New Delhi: President Pranab Mukherjee, lauding the achievements of Jnanpith award winner Chandrashekhara Kambar in the Kannada language, said Thursday that Indian vernacular literature if promoted abroad would win "greater laurels" than the mark made by Indian writing in English. In his address while presenting the 46th Bharatiya Jnanpith Award to Kambar, the president also said that philanthropists and the private sector must help in nurturing and promoting Indian literature...
02:12 AM, Oct 12, 2012
Kolkata: Sixty per cent polling was recorded in the by-election to Jangipur Lok Sabha constituency in West Bengal on Wednesday where President Pranab Mukherjee's son Abhijit Mukherjee, as the Congress candidate, was locked in a multi-cornered contest with 11 others. The polling recorded this time, however, was far less as compared to 84.71 per cent voting registered for the same seat in the 2009 election. Returning officer Rajiv Kumar said...
03:18 PM, Oct 11, 2012
Bangalore: Journalists out to cover President Pranab Mukherjee's inauguration of the Suvarna Vidhan Soudha - a Rs 400 crore second legislature complex in Belgaum - were detained ahead of the event on Thursday. A few political parties in Maharashtra have opposed the inauguration citing the border dispute between Karnataka and Maharashtra. An IBN Lokmat journalists, too, was detained ahead of the event and stopped from reporting live. The construction of...
12:18 PM, Oct 11, 2012
New Delhi: President Pranab Mukherjee will visit Karnataka on Thursday, Oct 11 to address a joint session of the Karnataka legislature and inaugurate the newly-constructed Suvarna Soudha building in Belgaum. During the day-long visit, the president will attend the "bhoomi pujan" of the Swami Vivekananda Value Education and Cultural Centre, Belgaum. According to a Rashtripati Bhavan press release, the president will also give the Jnanpith award to Kannada poet, playwright...
10:14 AM, Oct 10, 2012
New Delhi: Amid an increasing awareness and demand for transparency and accountability in delivery of public services, President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday lauded the role of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in keeping a watch on governance but cautioned against an overreach that could lead to "dissonance" in the system. "I am glad that during the past years, CAG's audit has shifted from routine compliance audit to a more...
07:29 PM, Oct 08, 2012
New Delhi: Raising her pitch against the UPA Government, Trinamool Congress president and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said the government needs to be ousted. "Today, yet another set of anti-people decisions of the Central Government have crossed the Laxman Rekha. These important decisions, which have direct bearing on the livelihood of millions of Indians, taken by a minority government, are immoral and unethical," Mamata posted on...
08:12 PM, Oct 04, 2012
Mumbai: Stating that economy is recovering now, President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday expressed the hope that it will be back in path of steady growth soon. "The Indian economy is witnessing a rebound. I do hope that shortly it would come back in the path of steady growth," Mukherjee said after inaugurating the 'India Chem 2012' conference in Mumbai. "Our National Manufacturing Policy envisages increasing the share of manufacturing from...
06:47 PM, Oct 04, 2012
New Delhi: President Pranab Mukherjee has decided to do away with the traditional prefix of 'His Excellency' and replace it with 'Shri' instead. The President's office made this clear to a university in Bihar which is printing invitation cards to a convocation ceremony that President Pranab will be presiding over on Wednesday. Lalit Narayan Mishra University (LNMU) Registrar Vijay Prasad Singh said that the President's secretariat had sent a letter...
09:34 AM, Oct 03, 2012
New Delhi: Mahatma Gandhi was on Tuesday fondly remembered, with President Pranab Mukherjee leading the nation in paying homage to the Father of the Nation on the occasion of his 143rd birth anniversary. Pranab, Vice President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and senior BJP leader LK Advani were among the prominent people who visited Gandhi's memorial at Rajghat to offer floral tributes. Other dignitaries who...
10:34 AM, Oct 02, 2012
New Delhi: The Income Tax department will come out with final guidelines by the end of October on implementation of General Anti Avoidance Rules (GAAR), Finance Minister P Chidambaram said in New Delhi on Monday. The guidelines will be based on the suggestions of the committee headed by tax expert Parthasarthi Shome who submitted the final report to the Minister earlier in the day. "I expect Stage 1-finalisation of our...
04:30 PM, Oct 01, 2012
New Delhi: The situation in Kashmir is improving, President Pranab Mukherjee said on Friday after winding up his two-day visit to the Valley during which he interacted with a cross-section of the population besides being briefed by Governor NN Vohra and Chief Minister Omar Abduallah. "I got a good impression that things are improving," he said on board the IAF aircraft on his way back from Srinagar when asked about...
03:26 PM, Sep 28, 2012
Jangipur: Despite severing of ties between both the parties, the Trinamool Congress didn't put up any candidate for the Jangipur bypoll against Congress nominee Abhijit Mukherjee, son of President Pranab Mukherjee. Trinamool district president Md Ali said, "This was Pranab babu's seat. And the candidate now is his son, so as a mark of respect to the President, we didn't put up any candidate". Although BJP's Sudhanshu Biswas is also...
12:00 PM, Sep 23, 2012
New Delhi: Amid intense speculation of a Cabinet reshuffle, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday met President Pranab Mukherjee during which the two discussed the political situation in the country. The meeting lasted for 45 minutes during which the two leaders discussed the "current political situation", Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesperson Venu Rajamony said. The meeting comes a day after the 19-member Trinamool Congress gave a letter to the President announcing withdrawal...
01:09 AM, Sep 23, 2012
New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met President Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday evening, a day after the Trinamool Congress (TMC) withdrew from the Central government. Singh assured the President that there is no threat to the UPA government as they have the numbers in the Lok Sabha. The meeting comes ahead of the speculation of a Cabinet reshuffle early next week. Without the support of TMC (19), the UPA (273)...
07:00 PM, Sep 22, 2012
New Delhi: Union Minister CP Joshi was on Saturday given additional charge of Railway Ministry, a day after the resignation of Mukul Roy and other Trinamool Congress ministers. According to Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesperson Venu Rajamony, Joshi was assigned with the additional charge by President Pranab Mukherjee on the advice of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The announcement came on a day the Prime Minister met the President amid speculation of a...
06:45 PM, Sep 22, 2012
New Delhi: Six Trinamool Congress (TMC) ministers on Friday submitted their resignations to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, bringing to an end a bitter relationship between the Congress and Mamata Banerjee. While accepting their resignations, the Prime Minister said he was sad about the turn of the events. "Sorry you had to tender resignations," said the Prime Minister. Trinamool Congress had six Union ministers. They were Railway Minister Mukul Roy (Cabinet...
04:37 PM, Sep 21, 2012
New Delhi: 8.00 pm: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh addresses the nation on the economic reforms of the government, says the economic progress is needed to create employment for the youth. 6.10 pm Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president Lalu Prasad Yadav has ruled out the possibility of a Third Front, saying there are only "a secular front" and "a communal front". According to him, the General Elections will take place on...
04:22 PM, Sep 21, 2012
New Delhi: Trinamool Congress leader Dinesh Trivedi raised several eyebrows on Friday when he said that he will not be a part of the party delegation that will meet President Pranab Mukherjee in the evening to hand over their letters of withdrawal of support from the UPA government. "I will not be going to with other TMC MPs to meet President in withdrawing support to the UPA government," Trivedi told...
03:15 PM, Sep 21, 2012
New Delhi: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Thursday held meetings with the top Indian leadership during which they discussed key bilateral issues, including fishermen, even as India pressed for an expeditious inclusive solution to the ethnic issue and rehabilitation of displaced Tamils. Rajapaksa, who is in India on a three-day official visit, held comprehensive deliberations with President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during which they reviewed all...
10:36 PM, Sep 20, 2012
New Delhi: Trinamool Congress Mamata Banerjee has brought President Pranab Mukherjee into the retail FDI controversy. She has quoted Pranab's speech in Parliament when he was the finance minister, and has alleged that the UPA has deviated from its stand on FDI. Pranab had said in 2011 that the decision on multi-brand retail FDI was suspended till a consensus was reached. Mamata quoted Pranab's statement that, "Without the involvement of...
01:52 PM, Sep 20, 2012
