The Hindu : International / India & World : Expatriates rejoice with fervour

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Aug 16, 2004

International

International - India & World

Expatriates rejoice with fervour

SYDNEY, AUG. 15. Indians abroad celebrated the country's Independence Day today by hoisting the Tricolour at diplomatic missions and holding cultural programmes.

In Australia, expatriate Indians gathered at the residence of the Indian Consul-General in Sydney, M. Ganapathi, to celebrate the day. At the chime of 9 a.m. local time, Mr. Ganapathi unfurled the Tricolour in the garden of his suburban Killara residence and read out President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam's address to the nation.

World Culture Festival

Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Australia, staged "World Culture Festival," a grand four-hour celebration of music, art and culture at the Sydney Town Hall in the evening. In Canberra, the Indian High Commissioner, Prabhat Prakash Shukla, unfurled the national flag.

Celebrations in China

In China, the Indian community celebrated the day at a solemn function in Beijing. Despite the steady drizzle, many Indians, some of them new to China, turned out for the function at the Indian Embassy.

Indian Ambassador to China Nalin Surie unfurled the Tricolour and read out the President's address. The Joint Secretary, Police, Ministry of Home Affairs, A.K. Jain, currently leading a delegation to China, was present on the occasion.

In Pakistan

The Indian High Commission in Pakistan celebrated the Day with a flag hoisting ceremony and singing of the national anthem.

Departing from tradition, the national flag was hoisted by Rahul, son of one of the officials of Indian High Commission, instead of the High Commissioner Shivshankar Menon. The boy was chosen to hoist the flag from the lots drawn among the children of the staff of the High Commission. After the flag-hoisting, Mr. Menon read the Presidential address, while the children of the staff sang national songs.

Colourful fete

In Myanmar, a colourful ceremony was held at India House, the residence of the Consul-General in Mandalay where around 250 Indian nationals and persons of Indian origin celebrated the day.

Consul-General P.K. Bhutani unfurled the national flag. This was followed by singing of national anthem and reading out of the President's address.

Ambulances donated

In Nepal, Charge d' Affairs V.P. Haran hoisted the Tricolour at the Embassy ground in Kathmandu in the presence of over 3,000 Indian nationals.

To mark the occasion, India donated 15 ambulances to various non-profit organisations devoted to community welfare in different parts of the country.

Mr. Haran handed over a school bus to Babu Vidya Mandir Higher Secondary School at Polchowk in Lalitpur district. The cost of these vehicles was Rs. 5.34 million. The Indian Embassy donated books to 12 educational institutions and libraries in the country.

In Moscow, CIS capitals

Hundreds of Indians gathered at the Indian embassy in Moscow to participate in the flag hoisting ceremony.

Children of Kendriya Vidyalaya, Moscow, sang patriotic songs highlighting the unity in diversity of the Indian society.

Flag-hoisting ceremonies were also held at Indian diplomatic missions in St. Petersburg, Valdivostok and capitals of the CIS countries, including Almaty, Baku, Dushanbe, Tashkent, Kiev and Minsk.

Great enthusiasm

In Canada, Indians celebrated the day with patriotic fervour and traditional gaiety.

Hundreds of Toronto-based Indian families gathered at the Indian Consulate for the flag-hoisting ceremony to mark the occasion.

After reading the President's address to the nation, Consul-General Divyabh Manchanda greeted his compatriots and urged them to preserve the unity in diversity.

Padamshree Kiran Segal and her troupe performed Odissi dance at the York University to mark the occasion. The programme was jointly organised by Kala Nidhi Fine Arts of Canada and the Consulate-General of India.

The day was also celebrated with great enthusiasm by Indians in Ottawa and Vancouver.

Big draw in Israel

In Israel, Indian Ambassador Raminder Singh Jassal hoisted the Tricolour and read out the President's address at a ceremony at his residence in Herzliya amid an unprecedented turnout of the Indian community members to celebrate the Day.

A cultural programme was also organised on the occasion by the Indian Jewish cultural group, Namaste Israel. — PTI

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