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Convenor of Goa Bachao Abhiyan (GBA) Dr Oscar Rebello has been nominated
for CNN-IBN's Indian of the Year Award 2007 in public service category
Vote for him at:
http://www.cnnibnindianoftheyear.com/publicservice_voting_new.php
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Honouring Right People
THE Bharat Ratna award is the countrys highest civilian award conferred on
an individual for his outstanding contribution to the society and the nation as
a whole. A noteworthy luminary who sets trends with his path-breaking ways, the
very persona itself defining a stoic character that stands by what it believes,
the nation bestows on such a man of substance this prestigious honour. With the
number of names doing the rounds, the news of political lobbying hotting up
with various parties demanding the award for their candidates is quite
disgusting to say the least. The way things are shaping up it would appear that
these awards are more of a right than a matter of choice. If political
appeasement is the need of the hour, then why not honour a party stalwart every
year? This entire ruckus at the selection of the right man would then be
relegated to the backstreets of the realms of absurdity. Viewed as the best
amongst the developing countries, such disjointed efforts at
projecting ourselves as a united lot assumes a far wider perspective
considering the ridicules we could be subjected to, putting to shambles our
highly propagated theory of unity in diversity. That we can never see
eye-to-eye is a point beyond debate, but let us not have the entire proceedings
of naming a worthy contender for this distinction reduced to a farce.
Conferring these titles should be seen as a prestigious affair and not one of
those award functions of the tinsel town which seem to have lost all semblances
of credibility.
PACHU MENON, Margao
(The Navhind Times)
INFO ABOUT BHARAT RATNA:
India has produced a legacy of brave hearts since times immemorial. Probably
there is not enough space to measure their sacrifices. However, we cannot close
our eyes to those people who have made our country proud by excelling in their
own fields and bringing us international recognition. Bharat Ratna is the
highest civilian honour, given for exceptional service towards advancement of
Art, Literature and Science, and in recognition of Public Service of the
highest order.
The original specifications for the award called for a circular gold medal,
35 mm in diameter, with the sun and the Hindi legend "Bharat Ratna" above and a
floral wreath below. The reverse was to carry the state emblem and motto. It
was to be worn around the neck from a white ribbon. This design was altered
after a year.
The provision of Bharat Ratna was introduced in 1954.
The first ever Indian to receive this award was the famous scientist,
Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman. Since then, many dignitaries, each a whiz in
varied aspects of their career has received this coveted award. In fact, our
former President, Shri A. P. J Abdul Kalam is also a recipient of this esteemed
honour (1997). There is no written provision that Bharat Ratna should be
awarded to Indian citizens only. The award has been awarded to a naturalized
Indian citizen, Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, better known as Mother Teresa (1980) and
to two non-Indians Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan and Nelson Mandela (1990). It is
also not mandatory that Bharat Ratna be awarded every year. The last time this
award was given was in 2001, to Lata Dinanath Mangeshkar and Ustad Bismillah
Khan.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharat_Ratna
- Forwarded by www.goa-world.com
Goa's Pride - http://www.goa-world.com
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Moderated by Gaspar Almeida & presented by Ulysses Menezes www.goa-world.com
http://www.blogcatalog.com/post-tag/konkani
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