Why in News?

=> Usha Thakur, Minister of Culture, Tourism and Spirituality of Madhya Pradesh inaugurated the various arts festival on the 40th anniversary of Bharat Bhavan.

Key Points:

=> Minister Usha Thakur honored artists, litterateurs and theater artists in various categories for the National Kalidas Samman and Rajya Shikhar Samman at the Bharat Bhavan Muktakash Manch.

=> Along with this, an exhibition of paintings of Durga Bai Vyam selected for Padma Shri, Illustration Art Exhibition- Surekha and works of eminent artists were also inaugurated.

=> National Kalidas Samman for Roopankar Arts was given to Jyoti Bhate of Gujarat for the year 2017, Ira Choudhary of New Delhi for 2018, Paramjit Singh of New Delhi for 2019 and Dhruv Mistry of Baroda for the year 2020.

=> National Kalidas Samman for Rangkarma was given to Dr. Anil Rastogi of Lucknow for the year 2019 and Vaman Kendra of Mumbai for the year 2020.

=> On the first day of this function, under the direction of Santosh Sant, the artists of Swara Venu Gurukul Indore gave a melodious musical performance of flute saptak.

=> The five-day event will see cultural activities like smooth music, engaging dance, slide shows, dance drama and poetry recitation at Bahukala Kendra Bharat Bhawan from 13 February to 17 February 2022.

=> For the year 2019 and 2020, the following persons were awarded the Rajya Shikhar Samman in various subjects-