Govt may hold centenary events for Bismillah Khan, Subbulaxmi

The high-level National Implementation Committee (NIC) on commemorations is likely to have zeroed on five famous personalities, including politician Biju Patnaik and musicians Bismillah Khan and M S Subbulaxmi for observing commemorative events during 2016-17.
Founder of Ramakrishna Vedanta Math Swami Abhedananda and prominent Hindi writer Amritlal Nagar may also find a place in the list of personalities for the year-long commemorations, a source said.
The NIC, under the chairmanship of Home Minister Rajnath Singh, met here today to decide on the details of the personalities.
The meeting was also attended by Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma, among others, the source said.

Last year, the government had announced year-long commemoration as the birth centenary of Rani Gaidinliu, 150th birth anniversary of Lala Lajpat Rai, 200th birth anniversary of Tatya Tope, 475th birth anniversary of Maharana Pratap, birth centenary of Bhisham Sahni and 500 years of the return of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to Vrindavan.
During 2016-17, the nation may oberserve the birth centenaries of Biju Patnaik, Bismillah Khan, Amritlal Nagar, M S Subbulaxmi, while 150 birth anniversary of Swami Abhedananda.

Born on March 5, 1916, Bijayananda Patnaik, popularly known as Biju Patnaik, was an Indian freedom fighter and politician, He was Chief Minister of Odisha for two terms. He had also served as Union Minister of Steel, Mines and Coal from March 1977 to January 1980 under the Prime Ministership of Morarji Desai.

Bismillah Khan was born in Bihar on March 21, 1916 and was credited with popularising shehnai musical instrument, while Subbulakshmi, born on September 16, 1916 was a famed carnatic vocalist. She was the first musician ever to be awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour.
Born on August 17, 1916, Nagar is counted among important and multi-faceted creative writers of Indian literature. Swami Abhedananda, born on October 2, 1866, was one of the disciples of Shri Ramakrishna and founder of Ramakrishna Vedanta Math.
Earlier, the Culture Minister had said the government will commemorate birth centenaries, 125th, 150th and so on of personalities of national importance.