The issue of content code for television news channels will be discussed with all stake holders to find a solution, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni said on Friday.
After Rahul's Bharat Jodo Yatra began criss-crossing the Hindi heartland, BJP leaders have revived their attacks on 'dynasty politics' and 'family rule' in the Congress, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Congress will hold a chintan shivir immediately after the Budget session of Parliament and the CWC will meet again before that, he told reporters
P Chidambaram and Rajeev Shukla of the Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party's Sumitra Valmiki and Kavita Patidar, former Congress leader Kapil Sibal, Rashtriya Janata Dal's Misa Bharti and Jayant Chaudhary of the Rashtriya Lok Dal were among the 41 winners declared elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi also decided to convene a 'Chintan Shivir', a brainstorming session from May 13-15 in Udaipur.
The government on Tuesday informed Parliament that despite stiff competition from private television channels, there was an increase in net revenue of Doordarshan during the previous financial year.
Though the bill has been pending before the upper house since 24th November,1988 no decision could be reached in the house. "The cabinet has at its meeting held on August 29,1988, approved the proposal to transfer the subject of sports from the state list to the concurrent list of the Constitution of India. The main objective behind proposed Sixty First Amendment bill was to ensure effective implementation of National Sports Policy,1984.
There is no threat to the Amarinder Singh-led government in Punjab and the party's victory prospects for the upcoming assembly elections, Rawat said.
The states where these monuments are untraceable are Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.
Minister for Tourism and Culture Ambika Soni is happy she could manage to bring the relics of Mahatma Gandhi back to India.Soni, a powerful leader of the Congress owing to her proximity to party president Sonia Gandhi, claimed that United Breweries chairman Vijay Mallaya had been selected to bid on the items.
Rapid urbanisation, multi-storeyed buildings and development projects have led to disappearance of 35 Centrally-protected monuments and sites across the country.
Rahul Gandhi's name does not figure for any organisational post.
Tourism Minister Ambika Soni said 5.08 million tourists visited India in 2007, recording a growth of 14.56 per cent. This was better than the world average of around 6 per cent. However, since October 2008, there has been some reduction, she said. In December 2008, foreign tourist arrivals numbered 521,990; this was 12.5 per cent lower than the number of arrivals in the corresponding month of the previous year. Similarly, January saw a 17.6 per cent drop to 487,262 arrivals.
In the complaint filed at the Parliament Street police station, she demanded action against Law Minister H R Bharadwaj, Culture Minister Ambika Soni and Shipping Minister T R Baalu.
Rajnath Singh warned the Centre that his party would launch a nationwide movement if it did not immediately withdraw its affidavit that there was no historical evidence to prove Lord Ram's existence.
Around five million foreign tourists had visited India in 2007 which was a big jump from the 3.92 million tourists during the previous year, Union Tourism and Culture Minister Ambika Soni said. Around 400 million domestic tourists had also traveled across different parts of the country during 2007.
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi is trekking 18 kilometres up in the mountains of Uttarakhand to the Kedarnath Temple.
Left planned nationwide protests over UPA government's economic policies.
Ambika Soni, the new I&B minister, called for a full-presentation on Tuesday on both these issues from senior I&B officials, a day after she took charge of the ministry.
"The message of the Friendship Year has been that our millennium friendship needs to be actively harnessed for realising the full potential of our bilateral relations."
In the wake of the controversy, Soni, who also is in-charge of the Tourism Ministry, had called off her visit to the United States, to meet the prime minister.
"It's a full-scale civil war in the UPA, a signal of collapse of this unnatural alliance," BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar said at a news conference in Delhi.
India ranked 42nd in international tourists arrivals in 2006, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation. India recorded foreign tourist arrivals of 4.45 million. The top four countries of the world in terms of international tourist arrivals were France (79.1 million), Spain (58.5 million), USA (51.1 million) and China (49.6 million), she said. India was achieving a consistent high growth rate of 13.3%, 13.5% and 12.4% in 2005, 2006 and 2007 respectively.
It is now mandated that a state party can submit only two nominations per year for World Heritage Sites, of which one site has to be a natural site, and has put an annual limitation of 45 nominations per year.
Barely two weeks after she asked Archeological Survey of India's Director General Anshu Vaish to submit a report on her role in the filing of the controversial Ram Setu affidavit, Ambika Soni praising the ASI chief at a public function.
The attack on Ambika Soni is aimed at stopping her return to the party during election time.
The party has asked members to put an immediate end to the campaign for and against Soni.
In a bid to promote tourism, India may allow issuance of visa on arrival, sometime in 2009. Infrastructure for such a provision is also likely to be ready only by next year, when the airports in Delhi and Mumbai will be upgraded. About 5 million tourists came to India last year (2007) against 4.45 million in 2006. The foreign exchange earnings from tourists are estimated at about $12 billion in 2007 against about $9 billion last year.
According to the 2006 Readers' Travel Awards announced by Condé Nast Traveller UK India is the world's fourth top travel destination.
While Delhi topped the list among states in terms of foreign tourist arrivals, Andhra Pradesh received the maximum number of domestic tourists during 2005.
India's earnings from foreign tourists has almost doubled between 2002 and 2005.
Gandhi said around 400 Congress members will be attending the Chintan Shivir in Udaipur from May 13 to 15 and stressed on the message of every leader holding one party post.
As compared to India, Italy has 41 and France has 30 world heritage sites, she said. The minister said India has submitted a tentative list proposing 19 cultural and natural sites for their future inclusion in the world heritage list.
Majority of the tourists coming to India have rated their visit as either "most satisfying" or "satisfying", according to an international passenger survey conducted by the Ministry of Tourism.
Immigration Bureau figures put Nepalis at the bottom of the country-wise tourist arrival list, with 72,031 people visiting India from the neighbouring Himalayan Kingdom.
In a major boost to tourism, India and France, which is one of the top tourist generating markets for the country, on Monday signed an agreement to promote each other's destinations and share market research for the purpose.
According to them, though it may cost the party's power in Karnataka, the split in Janata Dal (Secular) will help the Congress regain its lead position in Karnataka politics in the long-run.
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