'The Congress in 2017 stands for nothing positive, not even secularism.'
It also provides that no preliminary enquiry will be required for registering a criminal case and an arrest under this law would not be subject to any approval.
Stringent punishment for rape of a girl under 12 years has been provided with the minimum jail term being 20 years which may go up to life in prison or death sentence. Gangrape of a girl under 12 years of age will invite punishment of jail term for the rest of life or death.
A total of 13 motions were moved in support of Birla.
With Maharashtra and Haryana assembly elections, results for 51 assembly and two Lok Sabha bypolls spread across 18 states were declared on Thursday. Here are state-wise results of the bypolls.
Sheela Bhatt lists ten quick takeaways from the passage of the Telangana bill in the Lok Sabha.
'When it comes to national politics, the Modi-Shah BJP has successfully redefined secularism.' 'If a party like the Congress has to have a future, it has to move closer to the secular centre from the far Left where its Left infatuation during the UPA years dragged it,' argues Shekhar Gupta.
The bench directed that the mediation will be held at Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh and the process should start within a week from Friday.
'In Mecca and Medina, cow slaughter is not allowed'
'The BJP's solo aim in Mumbai and Maharashtra is to finish off the Shiv Sena and Sharad Pawar's NCP.'
'Mr Modi may have the aura of an irresistible conquistador now, but he is human. He isn't an 'avatar,' argues Shekhar Gupta.
This theory of 'Hindus vs the rest' sees the two communities as two separate blocs. Isn't that the two-nation theory? What of the deep bonds that the communities have on the ground? asks Jyoti Punwani.
'I don't think there will be many problems after the assembly election results.'
'The anti-Muslim discourse creates an atmosphere of fear.'
'UP, Maharashtra, AP (including Telangana), Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, MP, Bihar, Karnataka and Kerala.' 'We chose these nine not only as being among the biggest, but also because in these states radical change is possible,' explains Shekhar Gupta.
'Haven't you heard of the magical EVM machines? They can negate all our votes.' 'There is no hope. Modi is India's Putin.'
Cutting across party lines, all MPs slammed Pakistan for awarding death sentence to Kulbhushan Jadhav.
'Genuine secularism cannot be built on the backs of Hindus alone.' 'In a pluralistic society every religion is duty bound to respect the rights and sentiments of the others.' 'Vande Mataram was a casualty of minorityism. Bharat Mata Ki Jai cannot be allowed to go the same way,' says Vivek Gumaste.
The National Democratic Alliance on Monday finalised its seat sharing for Bihar polls with the Bharatiya Janata Party contesting 160 out of the 243 assembly constituencies while allies Lok Janshkati Party and Jitan Ram Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha being allotted 40 and 20 seats respectively.
Nitish Kumar will be the chief minister only till the time the BJP wishes, points out Ramesh Menon.
Contradictions have emerged over the death of eight SIMI men, who were gunned down in an alleged encounter with the police on the outskirts of the Bhopal hours after they escaped from the high-security Bhopal Central Jail killing a security guard.
'Teaching lessons is the objective behind every school.' 'For the moment, a state seems intent to teach a lesson -- that students of Classes 4, 5 and 6 can wage war against the mighty Indian nation,' says Krishna Prasad.
As Bihar decides its fate on Sunday, political leaders from across the spectrum weighed in.
Bhagwat said a sense of idealism is good and described himself not as 'anti-modern', but as 'pro-future'.
At places in the border districts of Barmer and Jaisalmer, people walked miles through the desert to cast their votes.
Rajnath Singh led the delegation of 26 MPs from 20 parties which stayed overnight in Srinagar before stopping over in Jammu this afternoon.
The second half of the budget session of Parliament, beginning on Monday, is all set to be a stormy affair with opposition parties closing ranks over the imposition of Presidents' rule in Uttarakhand.
Opposition parties ask the government to listen to the concern of the intellectuals returning awards.
'For showing us a shining vision of how even a ceremonial role can be infused with life by a patriot, a scientist and a humble man of the people, representing the best of India's pluralist ethos, we will remember Dr Kalam.'
2016 saw the worst unrest in the Kashmir valley in 26 years.
'It was Dr B R Ambedkar's foresight which saved us from some marauding state political leaders who could have indirectly disfranchised large sections of our population as we see some attempts even now,' says V Balachandran.
Iqbal Ansari, one of the main plaintiffs who fought for the right of the community over the disputed land, says Muslims in Ayodhya won't be satisfied if the Sunni Waqf Board accepts the five acres in Dhannipur.
Mumbai's 45 mohalla committees and the many voluntary groups working to bring communities together in the city can be counted upon to do their utmost to stop riots.
After weeks of bargaining and protesting, the BJP and the TDP came to a seat sharing arrangement for the May 7 polls in Andhra Pradesh. But will this alliance help the saffron party make inroads in the Telangana region? Vicky Nanjappa finds out
Of the 27 named, at least four are workers and functionaries of right-wing organisations, including the Bajrang Dal, officials said.
'The new generation voter is hyper-nationalistic, but it isn't essentially illiberal.' 'They will find the rants of Adityanath as laughable as Irfan Habib's. They will also find the BJP's polarising approach to vote-gathering unacceptable if it fails to deliver jobs and growth,' says Shekhar Gupta.
Zakir Naik, a gentle, rockstar televangelist, is dangerous as young Muslims may be swayed by his fundamentalist interpretations of Islam and justify victimhood and extremism, says Shekhar Gupta.
Government's reforms are too half-hearted. But Rahul Gandhi's Congress is too amateurish and inept to hold it to account.
'I don't practise yoga. How am I less of a nationalist than the person who practises it? Is it a crime if I don't practice it?'
'This is India, bhai. This kind of country does not exist anywhere in the world.'
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