Fifteen Cabinet ministers and 28 Ministers of State were sworn-in by President Ram Nath Kovind at a ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Wednesday evening.
Vellore is one of the two seats that the DMK alliance won by the narrowest of margins in 2019. For the DMK's vote-score to be so low in a constituency with a substantial Muslim population has not missed the BJP strategists' eyes, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Americans have expended a lot of diplomatic energy to coax India into toeing their line but India has refused to buckle under pressure. As Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said, India has not taken anyone's side but its own side, points out Virendra Kapoor.
Leaders of various opposition parties on Sunday demanded that issues of price rise, 'Agnipath' scheme as well as the alleged misuse of investigative agencies be taken up in Parliament and also raised objections to the list of 'unparliamentary words' at an all-party meeting convened by the government ahead of the Monsoon Session.
The sources said the situation in eastern Ladakh remained 'tense' and that around 30-40 soldiers of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) are holding up at a position close to an Indian post in the Rezang-La ridgeline in eastern Ladakh.
Sources said India will not lower its guard and will maintain the current state of very high-level of combat readiness in eastern Ladakh till there are visible changes in the ground situation.
At a time when China is trying to make its foray into South Asia, India should use its shared history to strengthen its ties in the region, says Dr Rup Narayan Das.
Among the panels announced on Thursday is the Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) to be headed by the prime minister with Shah as the other member.
The new Council of Ministers comprises of 25 Cabinet ministers, nine Ministers of State (Independent Charge) and 24 Ministers of State (MoSes).
India is primarily focusing on evacuating its nationals from conflict zones in eastern Ukraine including Kharkiv and Sumy, and that the total number of Indians still stuck in the battle-scarred nation is roughly in the range of 2,000 to 3,000.
The HMO said it will amend the rules to increase the time limit of filing of appeals in foreigners tribunals from 60 to 120 days for those who would be excluded from the final NRC.
President Ram Nath Kovind said the nation will always be grateful to the security personnel who laid down their lives in the line of duty.
The 2+2 was attended by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin and their Indian counterparts S Jaishankar and Rajnath Singh respectively.
General Bipin Rawat, his wife and 11 others were killed in a helicopter crash near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday, the Indian Air Force said.
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Across the country, the number of patients in ICU beds is 4,88,861 while 1,70,841 patients were on ventilators and 9,02,291 patients were on oxygen support.
Monday, November 8, 2021, Lal Kishenchand Advani -- the politician who took the Bharatiya Janata Party from its parliamentary nadir in 1984, when it won just two Lok Sabha seats, to establishing the edifice for its present dominance in Indian politics -- will turn 94.
"These developments clearly negate the argument that India's mainstreaming in the international export control regimes will further the non-proliferation objectives of these regimes," Pak's Foreign Office said.
'This is a historic juncture when the US is in great need of an alliance with India to strengthen its hands in the fierce struggle with China in the Asian theatre,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
"We foresee a very intensive engagement during the day that will culminate in the summit," the MEA spokesperson said.
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Thursday contested the assertion in a Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) statement that the new farm laws were passed in Parliament after a full debate and discussion, terming it as 'a travesty of the truth'.
Sidhu said he had been invited by the Pakistan government for the opening ceremony of the corridor, which will connect Darbar Sahib in Pakistan's Kartarpur with Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district in Punjab.
The flight arrived at Wuhan's Tianhe International Airport on Friday evening. While the official number of students to be airlifted in the two flights is not known, Indians who reached the Wuhan airport on Friday said they were told that 374 were expected to be airlifted by the Air India flight. India has taken an undertaking from the Indians travelling in the two flights that they would be quarantined for 14 days after their arrival, besides undergoing special checks at the Wuhan airport.
"Please do not call my son a terrorist," says JNUSU President Kanhaiya's mother.
'India should not be taken by surprise if the Biden administration seeks China's cooperation at some point,' alerts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'The border stand-off and the uncertainties that come with it should be a wake-up call on what makes for real rather than illusory power,' observes T N Ninan.
The agenda of the talks will be to firm up a roadmap for disengagement of troops from all the friction points in eastern Ladakh, the sources said.
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.
Russia President Vladimir Putin on Monday described India as a great power, a friendly nation and a time-tested friend and echoed common concerns over terrorism, drug trafficking and organised crime as he held wide-ranging talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
'A breakthrough in eastern Ladakh leading to disengagement and creation of a buffer zone will obviate the need of military deployment through the winter months ahead,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
In a strong response to China's objection to development of infrastructure on the Indian side of the LAC, New Delhi also asserted that Beijing has no locus standi to comment on India's internal matters.
Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Sarbananda Sonowal, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Narayan Rane, all of whom are being seen as probables for induction as ministers in the Modi government, arrived in the national capital on Tuesday amid indications that the Union Council of Ministers is likely to be expanded on Wednesday.
The Modi leadership could lose Election 2024 if a communal flare-up becomes cause for all-round catastrophe, warns N Sathiya Moorthy.
We do not know, because there has been no discussion, no transparency and most likely no real thinking on this matter at our end, observes Aakar Patel.
It is learnt that the Indian delegation insisted on a time-bound implementation of the agreement finalised during the extensive talks between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Moscow on September 10 on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation(SCO) meet.
After talks between the King and President Kovind, the two sides inked three pacts providing for cooperation in polar science, innovation and research and in maritime spheres.
He has Biden's ear and because of the past relationship, Biden will actually listen to him, unlike some past residents of Roosevelt House.
The meeting is taking place under the shadow of a fierce border row between India and China, both members of the influential bloc.
For the first 90 days of 2021, from January 5 onwards, one Union minister will visit one district in Tamil Nadu every week till the assembly election.
Former Indian Administrative Service officer A K Sharma was on Friday named a Bharatiya Janata Party candidate for the Uttar Pradesh legislative council polls a day after he joined the party, fuelling speculation that he will get a ministerial post.
