Addressing a joint session of Parliament on Monday, President Pranab Mukhejee spelled out the Narendra Modi's government's agenda. Here are the highlights of his speech,
The two Indian Americans on the White House inter-faith council, Eboo Patel, a Muslim, and Anju Bhargava, a Hindu, have strongly endorsed United States President Barack Obama's support for the proposed mosque cum community and Islamic cultural center near Ground Zero in New York, saying it was a constitutional issue with regard to freedom of religion that had to be protected zealously
'The CBI should be bifurcated and the CBI's charter should be restricted to anti-corruption cases.'
'The investigation of major criminal cases having national and international implications, and national crimes spread over more than one state may be entrusted to a new national crime bureau,' recommends Dr Madhav Godbole, the former home secretary.
Naga splinter groups impatient with stalled talks as well as rebel Manipuri groups who have a stake in disrupting upcoming elections to the state assembly, are believed to be regrouping in the borderlands of China's Yunnan province and Myanmar, taking advantage of the turmoil in the latter by using it as a transit corridor.
The GST's significance for the BJP's politics is as important as its implications for the Indian economy, says A K Bhattacharya.
The United Nations members States have endorsed India's viewpoint that the General Assembly should begin the inter-governmental negotiations on expansion of the Security Council, with consensus emerging in favour of starting parleys by February next year. While all members agree that the Council should be expanded to reflect the current realities, a majority wants the expansion to take place in both categories and a minority subscribes to the UFC viewpoint.
'NSCN-IM leader Muivah warns that the NSCN-IM has come very close to an honourable solution to the peace process with the Government of India, but if it does not materialise, then the Nagas will go away so far that it would be difficult to bring them back to the negotiating table easily,' note Sandeep Pandey and Meera Sanghamitra.
'Instead of writing NAM's obituary, India should reinvent it,' suggests Dr Rup Narayan Das.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
'If Ranil Wickremesinghe starts repressing and suppressing the protesters who represent the people, that will pose a danger for him to continue in office.'
We have our own problems for sure and they are not trivial, but for now, our economy is in not too bad a shape, our politics is as personality-driven and authoritarian as that of most countries in the world. We must make the best of what we have and not be excessively unhappy looking at the grass on the other side of the septic tank which may not be greener after all!, observes Shreekant Sambrani.
For the government to meet its GST roll-out deadline of April 1, 2017, the states will have to ratify the Bill before Parliament's winter session, starting November.
Though Bajwa met Saudi Arabia's Deputy Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman and Saudi Arabia's military chief of staff General Fayyad bin Hamid Al-Ruwaili, he failed to meet the crown prince.
Fiscal federalism should not be sacrificed at the altar of GST.
The CAG audit and other data suggests it could be far from the efficient new alternative that was once conceptualised. A conclusive review remains elusive till the government begins to release more granular and comparable data on the complex backend of GST to a deeper scrutiny, by researchers, auditors and the public.
The United States has the right to target the Haqqani network that not only kills American troops in Afghanistan, but also sponsors Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, said Senator Carl Levin, who chairs the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee.
On January 20, Taliban men armed with Kalashnikovs and suicide vests attacked the landmark Intercontinental Hotel and killed around 25 people, going from room to room searching for foreigners during the more than 12-hour ordeal.
The Centre also overruled financial advisers' recommendations for making payments through an escrow account, an important safeguard in the absence of a sovereign or bank guarantee, The Hindu has reported.
The Taliban had promised an 'inclusive' government that represents Afghanistan's complex ethnic makeup, but there is no Hazara member in the cabinet.
At least a dozen officers from Gujarat are handling key assignments in various important central positions
'Clearly, Washington has all but given up hope following US Acting Assistant Secretary of State Alice Wells's stormy visit to Colombo last month where she read the riot act to Sri Lankan leaders to sign the pending status of forces agreement allowing American troops to use Sri Lanka as a hub for operations in the Indian Ocean,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The Constitution should not encumber these choices, specially limiting them to second-best or third-grade options.
Kashmiri separatist leader Ghulam Nabi Fai, who has been accused of being an Inter Services Intelligence agent and funneling its money into the United States to influence American lawmakers on Kashmir, has admitted to taking money from Pakistan's spy agency. During his detention hearing at the US district court in Alexandria, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, the prosecution said that Fai, the head of Kashmiri American Council, had admitted to receiving funds from the ISI.
Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Prakash Javadekar on Thursday expressed surprise that senior journalists like Kuldeep Nayyar, Dileep Padgaonkar and former Chief Justice of Delhi high court Justice Rajinder Sachhar did not know the credentials of Kashmiri-American lobbyist Ghulam Nabi Fai.
United States Republican Party member Dan Burton, who is reportedly the largest individual recipient of money from two alleged Pakistani spies, has said that he is "deeply shocked" by the arrest of Kashmiri American Council executive director Ghulam-Nabi Fai.
It is possible that the Centre has now become wiser and has decided to follow an allocation system which gives it more from Integrated GST and helps boost its revenues, says A K Bhattacharya.
There were reports that there was was dissent in the US President's regime over North Korea.
"The FATF plenary decided continuation of Pakistan in 'Grey List' till its next meeting to be held in October," an official privy to the development told PTI.
As per the revised return filing timeline decided by the Council, for July, the sale returns will have to be filed by September 5 instead of August 10. Companies will have to file sale invoice for August with the GST Network by September 20 instead of September 10 earlier.
In the 'Additional guidelines for quarantine of returnees from abroad/contacts/ isolation of suspect or confirmed cases in private facilities', released on Thursday evening, the ministry said there are large number of facilities such as hotels, service apartments and lodges which are "unoccupied due to impact of COVID-19 on travel and tourism".
A Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) Access Agreement signed between the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) and US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
ISI chief Faiz Hameed coerced the Taliban to announce an interim government guaranteed to preserve Pakistan's control over the levers of power in Kabul, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
A major drawback of the Anti-Defection Law is the lack of precise definition of defection itself, points out Rup Narayan Das.
India has said the multiple terror attacks in Paris and Beirut highlight the urgent need to finalise a global convention on terrorism.
Prime Minister Modi will address three rallies -- at Dehri-on Sone (Rohtas district), Gaya and Bhagalpur -- to seek support for National Democratic Alliance nominees on different assembly constituencies going to vote in the first phase on October 28. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is also slated to launch his campaign in Bihar elections on Friday.
Strengthening the portfolios of the home minister and the finance minister is a message that should not be missed, points out A K Bhattacharya.
80-85 per cent of about 700 major infrastructure projects within the Centre's domain have been delayed.
The shift was sudden, quite unlike Shukla's departure from North Block, which had been anticipated for some months even before Singh''s first Budget.
PCB chairman Ehsan Mani told a National Assembly standing committee meeting that the board paid each West Indian player around $ 25,000 to come for the tour.
A moderate GST rate obviates the need for the two-rate structure.
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