It was Prime Minister Modi's first such virtual bilateral engagement with a leader of a neighbouring country. For Rajapaksa, it was the first diplomatic engagement with a leader of a foreign country after he was sworn in as prime minister.
Fourteen ministers are from the Congress, nine from its ruling coalition partner Janata Dal-Secular and one each from the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Karnataka Pragnyavantha Janatha Party.
Vowing to crush the activities of Sikh terrorist organisations in the country, a top foreign ministry official said Canada will not allow its soil to be used by the separatists.
Opposition parties in Parliament on Monday vociferously protested the "snooping" on Rahul Gandhi, with the government dismissing their contention saying they were making a "mountain out of what is not even a molehill", leading the Congress to walk out of Rajya Sabha.
Most, save Jaitley and Venkaiah Naidu, were silent on Bihar polls; it was business as usual for the PM.
Manjhi has called planned JD-U legislature party meet an unauthorised one.
The CM met M B Patil, a prominent Congress leader under whose leadership a section of dissatisfied MLAs have been holding meetings.
The draft law also allows courts to send summonses and warrants to the accused through a specially designated website to be hosted by the Ministry of External Affairs.
Amid Opposition uproar over reports of schools being ordered to remain open on Christmas Day to observe 'good governance day', the government on Monday clarified that no such instruction has been issued and only an online essay competition on the subject is being organised.
The panel has questioned the purchase of properties with 'avoidable' expensive appurtenances by the MEA for envoys posted abroad.
According to a decision taken by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, the Commission on Agricultural Costs and Prices will consider the above elements while recommending the MSP. The CACP, an advisory body under the agriculture ministry, recommends MSPs of over 20 crops, including wheat and rice.
The second part of our series on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ministers with a criminal record.
The Union cabinet is likely to meet on October 3 or 4 to take a call on possible withdrawal of the controversial ordinance on convicted lawmakers, whose fate appears to have already been sealed after Rahul Gandhi's strong denunciation of it.
Union Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has asked the Secretary, Sports, who is holding concurrent charge as Director General of the Sports Authority of India (SAI), to expedite the restructuring of its cadre to create at least nine more regional centres in the country and to effectively manage these centres, especially in the north eastern region and bigger states like Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.
The protests brought home the fact that the Sri Lankan public is in no mood for halfway measures, as voices against Rajapaksa 'family rule' and 'securitisation' of the civilian administration began sidestepping the more critical economic crisis, affecting the nation and afflicting the individual, observes Sri Lanka watcher N Sathiya Moorthy.
Home ministry officials told the parliamentary panel that those detained under the PSA can challenge their detention in a designated tribunal.
A recent report by the parliamentary standing committee on health and family planning pulled no punches on the abysmal state and poor functioning of the Medical Council of India.
While players in the financial ecosystem are opening up to the idea of receivables funding for the sector, this market needs a regulator, which a Parliament panel feels only RBI can provide.
'The Congress wants to deprive Modi another term in 2024 and for that they are ready to make any sacrifice.'
Amid furore created by All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam members in Parliament for the second day running, the government on Tuesday admitted that a Supreme Court collegium during the United Progressive Alliance rule had recommended extension of a judge in Tamil Nadu who was under corruption cloud.
Government sources said on Wednesday that the prime minister has informed presiding officers of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha about the arrangement. The session of Parliament which began this morning is a 10-day affair.
Let there be a rule that if the Budget is not passed and funds cannot be drawn from the Consolidated Fund of India, there will be a government shutdown as it happens in the United States, says A K Bhattacharya.
The Standing Committee on Water Resources has recommended renegotiating the Indus Water Treaty with Pakistan to address the impact of climate change on water availability in the river basin and other challenges which are not covered under the agreement.
The Madras high court on Thursday expressed doubts over the death of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in response to a petition filed by a member of her party.
The government on Monday came under sharp attack on the issue of crucial files of Coal ministry going missing, with the Opposition alleging that it was a conspiracy to save Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the coal block allocation scam and demanding an impartial probe into it.
In a communication to the ministry of electronics and information technology, the messaging service said it was committed to protecting the privacy of its over 400 million users in India.
'This (opposition to the project) is not just architects, but everyone needs to know more.' 'We need to be allowed to participate, maybe, you can ignore what we have to say, that's your decision.' 'At least follow the process.
The new Ministers of State sworn in by President Ram Nath Kovind at a ceremony in the Rashtrapati Bhavan include Virendra Kumar, Anant Kumar Hegde and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, former IAS officers Alphons Kannanthanam and R K Singh, former diplomat Hardeep Puri and ex-Mumbai police chief Satyapal Singh. Two other new faces are Ashwini Kumar Choubey, a member of the Lok Sabha from Bihar, and Shiv Pratap Shukla from Uttar Pradesh.
No mention of cab aggregators in GST bills
Government on Friday said it will bring a comprehensive law to criminalise marital rape by amending the IPC and was awaiting the Law Commission report on the issue.
As part of efforts to curb pollution, the Centre is in the final stage of completing the Rs 10 crore pilot project under which 10 refurbished electric buses will be handed over to select State Transport Corporations by March 2016.
Uproar over the killing of five Indian soldiers on the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir by Pakistani troops on Tuesday led to adjournment of Parliament until noon.
Narendra Modi's victory does not represent a victory of 'the Indian nation', but only an elite-driven polarising phenomenon. The sooner we -- and the BJP -- recognise this, the better, says Praful Bidwai.
The Indian High Commission made its displeasure known despite the British government earlier reiterating that the three New Delhi laws on agricultural reform were a "domestic matter".
V Narayanasamy was on Monday sworn in as the tenth chief minister of Puducherry.
PM to launch outreach campaign with a rally in UP on May 26, ministers to visit 200 cities in 2 weeks.
Terrorists are hiding in villages close to the "vulnerable" Pathankot airbase, which can come under fresh attack from them, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs said on Tuesday.
The BJP parliamentary board made the decision in an hour-long meeting attended among others by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah.
Counting of votes in all elections will be held on May 2.
Paul noted that "three to four months from now, there will be other vaccines and the stockpile will be even bigger. "And more acceleration can be brought about in the vaccination programme," Paul added.
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