'In his 2014 election campaign, Mr Modi had boasted that he would apply the Gujarat model to the rest of India. We just have to ensure he doesn't start with Parliament,' says Shashi Tharoor in this fascinating excerpt from his new book, The Paradoxical Prime Minister: Narendra Modi And His India.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed the federal laws on ratifying inter-governmental agreements with India on cooperation in space exploration, the Kremlin press office said on Sunday.
The opposition bloc also got support from Telanagana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao's BRS, which saw the bill as a move to usurp powers of an elected government in Delhi, and asked the House to vote against it.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Thursday said that social distancing norms will be strictly followed in the monsoon session of Parliament in view of the Covid-19 pandemic and 257 MPs of the House will sit in Lok Sabha chamber, 172 in the visitors gallery and the remaining members in the Rajya Sabha chamber and its gallery.
Eight-term member Sumitra Mahajan was on Friday unanimously elected Speaker of the 16th Lok Sabha, becoming the second woman presiding officer of the Lower House after her predecessor Meira Kumar.
Pakistan has always desired a purposeful dialogue with India to resolve outstanding problems, including the core issue of Kashmir, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Tuesday.Qureshi said, Referring to Pakistan's policy on Kashmir, he said, "We want a just and peaceful resolution of the Kashmir issue in light of the United Nation's resolutions and according to the aspirations of the Kashmiri people," he said.
He said that the government of India has never accepted this illegal occupation.
The bill, aimed at easing the existing legislation on rape, which was part of the Hudood Ordinance brought in by former military ruler Zia-ul-Haq, will become law after getting assent from Musharraf, who pressed for its approval.
The Pakistan government has no plans to roll back the country's atomic programme and is committed to maintaining a minimum nuclear deterrence, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Babar Awan said Tuesday. The Pakistan People's Party-led government will not compromise on the country's defence and sovereignty, he said in the National Assembly or lower house of Parliament.
Top Pakistani officials are refusing to disclose how and on what the country's powerful spy agency Inter Services Intelligence spent a whopping Rs 5.55 billion allocated to it during 2007-08. "This is highly sensitive information and hence I can't talk about it at an open forum," Finance Secretary Salman Siddiqui told the Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly or the lower house of parliament.
Khan met Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin on February 24, the day the Russian leader had ordered a "special military operation" against Ukraine.
Hence, "it will be better for Pakistan if we hold elections again," he was quoted as saying by the Dawn newspaper.
With the delimitation exercise changing the face of Lok Sabha constituencies, many members of the Lower House may have to work hard to adapt to new political contours. But Mani Shankar Aiyar, the union panchayat minister, can rest in peace. He is the only Member of Parliament who could resurrect his constituency (Mayiladuturai in Tamil Nadu's Nagapattinam district) after it was declared abolished by the delimitation commission.
Describing Mumbai attacker Ajmal Amir Iman Kasab's confession as "doctored", Pakistani authorities have reportedly said the evidence provided by India on the terror strikes is "insufficient" and no action can be taken based on it.
The 52-year-old Congress leader reached Surat in the afternoon via a scheduled commercial flight along with sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and proceeded to the sessions court.
Why did Modi single out the Congress and its leaders for the most pugnacious verbal assault while sparing other regional adversaries? If he is trying to get some parties to break the Opposition ranks, it means that the BJP's present bravado is for effect. Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author of Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times, begins a new column for Rediff.com.
Abe got a resounding victory in the snap polls held on Sunday.
The deficit stood over Rs 8 trillion in the first seven months of the current financial year. Non-tax revenues, comprising transfers from the RBI and dividends of the public sector units, shored up the Centre's revenues.
The Democratic Party of Japan has won a landslide victory in the elections on Sunday, ending 50 years of almost unbroken rule by the Liberal Democratic Party, the BBC has said.
The Pakistan government has received "credible intelligence reports" confirming the death of local Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud in a drone attack and physical evidence is being collected to validate the claim, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Monday.
Inaugurating a National Seminar on 'War on Terrorism', Advani said several functionaries, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, had spoken on the need for a 'strong anti-terror law' and they should support the passage in the 15th Lok Sabha, he said, adding that it was time to fight terror treating it as an issue that deserved broad national consensus.
Chaos ensued in the Lower House as Ashok Gajapathi Raju refused to heed the demand of revoking the flying ban on Ravindra Gaikwad.
On one hand, South Indian states have been complaining about denial of a proportionate portion of the sharable funds from the Centre, based on population. On the other hand, they stand to lose Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha seats that again are based on population, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Nuclear Liability Bill will be taken up in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, the day Parliament will resume after a three-day recess. Government sources said that the bill, to which the Union Cabinet had on Friday approved 18 changes as per the recommendations of the Standing Committee on Science and Technology, would be brought in the Lower House. The changes included a three-fold hike in the liability from Rs 500 crore to Rs 1,500 crore.
The move is likely to spark opposition from China, which recently witnessed massive protests over Japan's handling of its wartime past.
Pakistan's embattled Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday shared some details from what he called a "foreign conspiracy letter" with senior journalists and cabinet members, asserting that the document was authentic.
Mapanna Mallikarjun Kharge, a staunch Gandhi family loyalist from Karnataka, has become the Congress' first non-Gandhi president in 24 years.
Imran Khan will continue to be the prime ninister of Pakistan until the appointment of a caretaker premier, according to a notification issued by President Arif Alvi on Monday.
Companies Bill, 2008, once approved by Parliament, will replace the existing Companies Act, which was enacted in 1956. The Bill was introduced by Minister of Corporate Affairs Prem Chand Gupta in the Lower House amid objections raised by CPI-M member Varkala Radhakrishnan.
The Pakistan government has banned 25 religious and other organisations, including the Jamaat-ud-Dawah, the Jaish-e-Mohammed and the Lashker-e-Tayiba, the Interior Ministry said on Wednesday.
Chowdhury is a five-time MP from West Bengal and has not lost the Lok Sabha election since 1999.
It has been advanced in view of the impending elections in four states.
"Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif has decided to rename the Prime Minister's Secretariat as Prime Minister's Office with immediate effect," said a brief statement issued by the premier's media office.
Putin had visited India in January this year, when he was the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations.
A day after Parliament approved scrapping of collegium system for appointment of judges in higher courts, the Chief Justice of India R M Lodha on Friday said Parliament and Executive should not interfere in the domain of Judiciary.
The Pakistan People's Party on Tuesday nominated 51-year-old Mirza, a medical graduate, and Faisal Karim Kundi as its candidates for the posts of speaker and deputy speaker respectively of the Lower House of Parliament. The two candidates are expected to win as the Pakistan People's Party and its allies -- Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Awami National Party and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam -- have a majority in the National Assembly.
The issue of conversion of some Muslims in Agra rocked the Lok Sabha for the second day on Thursday with opposition members creating uproar and demanding immediate discussion on the matter, which they said could have grave consequences like causing riots.
Ruling out the handing over to India of any Pakistani national found to be involved in the Mumbai terror attacks, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani today said such persons will be tried in the country under local laws.
Mutko, sports minister until 2016, and then in charge of sport as deputy prime minister, was last month made a deputy prime minister overseeing construction.
