Amid speculation of a reshuffle in the Union Council of Ministers, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday met President Pratibha Patil and discussed the upcoming budget session of Parliament. A Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesperson said the meeting lasted 45 minutes, during which the two leaders discussed the current economic situation and various other issues. The issues included price rise, internal security and the budget session.
Huge backlog of cases in the courts is a major issue and the solution lies in changing laws and strengthening judicial institutions, President Pratibha Patil said in Thane on Saturday.
Bharatiya Janata Party's parliamentary spokesperson Vijay Kumar Malhotra has in consultation with the party's leadership sent as many as 50 amendments to the speech made by the President Pratibha Patil on the opening day of Budget session of Parliament.
Bandu Tidke, who was sentenced to death for raping and murdering a 16-year-old girl, was sentenced to death by trial court in Bagalkot in 2005. Tidke was a HIV positive patient and died in 2007 in a government hospital in Belgaum.
The Congress leadership has given President Pratibha Patil's son Rajendra Shehawat for the Amravati Assembly seat in Maharashtra.
However, a link is provided to view the Assumption Address by Patil in the Central Hall of Parliament.
The President would leave for Chennai on November 2.
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.
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.
Expecting the economy to slow down in the current fiscal amid global recession, President Pratibha Patil on Thursday said the new government will focus on adversely-affected sectors like infrastructure, exports, SMEs, and housing to restore the growth momentum.
Kerala government on Friday said the arrest warrant against Peoples Democratic Party leader Abdul Nasser Madani, an accused in the Bengaluru serial bomb blasts case, will be executed by Karnataka police at an 'appropriate time' after the ongoing visit of President Pratibha Patil.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met President Pratibha Patil on Wednesday and discussed the current situation in Jammu and Kashmir besides other issues.
President Pratibha Patil expressed her condolences on the sudden demise of Akbarali A Heptulla, husband of Najma Heptulla, former deputy chairman of Rajya Sabha.
Narang won four gold medals at last year's Commonwealth Games. The 28-year-old rifle shooter, who was the first Indian marksman to qualify for next year's London Olympics with a bronze in the World Championships last year, was disgruntled at being "ignored" for the award last year.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday briefed President Pratibha Patil on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of the Amarnath land row. During the 45-minute meeting, Dr Singh apprised her of the steps taken by the Centre to restore normalcy in the state, official sources said.
President Pratibha Patil will do the honours first by taking a ride on the Indian Air Force's Boeing Business Jets from the Palam air base on Monday. "The inaugural flight of the VVIP jets on April 1 will have the President, who is also the supreme commander of the armed forces, as its first passenger," officials said.
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".
Following is the trascript of President Pratibha Patil's address to the joint sittingof Parliament on Thursday.
Suspended IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt has petitioned President Pratibha Patil to appoint a new Commission of Inquiry to probe the role of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and others in 2002 riots.
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.
Ruksana had killed a top Pakistani terrorist belonging to Lashkar-e-Tayiba and injured another at Kalsian village in Rajouri district, about 217 km from Jammu on the night of September 27.
President Pratibha Patil on Monday embarked on a ten-day visit to Vietnam and Indonesia to give a new thrust to India's 'Look East' policy and bolster its bilateral ties with these economically and strategically important neighbours in the ASEAN region.
Thirteen days before her tenure comes to an end, Pratibha Patil on Thursday looked back on her five years as President with a sense of satisfaction, dismissing as 'ill-informed' the criticism of the expenditure on her foreign tours.
Dr Singh said Manekshaw, popularly called Sam Bahadur, had served the army with great distinction for over four decades beginning with the very first military engagement free India was dragged into in the mountains of Jammu and Kashmir.
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."
Shops, business establishments and educational institutes remained closed due to the strike and most public vehicles were off the road. Geelani on Wednesday called for complete shutdown in protest against the President's visit claiming that there was "no justification" for her visit as "human rights violations by security forces were going on unabated in the state."
President Pratibha Patil has asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to meet her on Thursday in the wake of Left parties withdrawing support to the United Progressive Alliance government. A Rashtrapati Bhavan communique issued on Wednesday, hours after the four Left parties submitted letters snapping ties with the UPA government, said, "Keeping in mind these political developments, the President has requested the Prime Minister to meet her tomorrow to have his views."
Combating inflation and sustaining growth momentum may be the top priority, but the government on Monday said it would strive to push economic reforms to encourage foreign and private sector investments in the economy.
Union Minister for Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal has urged President Pratibha Patil to flag off a government-sponsored Yatra, christened as Sakshar Bharat Yatra from Delhi on February 18.
Noted Gandhian writer and Padmashree awardee Giriraj Kishore, who was distressed over the auction of memorabilia associated with Mahatma Gandhi, on Wednesday wrote to President Pratibha Patil wanting to return the award.
The Bharatiya Janata Party will on Thursday apprise President Pratibha Patil of the attacks on its headquarters in Tamil Nadu allegedly by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam workers and seek her intervention on the issue.
Asking Maoists to abandon the path of violence, President Pratibha Patil on Saturday said they must come to the negotiating table for working out a solution. Addressing the nation on the eve of 64th Independence Day, she also said terrorism poses the biggest threat to global peace and to defeat it all nations should come together and ensure that terrorists do not get sanctuaries and financial assistance.
The government has enhanced the emoluments of the President, the Vice President and governors to Rs 1.5 lakh, Rs 1.25 lakh and Rs 1.10 lakh respectively. The Cabinet secretary and defence chiefs too have been given substantial increments.
Samajwadi Party leaders Amar Singh and Ram Gopal Yadav met President Pratibha Patil on Wednesday. Amar Singh handed over to the President a list of Lok Sabha MPs who contested under the SP symbol.
Law Minister Salman Khurshid on Sunday spoke to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh against the backdrop of Election Commission's complaint against him to President Pratibha Patil in which the panel accused him of "improper and unlawful" defiance of its orders.
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.
In her address to a joint sitting of Parliament, Patil said coal is the main source of energy in India and the government has allocated 158 blocks with reserves of almost 40 billion tonnes to public and private sector companies in power, cement and sponge iron for captive use. Coal-abundant India has been pushing for the $6-8 billion coal-to-liquid project to cut its dependence on imported oil.
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.
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.
Naib Subedar Chunni Lal is the only soldier awarded the Ashok Chakra, Vir Chakra and Sena Medal.
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