India Politics

By IANS, New Delhi : Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee has started writing his memoirs as his tenure is coming to an end after the new house is elected later this month, an official said Wednesday. "At the moment, he is busy with his book," said a senior official with the speaker's office. The speaker Wednesday made a courtesy farewell call on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at his office in Parliament House. "It was just a courtesy farewell visit," the official who did not wish to be named told IANS.

By IANS, New Delhi : Speculations were rife in the national capital that the Samajwadi Party, the ruling Congress' latest ally, has demanded key portfolios in the cabinet in lieu of its support to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the crucial July 22 trust vote in the Lok Sabha. Congress leaders admitted that the Samajwadi Party, whose 33 MPs supported the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in the trust vote, has demanded key ministries, including those dealing with petroleum and power. However, there has been no official confirmation.

By IANS, New Delhi : A delegation of Members of Parliament met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday in connection with the beheading of a Sikh by the Taliban in Pakistan's tribal areas and presented a memorandum seeking India's intervention to protect the community. The body of Jaspal Singh was found in Tirah valley of the Khyber agency in Pakistan's restive tribal region Sunday, and triggered panic in the small community that has faced the ire of the Taliban for some time.

New Delhi : Three-time Delhi chief minister and senior Congress leader Sheila Dikshit on Wednesday termed as "vindictive" the Haryana government's decision to probed...

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By V.S. Karnic, IANS, Bangalore : The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) first government in Karnataka completes two years Sunday with the party and Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa praying that dissidence which made him shed tears in public and the scandals that sullied the image of the government do not recur. Bookanakere Siddalingaiah Yeddyurappa assumed office on May 30, 2008 leading the party to near majority in the 225-member (includes one nominated) assembly in a bitterly fought assembly polls.

By IANS, New Delhi : The Left parties announced Tuesday that they had withdrawn their support to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government. window.onload = function() {var...

By IANS, Thiruvananthapuram : The Congress party Monday renominated Vayalar Ravi, minister of overseas Indian affairs and parliamentary affairs for the Rajya Sabha elections from Kerala, while the state's ruling Left chose two journalists. While the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) nominated P. Rajiv, resident editor of its mouthpiece Deshabhimani, its partner Communist Party of India (CPI) chose M.P. Achuthan, resident editor of its mouthpiece Janayugam.

New Delhi : The Indian government should support a comprehensive law guaranteeing equal rights and non-discrimination to transgenders, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)...

By Saidalavi P.C. for Twocircles.net All photos by Samim Asgor Ali In times of distress faith keeps you going, my mother fondly says. Then I...

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By IANS, Patna : The union budget was directionless and held nothing for the common man, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said here Monday.

By IANS, New Delhi : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has rapped the Maharashtra government on the violence in Mumbai against non-Maharashtrians and conveyed the "sense of the cabinet" on the need to control this. "The prime minister informed the cabinet that he had written a strongly-worded letter to the Maharashtra chief minister and that he would convey the sense of the cabinet to the Maharashtra government," Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said here Friday. He was briefing the media on the deliberations of a cabinet meeting here late Thursday, presided over by Manmohan Singh.

By Rajeev Khanna, IANS Ahmedabad : The stage is set for declaring the winners of the high-profile Gujarat assembly elections. Preparations have been made for counting of votes Sunday at 37 centres amidst tight security arrangements. The Election Commission has made provisions for displaying the results, as they are declared, on its website eci.gov.in. Polling was held in two phases in the state Dec 11 and Dec 16, with the ballots cast through electronic voting machines (EVMs).

Lucknow : Congress will go all alone in the Uttar Pradesh assembly by-polls which are to be held for the twelve seats, a Congress...

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By IANS, New Delhi : Bharatiya Janata Party leader and member of parliament Varun Gandhi has been dragged to court by V.M. Singh, his uncle and Congress candidate from Uttar Pradesh's Pilibhit constituency in 2009 general elections, alleging defamation. Singh filed a defamation suit against Gandhi in the Delhi High Court last week. Justice J.R. Midha while taking up the matter objected to the delay in filing the defamation suit but issued notice to Gandhi and asked him to file his reply by July 28.

By IANS, Chennai : AIADMK chief J. Jayalalitha Thursday alleged a "murderous DMK plot to assassinate" her after the windscreen of her vehicle was damaged in stone pelting by a huge mob gathered at her rally. The police claimed her supporters had thrown stones in frustration after failing to get a better view of their leader. The trouble arose during her address to a rally on the 101st birth and 46th death anniversary of the late Forward Bloc leader Muthuramalinga Thevar at Pasumpon, a village 500 km south of here.

By Dr. Arshi KHAN, Dr. Rashid Shaz’s statement in the Times of India and his unwanted press release on the present political development has disappointed all of those who endorse the constitutive principles of governance in India. There are three main points in his press-release. He commended the RSS led Modi government, condemned the Congress party and used insulting words for our religious personalities. First, Shaz says-“Mr. Modi’s victory is a welcome development. Now, for the first time in independent India, Muslims are able to see the stark political realities that otherwise have been hidden by the secular hypocrisy of the Congress.” RSS has formed its government in India which is certainly not a welcome development. Sangh Parivarwas thoroughly engaged during the BJP campaign and the ministerial allocation was made after the approval of the RSS. Stark political reality cannot be presumed on the basis of unexpected EVM results in Hindi belt as voters other than the Caste Hindus are bewildered over the magic of the EVM. Even if ‘polarisation’ is accepted the game of politics today in India, it is more manufactured than being natural as India cannot be free from its religious and caste tags. In fact, Muslim voters have lost doubly this time as they are under-represented due to the absence of ‘proportional representation system’ and the magical jobs of the EVMs.

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By IANS, New Delhi : Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani Friday said the gloom and pessimism which he was seeing all around the country due to the financial crisis will turn into optimism if the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) were elected back to power. Fresh from a meeting with top industrialists barely 24 hours earlier, Advani, the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) prime ministerial candidate, said the present ruling coalition had inherited a 8.5 percent economic growth but will demit office with no more than seven percent economic expansion.

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By TCN News, Boston: The Coalition Against Genocide (CAG) today condemned statements by senior leaders of Hindu nationalist organizations, collectively known as the Sangh Parivar, openly inciting people to violence against religious minorities. These leaders also claimed that all Indians who are opposed to the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi will be driven out of India into neighboring Pakistan after the ongoing parliamentary elections.

By IANS, New Delhi : The Delhi High Court Wednesday issued notice to the police on the bail plea of Sanjeev Saxena, a former aide of MP Amar Singh and an accused in the 2008 cash-for-votes scam.

Kolkata, May 21 (IANS) West Bengal's ruling Left Front suffered an erosion of its rural base though it managed to retain its domination in 13 of the state's 17 districts in results declared Wednesday in elections to three-tier self-government bodies. The Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee regime's industrialisation drive seemed to have cost the Left Front, led by the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), dearly as it was wiped out in Nandigram and Singur, the two hotspots which saw large-scale, opposition-sponsored agitation against plans to acquire land for setting up industries.

By IANS, Thiruvananthapuram : Leader of the opposition Oommen Chandy and several legislators belonging to the opposition Friday courted arrest here demanding speedy implementation of the integrated food security (IFS) scheme. Arriving in front of the state secretariat here, the opposition leaders led by Chandy and state Congress president Ramesh Chennithala squatted and shouted anti government slogans. Chandy said it was sad the parties holding power in the state were "squabbling over non-issues" when the scheme was being implemented in other states.

By TCN News, New Delhi: The All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat (AIMMM), the umbrella body of Indian Muslim organisations, issued a statement about its political agenda and advisory for secular, especially Muslim, voters, at a press conference held at its central office here.

By IANS, New Delhi : Calling it a silent revolution in India, Panchayati Raj Minister Mani Shankar Aiyer Wednesday said women represent close to 40 percent in local self-governance, going beyond the 33 percent seats reserved for them. Addressing the International Conference on Decentralisation, Local Power and Women’s Rights at Mexico city, Aiyer said that over a million of the 3.2 million elected representatives to the local self-government in India are women. Another 200,000 women representatives are in urban local bodies.

New Delhi: The Indian arm of Swiss foods giant Nestle on Thursday moved the Bombay High Court, seeking a judicial review of the food...

By IANS New Delhi : The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Wednesday asked its government in West Bengal to ensure the induction of central security forces in Nandigram and said Maoists were behind the upsurge of violence in the area.

New Delhi : BJP's Delhi unit chief Harsh Vardhan, who is among the seven newly-elected BJP MPs from the capital, is likely to become...

New Delhi: A delegation of Mahila Congress workers on Friday met former prime minister Manmohan Singh to convey their solidarity with him, days after...

By IANS, Chennai : The Tamil Nadu opposition is planning to pin the ruling DMK on various issues, including the Sri Lankan Tamil issue and price rise, during the assembly session starting Monday. However, main opposition PMK founder-leader S. Ramadoss has ruled out any move to de-stabilise the M. Karunanidhi ministry. "Though we will expose the hollowness of the DMK's stand on the Lankan Tamils' issue during the assembly session, the PMK will not support a no-confidence motion against the ruling DMK," Ramadoss said.

By IANS Tirunelveli (Tamil Nadu) : Holding the government responsible for filing an affidavit in the Supreme Court questioning the existence of Hindu god Ram, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani Wednesday said his party will not rest till the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) apologised.

Ranchi : A three-member team of the Press Council of India (PCI) visited Jharkhand's Chatra district on Monday to probe the murder of a...

अफ़रोज़ आलम साहिल, TwoCircles.net चंपारण विश्व में फैली अशांति को लेकर बिहार के पश्चिम चम्पारण के बेतिया शहर में बौद्ध धर्म के अनुयायियों ने ‘बौद्ध...

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By IANS, Panaji: Goa's Tourism Minister Mickky Pacheco was Tuesday arrested before being released on a personal bond after a casino dealer accused him of extortion, police said here. Pacheco was arrested under section 506 (ii) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for criminal intimidation and was immediately released on a Rs.5,000 bond and on furnishing a local surety. The news of the arrest was kept under wraps all day. Speaking to IANS late Tuesday night, Crime Branch Police Inspector Sunita Sawant confirmed the controversial minister's arrest.

By IANS, Bangalore : A poor monsoon may derail the promise of free electricity to small farmers, a promise made recently by B.S. Yeddyurappa, Karnataka's first Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief minister. Yeddyurappa has promised a pro-farmer budget; part of that promise is free power to farmers using up to 10 horse power irrigation pump sets. The budget session of the assembly starts Thursday. This will be Yeddyurappa's third budget. He had presented two budgets as deputy chief minister and finance minister in the BJP-Janata Dal-Secular coalition government in 2006 and 2007.

By IANS, Jammu : Ruling coalition partners in Jammu and Kashmir -- National Conference (NC) and Congress -- will jointly contest the upcoming municipal polls in the state, according to official sources. The polls are scheduled to be held in April this year. According to the sources, the NC and the Congress will contest all those seats, which they currently hold in the two municipal corporations in the two capital cities of Jammu and Srinagar, and municipal councils, town area committees and notified area committees in other towns in the state.

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By IANS, Bangalore : Karnataka's ruling BJP Saturday began district-wise candidate selection for the May 5 assembly poll while the Congress continued its exercise for the sixth day in New Delhi.

By IANS New Delhi : A police case had been registered against six supporters of Congress MP Naveen Jindal after they forced their way into the residence of Arvind Kumar Sharma, another MP of the same party, over a property dispute, police said Sunday. According to the first information report (FIR) registered at the Tilak Marg Police Station, the six people entered Sharma's house at 20, Kasturba Gandhi Marg Saturday night and threatened his driver Mahender, who later informed the police.

By Masood Peshinam for Twocircles.net A politician knows the value of speaking the truth: at least when it gives immense political benefits. Political narratives...

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सिद्धांत मोहन, TwoCircles.net वाराणसी: उत्तर प्रदेश में विधानसभा चुनावों का बिगुल फूंक दिया गया है. इसी के साथ समाजवादी पार्टी और भारतीय जनता पार्टी ने...

By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter, Bengaluru: The Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) has maintained its presence in the different Gram Panchayats in Karnataka, especially in...

By IANS, New Delhi : Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav Wednesday said he would consult the Trinamool Congress (TMC) on the candidate for the presidential election.

By IANS, Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati Friday ordered a probe into a gift of a three-acre plot on the moon that was made to her by her Bahujan Samaj Party leader. The plot was gifted to her by BSP's Mahendra Singh Sengar on her 54th birthday on Jan 15. "There appears to be some fraud behind this whole business of purchasing or selling plots on the moon. So we have sent a letter to the central government to probe the whole issue," UP Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh said at a press conference.

New Delhi: The government on Monday rejected Congress demands for the resignation of a BJP minister and other leaders embroiled in charges of corruption...

By A Mirsab, TwoCircles.net, India’s most elite anti-terror investigation team, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) which was established specifically to probe terror-related cases and...

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By IANS, Shimla : The Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) Thursday appointed eight more vice-presidents and an equal number of general secretaries, a party official said. HPCC president Kaul Singh Thakur announced the appointments here. Former Vidhan Sabha speaker Gangu Ram Musafir, former ministers Ram Lal Thakur and Sujan Singh Pathania, legislators A.N. Vidyarthi, Anil Sharma, Kunjana Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Anita Verma would be the vice-presidents.

New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Saturday released its third list of 20 candidates for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. Savita Bhatti, wife of...

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By IANS, New Delhi : Text of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's speech on India's Independence Day from the Red Fort: My dear countrymen, brothers, sisters and dear children,

Bhubaneswar : A ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) legislator has urged the Odisha government to recognise the forest rights of Pauri Bhuyan tribals, a...

Patna : Prime Minister Narendra Modi has failed to bring back black money stashed abroad by Indians within 100 days of taking power, former...

By IANS New Delhi : L.K. Advani, Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) prime ministerial candidate for the next general elections, Wednesday launched his autobiography - "My Country My Life" - at a star-studded function, where his party and its allies tacitly launched his bid for India's leadership. "Advani's life should be an inspiration for any swayamsevak (volunteer)," said Mohan Bhagwat, general secretary of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

By Raqib Hameed Naik, TwoCircles.net Srinagar: Member of Parliament and PDP member Muzaffar Hussain Beigh’s comments in a national paper saying that ‘madrassas’ were responsible...

By Dr Mohammad Manzoor Alam, With the BJP’s convincing win in Haryana and Maharashtra assembly elections earlier this week, Congress’ steady decline has deepened further. There is an ominous signal in Maharashtra that forebodes a UP-Bihar like long-standing setback in the western state too.

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By Faisal Fareed, TwoCircles.net Former Bihar CM Jitan Ram Manjhi was on a day’s visit to Lucknow to explore the possibilities of his outfit...

New Delhi, Dec 10 (IANS) Samajwadi Party MP Chaudhary Munawwar Hasan was killed in a road accident on the outskirts of the national capital early Wednesday, police said. A speeding truck hit Hasan's car near Haryana's Faridabad town, a suburb of New Delhi, while he was on his way to the capital to attend the parliament session beginning Wednesday. Police said the 44-year-old politician, who represented the Uttar Pradesh constituency of Muzaffarnagar in the Lok Sabha, was rushed to the Apollo Hospital in the national capital where he was declared brought dead.

New Delhi : India must stop buying Israeli military equipment in protest against the killing of civilians in Gaza by Israel, the CPI-M said...

By IANS Ahmedabad : One more legislator from Gujarat's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) resigned from the organisation Tuesday ahead of the assembly polls next month, taking the tally of rebels to nine. Dhanraj Kela, who represented Wadhwan in Surendranagar district, was denied ticket to contest the election as the party released the first list of candidates Sunday. Kela blamed Chief Minister Narendra Modi's "autocratic style of functioning" for the party's move.

By IANS, New Delhi : The Congress Friday sought to downplay reports about Home Minister P. Chidambaram offering to resign, owning responsibility of Tuesday's massacre of security officials by Maoists in Chattisgarh, saying "if the minister offered to resign on moral grounds, it is appreciable". Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi said: "His resignation offer has not been accepted. There is no need to comment on it."

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By Arun Anand, IANS, New Delhi : Nitin Gadkari, 52, might be the new chief of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) but it is 82-year-old L.K. Advani, a veteran of many political battles within and outside the party, who has emerged as the most formidable leader within the party. The recent developments within the party are a clear indication that the Advani era has not yet ended,despite prediction of many political pundits after the BJP lost miserably in May 2009 general elections.

By Zaidul Haque, TwoCircles.net,

By Mohammed Shafeeq, IANS, Hyderabad : The Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) of Telugu superstar Chiranjeevi, which drew a blank in Lok Sabha elections in Adndhra Pradesh and won only 18 seats in the state assembly, nevertheless dealt a blow to the prospects of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and helped the Congress retain power in the state. The PRP, which emerged as the third political force, polled nearly 16 percent votes, splitting whatever anti-incumbency votes were there against the government.

New Delhi : The Election Commission Wednesday urged people to "exercise their right to vote" in the coming Lok Sabha election "in an informed...

By Gangadhar S. Patil, New Delhi : A year after they took office, 298 of the 542 members of the 16th Lok Sabha have not...

By IANS, Jammu : Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party chairman Bhim Singh Sunday alleged that National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan had threatened him of dire consequences if his party did not support the Congress government in the trust vote Monday. The official, however, refuted the charge. Bhim Singh said Narayanan had called him Saturday evening and demanded that his party's four MLAs vote for the government or he would be "shut out of Delhi and Srinagar and the security cover would be withdrawn".

By IANS, New Delhi : Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi will visit Odisha Monday-Tuesday (Feb 18-19) and meet senior leaders, party sources said Saturday.

Jammu: A civilian was killed and four others were injured on Monday in Pakistani shelling along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and...

Chandigarh : The Congress' Punjab unit Tuesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to drop union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal from the cabinet following the...

New Delhi : AAP leader Dilip Pandey and two other party members were Saturday sent to 14 days' judicial custody by a court here...

By IANS, New Delhi : Under fire for the Left parties' poll debacle and also for floating the Third Front grouping, which came a cropper in the Lok Sabha elections, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Prakash Karat Thursday said the decision to forge a non-Congress, non-BJP electoral alliance had been taken by the party central committee. Karat, whose CPI-M got 16 Lok Sabha seats from 43 in 2004, said that both national and state level factors have to be analysed to find out the reasons for the party's poor show in West Bengal and Kerala.

Mumbai : MIM legislator Waris Pathan was suspended from the Maharashtra assembly on Wednesday when he refused to say "Bharat Mata Ki Jai" in...

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By IANS, Chandigarh : The Punjab and Haryana High Court Monday directed the Haryana assembly speaker to decide within four months on the disqualification of five legislators who defected.

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By IANS, Mumbai : Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar Wednesday took charge of finance and power portfolios, which he handled before he resigned in September.

By IANS, New York : Controversial Indian American hotelier Sant Singh Chatwal has accused Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of playing politics in questioning the award of Padma Bhushan to him in Republic Day honours. "I have been awarded the 'Ellis Island Medal of Honour', which is only given after the United States Government makes sure that there is nothing against a person," said Chatwal in response to BJP's demand for stripping him of India's third highest civilian honour.

Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said on Wednesday that the government will discuss whether it should set up private universities in Kerala. "Kerala is the...

By IANS, New Delhi : Former Bharatiya Janata Party president M. Venkaiah Naidu Thursday said "terrorism and separatism were the twin products of Congress misrule." He told reporters here that this attitude would not only hurt the country's interests but also the Congress in the long term. Naidu ridiculed the Congress for, what he termed, its double standards in handling terrorism cases.

By IANS, Kolkata: West Bengal's main opposition Trinamool Congress Saturday wrote to Union Home Minister P.Chidamabaram alleging that Communist Party of India-Marxist-led West Bengal government had ordered tapping of phones of party chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and other functionaries. Leader of the opposition in the state assembly Partha Chatterjee told mediapersons that an additional commissioner of police has been given the task to tap the phones.

By IANS, Jaipur : Congress president Sonia Gandhi said here Friday that issues related to crimes against women and children must be promptly dealt with.

By IANS, Kochi (Kerala) : Charles Dias of Kochi has been named as one of the two Anglo Indian nominees to the Lok Sabha -- taking Kerala's strength in the lower house of the Indian parliament to 21. With this, the total number of MPs from the state, including nine in the Rajya Sabha, has touched 30. Dias, 59, is a retired senior superintendent of the Kerala State Electricity Board and has been an active member of the community here.

By IANS, Ranchi : Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief Shibu Soren Monday said that supporting Madhu Koda as chief minister was a blunder and in future his party would not support any Independent member for the position. "Supporting Madhu Koda government was a blunder. In future, we will not support any Independent candidate. Independents should not fight the elections," Shibu Soren told reporters in Bokaro Monday. "Independents have plundered the state," he added.

Patna : Nearly a week after former MP Mohammad Shahabuddin was sent back to jail by the Supreme Court, his wife Hina Sahab...

Patna : RJD chief Lalu Prasad on Friday accused BJP president Amit Shah of insulting nearly 11 crore Biharis by saying firecrackers would...

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notice to all the national political parties seeking their response as to why they should not...

By Sheikh Qayoom Srinagar: Political interference in the appointment, posting and transfer of teachers have virtually destroyed the educational system in Jammu and Kashmir, says...

Shimla : Himachal Pradesh Governor Kalyan Singh on Wednesday praised the successful implementation of India's first paperless e-Vidhan Sabha that will help the state...

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By IANS, New Delhi : The Lok Sabha Wednesday adopted a resolution urging the government to "take further action to contain the adverse impact of inflationary pressures on the common man". "Hon'ble Members, this House, having considered the inflationary pressure on the economy of the country, urges upon the government to take further action to contain its adverse impact on the common man," said a resolution read out by Speaker Meira Kumar at the conclusion of the debate on the price rise, an issue that had stalled parliament all of last week.