The 71-year-old Dalit leader is expected to have a smooth sailing in the event of an election.
Former Doordarshan director general Archana Datta lost her mother and husband to COVID-19 in the span of an hour after a desperate scramble to get them admitted to hospital in time to stem their falling oxygen levels failed.
NRI hotelier Sant Singh Chatwal, music composer Ilaiyaraaja and top businessman Vindi Banga were conferred the Padma Bhushan awards by President Pratibha Patil in New Delhi on Wednesday.
The Bollywood veterans were felicitated by President Pratibha Patil in New Delhi today.
Much hope was raised for the people of land-locked Garo hills when then President Pratibha Patil inaugurated the state-owned Baljek Airport near Tura along the Guwahati-Tura highway on October 22, 2008.
In the two years that President Pranab Mukherjee has spent so far at Rashtrapati Bhavan, the country's first citizen has shown a marked preference for playing the gracious host over being a travelling head of state.
Martin Luther King III, who is in India to trace his father Martin Luther King Junior's 'India Pilgrimage' 50 years ago, called on President Pratibha Patil on Monday.
The Narendra Modi-led government included neither a 100-day agenda nor its five-year programme of action in the speech it had approved for the president to read out at the joint session of Parliament.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday fowarded to President Pratibha Patil the resignation letters of the following ministers in the Union council of ministers with the recommendation that they may be accepted.
Shiv Sena's executive president Uddhav Thackeray has clarified that backing United Progressive Alliance nominee Pranab Mukherjee for the coveted post of President of India does not mean his political outfit is supporting the ruling Congress party.
The Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday requested President Pratibha Patil not to visit the plant of Schreiber Dynamix Dairies Ltd in Baramati on June 9.
The new American Ambassador to India, Nancy J Powell, flagged off these concerns at what was her first public address in India after she presented her credentials to President Pratibha Patil on Tuesday.
Modi knows how to turn Gujarati pride into an emotive issue at election time and a Gujarati President would have its own electoral resonance and significance, note Sunil Gatade and Venkatesh Kesari.
Bhutan King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Queen Jetsun Pema Wangchuck arrived in New Delhi on a nine-day state visit, their first foreign trip after their marriage.
President Pratibha Patil nominated Andhra Pradesh Governor ESL Narasimhan as the doyen of governors to discharge responsibilities and conduct the three-day conference of governors starting October 29 at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Disruptions on issues such as Telangana, atrocities on Sri Lankan Tamils, sub-quota for minorities, and shortage of fertilisers on Monday marred President Pratibha Patil's Address to the joint sitting of Parliament.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday commuted to life imprisonment the death sentence awarded to murder convict M N Das, whose mercy petition was rejected by then President Pratibha Patil. A bench headed by Justice G S Singhvi allowed the plea of Das who had approached the apex court for commutation of his death sentence on the ground that the President had taken eleven years to decide his mercy plea.
A delegation of Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday met President Pratibha Patil and submitted a memorandum apprising her about findings of Shunglu Committee and CAG relating to alleged corruption involving Delhi government and Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit in Commonwealth Games projects.
After five years of stay in the 340-room Presidential mansion, Pratibha Patil on Wednesday moved to a four bedroom bungalow here at a high-security area in the heart of the capital.
President Pratibha Patil's son and Congress Member of Legislative Assembly Raosaheb Shekhawat was on Tuesfay questioned by the Amravati police in connection with the seizure of Rs one crore unaccounted cash ahead of the civic polls. Accompanied by Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee general secretary Ganesh Patil and a battery of lawyers, Shekhawat reached the police commissioner's office in Amravati on Tuesday morning, where his statement was recorded in the case.
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, who is ailing for sometime, is on continuous oxygen and not eating anything.
A post-retirement residence for President Pratibha Patil has been finalised in Pune by the government, after she had to give up an accommodation following a controversy.
President Pratibha Patil has rejected the clemency petitions of three killers of Rajiv Gandhi whose death sentences were confirmed by the Supreme Court in 2000.
President Pratibha Patil on Monday conferred the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman awards to 14 eminent overseas Indians, including Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, and a Canada-based institution, for their outstanding contributions in enhancing India's image globally.
A Bharatiya Janata Party delegation, led by party chief Nitin Gadkari, on Wednesday met President Pratibha Patil todemand the removal of Gujarat Governor Kamla Beniwal, alleging that she had grabbed agricultural land worth Rs 600 crore in Rajasthan.
The President's approval was required for the measure since the Lok Sabha made some amendments to The Lokpal and Lokayukta Bill, 2011 before its passage.
As per Arjun Modhwadia's memorandum listing out land allotment at a meagre rate to industrialists in Gandhinagar without an auction, DLF was given 1,01,200 sq mt of land in the capital at Rs 5000 per sq mt, when the prescribed stamp duty rate was Rs 19,000 per sq mt and the market price was Rs 30,000 per sq mt. This allotment, Modhwadia contended, cost the exchequer a whopping Rs 253 crore
We had asked our readers earlier this week to cast their vote on who they would like to see enter the Rashtrapati Bhavan in July when its current occupant Pratibha Patil vacates. Following the overwhelming feedback from our readers, we are extending the voting period.
President Pratibha Patil on Sunday said Indian democracy "cannot be allowed to falter" at a time when democracies of the world are operating in complex situations including fractured mandates and explosion of the media. "The big challenge is for democracy to proceed towards being a vibrant but healthy democracy. It is therefore necessary to walk ahead carefully, with determination," she said.
"It's a normal diplomatic practice that a visiting dignitaries occasionally takes members of his/her family on visiting trips. Hospitality for such visiting dignitaries in such cases is usually provided by the host government. It is not abnormal," official spokesperson in MEA Syed Akbaruddin told reporters.
With his government's image taking a beating due to sleaze and corruption allegations, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has carried out a reshuffle of his ministerial team, dropping six ministers including Education Minister Bharosilal Jatav facing illegal mining charge.
Rubbishing the alleged reports of President Pratibha Patil 'grabbing' land much in excess of her entitlement to build her post retirement home in Pune, the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Thursday night issued a detailed statement terming the media reports as factually incorrect and malicious.
The government on Thursday moved the Supreme Court with a Presidential Reference for its opinion on issues arising out of its 2G spectrum judgement including whether auctioning of natural resources across all sectors is mandatory under all circumstances.
Late cartoonist Mario Miranda, actors Dharmendra and Shabana Azmi, top mathematician M S Raghunathan, former Chief Vigilance Commissioner N Vittal and industry leader B Muthuraman were among those conferred the Padma awards by President Pratibha Patil in New Delhi on Wednesday.
A thick security blanket involving hundreds of policemen besides snipers and commandos would be put in place for the visit of Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari in Ajmer on April 8.
In a first of its kind verdict, the Supreme Court has declared as "illegal" rejection of mercy petition of death row convict M N Das by the then President Pratibha Patil and commuted the sentence to life imprisonment on ground of 12 year delay in deciding his plea.
Expressing commitment to resolving all outstanding issues with Pakistan through dialogue, India on Monday said it looks forward to building upon progress made so far while being mindful of the need for Pakistan to take credible action against terror groups and infrastructure.
President Pratibha Patil, Vice-President Hamid Ansari, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and her children Rahul and Priyanka were among those who turned up early to vote in the fourth phase of elections on Thursday.
With the stand-off between her party and the Nationalist Congress Party continuing, Congress President Sonia Gandhi was heard asking NCP leader Praful Patel to "do something" to end the crisis.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances