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Doha: More than 1200 audiences witnessed a very lavish Indian Folk forms of Cultural festival at La Cigale hotel, which was conducted to commemorate 68th Republic Day of India by Indian Cultural Centre (ICC).  India celebrated its 68th Republic Day on 26 January 2017, Republic Day is observed in India to commemorate the date on which the constitution of India came into force in 1950.  The program involved various cultural shows staged by Indian schools and affiliated organizations of ICC.

During this Republic Day commemoration by ICC, different organization leaders of Indian community came together to celebrate the function. Ambassador of India to the State of Qatar P Kumaran was the chief guest of the occasion.  During this occasion, he wished all Indians staying in Qatar, which is more than 650,000. He also stated during the function that “India is a nation where large diversity of cultures and races are co-existing and celebrated together. India as a nation have come a long way since the independence and now became the 4th largest economy in the world in terms of purchasing power parity terms. We have so many reasons to celebrate today.  Many developed and developing countries are envy of India due to its growth in the field of IT, Highly skilled human resources and good education system” He also appreciated the efforts of India Cultural Centre for conducting such function and promised all support to strengthen ICC further for the benefit of the community.

The function was also addressed by ICC President Milan Arun, General Secretary Juttas Paul and Guest of Honor, Khalid Al Hamadi, senior director at Ooredoo. Milan Arun welcomed the gathering and appreciated the efforts of all artists and affiliated organiations and schools for presenting the cultural programs. She also stated that ““Republic Day Cultural Program is one of the Flag ship extravaganza of Indian Cultural Centre which reaches out to different strata of Indians based in Qatar to come forward and mark together this special day with festivities displaying our rich Culture and Heritage. ICC thus also provides a platform for the Multi-Talented diverse Indians coming from various parts of our glorious country to portray their hidden and unfulfilled cultural aspirations left behind when they crossed over the shores in search of greener pastures”.  Last year activity report of ICC was presented by Juttas Paul. Khalid Al Hamadi appreciated Indian community for the service it is providing to the country of Qatar during his message and reassured the support of Ooredoo to the community.

Pravasi Bharatiya Samman 2017 awardee Dr. R Seetharaman was also felicated during the function. ICC Vice President A P Manikantan spoke about the contribution Dr. R Seetharaman made to the community and Qatar in general. On behalf of India community ICC President Milan Arun, ICBF president Devis Edukulathur, IBPN President K M Varghese and ISC President Nilangshu Dey together handed over the memento. On behalf of Dr. Seetharaman, his wife Sangeetha Seetharaman received the honors.

Immediate past managing committee members of ICC was also felicitated during the program. ICC head of educaiton Dr. Nayna Wagh, led the felicitation function and Ambassador P Kumaran give away the mementos to the past managing committee members.

During the event a souvenir highlighting the activities of ICC was also released. The releasing function was led by head of counselor services and membership K S Prasad and it was released by Ambassador P Kumaran and Khalid Al Hamadi. ICC joint secretary Sriraja Vijayan proposed vote of thanks during the function.

The cultural programs conducted by various affiliated organizations and Indian schools included folk programs such as Garba, Kavadiyattam, Karakattam, Nagpuri folk, Silambattam, Therukooth, Kuravan Kurathi, Jhumur folk dance, Tarpa dance, Margam kali, mylanji, Lambadi folk dance, Telugu folk dance, Adivasi tribal dance, Dandiya, Kolkali, Lezhim dance, Tulu folk dance and Lavni dance. These programs itself have provided a short glimpse of cultural diversity of India during the function.
The cultural programs was headed by ICC Head of Cultural Activities Vishal J Mehta and  coordinated by ICC Managing Committee members Dr. Nayna Wagh, Girish Jain, Sriraja Vijayan, K S Prasad,  Niyaz Ahmed, Adv Jaffarkhan M and Anjan Ganguli and other leaders of affiliated organizations.

Indian Cultural Centre is the Official Body of Indian expatriate community functioning under the aegis of Embassy of India for the purpose of advancement of social, cultural and education activities of the Indian community in Qatar. ICC is also the platform to serve the interest of almost 650,000 Indians residing in Qatar. The proclaimed objective of ICC includes promoting the rich Indian culture among Qatari nationals and expatriates of all other nationalities living in Qatar. Further, ICC is committed to function as a body of Indian Embassy to strengthen the deep-rooted Indo-Qatar friendship and cultural relationship. There are more than 100 different Indian organizations functioning under ICC on various fields.

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