'Welfare schemes are not a necessary evil, they are a necessary good.'
A flop Bharat Jodo Yatra could unleash more resignations from a party which under its current leadership is dying a slow death, warns Virendra Kapoor.
'If you are doing something to our national democratic space which involves serious amounts of land, the public should have been consulted.'
President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday addressed the first joint sitting of Parliament as mandatorily required under the Constitution after the general elections. The address is the political, economic and foreign policy road map of the Narendra Modi government and covers virtually all crucial areas.
Countries across the world -- from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada to Singapore and New Zealand, are witnessing phenomenal strides by Indian-origin politicians, who are now taking on influential and prominent roles in governments and cabinets.
The ordinance was launched to implement the verdict of the ICJ which asked Pakistan to provide effective review of the sentence given to Jadhav my a military court. Jadhav, the 50-year-old retired Indian Navy officer, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of 'espionage and terrorism' in April 2017.
Five weeks after he seized the Labor Party leadership, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Sunday set September 7 as the date for the country's next parliamentary elections amid growing unemployment and budget deficit.
'The biggest problem that faces the Opposition in Gujarat is just a day or two before voting is scheduled, Modiji goes on a spree of emotional appeals.' 'That process has been set in motion much earlier this time in Gujarat.'
For those who think India's democracy is just fine and there has been no change in the last few years, perhaps it would be instructive to see what has happened on a few issues, observes Aakar Patel.
Cricket maestro Sachin Tendulkar has come under criticism for not attending a single session of Paliament this year. Parliamentary records the former batsman has not attended a single session this year. He made it to just three in 2013 and has so far not participated in any debates in the house.
Two of his allied parties also withdrew their support and joined the ranks of the rejuvenated Opposition.
'The chief minister has said on the floor of the House that he knows everything (about the criminal-politician mafia).' 'If you know about this nexus, why aren't you acting against them?' 'Ask him why is he so helpless.'
'In the course of my interactions with him, Modi insisted that he does not believe charisma alone can sustain people's trust for long.' 'That is why Modi consistently refers to Mahatma Gandhi to contextualise his politics.' 'He believes in taking his ideas to the masses and getting their acceptance as an index of approval.'
A revealing excerpt from Ajay Singh's The Architect of the New BJP: How Narendra Modi Transformed the Party.
Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Piyush Goyal, Randeep Surjewala and Jairam Ramesh of the Congress and Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut were among the 16 candidates elected to the Rajya Sabha from four states where polling was held on Friday after tussle over cross voting and alleged breach of election rules delayed the counting by around eight hours in Maharashtra and Haryana.
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott was on Monday dramatically ousted from power by challenger Malcolm Turnbull in an internal party vote just two years after his increasingly unpopular conservative government took office.
Foot-tapping music and soulful classical renditions rent the air as Republic Day celebrations culminated with the Beating Retreat ceremony in New Delhi where President Pranab Mukherjee rode the ceremonial buggy down the Raisina Hill on Sunday for the last time during his tenure.
The challenge to May's leadership was triggered after 48 Conservative Members of Parliament submitted letters demanding a vote to the 1922 Committee, which represents rank-and-file Conservative MPs in the House of Commons.
The protesting MPs did not accept the tea and snacks offered by the deputy chairman.
However, even 10 days after Modi took the nation by surprise by announcing demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes, his rivals continued to aggressively target him
It is wrong to say the Congress doesn't matter. Certainly one set of people who do not believe that for a minute is the BJP. That's why even in his speech in Parliament on Constitution Day, Mr Modi called dynastic politics a threat to democracy, observes Shekhar Gupta.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said the passage of the amendment will strengthen India's national security and its global position.
Nawaz Sharif is expected to be sworn in for a record third term as Pakistan's prime minister Wednesday with a very small cabinet comprising close aides shortly after he is formally elected to the post.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday slammed those calling agitating Sikh farmers names, saying it won't do the country any good as he went on to appeal to the protesting farmers to withdraw their over two-month-long stir and give the new agriculture reform laws a chance.
'And so, despite demonetisation, people in business feel safe with Mr Modi,' points out T N Ninan.
Speaking with reporters, Gandhi said, "This (school) is India's future. Hate and violence has destroyed it. Nobody has benefited from this. Violence and hate are enemies of development."
While the main building of the National Archives will remain intact, its annexe will be demolished and a new building will be constructed, officials said.
The most serious recommendations to change the financial year came in the years preceded by deficient rainfall. The Jha committee was formed after droughts in 1979-80 and 1982-83, reports Rishika Pardikar/IndiaSpend.
Pawar said after the last year's assembly polls, BJP leaders approached him to support the Devendra Fadnavis government in the state, but he told Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the NCP will not go with the BJP and if possible, it will form government with the Sena or sit in the opposition.
Arun Jaitley, who is recovering from a kidney ailment, attended the proceedings after a long gap.
He said the Centre was creating an environment in the Valley which gives people a chance to raise questions.
Sinh, who has been in the BJP earlier and was elected to Lok Sabha on its ticket in 90s, wields considerable influence in the Amethi region of Uttar Pradesh.
The Chief of Army Staff is scheduled to hold extensive talks with the top civilian and military brass of Nepal including his counterpart General Purna Chandra Thapa on a range of key issues such as further boosting the management of the nearly 1,800 km-long border between the two countries.
Hans Raj Bhardwaj has slammed his own party, calling it too weak to fight the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Deuba was elected as the 40th prime minister on June 6 with the support from Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist Centre, which is now a part of Left alliance and opting for merger with Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist.
"Throughout our history we've learned this lesson -- when dictators do not pay a price for their aggression, they cause more chaos. They keep moving. And, the costs and threats to America and the world keep rising," Biden said addressing the joint session of the Congress in his first State of the Union.
A mix of industrialists and businessmen, who have inherited riches or rose from humble backgrounds and even endured boom and bust cycles, the top five MPs are illustrative of how the political stock of the wealthy is increasing rapidly.
Paksitan's People's Party nominee Fehmida Mirza, a loyalist of slain former Premier Benazir Bhutto, was on Wednesday elected the first woman Speaker of Pakistan's National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament. 51-year-old Mirza, who has been thrice elected to Parliament, won 249 of the 324 votes cast by the newly-elected members of the National Assembly.
Neither Modi nor Shah had held legislative or executive power in Delhi before 2014. They have no training in appealing to the diversity of India as represented in Parliament. Their prism is the provincial politics of Gujarat. An exclusive excerpt from Vinay Sitapati's fascinating new book, Jugalbandi: The BJP Before Modi.
In this winter of discontent, in every procession, in every demonstration, in every protest -- from Jawaharlal Nehru University to Jamia to Shaheen Bagh to the streets of Mumbai -- the front rows have been occupied by women. It's been weeks since women have been sitting in protest across the country against the newly-introduced Citizenship Amendment Act and the proposed National Register of Citizens. The protests are a nerve centre of unwavering voices against what has been perceived as a discriminatory law. The women -- some housewives, some students with hijabs covering their hair, and others in full-length burqa robes -- are rallying against the 'Man' in what could also be perceived as a revolution for the 'weaker sex' in India.
