Veteran star Shabana Azmi on Monday hoisted the Indian flag in Melbourne at the 14th edition of the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM).
On receiving the opportunity to hoist the tri-colour on Australian soil ahead of Independence Day, Shabana said, “To be having this honour to hoist the Indian flag, the flag that I’m so proud of, the flag all of us present today are proud of in Melbourne is an honour I never believed I could have. I would like to reiterate that we are here to celebrate Indian cinema in Melbourne, and I truly believe that art knows no boundaries and cinema can be an instrument for social change.”
Preparations are going on in full swing to mark its 77th Independence Day. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lead the country in celebrating Independence Day from the iconic Red Fort in Delhi. Special guests from different walks of life, ranging from Sarpanches of Vibrant Villages, teachers, nurses, farmers, and fishermen, have been invited to participate in the celebrations.
According to the release, the Special Guests invited to attend the celebrations at Red Fort include over 400 Sarpanches of more than 660 vibrant villages; 250 from Farmer Producer Organisations scheme; 50 participants each of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Scheme and Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana;50 Shram Yogis (construction workers) of the Central Vista Project, including the New Parliament Building; 50 each Khadi workers and those involved in the construction of border roads.
Primary school teachers, nurses, and fishermen are also invited. Some of these special guests are scheduled to visit the National War Memorial and call on Raksha Rajya Mantri Ajay Bhatt during their stay in Delhi.
