Ex-US First Lady Barbara Bush dead
Washington, April 18: Barbara Bush, the matriarch of a Republican political dynasty and a former First Lady who elevated the cause of literacy, has died at the age of 92, media reports said.
"A former First Lady of the United States of America and relentless proponent of family literacy, Barbara Pierce Bush passed away on Tuesday at the age of 92," family spokesman Jim McGrath said in a statement.
Barbara Bush is survived by her husband former President George H.W. Bush; sons George W., Neil, Marvin and Jeb; daughter, Dorothy Bush Koch; and 17 grandchildren.
On Sunday, her husband's office issued a statement saying that after consulting the family and her doctors, Barbara Bush had "decided not to seek additional medical treatment and will instead focus on comfort care", reports The New York Times
The Bushes had celebrated their 73rd wedding anniversary in January, making them the longest-married couple in presidential history.
Only the second woman in American history to have had a husband and a son elected President (Abigail Adams was the first), Barbara Bush was seen as a plainspoken public figure who was instantly recognisable with her signature white hair and pearl necklaces and earrings, reports CNN.
She became a major political figure as her husband rose to become first a Vice President (January 20, 1981 - January 20, 1989) and then the 41st US President (January 20, 1989 - January 20, 1993).
He left office in 1993 after losing a re-election bid to Bill Clinton.
After they left the White House, she was a potent spokeswoman for two of her sons -- George W. and Jeb -- as they campaigned for office.
The mother of six children -- one of whom, a daughter, Robin, died as a child from leukemia -- Barbara Bush raised her fast-growing family in the 1950s and '60s amid the post-war boom of Texas and the whirl of politics that consumed her husband.
Barbara Pierce was born June 8, 1925, in New York and raised in the upscale town of Rye, CNN reported.
She attended a prestigious boarding school in South Carolina, where she met her future husband at a school dance when she was only 16 and he was a year older.
A year and a half and countless love letters later, the two were engaged just before George H. W. Bush enlisted in the Navy and went off to fight in World War II.
Barbara Bush adopted literacy as a cause, raising awareness and eventually launching the non-profit Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy.
After George H.W. Bush's presidency, he and Barbara raised more than $1 billion for literacy and cancer charities.
A writer, her books include an autobiography and one about post-White House life. Her children's book about their dog, Millie, and her puppies written during her White House years was a bestseller.
In 2001, when George W. Bush took office, Barbara Bush became the only woman in American history to live to see her husband and son elected president.
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SC says no to plea against selection of Delhi Waqf Board administrator
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Monday refused to examine a plea against the appointment of Delhi government’s Principal Secretary (Home) Ashwani Kumar as the Delhi Waqf Board administrator on January 10.
A bench of Justices M M Sundresh and Rajesh Bindal asked the petitioner to move the Delhi High Court.
The top court was hearing a plea filed by one Zameer Ahmad Jumlana seeking directions to restrain and prohibit Kumar from discharging functions as the administrator of the Delhi Waqf Board and to vacate the office with immediate effect.
Lieutenant Governor (LG) V K Saxena, who approved Kumar's appointment, also okayed the appointment of IAS officer Azimul Haque as Delhi Waqf Board's CEO on January 3.
The petition alleged the term of the Delhi State Waqf Board expired on August 26, 2023, and since then no board was constituted.
The plea contended in the absence of the board, its powers were taken over by the LG by appointing Kumar purportedly using the powers under Section 99 of the Waqf Act, 1995.
"When the tenure of the board has lapsed on August 26, 2023, there is no question of exercise of any power of the state government under Section 99 of the Waqf Act 1995 to take over the board. Thus, the respondent number 1 is an usurper of the power of the Delhi State Waqf Board,” it said.
According to the petition, Kumar was not eligible under the Waqf Act of 1995 and took advantage of the fact that the Delhi Waqf Board was in an indefinite abeyance due to the negligence of the respondents.
On May 28, the Delhi High Court dismissed a similar plea filed by one Yasmin Ali and imposed Rs 10,000 costs.
The high court said the plea was publicity-oriented and an abuse of the process of law as it did not give any valid reasons for quashing the appointment of the city government officer as the administrator of the board.
