NEW DELHI: In 1946-47, Mahatma Gandhi spent more than three months in Noakhali, now in Bangladesh, dousing the flames of communal violence that had engulfed the district. Almost 70 years later, a Gandhian is trying keep the Mahatma's memory alive in Noakhali by upholding non-violence and working for the poor and the minorities.

On Thursday, the work done by Naba Kumar Raha, director of the Gandhi Ashram Trust in Noakhali, was recognized in the capital, when he was conferred the G Ramachandran-Ikeda Award for 2014. The award is named after two international peace activists.

Raha, 51, has for decades been associated with Noakhali's Gandhi Ashram Trust, an organization formed during Gandhiji's visit to the district. His work has touched the lives of 1.2 million families in and around Noakhali through training programmes, workshops, dialogues and interactions with the community.

The Trust has also become a shelter for the poor, particularly the minority Hindus.

Raha is also well known in Bangladesh as an active campaigner for human rights and good governance.

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Originally posted here:
Gandhian from Bangladesh gets peace prize

The author has posted comments on this articleHimanshu Kaushik, TNN | Feb 17, 2015, 07.55PM IST

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The Mission authorities are also setting up a museum and memorial to Gandhiji at the Noakhali ashram. In West Bengal, the central government is restoring the building of Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya at Barrackpore. Once the building is restored, the Mission will also set up a new museum at the Barrackpore memorial.

The Gandhi Ashram, as the nodal agency of Gandhi Heritage Mission, is preparing a restoration programme for 39 sites associated with Bapu. The Mission and its architecture division teams led by CEPT members of faculty Neelkant Chaya, Mrunal Panchal and Riyaz Tayyabzi have already visited Delhi, Rajasthan, Porbandar, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Pune and Rangpur.

Bapu's daily life: The Gandhi Heritage Mission has prepared details of Gandhiji's daily location. The Mission is now trying to collect more information about what Gandhiji did on which day the speeches (if any) he delivered on a particular day, the events he was associated with and the people he met that day. The Mission authorities are also trying to identify places from where Bapu wrote had written different letters.

Phone App: The Gandhi Heritage Site Mission has developed a phone application (app) that provides a virtual tour of sites associated with Bapu. The app will soon be available at Gandhi Ashram in Ahmedabad too. (It may be mentioned that the Gandhi Ashram already provides visitors a virtual tour of Manibhavan and other sites.) The Sabarmati Ashram Preservation and Memorial Trust has also developed for Gandhi Ashram a mobile phone app which is compatible with android phones as well as iPhones. It will provide the complete history and have visuals of every place in the Sabarmati Ashram. For example, when a visitor enters Magan Nivas at the Ashram, he will get to know beforehand on his phone or tablet what he is going to see, and its historical background with visuals.

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Gandhi Heritage Site Mission plans large-scale restoration

RELIGION

Mata Amritanandamayi Math : Bhajan, satsang, dhyan and darshan, Ashram premises, Jnanabharathi second stage, behind Bangalore University, 10.30 a.m.

Sri Santh Tukaram Maharajs 101st Sapthaha : Bhajan by Bhavasar Kshatriya Mahila Mandal, Cantonment, Sri Ram Mandir, K. Kamaraj Road, 7 p.m.

Viveka Choodamani : Discourse by Ganesha Bhatta Hobali, Gokhale Institute of Public Affairs, Bull Temple Road, NR Colony, 6.30 p.m.

CULTURE

Shashwatha Neeravari Horata Samithi : Exhibition of photographs on drought affected areas of Chickballapur and other districts, in the presence of pontiff of Adichunchungiri Mahasamsthan Math Sri Nirmalanandanatha Swami, Karnataka Legislative Assembly Speaker Kagodu Thimmappa inaugurates, Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath, Kumarakrupa Road, 11 a.m.

Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath : Exhibition of paintings, drawing and sculptures by S. Arunagiri and M. Raja, Parishat premises, Art Complex, Kumarakrupa Road, 10.30 a.m.

Rangothri : Valedictory of 8th Rashtrakavi Kuvempu Memorial cup, prize distribution ceremony, Kalagrama, Mallathahalli, 10.30 a.m.

GENERAL

Karnataka State Higher Education Council : Workshop on To exchange and learn best practices in education, Minister for Higher Education and Tourism and KSHEC Chairman R.V. Deshpande presides. Principal Secretary, Department of Higher Education Bharat Lal Meena is the chief guest. Jnana Jyothi auditorium, Central College campus, Palace Road, 9.30 a.m.

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Bengaluru Today for March 11, 2015

KORAPUT: After the shocking news of a Class VI girl student delivering a baby in an ashram school hit the headlines, the tribal girl and her five-day old infant have been admitted to Koraput district headquarters hospital here.

The 12-year-old girl is a student at the Umuri Ashram School, a residential school meant for SC/ST students, under Jeypore block of tribal-dominated Koraput district in Odisha.

"A team visited the girl's home at Upper Kanti village under Semiliguda block and shifted the mother-infant son duo to the hospital yesterday. They are under medical supervision and their condition is stable," Koraput District Collector Yamini Sarangi said today.

"The child weighs 1,585 grams. As he is underweight, we have kept him in the SNUC and his condition is stable. We expect the child will gain weight in the next week and till then he will be under observation," Chaya Kanta Gouda, paediatrician at the hospital, said.

Doctors said the mother is also being administered saline as she is very weak.

Though the girl had delivered the baby in the hostel on February 4, the officials concerned had allegedly sought to suppress the matter and sent the girl and her newborn home without informing the administraton.

The matter came to light on Saturday evening after the district collector received a complaint and ordered an inquiry.

The headmaster of the school, Kailash Charan Brahma, and hostel Superintendent Sabita Guru, who were arrested on Sunday on charges of negligence, were granted bail at the session's court of Jeypore yesterday.

"The court granted bail with Rs 10,000 surety each," said Muna Singhlal, counsel for the headmaster and the hostel superintendent.

Police are yet to arrest the culprit who allegedly raped the minor girl in her village. "The accused is absconding. We are on the job," said Jeypore SDPO Rajendra Senapati.

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Orissa girl who delivered baby in school shifted to hospital