At this poignant historic moment one can only wish that institutions are not built by bricks and mortars, but also by the rich Parliamentary traditions which have stood the test of time which needs to be strengthened by all stakeholders, notes Rup Narayan Das, a former joint secretary of the Lok Sabha Secretariat.
Separatist leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq (both of separate Hurriyat Conference factions) and Yasin Malik of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front issued a joint statement here, rubbishing her and her offer.
'Unlike in the sporting arena, where sports federations moved from partisan to impartial referees, in Indian democracy's biggest festival, it appears we are moving backward from unbiased and objective to one-sided and partisan,' observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
A 10-member delegation of Trinamool Congress (TMC) had announced the dharna after meeting a full bench of the Election Commission (EC) to press their demand.
India on Wednesday sent a high-level 12-member Parliamentary delegation led by Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress chief Professor Saifuddin Soz to Pakistan to look for a political solution to the Kashmir tangle. This the first visit of an Indian delegation to Islamabad after United States' forces smoked out Osama bin Laden from his hideout in Pakistan's cantonment town of Abbottabad.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday said India would like to see a "strong, stable and prosperous" Pakistan. He also said that he was happy to see democracy flourish over there as he received a Parliamentary delegation from that country. Dr Singh also told the delegation, led by Chairman of Pakistan's Senate Syed Nayyer Hussain Bokhari, that closer relations between parliaments in the two countries was necessary for strengthening bilateral relations.
The delegation, to be led by Home Minister P Chidamabaram, is expected to meet a cross-section of people of the troubled state before arriving at a package of solutions
Sri Lanka must address the issue of reconciliation with the Tamil minority in the country with "a sense of urgency", Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said in Colombo on Saturday. Swaraj, who is leading a 12-member Indian parliamentary delegation, said she had told Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa that the current stalemate and the deadlock on the talks with the Tamil National Alliance over the parliamentary select committee process must be broken.
Sri Lanka must address the issue of reconciliation with the Tamil minority in the country with "a sense of urgency", Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said in Colombo on Saturday.
There is no change in Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa's game plan in dealing with Indian leaders -- agree with what they say and carry on as before. Thus, we can expect the 'un-reconciled' reconciliation process in the island-nation to drag on further, says Col R Hariharan
'This is a humanitarian visit. This is a visit to stand with the grieving families. We hope to reach Tinsukia in about two hours and spend some time with the families'
Although the Supreme Court has mandated the Centre to conduct the polls by the end of September, a spate of terrorist attacks in J&K could cause delays.
Stressing that terrorism is now a world problem, Mariani said he did not want Kashmir to become a 'second Afghanistan'.
Paul, who will soon lead a British Parliamentary delegation to India, said: "The CPA wants Commonwealth governments to respond to the needs of people -- to build communities, to address the challenges arising from the growth of urbanisation, to agree a global trade deal and to tackle the greatest threat to us all -- climate change." "There remains more work to be done in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Fiji, but the pressure is on," Paul said on Monday night.
Amid allegations by opposition parties that the government was misusing probe agencies to target its leaders, the Election Commission on Tuesday asserted that while it remains committed to protecting level playing field and campaign entitlement of parties and candidates, it has not found it correct to take any step that could overlap or overrun the legal judicial process.
A group of Indian MPs underwent a crash course at the prestigious Yale University of the United States, which was specially tailored for them incorporating issues like global economic governance, counter-insurgency efforts in Afghanistan and political developments in the Middle East.
Parliament proceedings were adjourned for the day on Monday following protests by the opposition which has been demanding a statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the House on the Manipur issue. In the Rajya Sabha, the opposition kept insisting on a discussion under Rule 267 of the House.
Modi has proven to be a past master in the art of political survival. This means that learning to navigate the choppy waters of coalition government will be an art he will not take long to master, argues Shyam Parekh.
In keeping with the main theme of 'Tides Surging in Asia', the ceremony was about the intermingling of China, Asia and the world in the new era
Lord Paul, who led the delegation to his ancestral village and also to educational institutions set up by Apeejay Foundation founded by his elder brother Satya Paul, said Indo-British ties are now the strongest as ever.
Leader of the delegation B J Panda of the Biju Janata Dal said, "We still have the last mile left before the closure of the civilian nuclear deal."
'India, Pakistan and people of Kashmir' should resolve it, the EU said.
During a meeting with a visiting Indian parliamentary delegation on Wednesday evening, the lawmakers, including former ministers Mani Shankar Aiyar and Yashwant Sinha, noted that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had "rightly said that Yusuf Raza Gilani was a man of peace".
Even though the NIA claims that more than 90 per cent of cases charge-sheeted have ended in conviction, the figure is likely misleading. To date, very few cases investigated by the NIA have resulted in a completed trial, points out former CBI joint director Navneet Rajan Wasan.
A delegation of Congress leaders met the Election Commission and handed over complaints against the prime minister, alleging that he has trampled upon and violated the model code and directions of the poll body.
The plight of Sri Lankan Tamils on Monday found an echo in the Lok Sabha with All India Anna Dravida Munetra Kazhagam members seeking to embarrass a visiting Lankan Parliamentary delegation by raising slogans which was denounced by Speaker Meira Kumar.
'The expeditious enactment of labour codes and strategic measures to bridge the skills jobs gap are critical.'
Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has once again urged the United States and other major countries to mediate between India and Pakistan, in order to resolve long pending issues between them, so as to enable Islamabad to focus on the war against terrorism and militancy.Talking to a visiting US parliamentary delegation led by Senator Thomas Carper, Gilani, without mentioning Kashmir, asserted that Pakistan wants a peaceful resolution of all the core issues.
'The people of Tamil Nadu in particular Chennai know about the double standards of the BJP. Nothing will work for them here.'
The Janata Dal-Secular on Thursday petitioned Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot, seeking his intervention recommending a CBI probe into the sexual abuse charges against Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna.
Crucial reforms in Muslim personal law, especially laws related to inheritance and adoption, need to be initiated forthwith; historically speaking, without the State's backing, hardly has any reform taken place or allowed to prevail, asserts Mohammad Sajjad.
Hyderabad member of Lok Sabha and Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen president Asaduddin Owaisi has demanded a high level inquiry into the communal riots in Hyderabad over the last five days, and charged the police with behaving in a partial and biased manner.
The poll panel said it found Kharge's letter, placed in the public domain in the middle of the ongoing electoral process, 'highly undesirable' and designed to create confusion, misdirection and impediment to the conduct of smooth, free and fair elections.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought a reply from the Lok Sabha secretary general on Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra's plea challenging her expulsion from the Lower House.
With their talks with Sri Lankan government deadlocked, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leaders on Wednesday left for New Delhi to apprise India of the current situation and seek its intervention in finding a political solution to the three-decade old Tamil question.
The dilemma over acquiring of farmland for special economic zones without hurting the interests of the farmers came up for discussion at the India-US Forum of Parliamentarians organised by Asia Society in New York.
Shujaat Hussain was in India to do the groundwork for President Musharraf's visit to India on April 16.
In the eye of storm over his refusal to quit, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on Friday said he will retire at the end of his term and was not keen on rejoining CPI(M) which expelled him recently.
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