Greece confers PM Modi with Grand Cross of the Order of Honour
Athens, Aug 25: Prime minister Narendra Modi was conferred with the prestigious Grand Cross of the Order of Honour by Greek President Katerina N Sakellaropoulou on Friday, becoming the first foreign Head of Government to receive the honour.
The honour is bestowed by the Greek president to prime ministers and eminent personalities who, by reason of their distinguished position, have contributed to enhancing the stature of Greece.
Prime Minister Modi was conferred with the Grand Cross of the Order of Honour by President Sakellaropoulou, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a press release.
"He is the first foreign Head of Government to receive this honour," it said.
The award ceremony took place at the Presidential Mansion in Athens.
Modi, on behalf of the people of India, thanked Sakellaropoulou and the Government and people of Greece for this special honour, the release said.
Tweeting a photograph of the event, Modi said, "This shows the respect the people of Greece have towards India."
The MEA in a tweet said it is "a special honour reflecting the strength of the India-Greece partnership".
The citation, according to pmindia.gov.in website, says, "In the person of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, an honour is bestowed upon the friendly people of India."
"On the occasion of this visit, the Greek State Honours the Prime Minister of India, a statesman who has tirelessly promoted the global reach of his country and who works systematically for India's economic progress and prosperity, bringing about bold reforms. A statesman who has brought environmental protection and climate change among the top priorities of international activity," it states.
The Order of Honour was established in 1975. The head of goddess Athena is depicted on the front side of the Star with the inscription "ONLY THE RIGHTEOUS SHOULD BE HONOURED".
Modi, who is in Athens at the invitation of Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis, arrived in the Greek capital from South Africa where he attended the 15th BRICS Summit.
This is the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Greece in the last 40 years. The last high-level visit to Greece took place in September 1983 when then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi travelled to the country.
Prime Minister Modi has been honoured by countries across the world. Recently, during his visit to Paris in July, Modi was conferred with the highest honour of France, the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, by French President Emmanuel Macron.
In June, Modi was conferred with the Order of the Nile', Egypt's highest honour, by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, during his visit to the Arab nation.
During his US visit in 2020, Modi was conferred with the Legion of Merit award by then president Donald Trump.
In 2019, the prime minister was conferred with the King Hamad Order of the Renaissance by Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa. It is the top honour in the Gulf country.
Modi was also honoured with Russia's highest civilian award, Order of St Andrew Award, in 2019. In the same year, he also received the Order of Zayed Award, the highest civilian honour of the UAE.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Mohanlal, Shah Rukh, Rani Mukerji, Vikrant Massey conferred National Awards
New Delhi, Sep 23 (PTI): President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday conferred National Awards for acting to Shah Rukh Khan, Vikrant Massey and Rani Mukerji while Malayalam superstar Mohanlal was honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke lifetime achievement award in a ceremony that doffed its hat to mainstream popular cinema.
Filmmakers Vidhu Vinod Chopra, who took home the best film prize for "12th Fail", and Karan Johar and Apoorva Mehra, who received the award for "Rocky Aur Rani Kii Kahaani" for best popular film providing wholesome entertainment, completed the starry ensemble at the 71st National Film Awards.
The best director award went to Sudipto Sen for "The Kerala Story".
The National Awards for 2023 were announced in August. It's the first National Award for friends and frequent collaborators Shah Rukh and Rani as well as for Vikrant. While Shah Rukh got it for his role in "Jawan", sharing his win with "12th Fail" star Vikrant, Rani bagged it for "Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway".
There were whistles and loud cheers as Rani and Shah Rukh went up to receive their awards at the traditionally sober ceremony. Mohanlal, recognised for a remarkable career spanning five decades and more than 360 films, got a standing ovation from the crowd gathered at the city's Vigyan Bhawan.
"I got to know that when Mohanlal's name was announced for Dadasaheb Phalke, there was wave of happiness among people. It shows that he has made a space for himself in countless people's heart," the president said in her address after the award ceremony.
"He has presented the softest of the soft and toughest of the tough emotions quite naturally," Murmu added in a speech in which she congratulated all the winners and touched on various issues, including the plurarity of Indian cinema, Indian sensibility and women-centric films.
"Now we see women in many places in cinema like actors and producers. I have seen films about mothers, women uniting against societal wrongs, and strong women who raise their voices. I salute these filmmakers on behalf of sisters and daughters.
Please thank your crews for your success, they are behind it,' she said.
Just like Indian literature is created in various Indian languages, the president said, Indian cinema is advancing in so many languages, dialects, regions and local environments.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw spoke of the Make in India initiative of the government.
"Equipment used in the film industry such as big cameras... should be made in India. We will be started a programme on this soon," he said. The minister also stressed on the need to create a live concert economy with proper policy support, uniform guidelines and easy permissions.
As the recipient of the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke, Mohanlal was the only awardee who spoke.
He said he was deeply humbled to be the youngest recipient, and "only the second ever" from the state to be bestowed with this national recognition.
"This moment is not mine alone. It belongs to the entire Malayalam cinema fraternity. I see this award as a collective tribute to our industry, legacy, creativity and resilience," added the 65-year-old movie legend known for landmark films such as “Iruvar”, “Vanaprastham”, “Pulimurugan” and “Drishyam”.
Hindi cinema dominated the awards in the main categories.
Among those presented awards were Meghna Gulzar and Ronnie Screwvala for the biopic on Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw "Sam Bahadur", the best film promoting national, social and environmental values.
Vaibhavi Merchant won the best choreography award for "Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani" song "Dhindhora Baaje". Shilpa Rao was named best female playback singer for "Jawan" track "Chaleya".
Sanya Malhotra-starrer "Kathal: A Jackfruit Mystery" was named the best Hindi film.
Regional movies were recognised in categories such as best supporting actor and actress and in technical segments.
The best supporting actor trophy was shared by Vijayaraghavan for Malayalam film "Pookalam" and Muthupettai Somu Bhaskar for Tamil film "Parking".
The best supporting actress honour went to Urvashi for the Malayalam movie "Ullozhokku" and Janki Bodiwala for Gujarati title "Vash". Both movies won best films in their respective language segments.
Ashish Bende bagged the award for best debut film of a director for Marathi film "Aatmapamphlet".
The best film in AVGC (animation, visual effects, gaming & comic) went to Telugu film "Hanu-Man", which also won the best action direction award.
"Animal", another Hindi blockbuster of 2023, won awards for best sound design, best music director (background music) and a special mention for re-recording mixer.
The National Award for best screenplay was shared between Telugu movie "Baby" and Tamil film "Parking". "Baby" singer PVN S Rohit was recognised as the best male playback singer for the song "Premisthunna".
The best music director for songs went to G V Prakash for Tamil movie "Vaathi". Kasarla Shyam was named best lyricist for Telugu movie "Balagam" song 'Ooru Palleturu".
Deepak Kingrani was named best dialogue writer for the Manoj Bajpayee-fronted Hindi film "Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai". The best editing prize went to Malayalam title "Pookkaalam" and production design to another Malayalam movie "2018".
Sukriti Veni Bandreddi ("Gandhi Tatha Chettu"), Kabir Khandare ("Gypsy") and "Naal 2" cast members Treesha Thosar, Shrinivas Pokale, and Bhargav Jagtap were recognised in the best child artists category. "Naal 2" was also named best children's film.
In the language film categories, the winners were -- "Rongatapu 1982" (Assamese), "Deep Fridge" (Bengali), "Parking" (Tamil), "Kandeelu" (Kannada), "Shamchi Aai" (Marathi), "Puskara" (Odia), "Godday Godday Chaa" (Punjabi) and "Bhagavanth Kesari" (Telugu).
The winners for various non-feature categories were also announced with Hindi movie "Flowering Man" being named the best film, while the best documentary went to "God Vulture and Human". The best director award was bagged by Piyush Thakur for "The First Film" and the best script went to Chidananda Nayak's Kannada short film "Sunflowers were the First Ones to Know".
