Former Chief Justice of India Justice Handyala Lakshminarayanaswamy Dattu was on Tuesday selected as the next Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission.
The less charitable in the party say he owes his appointment Sonia Gandhi -- the family wanted someone who wouldn't talk back and would not exert himself too much, notes Aditi Phadnis.
The winter session that begins on Thursday is likely to be a stormy with the Opposition stacking up a lot of ammunition to attack the government and it could be visible from day one.
The bill was passed by a voice vote after Shah sought to allay concerns raised by the Opposition, which claimed the draft law was "draconian".
'What matters is meeting the needs and expectations of the people who have voted to provide governance for the country.'
Issues including the Rafale deal, construction of Ram Temple and Cauvery river water caused disruptions in the House.
During the debate on the 'Motion of Thanks on the President's Address', Leader of the House Piyush Goyal and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman strongly objected to 'insinuations' against the prime minister, who was also present in the House.
Indications of a stormy start to the Budget session emerged at an all-party meeting with opposition accusing the government of "setting the agenda for disruption".
In the five years in politics Priyanka Gandhi has undeniably emerged as a thorn in the BJP flesh, notes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay. It is time that this thorn is twisted a wee bit more when the elections have become far more uncertain than what it was when the Election Commission announced the poll schedule.
A united opposition is all set to corner the government in Parliament today on the banning of old notes.
He interrupted his speech to observe a minute's silence in the House along with other Opposition leaders, mainly the Congress, to pay tribute to farmers who had lost their lives during the two month agitation.
By doing away with the 1 per cent inter-state tax over and above the GST rate, the government has met one of the three key demands over which Opposition Congress has been blocking the Bill in the Upper House
The government said it was willing to advance the upcoming Parliament session.
"Articles 15(4) and 16(4) (dealing with provision for socially and educationally backward classes, and reservation) do not put any limit on the percentage of quota and there is no constitutional hurdle in increasing the same," Sharad Pawar said.
Rediff.com gives you a look at newbies in the Council of Ministers
Says govt is creating conditions for greater private investment
The party may announce Somen Mitra as the Lok Sabha candidate from North Kolkata whose name is set to be decided upon following intra-party elections to choose contenders -- a move initiated by the Congress vice-president to ensure transparency in ticket-distribution system. Renu Mittal reports.
"The process of NRC will be carried out across the country. No one irrespective of their religion should be worried. It is just a process to get everyone under the NRC," the Union home minister said replying to a supplementary during Question Hour in the Upper House.
A proposal to set up a panel of retired judges to oversee the investigations of the Central Bureau of Investigation to insulate it from political interference is in conformity with existing legal provisions, Finance Minister P Chidambaram indicated on Friday.
Seeking to give a big push to the Lokpal Bill, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday appealed to all political parties to support the legislation saying it is a "very very powerful instrument" in the fight against corruption.
The Janata Dal-United on Friday announced its support to Congress for the post of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha even as the treasury side has kept suspense over the issue.
The Centre has repromulgated an ordinance to amend the Enemy Property Act to guard against claims on properties left by people who migrated to Pakistan and China.
For the bribe takers, the bill proposes to increase the punishment to a minimum of three years of imprisonment, which may extend to seven years, besides fine.
The minimum punishment in cases of rape of women has been increased from rigorous imprisonment of seven years to 10 years.
The legendary PT Usha will be officially elected as the first woman president of Indian Olympic Association (IOA) during the governing body's polls on Saturday, ushering in a new era in country's sports administration.
'Gujarat poll results have boosted the morale of Congress workers, not only in Gujarat but all over India'
The much-delayed Insurance Bill seeks to raise the foreign investment cap in the sector from 26 per cent to 49 per cent, with a rider that the management control rests in the hands of Indian promoter.
Kerala's election discourse operates surreptitiously. Its explicit face focuses on important national and local issues. At the same time, it seeks to secure apt communal equations to ensure votes, notes Shyam G Menon.
Influential Patel community leader Parshottam Rupala, minister in the first Narendra Modi government Mansukh Mandaviya and three-time MP Darshana Jardosh, all from Gujarat, were among those inducted in the Union cabinet on Wednesday.
DRDO's failures over the decades have contributed significantly to India becoming the world's biggest weapons importer, points out Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
Dave complained of uneasiness at his home on Thursday morning and was rushed to AIIMS.
The Centre may pass any law undermining the Constitution and on the back of its majority, but once the common man and farmers rise, they will not keep quiet until the new farm acts and the ruling party are destroyed, Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar said on Monday.
Anna Hazare, fasting for the last five days for passage of Lokpal Bill, on Saturday said he was happy with the amended legislation presented in the Rajya Sabha and would call off his hunger strike the moment the law is enacted.
The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed a bill to regulate and supervise assisted reproductive technology clinics, with various members urging the government not to exclude single parents and the LGBTQ community from using this procedure.
Following the address by President Ram Nath Kovind, the economic survey will be tabled in the two Houses.
A Parliamentary panel examining the Lokpal bill may recommend that the proposed anti-corruption watchdog be a single window stop for probing all corruption complaints against government functionaries by ending multiplicity of investigating agencies to investigate graft cases.
The government of India holds 24.5 per cent stake in GSTN while states together hold another 24.5 per cent
Thursday was the penultimate day of the Budget Session of Parliament. The second half of the session which began on March 5 has been a washout with no legislative business being transacted due to stalling of proceedings by the opposition.
For the first time since a casteist row erupted at a secondary school in Bageshwar district of Uttarakhand, all 66 students of classes 6-8 of the school took mid-day meal prepared by a cook on Monday.
'I think there must be some sort of a nexus between the rioters and a section of police officials which resulted in gruesome killings and arson'
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