Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar working president Supriya Sule has said her party, which won just 10 seats in the Maharashtra assembly elections, will introspect over the poll results and pledged to work towards a capable, inclusive and progressive state.
In a virtual address at the Summit for Democracy hosted by US President Joe Biden, Modi said India would be happy to share its expertise in holding free and fair elections and in enhancing transparency in all areas of governance.
In a remarkable comeback to power, Donald J Trump Monday took oath as the 47th president of the United States and immediately promised a blitz of executive orders as he announced the beginning of a 'golden age' of America.
This is the full text of the address to the nation by President Droupadi Murmu on the eve of India's 78th Independence Day.
Maharashtra recorded a voter turnout of 58.22 per cent till 5 pm on Wednesday in the elections to the 288-member state legislative assembly, with Gadchiroli district logging more than 69 per cent voting, poll officials said.
A sessions court in Gujarat's Mehsana district on Wednesday set aside a lower court order sentencing Congress MLA Jignesh Mevani and nine others to three months in jail in a 2017 case of taking out a public rally without police permission, noting debates and bona fide criticism of government actions are essential for the existence of democracy.
More than 750 eminent citizens, including historian Romila Thapar, economist Jean Dreze and actor Naseeruddin Shah, on Wednesday came out in support of a news website which is alleged to have received dubious funds to spread Chinese propaganda.
Over 250 eminent citizens, including former judges and ambassadors, have written to the President and Chief Justice of India calling for strong action against online news portal NewsClick, which is alleged to have received dubious funds from American billionaire Neville Roy Singham to spread Chinese propaganda.
Mumbai, infamous for its voter apathy, stepped out to exercise its franchise on Wednesday.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat were among the early voters to exercise their franchise as polling was underway on Wednesday for the state assembly elections.
'By his words, actions, and body language during their joint press appearance wanted to convey his personal respect and, more broadly, his desire to work closely with India.'
Former US President Donald Trump addressed his supporters on Wednesday, thanking them for giving Republicans an unprecedented and powerful mandate, and said this moment will help the country "heal".
As the polling dates for the maiden assembly polls after abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir draws near, several organisations of the Kashmiri Pandit community has decided to refrain from the electoral process in the Union Territory over 'persistent denial of their genocide'.
"There is no place in America for this kind of violence, for any violence ever. Period. No exceptions. We can't allow this violence to be normalised," Biden said.
What is the independence of the judiciary if independent and fearless judges are not being appointed, SC judge Rohinton Fali Nariman said.
Sections of our media and elites take Western reports/judgements at face value and are ready to condemn the targets without understanding the deeper power linkages behind such actions, asserts Colonel Anil A Athale (Retd).
Outgoing US President Joe Biden on Thursday vowed to ensure a peaceful and orderly transfer of power to President-elect Donald Trump in January and appealed to the people to accept the election results for the White House
'How can a citizen of this country having been a Member of Parliament, and the other who has seen enough of Foreign Service takes no time in saying that what happened in the neighbourhood will happen in India'
If the government and the political party controlling it want to destroy the homes of people without trial or conviction, where do those people go?, asks Aakar Patel.
In democratic India, a citizen can be a patriot and at the same time be critical of the government, unlike China which promulgated a national security law in Hong Kong prescribing patriotism to contest elections, observes Rup Narayan Das.
No institution in a constitutional democracy, including the collegium, is perfect and the solution is to work within the existing system, Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud said on Friday.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Wednesday read out a resolution condemning the imposition of Emergency and termed the decision by then prime minister Indira Gandhi an attack on the Constitution, triggering a wave of protests by the opposition in the House.
The prime minister and his cabinet will be compelled to do what governments in other democracies must: Listen to criticism from citizens and tolerate it and even learn from it. In doing so, perhaps they can also get a laugh out of the material, as many of us so often do, notes Aakar Patel.
Calling Canada's behaviour 'the pits', India's recalled high commissioner Sanjay Verma says India was backstabbed and treated in a most unprofessional manner by a country that is supposed to be a friendly democracy.
Long denied the right to vote, members of the Valmiki community exercised their franchise for the first time in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections on Tuesday and termed it as a "historic moment".
The term of the 22nd Law Commission, which is without a chairperson for the past few months, ends Saturday with its key report on the uniform civil code still in works. The report prepared by the law panel on simultaneous elections is ready and is pending submission to the law ministry.
India and Canada have mutually beneficial political and economic linkages. The two countries should get together and find a solution. The expulsion war should, in the meantime, be a guarantee against any deterioration of the situation, asserts Ambassador T P Sreenivasan, the first Indian head of mission to be ever expelled by any country.
Carter was in politics, but not a politician, certainly not a transactional politician, points out Shreekant Sambrani.
Biden is best qualified to address the root cause of the polarisation in American politics before it turns into terminal malignancy, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'He had to change them because he recognises that even with his popularity....could lead to a problem. So, democracy has this way of offering corrections and telling the ruling party or the prime minister that you need to take some steps to compensate for excesses'
He could have blazed a trail that few Indian judges had. It was a missed opportunity of a lifetime, notes Ramesh Menon.
'I would think that India faces less damage from opinions voiced overseas compared to the damage it suffers if the right to free speech of its citizens is curtailed in the name of image management,' asserts Shyam G Menon.
In a remarkable display of resilience and commitment to democracy, the residents of villages that had long been deprived of polling due to terrorist threats and separatist-sponsored boycott calls turned out in large numbers to cast ballots in the sixth phase of Lok Sabha polls on Saturday.
'Politicians can do symbolism by changing the names of places and museums.' 'Judges need not be seen to be craving for approval from the public.'
Modi said laws which divide the country on communal lines and become a reason for inequality have no place in a modern society.
It said that it was "disheartening" to see that some news channels "are in the habit of publishing sleaze more than news."
The National Human Rights Commission in a statement said the allegations raise a serious issue of violation of human rights and also restriction on the freedom of the press.
Modi said in the last few days, "we have seen an increase in the common consciousness of the love for the nation".
'Today we know of many X, Y, and Z persons as urban Naxals but can we call these people as such?' 'No, we cannot because we don't have a legal framework for doing that.'
Modi, who is visiting Ukraine at the invitation of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has said that he will share with the Ukrainian leader perspectives on peaceful resolution of the ongoing conflict.
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