutions, etc.

Part III of the Code relates to display of the National Flag by Central and State governments and their organisations and agencies.

According to the rules of the Flag Code of India:

Normally the National Flag should be flown over important government buildings like the Rashtrapati Bhawan, the Parliament House, the Supreme Court of India, the High Courts, the Secretariats, the Commissioners' office etc.

The National Flag may be hoisted in educational institutions (schools, colleges, sports camps, scout camps, etc.) to inspire respect for the Flag. An oath of allegiance has been included in the flag hoisting in schools.

A member of public, a private organization or an educational institution may hoist/display the National Flag on all days and occasions, ceremonial or otherwise consistent with the dignity and honour of the National Flag.

Section 2 of the new code accepts the right of all private citizens to fly the flag on their premises.
The flag cannot be used for communal gains, drapery, or clothes. As far as possible, it should be flown from sunrise to sunset, irrespective of the weather.And the tricolour should not be used as a festoon, rosette or bunting.

The flag should not be intentionally allowed to touch the ground or the floor or trail in water. And the flat should not be draped over the hood, top, and sides or back of vehicles, trains, boats or aircraft.

When the National Flag is raised the saffron color band should be at the top.

No other flag or emblem should be placed either above the National Flag or to its right. And, no object, including flowers or garlands or emblems can be placed on or above the flag.

All other flags must be placed to the left of the National Flag, if they are hung in a line.

When the National Flag is carried in a procession or parade, it shall be on the marching right or in front of the center of the line, if there is a line of other flags.

The National Flag or any imitation of it must not be used for purpose of trade, business, or profession. The National Flag should always be taken down in the evening at sunset.

It is notable that:

The Indian flag was hoisted on the highest mountain peak of the world, Mount Everest on 29th May 1953.

And the Indian National Flag was taken to ‘space’ in the year 1984 by the Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma and the flag was attached as a medallion on the space suit of Rakesh Sharma.

The "Global- Internet Search Engine"-“Google” has been celebrating India’s Independence Day on 15th August, every year, from the year 2003, with “Doodles” in its home page.

The following are the "Doodles" in the Home Page of "Google" for Celebrating India’s Independence Day, From the Year 2003 Till 2013 (except for the years 2004 and 2009):

2003:

On 15th August 2003, ‘Google’ posted its first 'Doodle' to commemorate India’s Celebrations of 56 years of Independence.

The 'Google-Doodle' for the year 2003 was with the ‘Ashok Chakra’ in the second ‘o’ of ‘Google’'s logo and India’s Tri-coloured National Flag hoisted on the top of 'l' of the ‘Google’s logo.

2004:
There was no ‘Google Doodle’ for the year 2004- the 57th Independence Day Celebrations of India on 15th August 2004.

2005:

The ‘Google-Doodle’ for the 58th Independence Day Celebrations on 15th August 2005 was similar to its first ‘doodle’ of the year 2003. The ‘Ashok Chakra’ of Indian National Flag was in the ‘Google’’s second ‘o’ and the only difference was that the Indian National Flag on its ‘l’ was not there.

2006:

The ‘Google-Doodle’ for the 59th Independence Day of India on 15th August 2006 was with the ‘Ashok Chakra’ of India's ‘tri-coloured’-National Flag of India was replacing the second ‘o’ of ‘Google’'s logo.

2007:

The ‘Google-Doodle’ for India’s 60th year of Independence on 15th August 2007 was with India’s National Flag beneath the ‘Google’’s logo, with the text ”Celebrating 60 years of Independence” below the 'Google' 's logo.

2008:

The ‘Google-Doodle’ for India’s 61st Independence Day Celebrations on 15th August 2008, was with India's National Flag replaced the 'l' and 'e' of the ‘Google’'s logo.

2009:
There was no ‘Google Doodle’ for the year 2009- the 62nd Independence Day Celebrations of India on 15th August 2009.

2010:

The ‘Google-Doodle’ for the year 2010- the 63rd Independence Day Celebrations of India on 15th August 2010 was in a mode different from the earlier ones.

The second ‘o’ of the ‘Google’'s logo was in a ‘Rangoli’ in the form of a tri-coloured-‘Lotus’, the 'National Flower' of India, with the second ‘o’ of 'Google''s logo with the ‘Ashok Chakra' of the Indian National Flag, and the upper petals of the lotus in saffron colour and the lower petals of the lotus in green colour and with the middle petals in a light pink, representing the white of the Indian National Flag, and the entire ‘Google’'s logo was over a golden- brown padded- back-ground.

2011:

The ‘Google-Doodle’ for the year 2011-the 64th Independence Day Celebrations on 15th August 2011 was with ‘India’s Red Fort' beneath the ‘Google’'s logo.

2012:

The ‘Google-Doodle’ for the year 2012-the 65th Independence Day Celebrations on 15th August 2012 was with India’s National Bird, ‘Peacock over the ‘Google’'s logo, with the pea-cock’s head and its curved neck forming a part of ‘G’ of the ‘Google’'s logo.

2013:

The ‘Google-Doodle’ for this year 2013 for the 66th Independence Day Celebrations, today, on 15th August 2013, is entirely different from all the earlier doodles of Google and it is a tri-coloured ribbon, reminding the Indian National Flag's three colours, forming the ‘Google’’s logo in a running writing with ‘G’ in capital letter and other letters in small, and ‘G’ and the firs ‘o’ are in golden yellow colour, and the second ‘o’ and the lower portion of ‘g’ are in a light blue colour and with the upper portion of ‘g’ and the letters ‘l’ and ‘e’ are in green colour.

It is notable that 'Google' has not used the tri-coloured Indian National Flag in its 2013 Indian Independence Day's Doodle.

The tri-coloured ribbon indirectly reminds the tri-coloured Indian National Flag, connected with India's Independence.

‘Google’, knowingly or unknowingly, has used golden yellow in the place of saffron of the Indian National Flag, perhaps, meaning that India is in its “Golden Era” after 66 years of Independence.

Our "Thanks" to "Google"on behalf of Indians, for its participation in India's Independence Day Celebrations by its "Doodles" on its 'Home-Page.

Bollywood-Star-"Badsha of Bollywood"- Sharukh Khan / SRK and Bollywood Actress Deepika Padukone Starring, latest Hindi Movie-“Chennai Express”

was released on 9^th August 2013, Friday, in India in more than 3500 Screens and in overseas in more than 700 Screens in more than 50 countries.

Also the movie has been dubbed in 9 Foreign Languages,- English, French, Spanish, Arabic, German, Hebrew, Dutch, Turkish and Malay.

“Chennai Express”, produced at a budget of about Rs 70 Crores has become the fastest ever Bollywood Movie to enter the Rs 100 Crores Collection Club of Movies in the Indian Box Office and in US and UK also, the movie has set a new record of Collectons and the movie is expected to cross Rs 200 Crores Collections Mark, internationally.

The following are the highlights of the Records of the Successful Movie-“Chennai Express Highlights:

Highest collection in paid previews ever,
Biggest opening day ever,
Highest second day ever beating "Ra.One",
Highest third day ever beating “Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani”,
Biggest weekend collection ever,
Fastest to 100 crore, reaching the mark in just three and a half days

Reacting to the overwhelming success of his movie, Shah Rukh Khan has expressed that, as an actor, he is more interested in the appreciation of the audience than the collections of 100 or 200 Crores, and the producer/s, "Red Chillies Entertainment", "UTV", and others, who have invested in the movie would take care of the collections figures.

The Movie "Chennai Express" was produced by Gauri Khan / Mrs. Shah Rukh Khan's- "Red Chillies Entertainment",

Ronnie Screwvala and Siddharth Roy Kapur of the "UTV-Motion Pictures",

and Directed by Rohit Shetty.

Shah Rukh Khan is very much moved by this kind of response from the people, in India and internationally, in this time and age is very much heartening and pleasantly surprising and very much over-whelming.

However, he agreed that the collection figures would determine the number of people watching his movie and asked his fans and the public to see the movie, without the idea of collections figures in mind.

It is notable that the critics of “Chennai Express” had described the movie as “Too Massy” and “No Brainers”.

However, as a result of the extensive promotion of the movie, by its “Trailer” and other Advertisements, the movie, ”Chennai Express” received a very good response from people in India and also in every corner of the world.

The “Secunderabad Railway Station”, under the “South Central Railways”/SCR

is being provided with:

'Escalators' with the capacity of carrying 180 persons per minute in all the 10 Platforms

Escalator in Secunderabad Railway Station

and 'Lifts' (capacity of each lift 20 persons) in the First Platform (No:1)and the Last Platform (No:10) at the rear-Bhoiguda Entrance.

In the second week of August 2013, both the lifts and the 7th escalator in Platform No:4&5 have been commissioned.

The total cost of the 7 escalators installed so far is Rs 6.6 Crores and the total cost of installing the 2 lifts is Rs 98 Lakhs.

With the completion of the commissioning of all the escalators, the “Secunderabad Railway Station” will have the distinction of the “First Railway Station” in India to have ‘escalators’ in all the 10 platforms and ‘lifts’ in the first and the last platforms.

According to an estimate of the SCR, around 43000 persons are using the escalators per day and the escalators and lifts would facilitate easy and quick movement of passengers, especially the elderly, sick, and physically challenged persons from one platform to other.

While it is a good news, the passengers of the Indian Railways expect the ‘Indian Railways’ to extend such ‘lift’ and ‘escalators’ facilities in all major stations.

Earlier, the ‘Nizamuddin’-New Delhi Railway station

and the "Egmore"-Chennai-Railway Station

have been the only 2 railway stations provided with escalators.

Escalator in Chennai Egmore Railway Station

In Chennai “Egmore Railway Station”, there is a single escalator in ‘Platform No:1’. and that too is not in frequent use.

Will the ‘Southern Railways’ take efforts to regulate continuous use of the existing ‘escalator’ and also provide ‘lifts’ and ‘escalators’ in all its 9 platforms soon?

It is apt now to recall that in the last ‘Railways Budget’ of India,

there is a proposal to make all the major railway stations in India ‘modern’ with facilities similar to those available in International‘airports’ in India.

People all over the world take up many business activities of 'sales' and 'services' to earn a livelihood.

The consumers also are willing to buy from the hawkers and street vendors, for the reason that the price of commodities and services offered by the street vendors would be normally less than the price of the same from shops and super-markets, for obvious reasons.

Some people are crazy in buying things from the hawkers after bargaining and they really enjoy after their successful bargaining and purchases.

There are many mobile and stationary-‘Hawkers’ and ‘Street Vendors’ in many countries including India, selling many items including eatables on the road-sides, streets and platforms.

In India, there are more than 10 million street vendors, in metropolitan cities, including Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Ahmedabad.

The Government of India had introduced a ‘License System’ to regulate and control street vending activities in the cities and towns.

However, there have been many people engaged in street vending, without proper license.

Consequently, such street vendors have been causing problems to the legitimate vendors and they have been facing problems by the local police and municipal authorities.

Many street vendors get evicted and lose their goods and business accessories and undergo legal actions by the police and go to the court and pay fines.

And also, there have been cases of bribing the authorities and giving money as‘mamool’/levy to the local ‘dhadhas’.

In some of the cities like Kolkata, street vending / hawking has been a non-bailable offence.

Similar to many workers, labourers and traders the street vendors in India also started organizing themselves by forming political and non political -‘unions’ and ‘associations’.

Some Non-Government Organizations/NGO’s also started working for the street vendors. One of such NGO is“The National Association of Street Vendors of India”/NASVI based in Delhi.

In the year 2010, the Supreme Court of India had recognized ‘street vending' as a source of livelihood and directed the Government of India to frame a law to regulate and control ‘street vending’ in India.

Accordingly, on 11th November 2011 /11 11 11, a bill was drafted by the Government of India, with the help of the National Advisory Council / NAC, chaired by Ms.Sonia Gandhi providing:

Protection from police and civic authorities to legitimate street vendors,
Demarking ‘vending zones’ on the basis of ‘traditional natural markets’ with
Proper representations of vendors and women in the decision making bodies and
Establishing effective grievance redressal and dispute resolution mechanism.

The draft bill was approved by the Union Cabinet on 17th August 2012.

The Cabinet approved bill -"The Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Bill, 2012" was introduced in the Lower House of the Parliament of India/ Lokh Sabha on 6th September 2012, by the Union Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Kumari Selja.

However, finally, the above bill has been passed in the ‘Lokh Sabha’ on 6th September 2013.

Highlights/Issues of the Bill:

Any person, above 14 years of age, intending to undertake street vending needs to register with the Town Vending Committee/TVC.
The TVC comprises of the municipal commissioner, representatives of street vendors, local authority, planning authority, local police, resident welfare association and other traders associations.
He/She may then apply for a vending certificate that will be issued based on various criteria
The state government shall frame a scheme for street vendors
The local authority shall, in consultation with the planning authority, frame a street vending plan once every five years
The Bill does not specify principles to be followed by governments in issuing vending certificates, allocating vending zones and the number of vendors per zone.
This Bill shall not apply to Railways land, premises and trains. However, ‘The Standing Committee’ of the Parliament of India has suggested making the Bill applicable to the Railways, incorporating specific provisions of the scheme in the Bill, and consultation with the TVC on the vending plan
Currently, street vending is regulated under municipal laws enacted by state legislatures.
Parliament’s competence to legislate on this issue depends on whether the Bill is interpreted as substantively addressing rights and obligations of street vendors/Concurrent List or relating to municipal zoning/State List
The Bill does not require the stakeholders to be consulted in the formulation of the street vending plan.
The central law will have overriding effect on state laws that are inconsistent with the Bill. Current state laws differ with the Bill in terms of powers of the TVC, and mechanism for dispute resolution
The present bill differs from the draft bill, which ensured that the 'Town Vending Committees'/ TVC) would have at least 40 per cent representation of street vendors.
However the final bill presented and passed in the Parliament of India, the civic bodies, which have no representation of street vendors, are made the final authority on all issues concerning their fate, including the rehabilitation and resettlement plans
And the bill also have legal ambiguities, such as there is no clear definition of "public purpose land".

Please Check Below For Periodical Updates in the Delhi Gang-Rape/Murder Case Status

On 16th December 2012, after 09 30 in the night, a gang of 6 men including , 4 youngsters, a 34 years old man and a 17 years old juvenile / minor boy cruelly gang-raped and caused the death of / murdered a 23 year old paramedical / physiotherapy student girl Ms.Jyoti Singh Pandey, in a moving bus in the India's Capital city of Delhi.

The victim was given treatment in the 'The Safdarjung Hospital'- Delhi.

In the hospital bed, the victim's oral statement about the incident was recorded by a Sub-Divisional Magistrate in the presence of Deputy Commissioner of Police.

However, the victim died after being taken on 27th December 2012 to "Mount Elizabeth Hospital" in Singapore by air-ambulance for transplants of multiple organs on 29th December 2012.

The incident evoked a nationwide outrage from all men and women of India and Organizations.

The Government of India was forced to think of bringing stronger and quicker punishments to the rapists and men involved in crimes against women in India and formed an one man- committee of Justice Varma.

Justic Varma Committee submitted its report with recommendations of more severe punishments to the rapists in India.

However, the committee had not recommended capital punishment to the rapists in general, except in rarest of rare cases, involving murder of the victim.

On 31st August 2013, a juvenile / minor, whose name had not been revealed, involved in the crime was enquired at the "Juveniele Justice Board" and found guilty by the "Juvenile Court", in the gang-rape/murder etc. and was awarded a punishment of 3 years confinement in "Juvenile Reform Board". It is notable that 3 years' punishment is the maximum punishment that can be awarded to a minor convict found guilty in any crime.

The 6th accused Ram Singh, the driver of the bus, had committed suicide in his prison cell on 11th March 2013.

The following 4 are the accused in the “Delhi-Gang-Rape-cum-Murder”, still alive:

Mukesh -26 years old,

Vinay Sharma -20 years old,

Pawan Gupta-19 years old and
Akshay Singh Thakur -28 years old.

On enquiry by a ‘Special Fast Track’- court, in 130 hearings for the past 8 months, the all the above 4 accused have been found guilty of the following crimes:

Attempt to murder, All the 4 accused attempted to kill the complainant, the victim’s male friend

Unnatural offences, Gang-rape and for the unnatural sex with the victim and
Killing the victim,
Dacoity,
Conspiracy,
Kidnapping or abducting with intent to secretly and wrongfully confining a person,
Kidnapping in order to murder,
Abducting to subject a person to grievous hurt and slavery,
Abducting woman to cause her defilement,
Voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery and dishonestly receiving property stolen in the commission of a dacoity
Destruction of evidence.

However, all the 4 have been acquitted of the charge of murder in dacoity.

One of the 5 accused in the case, Ram Singh, 34 years old had been found dead in his prison cell after he committed suicide on 11th March 2013. The proceedings against the dead accused were abated. However, the dead accused Ram Singh also has been found guilty in all the above crimes along with the other 4 and he has also been convicted under the same sections for the same crimes.

The court will hear the arguments on the quantum of punishments for the convicted accused.

In view of the crimes committed by the accused who have been found guilty, they would get a minimum punishment of ‘imprisonment for life’ and a maximum punishment of hanging till death / the capital punishment.

Due to the magnitude of the merciless and cruel gang-rape and murder and the allied crimes committed by the accused in the case, people who are against the capital punishment/death penalty can never open their mouth.

In Indian judicial system, it has taken 8 months for a “Fast Track” court to find the accused guilty.

Even after the awarding of the punishments to the convicted/guilty accused persons, there would be appeals/clemency petitions/review in Supreme Court of India etc. and we will have to wait and see when they would get ‘final’ the punishment, whether ‘life sentence’ or ‘death sentence’.

Update of the Above Case/Judgement as on 22nd September 2013: In the above, most cruel and brutal- gang-rape and murder case of a 23 years old para medical girl student the sessions court /trial court has awarded capital punishment to all the 4 accused/convicts on 13th September 2013, as according to the trial court, the crimes committed by the 4 accused/convicts fall under the "rarest of rare" category.

However, the death penalty / capital punishment needs to be conferred by a higher court.

So, the the trial court after announcing the capital punishment has referred the case to the "Delhi High Court".

The "Delhi High Court"-bench will hear the matter on 23rd September 2013, Monday,for confirmation of the capital punishment awarded to the convicted accused by the trial court.

Update of the Above Case/Judgement as on 23rd September 2013

As and when the case came for hearing on 23rd September 2013 before the Delhi High Court Bench of Jusitces Reva Khetrapal and Pratibha Rani, the Special Public Prosecutor of the case submitted that the honourable High Court Bench could direct for production of the 4 convicted accused persons to know whether they would prefer appeals against the trail court's verdict and granting of 30 days time for filing their appeal in the Delhi High Court..

And accordingly, the Delhi High Court Bench has directed the 'Tihar Jail' Authorities to produce all the following 4 convicted accused persons before the bench on 24th Septmeber 2013:

Mukesh-26 years old,
Akshay Thakur- 28 years old,
Pawan Gupta - 19 years old and
Vinay Sharma -20 years old..

Name: Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi /M.S.Subbulakshmi/ Kunjamma (Family Pet Name)

Known As : M.S.
Born: On 16th September 1916 at Madurai, Tamilnadu
Father: Subramania Iyer
Mother: Shanmukavadiver Ammal-Veena Player
Grand Mother: Akkammal-Violonist
Spouse: "Kalki'-Sadasivam
Occupation: Carnatic Vocalist/Actress
Demised : On 11th December 2004 at Chennai at the age of 88 years

Singing&Acting Career of M.S.Subbulakshmi:

In the year 1927,at the age of 11 years M.S.Subbulakshmi gave her first public concert in the “100 Pillars Hall”/”Nootrukkal Mandapam” inside the Rockfort Temple at Tiruchirappali in Tamilnadu.

The 100 Pillars Hall in Rockfort Temple Trichy

In the year 1929, at the age of 13 years, M.S.gave her concert in the “Music Academy” at Chennai.

M.S. Subbulakshmi has also acted in a few Tamil films in her early days and her first movie “Sevasadanam” released in the year 1938, with M.S. as the heroine and F.G. Natesa Iyer as the hero and directed by K.Subramanyam became a successful movie of those days.

M.S.Subbulakshmi got married to Mr.T.Sadasivam (Co-Founder along with "Kalki" Krishnamoorthy of Tamil Weekly Magazine "Kalki") in the year 1940.

M.S.Subbulakshmi and T.Sadasivam Wedding Photo

M.S. Subbulakshmi has played the male role of “Narada” in the Tamil Movie - "Savitri" released in the year 1941. The movie was produced for raising funds for launching the Tamil Weekly Magazine “Kalki” by her husband Mr. Sadasivam.

The movie “Meera” released in the year 1945 in Tamil had been very popular and was re-made in Hindi in the year 1947and M.S.S. has sung many ‘Meera Bhajans” in the movie.

M.S.Subbulakshmi, as ‘India’s Cultural Ambassador’ had traveled to London, New York, Canada and the Far East etc and gave her concertr s at the following foreign cities:

Edinburgh- Scotland- International Festival of Music and Drama-1963
New York, United States of America/USA, Carnegie Hall, the UN General Assembly on UN day - 1966
London, United Kingdom/UK-Royal Albert Hall,-1982
Moscow, Soviet Russia/USSR-Festival of India - 1987

After the death of her husband "Kalki"-Sadasivam in the year 1997, M.S. stopped all her public performances.

M.S.Subbulakshmi and 'Kalki' T.Sadasivam

The following are some of the the famous 'Bhajans' sung by M.S.Subbulakshmi:

“Bhaja Govindam”
“Vishnusahasranamam”,
"Hari Tuma Haro”,
“Venkateswara Suprabhatam”,
“Vaishnava Jana To”-written by Chakraborty Rajagopalachariar/Rajaji- the favourite bhajan of Mahatma Gandhiji

The following Celebrities had been the Fans of MSS:

Mahatma Gandhi-appreciated the talents of M.S.S.,and her efforts in connection with collection of “Kasturba Memorial Fund”
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru- called M.S.S. as the “Queen of Music”
“Nightingale of India”/“Kavikkuyil “Sarojini Naidu and
Lata Mangeshkar etc.

Awards and Honours Received:

“ Padma Bhushan”-Government of India- 1954
“Sangeet Natak Akademi Award”- 1956
“ Sangeetha Kalanidhi Award”- 1968
“ Ramon Magsaysay Award”- 1974
“ Padma Vibhushan”-Government of India- 1975
“ Kalidas Samman”-1988
“Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration”- 1990
“Bharat Ratna”-Government of India-India’s Highest Civilian Award- 1998.
M.S.Subbulakshmi was honored as the court-singer/Asthana Vidhwan of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam / TTD
A commemorative postage stamp on her was issued by the Union Government of India in the year 2005.
Tirupati Urban Development Authority/TUDA has installed a bronze statue of M.S. Subbulakshmi at the Poornakumbham circle in Tirupathi in the year 2006.
The famous Kancheepuram Saree shade known as “ MS -Blue” was named after M.S.

In view of the 97th Birthday of the legendary Indian Carnatic Singer- M.S.Subbullakhmi, a ‘Portrait Gallery’ named after M.S.S. instituted at Shanmukhananda Hall in Matunga, Mumbai, as a tribute to giants in the field of music.
At the entrance of the portrait gallery an eight-foot high ebonite statue of M.S.S., holding a Thampuraa has been erected to honour the exemplary Indian singer.

Statue of MS at the Entrance of MS Portrait Gallery Mumbai

In the portrait gallery on M.S.S. photos of her meeting celebrities from India and abroad have been displayed.

The following are some of the notable celebrities met by M.S.Subbulakshmi.:

Mahatma Gandhi,
Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan/Frontier Gandhi,
Lord and Lady Mountbatten,
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru- called M.S.S. as the “Queen of Music”
“Nightingale of India”/“Kavikkuyil “Sarojini Naidu,
Pope John Paul II,
Queen Elizabeth,
Indira Gandhi and
Dr. S. Radhakrishnan.

A letter written by Mahatma Gandhi to M.S.S., has also been displayed in the M.S.S. portrait gallery, which reads as under:

“Dear Subbulakshmi,
Rajaji has told me everything about your good work in connection with “Kasturba Memorial Fund” by using your musical gifts. May God Bless You.”
Sd/-M.K.Gandhi

The Global Search Engine of the Web World-“ Google” has paid tribute to M S Subbulakshmi by dedicating colourful “Doodle” on her 97th birthday on 16th September 2013.

"Google Doodle" on MS's 97th Birthday 16 September 2013

In India, the concept of an "Unique Identity Card" to all the residents of India was first discussed and planned in the year 2006, as proposed by the "Planning Commission of India", headed by the Prime Minister of India.

And in February 2009, Unique Identification Authority of India / UIDAI was founded under the Chairmanship of Mr. Nandan Nilekani, the co-founder and the co-chairman of Infosys Technologies Limited from 1981 to 2009.

The unique id card having unique number for each Indian resident would be called ‘Aadhaar Number’ and the unique id card would be called “Aadhaar Card”.

According to the Union Government of India in announcements, ‘Aadhaar Card’ is optional and NOT mandatory/compulsory.

However, some State Governments in India have started insisting on the people to get the ‘Aadhaar Card’/’Aadhaar Number’ to avail some of the concessions/subsidies and various benefits from the schemes of the State Governments Thus it has become compulsory in some states of India, for a range of activities including:

Salary (including the salary of Judges in the State of Maharashtra)
PF Disbursals and
Marriage & Property Registrations.

Recently, the State Government of Maharashtra started insisting on “Aadhaar”-Card/Number for registration of marriages in the state.

In almost all the states in India, including Tamilnadu, the ‘LPG’ cooking gas agencies started insisting on ‘Aadhaar’ Card/Number related Savings Bank Accounts to get cooking gas refills at the subsidized price.

And even the Union Government of India insisted on the people to have ‘Aadhaar’ Card/Number for some of the schemes of the Central Government such as "Public Provident Fund" etc., apart from availing the Government’s subsidy on the ‘LPG’- Cooking gas

However, the Central Government of India and the Union Ministers continued to say that the “Aadhaar Card” is only optional and NOT mandatory/compulsory.

A ‘Retired/Former Justice of the Karnataka High Court, Justice K.S.Puttaswamy filed a Public Litigation Petition/PIL with the Supreme Court of India seeking a ‘Stay’ on the implementation of the “Aadhaar” Scheme.

The PIL filed with the Supreme Court of India by the petitioner submitted as follows:

The collection of personal data of the people of India had raised doubts and
It was in violation of the “Fundamental Rights” of the citizens to ‘Privacy’ and the Fundamental Rights under Articles 14/Right to Equality and Article 21/Right to Life and Liberty, It was also an executive act in overreach of Parliament, which is yet to grant statutory powers to “Aadhar” and
“Aadhar” scheme has proposed to give UID numbers not only to citizens, but also illegal migrants pursuant to a scheme framed by the government through an executive order of January 28, 2009

On hearing the petition and the response to the same by the Union Government of India, the Supreme Court of India asked the Central Government of India:

NOT TO-Make “Aadhar”-Card/Number mandatory / compulsory to get the benefit of government schemes and to avail various services of the State Governments and the Central Government.and
NOT TO issue "Aadhar" Card/Number to the "Illegal Immigrants" residing in India.

The amount allocated and utilized for the "Aadhar" Scheme is about Rs 1,50,000 Crores, according to some sources.

While the 'UIDAI' has aimed at issuing the unique id cards to all the Indian residents by the year 2014, it is notable that as of September 2013, only 35% of the Indian residents have been issued with the "Aadhaar" card.

The following are the 9 States out of the total 35 states, with more than 80% of the population issued with "Aadhar":

Andhra Pradesh/AP,
Kerala,
Delhi,
Himachal Pradesh,
Tripura,
Goa,
Puducherry,
Chandigarh and
Sikkim.

Consequent to the ruling of the apex court/Supreme Court of India, the real benefit out of the above cost of the huge sum of money is to be re-assessed.

To know the cost / benefit details of the "Aadhar" Scheme you may refer to the official website of UIDAI or the detailed reports of the "Planning Commission of India", the mother of the scheme.

As the Union Government of India has been repeatedly announcing that "Aadhar" is not Compulsory and it has so far been only optional, let us hope that the Government will not seek to review the order of the Supreme Court of India in the matter.

You may recollect that the Central Government of India, after consultations with all the major political parties, had sought a revision of the Supreme Court of India's ruling in the matter of convicted "Law Makers", in view of the fact that the SC's decision will lead to complications in the State Governments and the Central Government.

However, the Supreme Court of India's ruling on "Aadhar" Scheme may be viewed as a set-back to the Central -UPA 2- Government and some State Governments which started making obtaining the "Aadhar"-Card/Number, mandatory, directly or indirectly.

Name: Viluppuram Chinnaiah Pillai Ganesan/V.C.Ganesan

Nadigar Thilagam Chevalier Sivaji Ganesan

Known As: “Nadigar Thilagam, Chevalier , Sivjaji" Ganesan

Date of Birth: 01st October 1928

Place of Birth:: Soorakkottai Village, Thanjavur District, Tamilnadu

Father: Chinnaiah Pillai Mandradiyar

Mother: Rajamani Ammal

Occupation: Tamil Dramas/Movies Actor

Popular For:
Sivaji Ganesan had been popular for his unique natural acting with the best and timely delivery of lip movements in dialogues and songs with the apt body language, expressing a variety of emotions.

However, his acting had been criticized as‘over-acting’/’exaggerated acting’.

Sivjai Ganesan in Engirundho Vandhal Ore Paadal Song

Sivaji Ganesan had responded to the criticism and said that acting itself is' exaggeration' onlly and to express various feelings of a character in a movie, an actor must act and mostly overact.

Acting is an art and every actor will have his/her own style of acting.

It is true that in real life people do not always express their real feelings of joy, happiness, anger or sorrow and only such people suppressing their real feelings are the real 'actors' in real life.

Malargalai Poll Thangai Urangugiraal Song

Date of Death: 21st July 2001 (at Chennai at the age of 72 years)

Early Life /Career of Sivaji Ganesan:

V.C.Ganesan started acting in Tamil stage dramas for a touring drama company at the age of 7 years without his parents’ knowledge or consent.

Obviously, V.C.Ganesan could not go to school and get even primary education.

He went to Trichy (Sangiliyandapuram) at the age of 10 years and joined a drama troupe there.

Along with stage acting Ganesan learnt dances such as ‘Bharatha Nattiyam’, ‘Kathakali’ and ‘Manipuri’.

In the early days, Ganesan acted in female characters and because of his quick grasping of dialogues and his sharp memory power, he started acting in stage dramas by delivering long and emotional dialogues, receiving appreciation from the audience and the conveners of the stage dramas.

Ganesan acted as ‘Chatrapathi Sivaji’, a Marathi emperor, in a stage drama named ‘Sivjai Kanda Hindu Rajyam’.

The audience, noticing the wonderful action of Ganesan as Sivaji, started referring to Ganesan as ‘Sivjaji’ Ganesan and in a public function, the social reformer of Tamilnadu,‘Thanthai’-E.V.Ramasamy Periyar/EVR conferred the title “Sivaji” to V.C.Ganesan in the year 1950.

In the year 1952, ‘Sivaji’Ganesan acted in his first Tamil movie, "PARASAKTHI":

Produced by the "National Pictures",
Funded by A.V.Meyyappan Chettiar of AVM Studios,
Directed by the twin directors- 'Krishnan-Panchu ,
Co-starred by the then popular Tamil heroine Pandaribai and S.S.Rajendran/SSR
With the mind-blowing revolutionary dialogues and screen-play, written by the former Chief Minister of Tamilnadu, ‘Kalaignar-M.Karunanidhi’.

Sivaji Ganesan in Parasakthi Court Scene

After the success of his first movie ‘Parasakthi’, Sivaji Ganesan acted in the Tamil movies like, the Indian President’s Silver Medal winning movie-’Andha Naal’ as an ‘anti-hero’ and and ‘Koondukkuli’, co-starring as anti-hero against his arch-rival ‘Makkal Thilagam’- ‘MGR’ in the year 1954.

Sivjaji Ganesan and MGR in Koondukili as Jeeva and Thangaraj

‘Sivaji Ganesan’ acted with unique lip-movements and timing delivery of dialogues in a clear and understandable tone and became popular in a variety of expressions, called ‘ navarasam’ and his performance in Sakthi T.K.Krishnaswamy's- ‘Veerapandya Kattambomman’ in the year 1959, fetched him, the ‘Best Actor Award’ at the ‘Afro-Asian Film Festival’ held in March 1960 at Cairo, in South Africa.

Sivaji Ganesan has acted in many Tamil movies co-starring with many popular and talented Tamil actresses including:

Pandaribai,

Bhanumathi Ramakrishna,

Vyjayanthimala,

"Nadigaiyar Thilagam"-Savithri,

"Naatiya Peroli"-Padmini,

Devika,

"Abinaya Saraswathi"/ "Kannadathu Paingili"B. Sarojadevi,

"Punnagai Arasi"-K. R. Vijaya,

Vanisri

and "Puratchi Thalavi"/"Amma"-J. Jayalalithaa, the present Chief Minister of Tamilnadu.

In the year 1947 when India and Pakistan got independence from the British rule, Pakistan had got 2 wings, namely, West Pakistan and East Pakistan (East Bengal).

East Pakistan had been the territory situated in the Bengal delta, with the following borders:

North, West and East-India’s various territories
South East-Myanmar/Burma
South-Bay of Bengal

Bangladesh got it independence from Pakistan on 26th March 1971.

In the process of celebrating its ‘independence’ Bangladesh had been honouring a total of 338 foreign friends, mostly Indians, who had been supporting the nation’s liberation war against Pakistan, from 25th July 2011.

The foreign friends extended all possible help to Bangladesh refugees and freedom fighters providing them food, humanitarian relief, medical facilities, military training, access to global media, generation of public opinion and mobilisation of financial assistance.

The awards given by Bangladesh to the dignitaries from Pakistan, India, U.S.A.,U.K.,Japan,Egypt, Srilanka and Turkey were in two categories;

Bangladesh Liberation War Honour’ and
'Friends of Liberation War Honour.

The following is a brief list of Indians honoured by Bangladesh:

Mrs.Indira Gandhi-the former Prime Minister of India-
the First prominent foreign friend facilitated by Bangladesh-Awarded Bangladesh’s highest State honour-‘Bangladesh Freedom Honour’-the posthumous award had been received on behalf of Indira Gandhi by her daughter-in-law, Mrs.Sonia Gandhi

Pranab Mukherjee-the President of India- received the award in February 2013

Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed-the former President of India was conferred the award posthumously on 1st October 2013

Gulzarilal Nanda was conferred the award posthumously on 1st October 2013

V.K.Krishna Menon was conferred the award posthumously for his contributions to the independence of Bangladesh, as the Defence Minister of India- the award was received by Radha Anand Menon, the grand niece of V.K.Krishna Menon from Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, when Ms. Radha and her husband Anand Menon visited Dhaka to receive the award as guest of Bangladesh government.

The following is a list of some of the 44 Indians among the 60 foreigners honoured by Bangladesh inits final phase of facilitations:

Air Vice Marshal Swaroop Krishna Kaul, - A Retired Indian Air Chief Marshal, led a fleet of aircraft which bombed the Government House in Dhaka, where Pakistani General Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi was holding a meeting with his officials , on 15th December 1971. The surprise attack played an important role leading to the historic surrender of the Pakistani forces to the India-Bangladesh Joint Command on 16th December 1971.
Maj. Gen. Lachhman Singh Lehl,
Hindi Movie Actress- Waheeda Rehman,
Zainal Abedin,
Biswajit R. Chatterjee,
Gouri Ghosh,
Shakti Chattapadhaya,
Annalal Dasgupta,
Shaheed Capt. Manmohan Sagor Duggal,
Asghar Ali,
Snehangshu Kanta Acharyya,
Somnath Hore,
Maulana Syed Asad Madni,
Suchitra Mitra,
Kulwant Singh Pannu,
Kishore Parekh,
Subhash Mukhopadhaya,
Samar Sen,
Shaheed Subedar Mailkiat Singh,
Sukhdev Singh Sanhu and
Tapishwar Narain Raina.

Indian Railways has recently found that in spite of increasing passenger fares, the increase in its revenue from passengers’ fares, especially, in its local and metro sections have not been significant..

Upon detailed investigations by ‘special squads’, to its shock and surprise, the Indian Railways has found that, there is an illegal ‘insurance for ticket- less travel in trains in India’ run by some anti-social and fraudulent groups of persons.

The metros, cities and sub-urban daily/ frequent commuters like office-goers and students are said to prefer to avail the illegal insurance scheme.

For obvious reasons such as:

the absence of reasonable returns for the premiums paid by the insurer and
the inflationary effects in the long run and
the receiver of the benefits, if any, used to be other than the insurer, life insurance in India has been losing its importance.

For statutory reasons and under compulsion, people go for general insurance for vehicles and houses.

So, instead of taking insurance policies, people prefer to make investments with reasonable and high returns.
For a small percentage of the risk factor, they do not want to lose the returns for their investments by paying insurance premiums.

However, in the illegal insurance for ticket less travel, because of the "Direct Benefit Transfer"/DBT, it appears that many daily commuters in Indian Trains prefer such an insurance.

Instead of paying the increased train fares and season tickets charges, by paying a nominal ‘premium amount’ of Rs 100/- p.m. or so to the illegal insurance agents they have been traveling without tickets in Indian Trains.

As and if the above ‘insured’ ticketless train commuters are caught by the TTE’s in trains and /or in the stations, the amount of fine paid by the ‘insured’ ticketless traveler will be reimbursed in full by the ‘illegal’ insurance agencies.

The above illegal insurance is based on the fact that the percentage of ticketless travelers caught out of the total number of ticketless travelers is very much less.

The illegal insurance for ticketless travel is based on the principles of insurance, such as ‘life insurance’ covering the risk of life or ‘ ‘general insurance’ covering various risks such as loss due to fire and theft etc. Both the ticketless travelers and the illegal groups running the scheme are benefited, at the cost of loss to the Indian Railways.

Though the Indian Railways has expressed its shock and surprise, as if the ‘insurance for ticketless travel in Indian Trains’ is a recent/ new mode of cheating by the passengers in hand with the illegal agencies, it is said that such ‘insurance for ticketless on travel in trains in India’ has been prevailing since more than 50 years in metros like ‘Mumbai’.

In order to protect the welfare of the honest travelers and to reduce and eliminate revenue leakages and losses by suitable and innovative ways and means against the innovative modes of cheating by the anti-social groups and some dishonest passengers..

Two popular 'Indian Women', Ms Sonia Gandhi and Ms Indra Nooyi have found places in the ‘Forbe’s List of the Most Powerful Women in the World for the year 2013 as the 9th and the 10th.

The following is the Forbe’slist of the top 10 the most powerful women in the world for the year 2013:

10 th Place:M/s Indra Nooyi, and Indian Lady the Chief Executive Officer of’ Pepsi’

9th Place: M/s Sonia Gandhi, the longest serving Chairman of the India’s ruling ‘United Progressive Front’/UPA, India

8th Place: M/s Janet Napolitano, The Secretary, Department of Homeland Security, United States of America/USA.

7th Place: M/s Christene Lagarde, a French Lady, the first woman Managing Director /MD of the International Monetary Fund/IMF.

6th Place: M/s Sherlyl Sandberg, the Chief Operating Officer/COO of the Social Networking Service- Facebook, USA.

5th Place: M/s Hillary Clinton, the Secretary of State, United States of America/USA.

4th Place: M/s Michelle Obama, the First Lady of the United States of America/USA.

3rd Place: M/s Melinda Gates, w/o Bill Gates and the co-chairman of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, USA.

2nd Place: M/s Dilma Rouseff, the President of Brazil.

1st Place: M/s Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor for a third term.

She has been in the 1st Place of Forbes’ List of Top 10 the most powerful women for the 7th time in the past 10 years.

India’s Prime Minister-Dr.Manmohan Singh is said to be a reluctant traveler.

However, as the Prime Minister, (for a consecutive 2 Terms in UPA I and UPA II) he could not avoid international trips, as the country’s situations demand for the international trips of the Prime Minister.

So, Dr.Manmohan Singh has so far had 73 International trips from the year 2004 to the year 2013 till date.

The expenditures for Dr.Manmohan Singh’s International trips is said to be more than Rs 650 Crores in the past 10 years.

By perusing the list of his international trips, Dr.Manmohan Singh you may tend to call him a “Non-Resident Prime Minister of India”.

Most of the Prime Minister of India' s international trips, such as to attend “Summits” and “UNO” Meets are unavoidable.

The main criticism about Dr Manmohan Singh's International Trips are that , out of about 40 International trips of Dr.Manmohan Singh, in his UPA II tenure, more than 15 international trips have been during the time of the Indian Parliamentary sessions.

The following is a List of International Trips undertaken by the Indian Prime Minister, Dr.Manmohan Singh from the year 2004 to the year 2013 (Till Date-As of now he is in his Russia and China Trip from 20th October 2013 to 24th October 2013)

Year and Number of Trips/City/Country/Purpose and Duration of Visit
2004/4:
1.    Bangkok/Thailand/29th July 2004- 31st July 2004
2.    London/United Kingdom-/19th September 2004- 26th September 2004
3.    Hague/Netherlands-Representing India-in the 5th India- European Union Summit/EU/ 7th November 2004- 10th November 2004
4.    Vientiane/Laos / Representing India in the 10th ASEAN Summit/28th November 2004 - 30th November 2004

2005/11:
1.    Mauritius/Mainly to inaugurate an 11-storeyed state-of-the-art Cyber Tower, built with Indian assistance/ 30th March 2005- 2nd April 2005
2.    Jakarta/Indonesia/to attend Asia-Africa Summit / 22nd April 2005 -24th April 2005
3.    Moscow/Soviet Russia/ to participate in the VE Day /Victory in Europe Day/Victory Day Celebrations / 8th May 2005 - 10th May 2005
4.    Auchterarder/ Scotland, United Kingdom/To attend the 31st G-8 Summit hosted by the British Prime Minister Tony Blair held at the Gleneagles Hotels /6th July 2005 - 9th July 2005
5.    Washington/United States of America/USA /in response to the invitation from the President of the USA, George W Bush/16th July 2005- 21st July 2005
6.    Kabul/Afghanistan/28th August 2005 - 29th August 2005
7.    New York/USA/ to attend the United Nations Organization's /UNO's General Assembly/11th September 2005 - 15th September 2005 And to France on 15thSeptember 2005 on his way back home from New York
8.    Dhaka/Bangladesh/To attend the 13th South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation/SAARC Summit / 11th November 2005- 13th November 2005
9.    Moscow/ Russia/ 4th December 2005 - 7th December 2005
10.    Kuala Lumpur/Malaysia/2005- to attend the first Indo-ASEAN Summit held on 14th December 2005 /11th December 2005- 14th December
11.    Germany and Uzbekistan /22nd April 2006- 26th April 2006

2006/7:
1.    St. Petersburg /Russia /to attend the Outreach Session of G-8 Summit/16th July 2006- 18th July 2006
2.    Brazil and Cuba/10th September 2006- 18th September 2006
3.    In Brasilia/ Brazil /attended the Trilateral Summit of India, Brazil and South Africa/IBSA /In the 14th Non-Aligned Movement/NAM Summit held at Havana, Cuba
4.    Dr Manmohan Singh had talks with the President of Pakistan, Parvez Musharraf and decided to resume the composite dialogue process between India and Pakistan which was on hold since July 2011 Mumbai blasts
5.    Johannesburg/ South Africa/30th September 2006 - 3rd October 2006
6.    London/United Kingdom /in response to the invitation of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair And Helsinki, Finland/ to attend the 7th India-EU Summit /9th October 2006-14th October 2006
7.    Japan/ A Joint Statement ‘Towards Japan-India Strategic and Global Partnership’ was signed by the Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and the Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe/13th December 2006 - 16th December 2006

2007/6:
1.    Cebu/ Philippines / To attend the 5th ASEAN-India Summit and the 2nd East Asia Summit/13th January 13, 2007 -15th January 2007
2.    Berlin/Germany /To attend G 8 Summit held at the Baltic resort of Heiligendamm /6th June 2007- 9th June 2007
3.    Nigeria /in response to the invitation of the President of Nigeria Alhaji Umaru Yar Adua and to South Africa/ to attend the second India-Brazil-South Africa /IBSA- Summit held at Pretoria on 17th October 2007/14th October 2007- 18th October 2007
4.    Moscow/ Russia/ A visit according to the tradition of holding annual summit meetings between the heads of India and Russia/ 11th November 2007-13th November 2007
5.    Singapore/ To attend the 6th India-ASEAN Summit and 3rd East Asia Summit/20th November 2007 - 21st November 2007
6.    Uganda,/South Africa/To attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government meet/CHOGM/ 22nd November 2007- 25th November 2007

2008/8:
1.    Beijing/ China-/13th January 2008-15th January 2008
2.    Bhutan/ addressed a joint session of the first elected Parliament of Bhutan/ 16th May 2008- 17th May 2008-
3.    Japan/to attend the G-8 Summit held at Toyako, island of Hokkaido/ 7th July 2008 - 9th July 2008
4.    Colombo/ Srilanka/ to attend SAARC Summit/ 1st August 2008-3rd August 2008
5.    UNO, USA and France/ 22nd September   2008- 1st October 2008
6.    Japan and China /for the ASEM Summit/21st October 2008- 25th October 2008
7.    Oman and Qatar/ 8th November 2008-10th November 2008
8.    Washington/USA/ for G-20 Summit/ 13th November 2008- 16th November 2008

2009/9:
1.    United Kingdom /for G-20 Summit/31st March 2009- 3rd April 2009
2.    Russia/ to attend the BRIC and SCO Summits/15th June 2009- 17th June 2009
3.    Italy /to attend the G8-G5 Summit/ 7th July 2009- 10th July 2009
4.    France and Egypt/ for NAM Summit-/13th July 2009-16th July 2009
5.    Pittsburgh/ USA/ for the G-20 Summit/ 24th September 2009 -25th September 2009
6.    Thailand/ for the India- ASEAN and EAS Summits/ 23rd October 2009- 25th October 2009
7.    United States of America/USA, Trinidad and Tobago/ for CHOGM/21st November 2009- 28th November 2009
8.    Russia/ 6th December 2009- 8th December 2009
9.    Copenhagen/ 17th December 2009 - 17th December 2009

2010/7:
1.    Saudi Arabia/27th February 2010- 1st March 2010
2.    USA/ for Nuclear Security Summit and Brazil for IBSA and BRIC Summits/ 10th April 2010-17th April   2010
3.    Bhutan/ for SAARC Summit/ 28th April 2010- 30th April 2010
4.    Canada/to attend the G-20 Summit/ 25th June 2010- 29th June 2010
5.    Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam/24th October 2010-30th October 2010
6.    South Korea /10th November 2010- 12th November 2010
7.    Belgium and Germany/9th December 2010 - 12th December 2010

2011/9:
1.    China and Kazakhstan/12th April 2011 - 16th April 2011
2.    Afghanistan / 12th May 2011- 13th May 2011
3.    Ethiopia and Tanzania/23rd May 2011- 28th May 2011
4.    Bangladesh /6th September 2011- 7th September 2011
5.    South Africa/17th October 2011 – 19th October 2011
6.    Cannes /for G-20 Summit/2nd November 2011 – 5th November 2011
7.    Maldives /9th November 2011 – 12th November 2011
8.    Bali Islands/ for the India-ASEAN and EAS Summits And to Singapore/ 17th November 2011 – 20th November 2011
9.    Moscow /Russia/for the India - Russia summit/ 15th December 2011 – 17th December 2011

2012/5:
1.    Republic of Korea /for the Nuclear Security Summit /23rd March 2012 -27th March 2012
2.    Myanmar/27th May 2012 – 29th May 2012
3.    Mexico/ for G-20 Summit And Brazil /for UN Conference on Sustainable Development/16th June 2012 – 23rd June 2012
4.    Tehran for NAM Summit/August 28, 2012 - August 31, 2012
5.    Cambodia /for the India-ASEAN Summit/18th November 2012 – 20 November 2012

2013/7:
1.    Durban /South Africa/for the BRICS Summit/25th March 25, 2013 – 29th March 2013
2.    Germany/10th April 2013 -12th April 2013
3.    Japan and Thailand/27th May 2013 – 31st May 2013
4.    St. Petersburg/ Russia /to attend the G-20 Summit/4th September 2013 – 7th September, 2013
5.    USA/25th September 2013 – 1st October 2013
6.    Brunei and Indonesia/ 9th October 2013 – 12th October 2013
7.    Russia and China/ 20th October 2013 -24th October 2013

India’s “Master of Cricket”-Sachin Tendulkar, has since announced that he would retire from ‘Test Cricket’ after his 200th ‘test match’ be played in Mumbai, against West Indies in November 2013.

As a fitting farewell-tribute to the “Indian Master of Cricket”, Sachin Tendulkar’s name finds a place, that too, as the 4th batsman, (Sachin Tendulkar’s normal batting order in test matches) in the ‘Wisden’s- All Time Test World- XI’ –Team announced, to mark the 150th Anniversay of ‘Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack.

‘Wisden Cricketers' Almanack’ /’Wisden’/ "The Bible of Cricket” is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom.

“Wisen “is considered as the world's most famous sports reference book.

‘Wisden’ was founded by the English Cricketer John Wisden (1826-1884) in the year 1864, as a competitor to ‘Fred Lilly White’s-‘The Guide to the Cricketers’.

Many traditional Awards such as the following had been given from the year 1889:

"Wisden Cricketers of the Year",

"Six Great Bowlers of the Year",

"Nine Great Batsmen of the Year",

"Five Great Wicket-Keepers of the year".

and "Five Great Players of the Year” had been given every year from the year 1889, excluding the years, 1916/1917 and from 1941 to 1946 because of the first and the second world wars.
In the year 2004, ‘ Wisden- Leading Cricketer of the World award’ was started to be given.

The “Wisden Cricketers of the Year” /CY is the cricketer selected for the honour by the annual publication -Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.

In 2012, an Indian edition of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack was launched to widespread acclaim.

In order to mark the 150th Anniversay of ‘Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, and in celebrations of the 187th Birthday of John Widen, a list of an ‘All-Time Test World XI’ Team, with Don Bradman, the legendary Australian batsman as the captain of the team including.:

4 Englishmen,
3 West Indians,
2 Australians,
1Indian and
1 Pakistani,

The following is the list of the “All Time Test World XI” of ‘Wisden’-Dream Team:

Jack Hobbs (England, Wisden CY of 1909) 61 Tests, 5,410 runs at 56.94(Opening Batsman- 1)

W. G. Grace (England, CY of 1896) 22 Tests, 1,098 runs at 32.29 (Opening Batsman 2)

Don Bradman (Australia, CY of 1931)) 52 Tests, 6,996 runs at 99.94-Captain

Sachin Tendulkar (India, CY of 1997) 198 Tests, 15,837 runs at 53.86

Vivian Richards (West Indies, CY of 1977) 121 Tests, 8,540 runs at 50.23

Garry Sobers (West Indies, CY of 1964) 93 Tests, 8,032 runs at 57.78, 235 wickets at 34.03

Alan Knott (England, CY of 1970) 95 Tests, 4,389 runs at 32.75, 250 catches, 19 stumpings- Wicket Keeper

Wasim Akram (Pakistan, CY of 1993) 104 Tests, 414 wickets at 23.62

Shane Warne (Australia, CY of 1994) 145 Tests, 708 wickets at 25.41

Malcolm Marshall (West Indies, CY of 1983) 81 Tests, 376 wickets at 20.94

Sydney Barnes (England, CY of 1910) 27 Tests, 189 wickets at 16.43

You may note that Sachin Tendulkar is the only Indian Cricketer, in the above prestigious’- ‘Dream Team’and one of the 2 Asians, the other Asian being Pakistan’s Wasim Akram.

Related Reading:

List of Bharat Ratna Award Recipients From 1954 Till Date

Name: Prabodh Chandra Dey

Known As: Manna Dey

Occupation: Indian Cinema Play-back Singer Father: Purna Chandra Dey

Mother: Mahamaya Dey

Date of Birth: 01st May 1919 at Kolkata

Manna Dey being born and brought up in Kolkata (West Bengal) came to Mumbai and throughout his singing career, he stayed in Mumbai for more than 50 years.

As he got married to Sulochana, native of Kerala whose family was in Bangalore, Karnataka, Manna Dey had been in Bangalore in his later years.

Manna Dey with his wife Sulochana in Bangalore

Date of Death: 24th October 2013 at Bangalore at the age of 94 years

Education: At Indu Babur Pathshala, Kolkata, Scottish Church Collegiate School, Scottish Church College, Kolkata and Vidyasagar College, Kolkata

Music Training:
Manna Dey learnt music from Krishna Chandra Dey and Ustad Dabir Khan.

Singing Career:
From 1942- 2006 The first song in the Hindi movie Tamanna(1942)- "Jago Aayee Usha Ponchi Boley Jago" a duet with Suraiya and the last song in the Hindi Movie Umar(2006) “Duniyawalon Ko Nahi Kuch Bhi Khabar” -Had sung more than 4000 songs in various Indian Languages, mainly in Hindi and Bengali and also in Gujarathi, Assamese, Malayalam and Kannada

Manna Dey has sung 2 hit-songs in Malayalam - "Maanasamaine Varoo" in “Chemmeen”-1965

Maanase Maine Varoo Song in Malayalam Movie Chemmeen

and “Chemba Chemba” in “Nellu”-1974 a duet with P.Jayachandran,

Chemba Chemba Song in Malayalam Movie Nellu

and both the Malayalam songs had been composed by Salil Chowdhary and the song-lyrics written by Vayalar.

Manna Dey has sung more than 100 Hindi songs along with the popular Hindi Cinema Play-back singer Mohamed Rafi, and 6 songs with the Hindi Play-back singer-cum-actor-Kishore Kumar

The following is a list of a few hit Hindi songs sung by Manna Dey:

“Tu Pyar Ka Sagar Hai”- in ‘Seema’-1955,

"Prem Bada Balwan Jagat"- the first duet song with Suman Kalyanpur in ‘Maayaa Nagri’-1957,

“Babu Samjho Ishare”- a duet with Kishore Kumar- in ‘Chalthi Kaa Naam Gaadi’-1958,

“Na To Karwan Ki Talaash Hai”-in ‘Barsaat Ki Raat’-1960,

“Mai Tere Pyar Ka Bimar Hu Kya Arz Karu”-in ‘Love in Tokyo’-for Mehmood-1966,

“Zindagi Kaisi Hai Paheli”-in Rajesh Khanna’s ‘Anand’-1971,

Rajesh Khanna in Zindagi Kaisi Hai Paheli Song in Anand

“Yari Hai Imaan Mera”-in Amitabh Bhachchan and Pran starring-Zanjeer-1973,

“Itna Manta Tu Mera” duet with S.Janaki in ‘Aashiq C.I.D’- 1973,

“Mere Pyale Mein Sharab Daal de”-in ‘Aamir Garib’-1974,

Mere Pyale Mein Sharab Daal de Song in Amir Garib

“Yeh Dosti-Hum Nahi Todenge”-in “Sholay”duet with Kishore Kumar(Munna Dey for Amitabh Bachchan-and Kishore Kumar for Dharmendra) -1975,

Yeh Dosti Hum Nahi Todenge Song in Hindi Movie Sholay

“Ho Gaanga Maiya Ki”-duet with P.Susheela in “Gangaa Ki God Mein”-1980

"Band Mutthee"-Munna Dey with Mohamed and Kishore Kumar in "Chalti Ka Naam Zindagi"-1981

Bank Mutthee Song in Chalthi Kaa Naam Zindagi Sung by Rafi Kishore and Manna Dey

“Ami Je Jalsaghare”-in the Bengali Movie-‘Antony Firingee’-1967 (Bengali)

Awards Conferred on Manna Dey:

The “Best Male Playback Singer”in Hindi Movies- National Film Award- for the Hindi Film “Mere Huzur”-1969

National Film Award for the “Best Male Playback Singer” in Bengali Movies-for the Bengali Film”Nishi Padma”-1971

National Film Award for the “Best Male Playback Singer” in Hindi Movies-for the Hindii Film-“Mera Naam Joker”-1971

Filmfare Award for the “Best Male Playback Singer”-for the Hindi Movie-“Mera Naam Joker”-1972

“Lata Mangeshkar Award”-by the State Government of Madhya Pradesh-1985,

Government of Kerala’s National Award for the ‘Best Playback singer’-2004

Honorary Doctorate (D.Litt) by the ‘Rabindra Bharthi University-2004

Government of Maharashtra’s ‘Life Time Achievement Award’ -2005

Padma Bhushan”- Indian Union Government -2005

The first ‘Akshaya Mohanty Award’ of the State Government of Odisha-2007

“Dadasaheb Phalke Award” Union Government of India-2007

“Filmfare’s Life-Time Achivement Award”-2011

Government of West Bengal’s ‘Banga Vibhushan’ Award-2011.

Manna Dey's-Auto-biography in the Bengali language, named-“Jiboner Jalsaghorey”, has been published by “Ananda Publishers” in the year 2005, and the same has been translated in English, in the name, “Memories Come Alive”, in Hindi, in the name, “Yaden Jee Uthi” and in Marathi, in the name, “Jiboner Jalsaghorey”.

A documentary on the life of Manna Dey, in the name, “Jibaner Jalsaghore” has been released in the year 2008.

The “Manna Dey Sangeet Academy” is developing a complete archive on “Manna Dey”.

The“Manna Dey- Music Archive" has been developed in the Sangeet Bhawan, in association with “Rabindra Bharati University”, Kolkata.

Ministry of Sports in India:
In India, the "Department of Sports" was formed in 1982 (after 35 years of Independence) at the time of organization of the IX Asian Games in New Delhi .

The Department's name was changed to the "Department of Youth affairs and Sports", in the year 1985,during celebration of the International Youth Year.

The above Department became a "Ministry"on 27th May,2000.

Subsequently, the" Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports" was bifurcated into two Departments,namely, the " Department of Youth Affairs" and the "Department of Sports" under two separate Secretaries w.e.f. 30th April,2008.

Chess Originated in India:
The popular “International Sports”-Chess was originally invented in India.

The original and the early game of ‘Chess’ was called “Chaturanga“/”Chaturangam”.

Martial Arts Originated in India:
The “Martial Arts”/'Art of Self Defence’ originated and created first in India.

And later the ‘martial arts’ was spread to the Asian countries by the Buddhist-monks and missionaries.

India in Olympics Games:
India had participated in the ‘Olympic Games’ for the first time in the year 1900.

Indian athlete Norman Pritchard participated in the 1900 Olympics representing India and won two medals.

Olympics Medals won by India:
India has won only 26 medals since 1900 till 2012 in Olympic Games.

IPL in India:
India’s “Indian Premier League” /“IPL”-Cricket is the second-richest sports league after the “National Basket Ball Association” /“NBA” of the United States of America/USA, according to Forbes agazine.

Snakes and Ladders Games Originated in India:
The “Snakes and Ladders”-Games was created in India, by a 13th century poet-Saint Gyadev.
The original name of the game was “Paramabhadham”/”Mokshapath”.

Playing Cards Games Originated in India:
The Cards Games/Playing Cards originated from India and further modified by other countries.

Polo Originated in India:
The Polo sports also originated from India and further modified by other countries.

Is "Hockey"the National Games of India?:
The Field Hockey was considered to be the ‘National Games/Spots’ of India. However, recently the Government of India has confirmed that “Hockey” is not the official games/sports of India, in replying a query in “Right To Information”/”RTI” process and in fact no games/sports has been announced officially by the Government of India.

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