India on Thursday made a strong pitch to the United Nations to take the lead in evolving a comprehensive response to the threat of international piracy in the Red Sea and off the coast of Somalia to ensure unhindered maritime trade. Simultaneously, the international community should continue with efforts to restore stability in Somalia, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said while addressing the joint session of the Ethiopian Parliament in Addis Ababa.
As a cornered Pakistan faced all-round flak for its failure to detect Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's presence on its soil, its parliament on Saturday slammed the United States raid that killed him and warned that the transit facility to Afghan-based North Atlantic Treaty Organsition forces would be withdrawn if "unilateral" American actions like drone strikes continued.
The success of Al Qaeda chierf Osama bin Laden in evading detection and arrest by the Pakistani security agencies for nearly six years since 2005 when he lived in a house near the Pakistan Military Academy in Abbottabad was the result of a comprehensive intelligence failure by all agencies responsible for the collection of intelligence inside Pakistan and not the result of a failure by the Inter-Services Intelligence ISI alone.
Pakistan's powerful Inter Services Inteligence chief Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha on Friday offered to resign after admitting failure over the United States raid that led to the killing of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad.
Bharatiya Janata Party and Janata Dal-Secular legislators boycotted the governor's address to the joint session of the legislature.
Pakistan's senate has passed a resolution making it mandatory for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to attend its session at least once a week after he failed to turn up since assuming the position last year.
The government on Thursday committed itself to continue financial sector reforms by easing foreign investment policy, recapitalising state-owned banks and establishing a regulator for the pension sector.
The government on Thursday said it would expeditiously clear pending proposals in the infrastructure sector under the public-private partnership (PPP) mode while making regulations, governing this area, investment friendly.
The Karnataka legislative assembly on Wednesday witnessed chaotic and unruly scenes as angry Bharatiya Jansata Party legislators tore copies of bills and the agenda, and threw them at the deputy speaker, who was presiding, following which Speaker U T Khader suspended 10 of them for the remainder of the session.
The US hails the landmark 'India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor' which will usher in a new era of connectivity from Europe to Asia and will stimulate economic growth across the two continents.
The sessions court had discharged Venkitaraman for the offence under Section 304 IPC as there was no medical report indicating he was drunk at the time of the accident.
He, however, praised Indian High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria as a good person, but criticised the Indian government's actions.
It was a tough negotiation and the consensus on the declaration was a great achievement by India, European sources said on the condition of anonymity.
Sharma hit the Average Joe hard, though not directly. The fact that other raters Moody's and Fitch maintained their top rating on US debt only added to the discomfort.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Saturday asked India to hold a 'meaningful' dialogue with Pakistan to resolve the Kashmir issue.
As soon as Lok Sabha assembled, opposition members stormed into the well holding placards and shouting slogans. They demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the alleged stock manipulation by the Adani Group.
The Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray on Saturday said Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar not favouring formation of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe allegations against the Adani group will not lead to cracks in opposition unity.
Voicing disappointment over passage of a "useless" Lokpal Bill in Lok Sabha, Team Anna on Wednesday said it appeared the legislation is headed for a joint session of Parliament as the Rajya Sabha may pass a version different from the one already passed.
"Have just got the good news that due to the hard work of our teams and your cooperation, a consensus has been reached on New Delhi G20 Leaders Summit Declaration," Modi said while addressing the second session of the Summit at the Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi.
Barack Obama became the second United States president to address the Parliament after Bill Clinton in 2000 on Monday and though the joint session opened to a packed central hall, the buzz, excitement and sheer charisma of Clinton was missing.
A landmark constitutional reforms package aimed at striking down the Pakistani president's sweeping powers and strengthening democratic institutions was tabled in Pakistan's parliament on Friday, with the ruling Pakistan People's Party describing it as a "bill of hope".
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who was representing President Vladimir Putin, left Bali on Wednesday, a day ahead of the scheduled conclusion of the G20 Summit held amid the economic challenges triggered by the Russia-Ukraine war.
One fallout of Rahul Gandhi's disqualification will be reflected in the Opposition's role in Parliament and related institutions.
Inter Services Intelligence's powerful chief Ahmed Shuja Pasha has warned India that any Abbottabad-like attack by it would invite a befitting response from Pakistan. Pasha's warning came as he addressed the in-camera joint session of the Senate and National Assembly held behind closed doors on Friday. Pasha is facing fire over the inability of the ISI to track down Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, where he was living.
The House, which was briefly adjourned in the morning, will now meet at 11 am on March 13 after recess.
The next meeting of opposition parties will be held in Bengaluru on July 17 and 18, the Congress announced on Monday, and asserted their resolve to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party has been strengthened by the 'Mumbai operations' of the 'BJP washing machine'.
The alliance would announce a coordination committee, which could be of 11 members from principal opposition parties.
The ministry had asked YouTube to remove the clips following directive from the home ministry, a government source said, adding that the said links have now been removed.
At a time when people in the Middle East are making moves to steer the region towards democracy, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Wednesday said that the world admired India's example as a true democracy.
In an address to the joint session of the Congress, Obama said, "The purpose of the American Jobs Act is simple: to put more people back to work and more money in the pockets of those who are working."
The United States will host a team from India at the State Department over two days beginning on Monday to discuss strategy for a way forward toward UNSC expansion.
The Capitol Hill, the complex comprising of US Congress and its buildings, was briefly put under lockdown on Monday due to "an external security treat", local police said after a fire was reported a few blocks away.
The Congress on Wednesday asserted that the only way to comprehensively investigate the Adani issue is through a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) and claimed that the Supreme Court-appointed expert committee would be a 'clean chit' panel for the government.
United States President Barack Obama will address a joint session of the Parliament on November 8 during his first state visit to the country and with less than a month to go preparations are in full swing to give the American premier a warm welcome.
Ahead of US President Barack Obama's visit to India in November, B Raman talks about how the US will ultimately need both China and India to maintain its economic prosperity. Yet, for now, China, not India, is a bird in hand.
Foreign ministers of G20 major economies will meet in the national capital on March 1 and 2 to deliberate on pressing global challenges amid escalating confrontation between Russia and the West over the Ukraine conflict that entered the second year this week.
The National Democratic Alliance on Thursday termed the Presidential address to the joint session of Parliament as "totally disappointing" and said there was "nothing new" in it.
The United Progressive Alliance government on Thursday declared that it will pursue a policy of 'zero-tolerance' towards terrorism from whatever source it originates and seek to reshape its relationship with Pakistan, which should confront terror groups inimical to India. Outlining ten broad areas of priority for the next five years, President Patil, in her address to the jt session of Parliament, said that security and preservation of communal harmony will be among those.
Expecting the economy to slow down in the current fiscal amid global recession, President Pratibha Patil on Thursday said the new government will focus on adversely-affected sectors like infrastructure, exports, SMEs, and housing to restore the growth momentum.
At the meeting, many parties urged the Congress to publicly denounce the ordinance but the Congress refused to do so, claimed AAP, adding that the grand old party's "silence raises suspicions about its real intentions".
