Prez to confer Padma awardees today
New Delhi: Fifty-six of the 112 "inspiring" personalities, who were selected for this year's Padma awards, will be conferred the prestigious honour on Monday by President Ram Nath Kovind at a special function in Rashtrapati Bhavan, officials said.
Among those receiving the Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri on Monday are late actor Kader Khan, Akali Dal leader Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and renowned journalist late Kuldip Nayar.
Khan (posthumous) will be honoured with Padma Shri, Dhindsa and Nayar (posthumous) will be honoured with Padma Bhushan, a Home Ministry official said.
Noted theatre personality from Maharashtra Babasaheb Purandare alias Balwant Moreshwar Purandare (Padma Vibhushan), Bihar leader Hukumdev Narayan Yadav (Padma Bhushan), former CEO of multinational techno giant Cisco systems John Chambers, renowned dancer and filmmaker Prabhu Deva (Padma Shri) will also be honoured.
Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other dignitaries are expected to attend the function.
The Padma awards were announced on the eve of Republic Day and the remaining awardees are likely to be conferred the honour at another function to be held on March 16.
This year's awardees are from across the nation, all segments of society and the government has gone beyond excellence alone, recognising larger impact and their selfless service, the official said.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh will also have an interactive session with the Padma awardees and their families Sunday.
The nomination process for Padma awards was made online in 2016 and a simple, accessible and secure online 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, which is 20 times those received in 2014, when there were just 2,200 nominations.
The technological intervention has made the nomination process accessible to the people at large and the emphasis of the government to confer Padma awards on unsung heroes, who are doing selfless service for the nation, have resulted into the above transformation, the official said.
This is reflected in the awardees selected with an eclectic list, covering diverse fields.
An inspiration to all as the stories of their struggles, dedication, perseverance, selflessness and service script the story of 'New India' and the government has transformed the Padma awards into a 'People's Awards' in the true sense, the official said.
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Representative of Iran's Supreme Leader in India calls current situation 'no war, no peace'
Bengaluru (PTI): Representative of Iran's Supreme Leader in India, Abdul Majeed Hakeem Ilahi on Saturday characterised the ongoing tensions between his country and the Israel-US alliance as a state of “no war, no peace”.
Calling for an immediate halt to the conflict, he said the global stability hinges on those who initiated the war.
He questioned why countries affected by the war and suffering from the energy crisis are not pressuring the US and Israel to stop the aggression.
Addressing a press conference here, Ilahi said Iran did not want the conflict, but was compelled to respond amid continued attacks, even as negotiations were expected to continue.
"Iran didn't want this war, but Iran was forced by the war and several times Iran tried to avoid this war... I don't know what is the condition of these people and these countries (US-Israel)... they want to impose on other countries what they want, and who gave them this authority?" he questioned.
Recalling the negotiations Iran held in Oman, he said talks later moved to Geneva and made progress before being disrupted by sudden attacks.
Ilahi claimed that airstrikes and missile attacks led to the deaths of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, ministers, commanders and civilians.
"They killed a lot of civilians… They attacked a primary school, and they killed 175 innocent girls," he said, claiming over 4,000 deaths, more than 40,000 injuries, and widespread damage to houses, hospitals, universities and public infrastructure.
Despite these losses, he said Iran resisted calls for “unconditional surrender” and stood firm and defended itself.
"They wanted unconditional surrender. Which no one—no one can accept it. Iran said, 'Okay, we are ready to be sacrificed,' but we are not ready to submit ourselves," he added.
He argued that they (US-Israel) proposed the current ceasefire only after realising that they could not achieve any of their objectives after 40 days of conflict.
The envoy further claimed that the ceasefire is not an actual ceasefire, but a “no war, no peace” situation.
Explaining the current situation in Iran, he said conditions remain stable and people are going about their daily lives.
"They are working ....(leading) their ordinary life. They are working—they're going farming and they do everything....and they aren't scared of anything. And they are ready to defend themselves," he added.
Addressing the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz, he said the situation was stable before February 28 and all countries benefited from it.
"(For) 10,000 years, the Strait of Hormuz was open...and Iran daily yearly spent a lot for providing security in the Strait of Hormuz... so no one even complained anything about the Strait of Hormuz. Everyone was free...and even our enemies their warship was passing through the Strait of Hormuz," he said.
However, he linked the current maritime instability to the actions of the US and Israel.
"So Iran cannot do anything. Those people who initiated, created and started this war, they have to stop it. And everything will go back to normal," he said.
Criticising the mentality of the "great powerful country", Ilahi said, "they think they have the right to do whatever they want. It should change."
He sought to know why the countries affected by the conflict are not exerting pressure on the US and the "Zionist" regime to halt the war.
"Why are they not asking them? This crisis and problem by which a lot of countries are affected was created by them. A lot of factories are closed and even working days in some countries reduced... A lot of restaurants are closed," he said.
Seeking fairness and justice, Ilahi said instead of asking Iran, all those nations should ask those who initiated this war to stop it, by telling them, "we are suffering."
To a query on international mediation, Ilahi, referring to the US, asked, "Is it acceptable and reasonable that one country orders all countries -- you should not deal with this country, You should not purchase from this country. You should not have business with this country. You should not buy from this country."
Ilahi also highlighted Iran's long-standing ties with India and said, "It is a great country and we respect India and Indians."
"We have 5,000 years relationship and friendship. We are connected to India by education, by philosophy, by culture, by civilisation and by the economy," he said.
According to him, the bilateral cooperation remains strong, citing diplomatic engagement.
"At the moment also, our relationship, collaboration, cooperation with India is very good," he said, adding Iran allowing Indian ships to pass through Strait of Hormuz reflects the ties.
"Iran allowed Indian ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Why? A lot of countries couldn't get this permission?... The relationship between Iran and India is very good," he added.
He expressed confidence that in future too, the ties between Iran and India will be strong.
