Welcoming Italy's decision to send back marines charged with the killing of two fishermen, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Friday said the development clearly established the fact that no country can question the sovereignty of India.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), a forum comprising 40 farmer unions, called for a Bharat Bandh on Monday against the Centre's three agriculture laws. Here is its impact across the country:
APCC president Ripun Bora said following discussions with various parties, it has been decided that the Congress will join hands with the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), the Communist Party of India, the Communist Party of India-Marxist, Communist Party of India-Marxist Leninist and the Anchalik Gana Morcha.
The 48-hour nationwide strike called by central trade unions hit normal life across Kerala on Wednesday with workers from varied sectors, including transport and banking, staying away from work to protest the UPA government's economic and labour policies.
The victory of Prime Minister and Congress candidate Manmohan Singh appeared certain in the May 30 Rajya Sabha elections in Assam at the end of withdrawal of nomination papers on Thursday. At the close of the deadline for withdrawal, all the three contestants -- Dr Singh, who is the first Congress candidate, Santius Kujur, the party's second candidate and All India United Democratic Front's Aminul Islam remained in the fray.
UDF convener Benni Behanan said the Front has also decided to move a resolution against Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan and seek his resignation.
Emerging Kerala Global Connect Summit, a government initiative to attract overseas capital to the state, is set to begin from Tuesday with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh inaugurating the summit.
From April 1 next year, over 600 state-run Madrassas will be converted into upper primary, high and higher secondary schools with no change of status, pay, allowances and service conditions of the teaching and non-teaching staff.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was elected to Rajya Sabha for the fifth consecutive term on Thursday as Congress won both the seats to the Upper House from Assam.
Continuing its pressure on Congress led United Democratic Front government for re-investigation into the alleged involvement of Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P J Kurien in the Suryanelli gangrape case, opposition Left Democratic Front on Wednesday walked out of the assembly after government rejected the demand.
The Kerala Congress-Mani led by former Kerala finance minister K M Mani on Sunday decided to withdraw its support to the Congress-led United Democratic Front coalition of which it was a part for more than three decades.
The 12-hour Assam bandh called by the All Assam Minority Students' Union (AAMSU) on Tuesday turned violent with government officials and mediapersons attacked leading to imposition of indefinite curfew in some areas.
In an unprecedented move, United Democratic Front MLAs blocked Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan inside the state assembly on Wednesday with 'go back' slogans and placards against the Citizenship Amendment Act.
Tharoor suffered head injuries while performing a ritual at a temple in Thiruvananthapuram.
Despite Speaker Meira Kumar admitting an adjournment motion by the Bharatiya Janata Party on the issue, members including those of BJP, Shiv Sena, Bodoland People's Front and All India United Democratic Front trooped into the Well condemning the violence.
He also said that the focus will be on developing infrastructure in a big way and bring the state out of the debt trap if the BJP wins the assembly polls that are likely to be held in April-May this year.
In a huge embarrassment to the Communist Party of India-Marxist in Kerala, party's senior state leader P Jayarajan was on Wednesday arrested in connection with the murder of Indian Union Muslim League youth wing activist Abdul Shukkoor in February.
Even as the Centre directed Bodoland Territorial Council Chief Executive Member Hagrama Mohilary and the president of the All India United Democratic Front Badruddin Ajmal Qasmi to "restrain their supporters and restore peace with immediate effect," the Ministry of Home Affairs Joint Secretary in charge of the North East Shambhu Singh is personally camping in the riot affected Kokrajhar district.
The public protest had erupted over the demand for rehabilitation of nearly 800 families evicted from the land they were living on for decades.
The Communist Party of India Marxist in Kerala on Monday flayed the move by certain parties in the ruling United Democratic Front to press for a ban on toddy sale following the high court's observation in this regard, saying it is "unscientific" and will destroy the traditional toddy tapping industry.
Voting for the assembly by-election from Neyyattinkara segment near Thiruvananthapuram got underway on Saturday morning on a brisk note.
For the chief minister and Assam alike, the road ahead is full of challenges, notes Aditi Phadnis.
The winter session of the Assam assembly started on a stormy note on Monday over the issue of availability of illegal weapons in the communally sensitive Bodoland Territorial Autonomous District Council areas that was rocked by a spell of riots involving Bodo tribe and Muslim communities during July this year that left over 100 dead and rendered about 4 lakh homeless.
CM Pinarayi Vijayan rejected BJP's criticism against the resolution demanding scrapping of the CAA. Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had hit out at Kerala government, saying Vijayan should seek 'better legal advise'.
The shocking molestation incident -- when a girl was abused and assaulted on the streets of Guwahati in full public view -- rocked the Monsoon Session of the Assam Assembly.
The home minister said the guilty will be brought to book.
Asserting that the probe into the killing of fishermen by Italian marines was progressing well, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Monday told the state assembly that no leniency would be shown to accused Italian marines as government's priority was to ensure justice to the victims' families.
The All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), a banner political party formed by several minority organisations in Assam, led by perfume mogul Badaruddin Ajmal, has extended support to the UPA's candidate for the Presidential election.
Unfazed by criminal charges against him over his controversial speech about the party eliminating its foes in the past, Communist Party of India - Marxist Idukki district secretary M M Mani on Sunday said the party would resist the "politically motivated" moves of the United Democratic Front government to frame him in a criminal case.
The Tamil Nadu Toddy Movement had met both Chief Minister Palaniswami and Stalin to seek their intervention in lifting the ban on toddy-tapping and had submitted petitions, but there it remained. So the matter is being taken to the people's court.
Coming out against the report of the Supreme Court-appointed Empowered Committee on Mullaperiyar dam, over which Kerala and Tamil Nadu are at loggerheads, Communist Party of India-Marxist veteran V S Achuthanandan on Monday said it was "unilateral and in favour of Tamil Nadu".
Thiruvanchur Radhakrishnan, revenue minister in the United Democratic Front cabinet in Kerala, has been in the midst of the Mullaperiyar dam row. Radhakrishnan was serving as the irrigation minister when he met and negotiated with O Paneerselvam, the representative of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. In an interview with rediff.com's Shobha Warrier, minutes after holding an emergency meeting in Thiruvavananthapuram, Radhakrishnan talks about the escalating feud.
Assam may throw up a hung assembly with the Bharatiya Janata Party and the ruling Congress there engaged in a neck and neck fight while Left Democratic Front could oust the Congress-led alliance in Kerala, an opinion poll has projected.
'The presence of Rahul Gandhi and his campaigning for the Congress will make a general difference, but whether it will make a saving difference, not sure.'
The BJP will not announce the chief ministerial candidate before the Assam polls and a decision in this regard will be taken by its Parliamentary Board at the time of forming the next government, the saffron party state unit president Ranjeet Kumar Dass said on Monday.
The Catholic Church in Kerala has taken serious objections to the new Social Science textbook for the 10th standard, prepared during the previous Left Democratic Front's rule, alleging that it contained "grossly baseless anti-church contents" and "propagated Marxist political ideology". The newly installed United Democratic Front government recently set up a three-member committee headed by former chief secretary Dr D Babu Paul to examine the controversial textbook.
'Metroman' E Sreedharan's decision to join the Bharatiya Janata Party has given a boost to the saffron's hopes to make huge electoral inroads in Kerala, one of the toughest political terrains for the party, in the assembly polls likely to be held in April.
The party is less forthcoming about who the chief minister will be if it stays in power.
Setting aside rivalries, ruling Congress-led United Democratic Front and opposition Left Democratic Front in Kerala stepped up the demand for a new dam at Mullaperiyar as water flow into the reservoir in Idukki almost touched the maximum permissible storage level of 136 feet on Sunday due to heavy rain in the area.
In a boost to Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, the ruling Congress-led United Democratic Front in Kerala on Wednesday retained the Piravom assembly seat with its candidate Anoop Jacob winning by a margin of 12,070 votes. While Anoop Jacob (Kerala Congress-Jacob), a constituent of the UDF, garnered 82,756 votes, Left Democratic Front's S M J Jacob got 70,686 votes. Bharatiya Janata Party's K R Rajagopal polled 3241 votes. There were nine candidates in the fray.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances