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Create hunger-free society: Speaker

Special Correspondent

Tiruvalluvar Award presented to P. Arangasamy, Ar. Azhagappan

SCHOLARS GET THEIR DUE: Assembly Speaker K. Kalimuthu giving away the Tiruvalluvar Award to Ar. Azhagappan in Chennai on Sunday. Looking on are (from left) Education Minister Ce.Ve. Shanmugam, P. Arangasamy and Secretary, Tamil Development Departmen t, P.A. Ramaiah. — Photo: S. R. Raghunathan

CHENNAI: Speaker K. Kalimuthu on Sunday urged people to rededicate themselves to creating a society free from hunger, disease and antagonism, as envisioned by Tamil savant Tiruvalluvar.

Presenting the Tiruvalluvar Award to two Tamil scholars at a function organised here by the Department of Tamil Development to mark Tiruvalluvar Day, Mr. Kalimuthu said Tirukkural was a guide to life.

He called for steps to reach the teachings of Tiruvalluvar to different parts of the world. Referring to Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's appeal that the wealth of knowledge accumulated in this century should be translated into Tamil even while equipping the language to meet the requirements of the coming centuries, Mr. Kalimuthu asked publishing houses and writers to work united to bring out various titles as per UNESCO's guidelines.

Education Minister Ce.Ve. Shanmugam recalled the steps taken by the Government to help the people in other States learn Tamil, and spread the language, literature and culture.

Among the schemes were allocation of Rs.50 lakh as grant to Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, for instituting a Tamil Chair, forming a `word bank' and constructing a building for the Tamil development complex in Chennai.

Mr. Kalimuthu handed over the award to P. Arangasamy for 2005 and Ar. Azhagappan for 2006.

The award carries a cash prize of Rs. 1 lakh, a gold medal and a citation. He also handed over pension orders to eight scholars. Prizes were distributed to 25 authors and publishing houses for bringing out the best books in different subjects.

P.A. Ramiah, Secretary, Tamil Development and Culture, and M. Rajendran, Director, Tamil Development, spoke.

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