The original suggestion was to call it 'Indian National Democratic Inclusive Alliance', but the word 'democratic' was replaced with 'developmental' after Kumar and Yechury raised some objections saying it sounded too similar to the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), sources said.
The victories with huge margins came as a Diwali gift and a shot in the arm for the nearly six-month-old alliance ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls after facing frequent questions about its longevity.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has once again refused to apologise for his Modi surname remark that led to his disqualification as an MP but urged the Supreme Court to stay his conviction in the criminal defamation case stemming from his comment, asserting he is not guilty.
The Karnataka Congress is a "united house" and it will fight the assembly polls next year on its own under a "collective leadership", party's state unit chief DK Shivakumar said on Thursday.
The party was trounced in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and is now left with only Himachal Pradesh in the north. It is ruling in only three states on its own and is in power in Bihar and Jharkhand as a junior partner in alliance with regional parties.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday came down heavily on opposition leaders, asserting that he will not "spare anyone involved in corruption" while pledging "to take every scamster to task".
The last few years have been uncharacteristically good for the Indian sugar sector for a variety of reasons. While on the one hand, the weather supported good crop production; on the other hand, the programme to blend ethanol with petrol took off in a big way. The long-pending problem of burgeoning sugarcane arrears almost came down to nil and exports boomed to record highs.
Taiwan in 1951 came up with an ingenious plan to improve tax compliance: citizens taking receipts for purchases could use them as lottery tickets. Customers were incentivized, and businesses found it hard to evade taxes. The plan's success prompted other countries, Slovakia and Greece among them, to launch similar initiatives. India doesn't seem to find the need yet for such schemes amid surging goods and services tax (GST) collections.
'While lower steel prices may impact a part of the quarter, this will be offset by softer raw material prices.'
The Supreme Court on Friday sought responses from former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi and the state government on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's appeal challenging the high court verdict that declined to put on hold his conviction in a defamation case over his "Modi surname" remark.
The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday questioned the state government's logic behind celebrating the birth anniversary of Tipu Sultan, observing he wasn't a freedom fighter but a monarch who fought to safeguard his interests.
The impact of the bandh called by Ameer-E-Shariat Maulana Sagir Ahmad Khan Rashadi, was visible in areas with predominantly Muslim population in cities across the state, where shops, eateries and restaurants were shut till evening.
Janata Dal-Secular leader H D Kumaraswamy on Thursday said the party's second list of candidates for the May 10 Karnataka assembly polls, including for the contentious Hassan seat, will be finalised on April 7.
'Ram Sene or Bajrang Dal were supposed to be fringe elements, but with the BJP in power, they have become mainstream elements.' 'The government is either keeping quiet or indirectly supporting them.'
The quarrel between Roopa and Rohini Sindhuri Dasari on Monday reached the office of the Chief Secretary Vandita Sharma, with both of them submitting a petition seeking action against each other, and explaining their stance.
'I wonder how people who come to power through democratic means turn out this way.' 'But people of India are strong, and those who think they can hoodwink people, are mistaken.' 'You can fool some people for some time, but not all people, all the time.'
All eyes are now on Kumar who has to take a call on the resignations tendered by 13 MLAs of the Congress and the JD-S from the assembly.
'Elections in Madhya Pradesh have so far largely avoided freebies.' 'But this time both the Congress and BJP are making such announcements.'
The MLAs -- Ramesh Jarkiholi, Mahesh Kumtalli, Umesh Jadhav, and Nagendra -- did not ascribe any reason for not attending the opening day's session.
The Congress on Thursday objected to Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar deleting some portions of Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge's speech from official records, saying he used no unparliamentary words and some of the expressions he employed were earlier used even by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
.jpg)
Justice Ram Mohan Reddy asked Mallya to appear in court and bring along his passport.
Kumaraswamy agreed that the coming assembly elections were a "battle for survival" for the JD-S as it was out of power for 10 years.
The counsel for the petitioners in the hijab ban row on Monday told the Supreme Court the Karnataka high court did an "objectionable" thing when it tried to "interpret" the Holy Quran and held the headscarf worn by Muslim women was not an essential religious practice.
The Karnataka government is divided over filing an appeal in the Supreme Court against the acquittal of former Tamil Nadu chief minister. N Sathiya Moorthy analyses the possibilities
The Supreme Court collegium on Tuesday recommended to the Centre the names of Allahabad high court Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Gujarat high court Chief Justice Aravind Kumar for elevation as apex court judges.
Efforts to forge unity in the opposition ranks gained momentum on Monday with the Congress asserting that a 'vast majority' of non-Bharatiya Janata Party outfits will meet soon, after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar met its president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Rahul Gandhi.
The 91-year-old expressed his joy, saying he never thought that he would sit in a new Parliament building in his lifetime.
"The girls are losing out on studies," lawyer Prashant Bhushan said.
In a counter offensive after 13 MLAs resigned on Saturday dealing a blow to the 13-month-old government, a delegation of Congress leaders met Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar and submitted the petition seeking, under the anti-defection law, disqualification of the rebel legislators in line with the decision taken at a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party on Tuesday.
Pradhan, who is also the skill development minister, said he has received positive feedback from students on the plan to conduct board exams twice a year.
The "black ink and the deadly attack" cannot suppress the voices of farmers and labourers, Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait said after ink was thrown on him in Bengaluru.
'The government or the ruling party has indicated indirectly that you are not supposed to publish anything critical of the government or the senior functionaries of the government.'
Narendra D Modi and his party campaigned in these elections uncharacteristically without any big ideas. Of course, winning each election at all costs could be a big idea as well, observes Shekhar Gupta.
The Bengaluru connection that's shaping Indian cricket.
Khan while reacting to party's state president DK Shivakumar's attempt to consolidate the Vokkaliga community, had recently said that nobody can become the chief minister with support from just one community.
What should be made out of the Madras high court order involving non-Hindus' entry into Hindu temples, when many non-Hindus are among the hundreds of thousands that have been worshipping at these temples for generations, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
Several loyal party old guards were unhappy and had expressed their displeasure openly about "migrants" scuttling the chances of them becoming ministers.
Modi said Gandhi, during his cross-examination, not merely failed to make any dent in the prosecution's case, but practically admitted the defamation of all persons bearing the Modi surname.
In switching over, Nitish has sent out a message that if he could not now become the NDA's PM, then he would need to stay on as CM at the very least, which a third term for Modi would not let him have, N Sathiya Moorthy points out.
The agencies interrogating Indian Mujahideen commander Yasin Bhatkal find him tough to deal with. At first he tried to wriggle out of an arrest but later seemed determined to take on the investigators.
