Archives for July 2024

New Delhi: Venues for different ceremonial functions, Rashtrapati Bhavan’s iconic ‘Durbar Hall’ and ‘Ashok Hall’ were on Thursday renamed ‘Ganatantra Mandap’ and ‘Ashok Mandap’, respectively.

Rashtrapati Bhavan, the office and the residence of the president of India, is a symbol of the nation, and an invaluable heritage of the people.

“Continuous efforts are being made to make it more accessible to people. There has been a consistent endeavour to make the ambience of the Rashtrapati Bhavan reflective of the Indian cultural values and ethos,” a statement issued by the President’s Secretariat said.

Accordingly, President Droupadi Murmu is pleased to rename two of the important halls of Rashtrapati Bhavan — ‘Durbar Hall’ and ‘Ashok Hall’ — as ‘Ganatantra Mandap’ and ‘Ashok Mandap’, respectively, it said.

‘Durbar Hall’ is the venue of important ceremonies and celebrations such as the presentation of national awards.

“The term ‘Durbar’ refers to courts and assemblies of Indian rulers and the British. It lost relevance after India became a Republic, that is, ‘Ganatantra’. The concept of ‘Ganatantra’ is deeply rooted in Indian society since the ancient times, making ‘Ganatantra Mandap’ an apt name for the venue,” the statement said.

‘Ashok Hall’ was originally a ballroom.

“The word ‘Ashok’ connotes someone who is ‘free from all sufferings’ or is ‘bereft of any sorrow’,” the statement said.

Ashoka refers to Emperor Ashok, a symbol of unity and peaceful co-existence it said.

“The national emblem of the Republic of India is the lion capital of Ashok from Sarnath. The word also refers to the Ashok tree, which has deep significance in Indian religious traditions as well as arts and culture. Renaming ‘Ashok Hall’ as ‘Ashok Mandap’ brings uniformity in language and removes the traces of anglicisation while upholding the key values associated with the word ‘Ashok’,” it said.

New Delhi: President Droupadi Murmu, who completed two years in office on Thursday, took up the role of a teacher and interacted with students on the issue of global warming and ways to check it.

During an interactive session with Class 9 students of Dr Rajendra Prasad Kendriya Vidyalaya in the President’s Estate here, she emphasised the need for water conservation and encouraged them to plant more trees in a bid to reduce the impact of climate change.

“I was thinking for the past many days to talk to you as today’s kids are very talented. There is so much to learn from them,” she said, addressing the class of 53 students.

At the beginning of her interaction, the president asked the students about their ambitions and subjects they liked and expressed her happiness after learning that they aspired to become scientists and doctors, among others.

“Around the world, scientists, people, administrators and rulers conduct symposiums, summits and seminars on a very big problem. Do you know what it is?” Murmu asked and immediately got answers as “climate change”, “global warming” and “environmental pollution”.

The president said she was taught in school about six seasons but “we feel only four”.

“Out of these four, we feel summer for the maximum time because of global warming. Day by day, the temperature is rising and not only humans but animals, birds and trees all feel its impact,” Murmu said.

Because of global warming, parts of the country face drought. Thus, there is a need to conserve water, she said.

“Children also know that the environment is getting polluted and we should plant more trees. We should also take steps to reduce water wastage and conserve it. We should make rainwater harvesting pits to conserve water,” Murmu said.

Asserting that more trees than needed were being cut, the president said there was a need to have more trees, conserve forests and reduce air pollution, then “we will be able to check (global warming) in future”.

Murmu also talked about the ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ initiative started by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and asked the students to plant a tree on their birthdays.

“I really felt very good interacting with you all. I got the opportunity to learn a lot from you. You are studying in Class 9 and you are so talented. You are very aware about the impact of global warming. I am sure, when you grow up, global warming will definitely be reduced (with all people’s effort),” she said while concluding her interaction on the day she completed two years of her presidency.

Born on June 20, 1958, at Uparbeda village in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district, Murmu was sworn in as the country’s 15th president on July 25, 2022.

Before taking over the top constitutional office, she was the governor of Jharkhand from 2015 to 2021.

An avid reader with a keen interest in spirituality, Murmu has devoted her life to empowering the downtrodden and the marginalised sections, besides deepening the democratic values.

Panambur: In an incident reported from Gudde under the administration limits of Jokatte Gram Panchayat here, the compound wall collapsed on the roof of a house on Wednesday night, resulting in the death of a 17-year-old youngster, who was close relative of the family living in the house.

The victim of the mishap, Shailesh, was the son of Shankar, a resident of Kolnadu in Mulki, and was visiting his cousin living in Jokatte. As the compound wall fell on the tiled roof on the room where he was sleeping on Wednesday night, Shailesh was seriously injured and died.

His cousin Savitha, her husband Suresh and daughter Sakshi were sleeping in another room in the house. Savitha reportedly sustained minor injuries in the incident and was treated for the injuries.

Panambur Police, who have registered a case, visited the house for an inspection. The body of the deceased Shailesh has been shifted to the mortuary of AJ Hospital.

former Delhi minister Satyendar Kumar Jain

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday sought the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) response on a plea by former Delhi minister Satyendar Kumar Jain challenging an order taking cognisance of a charge sheet against him and others in a money laundering case.

Justice Neena Bansal Krishna issued notice to the ED on Jain’s petition and asked it to file a status report within 15 days.

The court listed the matter for further hearing on August 22.

Jain has sought setting aside of a trial court’s July 29, 2022 order taking cognisance of ED’s charge sheet in the money laundering case.

He has also challenged the summons issued to him in the case and the subsequent orders remanding him in judicial custody, and sought his release from the jail.

The ED opposed the petition on grounds of maintainability and said while the trial court’s cognisance order was passed in July 2022, the AAP leader has challenged it now.

Besides Satyendar Jain, the ED had also filed the charge sheet against his wife Poonam Jain, Vaibhav Jain, Ankush Jain, Ajit Prasad Jain and Sunil Jain.The charge sheet was also filed against four companies – Akinchan Developers Private Limited, Paryas Infosolutions Private Limited, Manglayatan Developers Private Limited, and JJ Ideal Estate Private Limited.

The ED initiated a money laundering investigation based on a First Information Report (FIR) registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on August 24, 2017 under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The CBI alleged that Satyendar Jain, while holding the office of a minister in the Delhi government, acquired assets disproportionate to his known sources of income between February 14, 2015 and May 31, 2017.

Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Tuesday said there was no dispute over the chief minister’s post in the ruling Mahayuti alliance, and there will be a government under the BJP’s leadership after the assembly elections.

The Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar’s NCP are part of Mahayuti along with the BJP.

“Amit bhai (senior BJP leader Amit Shah) has clearly said that Mahayuti will form the next government in Maharashtra. Therefore, there is no dispute over the chief minister’s post. Eknath Shinde is the (current) chief minister, and as the BJP has the highest number of assembly seats, there would be a BJP-led government,” Bawankule told reporters.

“We do not have any competition over the CM post in BJP, Devendra Fadnavis is our leader in Maharashtra. Eknath Shinde is chief minister and Ajit dada (Ajit Pawar) is deputy chief minister,” he added.

Bengaluru: Karnataka’s Rural Development Minister Priyank Kharge expressed his pride in the rich history and cultural significance of the Tulu language and assured that the government is positively considering recognizing it as an additional official language.

Kharge’s comments came in response to a question posed by Congress MLA Ashok Kumar Rai regarding the status of Tulu as a second additional official language.

During a legislative session, Kharge announced that a blueprint would be developed after conducting a meeting with ministers, legislators, and officials from the Tulu Academy, chaired by Speaker U T Khader. This meeting will follow the conclusion of the current legislative session. Kharge’s remarks were made on behalf of the Kannada and Culture Minister.

Kharge noted that the Mohan Alva committee report, which addresses the official status of Tulu, is currently under review by the Department of Law. He highlighted examples from other states where multiple languages have been recognized as official, such as Urdu alongside Telugu in Andhra Pradesh, and Bihari with Hindi in Bihar. In West Bengal, languages like Bengali, Bihari, and Urdu are used regionally.

Kharge further acknowledged that members of the Tulu community have independently traveled to various states to study the implementation of additional official languages. These findings have been compiled into a report submitted to the government. Kharge assured the assembly that the government would conduct its official study to determine the feasibility of adopting Tulu as an additional official language.

The proposal received support from several members of the house, including Vedavyas Kamath, Harish Poonja, and others, who echoed Ashok Kumar Rai’s sentiments.