PM Modi bestowed Bhutan's highest civilian award 'Order of the Druk Gyalpo'
Thimphu, Mar 22: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday received Bhutan's highest civilian award, the Order of the Druk Gyalpo,' the first foreign Head of the Government to receive the honour.
The award has been conferred to Prime Minister Modi in recognition of "his outstanding contribution to the growth of India-Bhutan relations and for his distinguished service to the Bhutanese nation and people."
"Honoured to be conferred with 'Order of the Druk Gyalpo' Award by Bhutan. I dedicate it to 140 crore Indians," Modi posted on X soon after.
Bhutan's King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck awarded the Order of the Druk Glyalpo' to Prime Minister Modi.
The announcement for the honour was made by the King of Bhutan during the 114th National Day celebrations on December 17, 2021. On Friday, Prime Minister Modi received it during his two-day State visit, his third since he took over as the prime minister in 2014.
A statement from the Indian Embassy in 2021, when the announcement was made, said, "As per ranking and precedence established, the Order of the Druk Gyalpo was instituted as the decoration for lifetime achievement and is the pinnacle of the honor system in Bhutan, taking precedence over all orders, decorations and medals."
In 2020, Modi received the Legion of Merit by the US Government' award of the US Armed Forces and in 2019, Russia conferred its highest civilian honour The order of St. Andrew' award on Modi.
Earlier in the day, hours after he arrived in the Himalayan nation, Modi said he was grateful to the Bhutanese people for according to him a "memorable welcome" to their beautiful country and hoped that India-Bhutan friendship "keeps scaling new heights."
Modi's visit seeks to further cement India's unique and enduring relations with Bhutan as part of the country's Neighbourhood First' Policy.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
