Small indoor meetings at 370 different locations across the country with 500-1000 opinion makers at the district level, and 35 big indoor meetings having gathering of 2,000 people will be held at capitals of all states and Union territories in the country, the party leader said.
Peace prevailed in Karnataka's Hubbali town on Monday, a day after a mob went on the rampage over a social media post that saw a police station and a Hanuman temple coming under attack, even as the police arrested 89 persons in connection with the incident.
Treasury and opposition members nearly came to blows in Lok Sabha on Friday when Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan condemned in "no uncertain words" the "outlandish" remarks made by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In between spells of adjournments, the House conducted business for a brief period and passed two Bills -- the Mineral Laws (Amendment) Bill and the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Second Amendment) Bill - amid continuous protests by the Opposition.
Singh had said the slogan of 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' was being misused to construct a "militant and purely emotional" idea of India that excludes millions of residents and citizens.
The defeat of Dhami who led the BJP's campaign against the Congress in the state throws up a big question before the saffron party on the issue of choosing the next chief minister.
While many exit polls have given either the Bharatiya Janata Party or Congress a majority in Uttarakhand, several of them have predicted a close fight between the two major players or a hung assembly -- a scenario in which the role of winning independents and candidates of regional outfits like the Aam Aadmi Party, the Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal will become significant in government formation.
President Droupadi Murmu said the nation will benefit from Dhankhar's long and rich experience in public life and extended her best wishes for a productive and successful tenure.
The current power crisis is mainly on account of sharp decline in electricity generation from different fuel sources and not due to non-availability of domestic coal, a top official said on Sunday. The above statement assumes significance in the wake of reports of many states, including Maharashtra, facing power outages due to shortage of coal. In an interview to PTI, Coal Secretary A K Jain attributed the low coal stocks at power plants to several factors such as heightened power demand due to the boom in the economy post COVID-19, early arrival of summer, rise in the price of gas and imported coal and sharp fall in electricity generation by coastal thermal power plants.
The Congress on Thursday slammed the Centre after a May 4 video of two women being paraded naked in Manipur surfaced, with party president Mallikarjun Kharge accusing the Narendra Modi government of turning democracy into 'mobocracy'.
The government is open to discussions on all issues, the prime minister told journalists in Parliament complex ahead of the beginning of the session.
Coal shortage crisis at thermal power projects does not seem to abate very soon as the number of non-pit head plants with less than four days of dry fuel stock (supercritical stock) has increased to 70 this Sunday compared to 64 a week ago on October 3, as per government data. According to the latest coal stock data of the 135 plants with over 165 GW of installed generation capacity monitored by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), as many 70 plants are categorised as supercritical stock or having less than four days of fuel on October 10, 2021, compared to 64 a week ago on October 3, 2021. The data also showed that the number of non-pit head plants having less than seven days of fuel (critical stock) has also increased to 26 on Sunday from 25 such projects a week ago on October 3, 2021.
Lok Sabha proceedings were washed out for the second consecutive day on Wednesday after the House was repeatedly adjourned due to protests by opposition members who were demanding a separate discussion on the farm laws issue.
Moitra brought two birthday caps in the House to press her argument that the businessman being most talked about had "topi-pehnau-ed" the government.
The opposition strategy to corner the government on Manipur will continue in the Rajya Sabha as well, the sources said.
Speaker Om Birla he will hold a meeting with leaders of all parties and then take a decision.
While the Congress demanded immediate sacking of Chief Minister N Biren Singh, the Samajwadi Party and a few others sought imposition of President's rule in the state that has witnessed sporadic violence in since May 3.
Parliament was adjourned for the day on Wednesday due to uproar by the Opposition members over Lakhimpur Kheri killings in Lok Sabha and the suspension of 12 members in Rajya Sabha.
While Defence Minister Rajnath Singh spoke about the consensus, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said there is no need for a separate discussion in Parliament on the Pegasus issue during the budget session.
As the lower house took up the motion moved by Gogoi, there were heated exchanges between the opposition and treasury benches after Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi wondered why Rahul Gandhi's name as lead speaker was withdrawn at the last minute.
'We wanted the PM to speak, and he just refused to -- now we have the opportunity, not just in the Lok Sabha, but also in the Rajya Sabha, to lay the government on the mat.'
Lok Sabha on Thursday passed two bills before the proceedings were adjourned for the day amid continuous protests by opposition members over the Pegasus spying row and farmers' issue.
The Opposition intensified its noisy protests in Lok Sabha on Wednesday over Pegasus snooping, farm laws and other issues with some unruly members even hurling papers and torn placards in the House, but the government went ahead with its legislative agenda and three bills were passed amid the din.
At a press conference in Pakhal village in Faridabad, Ramesh said, "This whole Covid drama over the last two days has been orchestrated to defame and derail the Bharat Jodo Yatra from coming to Delhi. That's the only objective."
At the meeting attended by 33 parties, the prime minister said suggestions from public representatives, especially from the Opposition, are valuable as they make the discussion rich.
36 Union ministers will visit different districts in both the divisions of the Union Territory starting from January 18 to January 24 and the home ministry is coordinating it, the sources said.
After an all-party meeting in New Delhi, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi also said that some of these 32 bills have already been discussed by standing committees of Parliament.
'When the BJP came into existence no party used to support it. When NDA was formed many leaders who are now holding posts in the present government were not holding any posts then and some of them were not even born,' the editorial said.
The proposed auction has business-friendly terms and conditions, including reduced upfront amount, adjustment of upfront amount against royalty and liberal efficiency parameters to encourage flexibility to operationalise the coal mines. Besides, 100 per cent FDI through automatic route has been allowed.
Karnataka BJP MLA Arvind Bellad has said the body of Naveen Shekarappa Gyanagouda, who was killed in shelling in Ukraine on March 1, would occupy space that could be utilised to evacuate 10 to 12 stranded people from the war-torn country.
Both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha did not see a debate on the Manipur violence, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah spoke on it during their addresses on the no-confidence motion.
An ordinance to amend a law to reduce the salaries of MPs by 30 per cent for one year "to meet the exigencies arising out of COVID-19 pandemic" was promulgated.
Both houses of Parliament were adjourned for the day on Friday after an uproar over the violence in Manipur.
The Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka on Tuesday disowned its leader Channabasappa's public threat to behead Chief Minister Siddaramaiah if he consumed cow meat.
It was also the shortest speech by Sitharaman, who had delivered the longest speech last year. Her first Budget speech in July 2019 went on for around 137 minutes and in 2020, it went on for more than 160 minutes and was cut short after she felt unwell.
To maintain dignity of the House, government was forced to place this proposal of suspension, minister Pralhad Joshi said
The cross-country foot march stayed in the news almost right through, mostly for the barbs between the BJP and the Congress and occasionally for other reasons, including infighting in the opposition party.
The Indian Railways has decided to not cancel any more passenger trains to accommodate more freight traffic for coal transport. It will also gradually restore the ones it cancelled recently. The national transporter is of the view that coal supply is now reaching normative levels and does not need any more special measures. "Early data suggests that coal supply has stepped up since the passenger trains were cancelled.
As soon as Lok Sabha assembled, opposition members stormed into the well holding placards and shouting slogans. They demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the alleged stock manipulation by the Adani Group.
"Storm of lies becomes so big at times that even day appears to be night but the Sun does not lose its light. People should not be swayed by this storm. Truth is that I did not tolerate insult to Udham Singh yesterday," the Bhopal MP tweeted.
