Families of two West Bengal women killed in a stampede at the Maha Kumbh Mela have alleged that they were handed over the bodies without death certificates. They received only a piece of paper mentioning that the body was given to them. The victims, Basanti Poddar and Urmila Bhuniya, were killed in the pre-dawn stampede on January 29. A senior West Bengal minister alleged that "total mismanagement" prevailed in the Maha Kumbh Mela.
The landmark India-US civil nuclear deal of 2008, brokered during Manmohan Singh's tenure as Prime Minister, is seen as a crowning achievement in his foreign policy legacy. The agreement ended India's nuclear isolation, fostered a strategic partnership with the US, and opened doors to advanced technologies and defense cooperation. This historic deal also laid the groundwork for India's engagement with the global nuclear community.
Sitharaman, India's first full-time woman Finance Minister, broke away from the colonial tradition of carrying a Budget briefcase in July 2019, opting instead for a traditional 'bahi-khata', to carry the Union Budget papers.
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has said that the date of Ram temple consecration in Ayodhya should be celebrated as "Pratishtha Dwadashi" as it marks the "true independence" of India, which faced "parachakra" (enemy attack) for several centuries. Bhagwat said that the Ram temple movement was not started to oppose anyone, but to awaken the "self" (swa) of Bharat so that the country could stand on its own feet and show the path to the world. He also said that the invaders destroyed temples of the country so that the "self" of India also perishes.
Pranab Mukherjee passed away on Monday at the Army Research and Referral Hospital in Delhi at the age of 84. He was cremated on Tuesday with full state honours.
However, his son and former MP Abhijit Mukherjee said his father is showing "positive signs of improvement".
The Congress on Saturday accused the Centre of insulting Dr Manmohan Singh, the country's first Sikh prime minister, by carrying out his last rites at the Nigambodh Ghat instead of a designated spot that could later become his memorial.
22 images that captures glimpses of a most unusual Indian who led the nation for 10 years.
After spending nearly 50 years in a colonial bungalow at 24, Akbar Road, the Congress moved into a new office on January 15. Rasheed Kidwai, who knows the history of the Congress better than the Congress, looks back at the people who breathed life into this address.
The former president was admitted to the hospital in Delhi Cantonment on August 10 and was operated the same day for removal of a clot in his brain.
'The condition of Shri Pranab Mukherjee remains unchanged this morning, He is deeply comatose with stable vital parameters and he continues to be on ventilatory support,' a statement from the hospital said.
Many world leaders on Monday condoled the death of former president Pranab Mukherjee, saying they have lost a true friend who made immense contributions to the strengthening of India's relations with their countries.
'The condition of Shri Pranab Mukherjee remains unchanged this morning. He is deeply comatose and is being treated for respiratory infection. 'His vital parameters are stable and he continues to be on ventilatory support,' the hospital said in a statement.
'Shri Pranab Mukherjee's health condition continues to remain critical. Presently he is haemodynamically stable and on a ventilator,' a statement from the hospital said.
The former president continues to be in deep coma, the Army's Research and Referral hospital said.
Doctors attending on him said that his vital and clinical parameters are stable and he is being closely monitored.
Pranabda hasn't given us any indication of the tough period when he realised Sonia Gandhi had decided to give the presidency not to him, but to then vice-president Hamid Ansari. He wrested the presidency from her, and handed her the biggest defeat of her UPA years, observes Shekhar Gupta.
Ambassador Venu Rajamony, who served as press secretary to President Pranab Mukherjee during his tenure, salutes the statesman and political legend, who passed into the ages on Monday.
Abhijit said he was in touch with Mamata and her nephew Abhishek before the assembly polls.
What stood out in his 15-year journey as a member of the political executive at the Centre was his glowing record as India's most successful and effective finance minister. Both as prime minister and finance minister, he understood the importance of gradualism, except when the economy or the polity was in a crisis.
Dismissing 'speculation' and 'fake news' regarding the health of Pranab Mukherjee, his son Abhijit Mukherjee said that the former President is still alive and 'haemodynamically' stable.
He was colourful. He was dramatic. He was The Master of His Craft. There never will be an editor as versatile as Pritish Nandy, notes Nikhil Lakshman.
The 84-year-old former president was admitted to the hospital in Delhi Cantonment on August 10.
National Conference (NC) vice president Omar Abdullah Tuesday asserted that there should be no "fiddling" with the mandate of people in Jammu and Kashmir, and the Centre and the Raj Bhavan must not indulge in any "machinations".
'All the big things happening today in economic development have their beginning in Dr Manmohan Singh's ideas.'
Former President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday underwent a brain surgery at the Army's Research and Referral hospital for removal of a clot.
The 84-year-old former president was admitted to the hospital on Monday and was operated upon for removal of a clot in the brain. He is also COVID-19 positive.
Shortly after former President Pranab Mukherjee passed away, leaders, including President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, paid tributes to him.
'The condition of Hon'ble Shri Pranab Mukherjee remains unchanged this morning (14 August 2020). He is under intensive care and continues to be on ventilatory support. His vital parameters are presently stable,' the hospital said in a statement.
'On a visit to the hospital for a separate procedure, I have tested positive for COVID19 today,' he tweeted. 'I request the people who came in contact with me in the last week, to please self isolate and get tested for COVID-19,' Mukherjee said.
The long-time Congress leader and seven-time parliamentarian had tested positive for COVID-19 at the time of his admission and was being treated for a lung infection.
Pompeo said that the United States was deeply saddened to learn about the passing of Mukherjee.
From the dusty lanes of Mirati, life took the scholar politician to the imposing Rashtrapati Bhavan through a warren of powerful offices he held, but the village stuck, the bond only grew stronger.
'Politics is a game of public perception and my father felt that by his long disappearances, Rahul Gandhi was losing the battle of perception.'
Mukherjee's family and relatives paid their last respects clad in PPE kits while conforming to COVID-19 safeguards.
Mukherjee's mortal remains were brought to his residence, 10, Rajaji Marg, earlier on Tuesday from the army hospital where he breathed his last on Monday.
'I want to ask the Congress only one question: What is more important than election management in politics?'
The Union Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also observed silence for two minutes in the memory of Mukherjee.
The 84-year-old was admitted to the military hospital around noon on Monday, and had also tested positive for COVID-19 prior to the surgery.
'There was trust, but perhaps there was also this apprehension that given the supreme post of prime minister, Sonia Gandhi felt her authority may be a challenged.'
