Mani Shankar Mukherjee

I must confess to having felt queasy when I heard that our former Rashtrapati, Pranab Mukherjee, a man I much admire, was likely to accept an invitation from the RSS Sarsanghchalak, Mohan Bhagwat, to attend the convocation of Sangh Parivaar volunteers trained for three years in becoming pracharaks.

Two days before it's meant to begin, the enormous three-day event in Delhi led by spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is enmeshed in so many controversies that every government department is claiming that it did not sanction the venue on the banks of the River Yamuna.

On the eve of the hearing of '93 Mumbai blast death row convict Yakub Memon's appeal by the Supreme Court, a group of eminent citizens - including politicians, jurists and retired judges - submitted a fresh mercy petition to President Pranab Mukherjee, urging him to commute the death sentence.

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari was all praise for the rich cultural heritage, art and literature of West Bengal and Maharashtra which contributed a lot to the post and pre-Independence era.

I must confess to having felt queasy when I heard that our former Rashtrapati, Pranab Mukherjee, a man I much admire, was likely to accept an invitation from the RSS Sarsanghchalak, Mohan Bhagwat, to attend the convocation of Sangh Parivaar volunteers trained for three years in becoming pracharaks.

Two days before it's meant to begin, the enormous three-day event in Delhi led by spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is enmeshed in so many controversies that every government department is claiming that it did not sanction the venue on the banks of the River Yamuna.

On the eve of the hearing of '93 Mumbai blast death row convict Yakub Memon's appeal by the Supreme Court, a group of eminent citizens - including politicians, jurists and retired judges - submitted a fresh mercy petition to President Pranab Mukherjee, urging him to commute the death sentence.

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari was all praise for the rich cultural heritage, art and literature of West Bengal and Maharashtra which contributed a lot to the post and pre-Independence era.