IAF's four fighter pilots undergoing rigorous training for the landmark Gaganyaan mission, and who earned the 'astronaut wings' on Tuesday, have a stellar resume. They have a flying experience in the range of nearly 2,000-3,000 hours and two of them are recipients of the prestigious 'Sword of Honour'.
Taking note of the expected rush for the ceremony, divisional commissioner Gaurav Dayal on Wednesday convened a meeting of hotel owners of Ayodhya in preparation and instructed them to decorate their hotels to give a warm welcome to their guests during the consecration ceremony.
Addressing the party's national executive, Nadda also reached out to Sikhs, who are in majority in poll-bound Punjab, by listing a number of measures the Modi government has taken for the community, including expediting action against 1984 riots accused, facilitating foreign grants to gurudwaras and keeping langars outside the review of the Goods and Services Tax.
'Mood is upbeat as first teams arrive in the Olympic Village,' says India's Chef-de-Mission Gagan Narang
Former Karnataka chief minister S M Krishna, noted industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla and famous playback singer Suman Kalyanpur were given Padma awards by President Droupadi Murmu at a ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday offered prayers at a Matua temple in Bangladesh's Orakandi, the birthplace of Hindu mystic figure and Matua community's spiritual guru Harichand Thakur.
First-time MLA Bhajan Lal Sharma was sworn in as the chief minister of Rajasthan at a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party's top leadership on Friday, 12 days after the party ousted the Congress in the assembly polls.
Apart from Kohli, many cricketers and other sports personalities have also extended their congratulatory messages to PM Modi, who is now set to start his second term as PM.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday alleged that Congress president Sonia Gandhi was the "driving force" behind the "conspiracy" to implicate then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 riots case in the state.
'People want to do business in the name of the Kedarnath temple.'
In addition to these temple models, metallic rings, lockets and other cloth items bearing Lord Ram's name are flying off the shelves in Ayodhya, according to shopkeepers.
Till now, the maximum Bharat Ratnas were awarded in 1999 when four recipients were given the coveted award.
In a major cabinet reshuffle, Arjun Ram Meghwal has replaced Kiren Rijiju as the Union law and justice minister, a communique from the President's Secretariat said on Thursday.
A prominent Hindu temple in Sydney was defaced by "anti-social elements" on Friday with anti-India graffiti on the walls, in the latest incident of vandalism against Hindu temples in Australia ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the country later this month.
Pandit, who was appointed as the JNU VC in February last year, said some people opposed her decision to put the national flag and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's photo on the varsity premises.
'The north east people are complaining, but the BJP is not listening to our voice.'
As BJP leaders went all out to project the event as a moment of national pride, some leaders were directly critical of the ceremony with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, belonging to the Communist Party of India-Marxist, slamming the state's role in the Ram Temple consecration, saying the line that demarcates religion and state seems to be 'getting thinner and thinner'.
'Sonia did not visit this place once since she won. Who's to say they won't lose this one, too?'
"Birthday wishes to Delhi CM Shri @ArvindKejriwal. May he be blessed with a long and healthy life," Modi said in a tweet.
Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters in New Delhi, Gandhi said the Congress Working Committee will meet soon and decide whether he should resign as the party chief following the electoral debacle.
"BJP workers are coming in front of the vehicle of Chief Minister Banerjee and shouting 'Jai Shri Ram.' Is it fair to do so? Is it right to interrupt and come in front of the car of somebody? The hooligans are also after our MLAs and MPs and are shouting 'Jai Shri Ram.' We will not do any such mischievous thing and will not stop the way of prime minister," said Debashree Banerjee, a TMC worker.
Despite being an ally of the BJP, Uddhav has been a vocal critic of Modi.
Renowned ghazal singer Pankaj Udhas, whose velvet smooth voice gave expression to the many colours of love, longing and heartache in songs such as Chitthi Ayee Hai and Aur Ahista Kijiye Baatein, died in Mumbai on Monday, February 26, 2024, after a prolonged illness.
He said the plea of the Northeast people to not let the bill pass was not being heard by the Centre.
The Shiv Sena chief said an atmosphere is being created in the country that the National Register of Citizens (NRC) is 'dangerous' for Muslims, but added that the exercise will not be carried out in Maharashtra.
"It is heartening to see us, common people, being acknowledged. 'Achha lag raha hai'," Ram Chand Kumar, a mason who hails from Bihar and has been working on the site for the last 5-6 months, hailed the prime minister's gesture.
A new landmark of India -- both structural and spiritual -- rises on Ayodhya's horizon on Monday as a new-age architectural marvel of elegant sandstones, diligently carved by craftspeople with dedication and devotion to Lord Ram.
A day ahead of the consecration ceremony at the Ram temple, the streets and the skyline of Ayodhya have turned saffron with flags flying atop buildings, small and big, across the temple town.
This year, eight eminent individuals are being given Padma Bhushan and 54 are being conferred with Padma Shri awards, besides the two Padma Vibhushan recipents.
According to police officials, BJP supporters started reaching the venue as early as 9 am while the gates of the stadium were opened at 11 am, almost five hours before the ceremony.
Reaching out to tribals, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday lauded their contribution to Indian culture through the ages and said Lord Ram drew inspiration from them during his exile as he slammed the Congress for "neglecting" adivasis during its previous rules.
"I did not want to take the photograph of Lord Ram but etch his image in my heart instead," said Amit Pathak, a resident of Tulsinagar in Ayodhya, a day ahead of the 'pran pratishtha' ceremony at the Ram temple.
Appraising Rediff.com about the meeting, a source close to Dr Singh said Modi sought Dr Singh's advice on the economy and foreign policy. Dr Singh told Modi that he concurs with the Reserve Bank of India's concerns about the Indian economy.
Deora said he "regrets the insinuations" made after the Twitter exchange with Modi.
Global IT major IBM CEO Ginni Rometty on Wednesday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala accused the government of creating 'a situation' in the court that the murderer of a former prime minister was freed, and asked if the BJP supported this.
On Monday night, when President Ram Nath Kovind presented the Padma awards at a civil investiture ceremony in the Darbar Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan, the loudest applause was reserved for Swami Sivananda, the 125-year-old yoga guru who walked barefoot to receive the Padma Shri -- after prostrating before Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi and President Kovind.
Headed by former prime minister HD Deve Gowda, the JD-S has long been a strong third player in the southern state where the Congress and the BJP have been the two main parties.
The prime minister also raised questions over the alleged appeal by former director general of the Pakistan Army, Sardar Arshad Rafiq, that senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel be made chief minister of Gujarat.
Modi has appointed P K Sinha, who superannuated as cabinet secretary on Friday, as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), he said.
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