"If they say that my son should not enter Guruvayur temple, it is not correct. It is not a good approach. Let the people say," Ravi, whose wife is a Christian, told reporters on the sidelines of a function in Kochi.
Deshmukh, who is Science and Technology Minister, was given additional charge of the Ministry immediately after Virbhadra Singh resigned in the wake of a Himachal Pradesh court framing corruption charges against him in a 23-year-old case in June, this year.
The four recommendations came from Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs,Vayalar Ravi, member of US Congress Joseph Crowley and Dalis Adler, staff associate, sub-committee on the Middle East and South Asia under the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
The young couple got married in Chennai on December 22.
Giving a platform to Keralites in the Gulf to air their grievances, an exclusive session on Non-Resident Indians in that region was held as the 11th Pravasi Divas began in Kochi on Monday.
Pravasi centres to be set up in embassies
Taking serious view of a 29-year old Kerala woman landing in a prostitution racket in Oman after being lured with a housemaid job, India has asked its mission in Muscat to take up the case with the Omanese Government and seek action against her sponsors. Union Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi on Monday said that stringent action would also be taken if any agent was involved in the racket.
All efforts are being made to bring home the bodies of the 21 Indians, who were killed in the boat mishap off the Bahrain coast, as early as possible to their respective home states, Union Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi said.
Expressing his opposition to a legislation for allowing non-Hindus to worship in temples in the state, Ravi said his case was entirely different as he is a Hindu and his son was also brought up as a Hindu.
An amendment to the Indian Immigration Act governing the conduct of manpower agents is now waiting for the mandatory clearance from the union cabinet, Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi said in Dubai on Tuesday. Of the 56 complaints received so far this year, 13 licences were cancelled while 27 were suspended. Twenty-eight licences of recruiting agents were cancelled in 2006 and 65 were suspended.
Union Minister Vayalar Ravi on Sunday slammed his colleague and Home Minister P Chidambaram for his remarks on the Mullaperiyar Dam, calling them as "unfortunate" and said they only showed his "political immaturity".
The economy is scheduled to dominate the seventh annual Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Chennai, January 7-9. Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi told Rediff India Abroad that the ongoing economic meltdown has affected the Diaspora and could even impact on the numbers participating in the PBD, but said such impact could be marginal. "We are not getting any alarming report, so far," the minister said, adding that at least 1,200 prominent NRIs are expected to attend.
The issue figured prominently during talks Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi held here with visiting British Immigration Minister Damian Green. Ravi told Green about the 'historical ties' between the two countries and requested him to ensure that Indian students and professionals do not suffer because of the changes in the immigration norms.
The decision to go for such a pact was taken at a meeting between European Union Foreign Affairs Minister Baroness Catherine Asthon and Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi.
M S Gill, V Narayanasami, Jitin Prasada, Raghunath Jha, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Santosh Bagrodia and Rameshwar Oraon were on Sunday inducted into the Union Council of Ministers. Congress president Sonia Gandhi said that she had wanted her son and All-Indian Congress Committee general secretary to become a minister, but he refused.
The mortal remains of Sunanda Pushkar, who was found dead in mysterious circumstances at a luxury hotel in New Delhi on Friday night, were consigned to flames on Saturday in presence of her family members.
Sushma Swaraj, like Clinton, has a strong political base in her own party and is likely to have her imprint on foreign policy, says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
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