Vice-President Hamid Ansari on Saturday underlined the need to end "foreign interferences" in Afghanistan, saying a lasting solution to the turmoil has been based on a sovereign choice of the government in the country.
The Crown Prince, who arrived on a three-day official visit, will be accorded a ceremonial reception at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on Wednesday, following which he will lay wreath at Mahatma Gandhi' memorial at the Raj Ghat.
Senior Indian Administrative Service officer P J Thomas was on Tuesday sworn in as the new Central Vigilance Commissioner amid a boycott by main Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, which has been objecting to his appointment to the post in view of his alleged tainted background.
Ravi Shankar Prasad is set to become the new deputy leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Rajya Sabha with Parliamentary Party chief L K Advani on Thursday recommending his name for the post to the vice president.
President Pratibha Patil, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Saturday visited the residence of Arjun Singh to pay their last respect to the party veteran who died in New Delhi.
Barack Obama became the second United States president to address the Parliament after Bill Clinton in 2000 on Monday and though the joint session opened to a packed central hall, the buzz, excitement and sheer charisma of Clinton was missing.
The government has cleared well known journalist Mrinal Pande's name for the post of Prasar Bharati chairperson, a month after the previous chairman Arun Bhatnagar's resignation was accepted by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry.
Leaders cutting across the political spectrum mourned the death of veteran Marxist Jyoti Basu on Sunday, describing him as a towering personality and a powerful regional voice who had played crucial roles in the national political scene.
In a setback to Sikkim High Court Chief Justice P D Dinakaran, the Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to quash some of the charges framed against him by a Rajya Sabha-appointed panel looking into allegations of corrupt practices and misconduct against him.
Giant effigies of demon king Ravan along with his son Meghnad and brother Kumbhkaran went up in flames as part of the Dussehra celebrations in all its colour symbolising the triumph of good over evil.
At the delegation-level talks between the two sides, which followed a brief one-to-one meeting between Ansari and Gen Aye, the Myanmarese side acknowledged India's security concerns but conveyed that the insurgents would not be permitted to use its territory to target India, they said.
It was a quiet birthday for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who turned 78 on Sunday. President Pratibha Patil and Vice President Hamid Ansari sent flowers and wished the prime minister on the occasion. Congress president Sonia Gandhi, her son Rahul Gandhi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati called up Dr Singh and greeted him. Among those who wished the prime minister on the occasion are Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj.
Vice President Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh were among a host of leaders who on Thursday condoled the death of artist M F Husain, describing him as a "legend" whose passing away is a "national loss".
Per capita availability of milk in India is lower than the world average.
The Rajya Sabha is likely to work till 8 pm from Tuesday to discuss and dispose of the innumerable pending bills and other legislative business.
Mohammad ElBaradei, director general of International Atomic Energy Agency, was on Wednesday honoured with the prestigious Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for his 'impassioned opposition to use of nuclear energy for military purposes.'
The activists barged into the building housing Headlines Today channel and its sister channel Aaj Tak on Friday evening in Videocon Towers in the national capital. They damaged furniture in the office lobby, police said.
President Pratibha Patil today embarked on her maiden visit to Russia seeking to consolidate the relations between the "close friends and partners" in the changed global geo-political situation.
On his first official visit to India, Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Monday met leaders across the political spectrum and discussed issues of bilateral interest. Prachanda called on President Pratibha Patil and Vice President Hamid Ansari.
President Pratibha Patil, Vice President Hamid Ansari, music director A R Rahman and noted lyricist Gulzar on Sunday watched the Oscar-winning movie Slumdog Millionaire at the Rashtrapati Bhavan auditorium in New Delhi. Oscar awardee Resul Pookuty and Vikas Swarup, on whose novel Q and A the movie is based, also attended the screening. According to a Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesperson, the two-hour-long special screening was exclusively organised for the President.
On Children's Day, the President showered his blessings and wishes on children, saying that the future of the nation depends on them.
The nation on Wednesday paid rich tribute to Dr B R Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution, on his 119th birth anniversary. President Pratibha Patil, Vice President Hamid Ansari and Congress president Sonia Gandhi were present at a function held in Delhi.Several functions are being organised in different parts of the country to mark the occasion.Dr Ambedkar spent his life fighting untouchability and the Indian caste system.
President Pratibha Patil, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday paid homage to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on his 17th death anniversary. Amid a continuous drizzle, the departed leader's widow and Congress President Sonia Gandhi, along with her son Rahul and daughter Priyanka Vadra, reached his memorial 'Vir Bhumi' to pay their tributes. A prayer meeting was organised in the premises of the memorial.
Irked by the developments in the Rajya Sabha over the women's bill, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh telephoned Vice President Hamid Ansari and expressed regret over attempts by some Samajwadi Party members to attack him in the House.
Vice President Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday paid tributes to former West Bengal chief minister Jyoti Basu, whom they described as a great patriot and an eminent statesman. Both Ansari and Dr Singh visited the AKG Bhawan, the Communist Party of India - Marxist headquarters at Gole Market in New Delhi, at approximately 11 am and paid floral tributes to the departed leader. They were received by CPI-M Politburo member Sitaram Yechury.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sought to downplay the comments of Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor on austerity on Twitter saying "it was a joke".
The United Progressive Alliance government's austerity drive is expected to be extended to all Members of Parliament following an all party meeting, according to sources.Vice President Hamid Ansari will call an all-party meeting to decide on the issue once Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar returns from Rome. The chairman of the Rajya Sahba and the Lok Sabha speaker are expected to hold a discussion on the austerity drive.
President Prathibha Patil will inaugurate a two-day conference of Governors on September 16. The main issues that will be discussed are internal security and terrorism.
Vice-President Hamid Ansari, who had served as the chairman of a committee which favoured withdrawal of Armed Forces Special Powers Act, on Saturday said the prime minister would take a decision on the matter.
India's Vice President Hamid Ansari on Saturday urged the youth to join the economic reconstruction in strife-torn Kashmir.
With the global financial crisis affecting Indians in the Gulf region, Vice President Hamid Ansari has said the Indian government was mulling steps to ensure the welfare of expatriates reeling under the meltdown.
The awards are traditionally given away by the Prime Minister but since Singh is hospitalised, a decision was taken that the conferment would be done by the Vice President in his place, government sources said.
The Uttar Pradesh government may be spending nearly Rs 1500 crore on memorials and parks, but it has not been able to provide clean drinking water to even 10 per cent of its 18 crore population. According to him, "Around half the women in 15-50 age group and 85 per cent of children under 3 years of age suffer from anaemia and nearly 50 per cent of UP's children are stunted and underweight."
Two days before Vice President Hamid Ansari's visit to Kannur, a sack of detonators and fuse wires were seized from a private bus plying between Kannur and Kozhikode on Thursday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday greeted the nation on New Year, hoping that 2016 brings peace and prosperity in everybody's lives.
President Pratibha Patil, Vice-President Hamid Ansari, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee and several other leaders greeted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who turned 75 on Wednesday.
Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz al Saud, governor of Riyadh and third in line to the throne, has over the last five days in Delhi, Agra and Mumbai reaffirmed the message that terrorism in the name of Islam is not Islamic and that the entire region must be united against jihad.
Vice President Hamid Ansari's wife Salma says she has a "problem" with the Women's Reservation Bill and feels that it will not be of much help unless awareness is created among women at the grassroot level.
Vinod Rai, a 1972 batch IAS officer of Kerala cadre, took oath on Monday as the country's new Comptroller and Auditor General of India. Rai, who replaced V N Kaul, was administered the oath of office by President Pratibha Patil at a brief function at Rashtrapati Bhawan. Vice President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram were among the dignitaries present at the ceremony.
On the occasion, the PM presented a memento to the outgoing president.
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