President Pranab Mukherjee completes his first year in office on Thursday.
A number of activities are being organized in the Rashtrapati Bhavan to mark this special day, which include: inauguration of a 'Pranab Mukherjee Public Library' for the residents of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, dedication of a cricket ground at Dr. Rajendra Prasad Sarvodaya Vidyalaya within the President's Estate, unveiling within the Rashtrapati Bhavan of a bronze statue of Mahatma Gandhi made by Ram Sutar and launch of certain digital initiatives linked to the website of the President of India.
President Mukherjee will also interact with the Governors across the country tomorrow through a new video conferencing facility installed in the Rashtrapati Bhavan and host a dinner for the Council of Ministers.
The Pranab Mukherjee Public Library: A dilapidated building in the President's Estate which was scheduled for demolition has been renovated and converted into the 'Pranab Mukherjee Public Library' for use by the residents of the Rashtrapati Bhavan Estate and their children. This library, which is fully air conditioned, will have a rich collection of books, newspapers and magazines for men and women of all age groups as well as a special children's section. Facilities like reading rooms will be provided for young students to prepare for competitive and other examinations.
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Statue of Mahatma Gandhi: This statue is made by 89 year old Ram Sutar of Maharashtra. Sutar, who was born in the family of a poor carpenter, is considered a master of stone, marble and bronze sculpturing. He was given Padmashree in 1999. His bronze statues of eminent leaders adorn the Parliament, Government buildings and other public places.
Digital initiatives: A Video - 'The Presidency: Glimpses of First Year' - will be added to the President of India website. This Video is a compilation of important events over the last one year in the Rashtrapati Bhavan and the President's Estate.
A Digital Photo Library (DPL) with photographs of the first year of President Pranab Mukherjee's Presidency is being added to the website. Eventually, this DPL will contain archival photographs of Governor General Rajagopalachari and Presidents since 1949. The DPL is intended to help in archival conservation through digitization of old photographs and will be implemented in a phased manner. Photos will be accessible function wise, date wise and individual name wise etc. through a user friendly interface. It will also have a powerful search engine, capable of searching photographs by name. There will, in future, be a face recognition feature, which will search photographs with a given photo in the database and result in all matched photos. The DPL when completed is expected to have a database of over three million photographs.
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A catalogue of 1525 old and rare books of the Rashtrapati Bhavan is being added to the website for the information of public along with select portions of the Audio-Visual section of the Library. The oldest book in the library dates back to the year 1795 and is titled "THE ORIGINAL WORKS OF WILLIAM HOGARTH". The Catalogue includes Gazetteers, complete set of Punch Volumes from 1841 to 1930; Volumes of Proceedings of Council of Governor General of India and well known literary works. The Audio-Visual Section includes historical speeches, newsreels and documentaries all of which will be available through links on the website. These have been procured from sources such as AIR and Films Division. Rare historical speeches like 'Tryst with Destiny' and 'Death of Mahatma Gandhi' delivered by Pt. Jawarharlal Nehru and speeches of Mahatma Gandhi, Lord Mountbatten, C. Rajagopalachari, former Presidents of India and other prominent leaders will also be available in this section. The films include archival material on the history of the freedom movement, events around independence, departure of Lord Mountbatten from India, funeral of Mahatma Gandhi etc.
