Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi can and will downsize the government, and the Union Cabinet could be cut by half its present size, Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former Union minister Arun Shourie reveals as explains what could be the new PM's masterplan ahead of Cabinet formation in an exclusive interview to CNN IBN.
Rattled by the poll debacle, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Rahul on Monday got into a huddle with senior leaders to carry out a post-mortem of results in the four states amid talk that some heads could roll.
To prevent exploitation of women, especially those in rural and tribal areas, the government has prohibited foreigners from commissioning surrogacy in the country and has drafted this comprehensive legislation.
In 2010, Gujarat government is believed to have allotted 250 acres of land next to Gir Lion Sanctuary to Wildwoods Resorts and Realties Pvt Ltd for setting up a resort which was allotted at a price of Rs 15 per square metre or Rs 60,000 per acre.
'What if Kim is alive as the latest reappearance suggests, but unable to rule?' 'Will his sister be installed as the leader to continue with the Kims's hereditary dynasty that began with the present ruler's grandfather?' asks Dr Rajaram Panda.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's decision for early release of Rajiv Gandhi's killers invited a sharp reaction from the Congress, which termed it as "irresponsible, perverse and populist".
'The choice of Dhoka La for the intrusion by Chinese troops is significant and suggests a twin objective of pressuring Thimpu to allow Beijing to establish an embassy there and reinforcing Chinese claims on Arunachal Pradesh,' warns former RA&W officer Jayadev Ranade.
'After a strategic pause though, Beijing will revive its policy of slowly creeping towards acquiring sovereignty over the South China Sea.'
'There is no secrecy clause to the price (of the aircraft).' 'There can be secrecy on the capability of the nuclear payload of aircraft and things like that, but the price is hardly a secret.'
'There will always be hiccups given that the Namami Gange programme is spread over different sectors and involves several agencies.'
Singhdeo was the main architect of the Congress party's poll manifesto, which he said was made after feedback from about 80,000 people from across the state.
Rahul Bedi explains how 'miscellaneous' factors have posed a major hurdle in negotiating the Rafale deal.
The total number of positive cases has increased by 106 in the last 24 hours to reach 1,024.
In the same breath, the RPI-A leader said, "No one can challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi -- neither Congress president Rahul Gandhi, nor SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, nor BSP supremo Mayawati."
Members of Parliament (MPs) across the political spectrum have written to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), seeking a probe into a stake sale deal between Jet Airways (India) Ltd and Gulf-based carrier Etihad Airways.
'The non-implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission, almost a year after it was implemented for civilians, is gradually beginning to hurt morale in the armed forces,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
Xi, the most powerful leader in recent decades heading the ruling Communist Party and the military, will now be the first Chinese leader after the founder chairman Mao Zedong to remain in power lifelong.
The OBC face of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Maharashtra and former deputy chief minister, Gopinath Munde, who had joined the Union Cabinet for the first time a week back, was all set to spearhead the party's campaign in the upcoming assembly polls in the state to wrest power from the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party combine.
Congress leadership would take a call on who would be its deputy chief minister on Tuesday.
Earlier, BJP leader Ram Lal said the Goa government is stable and no demand has been made for a change in the leadership.
Here is an explainer and a timeline relating to India's purchase of 36 combat jets.
Possibly for the first time since Prime Minister Indira Gandhi called upon the nation to donate/sacrifice for the 'Bangladesh war' efforts, and also suffer blackout at nights with patience and pride, has the nation reacted so very positively to the government's diktat, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'It is palpably prejudiced and totally at variance with public and historical opinion.' 'As a result, he cannot be taken seriously in other matters as well because of his penchant for playing safe,' says Amulya Ganguli.
Oil Ministry felt it did not have a clear mandate to reduce rates post the January 2013 decision of the Cabinet to raise prices by 40-50 paisa a litre every month.
'That the commandments to officialdom were issued by a BJP functionary and not a minister is a reflection of the Yogi government's work style.'
Beleaguered Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, who is under attack from the Communist Party of India - Marxist-led Left Democratic Front opposition ever since the solar scam broke out in June, has got a breather after the Front called off its two-day secretariat siege on Tuesday.
British PM Theresa May said the threat level in the country will remain at critical and that 1,000 army troops have been deployed to boost security.
While the Congress will firm up its strategy once the ruling alliance tables the Bill, initial comments by its leaders have been encouraging.
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State-owned oil firms are likely to announce reduction in rates, made possible because of softening in international oil rates, this evening, government and industry sources said.
Chinese observers believe the Sino-US relationship will be impacted by issues in North Korea, Japan, India, Ukraine and Iran and that conflicts with these 'third parties' will without exception ultimately become conflicts between China and the US, points out former RA&W officer Jayadeva Ranade.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has done the seemingly impossible by finalising the long-pending Land Boundary Agreement ahead of his Bangladesh visit, writes Prakash Bhandari.
The court granted bail to Advani, Joshi and Bharti after they appeared before it.
According to Indian meteorological department, tremors were felt in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab, lasting for a minute, triggering panic and forcing people to rush out of their homes and offices. There was no official word about casualties from any of the states but reports from West Bengal said cracks appeared in several multi-storeyed buildings in Siliguri in north Bengal. An incident of wall collapse was reported from Telipara in Jalpaiguri district.
Successor Anandiben Patel isn't having an easy time, with a protest movement by her own community and new challenges in keeping the mandate
India's growth, he said, remains resilient with low inflation, fiscal prudence and low current account deficit, talking about robust structural reform measures.
India is only the fourth country to acquire such a specialised and modern capability after the United States, Russia and China.
'Clarifying that modernisation of national defence and armed forces should be completed by 2035, Xi Jinping asserted the goal is to make the People's Liberation Army a "world class force" that "can fight and win" by 2050,' points out former RAW officer Jayadeva Ranade.
The maximum death toll has been reported from Idukki district, where 43 people have lost their lives so far, as per official estimates. 28 deaths were reported in Malappuram and 27 in Thrissur.
'There is a law that prevents the government from diluting its equity in the PSBs below 50 per cent.' 'That law has to be amended and given the parliamentary arithmetic of the political parties, it is not as simple to do that.'
The first Bharatiya Janata Party government in Maharashtra headed by state party chief Devendra Fadnavis will be sworn in on Friday with Shiv Sena unlikely to join the new dispensation for now as talks continued between the two saffron parties for a tie-up.
