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Vivek Oberoi, Preity Zinta, Chairman of the Mumbaikar Festival & MD of Poddar Housing and Developers Ltd.– Mr. Rohit Poddar, Honourable Minister of State for Statistics (Independent Charge) and External Affairs - General V K Singh, Honourable Governor of Maharashtra - Shri Chennamaneni Vidyasagar Rao, Padma Bhushan awardee - Ajay Devgn with Kajol Devgn, Honourable Chief Minister - Shri Devendra Fadnavis, Honourable Union Minister for Transport and Shipping - Shri Nitin Gadkari, Honourable Union Minister for Communication and Technology - Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Govinda and Director of the Mumbaikar Festival – Mr. Tarun Rathi
Mumbai, June 3, 2016: The Mumbaikar Festival, an ode to the uniqueness of Mumbai’s spirit with something for every inhabitant of this island city, was inaugurated today at a star-studded event attended by The Honourable Governor of Maharashtra Shri Chennamaneni Vidyasagar Rao, Honourable Chief Minister Shri Devendra Fadnavis, Honourable Union Minister for Communication and Technology Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Honourable Union Minister for Transport and Shipping Shri Nitin Gadkari, Honourable Maharashtra State Cabinet Minister for Finance, Planning and Forest Departments Shri Sudhir Mungantiwar, Honourable Minister of State for Statistics (Independent Charge) and External Affairs General V K Singh, Honourable National General Secretary of the BJP Shri Kailash Vijayvargiya, Honourable Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Dr. Sanjay Kumar Balyan, Honourable Union Minister of State for Human Resources and Development Shri Ram Shankar Katheria, Honourable Justice Shri Siddarth Mridul of Delhi High Court and Honourable National Commission for Women Chairman Shrimati Lalita Kumaramangalam.
Mr. Rohit Poddar, Managing Director of Poddar Housing and Developers Ltd. and Mr. Tarun Rathi, Director of the Mumbaikar Festival, are the creators and visionaries behind the Mumbaikar Festival.
The four-day festival, to be organised between December 15th and 18th this year, seeks to re-affirm Mumbai's cultural stronghold and influence not just in the country but among the international community as well. Much like the way the 7 islands come together to make this city, the Mumbaikar Festival as a platform brings together citizens and various stakeholders of Mumbai to nourish, cherish and relish Mumbai: the home to every Mumbaikar.
Through the three pillars of the Festival, Citizen Ownership and Engagement, Community Activation and Curative Differentiation, the organisers aim to involve each and every one of the 1.2 crore Mumbaikars spread across 24 municipal wards.
The logo of the festival, a symbolic nimbu-mirchi, was unveiled in the presence of our honourable guests by Festival Chairman Rohit Poddar, Managing Director of Poddar Housing and Developers Ltd., and Festival Director Tarun Rathi along with Festival CEO Neerja Shah.
The organisers envisage that this annual occasion will establish itself as a landmark event and go a long way in bringing back Mumbai’s glory as one India’s top cities.
Sixteen "Swabhimani Mumbaikars”, recipients of one of the highest civilian honours of the country - the 2016 Padma awards, were felicitated at the inauguration of this festival. Those felicitated included, The late Dhirubhai Ambani, who was awarded the Padma Vibhushan posthumously, Bollywood actors Anupam Kher, Ajay Devgn, Priyanka Chopra, singer Udit Narayan, director Madhur Bhandarkar, eminent architect Hafeez Contractor, adman Piyush Pandey and senior legal counsel Ujjwal Nikam. Business baron Dilip Shanghvi of Sun Pharma, scientist Dr. Keki Hormusji Gharda of Gharda Chemicals, Sanskrit scholar Ramanuja Tattacharya, renowned agriculturist Subhash Palekar, noted documentary photographerSudhakar Olwe, spiritual guru Swami Tejomayananda and chemical engineer Dr. Ganapati Dadasaheb Yadav were also among those honoured.
Today, Poddar Housing is India’s second largest affordable housing company which is also committed to the PM’s vision of ‘Housing for All by 2020’. In addition to providing affordable housing, The Poddar Foundation established in 1983 now focuses on Mental Health Awareness in India and alleviating child obesity.
The Group also believes in providing the citizens of Mumbai / Maharashtra an increased quality of life and emphasizes on providing high quality education at low costs. The Poddar Brio International School located at Badlapur is a CBSC English medium school that blends work and study with artistic, recreational, cultural, religious and social activities, and uses educational innovations to prepare its students to keep pace with cultural and technological progress in the world.
