The opposition Rashtriya Janata-Dal hit out at the Bihar government on Wednesday for accusing it of hatching a 'conspiracy' in the mid-day meal tragedy that claimed the lives of 22 children, alleging that by politicising the issue the Janata Dal-United government was trying to divert the people's attention from the incident.
Offering an olive branch to the Opposition to get the GST bill passed, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is willing to speak to everyone to get the landmark indirect tax law through.
The United States has demanded the immediate and full restoration of the democratically elected government in Myanmar and said that America stands with the elected representatives of the Asian nation.
The Major Ports Authority Bill, 2020 was passed through ballot votes in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday with 84 votes in its favour and 44 against it. The Lok Sabha had passed the bill on September 23 last year.
A circular by the Lok Sabha's press and public relations chief points out that the parliamentary committee meetings 'are not open for coverage by the media', reports our correspondent
Rajya Sabha also rejected an opposition sponsored motions to send the bill to a select committee of the House and for making triple talaq a civil offence with 100 votes against it as compared to 84 in favour.
Ahead of Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's meeting with opposition parties on Tuesday, Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday said there would be no dilution in its stand on a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the 2G spectrum scam and threatened to disrupt the budget session of Parliament if the demand was not met.
The Lalu Prasad-led Rashtriya Janata Dal MPs, including his daughter Misa Bharti and Manoj Jha, also staged a protest at Mahatma Gandhi's statue inside the Parliament complex and contended that despite being the chief opposition party in Bihar and the single largest party in the Assembly, it was not invited.
'The critics are getting carried away.' 'The challenge for the RBI is not any erosion of autonomy caused by demonetisation.' 'It's the whole attempt to reduce the RBI's stature and role that has been under way,' says T T Ram Mohan.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered a stay of the implementation of the contentious three new farm laws hoping this will end the prolonged protests by the farmers and also constituted a four-member panel of agri experts to resolve the impasse between their leaders and the Centre.
The next meeting has been scheduled for January 22, a day after the farmer unions hold their internal discussions on Thursday, farmer leaders said after the 10th round of talks ended at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi after nearly five hours of talks, including two breaks.
While players in the financial ecosystem are opening up to the idea of receivables funding for the sector, this market needs a regulator, which a Parliament panel feels only RBI can provide.
Select committees on Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill and Coal Mines Bill recommended their approval without any change
Pawar will be accompanied by Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Sitaram Yechury, Communist Party of India leader D Raja and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP T R Baalu.
At a press conference after a meeting of the party's senior leaders, K C Venugopal said the Congress will also launch a massive signature campaign in which it aims to collect two crore signatures from farmers and the poor people against farm bills.
The new law will have penal provisions of Rs 50 lakh and five year imprisonment for celebrities promoting sale of items without verifying the quality.
Given the importance of equipment modernisation, the overall defence budget should rise at least at the same pace as salaries and pensions, so that equipment modernisation is not hit.
The letter by 'Sanyukt Kisan Morcha', which represents farmer bodies mostly from Punjab, comes against the backdrop of the government holding talks with several farmers organisations from different states who the Centre claimed have extended their support to the new agriculture laws.
A ministerial committee has been set up to propose a suitable legislation or amend existing penal provisions, which would make instantaneous triple talaq an offence, government functionaries said on Tuesday.
A PAGD leader said the meeting was held at the residence of alliance chairperson and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah at the Gupkar locality of Srinagar.
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, around 20 injured students under the Jamia Coordination Committee narrated what they claimed were police brutalities. The students claimed over 50 of them received injuries on their chest, stomach and their private parts during the scuffle.
The proposed changes to the child labour law to allow children and adolescents to work for their families would be most retrograde and regressive, say Shinzani Jain and Paranjoy Guha Thakurta.
With Raghuram Rajan not 'really there', the FinMin has decided to keep a watch on market developments this week with all key officials on the job.
While the Congress will firm up its strategy once the ruling alliance tables the Bill, initial comments by its leaders have been encouraging.
Left parties on Wednesday warned the government that it would commit an "illegal act" if it tried to dilute the Civil Nuclear Liability Act or signed any agreement for supply of nuclear reactors during the upcoming United States visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
"Having given our anxious consideration to this aspect of 'likelihood' of threat and terror, we are of the view that the foundations of our nation stand on surer footing than to be likely to be shaken by a protest, however vicious, organised by a tribe of college students or other persons, operating as a coordination committee from the confines of a University situate in the heart of Delhi," a bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Anup Jairam Bhambhani said in a 133-page judgement.
India needs to take note of China's assertiveness in implementing its national security law as also its recently exhibited sensitivity to criticism of Xi Jinping by the Indian media, says former senior R&AW officer and China expert Jayadeva Ranade.
"They (those who celebrated the win) don't have anything to do with them (Pakistanis)... It was done to provoke the BJP. They were children and young boys and this should serve as an eye-opener for the BJP," Abdullah said at a public meeting in Surankote in Poonch district.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushma Swaraj on Friday termed as "dishonest" and "mischievous" the government's contention that she had supported the ordinance on convicted lawmakers.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday urged top opposition leaders to rise above political compulsions to take on the BJP in the interest of the nation and start planning "systematically" to realise the "ultimate goal" of winning the 2024 Lok Sabha polls
Where do the four members of the Supreme Court appointed panel to interface with farmers stand on the Modi government's farm laws?
A small step in this direction was taken with making triple talaq a punishable offence in the last Parliament session. But UCC is difficult to implement, reports Archis Mohan.
Amid a stalemate between the government and the Opposition over the issue, the House failed to transact any significant business and was adjourned for the day.
The Wuhan local administration earlier announced that people who are not quarantined and seeking special treatment or stranded in the city can leave in batches.
The Akali Dal, an ally of the BJP, has written to the parliamentary committee opposing certain clauses in the land acquisition bill. A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com speaks to Akali Dal MPs to find out why they oppose the controversial legislation.
Myanmar military television says that the military has taken control of the country for one year.
Senior Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad made this assertion outside Parliament while speaking to reporters and said the revocation of suspension of the Opposition Rajya Sabha MPs was not a demand, but a 'request'.
Citing overlapping of functions, a parliamentary committee on Monday recommended integrating Central Vigilance Commission and anti-corruption wing of the Central Bureau of Investigation to work directly under the command and control of Lokpal to deal with corruption cases.
Jaitley's concerns are unlikely to cut much ice with the Congress.
SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal announced the decision to snap ties with the NDA on Saturday night, amid stepped up agitation by farmers in Punjab over the three legislations which were recently passed by Parliament amid Opposition protests.