However, the NGT expressed its displeasure over the spiritual guru's statement that he 'will go to prison but not pay the fine' and said such a statement was not expected from a person with such high stature.
'It indicates the grooming of the party's new leadership.' 'It is also a signal to the states that these ministers represent.'
President Pranab Mukherjee presented five Padma Vibhushan, eight Padma Bhushan and forty-three Padma Shri awards at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.
The party has taken a very serious view of the party candidate getting just four votes while seven other MLAs voted for other parties' candidates, party spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad told media persons on Friday.
Two Rajya Sabha MPs from Gujarat -- BJP president Amit Shah, now Home Minister, and Smriti Irani, who has got the women and child development ministry -- have won the Lok Sabha polls, thus creating two vacancies in the Upper House of Parliament from the state.
The government on Tuesday decided to cancel the examination for appointment of postmen held on July 14 to hold it in all local languages including Tamil.
Ravi Bishnoi stole the show on Sunday night.
The actor playing a business tycoon in his upcoming film.
Telecom and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said one of the primary focus areas of Digital India is Pillar 5: eKranti - electronic delivery of services.
The Art of Living Ashram in Bangalore is witness to a wealth of a different kind, as it hosts thousands of people from across 65 countries as meditation, silence, pujas and satsang mark the nine auspicious nights of Navratri.
The unrest in the Sandeshkhali region of West Bengal ballooned into a major political row on Thursday as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee blamed the saffron camp of fomenting trouble in the area, while the Bharatiya Janata Party and the National Commission for Women (NCW) accused her party Trinamool Congress and the state government of being complicit in crimes against women in the area.
Training its guns on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the Bofors pay-offs scandal, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday demanded that he apologise for defending Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrochi. "Mr PM, you tried to give a clean chit to Quattrocchi," BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters, adding this has been found to be false by an income tax tribunal which said that kickbacks of Rs 41 crore were paid to Quattrocchi and Win Chaddha.
"Ordinary users of WhatsApp have nothing to fear about the new Rules. Its entire objective is to find out who started the message that led to commissioning of specific crimes mentioned in the rules," Prasad added.
The Congress on Thursday attacked the Modi government over the issue, alleging that it had been "caught snooping". The Opposition demanded a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the "illegal hacking" of cellphones.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday sought to wash its hands off the jail term awarded by a court in Delhi to its former president Bangaru Laxman in connection to a bribery case, saying the order is part of a legal process which does not involve the party. "This sentence is a part of the legal process. He (Laxman) will appeal against it. The liability here is personal and does not involve the party," BJP chief spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
China looks to yoga to bring about "spiritual renaissance" for a calming influence on the people troubled by effects of globalisation and rapid economic changes, said a top Chinese official, as Indian spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar opened his 'Art of Living' centre in Beijing.
Gandhi invoked Rule 357 which allows for "personal explanations" and also cited the example of Bharatiya Janata Party MP and then minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who invoked the Rule to give an explanation regarding comments made by Jyotiraditya Scindia in relation to him in Parliament
Stepping up attack on the Congress after it targeted its president Nitin Gadkari, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday put a four-point poser to Sonia Gandhi, questioning her silence on the various scams.
In an interview with rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa, Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar says that even though he supports the cause, he would never support anybody who resorts to violence.
Spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravishankar, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Mohan Bhagwat and thousands of supporters in Indian and overseas appealed to yoga guru Ramdev to end his fast against black money corruption due to his falling health.
The Field Office of National Investigation Agency was inaugurated at Hyberabad by Andhra Pradesh Director General of Police R R Girish Kumar on Monday.
The Bhartiya Janata Party, consciously deciding to steer clear of its close association with the Ram temple, switched gears, and said that the issue would not remain a part of their political agenda anymore. But at the same time, called for all communities to join hands to pave bay for building a temple at the site.
Rahul Gandhi may be seen as the party's key charismatic leader, but the Bhartiya Janata Party does not consider him as any potent political force.
The Opposition on Wednesday charged the government with failing to ensure justice for the victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy."Justice and accountability has been the real casualty," Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said while initiating a discussion on the issue.He pointed out that 26 years have passed and 20,000 people died in the incident and asked the government to disclose the exact number of deaths in its record.
To ensure implementation of party ideology and agenda, the Bharatiya Janata Party central leadership on Tuesday directed its chief ministers to maintain time-bound and better coordination with the organisation in states where the party is in power.
In a strong reaction to Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's statement on Osama bin Laden, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday asked the country to first look within on the issue of terrorism as it had been "caught with its pants-down" in the case.
The comments assume significance in the backdrop of recent disclosures by messaging giant WhatsApp that said Indian journalists and human rights activists were among those globally spied upon by unnamed entities using an Israeli spyware Pegasus.
While Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj in her post on Twitter.com called Laden 'humanity's enemy number one', BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said he (Laden) was the most visible and dangerous face of global jihadi terror.
Sinha said the announcement would be made on the auspicious occasion of 'Navratra'.
Accusing Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati of not taking any steps for the betterment of Dalits, Bharatiya Janata Party national spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad on Monday sought to know details of the measures taken by her for the welfare of downtrodden communities in the state.
Dismissing Agriculture Minister and NCP chief Sharad Pawar's claim that he had no role in the 2G scam, the BJP sought an explanation from him as to why he and his family figure directly or indirectly in every controversy that has come to light in recent times. Party spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters that Pawar is a senior public figure who has been the chief minister of Maharashtra four times and a Union minister for a long time.
Spiritual Guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's Art of Living Foundation in Bengaluru is back in the news over an extortion call. Art of Living spokesperson Gireem Govind told rediff.com that the ashram had got calls demanding Rs 42 crore, failing which the organisation would be defamed.
Maintaining that BJP leaders accused in the Babri mosque demolition fully co-operated with the Liberhan Commission, party president Rajnath Singh today said the report has been submitted after a long delay.
Spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on Tuesday said he could not visit Amethi during his ongoing anti-corruption yatra in Uttar Pradesh as the Ashram which had extended him invitation was pressurised not to call him.
Responding to Singh's Twitter post -- which stated that Ramdev was BJP's plan A, Team Anna was plan B, and when both of which had 'crashed', Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar was plan C -- BJP national spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said, "Digvijay Singh is no doubt the plan D of the Congress party, and D can be read here as duffer or dirty tricks."
Sources said the parties have sought settlement under the provisions of The Places of Worship Act, 1991 which provides that no dispute with regard to any mosque or other religious places, which have been constructed after demolition of temples and are existing as in 1947, would be raised in a court of law.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday demanded the sacking of Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor in the wake of controversy over Indian Premeir League's Kochi team ownership.
The cash-for-vote scam rocked both Houses of Parliament Thursday with Bharatiya Janata Party objecting to the arrest of two of its "whistleblower" former MPs and demanding suspension of Question Hour to discuss the issue.
"BJP disassociates and disapproves the contents of the speech and the comments attributed to Varun Gandhi. We have not received any notice from the Election commission on the issue," BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said in New Delhi as the saffron party distanced itself from the controversy.
