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Beware the Waking Dragon
One of India’s biggest stars, Amitabh Bachchan, says he’s glad people are talking about the gender pay gap.
He recently starred in a film called Pink about feminism and attitudes towards women in India which has caused quite a stir in the country.
He spoke to the BBC’s Yogita Limaye.
Source: Amitabh Bachchan: ‘If she gets paid more than me, that’s fine’ – BBC News
Britain will unveil a statue of Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi on Saturday in London’s prestigious Parliament Square, a space packed with monuments to men who defended the British Empire which Gandhi helped destroy.
In an ironic twist, Gandhi’s likeness will sit close to that of Britain’s former wartime leader Winston Churchill, a man who strained to thwart Indian independence and who despised Gandhi and everything he stood for.
Churchill famously called Gandhi “a seditious Middle Temple lawyer, now posing as a fakir of a type well known in the East, striding half-naked up the steps of the Vice-regal palace.”
But almost seven decades after India won independence from Britain in 1947, in large part thanks to Gandhi’s peaceful civil disobedience campaign, relations between the two countries are strong with both nations keen to boost economic ties.
via Mahatma Gandhi gets London statue near nemesis Churchill | Reuters.
Bill and Melinda Gates received one of India’s highest civilian awards for their work to promote global health and development. The Gates are among four foreigners and 16 Indians to receive the Padma Bhushan award “for distinguished service of high order,” according to a statement from India’s Ministry of Home Affairs.
“We are honored to receive the Padma Bhushan award for social work alongside so many distinguished awardees,” said Mr. and Mrs. Gates in a statement Wednesday
Their foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, started work in India in 2003 to prevent HIV/AIDS. It has since expanded its work to areas including vaccines, maternal and child health, sanitation and agricultural development and has an office in New Delhi. The foundation has an asset trust endowment of $42 billion.
“Our work is guided by the belief that all lives have equal value. We are excited to see the extraordinary progress that India is making in improving the lives of its people,” said the Gates’ statement. “We applaud the government of India’s commitment and look forward to continuing to partner with them to build an equitable system where women and children survive, thrive and reach their full potential.”
The Padma Bhushan is conferred on Jan. 26, Republic Day, each year by the president of India for service in fields including art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports and civil service.
Other winners this year include political commentator Swapan Dasgupta, Supreme Court lawyer Harish Salve and filmmaker Jahnu Barua from the northeastern state of Assam.
The Padma Vibhushan, a higher award conferred on the same day, was awarded to nine people including Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan and BJP co-founder L. K. Advani.
via Bill and Melinda Gates Receive Indian Civilian Award – India Real Time – WSJ.
In pink rubber gloves and a surgical mask, former Miss World and Bollywood movie star Priyanka Chopra is the latest celebrity to be enlisted to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Clean India Campaign.
In an 11-minute-film posted on YouTube, Ms. Chopra can be seen beginning a cleanup of an area where she filmed part of the movie “Agneepath.”
“I remember that there are people who live here and children who play on mounds of garbage and that is their life,” Ms. Chopra says in the short film as she directs a group picking up garbage in Versova in Mumbai. “The idea of doing this is to create something that is long-lasting,” Ms. Chopra adds during the video. “ I wanted to do something a little more than just cleaning a few piles of garbage.”
The film ends with shots of the area spruced up with murals and flower pots.
The Clean India campaign is Mr. Modi’s plan to create a sanitized India by 2019 in honor of the 150th anniversary of independence leader Mahatma Gandhi’s birth. Ms. Chopra is the latest Bollywood star to get involved after Salman Khan and Amitabh Bachchan who have both been pictured with brooms in hand pledging support at the prime minister’s request.
via Priyanka Chopra in Pink Rubber Gloves Joins Modi’s Clean India Campaign – India Real Time – WSJ.
continuously updated blog about China & India
continuously updated blog about China & India
continuously updated blog about China & India
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