President to Confer Tagore Award for Cultural Harmony on Sitar Maestro Pt. Ravi Shankar
The Tagore Award for Cultural Harmony has been instituted as a part of the commemoration of the 150th Birth Anniversary of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore and an announcement to this effect was made by the then Finance Minister in his Budget Speech on 28th February, 2011. It is an International Award with prize money of Rs. 1 Crore for promoting values of Cultural Harmony. The Jury constituted for the selection of Tagore Award for the year 2012 under the Chairmanship of the Prime Minister of India selected Pandit Ravi Shankar, the Indian Sitar Maestro, to be the first recipient of the Tagore Award in recognition of his outstanding contribution to Cultural Harmony and Universal Values.
The Award to Pandit Ravi Shankar was announced on 7th May 2012 during the closing ceremony of the commemoration of the 150th Birth Anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore. Since Pandit Ravi Shankar passed away on 11th December, 2012, the Award is being presented to his wife, Smt. Sukanya Shankar, who is currently in India. The award ceremony will be held on 7th March, 2013 in Rashtrapati Bhavan. The award shall be presented by Shri Pranab Mukherjee, President of India. Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India, Minister of Culture Smt. Chandresh Kumari Katoch and other dignitaries would also be present during the ceremony.
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