Telugu Desam pits industrialist Chowdary for Rajya Sabha
By IANS,
Hyderabad : Ignoring objections, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N. Chandrababu Naidu Thursday named industrialist Y. Sujana Chowdary as one of the party candidates for the June 14 Rajya Sabha elections.
After marathon discussions with senior party leaders, Naidu decided to field Chowdary, chairman of Sujana Group of Industries, who has been funding the party for several years.
Uttar Pradesh minister booked for criminal intimidation
By IANS,
Lucknow : An Uttar Pradesh minister and seven others have been booked for criminal intimidation and extortion in Sitapur district, police said Tuesday.
Communal strife sparks highway blockade, clashes
Jammu: Protesters blocked the Pathankote-Jammu highway in Jammu and Kashmir and clashed with the police on Friday following overnight communal violence, authorities said.
Curfew was...
Shiv Sena ‘forgets’ to greet Fadnavis!
Mumbai : A day after the BJP anointed Devendra Fadnavis as chief minister-designate of Maharashtra, its former saffron ally Shiv Sena apparently remained cool...
Gadkari to be given charge of Munde’s ministries
New Delhi : Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari will hold additional charge as minister of rural development, panchayti raj, and drinking water...
BJP is not a party of dynasty, says Advani
By IANS,
Nagpur : In an oblique reference to the Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani said Sunday that his party was "not run by dynasty". "Sadly in our politics there are various types of parties. One is a family dynasty," Advani told the party's National Council meeting here. He added, however: "I am not referring only to the Congress."
"Our party," Advani pointed out, "is not run by dynasty."
Congress to empower weaker sections: Sonia
By IANS,
Jaipur : The Congress had always upheld the cause of weaker sections and farmers and would continue trying to empower them, party president Sonia Gandhi said here Tuesday.
Addressing a rally to thank Congress workers who had helped bring the party back to power in the state, Gandhi said: “When the Congress was in power in the state, we had taken up the cause of farmers and weaker sections of the society. Now, too, the Congress will try to empower weaker sections of the society, provide facilities to the farmers and employment to the youth.”
Rahul Gandhi targets non-Congress governments over NREGA, Maoists
By IANS,
Ranchi : Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi Thursday targeted the non-Congress ruled state governments for their tardy implementation of a rural jobs scheme and the rising Maoist problem.
The Congress-led central government's Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGs) was pro-poor but could work only if state governments implemented it properly, Gandhi told reporters here. He was on a two-day visit to Jharkhand.
Currency press capacity: Around 6 months needed to replenish Rs 500 notes
New Delhi : Will new notes which replace the demonetised currency find itself in circulation soon? Unlikely, if the capacity of all the currency...
PMK to keep off Tamil Nadu assembly by-poll
By IANS,
Chennai : The PMK, the fourth largest party in the Tamil Nadu assembly, will stay away from the electoral fray in the upcoming Tirumangalam by-election and not campaign for either the AIADMK or the DMK.
Instead, it will concentrate on building the party, said a PMK leader Wednesday.
The PMK, which parted ways with the ruling DMK-led alliance in August and has 18 legislators in the assembly, believes it should concentrate on building the party.
AAP to approach SC over funding for political parties
New Delhi : The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Tuesday said it will approach the Supreme Court to request a probe into the funding of...
NCP to tie-up with Congress to beat BJP in Chhattisgarh
By IANS,
Raipur : The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Thursday said it would work with the Congress either through seat sharing or strategic alliance to vote out Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in next month's assembly polls.
"NCP is in talk with the Congress for seat-sharing. If it works then fine, otherwise we will surely have a strategic alliance for the larger goal of keeping BJP out of power," Novel Verma, state president and party's lone legislator, told IANS.
Buildup to trust vote reaches final lap, suspense mounts
By IANS,
New Delhi : Political activity reached its crescendo Saturday with the Congress-led ruling coalition and opposition parties desperately tying up support and using every ploy to crack the numbers game in an outcome that was still too close to call.
In a major blow to the Samajwadi Party and in turn the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government ahead of the trust vote Tuesday, Shahid Siddiqui, a Rajya Sabha MP, shocked everyone by suddenly announcing that he was joining the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
Keep Lalu-Paswan out of UPA, says Bihar Congress
By IANS,
Patna : The Bihar unit of the Congress Friday urged the party's top leadership to keep Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) president Ram Vilas Paswan out if the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) comes back to power at the centre.
"Congress workers and leaders of the state are of the view that the party high command should keep both Lalu and Paswan out of the next government of the UPA because any working relationship with them will harm the party's revival prospects in Bihar," president of the party's state unit Anil Kumar Sharma said.
Private sector should get free hand in education: Modi
By IANS,
Chennai : The private sector should be given a free hand in the education sector, BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi said Sunday.
He...
Bengal explosion: Left, BJP point fingers at Mamata, Trinamool
Kolkata : The opposition Left Front and the BJP Sunday pointed fingers at the Trinamool Congress over the Oct 2 blast in West Bengal...
Keshubhai hogs the headlines in Gujarat
By Rajeev Khanna, IANS
Ahmedabad : Although he is neither contesting the Gujarat elections nor campaigning for anyone, former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief minister Keshubhai Patel is often hogging the headlines in the state.
This week again there was plenty of spice on account of Patel when he was quoted as saying in advertisements put out by BJP rebels in two Gujarati dailies: "A change is required."
This adds to the poll ache for BJP central leaders who have been trying without success to get the veteran Patel to campaign for the party.
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Government arrogant, failed to apologise for demonetisation deaths: Congress
New Delhi : The Congress on Wednesday accused the government of arrogance and said it had failed to apologise for the deaths of...
What made Syed Ali Shah Geelani popular in Kashmir?
The senior Kashmir Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani died at his home in Srinagar on September 1 amid tight police presence. His death...
US accuses India of curbing free expression on basis of religion
By Arun Kumar
Washington: The US state Department on Wednesday suggested that authorities in India continued to enforce laws designed to protect "religious sentiments" which...
Rs.260 crore unaccounted money seized so far: EC
New Delhi : Unaccounted cash totalling Rs.260 crore has been seized till Tuesday in the ongoing Lok Sabha election, the Election Commission said here.
Andhra...
Don’t politicise Dalit issue: Rajnath
New Delhi : Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday urged against politicise the issue of atrocities on the Dalits and said society...
“Islamist Terrorism”: The Underlying Politics
By Ram Puniyani
In the name of Islam?
The world at large has suffered massive inhuman acts of violence, terrorism in the name of...
Buddhadeb’s criticism of shutdowns ‘wrong’: Achuthanandan
By IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram : Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan does not agree with his West Bengal couterpart and fellow Communist Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's criticism of shutdowns.
"Bhattacharjee would not have said so. If he did, he is wrong," Achuthanandan said here Wednesday.
He was responding to reporters' query seeking his reaction to the fellow Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader's comments.
"Bandhs (shutdowns) do not help the country," Bhattacharjee told a business gathering in Kolkata, saying he found siege and shutdowns "immoral".
Six-phase polling in UP, Amethi to vote May 7
Lucknow : Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state which elects the maximum of 80 members to the Lok Sabha, will see polling spread over...
Voters throng polling centres in UP
By IANS,
Lucknow : Election officials beamed with joy Saturday as millions thronged voting centres in the seventh and final round of polling, creating new records.
DMK candidates list out March 16, manifesto March 19
By IANS,
Chennai: Tamil Nadu's ruling DMK Monday announced it will release the list of its candidates Wednesday while its manifesto for the April 13 assembly elections will be announced Saturday.
अमित शाह ने पूरी की शहाबुद्दीन की मुराद!
अफ़रोज़ आलम साहिल, TwoCircles.net
पटना: यह सुनने में थोड़ा अजीब ज़रूर लगेगा. मगर यह बिहार के नतीजे का बेहद दिलचस्प सच है. भाजपा अध्यक्ष अमित...
AAP promises free water, 50 percent power bill reduction
New Delhi : The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Monday said it would provide free water and fifty percent reduction in electricity bill to every...
Have not accepted home minister’s resignation: Meghalaya CM
Shillong : Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma Monday said that he is yet to accept the resignation of his woman Home Minister Roshan Warjri.
"She...
Congress MLAs, leaders to join Trinamool in Tripura
Agartala: Several legislators and top leaders of the Congress will join the Trinamool Congress (TMC) after the Lok Sabha poll, a top TMC leader...
Women Lok Sabha MPs concerned over price rise
By IANS,
New Delhi : Three women Lok Sabha MPs Thursday criticised the rising prices of essential commodities, saying they were not satisfied with efforts of the central and state governments to check the situation.
"The central government should be more assertive," said Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar of Trinamool Congress, which is part of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.
Violence in Bengal ahead of final phase polling
Kolkata: Congress and CPI-M leaders were Sunday attacked allegedly by Trinamool Congress workers in West Bengal ahead of the final phase of Lok Sabha...
Tejashwi takes to Facebook to help student get scholarship
Patna : Setting a new standard of governance in Bihar, Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav solved student's woes related to various state scholarship schemes...
Congress frowns upon Maken’s letter opposing caste census
By IANS,
New Delhi : The Congress Friday expressed disapproval of Minister of State for Home Ajay Maken urging young members of parliament in a letter to oppose demands for inclusion of caste in the census.
"No one who is sitting in a responsible position in the government should make such a statement," Congress general secretary Janardan Dwivedi, who heads the party's media department, told reporters here.
Kanimozhi not yearning to become minister: Karunanidhi
By IANS
Chennai : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK chief M. Karunanidhi Tuesday refuted speculation that his daughter M.K. Kanimozhi, a Rajya Sabha member, will be made union environment minister soon.
In a statement issued here, Karunanidhi said his daughter "was not yearning for the post of a minister".
Muzaffarnagar riots: Amnesty blames UP Government for plight of survivors
New Delhi, Sep 8 (IANS) Amnesty International on Saturday castigated the Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh for doing little to ensure justice and rehabilitation...
Considering privilege motion against Om Puri: Meira Kumar
By IANS,
New Delhi : Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar said Monday she was considering a privilege motion against actor Om Puri for his "derogatory and defamatory" remarks against MPs.
Soren elected JMM legislative party leader
By IANS,
Ranchi : The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) Friday elected its party chief Shibu Soren, a Lok Sabha MP, as the leader of the legislative party.
"Shibu Soren has been unanimously elected as legislative party leader," Hemlal Murmu, a JMM legislator, told reporters.
"Shibu Soren has been authorized to take the decision regarding the formation of the government," he said.
By naming Soren the leader of the legislative party, the JMM has made it clear that they would not settle for anything less than the chief minister's post for their party chief.
Orissa lifts entry restrictions to riot-hit areas
By IANS
Bhubaneswar : The Orissa government Friday lifted the ban imposed on the entry of leaders of political parties and religious groups into the riot-hit Kandhamal district where communal violence killed at least three people last month.
The state government had barred the entry of political and religious leaders and social activists to the district, some 200 km from here on Jan 4 after communal clashes erupted on Christmas Eve last year.
Congress-NCP differences crop up over Pune top cop’s transfer
By IANS,
Mumbai: Sharp differences appeared between the ruling coalition partners Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Tuesday over the transfer of Pune Police Commissioner Satyapal Singh.
While Minister of State for Home Ramesh Bagwe (Congress) announced in the state legislative council that Singh would soon be transferred from his post, Home Minister R.R.Patil, who is from the NCP, denied any such proposal.
Portfolios of Manmohan Singh cabinet announced
By IANS,
New Delhi : The UPA government Thursday evening announced the portfolios of the 72 ministers. Among the prominent cabinet ministers, Farooq Abdullah is the minister of New and Renewable Energy, while M. Veerappa Moily is the Law Minister, and Ambika Soni is the new Information and Broadcasting Minister.
Kapil Sibal is the Human Resource Development Minister, Anand Sharma is the Commerce and Industry Minister while Shashi Tharoor is Minister of State for External Affairs.
CABINET MINISTERS
1. Shri Virbhadra Singh Minister of Steel
CPI-M manifesto promises end to tax concessions for corporates
By IANS,
New Delhi : The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), in its manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls, termed the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as pro-rich and in a strong stand against corporates proposed stopping further tax concessions to them.
The CPI-M, the country's biggest Left party, also slammed the main opposition BJP for pursuing communal policies. It promised alternative economic policies and promotion of secularism.
Two RSS workers attacked, injured in Kerala
By IANS,
Kannur : Two Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) workers were injured when unknown assailants attacked them near a village in Kerala. The RSS was quick to blame the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) for the violence against its men.
Suresh Babu, 26, and Dinesh, 25, were injured when attacked at Panoor, around 40 km from Kannur town, Sunday night, the police said.
They were returning after attending an RSS programme. The condition of one of the injured is said to be serious.
Bangladesh upgrades diplomatic mission in Agartala
Agartala : Bangladesh has upgraded its diplomatic mission in Agartala to an assistant high commission and posted Sakhawat Hussain as the first assistant high...
Omar loves PDP ‘headless chicken’ description of him
By IANS,
Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Wednesday said he loved the Peoples Democratic Party's description of him as "a headless chicken".
SP manifesto: Will release innocent Muslim terror accused
By Faisal Fareed, TwoCircles.net,
Assembly recount after two years!
By IANS,
Ranchi: Two years after the loser went to court challenging the electoral outcome in Hatia assembly in Jharkhand, the votes will be recounted Monday.
BJP holds crucial national executive meeting
By IANS,
New Delhi : Battling internal strife, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) began a two-day national executive meeting here Saturday to assess its poor electoral performance and look for ways to revive cadre morale.
Senior BJP leader and former union minister Murli Manohar Joshi, asked by reporters what the party was planning at the meeting, said the BJP is "trying to analyse the reasons" for the Lok Sabha defeat.
AAP leader records statement in sting operation case
New Delhi : AAP national secretary Pankaj Gupta Wednesday recorded his statement before a court here in a defamation case filed by the party...
Azad falls in line despite reluctance over Udhampur seat
Jammu: Despite his initial reluctance, Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad will fight for the Udhampur Lok Sabha seat in Jammu and Kashmir and...
No demolition in Delhi, orders AAP government
New Delhi : There will be no demolition in the national capital, said an official source Monday.
The source said that the decision was taken...
Tension in Rajasthan as Gujjar agitation continues
By IANS,
Jaipur : A day after 13 people were killed in clashes between police and agitating members of the Gujjar community, tension continued Saturday in Rajasthan's Bharatpur district where the Gujjars have laid siege on a stretch of rail track.
The Gujjars, an ethnic group who rear livestock and earn a living by selling milk and other dairy products, are demanding that the community be included in the Scheduled Tribes list so that it gets better education and job opportunities.
‘Power improvement in Bihar helped Modi in Lok Sabha polls’
Patna:Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his remarks about the poor electricity scenario in...
Jaitley’s ‘safe’ run ends with Amarinder’s entry
By Jaideep Sarin
Amritsar: It is highly unlikely that Amritsar will be a 'safe' Lok Sabha seat for BJP veteran Arun Jaitley after the...
No national party has taken Congress’ place: Pranab
By IANS,
Kolkata : Countering the view that India is now in the coalition era, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee Saturday said the alliance governments at the centre followed the weakening of the Congress in four large states and the inability of any other national party to take its place.
Mukherjee said the weakening of the Congress in 220 constituencies spread across undivided Uttar Pradesh (85 seats), undivided Bihar (54 seats), West Bengal (42) and Tamil Nadu (39) led to the advent of coalition era.
United Progressive Alliance no more united, says Advani
By IANS,
Patna : Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani Friday said with several alliance partners of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) deserting it, his party has an advantage in the general elections.
"In the last one month, one by one several UPA partners have deserted it and are fighting against the Congress - that itself gives advantage to the BJP or NDA," Advani, the prime ministerial candidate of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), said soon after he arrived here to campaign for party candidates in Bihar.
Opposing illegal dam construction is our right: Naidu
By IANS,
New Delhi : Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N. Chandrababu Naidu Monday said it was his right to oppose the "illegal dam construction" over Godavari river, dismissing allegations that he was using the Babhali dam issue for political gains. He added that he would be meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Speaker concerned about absent MPs, question hour disruptions
By IANS,
New Delhi : Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar Monday said she was going to write to leaders of all parties to share her concern on question hour being disrupted repeatedly and MPs being absent from the house during important debates.
"It is a matter of concern. I am going to write to the leaders of the political parties on these issues," the speaker told reporters outside parliament during lunch-break.
Earlier in the day, the house could take up questions to only three ministries due to the absence of members who were to pose the queries.
N-deal on hold, ‘crisis over’ but confusion continues
By IANS
New Delhi : The dragging standoff between the government and its Left allies ended Thursday with ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) agreeing to put on hold the operationalisation of the India-US nuclear deal till a political panel comes out with its findings on the pact.
The dramatic breakthrough came after a series of meetings through the day between UPA and Left leaders, among UPA leaders and among Left leaders, and also within the Congress hierarchy including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
I will contest presidential elections: Sangma
By IANS,
New Delhi : Former Lok Sabha speaker P.A. Sangma Friday said that he will contest the presidential elections and had got support from many political parties.
Apex court detects poll panel’s constitutional error
By Rana Ajit, IANS
New Delhi : The Supreme Court says the Election Commission committed a constitutional error when it hiked the number of reserved seats for Scheduled Tribes in Uttarakhand from two to three in 2001 for reasons other than tribal population.
The Supreme Court, which detected the lapse, has warned the poll panel against "going beyond the mandate of the constitution".
Raman Singh’s profile
By IANS,
Raipur : It was a quirk of fate that Raman Singh became chief minister of Chhattisgarh after Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) star leader from the state, Dilip Singh Judeo, got trapped in a cash-on-camera scam during the run-up to Nov 2003 assembly polls.
Singh, 56, an Ayurvedic doctor by profession, has never looked back since then. He proved to his party and detractors alike that he may have got the top job by accident, but deserved it too.
Interview with West Bengal Muslim League president Shahanshah Jehangir
By Mumtaz Alam Falahi, TwoCircles.net,
Sushma calls for parliament resolution on Bhopal
By IANS,
New Delhi : Pressing for higher compensation for the victims of the Bhopal gas disaster, Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj Wednesday suggested that parliament pass a unanimous resolution to scrap the 1989 "out of court settlement" between the Indian government and Union Carbide.
"The house, cutting across party lines, should pass a resolution to scrap the 1989 agreement," Swaraj said in the Lok Sabha, attacking the then government for reaching an out of court settlement with the Union Carbide Corporation for Rs.615 crore.
TDP says sorry to Mukherjee after angry words
By IANS,
New Delhi : The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) Wednesday apologised to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee after its MP Sivaprasad Naramalli shouted at him during an uproar in the Lok Sabha over the disputed Babhali barrage on the Godavari river.
The house witnessed the unpleasant scene when it reassembled at 11.30 a.m. after an adjournment following protests by the TDP and the Shiv Sena over the Babhali barrage at the centre of a row between Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.
Patnaik refused to speak to Advani before ending alliance
Bhubaneswar, March 9 (IANS) Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik refused to speak to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani on phone minutes before announcing the end of the 11-year-old alliance between their parties Saturday evening, it was reliably learnt.
Patnaik, head of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), announced the end of the alliance after his over hour-long meeting with BJP MP Chandan Mitra on the issue of seat-sharing failed. The break has dealt a blow to the prime ministerial ambitions of Advani.
‘Country in state of lawlessness,’ student bodies on killing of Nasir & Junaid
At a protest on Friday at New Delhi's Jantar Mantar, student bodies urged the government to arrest the accused in the killing of...
We have promises to keep: Manmohan Singh
By IANS,
New Delhi : "We have made a number of promises and we have promises to keep," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh declared Saturday at the first meeting of his newly-sworn in cabinet.
In doing so, he was harking back to India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru who often cited the last stanza of Robert Frost's immortal poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" that runs thus:
The woods are lovely, dark and deep/But I have promises to keep/And miles to go before I sleep/And miles to go before I sleep.
UPA members woo Left, Karat says ‘no’ to Congress
By IANS,
New Delhi : United Progressive Alliance (UPA) leaders Thursday wooed the Left to form a government after the Lok Sabha elections but Marxist leader Prakash Karat declared that his party would not prop up the Congress again.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Lalu Prasad and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Ram Vilas Paswan said they were open to taking support from the Left, which gave crucial backing to the outgoing Congress-led UPA government until July last year.
How a death in UP can influence polls in Bihar
By Amulya Ganguli
For the present, the Akhilesh Yadav government in Uttar Pradesh has bought peace with the family of the slain journalist, Jagendra Singh,...
BJP expects membership figures to reflect in upcoming polls
Bangalore : The BJP on Wednesday said that crossing the nine crore mark in its membership drive will reflect in the upcoming assembly polls.
Party...
DMK announces candidates for by-polls
By IANS,
Chennai : Tamil Nadu's ruling DMK party Tuesday announced Kamalakannan and Anita Radhakrishnan as its candidates for Vandavasi and Tiruchendur constituencies, where by-polls are scheduled Dec 19.
The by-elections were necessitated following the death of Vandavasi's sitting legislator Jayaraman (DMK) early this month and the resignation of Tiruchendur's Anita Radhakrishnan, who switched sides from the AIADMK to the DMK.
MP blasts: Authorities were aware of explosives in house
Jhabua (Madhya Pradesh): Complaints were made to the administration about the storage of explosives in a residential area in Petlawad in Jhabua district but...
Krushna Abhishek roots for Modi as PM
Mumbai : Stand-up comedian and actor Krushna Abhishek has his choice clear when it comes to the post of prime minister. He wants Narendra...
Jayalalithaa blasts government over Katchatheevu island
By IANS,
Chennai : Former Tamil Nadu chief minister J. Jayalalithaa Monday criticised External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna over Katchatheevu, a small island ceded to Sri Lanka in 1974 and a source of recurring irritation in ties between the two countries.
In a statement here, the AIADMK leader accused the foreign minister was ignorant of the basic facts about the issue.
BJP accepts defeat with humility: Prasad
New Delhi : The BJP accepts its "massive defeat" in Delhi assembly elections with humility and will play a role of "constructive opposition", party...
Anand Sharma takes on BJP, Advani on N-deal
By IANS,
New Delhi : Minister of state for external affairs Anand Sharma Monday took on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its prime ministerial candidate L.K. Advani head-on over the India-US nuclear deal contending that the BJP leader had either "lost his memory" or was 'deliberately' and 'selectively' forgetting things.
Sharma refuted Advani's allegations that the nuclear deal would make India subservient to the United States of America (USA).
"We are doing the nuclear deal openly and on an equal footing with the USA. We are not giving away our sovereignty," Sharma said.
Jyoti Basu to meet Mamata to resolve Nandigram imbroglio
By IANS
Kolkata : Communist patriarch Jyoti Basu Monday made a surprise move as he called up Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and invited her for a meeting at his residence to resolve the imbroglio over Nandigram violence and restore peace in the trouble-torn region.
Bihar CM Nitish Kumar quits over JD-U debacle
Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar resigned Saturday, taking moral responsibility for the rout of his Janata Dal-United in the state in the general...
Omar for dialogue with all sections in Kashmir
By IANS,
Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Monday asked the central government to start a dialogue with "different shades of opinion" in the state for which he is ready to act as a facilitator.
Speaking at a function in north Kashmir's Baramulla town, Abdullah said: "The time has come to go to the root of the problem in Kashmir and address it with all sincerity."
Parrikar as defence minister? Goa goes in spin
Panaji : Media reports emanating from New Delhi suggesting Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar would be the country's new defence minister have created ripples...
Mulayam’s failure charge false and baseless: Mayawati
By IANS
Lucknow : Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati Friday hit out at her bete noire and Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav, terming as "false and baseless" his charge that her government was a "complete failure".
A day after former chief minister and Leader of Opposition Yadav described her government as a "complete failure", Mayawati was clearly bent upon paying him back in the same coin.
Congress is India’s most corrupt party: Ramdev
By IANS,
Noida : Yoga guru Baba Ramdev Tuesday attacked the Congress, calling it the most corrupt political party in India.
Last of 2006 Mumbai train blast-injured dies
Mumbai: After remaining in a coma for several years, the last of the injured survivors of serial blasts on Mumbai suburban trains on July...
Budget session was unending embarrassment for government: Advani
By IANS,
New Delhi : The just concluded budget session was "highly satisfying" for the opposition but an unending "embarrassment" for the Congress-led UPA government, BJP leader L.K. Advani said Friday while specifically pointing to the India-Pakistan joint statement and the budget.
The leader of the opposition told reporters after the conclusion of the budget session that never had he seen a newly elected government bungle so much in its first two months.
Modi holds bilateral meet with Turkish president
Antalya (Turkey): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday held a bilateral meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the second...
A year of success, consolidation for BJP
By Prashant Sood & Brajendra Nath Singh
New Delhi : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) consolidated its position as the premier national party of...
After first phase, campaign focuses on money
By IANS,
New Delhi : With the first round of balloting accounting for 124 of the 543 seats over, the shrill campaign rhetoric, that had even turned personal, subsided considerably Friday with the attention shifting to spending of government funds and spiriting away of black money abroad.
Number game begins in J&K: Guv asks CM to prove majority by July 7
By News Agency of Kashmir,
Srinagar : As the Jammu and Kashmir Governor, NN Vohra today asked the chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad to prove majority of his government by July 7 the number game has begun in the political corridors of power. Amid the secret parlays to collect the requisite numbers, National Conference and Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party have categorically said no to the support, while CPI (M) is likely to back Azad government in the House.
डॉक्टर कफील को अब सपा ने बनाया एमएलसी प्रत्याशी,देवरिया से लडेंगे चुनाव
आकिल हुसैन।Twocircles.net
10 अगस्त 2017 की रात को देशभर में गोरखपुर के एक डाक्टर का नाम चर्चा में आया और वो नाम था बाल रोग...
Minorities’ patriotism beyond reproach: Rajnath
New Delhi: The patriotism of religious minorities in India cannot be questioned, Home Minister Rajnath Singh declared on Monday, and stated that only the...
Key contests in final poll phase
By IANS,
New Delhi : Following are the key contests for the fifth and final phase of Lok Sabha elections:
* Tamil Nadu (39 constituencies) and union territory Puducherry (One constituency)
Sivaganga: P. Chidambaram (Congress) and Raja Kannappan (AIADMK)
Chennai Central: Dayanidhi Maran (DMK) and Mohammed Ali Jinnah (AIADMK)
Sriperumbudur: T.R. Baalu (DMK) and A.K. Moorthy (PMK)
Mayiladuthurai: Mani Shankar Aiyar (Congress) and O.S. Manian (AIADMK)
Madurai: M.K. Azhagiri (DMK) and P. Mohan (CPI-M)
Virudhunagar: Manik Tagore (Congress) and Vaiko (MDMK)
Why has music maestro Ilayaraja been nominated to Rajya Sabha?
Many believe that Ilayaraja’s praise for prime minister Modi and the BJP’s agenda to give token representation to Dalits led to his nomination.
Basil Islam...
Madhya Pradesh minister feels heat for quota remark
By IANS,
Bhopal : The Madhya Pradesh Backward Classes Welfare Council Thursday demanded immediate dismissal of Cooperatives Minister Gopal Bhargava fews. I will resort to legal recourse after consulting experts," he said.
Earlier, state Congress president Suresh Pachouri said, "The constitution provides for reservation for weaker sections of society and Bhargava's observation at the Brahmin Sabha amounts to disrespect of the constitution. The chief minister should, thus, immediately dismiss him from the Cabinet."
Return Singur land to farmers, Trinamool insists
By IANS,
Kolkata : West Bengal's principal opposition Trinamool Congress Wednesday reiterated that the land acquired in Singur for the Tata Motors small car project be returned to its original farmer owners, and also demanded that the agreement with the industrial giant be made public.
"We have discussed all issues with the state government and asked them to give back 400 acres to the farmers," leader of the opposition in the West Bengal assembly Partha Chattopadhyay told reporters here after emerging from a meeting with Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.
Haryana ministry swearing-in put off
By IANS,
Chandigarh : Barely 12 hours before new ministers were to be inducted in the Congress's second successive government in Haryana under Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the swearing-in ceremony was postponed, an official said Thursday evening.
The swearing-in ceremony was to take place Friday at 11 a.m. at the Haryana Raj Bhawan.
"The swearing-in ceremony has been postponed," a state government spokesman told IANS.
Jhargram, Asansol and Kalimpong to be new Bengal districts
Kolkata : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday announced that Jhargram, Kalimpong and Asansol will be given the status of new districts.
"Our...
Punjab BJP MP wants dope tests on jail staff, inmates
Chandigarh : A senior BJP leader from Punjab has urged the NHRC to get dope tests conducted on officials posted in jails across the...
Kejriwal urges people to vote for Nitish Kumar
New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal urged people to vote for his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar on Tuesday, a day ahead of the...
Rice avoids comment on Modi visa
By IANS,
New Delhi : US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was tactfully silent Saturday when Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani raised the issue of a US visa being denied to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, a source in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said.
"The issue of the visa for Modi was brought up during the meeting between Rice and Advani," the source told IANS, not wishing to be named.
"We pressed for a US visa for Modi as he is the elected representative of the people of Gujarat. Rice, however, did not comment on the issue," the source added.
Lawyer seeks invalidation of Lalu Prasad’s election
By IANS
New Delhi : An advocate Tuesday pleaded before the Supreme Court that Railway Minister Lalu Prasad's 2004 election from the Chapra Lok Sabha seat in Bihar should be invalidated on the ground that he had not first resigned from the Madhepura seat before contesting from Chapra.
The petition filed in the apex court's registry by Lucknow-based advocate Ashok Pandey also sought direction to declare Lalu Prasad's tenure as minister illegal from the date he resigned his Madepura seat June 16, 2004. Pandey contended that his election from Chhapra was illegal.
Over 16,000 women in Haryana to get a fighting chance
By Jaideep Sarin, IANS,
Chandigarh : Haryana is infamous for its skewed sex ratio. But thanks to quotas for women in grassroots bodies, over 16,000 women are set to be elected in the panchayat elections next month, getting a chance to show their might.
"The panchayat elections in the state are being held June 6 and 12. The reservation of seats for women candidates will give them a fair representation in these bodies," state election commissioner Dharam Vir told IANS.
Country’s richest woman campaigns like a commoner
By Jaideep Sarin ,
Hisar (Haryana): She lords over a multi-billion rupee industrial empire. She is the mother of nine children, including a leading...
One acerbic comment cracks BJP’s Dalit dream in UP
By Mohit Dubey
Lucknow : In politics, fortunes change overnight. They certainly did in Uttar Pradesh within just 24 hours for two players -- the...
Bihar minister dares Nitish to sack him
By IANS,
Patna : A BJP minister in Bihar Wednesday dared Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to sack him, saying he will keep supporting Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
In Modi’s Gujarat, it is Congress vs BJP again
By Quaid Najmi,
Ahmedabad : A tug of war over the development agenda of Gujarat, still scarred by the 2002 communal riots, marked the two-month-long...
Don’t club cricket with diplomacy, says Sushma Swaraj
By IANS,
Chennai : Cricket should be treated as a game, and sports and diplomacy should not be mixed, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sushma Swaraj said here Thursday.
BJP using shameful tactics by releasing fake sting: Congress
New Delhi : Backing Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat on Saturday, the Congress blamed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of releasing a fake sting and...
Bateshwar jubilant on Vajpayee getting Bharat Ratna
Bateshwar (Uttar Pradesh) : Residents of Bateshwar, 70 km from Agra, where former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee spent his early childood, were jubilant...
55-60 percent voter turnout in Punjab, Chandigarh
By IANS,
Chandigarh : Initial projections of the voter turnout for polling for nine parliamentary seats in Punjab and one seat in Chandigarh Wednesday were pegged at 55-60 percent by election officials here.
The officials said that the final polling percentage could be higher as all those who had queued up till 5 p.m. at polling stations would be allowed to exercise their franchise.
There were 11.6 million eligible voters in Punjab and 522,650 voters in the union territory of Chandigarh for Wednesday's polling in the fifth and final phase of elections.
UP hero Amit Shah is new BJP president
New Delhi: Amit Shah, a Narendra Modi confidant who led the BJP to a spectacular electoral win in Uttar Pradesh, was Wednesday named its...
Kerala’s Kairali TV not party channel: CPI-M
By IANS
Kozhikode/Thiruvananthapuram : The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Monday said Kairali TV channel, which had been drawn into the growing factionalism in the party's Kerala unit, was not a "party channel".
"We support that channel and apart from that there is nothing that we have in it. We have made this clear many times before also," CPI-M state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan told reporters in Kozhikode.
The CPI-M here is deeply divided between factions loyal to Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan and Vijayan.
Equal status for Tamils in Sri Lanka final goal,says Sonia
By IANS,
Chennai : Expressing anguish over the plight of the Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi said here Sunday that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) would work to secure equal status and equal rights for the island nation's minority community.
"Our ultimate goal is to secure for Tamil people (in Sri Lanka) equal status and equal rights within the united Sri Lanka under the India-Sri Lanka accord of 1987," Gandhi said at an election rally where Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK chief M. Karunanidhi was also present.
Left will suffer in a snap poll, says survey
By IANS
New Delhi : Indian communists, now holding the government to ransom over the India-US civil nuclear deal, will lose heavily if a Lok Sabha poll were held now, their tally falling from the present 60 to as low as 38, a new survey says.
According to the The Week magazine-CVoter survey, the tally of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) will, however, go up from the 145 seats it gained in 2004 to between 172 and 192.
MNS demands scalps of scam-accused Maharashtra ministers
Mumbai : Raj Thackeray's MNS on Wednesday demanded the resignation of state ministers Pankaja Munde and Vinod Tawde who are facing allegations of...
AAP’s Yogendra Yadav has two acres land, Rs.2,000 cash in hand
Gurgaon: AAP's Yogendra Yadav who filed his nomination papers Thursday for the Gurgaon Lok Sabha seat, said in his affidavit that he owns nearly...