Category Archives: Arts, Culture & Entertainment

GLOBAL RECORDS : ARTS & CULTURE : Regional Cinema: Unesco Glory for ‘Dostojee’, North American Awards for ‘Once Upon a Time in Calcutta’

Dostojee, set in rural Bengal, has won the children’s award CIFEJ Prize while OUATIC, a slice of urban Bengal, was awarded the Grand Jury Award at IFFLA, Los Angeles, and the Circle Award at Filmfest DC, Washington DC.

Jeete khub-i bhalo laagchhe, eta amar bachchader jonno Eid er gift (We are overjoyed with the win; this win is Eid’s gift for the child protagonists of my film)… now we are looking for theatrical distribution partners in India,” says Prasun Chatterjee, whose debut feature Dostojee (Two Friends), set in an early-’90s remote, resplendent rural Bengal along the border, is a tender tale of childhood innocence, a friendship unmarred by the pulls of religious antagonism.

It won the prestigious CIFEJ Prize, recognised and accredited by UNESCO, and picked up the Best Director award in the International Competition section of the 2022 SIFFCY (Smile International Film Festival for Children and Youth).

source/content: indianexpress.com (edited)

INDIA RECORDS : COLONIAL HISTORY : Arunachal Pradesh Villagers Build ‘Misum-Miyang Kumsung Museum’ on Century-Old Battleground of Anglo-Abor Wars

The Museum is located near spot where British officer was killed during the Anglo-Abor War of 1911-12

The people of a village in Arunachal Pradesh’s Siang district have constructed an “eco-friendly” museum near a spot where warriors of the Adi community killed a British officer during a war in 1911-12.

The Adi people inhabiting large swathes of central Arunachal Pradesh had resisted colonial expansion several times between 1858 and 1912. These are called the Anglo-Abor Wars.

The Misum-Miyang Kumsung, meaning “ancient artefacts museum,” has been set up at Komsing village, about 12km from district headquarters Pangin. The spot is near where the Adi warriors had killed Noel Williamson, the British political officer during the last of the wars in 1911-12.

Locally known as the Poju Mimak, the war was fought from October 6, 1911, to January 11, 1912. It is considered one of the most decisive Anglo-Abor wars in the history of the freedom movement in Arunachal Pradesh.

source/content : thehindu.com (edited)

INTERNATIONAL RECORDS : USA : Week-Long Activities to Celebrate India@75 Launched in the US

Programme aims to celebrate the diversity of India and its people through cultural activities.

In commemoration of India’s 75 years of independence, the Indian Consulate here in collaboration with a city-based cultural organisation and a children’s museum commenced a week-long celebration involving a plethora of activities, including traditional paintings, music and storytelling, that honour the history of India’s people, culture and achievements.

The Consulate General of India in New York, The Culture Tree and the Children’s Museum of Manhattan (CMOM) kicked-off the special activities and interactive programming on Monday that aim to celebrate the diversity of India and its people through dance, music, literature, puppetry, drama, food and art, The Culture Tree said in a statement.

Anu Sehgal, founder and President of The Culture Tree which provides South Asian-themed classes and programmes, said that through these events, we can offer cross-cultural exposure that can help shape knowledgeable, open-minded and respectful individuals, while also offering ways in which children and families from the diaspora can connect with and celebrate their heritage.

source/content: telegraphinda.com (edited)

INTERNATIONAL RECORDS : ARTS & CULTURE – India’s Prajwal Chougule, Kolhapur-based Software Engineer Among Apple’s ‘Shot on iPhone’ Photography Challenge Top 10 Global Winners

Apple’s ‘Shot on iPhone’ macro photography challenge invited photography enthusiasts from all over the globe to click the best macro picture using an iPhone 13 Pro/Pro Max.

Prajwal Chougule from Kolhapur, Maharashtra is among the ten global winners of the Apple ‘Shot on iPhone’ macro photography challenge. The global challenge was introduced for photography enthusiasts on January 25, 2022 and accepted entries till February 16, 2022.

Chougule joins nine other winners from countries including China, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Thailand and the US. The 10 winning photos, including Chougule’s will be featured on apple.com, on Apple’s Instagram (@apple), and on billboards in select cities around the world, including cities where the winners are from.

source/content : indianexpress.com (edited)

INDIA RECORD : CULTURE & TEMPLE ENGINEERING : Telangana’s Chamarthi Balabhaskaran World’s First Shilpa and Agama Shastra Sthapathi

According to Indian culture, ‘Agamam’ means ways to perform the ‘puja vidhi’ (Vaidik system) in temples.

It is an expertise known only to a very few people.

‘Sthapatyam’, on the other hand, means temple architecture, mostly used in reference to those who construct and design temples, following religious protocols. A person who studies Sthapatyam is called a ‘Sthapathi’.

High concentration and years of dedication are needed to become an expert in one of the two fields. Bagging a world record as a mark of recognition is something that Chamarthi Balabhaskaran Sthapathi, presently working as an assistant Sthapathi at Vemulawada Temple Area Development Authority (VTADA), has achieved.

In February, Unique World Records Limited had recognised him as the world’s first Shilpa and Agama Shastra Sthapathi.

“I have completed both the courses.

I am the first person in the world to have completed both. The Unique World Records Limited has recognised the feat and communicated to me,” said Mr. Balabhaskaran, adding that these two were the two pillars for a Hindu temple system.

source/content: thehindu.com (edited)

WORLD RECORDS: Tallest Statue of Panchamukhi Anjaneya Swamy unveiled in Karnataka

Chief  Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Sunday said that there will be good times ahead for Karnataka as he unveiled the 161-ft tall Panchamukhi Anjaneya Swamy statue, touted to be the world’s tallest, installed by Basaveshwara Mutt at Bidanagere in Kunigal taluk of Tumakuru district.

“Panchamukhi  Anjaneya is a special form of Hanuman, which is mentioned in the Ramayana.

Hanuman took this form for the welfare of the world. It is the divine wish of Hanuman to have his 161-ft tall statue installed in Karnataka.

The sculptors have done a wonderful job,” Bommai added.

source/content: newindianexpress.com (edited)

WORLD RECORDS : ARTS & CULTURE : Veteran Bengali Writer Amar Mitra Wins Coveted O. Henry Award for 1977 Story

Sahitya Akademi awardee Amar Mitra wrote the story  Gaonburo back in 1977, when he was only 26; today,

it has fetched him the 1919-founded O. Henry Award, whose past winners include William Faulkner, Saul Bellow and Raymond Carver.

The award has reinforced Mr. Mitra’s belief that the short story — titled Gaonburo in Bangla and The Old Man of Kusumpur in English — must have some “internal force” for even the Western audience to find it relevant after 45 long years.

The O. Henry Award is the only yearly award given to short stories of exceptional merit. The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories is an annual collection of the year’s twenty best stories published in U.S. and Canadian magazines, written in English.

source/content; thehindu.com (edited)

GLOBAL – GRAMMY AWARDS : ARTS & CULTURE : India’s Rickey Kej and Falguni Shah Win Big at 2022 Grammy Awards

Rickey Kej earned his second coveted gramophone trophy in the best new album category for Divine Tides. Falguni Shah, a New York-based Indian singer known by her stage name Falu, won her first Grammy Award for A Colorful World in the best children’s album category.

A Mumbai-born singer went to the US and made her career in music, while the other, born in the US, moved back to India, the country of his parents’ birth. The ‘crossover’ stars Falguni Shah and Rickey Kej have now won their respective Grammy Awards .

At the 64th Annual Grammy Awards held on Sunday night in Las Vegas, Kej earned his second coveted gramophone trophy in the best new album category for Divine Tides, his collaboration with The Police drummer Stewart Copeland.

Shah, a New York-based Indian singer known by her stage name Falu, won her first Grammy Award for A Colorful World in the best children’s album category.

source/content: indianexpress.com (edited)

INTERNATIONAL : Beulah Ruth Pinto Performs at EXPO 2020 Dubai

UAE Golden Visa nominee and the renowned English singer nicknamed as ‘The Queen of the Stage’  Beulah Pinto performs in EXPO 2020 on March 11.

Indian origin, Beulah’s performance witnesses a huge crowd at the Australian pavilion, incredible moments as audience members join in singing along with her and rejoicing in dancing.

On December 16, 2021 Beulah Ruth Pinto performed at the Fashion Show among national and international models at Fashion Week 2021 in Dubai at Arena IMG Worlds of Adventure and was organised to showcase the national and international designers sharing the stage at this unique event in Dubai.

source/content: daijiworld.com (edited)

ARTS & CULTURE : Irish Sanskrit Scholar, Rutger Kortenhorst Awarded Padma Shri

President Ramnath Kovind  presented Rutger Kortenhorst, a Sanskrit teacher at John Scottus Senior School in Dublin, Ireland, with the Padma Shri Award for Literature and Education.

Kortenhorst, a Sanskrit enthusiast and researcher, has been a pioneer in propagating Sanskrit in Ireland.

source/content: daijiworld.com