Virat took part 13 times in Republic Day parades.
On the eve of 73nd Republic Day, President Ram Nath Kovind addresses the nation.
Kovind, who is on his first visit to Ayodhya after the landmark 2019 Supreme Court verdict paved the way for the construction of the temple, also offered prayers at the Hanumangarhi shrine, about 2 km away.
'Voters vote differently in the state elections and Parliamentary elections even if they are held together'
India's sports stars including badminton P V Sindhu was conferred the Padma Bhushan -- the country's third-highest civilian award, while women's football icon Bembem Devi, archer Tarundeep Rai and women's hockey captain Rani Rampal were conferred with the Padma Shri.
Chief Justice of India N V Ramana administered the oath of office of the President to her in the Central Hall of Parliament.
The Election Commission on Friday issue a 'certificate of election' to NDA nominee Droupadi Murmu who has emerged victorious in the presidential poll.
'I bow to the 125 crore citizens of this great nation and promise to stay true to the trust they have bestowed on me.'
This year, eight eminent individuals are being given Padma Bhushan and 54 are being conferred with Padma Shri awards, besides the two Padma Vibhushan recipents.
In a tweet, the President's secretariat said, 'President Ram Nath Kovind met Prime Minister Modi at the Rashtrapati Bhavan today and received from him a first-hand account of the security breach in his convoy in Punjab yesterday. The President expressed his concerns about the serious lapse.'
This was the first time in 15 years that a President took a train ride. Kovind has also become the first President not to travel on a presidential saloon car.
The notification for the President poll will be issued on June 15, the CEC said, and June 29 will be the last date for the filing of nominations.
The Indian Army's XIV Corps -- better known as the Fire and Fury Corps -- has a unique responsibilty since it guards India's borders with China and Pakistan as well as the Siachen Glacier.
On Monday night, when President Ram Nath Kovind presented the Padma awards at a civil investiture ceremony in the Darbar Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan, the loudest applause was reserved for Swami Sivananda, the 125-year-old yoga guru who walked barefoot to receive the Padma Shri -- after prostrating before Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi and President Kovind.
Chronology of events in which the Supreme Court on Monday delivered judgment on 10 per cent reservation to people belonging to the economically weaker sections (EWS) in admissions and government jobs.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday accused the Congress of seeking to divide women in the name of caste and by spreading lies, as he launched a fierce counter-attack on the party over its demand of OBC sub-quota in women's reservation in legislatures.
With the Opposition seeking to put up a united fight in the presidential poll, some leaders have reached out to former West Bengal governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi as a possible choice, sources said on Tuesday.
President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday said he had never imagined that an ordinary village boy like him would have the honour of occupying the highest post in the country, and thanked the people of his birth place for this.
In continuation of a tradition that started in 1950, Nepal Army chief Gen Prabhu Ram Sharma was conferred with the honorary rank of 'General of the Indian Army' by President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday.
The Budget Session of Parliament will begin on Monday with the address by President Ram Nath Kovind to both Houses in the Central Hall.
Sunil Gatade and Venkatesh Kesari reveal that Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar's name is now doing the rounds as President Kovind's likely successor.
Political watchers are keen to see if the party will now opt for a more seasoned face from its ranks for the vice presidential candidate.
All 39 constituents of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Tuesday reposed faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and resolved to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections unitedly under his leadership.
In an editorial in its mouthpiece Saamana, the party said Mahatma Gandhi's grandson Gopalkrishna Gandhi and National Conference's Farooq Abdullah, the "regular names that crop up during the presidential polls", don't have the personality or heft to make it a tightly-contested battle.
By changing the nation's name from India to Bharat, would this landmass overnight lose the emotional and cultural linkage that had been built over generations, centuries and millennia, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
On one hand, South Indian states have been complaining about denial of a proportionate portion of the sharable funds from the Centre, based on population. On the other hand, they stand to lose Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha seats that again are based on population, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
There are no major legal complications in implementing the bill right now but the Narendra Modi government putting it off for 10 years, he said.
President Ram Nath Kovind invited the Union council of ministers for a high tea at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Saturday. The Rashtrapati Bhavan described it as a courtesy meeting. On July 7, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inducted 36 new faces into the council and promoted seven junior ministers to independent or Cabinet roles. Modi dropped 12 ministers, including the ministers of health, education, information technology, law, environment and information, and broadcasting in the biggest rejig in the council since 2014 when he first took over as the prime minister.
Kharge termed the high-level committee constituted by the Centre to examine the feasibility of 'One Nation, One Election' a 'gimmick' and alleged the Modi government wants to slowly replace democracy in India with dictatorship.
According to sources, Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Anand Sharma and Jairam Ramesh reached out to other Opposition leaders for the boycott of the event.
Sailor Ramavtar Godara had made the supreme sacrifice while attempting to rescue an individual drowning in a water reservoir in Nagaur district, Rajasthan.
'To the youth, I will say work hard. One minute of work will not get you anything. I have worked hard for the past 20 years, 2002 was the first time I won a gold medal.'
"Democracy, I firmly believe, has within it the capacity to reconcile all differences and also the capacity to bring out the best of the citizens' potential. Kashmir, happily, is already realising this vision," the President said in his convocation address at the Kashmir University in Srinagar.
While Indian Air Force ace pilot Group Captain Abhinandan Varthaman was accorded the Vir Chakra, Army Major Vibhuti Shankar Dhoundiyal, who was killed in the 2019 Pulwama terrorist attack, was accorded the Shaurya Chakra (posthumously) by President Ram Nath Kovind in an investiture ceremony on Monday.
Sources said all the ministers expressed anguish over the "major security breach" during Modi's visit to the Congress-ruled state on Wednesday, with some demanding strong action.
President Ram Nath Kovind on Monday said the country's farm production and procurement increased during 2020-21 crop year despite the pandemic and agricultural exports reached a record level of Rs 3 lakh crore during the same period. In his address to the joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament at the start of the Budget session, Kovind said the government is focusing on making the country self-sufficient in edible oils besides making special efforts to promote organic farming, natural farming and crop diversification. "My government is working continuously to empower the farmers and the rural economy of the country... I would like to give maximum credit to the small farmers of the country for this consistent success and strengthening of the agriculture sector," he said.
The 91-year-old expressed his joy, saying he never thought that he would sit in a new Parliament building in his lifetime.
For the BJP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's big move to push through his 'one-nation-one-election' concept promises to be the big ticket idea which can disrupt conventional calculations and allow it to frame the upcoming Lok Sabha polls along helpful lines as the party believes the issue has the potential to catch popular imagination.
The President had undergone bypass surgery at AIIMS hospital on March 30.
The theme of the President's Fleet Review-2022 was 'Indian Navy -- 75 years in Service of the Nation', commemorating the Azaadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.
