According to Rashtrapati Bhawan sources though controversial New York based businessman, Sant Singh Chatwal wanted to recieve the Padma award from President Pratibha Patil on March 31, mandarins in the home ministry did not agree to this. "This part of the information is not correct," said an official of the media unit of Rashtrapati Bhawan.
President of India Pratibha Patil will be conferring the Padma Awards to the selected recipients on March 31 at a function in Rashtrapati Bhavan -- a senior official from the president's office confirmed this.
President Pratibha Patil has commuted to life imprisonment the death sentence given to eight murder convicts in two separate cases.
After his threat of withdrawal of support to the United Progressive Alliance government, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad on Monday met President Pratibha Patil and apprised her of his party's stand on the issue of the Women's Reservation Bill. Yadav, whose party, along with the Samajwadi Party, are strongly opposing the bill in its present form, told Patil that his party is not against the reservation for women.
The government on Sunday rejected Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami's recommendation for removal of Navin Chawla as Election Commissioner, paving the way for his appointment to the key constitutional post. A Rashtrapati Bhawan communique said President Pratibha Patil has accepted the government recommendation for rejection of the CEC's report against Chawla and arrived at a "considered opinion".
Showcasing its precision strike capabilities during day and night, Indian Air Force on Sunday carried out a massive fire power blitzkrieg using its frontline aircraft such as SU-30 MKI, Mirage-2000, MIG 27 and MIG 29, at the Pokhran ranges in Rajasthan.
At a time when Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has given individual tax payers a major benefit, President Pratibha Patil's salary and allowances have come down by half.
Patil was addressing Parliament on the first day of the Budget session. She said the upcoming Commonwealth Games will be covered in high definition format by Doordarshan for the first time. than traditional TV systems.
Terming the recent Maoist strike on a paramilitary camp in West Bengal as a 'cowardly' act, President Pratibha Patil on Monday made it clear that such 'senseless violence' would strengthen the government's resolve to tackle it with 'added vigour.'
Ahead of the foreign secretary- level talks, India said on Monday that it was ready to explore a "meaningful" relationship with Pakistan if it seriously addressed the threat of terrorism and stops terror acts against this country.
Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had a brief meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on salient features of the Budget.
The order by Sub Divisional Officer (SDO) Ashok Amankar, in quasi-judicial authority, came on a petition by one Kishore Bansod, who had claimed that the Shekhawat clan had allegedly got their names included in the land title.
There were some awkward moments before the departure of President Pratibha Patil from Beijing to the central Chinese city of Luoyang on Saturday when a member of her entourage, Rashtriya Janata Dal Member of Parliament Raghuvansh Prasad, did not turn up at the airport on time, making her wait for nearly 20 minutes.Though the scheduled departure was slated for 9 am local time, the President arrived at the airport at 8.50 am for the last farewell formalities.
India has sought China's support for its bid for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council during a meeting between President Pratibha Patil and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in Bejing. Patil, who arrived in Beijing on Wednesday on a six-day visit to China, was welcomed warmly by Wen at the Purple Light Pavilion.
President Pratibha Patil discussed bilateral issues of mutual interest and situation in the region with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Thursday.
"I am right", Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami said on Sunday, unfazed by the sharp criticism to his recommendation for the removal of Election Commissioner Navin Chawla for "partisan" functioning.
The Maharashtra unit of the Congress on Thursday suspended 16 rebels, including a minister and a Member of Legislative Assembly, for six years from the party, for contesting against official candidates in the assembly elections.State Finance Minister Sunil Deshmukh, who is contesting against Rajendra Shekhawat, son of President Pratibha Patil from Amravati, and sitting MLA Rajiv Rajale, who is in fray as a rebel from Shegaon in Ahmednagart district, were among the 16 rebels.
President Pratibha Patil on Wednesday congratulated India-born scientist Professor Venkatraman Ramakrishnana for jointly winning this year's Nobel Prize for Chemistry. In her message, Patil said she was very proud to hear of the news and was happy that Professor Ramakrishnan's pursuit of understanding the structure and functioning of the ribosome has been recognised.
President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh led the nation on Saturday in mourning the loss of lives in the Mangalore plane crash. As a mark of respect to the deceased, the government cancelled all functions to celebrate the first anniversary of the second term of the United Progressive Alliance government today. Dr Singh announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh each for the families of those killed and Rs 50,000 each to those injured in the crash.
In her address to the joint sitting of Parliament, President Pratibha noted that the mission has begun to strengthen rural public health infrastructure. The President also said that the vaccine producing institutes in the public sector will be revived to support the immunisation programme.
The road show of Bollywood star Sunil Shetty and cricketer-turned-politician Mohammad Azharuddin organised by the Congress candidate Raosaheb Shekhawat to woo voters saw good turnout in Amravati.
India's top cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, who is not new to awards and honours, will be conferred with IAF's honorary rank of Group Captain. Once Tendulkar receives the honour, he would be the first sports person to be conferred a rank by IAF and the first personality with no aviation background to have got this honour.
President Pratibha Patil's son is fighting on a Congress ticket against the powerful two-term sitting Member of Legislative Assembly and Maharashtra Finance Minister Sunil Deshmukh, who has quit the party to contest as an independent. A R Rahman made it a part of his Oscar awards acceptance speech. But not many imagined that the politics of Amravati would revolve around Salim-Javed's immortal dialogue in the Hindi blockbuster Deewar: "Mere paas maa hai!"
In fact, no senior leader from Maharashtra is expected to campaign in Amravati for the President's son, who had three months ago put up posters and banners in his constituency stating "ticket pakki, jeet pakki".
Mohammad ElBaradei, director general of International Atomic Energy Agency, was on Wednesday honoured with the prestigious Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for his 'impassioned opposition to use of nuclear energy for military purposes.'
Deshmukh, Minister of State for Finance, is taking on President Pratibha Patil's son Rajendrasinh Shekhawat, the official Congress candidate, in Amravati constituency of Vidarbha as an Independent.
Highlighting that the impact of the financial meltdown on India has been less because of strong domestic consumer demand, the President said, ". . . for us consumer protection is of great significance both as part of a sound business approach as well as for achieving the broader goal of national economic growth."
The Congress leadership has given President Pratibha Patil's son Rajendra Shehawat for the Amravati Assembly seat in Maharashtra.
Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal's name for Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, the country's highest sports honour, was approved by the government, which announced the list of all the Arjuna and other award winners for the year 2010.
The Union Cabinet on Tuesday recommended the lifting of President's Rule in Jharkhand to pave the way for the formation of a new government there on Wednesday.The home ministry's note was placed before the Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who approved it, official sources said.The Cabinet recommendation will now go to President Pratibha Patil who will issue orders for lifting of the central rule imposed on January 19 this year.
The government advised the warring Ambani brothers several times that they should stop fighting, but failed to bring about a reconciliation, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said on Wednesday.
The presidential order paves the way for Sonia Gandhi's re-appointment as chairman of the National Advisory Council, a post that has the rank of a Cabinet minister.
President Pratibha Patil today embarked on her maiden visit to Russia seeking to consolidate the relations between the "close friends and partners" in the changed global geo-political situation.
President Pratibha Patil on Sunday accepted the resignation of Governor of Andhra Pradesh N D Tiwari and asked the Chattisgarh Governor to discharge the duties till further arrangements are made.
The Centre has sought a detailed report from the Andhra Pradesh government in the wake of a sting operation purportedly showing state Governor N D Tiwari in a compromising position with three women. Home ministry sources said that state Chief Secretary Ramakant Reddy has been asked to send a detailed report about the allegations made against the governor. The sting operation was telecast on Friday by the ABN Andhra Jyothi channel.
The Indian Navy and other stakeholders in the maritime domain are playing a pro-active role to avoid a recurrence of 26/11 type terror attacks, President Pratibha Patil said on Wednesday.
The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved a proposal to increase reservation for women to 50 per cent in panchayats.
President Pratibha Devisingh Patil had an interactiion with a group of eminent women at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Thursday.
The recent helicopter incident in which President Pratibha Patil had a narrow escape was enough for the Supreme Court to pooh-pooh government's suggestion for airlifting victims of disasters to safety.
President Pratibha Patil, Vice President Hamid Ansari, music director A R Rahman and noted lyricist Gulzar on Sunday watched the Oscar-winning movie Slumdog Millionaire at the Rashtrapati Bhavan auditorium in New Delhi. Oscar awardee Resul Pookuty and Vikas Swarup, on whose novel Q and A the movie is based, also attended the screening. According to a Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesperson, the two-hour-long special screening was exclusively organised for the President.
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