Pune, July 13, 2025 – The All India Konkani Parishad will celebrate its Foundation Day with a vibrant cultural gathering in Pune, Maharashtra, spotlighting the enduring spirit of the Konkani community across India. Organized in association with City Pride School, Nigdi, Chinchwad, and supported by the Directorate of Official Language, Government of Goa, the event promises a mix of honours, dialogue, and musical celebration.
This year, the prestigious Madhav Manjunath Shanbhag Memorial Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented posthumously to Late Rocky Miranda, acknowledging his significant contributions to the Konkani language and cultural identity. His family will receive the award at the inaugural ceremony.
Goa Konkani Akademi President Dr. Purnanand Chari will grace the event as the chief guest, while Melvyn Rodrigues, Sahitya Akademi’s Konkani Advisory Board Convenor, will preside over the function.
Several other dignitaries will also be felicitated for their work in advancing Konkani language and culture, especially in Maharashtra. The honorees include:
Lexicographer Isidor Dantas
Researcher Vaman Naik
Educationist Dr. Ashwini Kulkarni
Writer Vijayanand Gaitonde
Konkani activist Alfi Monteiro
A special session titled “Unity Among Indian Konkani Communities” will bring together voices from Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, and Maharashtra to reflect on shared identity and cooperation. The event will culminate in a Konkani musical programme, celebrating the region’s rich musical heritage.
According to Sneha Sabnis, Secretary of the Parishad, the event expects around 300 delegates and aims to deepen cultural bonds and linguistic pride among Konkani speakers nationwide.
April 20, 2025: Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India celebrated its 43rd Foundation Day on 20th April 2025. Hon’ble Chief Minister of Goa Dr. Pramod Sawant addressed the audience virtually. Other luminaries at the event included Chief Guest, Dr. Piruz Khambatta, Chairman – Rasna Group & Honorary Consul General, South Korea (Gujarat); Guest of Honour, Shri Suneel Anchipaka, IAS, Secretary (Industries), Goa; Shri B. S. Pai Angle, Managing Director, EDC Limited, Goa; Shri Dinesh Singh Rawat, Chief General Manager & Zonal Head (Ahmedabad Zone), IDBI Bank Limited, Ahmedabad (and Governing Board Member, EDII) and Dr. Sunil Shukla, Director General, EDII Dignitaries from the Government, corporates, Industry associations and the academia also attended the event which focussed on establishing how entrepreneurship, startups and innovations were impacting the socio-economic growth of the country.
Dr. Pramod Sawant ji addressing virtually, complimented Gujarat for its unique growth model and credited EDII for propagating Entrepreneurship in the country and outside.
Hon’ble Chief Minister said, “Today India is pacing fast on the path of becoming a foremost startup nation under the leadership of Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi ji, and in this, EDII is significantly contributing. Goa looks forward to erecting a strong start-up oriented ecosystem that can walk hand in hand with the vision of ‘Viksit Bharat’ and ‘Viksit Gujarat’, seeking to accomplish the mandate of Viksit Goa.” The Chief Minister also referred to the notable work being done by the EDII – Goa Centre for promoting Entrepreneurship (inaugurated on 12th March 2024), which he mentioned was set up by EDII after he had initiated this need through a letter to Shri Bhupendra Patel ji, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Gujarat.
Shri Dinesh Singh Rawat said, “EDII has been playing a key role in employing entrepreneurship to upgrade and uplift people from all sections of people.”
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Piruz Khambatta said, “Entrepreneurship has come far; it is hailed as a powerful tool for socio-economic growth.
The vision of Viksit Bharat is based on the pillars of entrepreneurship, skill development, technology, innovations and expanding markets. I commend EDII for envisioning growth on these factors, decades ago. Entrepreneurship and Skill Development will always be in need as it will continue to open the path of sustained growth for the country. I extend my heartfelt congratulations to EDII for training and inspiring people across sections and sectors to become entrepreneurs.”
Commenting on entrepreneurship and EDII- Goa Centre’s Contribution in Goa, Shri Suneel Anchipaka, IAS, Secretary (Industries), Goa said, “Goa, with its unique blend of culture, creativity, and commerce, is fast emerging as one of the most progressive states. The EDII-Goa Centre, along with the EDC Ltd., is playing a vital role in fostering entrepreneurial spirit across all sections of society, which is essential for achieving balanced and holistic growth. The youth of the region are coming forward with their creative ideas, which are being carefully incubated and nurtured into enterprises. Entrepreneurship is fast becoming a preferred career option.”
In his address, Dr. Sunil Shukla traced the genesis of EDII and emphasized the potential of entrepreneurship. He said, “As EDII marks 43 years of fostering entrepreneurial spirit, we feel happy to witness how mindsets have got transformed into accepting that entrepreneurs are not just born, but they can be developed too, through well-conceived training interventions and counselling. EDII has always sought to promote inclusive growth on the premise of entrepreneurship, and it is great to see how this vision is getting realized. Entrepreneurship is pitted today as a development marvel and that gives us great satisfaction. We acknowledge the support of Government and corporates in our journey.”
