Here's the full text of President Ram Nath Kovind's customary address to the joining sitting of Parliament on the first day of the budget session.
Once the Canadian investigation runs its course, Ottawa may put on the public domain further accusations passing for "evidence" -- and that could happen at some point closer to our general election. All in all, the big question is, what is it that the US is really up to, asks Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
A sessions court in Surat on Thursday said it would pronounce on April 20 its order on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's plea for a stay to his conviction in a criminal defamation case over his "Modi surname" remark.
Top leaders of the Opposition's Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) held talks in an informal setting in Mumbai on Thursday evening to chart out a concrete roadmap and evolve a structure for cooperation among the alliance partners to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
India has expressed its reservations about making an 'unqualified endorsement' on the findings and recommendations of the Goldstone report at a special session of the United Nations General Assembly. "We have reservations in making unqualified endorsement of the various recommendations as well as some of the procedures adopted by the Goldstone report, including the involvement of the International Criminal Court and that of the Security Council," MP B K Hariprasad said.
'This move rendered the chiefs of important investigative agencies to the status of daily wage earners. It undermined the autonomy and independence of the agencies.'
The Rajya Sabha is slated for a 12-hour discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President's address to the joint session of the two Houses of Parliament, which also includes the reply by the prime minister, which is likely next Tuesday.
Opposition politicians on Wednesday stalled a last minute attempt by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government to pass the Goods and Service Tax bill.
Kejriwal said that the ordinance must be defeated collectively in Parliament where it is likely to come up for voting as a law in the forthcoming session.
It said the Congress will infuse new blood in leadership roles without creating new fault lines and cementing its ideological moorings.
The Telugu Desam Party, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam continued to raise the issue of the dam over the River Cauvery and special status for Andhra Pradesh in both the Houses. While the Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day soon after it met at 11.00 am, the Lok Sabha saw repeated adjournments, but managed to pass the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill amid the din.
Amid a raging debate on the issue of clemency for killers of Rajiv Gandhi, the main investigator in the 20-year-old case D R Karthikeyan says that he will be happy if the death penalty of the three accused is commuted to life sentence.
Modi wants the BJP to gets an additional 10% of the vote share from what it won in 2019. Plans are afoot to get new faces to replace MPs with poor chances of winning. Sources say more than 100 MPs are like to be axed, notes Modi biographer Ramesh Menon.
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.
Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi has been at the forefront of climate action and saving the environment campaigns - whether plogging at a beach in Mahabalipuram in 2019 or wearing a sky-blue 'sadri' jacket to Parliament made of material recycled from plastic bottles. Made by Karur-based sustainable fashion brand EcoLine Clothing (EcoLine), a brand of Shree Renga Polymers, front runner in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle recycling and sustainable textiles in India run by IITians, the company recycles PET bottles and upcycles them into value-added products, such as garments. Three months on, the phone lines of Senthil Sankar, managing partner at Shree Renga Polymers and EcoLine, have been ringing non-stop since the jacket made out of recycled plastic at Karur, Tamil Nadu's textile capital, was worn by the PM to Parliament on February 8.
The government is all set to roll out another package of concessions to take the feel-good factor to a political peak, while seeking the vote-on-account in a special session of Parliament in the first week of February.
The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan will inspire terrorists and trigger an "explosion" of extremism and security challenges for the world, UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace warned on Thursday.
The winter session of Parliament is set to be stormy with Opposition parties closing ranks to target the government on issues including 'intolerance' even as the ruling dispensation expressed its readiness to discuss all issues.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Dr Murli Manohar Joshi has backed Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav's demand that the Centre should convene all-party meeting to discuss the Sino-Indian border issue.
Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu has expressed disappointment saying "obstruction is destruction of parliamentary democracy".
'The idea of subversive activities is so vague that it could include making fun of the government, being critical of the government.'
Parliament proceedings were washed out for the fifth straight day, as members from parties including the Telugu Desam Party and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, continued their protests on various issues.
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday said the Congress and other opposition parties have brought the no-confidence motion against the Narendra Modi government in the Lok Sabha at a 'wrong time and in a wrong manner'.
In 2022, Rajasthan met for 30 days, Chhattisgarh 18 days, MP and Mizoram for 15 each, and Telangana for 10 days.
A house meeting has been scheduled for Saturday as per the Parliament's notice and the matter relating to the constitution amendment bill is likely to come during the meeting, parliamentary sources said. Meanwhile, in a conciliatory tone, India on Thursday said it deeply values its friendly ties with Nepal.
During their last meeting on Thursday also, the farmer leaders had their own lunch, tea and even water.
By changing the nation's name from India to Bharat, would this landmass overnight lose the emotional and cultural linkage that had been built over generations, centuries and millennia, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
The theme for this year's Yoga day is "Yoga for Humanity".
Tearful British MPs paid glowing tributes to their slain colleague Jo Cox in the House of Commons on Monday at a special session to honour the "passionate and progressive" Labour politician who was murdered by a far-right activist.
Bowing to the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha's demand, the West Bengal government on Wednesday said it will seek from the Centre a tripartite meeting to resolve the Darjeeling crisis in a few days.
The no-confidence motion against the government could not be introduced amid the din in the Lok Sabha.
With the general election campaign less than six months away, the BJP has more to think about than it had on the eve of 2019. It's the states that will be robbing BJP strategists of their sleep at this point, not the Lok Sabha, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
Shah said the Opposition's 'irresponsible' conduct caused a loss of over Rs 333 crore of public money and the ruling National Democratic Alliance MPs' decision to forgo their salaries was a 'call of conscience'.
Is it is necessary to play divisive politics to succeed in the next general elections? asks Dr Sudhir Bisht.
'It is this fear that is behind all that has happened to Rahul Gandhi.'
'How can we tolerate if a Constitutionally-appointed governor acts in violation of the Constitution?'
Nationalist Congress Party's Agatha K Sangma on Monday took oath as a member of the 14th Lok Sabha, becoming the youngest Member of Parliament of the current House.The other two are Anurag Singh Thakur of Bharatiya Janata Party and Anand Paranjpe of Shiv Sena.The three other new members who took oath are A Indrakaran Reddy (Congress) of Adilabad, B Vinod Kumar (TRS) of Hanamkonda and Errabelli Dayakar Rao (Telugu Desam Party) of Warangal.
The government is taking no chances with the availability of Lok Sabha MPs for the Special Session of Parliament (July 21-22), which will see one of the most exciting debates in recent parliamentary history.
