Former President of India | Business Upturn

Former President Pratibha Patil’s husband passed away at the age of 89

News Desk — Fri, 24 Feb 2023 10:54:34 +0000

Devisingh Ransingh Shekhawat, husband of former President of India, Pratibha Patil and Ex. MLA passes away on February 24, 2023 while undergoing treatment at the KEM Hospital in Pune. Late Mr. Shekhawat had suffered a heart attack two days ago for which he was admitted in the hospital but he away today morning.

Devisingh Shekhawat was a politician and agriculturist and also the first gentleman of India and the husband of the first female President of India, Pratibha Patil. He formerly held the positions of first Mayor of Amravati and First Gentleman of Rajasthan.

Devisingh Shekhawat was also quite active in the area of education. In 1972, he completed his PhD at Mumbai University. He was the principal of a college that was run by the Vidya Bharti Shikshan Sanstha Foundation.

Many political figures like PM Modi, NCP chief, Sharad Pawar and Former President Ram Nath Kovind offered condolences to the family.

My thoughts are with our former President Smt. Pratibha Patil Ji and her family on the passing away of Dr. Devisingh Shekhawat Ji. He made a mark on society through his various community service efforts. Om Shanti.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 24, 2023

Shocked to know about the sudden demise of Dr. Devisingh Shekhawat ji. My condolences with Smt Pratibha Singh Patil ji and her family in this hour of grief.

— Ram Nath Kovind (@ramnathkovind) February 24, 2023

Top 10 unknown & interesting facts about late Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam

Cheryll Jain — Sat, 15 Oct 2022 04:40:46 +0000

The ‘Missile Man of India’ Dr APJ Abdul Kalam was an eminent scientist, researcher, academician and politician. Serving as the 11th President of India, Dr Kalam was a harbinger of the Indian civilian space programme as well as a frontrunner of the country’s defence and military missile development endeavours.

Born on October 15, 1931, as Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam in Rameshwaram, Tamil Nadu, Dr Kalam’s childhood was swathed with hardships and uphill battles. Hailing from a poor background, he fought tooth and nail to complete his education and support his joint family from a young age.

To alleviate the financial crunch his family had been compelled to face, Dr Kalam began to toil as a young boy, selling newspapers in his village at the mere age of 10. This did not affect his education, however, as he would begin his day at dawn just to attend his maths tuition and sleep late at night to continue studying despite there being no electricity in his village.

A voracious learner and intellectual, he did not let his circumstances deter him and went on to complete his senior secondary education and enrolled in college where he graduated with a degree in physics. Thereafter, Dr Kalam relocated to Madras in 1955 to study aerospace engineering at the Madras Institute of Technology.

Upon graduating from the Madras Institute of Technology, Dr Kalam in 1958 joined the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). In 1969 he moved to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), where he led the development of the SLV-III, the first satellite launch vehicle to be both designed and produced in India.

The indigenous SLV-III successfully injected the Rohini satellite into near-earth orbit in July 1980 and made India an exclusive member of the Space Club. Dr Kalam was also involved in the development of ISRO’s flagship launch vehicle PSLV.

After spending close to two decades at ISRO, Dr Kalam rejoined DRDO in 1982, scheming the programme that yielded several prosperous missiles, which helped earn him the nickname “Missile Man.” Among those successes were AGNI and PRITHVI.

Serving as the principal scientific advisor to the government of India from 1992 to 2001, he also played a key role in the country’s 1998 nuclear weapons trials that cemented India as a nuclear power. These contributions ascertained Kalam as a widely beloved personality and a national hero.

Dr Kalam was sworn in as President in 2002 after being nominated by both the ruling party and the opposition for candidature. After completing his term in 2007, he returned to civilian life but his love for science and technology remained. He devoted his time to shaping young minds as a lecturer at several universities until his demise.

Dr APJ Abul Kalam was a ‘People’ President,’ an extraordinary visionary and one of the vital figures who led India on a path to development and scientific excellence. His contributions to the country continue to inspire and enlighten future generations.

Here are 10 facts you might not know about Dr APJ Abdul Kalam:

Dr Kalam received honorary doctorates from 48 universities and institutions from India and abroad during his lifetime.

Dr Kalam has been bestowed with some of the highest civilian honours in the country. Kalam was awarded the coveted civilian awards — Padma Bhushan in 1981, Padma Vibhushan in 1990 and the highest civilian award in India — Bharat Ratna in 1997.

APJ Abdul Kalam wrote his autobiography in the 90s, which was translated into 13 languages. It was first published in English, but the success of the book was immense and so was the demand of people to know about his life that the book was then translated into 13 languages including French and Chinese.

Dr Kalam missed an opportunity to become a fighter pilot for the Indian Air force by a hair’s breadth. He was ranked 9th in the IAF entrance exam when there were only 8 openings.

On the occasion of his birthday, the United Nations (UN) in 2015 had declared October 15 as World Student’s Day.

Dr Kalam was a talented poet and penned a plethora of poetry in Tamil. He was very fond of playing a musical instrument known as the Veena.

Dr Kalam’s visit to Switzerland on 26th May is commemorated as Science Day in the country. This declaration was made in his honour by the Swiss Government after his demise in 2015.

Dr Kalam authored many inspiring books over the course of his life. His works include Wings of Fire, India 2020: A Vision for the New Millennium, Children Ask Kalam, Ignited Minds, among others.

In 2013, Dr Kalam was awarded the Von Braun Award by the National Space Society for his unprecedented contributions towards the field of science and technological development in India.

On July 27, 2015, he collapsed while delivering a lecture at the Indian Institute of Management in Shillong and was pronounced dead from cardiac arrest soon afterwards.

Ram Nath Kovind: The diplomatic President & his most controversial bills

Pranay Maniar — Wed, 27 Jul 2022 10:35:54 +0000

Ram Nath Kovind was an Indian politician who served as the 14th President of India from 2017 to 2022.

In the Indian Parliamentary form of democracy, the bills are passed by the Lok Sabha. And then move on to Rajya Sabha and are presented before the president. Further, for signature to transform the bill into law in the constitution.

The president has the right to put a temporary stay on the bill and point out fallacies, and mistakes and also can decline to sign the bill if he/she finds it unconstitutional.

In this story, we explore how the alleged controversial bills were enacted into law. They are deemed controversial since these bills and amendments caused widespread protests or backlash from the opposition or the common people of the country.

The four most ‘controversial’ bills that Former President Ram Nath Kovind assented to were the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, 2019, Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019, Triple Talaq Bill which is known as The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019 and the 3 farm laws that were passed in 2020.

The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, 2019

The act consists of 103 clauses, extends 106 central laws to the UTs, repeals 153 state laws, and abolishes the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Council among other things. The introduction of the bill was preceded by a presidential order by Ram Nath Kovind which indirectly amended Article 370 of the Indian constitution and revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and bifurcated the state into two union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

The act has also vested powers to the central government to pass several executive orders concerning both the union territories.

This act was heavily contested not just within India but received backlash from countries like Pakistan, China, and Turkey and several lawmakers in the US express their dissatisfaction over this. Joe Biden in his presidential campaign mentioned the abrogation of article 370.

Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019

The Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 or CAA was passed by the Parliament of India on 11 December 2019. It amended the Citizenship Act, of 1955 by providing fast-track Indian citizenship for persecuted religious minorities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who are Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis or Christians, and arrived in India before the end of December 2014. This law excludes Muslims from the above-mentioned countries, thus attracting global criticism.

The BJP while contesting for the 2019 general elections had promised in their manifesto about the naturalization of the persecuted minorities that had fled to India for refuge.

Protests across the countries were held against this new act and several times these protests turned violent. Including the riots in Delhi as the then-American President, Donald Trump came to visit India.

Triple Talaq Bill, 2019

The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019 declares the instant divorce granted by the pronouncement of the word “talaq” three times. Hence, as void and illegal. It provides for imprisonment for a term of up to 3 years. And a fine to the husband who practiced instant Triple Talaq.

Muslim woman, upon whom Talaq was pronounced also granted custody of children and allowance or alimony to be paid by the husband. Muslim women now have legal protection against the pronouncement of Triple Talaq.

However, the act did not garner much criticism except for a few politicians like Kapil Sibal, and Shashi Tharoor who called it an intervention in the Muslim personal law.

Farmers Bill, 2020

The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance, 2020 allows intra-state. And inter-state trade of farmers’ produce beyond the physical premises of APMC markets. State governments are prohibited from levying any market fee, cess or levy outside APMC areas.

It claims that the minimum support prices have weakened farmers, instead of empowering them. The organizations against the billing demand that the government stops intervening in the agricultural commodity market. So that farmers will not have to depend on the minimum support prices.

Farm Bills have been described as “anti-farmer laws” by many farmer unions. And politicians from the opposition who say it would leave farmers at the “mercy of corporates”. The farmers have also demanded the creation of a minimum support price (MSP) bill. Moreover, to ensure that corporates cannot control the prices. The union government, however, maintains that the laws will make it effortless for farmers. To sell their produce directly to big buyers. And stated that the protests are based on misinformation. Related endemic legacy issues include farmer suicides and low farmer incomes.

Former President Ram Nath Kovind

All these bills that were passed by the parliament were later on asserted by Former President Ram Nath Kovind. Despite them not being unconstitutional, these bills surely polarized the nation on ideological and religious lines.

The president is vested with discretionary powers, however, Ram Nath Kovind did not make use of this. Thus, his presidency saw great changes in the nation.

PM Modi to host farewell dinner for outgoing President Ram Nath Kovind at Ashoka hotel

Pranay Maniar — Thu, 21 Jul 2022 10:57:35 +0000

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced that he will be hosting a dinner party at Delhi’s famous Ashoka hotel for the outbound President, Shri Ram Nath Kovind bidding him farewell and relief from his duties.

President Ram Nath Kovind was elected as the president of India on 25^th July 2017. Succeeding Congress veteran and former union minister, Shri Pranab Mukherjee. Thus, to become the 14^th President of India. President Kovind is a Dalit hailing from a village named Paraunkh in the Kanpur Dehat district. Making him the first person from Uttar Pradesh to hold the highest office in the country.

His presidency saw him visiting several countries to improve relations. And connect their populations with us and export India’s culture abroad. We also witnessed three waves of Covid-19 sweeping across our country during his tenure.

Coming from a humble background as his father was a farmer. And his mother passed away at a young age due to a fire, he serves as an inspiration to many across the nation.

From 1947 to 2022, Check the list of all Presidents of India

Malvika Choudhary — Thu, 03 Feb 2022 15:27:42 +0000

According to article 52 of the Indian constitution, “There shall be a President of India”. The President of India is the head of state of the Republic of India. The President is the formal head of the executive, legislature and judiciary of India and is also the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Until now India has been under the tutelage of 14 presidents, with Ram Nath Kovind being the current president of the nation.

1. Dr Rajendra Prasad (In office: Jan 26, 1950- May 13, 1962)

Times of India

He was the first president of India after the adoption of the constitution in 1950 and was one of the first to receive the Bharat Ratna, in 1954. He was also the first to lead the line of five Presidents to receive the Bharat Ratna till now.

2 . Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (In Office- May 13, 1962- May 13, 1967)

Image credit: Statesmen

Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was born on 5 September 1888, and this day is celebrated as Teacher’s Day. He was awarded Bharat Ratna in 1954. He was knighted in 1931 and since then till the attainment of Independence, he was addressed as Sir Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.

3 . Dr Zakir Husain (In office-May 13, 1967- May 3, 1969)

Image credit: Journalsofindia

Dr Zakir Husain became the first Muslim President of India and died at his post. The immediate Vice President, V.V. Giri was made the acting President. He formerly served as the governor of Bihar from 1957 to 1962 and as the second vice president of India from 1962 to 1967.

4 .Varahagiri Venkata Giri (In office- May 3, 1969-Jul 20, 1969 (acting)

Image Credit: the print

He was the only president to be elected as an independent candidate. In 1975, he was awarded Bharat Ratna. Giri is the only person to have served as both an acting president and president of India.
Giri was made the president of India on 24 August 1969 and served till 24 August 1974.

5 . Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (In office- August 24, 1974- Feb 11, 1977)

Image Credit: ABP news

Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed was a lawyer and a politician who served as the 5th president of India from 1974 to 1977. He was the second President of India to die in office. B. D. Jatti became the acting President on 11 February 1977 and served till 25 July 1977.

6 . Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy (In office- July 25, 1977-July25, 1982)

Image credit: The quint

He held several key offices in independent India—as the first Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, a two-time Speaker of the Lok Sabha and a Union Minister—before becoming the youngest-ever Indian president.

7 . Giani Zail Singh ( In Office- July 25 1982-July 25, 1987)

The print

His presidency was marked by Operation Blue Star, the assassination of Indira Gandhi, and the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. He died of injuries in 1994, after a car accident. He was also the Chief Minister of Punjab and the Minister at the Centre. He also used Pocket Veto on the Indian Post Office Bill.

8 . Ramaswamy Venkataraman (In office- July 25, 1987- July 25, 1992)

Image credit: India.com

He was the oldest president to become at 76 years He is a recipient of “Tamra Patra” for his contributions to India’s freedom struggle. Apart from this, the Russian government had conferred the Soviet Land Prize for writing the travelogue on former Tamil Nadu Prime Minister, Kumaraswami Kamaraj’s.

9 . Dr Shankar Dayal Sharma(In office- July 25, 1992-July 25, 1997)

Image credit: India Today

Sharma was Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh. The International Bar Association gave them the ‘Living Legend of Law Award of Recognition’ due to their multi-achievements in the legal profession.

10 . Kocheril Raman Narayanan (In office- July 25, 1997-July 25, 2002)

freepressjournal

He was the first President from Kerala, and also the first Dalit President. He was the first President to vote in the Lok Sabha elections and addressed the state assembly. Narayanan is regarded as an independent and assertive President who set several precedents and enlarged the scope of India’s highest constitutional office.

11 . Dr A.P.J Abdul Kalam(In office- July 25, 2002-July 25, 2007)

The Logical Indian

Widely referred to as the “People’s President”, Kalam was among the most loved presidents of India. He was popularly known as the missile man of India. He was a recipient of several prestigious awards, including the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour. In his directorial, Rohini-1 satellites, Agni and Prithvi missiles were successfully launched. The Pokhran-II nuclear tests conducted in India in 1998 after the original nuclear test of 1974 saw him in a pivotal political, organisational and technical role.

12 . Shrimati Pratibha Singh Patil (in office- July 25, 2007- July 25, 2012)

India Today

She is the first woman to become the President of India. She was the Governor of Rajasthan before becoming the President. From 1962 to 1985, she was a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly five times and was elected from Amravati to the Lok Sabha in 1991. She was also the first woman president to fly Sukhoi.

13 . Pranab Mukherjee (In office- July 25, 2012 -July 25, 2017)

Times of India

Before he was elected President, Mukherjee was Union Finance Minister from 2009 to 2012. He was awarded India’s highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna. He died on 31 August 2020 (Monday) at the age of 84. He has served as the Foreign Minister, Defence Minister and Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission.

14 . Ram Nath Kovind ( In office- July 25, 2017- Incumbent)

Image credit: NDTV India

He is the 14th president of India and is a member of the BJP. Before his presidency, he served as the 26th governor of Bihar from 2015 to 2017 and as a member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha from 1994 to 2006