India's Parliament is set to begin its Budget session on Friday, with opposition parties poised to demand a discussion on the alleged mismanagement of the Maha Kumbh festival in Prayagraj, where 30 pilgrims died in a stampede. The opposition also accused the government of politicising parliamentary committees and pushing its agenda through its majority. The session will start with President Droupadi Murmu addressing both houses of Parliament. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget on Saturday for the eighth consecutive time.
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.
"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.
However, the Maldives government has no intention of removing the doctors from India at Senahiya, a media report said.
Qin, 57, was made the foreign minister in December last year, superseding many seniors, earning the distinction of a rising star in the ruling Communist Party of China.
Former US House Speaker Nancy Peolsi, who is part of a US bipartisan delegation which met with the Dalai Lama on Wednesday, launched a broadside against Chinese President Xi Jinping, stating that while the legacy of the Tibetan spiritual leader will live forever, Xi will be gone in a few years.
MEA said such comments cannot absolve Pak of the blatant persecution of the religious minorities and said the Pak PM needs to look inwards.
Royce, 66, one of the founders of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian-Americans, said he wanted to spend the remaining months of his term on "urgent threats" the US is facing.
Abraham succeeds Dr Surinder Malhotra who served as president of the Indian National Overseas Congress for the last 12 years. George Joseph reports from New York
Berman's bill -- which is in all respects similar to the Senate Committee's Bill that the government of India has found objectionable and offensive -- contains the additional proviso that in the event of a nuclear test by India, which leads to the automatic termination of the deal, the presidential waiver of this termination could be limited.
'Najam Sethi tweets at 2 in the night that Ramiz Raja is out. Is this respect for a former captain? I was not even allowed to go to the office and collect my belongings.'
A Pakistani parliamentary panel on Friday criticised the interior ministry for the delay in implementing a new visa agreement with India, with its members passing a resolution that called on the cabinet to ratify the pact at the earliest.
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).
One Congressmen said the Uri terror attack along with the bombings in New York and New Jersey "demonstrate our need to continue to work together through our" counter-terrorism partnership to defeat terrorism.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has alleged that former Congress president Sonia Gandhi has links to an organisation financed by the George Soros Foundation, which has reportedly supported the idea of an independent Kashmir. The party claims this connection demonstrates foreign influence in Indian internal affairs. This comes after BJP's claims of US involvement in destabilizing India, which the US has denied. The BJP also accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of collaborating with the Soros-funded OCCRP to damage India's economy and reputation. The allegations have drawn criticism from the US embassy and the opposition Congress.
Here are some stories that your newspaper probably missed out on today.
India can help mend the fractured relationship between United States and Pakistan, believes a ranking member of the powerful House Foreign Affairs Committee.
'I owe India an apology, as when she suffered the Mumbai Terror attack on November 26, 2008, when Jews and Americans were singled out for death by Pakistan based Terrorists, I joined in arguing for restraint. I was wrong'
Muslim and secular organisations in the United States have hailed a congressional resolution by Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison (Democrat) 'recognising the tenth anniversary of the tragic communal violence in Gujarat'.
For years, Congressman Brad Sherman, California Democrat, a senior member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the ranking Democrat on its Subcommittee on Terrorism has enjoyed the largesse of the Indian American community that has contributed generously to his campaign coffers.
Congressman Howard Berman, the chairman of the United States' House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, has predicted that Pakistan is "perhaps the most likely launching point of a future Al Qaeda terrorist strike." Berman said, "The tribal regions of Pakistan provide safe haven for thousands of militants and terrorists, who seek not only to destabilise Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan, but who also plan attacks around the globe."
It behooves US to encourage integration of India into the Asia-Pacific, says US Congressman Ed Royce.
A senior Republican lawmaker, who is the author of a bill in the United States Congress, calls for independence for Baluchistan from Pakistan and says he still strongly supports independence for Kashmir, reports Aziz Haniffa
The government of Pakistan has been providing weapons and resources to radical Muslim elements, who use them against Americans, says US Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, who declares he was once Pakistan's best friend. Aziz Haniffa reports
Holding the Lashkar-e-Tayiba responsible for the terror attack on Mumbai last year, a British Parliamentary committee on Sunday said that several major terror attacks across the world, including in London, Madrid and Bali, had origins in the tribal areas of Pakistan. A report by the powerful Foreign Affairs Committee quoted a former Central Intelligence Agency chief as saying that the Pakistan-based LeT has reached a 'merge point' with the al-Qaeda.
Pressure is mounting for a resolution to be moved in the assembly when it meets next week for its maiden sitting to demand 'restoration of Article 370 and Article 35A' as committed in the National Conference's election manifesto, reveals Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
The impact of the US Federal Reserve's move to cut the benchmark interest rate will be muted for India as it was mostly priced in, Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran said on Thursday. He said that the Indian stock market is already attracting investor interest and overall the rate cut is positive for emerging markets.
Congressman Joseph Crowley, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the United States House of Representatives and the former chair of the Caucus on India and Indian Americans, has condemned the terror attack on Mumbai.
'If it doesn't, it will continue with measures to infuse liquidity, signalling a new cycle,' predicts Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
An influential Republican lawmaker has vowed to hold United States President Barack Obama's feet to the fire regarding his pledge during his address to the Parliament to pressure Pakistan to dismantle terrorist havens within its borders that foment attacks against India.
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.
Reports in the media on Friday said US Senator Tom Lantos had written a letter to the prime minister asking India to 'sever' military ties with Iran and "terminate" all cooperation in the energy sector.
"Pakistan must be dissuaded from using terrorism as a state policy, and part of the US engagement with Pakistan should be focused on that result," says Ed Royce, senior Republican lawmaker.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee has approved a legislation to recognise the religious and historical significance of Diwali. The legislation was introduced by Congressman Joe Wilson, South Carolina Republican and co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans, on the urging of the Hindu American Foundation. Now the Rules Committee has to schedule a date for the full House to take up this legislation on the floor and vote to formally recognise Diwali
'If Pakistan's army wants to escalate violence in Kashmir, they have an unlimited supply of jihadis they can train and send. That's not an issue for them.'
United States Representative Ed Royce, California Republican and the ranking GOP member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has slammed the alleged ethnic cleansing of Hindus in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Bhutan and said Hindus have been discriminated much more than any other ethnic group in these countries.
A host of United States lawmakers attended an event on Capitol Hill on Friday to hail India's election and the Bharatiya Janata Party's landslide victory, and to also invite Narendra Modi to Washington to discuss issues ranging from counter-terrorism to bilateral economic cooperation and investment.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday approved a legislation that would triple economic assistance to Pakistan to $1.5 billion a year, authored by its chairman Congressman Howard Berman, California Democrat, despite being vehemently opposed by the pro-Pakistan lobby and the Obama Administration.
United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday virtually accused the Asif Ali Zardari-led Pakistan government of surrendering to terrorists.Mincing no words over the Barack Obama administration's anger over the Zardari government's striking a deal with the Taliban in Swat Valley, Clinton told the House Foreign Affairs Committee that "I think that the Pakistani government is basically abdicating to the Taliban and to the extremists."
Influential US lawmaker Congressman Ed Royce has called for the shutting down of the Deobandi schools (madrassas) in Pakistan, which he alleged "continue to churn out terrorists that attack" democratic nations, including India and the United States.
