Ela Bhatt, the founder of the Self-Employed Women's Association of India (SEWA), was today awarded the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for her lifetime achievements in empowering women through grassroots entrepreneurship.

The award was handed out at the Durbar Hall of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, but despite a makeover as recent as December last year, the sound system was defective. 

President Pranab Mukherjee, the PM Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi were among those present.

Bhatt's acceptance speech was unclear as the sound echoed across the Hall. And of course, pigeons cooing in the ledges only made it worse.

That's something the President needs to look into since he engineered renovations and refurbishments in the Durbar Hall and the spectacular library as well.