Former Union Minister A Raja, the main accused in 2G spectrum scam, and Suresh Kalmadi, accused in the Commonwealth Games scam, have been made members of two separate Parliamentary Standing Committees.
The deportation of Indians from the United States, deaths in the Maha Kumbh stampede and the joint Parliamentary committee report on the Waqf bill were among the issues that led to heated exchanges and some disruptions in an otherwise smooth first part of the Budget session that ended on Thursday.
India is taking the allegations regarding the assassination plot of Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in the United States seriously, the White House has said but refrained from commenting on the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) probe into the matter and the criminal case filed by the Department of Justice.
We need to equip the Indian Armed Forces, not 'commercial' as Trump wants, but 'operationally' looking at growing Chinese military capabilities, asserts Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
The increased numbers of the Opposition bloc would mean that their MPs are likely to head several more panels than the four that they did by the end of the term of the 17th Lok Sabha.
India received consular access on at least three occasions to Nikhil Gupta, who is detained in a Czech prison following charges by the United States relating to a foiled assassination attempt on a Sikh extremist.
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi will head a six-member United Progressive Alliance -Samajwadi Party Coordination Committee. The committee has Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Defence Minister A K Antony as its members.The constitution of the Committee indicates that the SP, like the Left, would support the government from outside. The development also suggests that they would exert influence like that of the Left.
Disengagement from the LAC will remain a chimera because China has given enough indications that the PLA will not move back any more. China has even deployed drones to monitor and deny any patrolling by Indian troops even in the buffer zones which are all in Indian Territory, explains Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
It said that the opportunities presented by an open and competitive South Asian market may also be grasped and consolidated from both security and economic perspectives.
After her elevation as defence minister, Sitharaman has become a member of the cabinet committee on security headed by the prime minister.
The external affairs ministry had pleaded that in view of the unqualified apology tendered by him, the matter be closed.
Three Hindu temples were vandalized by a mob in Bangladesh's Chattogram on Friday, following protests and violence sparked by the arrest of a former ISKCON member on sedition charges. The attack occurred in the port city's Harish Chandra Munsef Lane, where the Shantaneshwari Matri Temple, the nearby Shoni Temple, and the Shantaneshwari Kalibari Temple were targeted. Temple authorities reported that a group of hundreds threw brickbats at the temples, causing damage to the Shoni Temple and the gates of the other two. The incident has triggered diplomatic tensions between India and Bangladesh, with both countries expressing concerns over the safety of their respective minorities.
'Trump's desire to withdraw the US from some arenas on the global stage will result in ceding space to China.'
The US Justice Department on Thursday charged Yadav for his role in the assassination plot.
Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi has criticized the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, calling it a 'brazen assault' on the Constitution and part of the BJP's strategy to keep society in a 'permanent state of polarization.' She also spoke out against the One Nation, One Election Bill, calling it a 'subversion of the Constitution.' Gandhi further accused the Modi government of ignoring the women's reservation bill and other demands for reservation, and of 'dragging the country into an abyss' where the Constitution will only exist on paper. She also criticized the government for limiting the speaking time of the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament and for not allowing discussions on important issues like the working of the defense and external affairs ministries and the challenges posed by China on the border.
'WFI must reverse all amendments made during its suspension and ensure checks and balances in decision-making within four weeks.'
Her comments come a day after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said in Geneva that roughly 75 percent of the "disengagement problems" with China are sorted out but the bigger issue has been the increasing militarisation of the frontier.
"We should not have a repeat of what happened in Mumbai. That there was a terror attack and there was no response," Jaishankar told reporters in Mumbai.
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed the setting up of a three-member Committee of Administrators (CoA) to take over the affairs of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).
It was learnt that 35 registered players, including seven foreigners, wrote to the club that they didn't wish to go to Iran.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has accused Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi of raising questions on sensitive defence matters in Parliament after his marriage to a British citizen. Sarma alleged that Gogoi's wife, Elizabeth Colburn, has links with the Pakistani establishment, including working for an organisation allegedly a front for the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Gogoi has rejected the allegations as "baseless" and said the BJP is trying to divert attention from its own failures.
"When it comes to the Canadian matter, we have made clear that the allegations are extremely serious and they need to be taken seriously. We wanted to see the government of India cooperate with Canada in its investigation. Obviously, they have not chosen that path," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters at his daily news conference.
Terrorism and insurgency in J&K had subsided when India demolished East Pakistan -- for the simple reason that Pakistan understands power. We need to follow Chanakya's dictum of Saam, Daam, Dand, Bhed for strategising against Pakistan, asserts Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (Retd). The ground truth is that unless we are prepared to acknowledge our shortcomings, including massive intelligence failures, punish those responsible and take corrective actions, we will continue in the same vein, asserts Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (Retd).
Congress leaders have supported the Union government's stand of abstaining from voting in the anti-Russia resolution in the United Nations General Assembly, informed sources on Thursday.
The Left has already made it clear that its top leaders Prakash Karat, Sitaram Yechury, A B Bardhan, D Raja, Abani Roy and Debabrata Biswas will be their nominees in the committee, which is expected to be a political one.
In an interim relief, the Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the status quo and said the Delhi High Court-appointed three-member Committee of Administrators (COA) will not take over the affairs of the Indian Olympic Association.
The United States is waiting to see the results of the Indian investigations on the murder allegations.
'Honoured to call on HRH Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah this evening. Conveyed the warm greetings of PM @narendramodi.'
"Insofar as the US is concerned, certain inputs were given to us as part of our security cooperation with the United States. Those inputs were of concern to us because they (were) related to the nexus of organised crime, trafficking and other matters.
Because of his proximity to Indira Gandhi, he was able to intervene directly at the level of the PMO, which he did in the days leading up to the partition of Pakistan in 1971 when he transferred crucial information about Pakistan's moves via information handed to him by an East Pakistani diplomat in Poland where he was posted.
Dr Jaishankar, right, appears to look away from Wang Yi, second from right, at the East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers Meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, Friday, July 14, 2023.
Top external affairs ministry officials on Monday briefed a parliamentary panel about efforts to bring back Indians stranded in war-hit Ukraine, including plans for 13 evacuation flights in the next two-three days to its neighbouring countries and subsequent increase in the number of daily flights to nine, sources said.
Quoting officials, The Washington Post said, the foiled assassination was part of an escalating campaign of aggression by RAW against the Indian diaspora in Asia, Europe and North America.
The Indian Diaspora has been able to carve a niche in their adopted countries as a result of their talent, perseverance and hardworking nature, asserts Rup Narayan Das.
'The time has come to have a relook at the Constitution as every document has a shelf life.'
National Security Advisor Ajit Doval held a meeting with top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi during which he emphasised the need for continuing efforts to restore peace and tranquillity in the border areas to remove the 'impediments' to normalcy in bilateral relations.
Among the 30 Sensex companies, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Asian Paints, Reliance Industries, ITC, Sun Pharma, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and JSW Steel were the major laggards. Larsen & Toubro, Tata Motors, Maruti, NTPC, Mahindra & Mahindra and UltraTech Cement were among the gainers.
India will go unrepresented in five categories at the upcoming Zagreb Open in Croatia as Bajrang Punia, Antim Panghal and three others didn't give consent for their selection to the ad-hoc panel that announced a 13-member team on Tuesday.
The cabinet of the new government led by Rekha Gupta balances representation of all major communities that propelled the Bharatiya Janata Party to power in Delhi with a massive majority after over 26 years.
He said despite efforts by the UN, the threat of terrorism is only growing and expanding, particularly in Asia and Africa.
