Padma Shri

Padma Shri (also Padmashree) is the fourth highest civilian award in the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Awarded by the Government of India, it is announced every year on India's Republic Day.

History

Padma Awards were instituted in 1954 to be awarded to citizens of India in recognition of their distinguished contribution in various spheres of activity including the Arts, Education, Industry, Literature, Science, Sports, Medicine, Social Service and Public Affairs. It has also been awarded to some distinguished individuals who were not citizens of India but did contribute in various ways to India.

The selection criteria have been criticized in some quarters with the claim that many highly deserving artists have been left out in order to favor certain individuals.

On its obverse, the words "Padma", meaning lotus in Sanskrit, and "Shri", a Sanskrit-derived honorific equivalent to 'Mr.' or 'Ms.', appear in Devanagari above and below a lotus flower. The geometrical pattern on either side is in burnished bronze. All embossing is in white gold.

Akshay Kumar

Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia (born 9 September 1967), better known by his stage name Akshay Kumar, is an Indian actor, producer and martial artist who has appeared in over a hundred Hindi films. He has been nominated for Filmfare Awards several times, winning it two times. When he began his acting career in the 1990s, he primarily starred in action films and was known for his appearances in films of the "Khiladi series" as well as other action films such as Waqt Hamara Hai (1993), Mohra (1994), Elaan (1994), Suhaag (1994), Sapoot (1996), Jaanwar (1999).

Later, Kumar also gained fame for his drama, romance, action and comic roles. His performances in romance films like Yeh Dillagi (1994), Dhadkan (2000), Andaaz (2003) and Namastey London (2007), as well as drama films such as Waqt: The Race Against Time (2005). His comic performances in comedy films such as Hera Pheri (2000), Mujhse Shaadi Karogi (2004), Garam Masala (2005), Bhagam Bhag (2006), Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007), and Singh Is Kinng (2008) met with acclaim. In 2007, he starred in four consecutive commercially successful films. Kumar hit a rough patch since 2009 to 2011 but came back with two successes, Housefull 2 (2012) and Rowdy Rathore (2012) with both of them grossing over ₹1 billion (US$15 million). His other films like OMG (2012), Special 26 (2013), Holiday (2014), Gabbar is Back (2015) and Airlift (2016) were highly successful critically and commercially. In February 2013, many media outlets reported that the net box-office collection of Kumar's films had crossed ₹20 billion (US$290 million) and he was the first and the only Bollywood actor to do so.Box Office India listed Kumar as one of the most successful actors in the history of Indian Cinema. Having done so, he has established himself as a leading contemporary actor of Hindi cinema.

Padma River

Padma is a major river in Bangladesh. It is the main distributary of the Ganges, flowing generally southeast for 120 kilometres (75 mi) to its confluence with the Meghna River near the Bay of Bengal. The city of Rajshahi is situated on the banks of the river.

History

Etymology

The Padma, Sanskrit for lotus flower, is mentioned in Hindu mythology as a byname for the Goddess Lakshmi.

The name Padma is given to the lower part of the course of the Ganges (Ganga) below the point of the off-take of the Bhagirathi River (India), another Ganges River distributary also known as the Hooghly River. Padma had, most probably, flowed through a number of channels at different times. Some authors contend that each distributary of the Ganges in its deltaic part is a remnant of an old principal channel, and that starting from the western-most one, the Bhagirathi (in West Bengal, India), each distributary to the east marks a position of a newer channel than the one to the west of it.

Geographic effects

2.0 (film)

2.0 is an upcoming Indian Tamil–Hindi science fiction film directed by S. Shankar. A sequel to Enthiran (2010), the film will feature Rajinikanth reprising the roles of Dr. Vaseegaran and Chitti, alongside Akshay Kumar and Amy Jackson. Produced by Subaskaran Allirajah of Lyca Productions, the film is expected to be the most expensive film in Indian cinema, surpassing the Baahubali series. The soundtrack album will be composed by A. R. Rahman while the dialogues, cinematography, editing and art direction are handled by Jeyamohan, Nirav Shah, Anthony and T. Muthuraj respectively. The film is scheduled for a 2017 release.

Cast

Production

Development

The commercial success of Enthiran (2010) prompted the makers of the film to immediately consider making a sequel and by March 2011, the original film's cinematographer, Rathnavelu revealed that initial pre-production work on a second part had begun with the same technical team.S. Shankar, the director of Enthiran, moved on to work on Nanban (2012) and I (2015) and plans to reunite with the same producers as the original was dropped, with Shankar revealing that he was unsure if the film "will happen at all" during an interview in 2014. While finishing the production of I, Shankar drafted the scripts of three more feature films, including that of a sequel to Enthiran.

Sri

Shri (Devanagari: श्री, IAST; Śrī), also transliterated as Sree, Shri, Sri, Shree, Si or Seri is a word of Sanskrit origin, used in the Indian subcontinent as a polite form of address equivalent to the English "Mr." or "Ms." in written and spoken language, or as a title of veneration for deities (usually translated as "Holy").

It is also widely used in other South and Southeast Asian languages.

Etymology

Shri has the root meaning of goddess of prosperity.

In Sanskrit grammar, Shri has the feminine gender. It is gender-specific in Sanskrit, but the assumption that it is masculine has resulted in the titles of Shrimati (abbreviated Smt) for married women and Sushri for women (independent of marital status).

Usage

Shri (also Sree, Sri, Shree, श्री) is a polite form of address equivalent to the English "Mr." or "Ms." The title is derived from Sanskrit श्रीमान् (śrīmān). This use may stem from the Puranic conception of prosperity.

Śhrī is also frequently used as an epithet of some Hindu gods, in which case it is often translated into English as Holy. Also in language and general usage, Śhrī if used by itself and not followed by any name then it refers to the supreme consciousness i.e. God.