Select committees on Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill and Coal Mines Bill recommended their approval without any change
In its 'Right of Reply', India also rejected the 'fanciful and misleading' remarks by the Pakistani envoy to the United Nations.
Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party and the Trinamool Congress competed with each other in trying to raise the issue more vociferously
Prime Minister Khan said his government was keen to bring the perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai attack to book, asserting that it was in the interest of Pakistan.
Security will be a consideration, as would protocol, but given Modi's penchant for the unconventional, it should not come as a surprise if he indeed decides to attend the ceremony in Kabul, says Ramesh Ramachandran.
"Our government does not delay decisions. We neither nurse problems nor keep them pending," Modi said.
The MEA insists that as far as the government is concerned the hostages are alive. But the families have grown tired of these assurances. They are clueless and so it seems is the government. Rashme Sehgal reports.
Sparks flew in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday as the raging Jawaharlal Nehru University row and suicide of Dalit student Rohith Vemula was taken up for discussion, with opposition accusing the government of muzzling the voice of the youth and "mercilessly crushing" the principles of democracy.
The State must stand as a solid tower of confidence to provide a guarantee of safety to its citizens and instill fear in the hearts of offenders. But where is that State, asks Tarun Vijay
'Was he afraid that his answers during cross-examination would land him in trouble under the new ruling dispensation?'
India and China on Friday agreed to set up a dedicated communication channel to boost security cooperation as Home Minister Rajnath Singh held talks with China's security czar on issues like cross border terrorism from Pakistan and the Afghan situation.
The Congress president questioned the government over unfulfilled promises and questioned the Rafale deal.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's ouster through illegal means could trigger another round of democracy-related US sanctions against Pakistan, according to a report.
Besides weakening the Maoists' lethal capacities and reducing violence, it is essential to ensure that governance is improved, so that those prone to sympathising with, or supporting, the Maoists would, in the long run, realise the needlessness and futility of doing so, says P V Ramana and Raj Bala Rana.
Even as the BJP makes inroads into previously unfamiliar territories in eastern India, the party will have to be wary of losing out elsewhere, says Amulya Ganguli.
'Defaulters like Mallya can't be offloaded, but activists like me are. And that too for raising questions.' 'Today, what is the meaning of development?' 'Take over land, water and forest from the Adivasis and hand it over to corporates.' 'I am surprised how a minister who is supposed to protect the forests and the environment is happy reaching out to investors for more and more clearances.'
In May 2013, Naxalites ambushed a Congress party's convey on the Darba ghats killing 31 people. R Krishna Das revisits the spot a year later
Faced with the prospect of yet another embarrassment in Rajya Sabha, Government on Tuesday night bowed to the opposition demand for sending the Mines and Minerals bill to a Select Committee after hours of battle of wits between rival sides.
Ahead of Sushma Swaraj's visit, Myanmarese soldiers take over Indian territory.
'Afghanistan cannot be at peace until the Pashtuns regain their pre-eminent role in the country's governance,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
While Ahmed Patel staved off the challenge to his Rajya Sabha membership, it leaves the scene wide open for the Gujarat assembly election this winter.
'We have to work for our victories.' 'We have to offer a better alternative governance model.' 'Not just criticise the current government.' 'You have to build bridges, learn from what has gone wrong and create a party for all people.'
The Enforcement Directorate had last week arrested Chhagan Bhujbal's associate and chartered accountant Sunil Naik in connection with the case.
Trinamool leaders have claimed the NRC process and subsequent verification is vote bank politics. Other critics call it as modified ethnic cleansing. But putting poll rhetoric aside, the issue dates back to a time when many of these leaders had no political relevance.
Arun Kumar is at home after his dramatic escape from violence-hit South Sudan. But he is preparing to return to his business, his life, his 'everything'.
'He is anything but astute or charismatic. He believes the Congress can win elections without alliances in the Hindi heartland.'
'You worry when serious people, with control of our and our children's future, begin to start obsessing over social media, seeing it as an easy, lazy, fun, low-cost substitute for boring, old-fashioned practices of politics, governance and serious, fact-based debate,' says Shekhar Gupta.
The issue of alleged bugging at Union Minister Nitin Gadkari's residence rocked Parliament on Wednesday with Congress alleging that the methods used in Gujarat to keep tabs on ministers and MPs were being employed at the Centre, a charge stoutly rejected by Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
Much of the pre-2014 peace in our hotspots is diminished. Kashmir is on the boil and the Northeast is anarchic, observes Shekhar Gupta.
'If the RSS should be saluted for choosing such a scholarly statesman to address its highly trained cadre, one must also praise Pranab Da's sagacity for having gracefully accepting the invitation, thus disapproving any ideological apartheid,' says former BJP MP Tarun Vijay.
In the year since Modi cast the spotlight on Pakistan's human rights violations in Balochistan, India has not done much more than raise the issue at the UN a few times.
'The government is using the Intelligence Bureau to go after NGOs.' 'It is not only the NDA, the UPA also didn't like NGOs.' 'NGOs predominantly work with the poor. So, when you cancel an NGO, the affected are the poor, the Dalits, the tribals, the street children and the marginalised.'
'The youth associated with this movement were extremely talented.' 'But I personally believe violence cannot change anything in the world.'
'The Senators were playing safe, not angering either the pro-India lobby or the pro-Pakistan lobby, but perhaps more importantly, the military-industrial complex -- the most powerful lobby of all -- which the majority of Senators are beholden to in terms of largesse to their campaign coffers.'
P B Chandra finds out if the 'Modi wave' is sweeping the desert state as party workers have been claiming since the Bharatiya Janata Party's thumping victory in the assembly polls last year.
'We think Pakistan has moved decisively against terrorists that threaten Pakistan internally, but still needs to devote attention to those that represent a threat to their neighbours.'
Kashmir's youth are being radicalised. The once-alienated separatists are ready to return to their old haunting ground. The ruling PDP-BJP coalition finds itself on the defensive over almost every issue of governance.
Congress leaders say that controversies like the one triggered by Janardhan Dwivedi could be damaging for the party in the run up to the 2014 Lok Sabha election.
Congress leader Janardan Dwivedi got a snub from the party on Wednesday with Sonia Gandhi rejecting his suggestion for ending quota based on caste saying there should be "no doubt or ambiguity" over the party's stand of continuing the system of reservation for SCs, STs and OBCs.
Aseem Chhabra lists the movies that taught him about the Idea of India.
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