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.
There was an environment of "indifference" towards the use of technology in governance before 2014 due to which the poor and the middle class suffered the most, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday. He asserted the current government has ensured last-mile delivery of services with the help of technology, including drones. Addressing a gathering after inaugurating India's biggest drone festival in Delhi, he said, "At a time when we are celebrating Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, it is my dream that everyone in India should have a smartphone in his or her hand, every farm should have a drone and every house should have prosperity." The enthusiasm being seen in India about drone technology is amazing and indicates possibilities of an emerging sector of employment generation, the prime minister said.
To a question on whether deciding against contesting in the constituency would send a wrong signal, she said, "No I don't think so... I had said from the start that I will do what my party says...my party decided this and I am happy to follow the instructions."
Modi shared the warmth of Chief Minister M K Stalin who briefly held the PM's hand and patted the back of the latter's palm while walking through the displays exhibited at the new Chennai airport terminal.
What are the political equations, the challenges, and the threats?
After following Congress president Rahul Gandhi and the party's official Twitter handle, he began following senior leaders P Chidambaram, Kapil Sibal, Ahmed Patel, Ashok Gehlot, Ajay Maken, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sachin Pilot and CP Joshi from this month.
It is clear that Kamal Nath is gearing up for the 2023 assembly polls, reports Sandeep Kumar.
In the five years in politics Priyanka Gandhi has undeniably emerged as a thorn in the BJP flesh, notes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay. It is time that this thorn is twisted a wee bit more when the elections have become far more uncertain than what it was when the Election Commission announced the poll schedule.
A modern day prince and princess are getting married in Bengaluru this weekend.
An additional 1,400 CISF personnel have been sanctioned to secure the expanding terminal areas of the Delhi airport and also to meet the challenge of its growing passenger traffic, officials said on Thursday.
"This conference was called for political discussions. But when our jawans have been killed in a terror attack in Pulwama, I feel it would not be right if we have political discussions at this time," Priyanka told reporters at the press conference venue in Lucknow.
'Elections in Madhya Pradesh have so far largely avoided freebies.' 'But this time both the Congress and BJP are making such announcements.'
'Its people are either victims of corruption or witnesses to it.'
Singh said nobody anticipated that Scindia would quit the party.
Jhunjhunwala passed away early on Sunday morning due to a cardiac arrest, a source in his newly set up airline said.
The Congress won in five local bodies, while the BJP was confined to three.
The Finance Committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India decided to allocate a fund of Rs 50 crore for infrastructure development of the North Eastern states, informed Cricket Association of Bengal joint secretary Avishek Dalmiya.
Union ministers Rao Inderjit Singh and Prahlad Patel, Subramanian Swamy, known for his strong views on a host of issues, Suresh Prabhu, Dushyant Singh, who is the son of former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje, Vijay Goel, Vinay Katiyar and S S Ahluwalia are among those who have not found a berth in the new list while Union minister V K Singh is no longer a regular member and has been named as a special invitee.
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.
This is the first time that Gandhi will be meeting Congress leaders face-to-face, months after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
India's largest carrier IndiGo will cut 20 per cent of its flights due to lower demand as a rapidly spreading coronavirus upends the recovery of air travel. The airline was operating around 1,200 flights as on Saturday. Other airlines are being forced to cancel flights as states tighten restrictions to combat the spread of the virus, and people are dropping last-minute travel plans. Airlines carried 2,518 passengers on 260,251 flights on Saturday, compared to 2,794 passengers on 358,856 flights the day before.
BJP leaders in Madhya Pradesh, led by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, on Monday held a protest against Kamal Nath, while the National Commission for Women sought an explanation from the Congress leader for his 'item' jibe against state minister Imarti Devi.
Vardhan had said on Friday, "Doctors at AIIMS are doing the best they can."
If the party's members aren't sure what it stands for, see no path to wealth or power, and endure control by a dynasty, which, almighty as it is within the party, cannot get them the votes, they are likely to explore options, notes Shekhar Gupta.
'The Congress today has lost contact with the Hindu clergy.' 'They go to to Hindu clergy only during the time of elections.'
Observing that law and order was a state subject, the home minister said the Centre cannot remain silent on the issue.
Modi and Chouhan have visited Mahakoshal multiple times and reached out to tribals to shore up support for the BJP.
The party claimed it has the support of the independent candidates also.
Lok Sabha on Thursday passed two bills before the proceedings were adjourned for the day amid continuous protests by opposition members over the Pegasus spying row and farmers' issue.
At a meeting of the business advisory committee of Lok Sabha, which has floor leaders of all parties besides the government representatives and is chaired by the Speaker, most political parties favoured curtailment of the session, which started on September 14 and was scheduled to conclude on October 1.
The governor also directed that the trust vote be held by division of votes and the process be recorded on video by the Vidhan Sabha through independent persons.
'The BJP may well be his ultimate destination.' 'In the process, he has probably shot himself in the foot.' 'It is unlikely that either Scindia or Pilot will be anything other than a No 3 or a No 4 in the Modi-Shah dispensation,' predicts Amulya Ganguli.
Sundays are generally quiet days for air travel, but this Sunday was a tad different. There was quite an excitement at Gate 28 of Mumbai airport's Terminal 1 as Akasa Air, India's newest airline, prepared to take to the skies on Day 1. With a new fuel-efficient Boeing 737 Max aircraft and soft cushioned seats equipped with USB ports, Akasa Air hopes to bring freshness to the flying experience.
Sixteen former ministers of the United Progressive Alliance government are staying unauthorised in government bungalows for over a month now and have been served eviction notices, the Lok Sabha was told on Wednesday.
BJP candidate was attacked in West Bengal, EVM glitches were reported in New Delhi.
Describing Lord Buddha as the inspiration for India's Constitution even today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said Buddha resides in the soul of humanity and connects different cultures and countries.
Amid a spurt in COVID-19 cases in some parts of the world, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday cautioned against complacency and directed officials to strengthen the ongoing surveillance measures, especially at international airports.
The BCCI's three-member Disciplinary Committee, headed by President Shashank Manohar, is set to decide on the fate of tainted cricketers, Ajit Chandila and Hiken Shah on Tuesday. The two players had met the committee members in person here to answer questions put to them on December 24 before the three-man panel deferred taking a decision by giving them time till January 4, 2016 to file a written response to the charges of spot-fixing against them.
Gandhi had decided not to celebrate her birthday because of rape incidents and assaults on women in the country.
Priyanka, who conducted a meeting with local Congress workers inside the party office for around 16 hours on Tuesday, told reporters, "These things will keep on going, I'm doing my own work." She made the remarks when asked if Vadra's questioning by the ED affected her.
