Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi is set to embark on his second visit to the US in less than a week to convey Pakistan's concerns on conditions linked to US $ 7.5 billion in aid to be provided to it over under the aegis of the Kerry-Lugar Bill a period of five years under a bill passed by American Congress.
As the House took up the debate on Motion of Thanks on the President's Address, the Bharatiya Janata Party launched a frontal attack on opposition parties specially the Congress for their stance against the CAA, saying they were trying to divide the nation.
A Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice of India S A Bobde, hearing a petition filed by lawyer Vineet Dhanda seeking stern legal action against those disturbing peace and harmony in the country in the name of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, said, "The country is going through a critical time, the endeavour must be to bring peace and such petitions do not help."
A bench headed by CJI Bobde is likely to hear a batch of 143 petitions. The apex court had on January 9 refused to entertain a plea seeking that the CAA be declared constitutional, saying the country is going through difficult times and there is so much violence that endeavour should be for peace.
10 per cent for those who earn up to Rs 30 lakh a year and 25 per cent for those who earn more, suggests T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan.
Glimpses of Republic Day celebrations across the country.
'Another rejection of mediation between India and Pakistan will leave Mr Trump disappointed.' 'In that case, he is likely to point out the war-like situation on the border and press for direct talks which have been stalled on account of continuing terrorism from Pakistan,' notes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
And though the event was billed as being on US-South Asia relations, one could well have billed it a talk on Pakistan, as a simple question on Pakistan's stability turned out to dominate the over-an-hour conversation.
Kumar's comments at the party's national executive meeting came amid a strain in his ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party and appears to be a message to his ally, some of whose leaders have been linked to alleged communal tensions and violence in the state.
This measure has been envisaged by the government against the backdrop of instances where certain social networking sites showed Jammu and Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh as part of Pakistan and China respectively.
'Gujarat poll results have boosted the morale of Congress workers, not only in Gujarat but all over India'
'When one has a lot of power, one can shut one's ears to the other side. This is what is common between the BJP of 2019 and the Congress of 1947,' says Aakar Patel.
Guwahati is witnessing massive protests over the new Citizenship law. The MEA said that both sides have decided to 'defer' Abe's visit to a mutually convenient date.
The Modi government caved in under American pressure without even token resistance. Two countries similarly placed as India with high dependence on Iranian oil -- China and Turkey -- have shown the grit to stand up to Washington, says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Sharif met US Secretary of State John Kerry in New York during which he raised the Kashmir issue.
A key United States Senator and architect of the Congressional bill, which doles out $ 7.5 billion to Pakistan in the next five years, said that 'no conditions' have been imposed on Islamabad in lieu of the non-military aid.
Pakistan has criticised India over alleged human rights violation in Kashmir and threatened to expose the country in the world over the "abysmal rights situation" in other parts if it continued to talk about Balochistan.
Ben Stokes has been named in England's 14-man squad for the three one-day internationals (ODIs) against India next month, with the all-rounder on the mend from a hamstring injury.
BJP president Amit Shah, while kickstarting 'Ganatanatra Bachao Yatra' in Bengal, vowed to overthrow the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government in the state.
Justice Sen said he does not belong to any political party and does not dream of getting a political berth after retirement. He said he had written the judgment based on truth, history and ground reality "to save the citizens of India, irrespective of caste, creed, religion or language".
The manner in which assembly seats were distirbuted among Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh so far, has ensured that residents of the Valley rule the state forever, says Sanjeev Nayyar.
'Most Hindus believe in living in peace with their Muslim neighbours and vice versa.' 'It is this India we have to preserve.'
'Though the prime minister has talked somewhat needlessly of pilot projects and the real stuff to come, India cannot be sure of a clean victory in any full-fledged conflict -- even if there is reason to engage in such,' points out T N Ninan.
Rediff.com does a quick checklist on what the two manifestos have to say on hot-button issues of the day.
While the consensus seemingly among Barack Obama administration and US congressional lawmakers and several policy wonks who deal with South Asia at leading think tanks is that Pakistan meets all of the criteria to be designated a state sponsor of terrorism, opinion is mixed among security experts if it would serve any purpose or be counter-productive.
Alleging that Pakistan has for decades leveraged radical terrorist groups to carry out attacks in India and Afghanistan, a US lawmaker has introduced a bill that proposes to deduct $50 million (Rs 2,681 crore) from the US aid to Islamabad every time an American is killed "as a result of actions of ISI."
'If Trump is out, Modi is going to find himself in a hotspot, having to reset his relations with the new US President with whom he will have to co-exist for well-nigh his full term,' notes B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant.
Sounding the Congress' poll bugle in the state, Gandhi attacked the Modi government repeatedly alleging that it was working with an approach of 'Hum do, Hamare do' -- a term he recently used while speaking in Lok Sabha to claim that the country is being run by only four people.
Modi, while speaking at a poll rally in Gujarat on Sunday, had sought to link the dinner meeting hosted by Aiyar for Pakistani dignitaries and attended by Manmohan Singh, among others, with the ongoing assembly polls and a conspiracy against the BJP.
A White House statement in this regard along with other objections of the administration to NDAA-2017 came as the bill made its way to the House of Representatives from House Armed Services Committee.
Amid strained ties with Pakistan, the United States has disbursed USD 2.2 billion (Rs 11,440 cr) civilian aid to Islamabad in the past two years under the Kerry-Lugar-Berman bill, the State department has said.
Bruce Riedel, who spearheaded President Barack Obama's strategic review on Afghanistan and Pakistan, believes that aggressive US diplomacy to resolve the differences between India and Pakistan is 'absolutely critical' for the 'long-term chances of stabilising Afghanistan, and even more importantly, Pakistan'.He pointed out that "it got a whole lot more difficult," on 26/11 in Mumbai.
In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Ladakh MP revealed his reason to quit the BJP and resign from the Lok Sabha ahead of the upcoming parliamentary elections.
The Union Cabinet is slated to discuss three major policy issues on Thursday -- from enactment of new legislation of benami transaction bill 2011, a Memorandum of Understranding with Pakistan on Drug Demand Reduction, and prevention of illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs.
'Few athletes are ever able to win his admiration; he mostly relegates them to the status of worthless imbeciles,' says Dhruv Munjal.
Replying to a debate on Motion of Thanks to the President's Address in Lok Sabha, Modi also attacked the Congress for its politics in the last seven decades, saying the party's politics of last 70 years has been such that no Congress leader can be self-sufficient.
'Modi, with his sharply honed political savvy and undoubted grasp of international affairs, is a past master at taking the measure of world leaders.' 'He would be the last person to think of the unpredictable and not too well-regarded Trump as the mediator,' says B S Raghavan.
Retired veteran diplomat Howard Schaffer, author of the acclaimed The Limits of Influence: America's Role in Kashmir, has said, "If the Inter-Services Directorate or some other organ of the Pakistan government has been footing the Kashmir American Council's bills, as seems so obvious, it is hard to conclude that they have been getting their money's worth."
He urged the crowd attending a pro-CAA rally to give a missed call to the 8866288662, pledging their support to the legislation. Shah also sought to dispel 'rumours' of discord within the NDA in Bihar and said CM Nitish Kumar will be the alliance leader in the state.
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has raised the Kashmir issue with almost every world leader he has held talks with on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly session, but his efforts to internationalise the dispute with India appeared to have gained no traction.
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