The President of India inaugurated the centenary celebrations of the award of Nobel Prize to Kabiguru Ravindranath Tagore today (December 19, 2012) at Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan. The centenary celebrations are beginning with the international seminar "Vibrations between Tagore and the World: Culture and Literature with special reference to China" being organized jointly by Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan and the Institute of Chinese Studies, Delhi.

Speaking on the occasion, the President congratulated Visva Bharati for the true spirit of universal cooperation and inclusion that it has displayed while celebrating Gurudev's 150th Birth Anniversary and in bringing out Tagore's vision, achievements and works before the entire world. The President called for India and Visva-Bharati to actualize Tagore's vision of a world which has "not broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls".

The President said that India and China stand on the threshold of a leap into an exciting phase of global exchange, where harnessing of ideas and resources for global welfare can serve as a major fulcrum for world peace and welfare. This seminar thus will not merely celebrate the award of a Nobel Prize to an individual but it will celebrate the potential of the idea of exchange, co-operation and multiculturalism, he added.

This release issued at 1600 hrs