The Bharatiya Janata Party suffered stunning losses in three Hindi heartland states, partial poll results showed Tuesday, forcing the party to rely on allies to form the government after a bitter and divisive election that was projected as a referendum on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said she declined the offer of the Bharatiya Janata Party to contest elections pleading that she did not have the 'kind of funds' required for fighting the Lok Sabha polls.
Elections will be held on June 10 to fill 57 Rajya Sabha seats from 15 states falling vacant due to the retirement of members on different dates between June and August, the Election Commission said on Thursday.
He underlined the need for patience in political life and said those seeking a change of guard should go back to the people to achieve it.
The 93-year-old former prime minister was admitted to the premier All India Institute of Medical Sciences on June 11 with a kidney tract infection, urinary tract infection, low urine output and chest congestion.
He had also said Gandhi's statement was far distanced from his reflections as delegitimising the judiciary is beyond his contemplation.
The government, in its proposal circulated among the leaders on Wednesday, offered to amend 7-8 issues, including providing a written assurance of minimum support price.
The government is ready for a debate in Parliament on price rise once Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recovers from Covid-19, the Bharatiya Janata Party asserted on Wednesday and targeted Rahul Gandhi, saying he may be "unproductive politically" but should not hurt the legislature's productivity.
She posed for the traditional 'briefcase' picture outside her office along with her team of officials before heading to meet the President. She, however, was holding a tablet instead of a briefcase to present the Budget in a digital format.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal urged start-ups to focus on three Ps - product, process, people - for building Aatmnirbhar Bharat.
In a major development, India and the US have agreed to end six trade disputes at the WTO through mutually agreed solutions, while New Delhi will remove retaliatory customs duties on certain American products such as almonds, walnuts, and apples.
The BJP's challenge is whether it can again deflate a Congress, which now looks reinvigorated and has adopted sharper messaging around its 'guarantees', and several regional parties, especially in Bihar, Maharashtra and West Bengal.
With this, the Congress's strength in the 40-member assembly reduced to 14 from 16.
The two-day old strike by coal workers across India was on Wednesday called off with the government and the unions reaching an agreement after a marathon meeting.
Farmers from Punjab clashed with Haryana police at two border points between the states on Tuesday, facing tear gas and water cannons as they tried to break past barricades blocking their protest march to the national capital. The police lobbed tear gas shells -- some of them dropped from a drone -- and tried to disperse groups of stone-pelting protesters in the face-off that last several hours at Shambhu border near Ambala in Haryana.
Sharif Hashmi was traveling with her husband Haseen Hashmi along with her four-month-old child in a Shramik Special train from Belgaum to Gorakhpur on May 31. Her baby was crying as she did not get milk at any previous station. She asked help from the constable, the statement said. Yadav immediately bought a packet of milk from a shop outside the Bhopal Railway Station, but the train started moving.
On the back of rising crude oil purchases, India's bill for imports from sanctions-hit Russia jumped 3.5 times in a year in April to $2.3 billion, showed data from the commerce ministry. In April, India's crude oil imports from Russia were valued at $1.3 billion, 57 per cent of India's total inbound shipments from Russia. Other major imported items during the month included coal, soybean and sunflower oil, fertilisers, and non-industrial diamonds. That month, Russia was also the fourth-largest crude petroleum supplier to India, after Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
With the all-party meetings called by Rajya Sabha Chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla producing no breakthrough to end the deadlock in Parliament, Union ministers Piyush Goyal and Pralhad Joshi accused opposition parties of repeatedly 'insulting' Dhankhar.
Singh noted that opposition members tore rule book, threw papers at the desk of the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh, who was in the Chair, and climbed the officials' table -- something, he added, he had never witnessed before.
From issuing whips to arranging ambulances for their ailing leaders, opposition parties from the newly-formed Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc are making all-out efforts to ensure that they get 100 per cent attendance of their MPs in the Rajya Sabha to give the Bharatiya Janata Party a tough fight on the Delhi services bill next week.
Praful Patel said all the MLAs of the NCP, the Congress, and the Shiv Sena voted as per the party line.
Raut said Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray was distressed over the defeat of Sanjay Pawar.
The first two days of the session will be devoted to swearing-in of the newly elected MPs while the Lok Sabha speaker will be elected on June 19.
'You will really wish oh! Had I stayed in Dharavi I would have got a nice house. I can assure you that. We will make dreams come true.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Tuesday poised to form the government for a third consecutive term with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance getting a majority in the Lok Sabha, notwithstanding crushing losses in three Hindi heartland states after a bitterly fought election that was projected as a referendum on his popularity.
Maha Vikas Aghadi, comprising the Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and Congress, has called a meeting of its MLAs in Mumbai on June 7.
Earlier, Rajnath and Shah were leading deliberations among Union ministers to resolve the issues raised by the agitating farmers.
In her first address to a joint sitting of the two Houses in the new Parliament building in which she touched on varied issues ranging from insurgency to inflation, Murmu said a country can progress at a fast pace only when it defeats the challenges of the past and puts maximum energy into building the future.
Her statement came ahead of a crucial round of talks scheduled to be held between the Centre and representatives of the agitating farmers during the day.
Tata Group-owned Air India will buy 250 aircraft, including 40 wide-body planes, from Airbus as the airline expands its fleet and operations. This is the first time in more than 17 years that Air India has placed an aircraft order. It is also the first order placed by the carrier under the ownership of Tata Group. On Tuesday, Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran said Air India has signed a letter of intent to acquire 250 aircraft from Airbus.
Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Nirmala Sitharaman, Piyush Goyal, Narendra Singh Tomar, Prakash Javadekar, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Dharmendra Pradhan and Smriti Irani are also likely to join the second Modi government after being its members in its first avatar.
Ten Union ministers will be the permanent invitees to the Inter-State Council, according to an official notification.
Sule, citing Railway Ministry documents, said the largest number of Shramik Special trains -- 1033 -- were operated from Gujarat, followed by Maharashtra (817) and Punjab (429).
Traders' body CAIT on Wednesday accused e-commerce major Amazon of indulging in serious contraventions of FDI policy and Foreign Exchange Management Act. The body also blamed the online firm for not seeking the government's approval for conducting multi-brand retail activities in India.
Dharmendra Pradhan, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Nirmala Sitharaman and Piyush Goyal have been elevated to Cabinet ministers.
'The bullet train project is a complete sham'
The minister said the government is committed to preventing widespread coal thefts by use of CCTV cameras.
From toys, footwear and furniture to insulated flasks, smart meters, and air coolers - the Central government over the last decade has mandated higher standards for production and imports of such items. Sample this: Till 2014, there were 14 Quality Control Orders (QCOs) covering 106 products. By the latest count, there are 156 QCOs on 672 products.
Global investors have cited the ongoing war and high valuations of Indian equity markets as a reason to skip the IPO.
As many as 14 opposition MPs were suspended from Parliament for the remainder of the winter session for disrupting proceedings, as the Lok Sabha security breach incident snowballed into a major row on Thursday with the government asking the opposition not to "politicise" the "grave national issue" and the Congress, Trinamool Congress and others demanding a statement from Home Minister Amit Shah.
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