Action has been initiated on making the Communal Violence Bill a law to protect minorities from targeted attacks, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Monday said, but was not sure if it will be tabled in the Winter Session of Parliament.
'People will realise sooner or later that there are no jobs, inflation is unchecked and loads of corruption charges are coming from various states which the government is totally brazen about.'
With almost all opposition parties and several trade unions backing the 'Bharat Bandh' and many announcing parallel protests in support of the farmers, the Centre has issued an advisory directing all the states and Union Territories to tighten security and ensure COVID guidelines are followed.
Farmer leaders on Monday started their day-long hunger strike against the Centre's new farm laws and said protests will be held at all district headquarters later in the day, even as more people are expected to join the ongoing agitation at Delhi border points.
The government on Monday slammed Congress leader Kamal Nath for his remarks that Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan's decision on the issue of grant of Leader of Opposition status could be "flavoured" by BJP, saying it is "unfortunate" as the Speaker is above party lines.
The Marxists are heading for their worst debacle in many elections. How will May 16, 2014 affect India's Communists? T V R Shenoy surveys the landscape.
If the AAP wins 20 to 40 Lok Sabha seats, which is conceivable unless it botches up on governance in Delhi, it will become a significant bloc comparable in influence to or even bigger than several major regional parties, feels Praful Bidwai.
Unlike the LDF and NDA nominees who are at ground zero and campaigning hard every day, the Congress candidate's campaign is undertaken in absentia, dependent on an army of local and imported from the rest of Kerala Congresswomen and men.
The blaze started on the second floor of the Arpit Palace Hotel in the heart of the national capital around 3.30 am, trapping many guests who were in deep sleep.
'Only the smoke is coming out now. Let us prevent the lava from coming out by taking proper measures.' 'I have told every leader that you cannot have a stable government without winning the confidence of the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and the most backward castes.' 'Leaders feel that by giving a sop here and there and by symbolic actions, they can win votes. That's all they want. Votes.'
Amethi's member of Parliament failed to use his first formal television interview to reach out to the people in general and the electorate in particular ahead of the crucial elections in which the Congress has already been written off by opinion polls and surveys. He did little to change that impression by failing to exploit the platform provided to him.
'It is still God's own country. Nobody needs to worry about coming here. Anybody can come to Kerala without worry because bad elements will be kicked out of the state mercilessly... These terrorists visited many places and not only Kerala,' says Kerala Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, reacting to the fears that Kerala has become a terror hub.
'The BJP's all-India plans can be expected to become clearer around 2022-2023, particularly if -- as some anticipate -- the senior Congress leadership cracks, broadly as between the Nehru-Gandhi loyalists and those who may be termed 'pro-changers',' observes Arun Bhatnagar, a retired IAS officer.
In heart-wrenching scenes reminiscent of the aftermath of the 2019 Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed, coffins of soldiers arrived in several states for the last rites with full military honours.
'The Modi Sultanate -- like the Congress Sultanate -- does not understand local aspirations and politics. It will repeat the same mistakes whenever it takes on powerful regional leaders.'
While asserting that the growth of coronavirus cases in the country has been more or less linear and not exponential, it also said testing has been ramped up consistently.
Ten trade unions with a combined membership of 15 crore workers in public and private sector, including banks and insurance companies, are on a nationwide strike to protest against changes in the labour laws.
The development came a day after the protesting farmers rejected the Centre's offer to start talks as soon as they move to Burari and continued to stay put Singhu and Tikri borders of the national capital.
Nitish Kumar will be the chief minister only till the time the BJP wishes, points out Ramesh Menon.
By annoying potential allies ahead of the polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate is playing a dangerous game but if he wins, he gets it all, says Aditi Phadnis
Its 'failure not just affects the military's effectiveness but could also be politically vulnerable for the BJP,' observes Ajai Shukla.
Narendra Modi's victory does not represent a victory of 'the Indian nation', but only an elite-driven polarising phenomenon. The sooner we -- and the BJP -- recognise this, the better, says Praful Bidwai.
'The handling of the pandemic, under this totally constitutional and legal three-level dictatorship, has begun to show its downside,' observes Shekhar Gupta.
'With over 50 per cent of medical seats reserved for those who have the ability to pay a fee ranging from Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1.5 crore for a five-year MBBS course and quotas in accordance with affirmative policies in government colleges, the band of seats available for the not-so-rich and non-OBCs is very narrow.'
The total number of positive cases has increased by 106 in the last 24 hours to reach 1,024.
On the final day of his two-day visit to India's financial capital, Congres vice president Rahul Gandhi tried to connect with Mumbaikars by raising the issue of high electricity bills en route his padyatra from National College, Bandra to Dharavi, Asia's largest slum colony.
The COVID-19 tests will be started at every polling station in the containment zones of Delhi in a few days
Sonia Gandhi's iftar was meant to be a powerful show of unity of Opposition parties to take on the Modi Sarkar, but that was not to be...
Trade union leaders claimed that the strike would be even bigger than the one last year as the number of striking workers is expected to swell to 18 crore
For any proposal to be cleared, it has to get 75% of the vote.
Modi and Shah's next focus will be South India, and the Maharashtra and Jharkhand assembly elections. Shah is unlikely to abdicate control over the party even after he joins the government. Modi and Shah both know only too well that the party makes the government, and not the other way round.
While believing that the senior leadership does not have what it takes to resurrect the party, members at the same time are often heard repeating, "It's the Gandhi family that holds the party together". Kavita Chowdhury explains
From the Aadhaar verdict to #MeToo's arrival in the country to the entry into the Sabarimala temple -- India had a newsworthy 2018. As we step into 2019, these are the top moments from the year gone by.
The bench directed that the mediation will be held at Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh and the process should start within a week from Friday.
Ahead of the Parliament session, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday reached out to parties appealing them not to come in the way of prosperity of farmers, saying the deadlock over the land acquisition bill is seriously impacting rural development.
'He is anything but astute or charismatic. He believes the Congress can win elections without alliances in the Hindi heartland.'
Despite the recent electoral reverses, Rahul is getting ready to walk the fire once more. The question is whether he will get burned or burnished in the process, says Saroj Nagi.
Names of CMs of Punjab and Karnataka along with a former CM found mention in the list.
The year threw up quite a few shockers, some rather rude one. Below are Rediff.com's 12 picks that made us sit back and think, 'Did that really happen?'
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