As a leader, he was ambitious, not for himself but for India and its people. His was not the short-term election cycle calculation of individual political gain. His was a practical vision of how to better the lives of his fellow citizens, asserts Ambassador Shivshankar Menon, who served as foreign secretary and national security advisor when Dr Singh was prime minister.
The Congress had on Friday extended support to the countrywide 'chakka jam' called by the farmer unions, saying party workers will stand shoulder to shoulder with farmers in their protest.
"Indian politics needs more like her," Ramesh said.
The ministry of home affairs has constituted a committee that is to be headed by the ADG, Border Security Force, Eastern Command to monitor the current Indo-Bangladesh Border situation.
'Rahul Gandhi never gets firsthand information. He does not know what is good or bad going on in the party.'
Times have changed, situations have changed, but the basic nature of superpower geo-politics remains the same and so also India's diplomacy -- call it non-alignment, strategic autonomy or neutrality; it all depends on the time scale, notes Rup Narayan Das.
By proposing the addition of six permanent members this year, it may appear that it was a major concession, but in actual fact, it will make no difference to the privilege of the permanent five as the new six will have no veto, ever! points out Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
'We waded through the wet mud into the school, and what we saw were dead bodies strewn all over.' 'We could also see parts of human bodies buried under the wet mud.' 'It was a sight I will never forget in my life. Total devastation everywhere.'
What should have been a direct contest between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress in the Ladakh Lok Sabha constituency is now a three-corner fight with an alliance of local groups fielding an Independent to challenge the national parties.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on Friday sought to quell the suggestions of its rift with the Bharatiya Janata Party and that Mohan Bhagwat's recent critical references related to the Lok Sabha polls were aimed at the ruling party, insisting that such claims are just speculation meant to create confusion.
Voting to elect 60 members of the state assembly in Meghalaya is scheduled for Monday, February 27. The results will be declared on Thursday, March 2.
Much drama is likely to continue in the coming year, within the Sangh Parivar as well as involving the Opposition parties and, of course the BJP's allies, predicts Modi biographer Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
The 193-member UN General Assembly adopted the draft resolution 'Humanitarian consequences of the aggression against Ukraine' by Ukraine and its western allies, with 140 nations voting in favour, five against and 38 abstentions. India abstained on the resolution.
The Madhya Pradesh Congress demanded an apology from the BJP for "insulting" the defence forces.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who has been remanded in judicial custody till April 15 in the excise policy case, paced up and down his 14x8 feet cell on his first night in Tihar jail, managing only to sleep for a while, a prison official said.
Inaugurating the solidarity rally, Venugopal, a Rajya Sabha MP, strongly condemned the war unleashed by Israel in Gaza and their attacks against hospitals and refugee camps there.
Stating that an investigation team will work under the full supervision of the United Nations to ensure complete transparency and impartiality, he said, "None of the outgoing government involved in the murder will be exempted."
'Ajit Pawar is trying to sideline us; he is trying to be in the BJP's good books at our cost.'
Kharge said that while there are very responsible people in the party who were doing their duty, some people had assumed that lack of responsibility will be ignored.
Terming National Conference-led coalition regime in Jammu and Kashmir as a "total failure", Peoples Democratic Party on Saturday claimed that common people in many remote parts of Jammu region are "facing starvation" due to non-availability of rations.
Even as parleys continue in both states, the grand old party is expected to contest less than 110 seats in the November 20 polls for the 288-member Maharashtra assembly.
"I will not be contesting for the post of president any longer. The elections for the post will be held on December 5. It is time for the new generation to take over the responsibilities," Abdullah told PTI.
The ruling National Conference on Sunday termed the opposition Peoples Democratic Party as "enemy number one" of the People of Jammu and Kashmir for the highest degree of corruption during its rule as Jammu and Kashmir became number two corrupt state after Bihar.
Sita lamented and said she was feeling neglected and reluctantly decided to tender her resignation from the primary membership of the party.
'We put the seed of BJP's ideology in Jammu, watered it, nurtured it for four decades and when it was time to reap the fruits of those efforts, the fruits are being sold out to the very same people who worked hard to uproot this tree.' 'Shockingly, our own people are letting this happen and nobody from Delhi bothers to even listen to us.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi would have got a tough fight in Varanasi had Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra contested against him as Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) candidate, feel party workers from the temple town.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal national executive meeting on Sunday witnessed a ruckus as RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav's elder son and Bihar cabinet minister Tej Pratap Yadav came out of the meeting fuming and called the party's national general secretary Shyam Rajak an agent of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
This is a complete betrayal of the mandate of the people of the Sagardighi Assembly constituency, Ramesh said on Twitter.
People feel the new breed of politicians in all parties are selfish, power hungry, greedy, dishonest hypocrites and power merchants for whom the nation comes last, says Dr Subhash C Kashyap, former secretary general, Lok Sabha.
He also said that there is improvement in the law and order situation in the country.
They said they will raise issues related to rising prices, unemployment, corruption and caste census.
What stood out in his 15-year journey as a member of the political executive at the Centre was his glowing record as India's most successful and effective finance minister. Both as prime minister and finance minister, he understood the importance of gradualism, except when the economy or the polity was in a crisis.
'The global climate system doesn't look at where the carbon dioxide is coming from. 'It may be emitted by the US, but it will not remain above the US alone but covers the whole world.'
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres's comment to the Security Council that attacks by Hamas 'did not happen in a vacuum' angered Israel, which called for the UN chief's resignation and apology.
After the police rescinded its permission to hold the rally in front of Rabindra Shatabarshiki Bhawan (Tagore Centenary Hall) in Agartala on Sunday and asked for the meeting venue to be shifted, the TMC filed an urgent case before the high court.
The court converted Naidu's four-week interim medical bail in this case into absolute bail and ordered the former chief minister's release on regular bail, considering his age, old age-related ailments, non-flight risk and other reasons.
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.
Asked how many seats INDIA bloc will get, Gandhi said, "Have you heard Sidhu Moose Wala's song '295'? So 295 (seats)."
The state's economic health is in focus as it has consistently breached the fiscal deficit in eight of the last 10 years since Telangana's formation.
'BJP and RSS may have differences over minor issues but their hearts long for one common aim -- that of A Hindu Rashtra.' 'And this time to prove this point the RSS has prepared to help BJP win this election with all its might.'
