The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday described Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor's tweet on new visa rules as 'callous' and said the government should clarify its position on the issue instead of "speaking in different voices". "Tharoor has made a callous remark (on 26/11 killers not needing visas). How can a person in his position make such statements even in jest," BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said.
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna on Monday ticked off his junior minister Shashi Tharoor for publicly questioning new visa guidelines, saying if he had any "perceptions", those should be discussed within the "four walls" of the government.
Several BJP leaders in the past have raised a demand for changing the name of the country from "India" to "Bharat".
Proprietors Yadgar Marker and his daughter Phiroza launched a "Save India Club" appeal as they fought to keep it going but have now announced its impending closure.
Sanjay Dewan, a family friend of Shashi Tharoor and his wife Sunanda Pushkar and a key witness in her mysterious death case, on Wednesday said they were a "happy couple" and he was not aware whether she was suffering from any ailment.
Union Minister Farooq Abdullah favoured Shashi Tharoor stepping down to protect the "honour" of the government and said the Kerala MP should have revealed his relationship with Sunanda Pushkar right from the beginning.
Moon has accepted Tharoor's resignation.
Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor has defended his tweets, saying they are 'interactive Akashvani', but has expressed regret over the distortion of his comments. "This is an extended and very informal conversation with a large number of people. I have over seven lakh people who are reading what I have to say, who react to what I have to say and who also put up questions to me," Tharoor said. "It's a kind of interactive Akashvani," he said.
India does not wish to destabilise Pakistan in any manner and wants to maintain good relations with that country, Union Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor said in Palakkad on Thursday.
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has once again been questioned in connection with his wife Sunanda Pushkar's death and the special investigation team probing the high-profile case may summon him again.
Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said the government has asked Apple two questions: whether their devices are safe, and if so the reason for the alert was sent to the Opposition members.
"The image of the US is in the finest shape it's been in a very long time, and that's because the rest of the world believes in the kind of leadership President Obama is bringing to his task," the former UN Under Secretary General said at the Colbert Report news show. "He has given us hope," Tharoor said.
"There is no dearth of talent in my ministry. I have the assistance of very able secretaries," she said in a curt tweet.
At least four Opposition leaders on Tuesday claimed to have received messages from Apple warning them of "State-sponsored attackers trying to remotely compromise" their iPhones and posted the purported screenshots on their X handles.
Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor feels it "raises a larger question, as to whether Muslims, who are such a significant portion of our population are suffering particularly from the procedures that are applied to them when they travel to the US."
Long before he became an international diplomat, a sparkling writer and a charismatic politician, Shashi Tharoor fell in love with cricket. In this special feature, Exclusive! to Rediff.com, Tharoor recounts his first encounter with the glorious game when England toured India way back in 1963 when the future Thiruvanathapuram MP was a mere lad of seven, and looks back on the India-England cricketing relationship which celebrates a hundred Tests at Lord's this week.
Minister of state for HRD Shashi Tharoor feels that the University's decision is a potentially positive one.
Hinting at joining politics, former United Nations diplomat and writer Shashi Tharoor on Friday said that if given an opportunity, he would like to join the Congress. "I have indeed been having some serious conversations about entering politics. Now that I have left the UN, I have an opportunity to put my feet where my mouth used to be," Tharoor told media persons in Mumbai.
The body of 52-year-old Pushkar, a woman entrepreneur who married Tharoor in August 2010, was found in mysterious circumstances in luxury Leela Palace hotel in South Delhi
The minister of state for Human Recourse Development Shashi Tharoor on Sunday said the arrest of Kerala pacer S Sreesanth for alleged spot fixing is "very painful" for cricket fans in the state.
A day after Congress leaders in Kerala warned Shashi Tharoor to stop praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi or face disciplinary action, the party organ attacked the former minister on Tuesday, throwing doubts on his loyalty to the organisation.
The Kochi IPL controversy also draws attention to the clout of Gulf-based Keralites
Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor, who is embroiled in a row over the ownership of Indian Premier League's Kochi franchise, on Sunday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh apparently to explain his position on the issue.
Rejecting speculation that Shashi Tharoor was asked to step down during his meeting with senior Ministers Pranab Mukherjee and A K Antony, sources close to the Minister of State for External Affairs said on Wednesday night that things were "okay" on the issue.
'The entire swathe of Internet trolls -- who now apparently serve as the ideological brains-trust of the BJP -- would have looked at each other in puzzlement, thinking: What kind of warning is that?' says Mihir S Sharma.
Bowing to pressure from Youth Congress activists for its statements against Union Minister Shashi Tharoor over the Duleep Trophy final in Kochi, the Kerala Cricket Association tendered an apology to him for "hurting his sentiments".
Rudy described the remarks of Tharoor about media as an "attack on India media" and said BJP would like to know from him that when he called the Indian people cattle class, did the Indian media misrepresent him? "Was the media irresponsible when the they questioned his statement after he said terrorist don't need visa to come in this country," he asked.
Participating in a discussion in Lok Sabha on the pandemic, he said that instead of clearly communicated protocol and comprehensive strategies on part of the government, the country witnessed lack of clarity, readiness and preparedness to combat the virus.
His disqualification as Wayanad MP is effective from March 23, the day of his conviction
Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel and former Minister of State Shashi Tharoor were seen having a long chat in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, after a newspaper reported their alleged link in the Indian Premier League bids for the Kochi team.
After maintaining silence for days on Twitter, Shashi Tharoor was back, only to thank his supporters for all the "kind words" at this "time of trial".
The party last saw a contest for the post in November 2000 when Jitendra Prasada had lost to Sonia Gandhi.
"Wah kya girlfriend hai. Apne kabhi dekha hai 50 crore ka girlfriend? (What a girlfriend? Have you ever seen a 50-crore girlfriend), Modi said at an election rally, in an apparent attack on Tharoor's wife Sunanda Pushkar.
TMC MP Mahua Moitra also attributed the former sportswoman's stand to her Rajya Sabha seat.
The former minister venting his anger said, "Revolted by the lies in the media about me."
With the Kerala Youth Congress elections round the corner, the bitter rivalry between state party president Ramesh Chennithala and leader of Opposition and former chief minister Oomen Chandy has come to the fore. According to sources, Thiruvananthapuram's beleaguered Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor has extended his support to Chandy, who has stood by the former minister of state for external affairs though the present IPL crisis.
In a fashion, his political life may yet be only beginning. Seared by the anguish of the past week's hellish experience, he may henceforth see things and India's political culture in a new, mature perspective. His 'homecoming' may have become complete.
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