President Kovind to preside over 2nd meeting of Organising Committee on celebrations for Mahatma Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary

New Delhi [India], Dec 19 (ANI): President Ram Nath Kovind will preside over the second meeting of the Organising Committee on the celebrations for the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi in the national capital on Thursday.
Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa, who will arrive in the national capital today, will also attend the meeting of the Organising Committee.
The National Committee, headed by President Kovind, has been constituted for commemorating the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi at the national and international level to propagate his message.
The committee includes Vice President, Prime Minister, Chief Ministers of all states, representatives from across the political spectrum, Gandhians, thinkers, and eminent persons from all walks of life, read a statement.
It also has nine international members, including two former Secretaries-General of the United Nations - Kofi Annan and Ban Ki-Moon. Government of India is commemorating the 150th birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation at the national and international level to propagate his message.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the National Salt Satyagraha Memorial at Dandi on January 30 earlier this year. The year's Republic Day Parade saw all the tableaux on the theme of Gandhi.
Nearly 2,037 prisoners across the country have been released as special remission has been granted as a 'Karyanjali to Bapu' highlighting Gandhian virtue of forgiveness. The month of September and October saw the International Sanitation Convention held in Delhi where 70 countries participated. The government has renovated nearly three core Gandhian sites namely, Noakhali in Bangladesh, Hindi Prachar Sabha, Chennai and Gandhi Smarak Museum, Barrackpore etc, the statement added.
As part of the International Outreach and spreading Mahatma's message to the world, Prime Minister Modi inaugurated the Gandhi Solar Park with 193 solar panels, each representing a member, at the UN Headquarters during the 'Gandhi@150' commemorative event on September 24, 2019. The United Nations released a commemorative stamp on October 2 on Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary.
The Government of India also released a commemorative coin of Rs 150 denomination on October 2, 2019. Mahatma Gandhi Convention Centers are also being set up in nine African countries.
Also, the Ministry of Culture participated in an art exhibition at Venice Biennale. Indian pavilion was rated among the top five ones. So far, 179 Gandhi busts/statues have been installed in 87 countries. The video of 'Vaishnava Jan' sung by famous singers at iconic places of 124 countries was an instant hit across social media and especially with the young audience.
Nearly 100 volumes of 'Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi' in English have been digitized and 45 e-books and 19 books have been published.
The government has a host of activities lined up which includes Project Gandhipedia, with the objective to disseminate Gandhian ideology through social media by Artificial Intelligence and machine learning-based automatic intelligent Twitter bot.
The coming year is likely to witness the Nobel Peace Committee and winners participating in international symposia in India.
Nearly, 150 major Indian universities to tie-up with 150 international universities to organize conferences on Gandhi and bring out a compendium.
A Charkha start-up competition - Innovative ideas/business propositions from youth less than 35 years to address issues related to waste management, sanitation and environment is also planned, the statement read. (ANI)