Umanath, who mentioned people like Mukesh Ambani and Kalanidhi Maran too, got stuck when he came to Amitabh. "Amitabh Bachchan has amassed more than Rs 190 crore," he said, adding sarcastically, "Yes, the same Amitabh you see in that advertisement for chocolate."
A 39-member parliamentary panel has been constituted to examine the two bills proposing simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. The panel, chaired by BJP leader Bhratruhari Mahtab, will include prominent members from various political parties, including the BJP, Congress, SP, TMC, and DMK. The panel is expected to submit its report to the Lok Sabha by the first day of the last week of the next session. The government has decided to increase the committee's strength to include more political parties, highlighting the significance of this proposal to reform the election process in India.
The Odisha government has constituted a fact-finding committee to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of a Nepali student at KIIT University and the subsequent protests by students. The three-member panel will investigate the institute's handling of the situation, including the suspension of students seeking justice. The incident has sparked outrage and raised concerns about the safety of international students at the institute. The Nepal government has threatened to stop issuing no objection certificates for students studying in Odisha if the situation is not resolved.
The UPA-Left committee on the nuclear deal will meet on November 16.
Tafajjal Hossain polled 33,849 votes in the by-election to the Boxanagar seat while CPI-M's Mizan Hussain got only 3,884 votes.
"Day-to-day developments reconfirm our fears that the US wants to convert India into its subordinate ally in South Asia, even before the Indo-US nuclear deal has come into effect. This is a very ominous development," said Politburo member Sitaram Yechury. The CPI-M leader said that the 123 agreement, which was firmly anchored in the Hyde Act, has fallen short "not just of our objections but of the assurances of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh himself."
'These allegations need to be treated with utmost seriousness.'
The fallout from the Justice K Hema Committee report on harassment and abuse in the Malayalam film industry intensified on Monday as a case was filed against well-known filmmaker Ranjith, and several female actors stepped forward with disturbing accounts of the mistreatment they faced at the hands of their various male counterparts.
CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat said India needs to follow an independent foreign policy.
Sticking to its demand for resignation of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy over the solar scam, the Comkmunist Party of India-Marxist in Kerala on Friday rejected his proposal to set up a joint panel to examine the CCTV footage of the CM's office.
Among the national parties, the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Communist Party of India-Marxist opposed the proposal, while the Bharatiya Janata Party and the National People's Party supported it.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi mounted a blistering attack on Trinamool Congress over corruption charges against it and also on CPI-M.
However, the national party count has gone down to six from 14 in over seven decades.
Banerjee accused the BJP of resorting to divisive tactics in the face of anticipated defeat in the initial phases of polling.
Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav, an Allahabad High Court judge, is set to appear before the Supreme Court Collegium to explain his controversial statements made at a Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) function. The Supreme Court has sought a report from the Allahabad High Court after news reports surfaced regarding Justice Yadav's remarks, which were widely condemned as "hate speech". The judge's statements, made at a VHP event, sparked outrage from various quarters, including opposition leaders and lawyers. The Bar Association of India has also condemned the judge's remarks and called for an apology.
"We will complain. He can meditate, but televisions cannot show it," she said, alleging that this will amount to "violation of the MCC."
In a significant political development, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah announced on Thursday that an alliance with the Congress was finalised for all 90 assembly seats in Jammu and Kashmir, which is going for its maiden assembly polls after being reorganised into a Union Territory.
Just eight months after its good showing in the Lok Sabha polls, the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) seems to be running out of steam with internal bickering and conflicting ambitions resulting in diminishing electoral returns that have once again put the Bharatiya Janata Party in the driver's seat in national politics.
The Congress in Kerala on Friday approached the Election Commission of India (ECI) against the decision of Doordarshan to telecast the controversial movie The Kerala Story, saying it was a 'tacit effort' to divide society on religious grounds to further the electoral prospects of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra accused the BJP of a "conspiracy to save Home Minister Amit Shah's skin" following a clash in Parliament over allegations of disrespect towards B.R. Ambedkar. She alleged that BJP MPs instigated the violence and pushed opposition members, including Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, to prevent them from entering Parliament. Gandhi also challenged BJP MPs to say "Jai Bhim" and accused them of having "violent intentions" and insulting the legacy of Ambedkar.
On April 3, Gandhi's roadshow, on the way to filing his nomination in Wayanad was visibly different from that of 2019 in the hill constituency when the green flags of ally IUML outnumbered the Congress's in the crowd. There were no flags of any party or affiliated organisations.
The Congress is fighting the elections in a pre-poll alliance with National Conference and has fielded 32 candidates, mostly in Jammu region, compared to 51 by the regional party. Additionally, the CPI(M) and the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP) have each been allocated one seat while both the Congress and NC had a 'friendly contest' on five seats.
After hectic parleys and much back and forth with the INDIA bloc allies, the Congress also ended up going into the polls with its original plan of largely going solo.
BJP members, including the Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma, opposed the resolution, saying it was not part of the listed business.
Villagers alleged that the minor, who was missing since Friday evening, was raped and murdered, and the police did not act on their complaint immediately.
Sitaram Yechury said he believed there existed the need to set up a 'third alternative' to the Congress and the BJP.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist on Monday said that the Left unity would not be affected in anyway because of the Revolutionary Socialist Party and the Communist Party of India not supporting the candidature of United Progressive Alliance's Presidential nominee Pranab Mukherjee.
A three-member fact-finding team of the Bharatiya Janata Party, that was going to visit the violence-hit areas of Malda district in West Bengal, was detained at the Malda railway station.
Taking the Bharatiya Janata Party and its Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi head on, the Communist Party of India-Marxist on Monday said their claims about riot-free Gujarat and development there were "big lies" based on "complete untruth".
In a major relief to Communist Party of India - Marxist state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, a Central Bureau of Investigation Court in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday dropped him and five others from the list of accused in the SNC-Lavalin corruption case dating to mid-1990s when he was the power minister.
Former West Bengal chief minister and a front-ranking Marxist leader Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee will go down in the country's history as a pragmatic communist who kept aside his ideological convictions to woo capital for the industrialisation of his state.
Here are the number of seats won by parties in all states and Union Territories in the Lok Sabha elections.
Thousands of Communist party of India-Marxist workers in Kerala on Wednesday laid siege to the government secretariat during a protest that forced Chief Minister Oommen Chandy to reach his office around 5 am, hours before a cabinet meeting.
The Communist party of India-Marxist said on Tuesday while underlining its belief that religion is a personal choice.
None of its candidates won. Most of them lost badly.
They said the Left party is consulting its lawyers to challenge the notice of the tax authorities.
The results for the Andhra Pradesh and Odisha assembly elections were declared on Tuesday.
IPO bound HMIL, which is also from South Korea, had faced severe labour unrest for nearly a decade till the realisation -- a worker's union cannot be avoided -- dawned on it.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a money-laundering case against Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's daughter Veena Vijayan and her IT firm for receiving 'illegal payments' from a Kochi-based private firm, official sources said on Wednesday.
Even as the dust settles on one election, glory in Thiruvananthapuram has come with a new question on the horizon: Who will be UDF's candidate in the next Lok Sabha election given Shashi Tharoor has said 2024 would be his last? It isn't a vacancy that can be easily filled, points out Shyam G Menon.
