The former union telecom minister in his 'interim explanation' said he had not spoken anything 'obscene' or which would lower the dignity of women and motherhood.
According to results officially declared so far by the State Election Commission, of the total 5090 ward member posts in panchayat unions, the ruling AIADMK and its allies have won 1,528 ward member posts while its arch rival DMK and parnters bagged 1,895 posts.
In a countrywide advisory, the Union home ministry also said the state governments and UT administrations must ensure that the COVID-19 guidelines issued with regard to health and social distancing are strictly followed.
The Congress fared poorly, drawing a blank in West Bengal and failing to win back power in Kerala and Assam, besides losing Puducherry. The party only came to power with the help of its ally Dravida Munnetra Kazagham in Tamil Nadu.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP Kanimozhi on Sunday said a Central Industrial Security Force officer asked her if she was an Indian, when she asked the woman official to speak in Tamil or English.
As Dravida Munnetra Kazagham's M Karunanidhi's health worsens with staff from Kauveri Hospital saying that his condition is extremely critical and unstable, supporters have gathered in the hundreds outside the hospital. Here are glimpses from outside the hospital.
Jayalalaithaa said it has proved that she did no wrong and vowed to continue to work for the welfare of people of Tamil Nadu.
'We must encourage ambitious leaders and not stifle them.'
The AIADMK's staying power is not in question, but it has to regain the winning streak. That will require its leaders and leadership to re-wire themselves, to be able to re-think situations in ways different from what they had been accustomed to, suggests Sathiya Moorthy.
Heavy security has also been put in place at the Chepauk area ahead of the protest as protesters proposed to lay siege to the Secretariat and the District Collector's office against the Citizenship Amendment Act.
Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu also made a fervent appeal to the leaders of various parties at an all-party meeting to ensure smooth and effective functioning of the House during the Budget Session.
The event witnessed the who's who of Maharashtra politics -- including three former chief ministers of Maharashtra.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazagham on Monday named two party nominees for the Rajya Sabha election and announced that the third seat was being allotted to ally Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
A special court on Thursday held that the prosecution "miserably failed" to prove the charges in 2G scam case.
"Congratulations to Mamata Didi for @AITCofficial's win in West Bengal. The Centre will continue to extend all possible support to the West Bengal Government to fulfil people's aspirations and also to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic," he tweeted.
Responding to the debate on the bill, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said the ban commercial surrogacy was "the need of the hour".
E K Palaniswami had won the trust vote 122-11 in the 234-member assembly aided by the eviction of main opposition DMK and walkout by its allies, amid stormy scenes during which mikes were uprooted, chairs toppled and sheets of papers torn.
Raja said he clarified in a public meeting in Gudalur in the district on Sunday that he did not intend to defame Palaniswami or his late mother, but was making a comparison between the leadership qualities of his party chief M K Stalin and the CM, using a children's analogy.
Sports personalities from all the country took to Twitter to pay homage to the former chief minister of Tamil Nadu.
With India voting against Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council, Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday said the government and Dravida Munnetra Kazagham should spell out the steps they had taken to prevent attacks on ethnic Tamils during the war against Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
A photograph of Omar Abdullah surfaced on Twitter on January 25 in which he seemed almost unrecognisable sporting a salt and pepper beard, triggering reactions of awe and anger from netizens, including West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
"Stalin, who has the qualification to sit in the Main Opposition (possibly as its Leader) after DMK won 89 seats, was given seat among the crowd whereas Sarath Kumar was seated in the front row," Karunanidhi said in a statement.
The five Indian fishermen, who were sentenced to death on charges of drug trafficking, have been released by the Sri Lankan authorities.
The leaders neither spoke from the podium of the Kisan Sansad (farmers' parliament) nor were they seated on the dais.
The parties that have submitted the notice include the Congress, All India Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, Telangana Rashtra Samithi, Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India-Marxist, Nationalist Congress Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal, National Conference, Dravida Munnetra Kazagham and the Aam Aadmi Party.
Breaking his silence on FDI in multi-brand retail, Dravida Munnetra Kazagham chief M Karunanidhi on Monday said his party will not support the Centre's decision to allow foreign investment in the sector.
Shihan Hussaini nailed himself to a cross and remained on it for 6.7 minutes.
New Union minister L Murugan's declaration of Kongu Nadu as his native place, instead of Tamil Nadu, may be part of a grand BJP strategy to create new states out of existing ones, particularly those that have anti-BJP governments, mulls N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Mamata needs the Congress more than the Congress needs the alliance,' says a Congress leader. 'If the Trinamool and Congress fight the election together, a party survey claims the Trinamool will get around 165 out of 294 seats, but without us, the Trinamool could get somewhere around 130. It will be a few seats less than a majority.'
Former Union telecom minister A Raja on Saturday said he will cooperate with the Central Bureau of Investigation to prove his innocence in the wake of the probe agency conducting searches at the Dravida Munnetra Kazagham leader and his aides' residences in connection with the 2G spectrum scam.
In its petition, the Karnataka government called Jayalalithaa's acquittal as illegal.
'I don't think Karunanidhi's problem was power sharing. The CBI was closing in on the family. It was reported that the CBI was about to grill Kanimozhi," says political analayst Cho Ramaswamy.
As news of the death came in, condolences for the family poured in from leaders and others, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Ram Nath Kovind.
Satyapal Singh again questioned Darwin's theory of evolution on Friday saying human beings are descendants of sages and not monkeys as propounded by the British scientist.
K Pazhani of Kadukkalur village served the army for 22 long years and was due to retire in a year.
In a significant move, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagham and the Communist Party of India-Marxist on Friday jointly announced that they have formed an alliance for next year's Lok Sabha elections.
First Information Reports have been filed against Dravida Munnetra Kazagham President M Karunanidhi and his son and party treasurer M K Stalin in connection with a clash between their supporters and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam workers in the wake of conviction of Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in the assets case.
The 84-year-old priest-activist Stan Swamy, arrested under the anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in the Elgar Parishad case, died at a Mumbai hospital Monday in the middle of his fight for bail on health grounds.
In a joint letter to the prime minister, the opposition leaders, including some chief ministers, have also demanded providing foodgrains to the needy, and giving Rs 6,000 per month to the unemployed.
This is the first time that Gandhi will be meeting Congress leaders face-to-face, months after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.