Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Madan Mohan Malviya to be conferred with Bharat Ratna

The Centre's announcement came ahead of Vajpayee's birthday, who will turns 90 on Thursday and 153rd birth anniversary of Malviya.

"The President has been pleased to award Bharat Ratna to Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya (posthumously) and to Atal Bihari Vajpayee," a press communique from Rashtrapati Bhavan said.

Vajpayee, who was Prime Minister from 1998 to 2004, and has faded from public life due to age-related illness, is lauded as a statesman and has been often described as the moderate face of BJP.

Vajpayee has been credited with taking bold initiatives, notable being the attempt to bridge Indo-Pak differences.

India's longest serving Prime Minister outside of Congress party, Vajpayee's detractors called him the "mask" of RSS but still always had good words for him.

Source: Hindi News and Newspaper

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President condemns attack on CRPF troopers

In his message to Chhattisgarh Governor Balramji Das Tandon, the president said, "I am shocked and dismayed to learn about the tragic attack by left wing extremists on security personnel in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh on Monday in which a number of persons belonging to the CRPF have lost their lives and suffered injuries."

"I condemn this act of violence on our security forces in the strongest of terms and call upon authorities concerned to spare no efforts in bringing the perpetrators to justice as soon as possible," he added.

Offering heartfelt condolences to the grieving families of the victims, Mukherjee said, "I call upon the state government and other agencies to provide all possible aid to the bereaved families who have lost their near and dear ones as well as medical assistance to the injured, whom I wish speedy recovery.

"Maoists on Monday gunned down 13 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers engaged in an operation aimed at flushing out the rebels from a thickly forested area of Chhattisgarh.

Source: News in Hindi And Newspaper

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