Not just Pranab's tolerance advice, but Bhagwat's 'power' warning important

In the run up to his visit to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) headquarters in Nagpur on Thursday, former president Pranab Mukherjee had told people in the Congress that “engagement with the RSS was not an endorsement of its views”.

On Thursday evening, Mukherjee discharged himself honourably. He spoke to the RSS cadres of the importance of pluralism, non-violence and tolerance for preserving national unity. Mukherjee had gone to the RSS headquarters in the hope that his visit would help bridge an ideological divide. It remains to be seen if his visit would lead to a dialogue between the RSS and its ideological opponents in the Congress and other parties.

It is true that the RSS received much publicity because of Mukherjee’s visit. A case could be made, as some in the Congress have, that the RSS was seeking legitimacy, which it got because of Mukherjee’s visit. The former president visited the house of RSS founder K B Hedgewar, and said he has come there to pay homage to a great son of India. However, the RSS is currently at the height of its influence and can live, if it so chooses, without this legitimacy.

Central Bank of India customer wins Rs 1 cr under Modi's cashless scheme

BREAKING NEWS - A transaction of Rs 1,590 has bagged a Central Bank of India customer a lucky bounty of Rs 1 crore under the Modi government's promotional scheme to popularise digital payments.

President Pranab Mukherjee picked up the lucky winners from the 100th draw of lots under digital payments promotion schemes at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.

He congratulated the six winners — three consumers and three merchants — under the Lucky Grahak Yojana and Digi Dhan Vyapar Yojana.

In the consumer section, the first mega prize of Rs 1 crore went to a customer of Central Bank of India, while the second prize of Rs 50 lakh went to a Bank of Baroda customer. A customer of Punjab National Bank is the winner of third prize of Rs 25 lakh.

All the three customers had conducted transactions using their RuPay debit cards. The names of three winners were not yet known as the draw only displayed their transaction numbers. These will be matched with card details to identify the winners.

Three merchants also won prizes of Rs 50 lakh, Rs 25 lakh and Rs 12 lakh, respectively.

The winners will be felicitated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 14 at Nagpur on the occasion of Ambedkar Jayanti. (READ MORE)