Nitin A Gokhale, Co-founder, BharatShakti.in and long-time Rediff.com contributor, remembers a most unusual politician.
'The defence minister should concentrate on acquiring a bigger stick, rather than brag of using terrorists as State policy.'
The opposition Congress could muster only 16 votes against the government with one of its legislators absenting from the crucial floor test.
Chinese leaders, including its generals, will have to weigh whether they can win a war if they ever attack Taiwan and if at all, can they sustain the subsequent devastation, notes Rup Narayan Das.
A profile of B Sudershan Reddy, former Supreme Court judge and Opposition's vice presidential candidate, highlighting his career, judgments, and contributions to constitutional law.
A special court in Goa on Monday acquitted State Transport and Panchayati Raj Minister Mauvin Godinho in a 1998 power rebate case, bringing an end to a 27-year-long legal battle.
The final journey of Goa's 'son of the soil' begun from Kala Academy in Panjim. A teeming column of mourners followed on foot and vehicles.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi claimed that former finance minister Arun Jaitley had threatened him to not speak against the farm laws, a charge refuted by the BJP.
Parrikar's poor health has sparked speculation over his continuation as the chief minister of Goa, and Shah had recently sent a central party leaders team to the coastal state to speak to allies and take stock of political situation.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar is under fire after he said that the respect for the Indian Army is waning because it hasn't fought a war in the past 40 to 50 years. However, he clarified that his statement should not be considered as an endorsement of war.
The meeting comes a day after Gandhi alleged that the "Goa audio tapes", cited by the Congress to attack the Centre on the Rafale issue, were authentic and Parrikar was in possession of "explosive secrets" that give him power over Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
BJP leaders and allies, who met Parrikar separately, ruled out any change in leadership in the state.
Parrikar will stay at his private residence in Panaji,
Goa Leader of Opposition Manohar Parrikar on Wednesday told the state legislative assembly that it can be 'inferred' that Chief Minister Digambar Kamat might have been involved in illegal mining activities.
Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party members on Friday walked out of the Goa assembly protesting the speaker's action of not considering the Public Accounts Committee's report on the illegal mining in the state.
Parrikar said he did not take anyone's name. "What is quoted is not what I have said. I never took the name of anyone, nor threatened anyone," the defence minister said.
Vishwajit Rane purportedly can be heard saying that during a Goa cabinet meeting last week Parrikar stated he had an entire file and all documents relating to the Rafale deal lying in his bedroom, Surjewala claimed, playing the conversation for the media outside Parliament.
The culling of key state leaders and bureaucrats has given rise to distrust and uneasiness in Pramod Sawant's style of functioning, notes Aditi Phadnis.
There are 202 candidates in the fray, including Chief Minister Pratapsingh Rane for the 40-member House, which will go to polls on June 2.
Fazal was governor during November 1999 to October 2002 in Goa and later in Maharashtra between October 2002 and December 2004.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav are and 10 political leaders who were on Thursday elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
Parrikar was first elected to the Goa assembly in 1994. He served as he leader of the opposition from June to November 1999.
The development comes at a time when Parrikar, 62, is undergoing treatment for a pancreatic ailment at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi.
"The BJP is in the best position to form the government, I am confident of getting necessary support from others," the former Goa chief minister said.
'BJP central observers have come to Goa and are scheming to merge smaller parties within their party to run the government.'
Citing certain examples, Naik said the defence minister 'falsely claims that India never conducted surgical strikes in the past'.
'There are certain issues and mistakes from which we all have to learn and I am sure that our party too will do so. These problems are short-lived,' says former Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar.
Michael Lobo, who resigned as deputy speaker of the Goa Legislative Assembly, and three of the 10 MLAs who joined the BJP -- Chandrakant Kavlekar, Jeniffer Monserratte, Philip Neri Rodrigues -- were sworn in as new ministers.
He was a leader who enjoyed acceptance from all sections of the BJP and beyond.
'Parrikar is living for Modi and Shah, not for his motherland or Goa'
Prime Minister Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh would be present at the function, a government spokesperson said.
"The Opposition's mahagathbandhan is an alliance of corruption, negativity and instability. The Opposition has 'dhanshakti' (money power), we have 'janshakti' (people's power)," the prime minister said.
In the last two-and-a half years, the Congress has lost 13 of its MLAs to the BJP which now enjoys an overwhelming majority in the assembly.
Parrikar also took a dig at Congress president Sonia Gandhi, saying translation from Italian was not easy 'at least for the ruling side. May not be a difficult task for the Opposition'.
Earlier, BJP leader Ram Lal said the Goa government is stable and no demand has been made for a change in the leadership.
Parrikar has been admitted to the AIIMS for follow-up treatment reportedly for a pancreatic ailment.
It is a record that the saffron party has created, where the majority of its legislators belonged to the minority community.
While the Congress currently has 14 MLAs, down from 16 after Sopte and Shirodkar left it to join the BJP, the latter has 13 MLAs.
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