scorecardresearch
Friday, Mar 29, 2024
Advertisement

Modi confers PM Rashtriya Bal Puraskar on 29 children

The children have been awarded for “exceptional achievement’’ in different sectors, including – Innovation (7), Social Service (4), Scholastic (1), Sports (8), Art and Culture (6) and Bravery (3).

PM interacts with the awardees at a virtual event. (ANI)PM interacts with the awardees at a virtual event. (ANI)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday conferred the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar (PMRBR) award to 29 children from across the country ahead of Republic Day. The children received digital certificates through the blockchain technology – the first time that the technology has been used in conferring awards by the government – and a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh each. The Prime Minister also interacted with the winners virtually.

The awards have been given for winners of 2021 and 2022 PMRBR – certificates were issued to 61 children from both years.

The children have been awarded for “exceptional achievement’’ in different sectors, including – Innovation (7), Social Service (4), Scholastic (1), Sports (8), Art and Culture (6) and Bravery (3). There are 15 Boys and 14 Girls among the awardees belonging to 21 states and Union territories.

Advertisement

The Centre organised a virtual event for the awards, in light of the developing Covid-19 situation in the country, and the awardees along with their parents gathered at the offices of their respective district magistrates where they interacted virtually with the prime minister.

The awards were handed out using a Block Chain-driven technology developed by IIT Kanpur under the National Blockchain Project. The digital certificates are stored on digital wallets installed on the mobile devices of the recipients. The digital certificates issued using the blockchain-driven technology are unforgeable, globally verifiable, selectively disclosable and sensitive to user content, said a statement issued by the women and child development ministry.

Festive offer

Union Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani and MoS Dr Munjpara Mahendrabhai were also present at the virtual event.

Interacting with Avi Sharma of Indore, Madhya Pradesh, the prime minister asked him about the secret of his “prolific output’’ of couplets based on the Ramayana. Sharma said that he got the inspiration through the broadcasting of the Ramayana during the lockdown. Sharma also recited some of his couplets.

Advertisement

The prime minister spoke to Remona Evette Pereira from Karnataka about dance, with Puhabi Chakraborti of Tripura and Meedhansh Kumar Gupta from Punjab about their Covid-19 innovations and apps and congratulated Dhiraj Kumar from West Champaran in Bihar on saving his younger brother from a crocodile attack.

Modi said that the awards become “all the more significant in the light of the fact that they have been conferred during the important period when the country is celebrating Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’’.

Also mmarking the National Girl Child Day on Monday, Modi said that the contribution of freedom fighters like Birbala Kanaklata Barua, Khudiram Bose and Rani Gaidinilu were significant. “These fighters had made the country’s freedom the mission of their lives at a very young age and had dedicated themselves for it,” Modi said.

 

The prime minister remarked that a digital statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose has also been installed near the India Gate in Delhi. “We get the biggest inspiration from Netaji – duty of the nation first. Taking inspiration from Netaji, you have to proceed on the path of duty for the country,” he added.

Advertisement

Modi said that in any sector, policies and initiatives are keeping youth at the centre. He cited initiatives like Start Up India, Stand Up India, Digital India, Make in India along with Jan Andolan of Atmanirbhar India and creation of modern infrastructure.

He “conveyed the nation’s pride’’ in the fact that major global companies are being led by Indian young CEOs. “Today we feel proud when we see the youth of India excelling in the world of start-ups. Today we feel proud when we see that the youth of India are innovating, taking the country forward,” the prime minister said.

Modi also pointed out that since January 3, more than 40 million children have got the corona vaccine.

***

Haryana teen takes big app steps

CHANDIGARH: Tanish Sethi, 14, learnt how to make mobile applications through YouTube videos in mid-2020, mere months into the pandemic.

Advertisement

The teenager, from Haryana’s Sirsa, has since made over a dozen of them. And on Monday, he was awarded the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar for creating mobile apps that helped provide information and other details to people during the Covid-19 crisis.

Talking to The Indian Express over the phone, Tanish said he started coding during the lockdown in 2020. When there was a scarcity of medical oxygen during the devastating second wave of infections last year, Tanish created a mobile app in April to help people looking for the amenity and the sellers on a digital platform. It was aptly named Oxygen Store.

“I started using a smartphone at the age of 6 and gradually developed an interest in computers. Currently I am working on a few other mobile apps,” the 14-year-old said.

Jalgaon girl shows presence of mind, saves mother’s life

Advertisement

Jalgaon: SIX-YEAR-OLD Shivangi Kale from Jalgaon, one of the recipients of the award for bravery, doesn’t quite comprehend it was her presence of mind that averted a major tragedy in her house in January last year.

It was January 5, 2021, when Shivangi’s mother Gulbakshi Kale, a retired navy official herself, was heating water in a steel bucket using an iron rod electric heater.

Soon, Gulbakshi realised she was getting electrocuted. “I could see my younger daughter running towards me but I could not ask her to stop because I could not speak. Just then, Shivangi held Ishanvi by her hand and pulled her back. I saw her eyes tracing my hand to the switchboard which was at around 5feet height. She brought a stool to stand on and switched off the appliance,” said Gulbakshi.

Down syndrome no bar, Surat girl is Yoga champ

Thirteen-year-old Anvi Zanzarukia was born with Down syndrome and multiple disabilities. Seventy-five per cent of her large intestine does not function; as a result, she faces gastric issues. She also had two holes in her heart that were operated upon in an eight-hour surgery when she was only three years old.

Advertisement

However, all these did not prove to be obstacles to her from climbing the ladders of success. The Surat resident has proven her Yoga skills at several national and state-level competitions and has two national medals in her kitty. “It is her dream to do Yoga on a platform with PM Modi,” said her proud father Vijay Zanzarukia, principal at a Surat Municipal Corporation-run school in the city.

“As she grew up, we found that she enjoyed folding her body parts and her body is flexible. We got her admitted to Yoga classes and started training under instructor Namrata Verma,” said Vijay.

First uploaded on: 24-01-2022 at 17:35 IST
Latest Comment
Post Comment
Read Comments
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
close