Advani narrated an example of how proud Indians, world over, were feeling after the nuclear tests. A San Fransisco-based Indian called him to congratulate the Indian government on the Pokhran blasts. ``The gentleman was so elated he could hardly speak. He said that there's hardly any coverage on India in America and suddenly after the tests India was being spoken about after every 15 minutes,'' he said.

It was exactly six months ago, on March 19, Advani recalled, that the President had invited Atal Behari Vajpayee to form a government. The Minister also referred to the problem of internal security inthe country. Chief Minister Manohar Joshi who presided over the function said, Marathwada had celebrated its 50 years of liberation from the Nizam of Hyderabad on September 17 this year. ``Advaniji is as able a home minister as Sardar Patel who liberated Marathwada. We are hopeful that under Advani, portions of Kashmir under Pakistan's control will be liberated,'' he said.

Joshi also announced that a huge auditorium with a seating capacity of 5,000 to 7,000 people would be built at Rang Bhavan.

Advani, along with Joshi, State Cultural Affairs Minister Pramod Navalkar, State Public Works Minister Nitin Gadkari, and former CM Ramrao Adik, presented the Priyadarshni Awards. The Priyadarshni Academy has instituted international awards for the first time. Among those who received them are: Meghawati Soekarno Putri, member of House of Representatives, Foreign and Inter-parliamentary Commission, Indonesia, for outstanding contribution to promotion of international understanding; Toshitami Kaihara, governor,Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, for his contribution to humanitarian services; Hari Harilela, chairperson, Harilela, Hong Kong, for corporate social responsibility; Hanne Marstrand Strong for preservation of environment and sustainable development; Tsvi Tsur, president, Plastro Group, Isreal, for his work in promoting agro-technology; Dr Declan J O'Donnel, president, United Societies in Space, Inc. USA for promotion of benefits of space technology for humanity and Vasudev T Puraswani, chairperson, Thai Martins Co Ltd, received an overseas Indian award.

The recipients of the national awards are: Dr Nitin Mandke for outstanding contribution to the field of medical science; Hafiz Contractor for his contribution to architecture and Ashok Wadhwa for his contribution to financial management. Bollywood actress, Tabu, received the Smita Patil Memorial best actress award, Ganesh Mantri received the Kishen Lekhraj Rupani Memorial Award for his contribution to Hindi literature, Meghana Pethe for Marathi literature and PrabhuJ Chugani for Sindhi literature.