Veteran Bollywood actress Rekha who is noted for her versatility and acknowledged as one of the finest actresses in Hindi cinema has been conferred with the third edition of Yash Chopra Memorial Award. The award was bestowed upon her by Maharashtra Governor C Vidyasagar Rao as a honour for her talent and contribution to the film industry.
Rekha was born in Chennai (then Madras) on 10 October 1954 as Bhanu Rekha Ganesan to Tamil actor Gemini Ganesan and Telugu actress Pushpavalli.
Rekha started her career in 1966 as a child actress in the Telugu film Rangula Ratnam. Her film debut as a lead was in Sawan Bhadon (1970), since than Rekha has acted in over 180 films in a career spanning over 40 years.
She has won 3 Filmfare Awards, 2 for Best Actress and 1 for Best Supporting Actress for her roles in Khubsoorat (1980), Khoon Bhari Maang (1988) and Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi (1996), respectively.
She has won National Film Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of a classical courtesan in the film Umrao Jaan (1981). Government of India has honoured her with the Padma Shri in 2010.
The award has been instituted by the T.S.R. Foundation of T Subbarami Reddy in the memory of the producer-director Yash Chopra who died in 2012.
American film and television actor Abe Vigoda best known for roles in The Godfather and Barney Miller, and in the 1970s TV series "Barney Miller" passed away in New Jersey, US. He was 94. He was known for a number of roles, especially his role as the grumpy and deadpan Detective Sergeant Phil Fish in the Barney Miller police comedy series.
Abe Vigoda was born as Abraham Charles Vigoda on February 24, 1921 in Brooklyn, New York. He was a child prodigy began acting while in his teens, working with the American Theatre Wing.
He started his career as a professional actor in 1947 in very early television episodes of Suspense and Studio One 1949. His debut in the cinema was in Three Rooms in Manhattan in 1965. His best-known film role is that of elder mobster Salvatore Tessio in Oscar-winning film The Godfather (1972).
Election Commission of India celebrated the 6th National Voters’ Day across the country on 25th January. To mark this day a National level function was held in New Delhi . The function was presided over by President of India, Pranab Mukherjee. Chief Election Commissioner Dr. Nasim Zaidi also released the book titled, ‘Belief in the Ballot’ and presented the first copy to the President.
This year a new Award has been introduced to recognise the contribution of Government department/ Agencies to the efforts of ECI for enhancing electoral participation. Six newly eligible electors would be given their EPICs by President of India.
President gave away Awards for Best Electoral Practices to Chief Electoral Officers, District Electoral Officers, SPs, Officers involved in election management. Media Houses and Civil Society Organisations were also awarded for best campaign in Voters’ Education and Awareness.
Theme for the 6th National Voters’ Day : The theme for the 6th National Voters’ Day is ‘Inclusive and Qualitative Participation’.
National Voters’ Day celebration was started in 2011 because 25th January is the foundation day of the Election Commission of India (ECI) which came into being on this day in 1950.
Objective of the day : The Commission’s objective through NVD is to increase enrolment of voters, especially of the newly eligible ones. The National Voters’ Day is also utilised to spread awareness among voters regarding effective participation in the electoral process.
Noted Malayalam film actress Kalpana Ranjani, known as Kalpana, passed away in Hyderabad, Telangana due to heart attack. She was 51.Kalpana, who had acted in 300-odd films in South Indian languages and was known for her comic roles in South Indian films, primarily Malayalam and Tamil films.
Kalpana Ranjani was born on 5 October 1965 to theater artists Chavara V.P.Nair and Vijayalakshmi. She started off her career as a child artist in the film Vidarunna Mottukal in the late 1970s.
She made mainstream debut in the 1980 film Pokkuveyil directed by G. Aravindan after which she appeared in more than 300 movies in various South Indian languages.
Among her other Malayalam hits are “Ennum Eppuzhum”, “Karnavar”, “Dolfins”, “Bangalore Days” and “Spirit“. “Kakki Sattai”, “Idhaya Thiruda”, “Sathi Leelavathi” and “Chinna Veedu” are among her Tamil films.
Union Government has launched Sahaj Scheme for online booking of LPG cylinders.The scheme was launched by Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas (Independent Charge) Dharmendra Pradhan as part of Government’s 2016-Year of the Consumers initiative. Government is targeting to add 10 crore new LPG connections by December 2018 to the existing 16.5 crore connections.
The booking can be done through the unified web portal www.mylpg.in which is available in 13 languages.
The facility will enable consumers to book the cylinder and make payment online or offline as per their comfort.
This facility is available around the clock and delivery of the cylinders at home will be done even if the consumer is absent because the payment is already done.
The scheme will also eliminate the problem of exact change needed for payment or delivery failure due to no cash situation.