A prominent pro-government leader was on Wednesday shot and injured in northeastern Thailand, fuelling tensions in the deeply divided country as defiant opposition supporters stepped up their protest to oust Premier Yingluck Shinawatra despite emergency rule imposed in the capital.
Niti Aayog will prepare the next list of central public sector companies for disinvestment in the next few weeks, its vice chairman Rajiv Kumar said on Thursday and expressed hope that the proposed asset reconstruction and management companies to address banks' bad loan woes will do a good job like the UTI. Days after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the Union Budget for 2021-22 laying out various measures (including disinvestment proposals) to bolster the pandemic-hit economy, Kumar also emphasised that the Modi government has shown consistent commitment for the welfare of farmers and for the improvement of the agriculture sector. "Now the process has begun... We will complete preparation of the next list in the next few weeks, we have got the marching order," Kumar said about the list of public sector companies for the next round of stake sales.
Moving the Motion of Thanks to the President's address in the upper house, BJP member Bhubaneswar Kalita said the government respects farmers. He said the government has given new rights to farmers through these new farm laws and none of their rights or facilities have been taken away.
Branding Trinamool Congress rebels as 'traitors' like Mir Jafar, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday took a swipe at the Bharatiya Janata Party for fielding the turncoats in the polls leaving saffron party old-timers shed tears.
The Jalandhar bishop of the Roman Catholic church was grilled by the SIT for 7 hours on Wednesday.
'India imports 70 per cent of its bulk drugs from China. Are we going to live without antibiotics?' asks Debashis Basu.
The slogan-shouting AAP members stormed into the Well of the House just as the Rajya Sabha took up a discussion on a motion thanking the President for his address to the joint sitting of Parliament.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will address the nation on Friday night to explain the government's recent decisions on economic reforms, which have triggered widespread political protests across the country. The prime minister will address the nation at 8 pm on Doordarshan about the recent decisions on economic reforms, officials said.
Criticising the nationwide agitation against FDI reforms, the government on Thursday blamed the parties behind the protest for causing economic losses and made it clear that there will be no backtracking on the reforms as the country needs "massive" growth. Senior ministers maintained that there was no threat to the stability of the government even if the Trinamool Congress quits on Friday and hinted at scouting for new allies.
The danger to India's democracy is coming from recourse to mobocracy encouraged by the anti-Modi gang, argues Vivek Gumaste.
Sisodia said the BJP indulged in "politics of hate", but people refused to be divided.
The Supreme Court Wednesday flagged the issue of possible misuse of funds received through electoral bonds by political parties for illegal purposes like terrorism and asked the Centre whether there was any 'control' over how these funds were put to use.
"Though we reiterate our commitment to peace, our defence forces -- the army, the air force and the navy -- are adequately mobilised in a well-coordinated move to thwart any attempt to undermine our security. Our national interest will be protected at all costs. We have also ensured a widespread understanding in the international community of India's firm and principled stand," the President said. India and China are locked in a nearly nine-month long military standoff in eastern Ladakh.
If eight states could join the VAT system much after the rollout date and after seeing how it works, why can't the same apply to states opposed to the farm laws, asks A K Bhattacharya.
After two decades, the SCO appears to be at a cross-roads with the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, asserts Srikanth Kondapalli, the leading China expert.
Your promise to protect bankers for their commercial decisions is a huge confidence booster, but how does one define a commercial decision? Are our investigative agencies well equipped to dissect lending decisions of bankers?
Shah said not a single person will lose citizenship as a result of the Citizenship Amendment Act.
Union leaders, who came out of the meeting venue shouting slogans, said the talks remained deadlocked and some of them threatened to boycott any further meetings if no solution was found at Thursday's meeting.
'There will be more than three to four lakh tractors and farmers, four to five times that number, displaying their resolve in front of a deaf, mute and a government blind to their plight.'
"The first phase of interrogation is over. He has been asked to be present tomorrow morning at 11 am for continued interrogation. He has agreed to it," Kottayam Superintendent of police Hari Sankar said after the marathon questioning of the priest.
Why omit the Tiananmen massacre from the history of China's Communist party, asks Claude Arpi.
Social media posts and articles falsely suggest that Jawaharlal Nehru 'signed a bond' or 'used his father's influence' to escape from serving a prison term in Nabha in 1923. Utkarsh Mishra reveals the true story. The first of a series of occasional columns correcting social media's false take on History.
'Education is disconnected from social reality and does not even attempt to solve the real problems of our country,' observe Peehu Pardeshi and Sandeep Pandey.
'The home minister has made it clear that the government will not repeal the laws. Shah-ji said the government will give tomorrow in writing the amendments which the government is keen to. We will decide about attending the meeting after discussing the written amendments with all 40 farmer unions'
GST is the biggest revenue shake-up since independence
A court in Thailand dismissed Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra from office on Wednesday for abuse of power, plunging the crisis-hit country into a fresh political turmoil.
Fifty-eight-year-old Soundararajan, the Tamil Nadu BJP chief and the party's national secretary, moves to Raj Bhavan in Telangana.
Some believe she should no longer be the face of the struggle to free Myanmar from the new military dictatorship, observes Prakash Bhandari.
The agency said, 'The downgrade reflects Moody's expectation that China's financial strength will erode somewhat over the coming years, with economy-wide debt continuing to rise as potential growth slows.'
The strike, however, had no impact on production of auto majors Maruti Suzuki India, Hero MotoCorp, Honda Cars India, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors and Hyundai Motors India as their plants in various parts of the country functioned normally.
The tumultuous Winter session of Parliament ended on Wednesday a day before schedule with proceedings in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha marred by repeated disruptions by the opposition over which the government and the Congress traded charges and the presiding officers expressed their anguish at the conduct of some MPs.
'There will be political opposition, and this monetisation will require continued political will.'
The 54-year old Mulakkal was arrested by Kerala police after intense interrogation in Kochi over the last three days.
Seven members of a Pakistani parliamentary panel that drafted the landmark constitutional reforms last year refused to accept the highest civilian award 'Nishan-i-Imtiaz' for different reasons ranging from protest against drone attacks and lawlessness in Balochistan.
The measures include an information search prompt with the Election Commission of India (@ECISVEEP) and State Election Commissions to provide reliable information around the elections, a custom emoji to encourage participation, a series of pre-bunks and debunks to tackle election-related misinformation, and a youth discussion series titled #DemocracyAdda aimed at voter literacy and civic participation among young Indians for the upcoming elections.
Former Union minister and Jammu and Kashmir governor Jagmohan, whose tough measures as an administrator in various roles won him many admirers but also drew criticism from some quarters, passed away following a spell of illness. He was 93.
The Sikhs love a good fight, and that's what the Modi government has given them.
Without making any direct reference to the three new farm reform laws or to the three-month-old agitation by farmers, Modi said there is a need for expanding options for the country's farming community to sell agri produce.
The BJP would want that by March 2022, when UP votes, the economy starts looking up and it heads into the polls with no other issue distracting from its main poll plank of the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
If the prime minister does not repeal these laws, the country will suffer, he said.
