Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh has blamed Hollywood's famous flick 'Harry Potter' for the dwindling number of wild owls in the country.
'Following Harry Potter, there seems to be a strange fascination even among the urban middle classes for presenting their children with owls,' the Telegraph quoted Ramesh as telling BBC.
Orissa can now divert forest land for the steel project.
'We were activists when we were students. It was as students that we were propelled to fight for justice. Neither of us regret that.' 'Where the country is now, more and more people should become vocal.'
Jairam Ramesh denied that he was going after the big fish to get into limelight.
Suu Kyi will be accompanied by Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh and Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy will visit, official sources said in Hyderabad on Wednesday.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday dubbed the electoral bonds as the 'world's biggest extortion scheme' and alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the 'champion of corruption'.
In a post on X, Chidambaram said the Israel-Gaza war threatens to escalate and cause more deaths on both sides.
The two signed an agreement on Monday to study and clean the Ganga.
'These betrayers don't realise that their exit opens up vast new opportunities to those whose growth they have always stunted'
Hundreds of rural women who gathered to collect forms for a newly announced government scheme in Jorhat district of Assam left their queues to greet Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who was leading the 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra' through the area on Thursday.
The party's economic wizard will be fielded from Andhra Pradesh.
The Congress 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra', led by Rahul Gandhi, is scheduled to enter West Bengal from Assam on Thursday, amid political ripples within the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) in the state.
Soon after the suspension of 33 opposition Lok Sabha MPs, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said all democratic norms have been thrown into the dustbin by this "autocratic" government and it has shown zero accountability towards Parliament.
While the tiger will most likely not go extinct in the next half-century, its current trajectory is catastrophic. A combination of poor governance, bureaucratic sloth and lack of leadership is leading us towards an ecological disaster.
A voter turnout of 60.19 per cent was recorded till 5 pm in the third phase of Lok Sabha elections in 93 constituencies spread over 11 states and Union Territories on Tuesday with sporadic incidents of violence in West Bengal.
"Making of toilets and having faith in a religious place of worship are two different things. India is a multicultural country where we should have unblemished faith in a temple, a mosque, a gurudwara or a church. You cannot juxtapose the two," BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said.
The shock defeat of BJP's chief ministerial candidate Prem Kumar Dhumal has thrown open the leadership race in Himachal Pradesh and brought back Health Minister Nadda into contention.
The Congress has so far announced 82 candidates for the seven-phase Lok Sabha polls beginning April 19.
Preparations for Copenhagen is on full swing. Minister Jairam Ramesh met 5 MPs to discuss India's approach.
The Indian National Congress is in no way connected with the businesses of Dheeraj Sahu, MP. Only he can explain, Congress general secretary in-charge communications, Jairam Ramesh said.
Maintaining that the INDIA alliance is for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and not for assembly polls in any state, the Congress on Friday asserted that the opposition bloc of 27 parties exists and will fight together.
The Election Commission has issued a notice to Union Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh on a complaint seeking his disqualification as a Rajya Sabha member on the office of profit issue.
"I believe the biggest issues in front of us are malnutrition and toilets, these are the two faces of one coin... I have MNREGA, PMGSY, drinking water etc under me but I spend maximum time on toilet only," said Ramesh, who holds the portfolios of Rural Development and Drinking Water and Sanitation, in what apparently was his take on the toilet controversy for which the plan panel has drawn flak.
The suspension of 49 Lok Sabha MPs came a day after, a total of 78 -- 33 from the Lower House and 45 from the Upper House -- lawmakers were suspended from Parliament for disrupting proceedings.
SUVs are increasingly becoming a rage amongst buyers.
'We decided to start the yatra from Manipur so that the people of India get a sense of what the people of Manipur have been through'
Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh lays out the roadmap for rural growth --- without mincing words.
With the CAA rules being issued, the Modi government will now start granting Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants -- Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians -- from the three countries.
'This mega corruption scandal, as certified by the Supreme Court, will expose the unholy nexus between the BJP and its corrupt corporate masters'
With this the only minister without a portfolio is Oscar Fernandes
Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has hit out at Bharatiya Janata Party President Rajnath Singh for calling the former a 'super chief minister'.
In a major organisational rejig ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the Congress on Saturday appointed Avinash Pande the general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh, replacing Priyanka Gandhi Vadra while Sachin Pilot was made the general secretary in-charge of Chhattisgarh.
Ramesh alleged that through the "electoral bonds scam", the Bharatiya Janata Party has collected Rs 8,200 crore and used the route of "pre-paid, post-paid, post-raid bribes and shell companies".
Former environment minister Jairam Ramesh on Thursday virtually backed the non-governmental organisation Greenpeace in the backdrop of an Intelligence Bureau report warning that the NGO is a threat to the country's economic growth.
The Rajya Sabha has been witnessing repeated disruptions ever since it met for the Monsoon session on July 20.
Rahul Gandhi was booked on Tuesday for 'wanton acts of violence' by the Assam Police as the political confrontation between the Congress leader and state Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma escalated on the tenth day of the 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra', with Gandhi asserting that he does not get 'intimidated' by such tactics.
Right to apprenticeship, legal guarantee for MSP, passing a constitutional amendment to raise the 50 per cent cap on reservations for SCs, STs and OBCs, a nation-wide caste census and scrapping of Agnipath scheme are among the promises made by the Congress in its Lok Sabha polls manifesto released on Friday.
Jairam Ramesh, who gave up ministership to design the Congress campaign and manifesto, talks to Aditi Phadnis about the 2009 general elections.
Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar's decision to allow Singh to speak on the Bharat Ratna honour to Charan Singh drew sharp protest from the Congress, leading to a heated exchange of words between the opposition and the treasury benches.
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