New Delhi, Jul 18: Textiles Minister Smriti Irani was today given the additional charge of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry after M Venkaiah Naidu resigned from the Cabinet to contest the vice-presidential poll.
The portfolio of urban development, which too was with Naidu, was given to Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, the PMO said.
The BJP had yesterday decided to field Naidu as NDA's candidate for the post of vice president.
Aug 3: Iqbal Ansari, who was a litigant in the Ayodhya land dispute case, has decided to gift a 'Ram nami' stole and a copy of the Ramcharitmanas to Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he attends the bhoomi pujan ceremony for the Ram temple here on Wednesday.
"Yes, I have received the invitation from Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust for the bhoomi pujan ceremony. I will certainly attend it. The dispute is over now after the court's verdict," Ansari, 69, told .
"Our Prime Minister is coming. I will meet him and give him a 'Ramnami' stole (with Ram's name written on it) and Ramcharitmanas as a present," Ansari said.
His father Hashim Ansari, the oldest litigant in the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi land dispute case, died at the age of 95 in 2016 after which the son started pursuing the case in the court.
Talking about Wednesday's ground-breaking ceremony to mark the beginning of the construction of a grand Ram temple here, Ansari said, "I belong to Ayodhya. All this (temple's construction) will change the fate of Ayodhya. We all want our child to get better opportunities".
He further said, "I respect sadhus and saints. I am happy to have received the invitation for the ceremony. I think it is Lord Ram's will that I attend it".
When asked what he would have done had the court decided the case in his favour, Ansari said he had wanted the construction of a school and a hospital on the disputed land.
"I feel the city needs development. The future of our children should be safe and secure and they should get employment. Dispute in the name of religion should end now and we should let the city witness a new beginning," he said.
The Supreme Court had in November last year paved the way for the construction of a Ram temple by a Trust at the disputed site of the Babri Masjid's demolition in Ayodhya, and directed the Centre to allot an alternative 5-acre plot to the Sunni Waqf Board for building a new mosque at a "prominent" place in the holy town in Uttar Pradesh.
The state government has allotted a five-acre land in Dhannipur village in Sohaval Tehsil of Ayodhya for the mosque's construction.
Kochi, Apr 16: As many as 268 British citizens stranded in Kerala due to the nationwide lockdown were airlifted by British Airways on Wednesday from Thiruvananthapuram and Cochin International Airports.
The flight took off from Thiruvananthapuram to London's Heathrow Airport with 110 passengers at 7.30 pm. Later, 158 more passengers boarded the flight from Cochin airport at 10.07 pm.
A medical team, including four doctors, screened the passengers at the Thiruvananthapuram airport before they boarded the flight.
Earlier this month, the first charter flight from India reached London's Stansted with 317 British nationals on board from Goa.
The British government had earlier announced the operation of 19 chartered flights to evacuate its nationals who are stranded in India amid travel restrictions owing to the coronavirus crisis.
New Delhi, Jan 22: The BJP on Wednesday cited statements of several opposition leaders to accuse them of "abusing" Hindus for their appeasement politics and referred to the Congress as "Muslim League Congress".
Seeking apologies from Congress president Sonia Gandhi and NCP chief Sharad Pawar, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said leaders of these parties have used the ongoing protests against the amended citizenship law to "abuse" Hindus.
Chavan has said in a public meeting that the Congress decided to join hands with the Shiv Sena to form government in Maharashtra as Muslims wanted the party to stop the BJP, Patra stated, claiming that it shows the opposition party has nothing to do with people belonging to other religions, including Hindus.
Patra also referred to a statement from an NCP leader to attack the opposition.
Asked about Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge's reported jibe at the RSS for its "non-participation" in the freedom movement, the BJP leader shot back, asking if parents of Sonia Gandhi, who is of Italian origin, had fought in India's independence struggle.
The Indian National Congress, he said referring to the opposition party's full name, should be called "Muslim League Congress".
LOL...this is a waste body
This guy cannot even debate with Kanaiah kumar.
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We better prepare another list of those who got killed by saffron terrorists and send it to President of India.
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