On the eve of a brief session of Parliament, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday met President Pratibha Patil and discussed internal security, the Mumbai terror attack and other issues of national importance. The hour-long meeting took place amid speculation that the prime minister would soon be undertaking a cabinet reshuffle in the wake of resignation of Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil and indisposition of Information and Broadcasting Minister P R Dasmunsi.
Pratibha Patil on Saturday said the victory in the presidential election had bestowed on her a great responsibility and trust to fulfill it.
"I am confident that Indians living overseas will join in the endeavour to contribute to India's growth. As members of the Indian diaspora, you know better than others the challenges and opportunities that a resurgent India represents," Patil, who is the first Indian Head of State to visit the UK in the last 20 years, said.
Britain on Tuesday said it wanted to expand ties in defence and hi-tech sectors with India and was looking forward to President Pratibha Patil's state visit this month to further boost bilateral relations.
In a snub to Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Mamata Banerjee-led Railways kept the Communist Party of India-Marxist veteran away from the ceremony attended by President Pratibha Patil to mark the start of a new Metro Rail project in Kolkata.
"More than 1 crore signature of common people, collected in support of the popular demand of special category status to Bihar, will be submitted to President Patil in New Delhi on July 13," state Janata Dal-United president Vashisht Narain Singh told rediff.com.
President Pratibha Patil has commuted to life imprisonment the death sentence given to eight murder convicts in two separate cases.
The Presidential nomination drama has diminished the Congress' authority.
The children were from Bal Vikas Samiti, Nehru Bal Samiti, Literacy India, Arya Orphanage and Bachchon Ka Ghar.
"Buddhism is more relevant today than ever," said President Pratibha Patil after visiting Bodh Gaya and Nalanda
Bhutan King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Queen Jetsun Pema Wangchuck arrived in New Delhi on a nine-day state visit, their first foreign trip after their marriage.
The cabinet meeting was convened at a short notice to discuss the political situation in Nagaland against the backdrop of the Bharatiya Janata Party-backed Democratic Alliance winning a controversial no-confidence motion in December.
Alleging a scam to the tune of Rs 63,000 crore in developmental works carried out in the North-East, the Bharatiya Janata Party appealed to President Pratibha Patil to direct the authorities to carry out a detailed investigation into the "loot".
Unfazed by Monday's developments in the Rajya Sabha, President Pratibha Patil said that it will be 'graceful' if the Women's Reservation Bill is passed after consultation 'as far as possible.'
Congress President Sonia Gandhi was on Sunday greeted by a host of dignitaries, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, on her 62nd birthday.
India is currently estimated to have a total workforce of 500 million, which is expected to grow by 20 million every year over the next 10 years. President Pratibha Patil said India is a "nation of young people" and the country's youth can be made employable by investing in skill development. "India's demographic dividends can be realised only if the country invests in developing skills to make our youths employable," she said.
"The fact is that all human beings are one and our behaviour should be based on this basic truth. People create distinctions in their own mind and believe them to be true. Today, it is the perceived differences that are dividing people," Patil said while inaugurating the Global Vipassana Pagoda in suburban Gorai near Mumbai.
Much hope was raised for the people of land-locked Garo hills when then President Pratibha Patil inaugurated the state-owned Baljek Airport near Tura along the Guwahati-Tura highway on October 22, 2008.
In the two years that President Pranab Mukherjee has spent so far at Rashtrapati Bhavan, the country's first citizen has shown a marked preference for playing the gracious host over being a travelling head of state.
President Pratibha Patil has rejected the clemency petitions of three killers of Rajiv Gandhi whose death sentences were confirmed by the Supreme Court in 2000.
"We will decide our stand after (the presidential poll on) July 19," party spokesman and Member of Parliament Sanjay Raut told PTI in the backdrop of the strain in the Sena's ties with the BJP following its decision to back Pratibha.
Denouncing the Mumbai terror strikes as 'mindless' acts, President Pratibha Patil on Thursday appealed to people to maintain calm and expressed confidence that the perpetrators of the attacks would be brought to justice.
A commemorative stamp of late Joachim and Violet Alva was released by President Pratibha Patil in New Delhi today, coinciding with the birth centenary year of the couple.
Ensure benefits of progress reach all people, the President said.
President Pratibha Patil wrapped up on a positive note her four-day visit to Bhutan, where she attended the coronation of the world's youngest monarch Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wanchuck, giving a fresh momentum to close bilateral ties.
The new American Ambassador to India, Nancy J Powell, flagged off these concerns at what was her first public address in India after she presented her credentials to President Pratibha Patil on Tuesday.
All members of the Electoral College were expected to weigh the integrity and competence of the candidates, he said.
Images from the XIX Commonwealth Games baton handing over ceremony outside Buckingham Palace in London on Thursday.
President Pratibha Patil has said that bringing back Mahatma Gandhi''s memorabilia to India would be the most exciting occasion of her visit to the United Kingdom. The memorabilia includes signed letters and a signed khadi cloth spun by Mahatma Gandhi.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday strongly condemned the serial blasts in the national capital and appealed to the people to maintain calm
Against the backdrop of escalating violence in Jammu and Kashmir over the Amarnath land row, President Pratibha Patil on Thursday appealed for calm and said differences could be addressed through 'dialogue and reconciliation'.In her second address to the nation on the eve of Independence Day, Patil made no direct mention of the simmering crisis but said "whatever the problem, whatever the cause, whatever the reason, there is no place for violence in our society."
President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh congratulated Abhinav Bindra on his "golden performance" in bagging India's first-ever individual gold medal at the Beijing Olympics. In separate messages, Patil and Singh lauded the achievement of 25-year-old Indian shooter, with the Prime Minister describing the feat as a "golden performance".
The Union home ministry was in constant touch with the Gujarat police, the state chief secretary and state administration, seeking details of the blasts, Union Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta told reporters in New Delhi
A delegation of Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday met President Pratibha Patil and submitted a memorandum apprising her about findings of Shunglu Committee and CAG relating to alleged corruption involving Delhi government and Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit in Commonwealth Games projects.
The Left Front leaders, led by the Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat, have reached the Rashtrapati Bhavan to submit their letter withdrawing support to the United Progressive Alliance government to the President. Following the withdrawal of support by the Left parties the strength of the ruling coalition has been reduced to 230.
Continuing her three-day visit to Brazil, President Pratibha Patil will address the country's Senate and oversee the signing of four bilateral agreements, including an extradition treaty, before leaving for Mexico on the second leg of her three-nation tour. Patil met with a business delegation in Rio de Janeiro, where she discussed ways and means to boost the bilateral trade.
The Pravasi Bharatiya Divas on Sunday with President Pratibha Patil honouring 15 individuals for their achievements and enhancing India's image globally. Rediff.com's Prasanna D Zore spoke to these awardees on what this recognition meant to them.
Addressing the Joint Sitting of Parliament on the first day of the Budget Session, President Pratibha Patil said the 11th Plan period will see expansion in the number of technical institutions. Eight new Indian Institutes of Technology, 20 new Indian Institutes of Information Technology, seven new Indian Institutes of Management and two Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research in addition to the three in Pune, Kolkata and Mohali, will be set up, she said.
With his government's image taking a beating due to sleaze and corruption allegations, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has carried out a reshuffle of his ministerial team, dropping six ministers including Education Minister Bharosilal Jatav facing illegal mining charge.
The CBI, which is probing the murder of a Congress leader Vishram Patil, wants to subject Leeladhar Narkhede and Damodar Lokhande to narco analysis, brain mapping and polygraph tests.
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