New Delhi, The nation today paid homage to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, who was killed in a suicide bomb attack on this day 21 years ago. President Pratibha Patil, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the departed leader's wife and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi went to the late leader's memorial 'Vir Bhumi' here and paid their respects. Rahul and Priyanka also paid floral tributes at the memorial of their father, who was assassinated on May 21, 1991 at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu during a poll campaign. Vice President Hamid Ansari, Delhi Lt Governor Tejinder Khanna, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, Parliamentary Affairs Minister P K Bansal and Urban Development also paid homage to Gandhi. Priyanka's husband Robert Vadra was present on the occasion. School children waving national flags were also present at the memorial. A speech by the late prime minister, during which he talked about preserving the dignity of institutions, was played at the ...
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New Delhi, In an oblique reference to growing public impatience over governance, President Pratibha Patil said Indian democracy cannot be allowed to falter as demands for development grow louder and popular sentiment is voiced more and more vocally. "Democracy cannot be allowed to falter, for it is the very essence of our nationhood," the President said, addressing MPs at Parliament's central hall at the conclusion of a special session to commemorate the 60th years of the first sitting of Parliament. The President pointed to the need to balance expectations. "Pressures are developing on account of many reasons, demands for development are louder, people are articulating their demands very vocally and many shades of opinions are emerging," she said. Speaking at the same function, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made a more direct reference to cynicism about politics and Parliament. "We should firmly reject those who would mock the institutions of our democracy that have developed over decades of experience," he said. Taking up cudgels on behalf of the parliamentary system, he said, "We are not a perfect democracy. But we are a functioning democracy with mechanisms and ...
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New Delhi, President Pratibha Patil conferred the Padma awards to late cartoonist Mario Miranda, actors Dharmendra and Shabana Azmi and former chief vigilance commissioner N Vittal among other eminent citizens on Wednesday. Miranda's son Rahul received the Padma Vibhushan from Patil at a ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhawan. Among the Padma Bhushan awardees were literary theorist Homi K Bhabha, violinist M S Gopalakrishnan, Tata Steel vice chairman B Muthuraman, former bureaucrat Mata Prasad, mathematician M S Raghunathan, jurist P Chandrasekhara Rao, neurologist Noshir Hormusji Wadia and former Singapore Foreign Minister George Yong-Boon Yeo. 88-year-old eminent painter K G Subramanyan (Padma Vibushan), Satya Narayan Goenka and Jose Pereira (Padma Bhushan) were not present at the ceremony. Among the Padma Shri awardees were industrialist Swati Piramal, eminent diabetologist V Mohan, former hockey Olympian Zaffar Iqbal, archer Limba Ram and cricket commentator of yesteryear Ravi Chaturvedi. Yakshagana exponent Ramachandra Subraya Hegde Chittani, sitar maestro Shahid Parvez Khan, terracotta artist Mohan Lal Kumhar, Rajasthani folk musician Sakar Khan Manganiar ...
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New Delhi, President Pratibha Patil will tomorrow administer the oath of office as cabinet minister to Trinamool Congress MP Mukul Roy, who will take charge of railway ministry. "The President will administer the oath of office and secrecy to Mukul Roy as cabinet cinister in the council of ministers at 1000 hours on March 20," a Rashtrapati Bhawan spokesperson said in a statement. The President, as advised by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, has accepted the resignation of Dinesh Trivedi from the Union Council of Ministers, with immediate effect, the statement said. Trivedi, also a Trinamool Congress MP, had resigned as the Railway Minister last ...
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New Delhi, Agricultural growth in 2010-11 was 6.6 percent, the highest in recent times, due to the government's continued emphasis on the sector, President Pratibha Patil said here Monday. “I am happy that the country witnessed a record production of 241.56 million tonnes of food grains during 2010-11,” the president said while addressing the joint session of parliament on the opening day of the budget session here. The government, she said, had introduced the National Food Security Bill in the Lok Sabha in the last winter session and was working with states towards complete computerisation of the Public Distribution System (PDS). She said the production of fruits and vegetables at 231 million tonnes, pulses at 18 million tonnes, oilseeds at 31.1 million tonnes and cotton at 33.42 million bales also touched record production. Mentioning the government incentivised public investment in agriculture through flagship programmes like the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana, the National Food Security Mission and the National Horticulture Mission, she said the pro-farmer price support policy of the last seven years was being continued. “During the year 2011-12 the ...
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New Delhi, President Pratibha Patil , seems to be the most merciful of all presidents during the last three decades. She has commuted death sentences of 23 petitioners to life imprisonment, which is over 90% of the total pardons granted since 1981. On February 9, she accepted the clemency petition of Sushil Murmu, pending since 2004, who was convicted for giving 'bali' (sacrifice) of a nineyear-old-boy in Jharkhand for his own prosperity, an RTI response from the Rashtrapati Bhavan said. It said that since 1981, 91 convicts sought commutation of their death sentences to life imprisonment. Of these, 31 petitions were accepted out of which 23 were during her tenure. According to the reply provided to applicant Subhash Agrawal, 18 mercy petitions were still pending before the President. Patil, however, has rejected the petitions of five individuals, which include Rajiv Gandhi's three killers and Davinder Pal Singh and Mahedra Nath Das of Assam who had murdered Harakanta Das, the then secretary of the Guwahati Truck Drivers Association. Murmu's sentence, however, was commuted even though his crime was termed by the Supreme Court as "an illustrative and most exemplary ...
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New Delhi, President Pratibha Devisingh Patil will flag off the 'Saakshar Bharat Yatra' from the Rashtrapati Bhawan here on Saturday. President Patil will flag off the 'Saakshar Bharat Yatra' at 11.30 a.m. on Saturday in the presence of Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal and Minister of State for Human Resource Development Dr. D. Purandeswari. A nationwide mobilization campaign is being organized by National Literacy Mission during February-March 2012 in collaboration with a Non-Government Organisation: Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti for promoting Saakshar Bharat Programme. A country wide 'jatha' will be organized covering 22 States, 180 districts, 1000 blocks, over 16,000 panchayats. The objectives of the Saakshar Bharat Yatra are to draw the attention of the entire country towards Saakshar Bharat Programme, to carry out a nationwide campaign for mobilization of public opinion and enthusiasm towards the importance and need of literacy and life long education, to conduct widespread 'Jan Vachan programmes' for refocusing the public mind on issues connected with literacy and lifelong education, to create a demand for a major rural reading and ...
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New Delhi, President Pratibha Devisingh Patil has forwarded the complaint registered by the Election Commission against Union Law and Justice Minister Salman Khurshid to Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh for 'appropriate action'. "The President has taken note of the Election Commission's letter and forwarded it to the PMO for appropriate action," said the Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesperson. The Election Commission sought the 'immediate and decisive' intervention of President Patil last night after it charged Khurshid with "improper and unlawful" defiance of its orders under which he was censured for promising sub-quota for minorities. The Election Commission told President Patil that Khurshid's action could 'vitiate free and fair polls' in Uttar Pradesh and that it was 'perturbed because the undermining of its Constitutionally-mandated duties has come from the Law Minister who has direct responsibility to uphold and strengthen the ECI rather than to denigrate it'. The Election Commission had earlier censured Khurshid for his remarks on sub-quota for minorities, and said he violated the election code of ...
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New Delhi, President Pratibha Devisingh Patil on Wednesday said that there is tremendous work to be done to move forward on our social and economic agenda, if we are to achieve fast, inclusive and sustainable growth. Addressing the nation on the eve of 63rd Republic Day, President Patil said all social welfare programmes must be implemented efficiently to remove poverty, hunger and malnutrition, disease and illiteracy. Asking the agencies involved in the delivery of services to have a strong sense of duty and work in a transparent, corruption free, time bound and accountable manner, President Patil cautioned that tremendous work remains to be done to move forward on country's social and economic agenda. Asserting that we have a population which is predominantly young, President Patil said: "With education and training, they can become skilled and, thus, capable of finding their livelihoods, starting their own businesses and thus, becoming productive assets." "Reinforcing our health and education sectors is fundamental for developing our human resources. Primary education is now a fundamental right for children," she added. Calling for integration of agriculture, ...
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New Delhi, President Pratibha Devisingh Patil has said India is committed to working with Mali to achieve the goals of ensuring inclusive growth and sustainable development. Addressing a banquet at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in the honour of visiting President of the Republic of Mali Amadou Toumani Toure and his wife Toure Lobbo Traore last night, the President also assured them of India's continued support and cooperation in its quest for faster socio-economic development through technical cooperation and financial and material assistance. Noting that India has had historic ties with Africa, the President said, "India considers it a privilege to be a partner in Africa's development process. India is committed to working with Mali, to achieve the goals of ensuring inclusive growth and sustainable development. "We would be happy to assure Mali of our continued support and cooperation in its quest for faster socio-economic development, through technical cooperation and financial and material assistance." In this context, the President announced the recent grant from India of a line of credit of 100 million dollars for a power transmission project in Mali. "We hope this ...
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New Delhi, Top leaders and lawmakers of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would meet President Pratibha Devisingh Patil on Thursday to lodge their protest over the Rajya Sabha episode of Dec 29 when an alleged pre-planned chaos by the ruling party stalled passage of the Lokpal Bill in the upper house of Parliament. The BJP group will include LK Advani and they are likely to protest the handling of the day's proceedings by Vice-President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari. In what is seen as the ruling Congress party's orchestrated and pre-planned strategy of creating chaos in the House thereby stalling passage of the Lokpal Bill, the Rajya Sabha was adjourned sine die at midnight on Dec 29 leaving the anti-corruption ombudsman law in limbo. The government action evoked strong reactions from Opposition which called the Congress cowards and murderer of democracy and said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should resign. Opposition alleged that the entire episode in the Rajya Sabha was scripted. The extended session of Parliament ended thus without a Lokpal Bill being passed. The BJP is also now observing a protest week from Jan 3 to 10 over the episode ...
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New Delhi, Aadharshila, an organisation of writers, journalists and artists, has urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Pratibha Devisingh Patil to recognise contribution of renowned magician Shankar with a Padma Shri. In a letter to Dr Singh, founder president of Aadharshila Pradeep Sardana has appealed to them to recognise magician Shankar by awarding him Padma Shri for his contribution to the art of magic and his social service. In his letter to the Prime Minister and the President, Mr Sardana has expressed anguish at the fact that in the 57 year history of Padma awards, only one magician - P C Sarkar - has been recognised for a Padma award in 1964. "Though this art is thriving and continues to entertain millions of Indian every year, no other magician has been found worthy of the Padma award which has gone to 2,420 personalities in the last 57 years," Mr Sardana said in his letter. Making a strong pitch for awarding Padma Shri to magician Shankar, he said, "Magician Samrat Shankar, who has been devoted to the 'art of magic' and social welfare activities for the last 36 years, is one such personality who has entertained people of India and overseas and ...
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New Delhi, President Pratibha Devisingh Patil has constituted a committee of governors under the chairmanship of Punjab and Rajasthan Governor Shivraj Patil to study and recommend measures for enhancing productivity, profitability, sustainability and competitiveness of the agriculture sector in India with special reference to rainfed area farming. The committee will deliberate on need for formulating requisite policy initiatives and legislative measures, institutional reforms including restructuring and convergence of schemes at the local level so as to integrate with the village economy and avenues and prospects for investment in agriculture and allied sectors. It will also discuss on measures for transfer of innovations and new cutting edge technologies to the farm and allied sectors, steps to meet the emerging scenario of farm labour and farm mechanisation and to recommend the role and participation of agriculture related public sector undertakings. Agriculture universities and research institutions both at the Central and state levels in the promotion of sustainable agriculture and knowledge management and a way forward for farmer-industry partnership would be ...
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