The Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration is a prestigious award accorded by the Indian National Congress, after Indira Gandhi, a former Prime Minister of India. The award is given annually, starting from 1985, to distinguished persons/institutions for promoting national integration and understanding and fellowship amongst religious groups, communities, ethnic groups, cultures, languages and traditions of India and the strengthening, through thought and action of the nation's sense of solidarity. The Awardee is selected by an Advisory Committee of eminent persons representing art, science, culture, education, literature, religion, social work, journalism, law and public life. The Award carries an amount of 5 lakh rupees in cash and a citation. The Award is given on the Martyr's Day. The Award is given for services deserving of recognition in the year to which the Award relates and two years immediately preceding it. [1]
The Award has so far been given to Swami Ranganathananda (1987), Aruna Asaf Ali, The Bharat Scouts and Guides (1987), Rafique Alam (1988), P. N. Haksar, M. S. Subbulakshmi (1990), Rajiv Gandhi (posthumous), Paramdham Ashram (Wardha, Maharashtra), Acharya Tulsi (1993), Bishambhar Nath Pande (1996), Beant Singh (posthumous) and Natwar Thakkar (jointly), Gandhi Institute of Public Affairs (Karnataka), Indira Gandhi Centre for National Integration (Shanti Niketan), A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, Shankar Dayal Sharma (posthumous), Satish Dhawan, H. Y. Sharada Prasad, Ram-Rahim Nagar Slum Dwellers Association (Ahmedabad), Aaman Pathik Peace Volunteer Group (Ahmedabad), Ram Sinh Solanki and Sunil Tamaiche (jointly). [2]
Vinayak Narahari Bhave, also known as Vinoba Bhave, was an Indian advocate of nonviolence and human rights. Often called Acharya, he is best known for the Bhoodan Movement. He is considered as National Teacher of India and the spiritual successor of Mahatma Gandhi. He was an eminent philosopher. The Gita has been translated into the Marathi language by him with the title Geetai.
Jayaprakash Narayan, popularly referred to as JP or Lok Nayak, was an Indian independence activist, theorist, socialist and political leader. He is remembered for leading the mid-1970s opposition against Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, for whose overthrow he had called for a "total revolution". His biography, Jayaprakash, was written by his nationalist friend and the writer of Hindi literature, Rambriksh Benipuri. In 1999, he was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award, in recognition of his social service. Other awards include the Magsaysay award for Public Service in 1965.
Events in the year 1984 in the Republic of India.
The International Gandhi Peace Prize, named after Mahatma Gandhi, is awarded annually by the Government of India.
Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, professionally known as V. M. Bhatt, is a Hindustani classical music instrumentalist who plays the Mohan veena.
Aandhi (transl. 'Storm') is a 1975 Indian political drama film starring Sanjeev Kumar and Suchitra Sen, and directed by Gulzar. At the time it was alleged that the film was based on the life of the then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her relationship with her estranged husband, but in reality, only the look was inspired by the politician Tarkeshwari Sinha and Indira Gandhi. The story is based on a chance meeting of an estranged couple after several years, when wife Aarti Devi, now a leading politician happens to stay in the hotel run by her husband during an election campaign. The movie is noted for its songs composed by Rahul Dev Burman, written by Gulzar and sung by Kishore Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar.
Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama. It is the highest Indian recognition given to people in the field of performing arts. In 2003, the award consisted of Rs. 50,000, a citation, an angavastram, and a tamrapatra. Since 2009, the cash prize has been increased to ₹1,00,000. The awards are given in the categories of music, dance, theatre, other traditional arts and puppetry, and for contribution/scholarship in performing arts.
Chandi Prasad Bhatt is an Indian Gandhian environmentalist and social activist, who founded Dasholi Gram Swarajya Sangh (DGSS) in Gopeshwar in 1964, which later became a mother-organization to the Chipko Movement, in which he was one of the pioneers, and for which he was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership in 1982, followed by the Padma Bhushan in 2005.
Dattatreya Balkrishna Kalelkar, popularly known as Kaka Kalelkar, was an Indian independence activist, social reformer, journalist and an eminent follower of the philosophy and methods of Mahatma Gandhi.
Chandra Shekhar was an Indian politician who served as the 8th Prime Minister of India, between 10 November 1990 and 21 June 1991. He headed a minority government of a breakaway faction of the Janata Dal with outside support from the Indian National Congress. He was the first Indian Prime Minister who had never held any prior government office.
Mohan Dharia was a Union minister, a lawyer and social worker. During his last days he stayed in Pune. Dharia was an environmentalist and ran a non-government organisation Vanarai. He was elected to the Lok Sabha twice from Pune Lok Sabha constituency, first in 1971 as an Indian National Congress (INC) member and became a Minister of State, and later in 1977 as a Bharatiya Lok Dal member, and joined the Morarji Desai Ministry as Union Minister of Commerce. Prior to it, he remained member of the Rajya Sabha twice from INC, first 1964-1970 and then 1970- 1971
Swami Anand was a monk, a Gandhian activist and a Gujarati writer from India. He was the manager of Gandhi's publications such as Navajivan and Young India and inspired Gandhi to write his autobiography, The Story of My Experiments with Truth. He wrote sketches, memoir, biographies, philosophy, travelogues and translated some works.
The Greatest Indian was a poll sponsored by Reliance Mobile and conducted by Outlook magazine, in partnership with CNN-IBN and The History Channel. The poll was conducted from June to August 2012, with the winner, B. R. Ambedkar, announced on 11 August. A program associated with the poll aired from 4 June until 15 August.
Sarala Behn was an English Gandhian social activist whose work in the Kumaon region of India helped create awareness about the environmental destruction in the Himalayan forests of the state. She played a key role in the evolution of the Chipko Movement and influenced a number of Gandhian environmentalists in India including Chandi Prasad Bhatt, Bimala behn and Sunderlal Bahuguna. Along with Mirabehn, she is known as one of Mahatma Gandhi's two English daughters. The two women's work in Garhwal and Kumaon, respectively, played a key role in bringing focus on issues of environmental degradation and conservation in independent India.
Carlos González Vallés S.J., popularly known as Father Vallés, was a Spanish-Indian Jesuit priest and author. He lived in India for five decades and wrote extensively in Gujarati and on mathematics. He also wrote in English and Spanish. He was a recipient of the Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak, the highest award in Gujarati literature, in 1978. He was awarded the Padma Shri posthumously in 2021.
Holenarasipur Yoganarasimham Sharada Prasad was an Indian civil servant, journalist and writer, best known as the media adviser to Indira Gandhi, former Prime Minister of India. He also served as the media adviser to Rajiv Gandhi, during his tenure as the Indian Prime Minister.