The writer and painter who gave both India and Bangladesh their national anthems—“Jana Gana Mana” and “Amar Shonar Bangla”—and who traveled widely, making friends from Europe to Argentina, is still seen as towering cultural icon today. He was the first person who was not from the West to win the prestigious Nobel Prize for Literature for his prolific body of work. According to Judith Plotz, a George Washington University professor who moderated an event in the Nobel laureate’s honor at the Asia Society in March, Tagore wrote 12 novels, 3,000 poems and and over 2,000 songs.

He was also a huge source of inspiration for another icon from Bengal—film-maker Satyajit Ray.

The celebrations this weekend cap a year of commemoration that kicked off last May. Many of the events are aimed at bringing the poet closer to younger people, many of whom are not very familiar with his works.

Tuk Tuk Kumar, an official at the Ministry of Culture, said in an email that the celebratory events for Tagore’s birth anniversary had kicked off last year in May with a special train called the Sanskriti Express that displayed his works.

In Bangladesh, the British Council has also held months of events in Tagore’s honor, culminating in a fashion show on Tuesday.

Indian Vice-President Hamid Ansari arrived in Bangladesh Thursday to take part in celebrations there, while the events in India begin Saturday.

As with the celebratory events of many popular political and cultural leaders, Tagore’s birth anniversary will also see the release of a commemorative postage stamp by India’s telecom minister, Kapil Sibal, while ruling Congress Party chief will release a volume of his paintings.

Films inspired by some of Tagore’s most popular works will be screened free at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi National Center for Arts from Saturday to Monday. The 1957 movie “Kabuliwalla” by director Tapan Sinha (The Afghan Vendor), adapted from a much loved short story of a street vendor who strikes up a friendship with a neighborhood kid, and Satyajit Ray’s 1961 classic “Teen Kanya” (Three Daughters), based on three Tagore short stories, are some of the films on their schedule.

New Delhi’s Sahitya Akademi is hosting a seminar on his work on Saturday and a poetry event on Sunday, where around 30 eminent poets will recite translations of his work into India’s many languages.

India’s National Film Development Corporation, together with the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting have put together a DVD collection of films based on Tagore’s work for 399 rupees ($9) that will be launched at the commemorative function in Delhi Saturday. These have undergone both picture and sound restoration, an official at the film corporation said. It features classics like the 1984 film “Ghare Baire” (Home and the World)” and “Khudito Pashan” (Hungry Stones).

A special feature in the DVD, which will go on sale from May 9, is the rare silent film “Natir Puja,” a compilation of footage from a film that Tagore worked on towards the end of his life. This partial, but restored film was a dance drama and forms a “landmark in Indian cinema being the only film where Tagore was directly involved in production,” a film corporation official said.

The celebrations don’t end there.

An exhibition of over 100 Tagore works will be held in New Delhi in June, and then in Berlin, said Ms. Kumar, of the Ministry of Culture, adding that discussions are on with museums in the U.K. and Rome as well.

India and Bangladesh are also working on introducing the Rabi Thirth, a travel circuit covering his birthplace Jorasankho Thakurbari and Shantiniketan, where he lived, wrote and founded a school that eventually became a university, in West Bengal, and places in Bangladesh, like Shilaidaha, Kushtia, Shahzadpur and Patesar that he used to frequently visit.

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Victoria Fodale, In-Stat analyst. said: “More than 294 million CE devices with Wi-Fi were shipped in 2007 and the compound annual growth rate for CE Wi-Fi devices through 2012 will be 26 percent.”

Because of its large installed base in mobile PCs and home networks, flexibility, and mature ecosystem, Wi-Fi is a valued, “Swiss army knife” technology for the consumer electronic (CE) market.

“Digital TV will be the second largest category of CE stationary devices shipping with Wi-Fi. The sheer volume of digital TV shipments will make it a strong market, despite a relatively low Wi-Fi attach rate,” Victoria added.

This research is part of In-Stat’s Wireless LAN service. This service examines new applications for WLAN in business, home, and public sector. Included are forecasts, market perspectives, and segmentation (by technology and application) for WLAN chipsets and end-products.

Source: WebWire

Techtree News Staff, Sep 12, 2008 1551 hrs IST

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Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, September 02: Strongly condemning the act of firing at the Thangmeiband Thingel Leikai residence of Assistant Engineer in Tribal Welfare Department Haobam Subashchandra at about 7.30 pm yesterday, a protest sitting was staged today at Thangmeiband Thingel Leikai.

At the venue of the protest demonstration which was jointly organised by Youth Development Organisation, Thangmeiband Thingel Leikai and Apunba Leikai Meira Paibi Lup.

Thangmeiband Thingel Leikai, placards which read as “We hate sounds of guns”.

“We want peace”, “Act according to aspirations of people”, “Don’t turn weapons to public”, “Let’s give up gun culture”, “Don’t undertake firing attacks in civilian inhabited areas” etc.

According to the wife of Subashchandra, two unidentified youths came to their house yesterday and said that Subashchandra did not come to the place they asked for.

Asking their activities appeared to be jokes, the two youths opened fire at the house.

At the time of firing, Subashchandra was not at home, she said.

One 65 year old woman who lives next door to Subashchandra conveyed that most of her grandchildren did not take their meals on hearing sounds of the firing.

Saying that they also stopped reading after the firing, the woman appealed to all concerned to refrain from any activity that may intimidate common people, specially small children.