The government is also evolving a comprehensive strategy to minimise any adverse impact of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai on tourism. Countries like the US, Britain, France and Australia on Thursday advised their citizens to defer travel to India's commercial capital till further notice.
It has now been decided by the government that on the occasion of Karnataka's Rajyotsava day and Andhra Pradesh's formation day, both falling on November 1, Kannada and Telugu be declared as classical languages, Culture Minister Ambika Soni said in Delhi on Friday.
Karthika is all set to follow in her mother (Radha), and aunt's (Ambika) footsteps by making her maiden appearance in the Telugu film Josh.
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.
Karthika, the daughter of Telugu actress Radha and niece of Ambika, on life after Josh.
The letter signed by other Congress leaders stated that the PM had used "threatening and intimidating" language against them.
Caught between conflicting demands, Culture Minister Ambika Soni on Friday said government will take a decision that fits 'international norms and the sentiments' of all those involved while working out a solution for the controversial Sethusamudram project.
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.
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.
'A brief statement was made by the Army on the sensitive issue. But no questions were taken,' a member said.
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.
Ambika Sharma of Jagran Solutions talks about being part of an all-male bikers' club.
Four children were on Wednesday charred to death when a mount of dry stalks of grain plants caught fire at Ahiliyapur-Chowra village in Giridih district.
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.
The Special Task Force (STF) of Uttar Pradesh police on Monday shot dead dreaded dacoit Ambika Patel alias Thokia during in an encounter, ending an era of big dacoit gangs on the Uttar Pradesh--Madhya Pradesh border.
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.
The states where these monuments are untraceable are Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday put the onus on the People's Democratic Party over the formation of a new government in Jammu and Kashmir, and said that they do not have any objection to PDP president Mehbooba Mufti becoming the chief mkinister.
Rapid urbanisation, multi-storeyed buildings and development projects have led to disappearance of 35 Centrally-protected monuments and sites across the country.
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.
Congress on Friday said it is "seriously considering" Captain Amarinder Singh as its candidate for the Amritsar parliamentary seat from where senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley is contesting his maiden election.
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.
Rahul Gandhi's name does not figure for any organisational post.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi held a meeting with senior party leaders on Wednesday amid reports that a final call on the fate of Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna will be taken soon.
"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."
Justice K Mohanram dismissed the petition filed by the girls-- Lokeshwari (22), her sisters K Ambika (20), Sharmila (19) and their friend Kalaiselvi (20), stating there was no need to order a police protection as they faced no threat. The girls, who had converted to Islam while working in a rice mill in Thanjavur district, approached the court seeking police protection. They said they were forced to come to the city, fearing threat to their lives.
Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram is Congress nominee from Maharashtra for the biennial elections to Rajya Sabha while senior leaders Kapil Sibal and Jairam Ramesh have been named from Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka respectively.
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.
Seeing Durgamasura ready for a war, the goddess appeared in her warrior form. Let's celebrate the beginning of Navratri with this lovely excerpt from Nava Durga.
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.
The massive fire that broke out on the 12th floor of high-rise building in the upmarket Kemps corner area in South Mumbai has claimed the lives of seven residents, fire officials said.
The high court had on October 19 asked the CBI to investigate alleged irregularities in distribution of government funds to certain NGOs during Maneka's tenure as minister in the NDA government.
FDI inflows in the manufacturing sector rose by almost 45 per cent between October last year and this February.
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.
Left planned nationwide protests over UPA government's economic policies.
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