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India grieves Pranab's passing away: Modi

Former President Pranab Mukherjee was admitted to the Army Hospital (R&R) in Delhi on August 10 where he underwent a brain operation to remove a clot. He continued to remain critical and on ventilatory support and was in deep coma. During pre-surgery investigations he was also found to have coronavirus.

NEW DELHI, Aug 31: Former President of India Pranab Mukherjee, 84, who underwent a brain surgery to remove a clot at the Army's R&R Hospital here on August 10, and had been on ventilatory support and in coma, passed away on Monday, according to his son Abhijit.

“With a Heavy Heart , this is to inform you that my father Shri #PranabMukherjee has just passed away in spite of the best efforts of Doctors of RR Hospital & prayers ,duas & prarthanas from people throughout India !,” Abhijit tweeted.

During pre-surgical investigations, incidentally, he was also found to be coronavirus-positive.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted: "India grieves the passing away of Bharat Ratna Shri Pranab Mukherjee. He has left an indelible mark on the development trajectory of our nation. A scholar par excellence, a towering statesman, he was admired across the political spectrum and by all sections of society.

"During his political career that spanned decades, Shri Pranab Mukherjee made long-lasting contributions in key economic and strategic ministries. He was an outstanding Parliamentarian, always well-prepared, extremely articulate as well as witty.

"As India’s President, Shri Pranab Mukherjee made Rashtrapati Bhavan even more accessible to common citizens. He made the President’s house a centre of learning, innovation, culture, science and literature. His wise counsel on key policy matters will never be forgotten by me.

"I was new to Delhi in 2014. From Day 1, I was blessed to have the guidance, support and blessings of Shri Pranab Mukherjee. I will always cherish my interactions with him. Condolences to his family, friends, admirers and supporters across India. Om Shanti."

Leaders from all walks of life from across the country also mourned the political stalwart.

On August 11 morning the Army's R&R Hospital had said in a statement that the former President and senior Congress leader was admitted to the hospital in a critical condition on Aug 10 while Pranab himself had tweeted just before going under the knife that incidentally it was discovered during the pre-surgery investigations in the hospital that he had coronavirus infection.

The medical bulletin had said: "Former President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee was admitted to Army Hospital (R&R) Delhi Cantt at 1207 hours on 10 August 2020 in a critical condition. Workup at the hospital revealed a large brain clot for which he underwent emergency life saving surgery. Post surgery he continues to remain critical on ventilatory support. He was also found to be COVID-19 positive.”

His tweet before proceeding for the operation had urged all those who had come in contact with him in the last week to isolate themselves as a precaution and get tested for covid.

The veteran Congress leader tweeted:"On a visit to the hospital for a separate procedure, I have tested positive for COVID19 today.

"I request the people who came in contact with me in the last week, to please self isolate and get tested for COVID-19," Pranab said.

Pranab Mukherjee was the President of India from 2012 to 2017. He was a voracious reader and author of several books on India and awardee of many honours like Bharat Ratna and Padma Vibhushan.

Country's top leaders had wished him speedy recovery. Several politicians like Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa have also contracted corona.

Over 62,000 new coronavirus cases were reported in India during the last 24 hours, the tally going up to 22,15,075, Health Ministry said. India reported 1,007 new deaths in the last 24 hours taking the death toll to 44,386, on Monday.

Pranab Mukherjee was a veteran Congress leader who became the 13th President of India, from 2012 to 2017. In a political career spanning five decades, Pranab served as Union Minister several times and handled major portfolios. Across party affiliations, he has been a father-figure for all and was awarded Bharat Ratna, country's top-most honour, last year.

Pranab Mukherjee was born in Mirati village in Birbhum district of Bengal on December 11, 1935. His father was a Congress leader and freedom-fighter. He had two Master's degrees in History and Political Science and a Law degree from the University of Calcutta and worked as a teacher for some time. His political career started with the election to the Rajya Sabha in 1969 and became a Minister in the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's Cabinet in 1973. He served several times as Rajya Sabha member and also as Minister holding a variety of portfolios. He had briefly left the Congress in mid-1980s, to return later to continue his career in the Congress and the Government.

He took office as the 13th President of India on July 25, 2012 and did not contest a second time in 2017.

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The incident has triggered a debate on social media whether the officer refused to take orders from a party leader or he was accused of any corruption, some netizens justifying the handling in either case, that Ratnakar was blocking public welfare work! It is true the Govt machinery has been the enemy Number One of the people of this country, existing for itself and for these politicians, for well over seven decades. India will never make an inch of progress - real progress, not make-believe-progress - unless and until this machinery is eliminated.

The irony lies in her illustration of her experiences in the country she has been living in for the last four years. What it really is!

ANALYSIS: There have been cases of Britons going to Switzerland to get rid of a miserable life. Now once the House of Lords also passes the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, terminally ill Britons can call it quits with the help of a medical practitioner here itself. But the measure when comes into practice, will have very serious social consequences, it is feared. There won't be comparisons, even as tropes in Latin American folklores. The worst case scenario is of those who are not terminally ill also trying to misuse the provision to leave this world early when life with dignity is not available. But that is, in fact, a political question and not a moral imbroglio!

The CCTV footage and the video circulating on social media do not indicate any serious abnormalities in takeoff or descent, it has been confirmed. The disaster is becoming curiouser and curiouser. The flight path was not curvy. And the aircraft maintained a steady, gliding descent with its nose straight and the wings perfectly level. The pilot's distress call does not specify what prevented lift and climb-out. Here are some expert opinions. The sole purpose is to raise travellers' awareness about air travel.

Many of the victims were charred beyond recognition, making identification difficult. Three hundred nineteen body parts have been sent for DNA matching with relatives to determine the identities.

  • The Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla line provides Kashmir with all-weather connectivity and integrates the Valley with the rest of India.
  • The saying 'Kashmir to Kanyakumari' is now a dream come true.
  • The Chenab bridge on the line, an engineering marvel, is the world's highest railway bridge, taller than the Eiffel Tower. (Video: File)

A comment on social media on Kanimozhi's answer on the question of national language read: "Daughter of Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi. Delivered the Birthday Present to her Father!!" (Karunanidhi was born on June 3, 1924) (Today's headlines )

Trump said, "Elon is not really leaving" and will be "back and forth" to the White House because DOGE is his "baby." "I think he’s going to be doing a lot of things.”

Musk wrote: "My scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end... The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government." Now on it will be on auto-pilot.

PROGNOSIS: DOGE was prematurely born to protect the country by aborting an impending socio-economic disaster which very few people could see coming.

Although its immediate job was to save American taxpayers billions by slashing waste, eliminating fraud, cutting Government bloat and ensuring utmost efficiency in administration for the good of the people. (Today's headlines )

"Coming from a system like in England, empowering," she says she never had an idea of this sort of experience... being asked to “socialise with middle-aged men” who financed the event...humiliating...

Originally from Junagadh, Gujarat, Pataudi was relocated to Etawah Lion Safari in September 2019 before being transferred to Gorakhpur Zoo in 2021. Recently it was receiving treatment for pancreatic and liver infections. After tigress Shakti died in the zoo on May 7 due to bird flu, Pataudi was shifted to Kanpur. Some birds are also reported to have died mysteriously around Gorakhpur. All zoos in UP are closed for fear of a bird flu outbreak.

Three other animals too had died - a tiger, a leopardess and a female wolf. Wolf Bhairavi died last Saturday, leopardess Mona died the Thursday before that and tiger Kesari died on March 30. Some of them had Shakti's symptoms but the cause of death has not been confirmed yet.

As tourist inflow is an indicator of normalcy returning to an erstwhile terrorist infested Valley, the Government has been trying hard to make everything travel-friendly, launching lot many projects and bringing Kashmir on the national rail map that physically completes the process of Kashmir's integration with the rest of India. And that defeats the designs of Pakistan eyeing Kashmir and simply explains a recrudescence of terrorism in J&K.

The committee headed by justice Kurian Joseph will study Centre-State relations and make proposals to ensure foolproof separation of powers.

"It's a big victory not just for Tamil Nadu but for all Indian States. DMK will continue to struggle for and win State autonomy and Federal polity," Chief Minister MK Stalin said.

Of 2.08 km in length, it features 99 spans and a 72.5-metre vertical lift span that rises up to a height of 17 metres, facilitating smooth movement of ships while ensuring seamless train services to the holy town of Rameswaram on Pamban island.

ANALYSIS: There is a lot of hue and cry around the world over Trump's tariffs. But tariff, simply put, is a tax. But unlike tax, it affects the exporting country too. Domestic prices will go up for some time. Nothing more will happen, good or bad!

What motivated Trump's newfound policy, apart from being a stunt to justify his existence in the White House, is a false realisation that increased tariff will make foreign goods prohibitive, thereby boosting local production, and create more jobs, and more prosperity will ring in! If that is true, India would have been shining by now: Producing own Rolls-Royce La Rose Noire Droptail and Scotch Whiskies! And what about coconut and palm oil by America! (Today's headlines )

PROGNOSIS: It looks a Real New Trump is emerging - courageous, balanced, powerful and disinterested. Determined to save his country from the cliff, he has done quite a few draconian things that will reduce the burden of debts of the Federal entity, like the golden handshake, stopping senseless funding, pulling out of a worthless WHO. Shutting the Education Department is another. On the other hand, running it is also not the Centre's job either (We will convincingly elaborate it in the next chapter).

In India the scene is just the opposite. Centralisation is the core agenda and identity of the ruling dispensation without which it has no existence, or in other words, it exists for that set of schemes only. A realisation of this never dawned upon any Opposition party in 2014 or any time thereafter, what to talk of being able to see it coming 70 years ago! The consequence of all this violation of basic natural law of the universe we cannot predict.

THE AMERICAN CONUNDRUM: Political venom has migrated to top echelons in the US. It was reported last year NASA has become politicised, vitiated. But NASA refuted the charge. How Boeing developed a glitch but its unmanned return was smooth. When Suni-Wilmore were stranded last June, why the return was set for February? Because that comes only after January 20! SpaceX called the shots, for itself and for Trump. Then the mission was manipulated for March for a better bargain! In between, what made Elon Musk 'predict' during campaign if Kamala Harris wins he would be in jail. In politics, it is said, "the only rule is there are no rules." Difficult times for Americans too.

The terminations are part of a large-scale exercise going on all across Fed departments and organisations to reduce wasteful Government expenditure as decided by a Trump in a mess gone berserk, and improve administrative efficiency following the whims of billionaire and his associate Elon MusK and his DOGE. It has not been shared how terminations are going to raise the efficiency bar! It looks like Trump has stolen some of the prescriptions meant for India. But the American problems are quite different.

Suddenly these colonial clerks feel this effortless, little rule will tremendously enhance security and convenience for the railway passengers manifold. More stations will be covered in the next 77 years! (Also See: New Delhi station stampede... What went wrong?)

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