The VHP leaders presented a memorandum to the President, seeking an immediate ban on the conversion activities of Christian missionaries and foreign funds to these organisations. They also demanded a thorough scrutiny of the accounts of these Christian missionaries and urged the President to ensure that no foreigner is allowed to practice religious conversion in the country.
When elected on July 18 -- which is almost a certainty, given the NDA's numbers in the electoral college -- Droupadi Murmu will be the first President born after Independence.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had his first substantive meeting with President Barack Obama on Thursday, during which he told the American leader that India would like to carry forward the Indo-US strategic relationship that had developed during the last five years.
Less than 24 hours after creating history by winning the World Cup at the Wankhede stadium, the triumphant Indian team led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni was felicitated by President Pratibha Patil at Raj Bhavan in Mumbai on Sunday.
T D Dogra, who heads Forensic Medicines and Toxicology Department and is next to Venugopal in seniority, was appointed AIIMS' acting chief.
President Pratibha Patil on Wednesday said that international relations must be democratised and the process of United Nations reform expedited to make the Security Council more representative of contemporary reality. The President also pointed to the dangers of terrorism and said India was determined to root it out. "We are determined to eliminate the scourge of international terrorism against which we have zero tolerance," she said.
In her customary address to the joint sitting of Parliament, President Pratibha Patil said, "Even in the prevailing adverse global environment, our economy, it is hoped, would still register a relatively high growth rate." Official estimates have pegged GDP growth for FY'09 at 7.1 per cent, considered good at a time when most developed economies are facing recession.
In her customary address to the joint sitting of Parliament, President Pratibha Patil termed the terror attack on Mumbai as an attempt to retard the country's economic progress and said this and terrorist incidents in various cities were assaults on all the values of the country.
Gathering under the aegis of the Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement (IESM), the ex-servicemen are disillusioned since their demand for "one-rank, one-pension" (OROP) has not been implemented by the government. The ex-soldiers' demand under the OROP is: "Two individuals retiring after equal length of service and from the same rank must get equal pension."
For the sake of neutrality of the Chief Election Commissioners and Election Commissioners, CEC N Gopalaswami wants a bar on their joining any political party for ten years after retirement or taking up any government post. In a three-page note to President Pratibha Patil sent on January 16 when he separately recommended removal of Election Commissioner Navin Chawla, he has sought amendment in the Election Commission Act for the purpose.
In another development, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi had an unscheduled 30-minute meeting with President Pratibha Patil. Rashtrapati Bhavan spokespersons said the two discussed non-political issues.
To corner the Manmohan Singh government in the Budget Session of Parliament, a united opposition today demanded a debate on price rise on February 23, before the Railway Budget and the Union Budget are placed in the Lok Sabha.
Terming the attacks on its headquarters in Tamil Nadu allegedly by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam workers as a "Constitutional breakdown," Bharatiya Janata Party leaders on Thursday met the President and demanded for the dismissal of the DMK govt.
President Pratibha Patil, Vice-President Hamid Ansari, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee and several other leaders greeted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who turned 75 on Wednesday.
The Air India Office in Chennai has received a letter warning attacks by 'suicide bombers' and threats to disrupt the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) beginning in the city on Thursday, police said.
The National Investigative Agency Bill and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill on Tuesday became a law as President Pratibha Patil gave her assent to those legislations which were passed in the last session of Parliament."NIA will be established to investigate terrorist offences. As and when any case is assigned to the NIA, it will take up investigation," he said. Home Minister P Chidambaram told reporters that the presidential assent has been received today.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushma Swaraj on Thursday became the first woman lawmaker to receive an outstanding parliamentarian award.
Rajinder Shekhawat, son of President Pratibha Patil and Congress MLA, on Wednesday denied his family had been accused of land grabbing in Maharashtra.
India, Mexico join hands against terror
Divestment in India has been a painfully slow process. Will the government finally press the gas?
The Budget Session of Parliament will commence on February 22 and the General Budget for 2010-11 will be presented on February 26.
After the 40-minute meeting, a Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesperson said they reviewed the recent developments, but did not elaborate
A Cabinet Committee on Security meeting will be held on Tuesday, which will take up the issue of deployment of NSG in places like Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai, where there is a need for beefing up security.
President Pratibha Patil has approved the award of Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak for Rukhsana Kosser, the Jammu girl who braved the bullets of Lashkar-e-Tayiba militants and killed one of them to save her family.
Party sources revealed some half-a-dozen more legislators faced suspension for their outbursts against Modi.
The Election Commission on Thursday rejected senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Lal Kishenchand Advani's demand that presidential candidates be asked to declare their assets, saying it was not empowered to deal with the issue.
In 2009, the district issued 754 guardian certificates to the parents of children with mental disability. It is another story that the number seems negligible from an all-India perspective.
A young techie of a top software firm was arrested on Wednesday in Chennai for sending hate mails sent to President Pratibha Patil in the last three days.
Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh along with Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banjeree met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Pratibha Patil on Tuesday and apprised them of how farmers faced a tough time in Singur because of anti-farmer policies of the West Bengal government. He accused the Tatas of ditching people of West Bengal, especially Singur, over their failure to honour the terms of the agreement and leaving the state for Gujarat.
With Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on a sticky wicket in the wake of corruption charges, Karnataka Governor H R Bhardwaj on Tuesday said he would give his assessment on the political crisis in the state to President Pratibha Patil as and when necessary.
In a path-breaking move, the government on Friday decided to grant permanent commission to future batches of women officers in the armed forces, but restricted it to non-combat arms of the Army, Navy and Air Force.
President Pratibha Patil accorded sanction to the defence ministry's proposal, which was agreed to by the three services, hitherto an exclusive domain of men.
Eminent journalist H K Dua and noted entrepreneur and former chairman of Hindustan Lever Limited A K Ganguly have been nominated by the government to the Rajya Sabha. Sources said on Tuesday that the names have been sent to President Pratibha Patil for her assent. Ganguly, who was conferred with the Padma Vibhushan award, the second highest civilian honour, was also a member of the Prime Minister's Council on Trade and Industry.
Leaders of the Left parties, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Telugu Desam Party will meet President Pratibha Patil on Tuesday to demand immediate convening of Parliament session. The meeting comes in the wake of the Left demand that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should quit for "lying to people and Parliament" on the Indo-US nuclear deal.
In a decision that could lead to a final view on the clemency petition of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, Home Minister P Chidambaram has recommended to the President commutation of the death sentence of a prisoner in Tamil Nadu.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni became only the second cricketer, a decade after Sachin Tendulkar, to be conferred the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, the country's highest sporting honour, at a glittering function at Rashtrapati Bhawan, Delhi, on Friday. India's ODI captain could not attend the function as he was leading the team in the fifth and final One-Day International against Sri Lanka in Colombo. His father Paan Singh received the award on his behalf.
President Pratibha Patil congratulated boxer Vijender Kumar for clinching a bronze medal at the Beijing Olympics. ''I am very happy and proud that you have won the bronze medal at the Beijing Olympics in the middleweight division of the boxing competition,'' the President said in a statement on Friday.
The 90-year-old singer will be conferred the award in a ceremony on October 21st by President Pratibha Patil.
President Pratibha Patil's son Rajendra alias Raosaheb Shekhawat, who is contesting from Amravati constituency on a Congress ticket, is worth Rs 6.68 crore. Shekhawat's movable property is valued at Rs 1.36 crore and his immovable assets are worth Rs 5.32 crore, said the affidavit sworn by him at the time of filing of nomination.
President Pratibha Patil's son Rajendra Shekhawat, who has been nominated by Congress to contest assembly poll in Maharashtra, on Wednesday night said his mother's name was "deliberately being dragged" and that he should be considered only on his merit.
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