On her birthday, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati had an answer for each of her detractors: the Samjawadi Party, the Bhartiya Janata Party and the Congress. "If Congressmen have a problem with my celebrating my birthday, then we could also observe Congress president Sonia Gandhi's birthday as ghulami diwas (slavery day) - considering she is a person of foreign origin, for which she has always been targeted by other opposition parties", Mayawati said.
"What is Rahul Gandhi up to?" was the question doing the rounds in Lucknow after the Congress general secretary appeared at the city's Amausi airport on Wednesday afternoon.
This follows a letter written by eight US Congressmen to that country's Export-Import Bank (Exim Bank) asking it to immediately suspend all financial assistance to RIL until the company agrees to stop selling gasoline to Iran.
Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi traveled in the chair car of the Shatabdi Express on Tuesday to reach Ludhiana from Delhi.
By passing this bill, Congress is showing that the US will not turn a blind eye to the suffering of the oppressed, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy said.
As the Barack Obama administration proposes to pump billions of dollars into Pakistan, United States' Congressmen have insisted that Islamabad must be made accountable in lieu of the massive aid. Grilling top army and defense officials, members of the powerful House Armed Services Committee wanted to know from the officials, testifying before it, that the administration has a mechanism to ensure that more than $10 billion being given to Pakistan is not wasted.
'The dragon is Narendra Modi. While it may be harsh -- a tad -- to say that it was sleeping, it is fair to say that the government's approach in tackling corruption cases was lackadaisical.' 'By choosing corruption as an issue the Opposition has goaded the Treasury benches to return fire -- and the BJP has more potent ammunition,' says T V R Shenoy.
Ambassador T P Sreenivasan bids adieu to an unusual human being who passed away into ages on Saturday.
Sonia, who was addressing a convention of Congress functionaries and peoples' representatives in Maharashtra, said, "Here (in Maharashtra) regionalism is being encouraged. We have to fight the forces of regionalism, which are dividing society for their vested interests." The Congress president also asked party workers to work together and strengthen the party.
'We are writing to request that you join us in signing the attached letter that we are sending to Secretary (Robert) Gates regarding a fundamental issue of fairness, justice, and religious freedom: the right of Sikh Americans to abide by their religious articles of faith while serving in the United States Armed Forces,' wrote Congressmen Rodney Frelinghuysen and Carolyn Maloney in a 'dear colleague' letter.
'Look at the impropriety of the Anti-Corruption Bureau giving Ajit Pawar a clean chit!'
It was a perfect setting for a birthday -- a cake, balloons, flowers and crackers but the birthday boy was missing.
A resolution was introduced in the US House of Representatives on Monday calling on the Indian government to take all necessary steps to restrict the reach and resources of "radical religious elements" that cause violence periodically, including the incitement of violence against minorities.
The American Jewish Committee, a powerful Jewish group with more than 150,000 members in the US, urged US Senators and Representatives to approve the agreement, also known as 123 Agreement, saying it believes that the overarching benefit of this agreement is strategic. In a similar show of support the US Chamber of Commerce, the world's largest business federation, sent a letter to all members of the House and Senate.
Personal differences between the two alliance partners, Congress insiders say, are owing to Kumaraswamy's style of functioning. He, unlike his father, is suspected to have a soft corner for the BJP, reports Bibhu Ranjan Mishra.
A prominent Indian-American Kashmiri group in the US has launched a letter-writing campaign appealing to US lawmakers to pressurize Pakistan into acting firmly against terrorists groups operating from its soil.
Conceivably, the deferment of the Parliament session to beyond the second week of September has more to do with the nuclear deal with the United States than the alienation of Kashmiris or the wheeling and dealing by the UPA and its allies.
Nitish Kumar will be the chief minister only till the time the BJP wishes, points out Ramesh Menon.
Prithviraj Chavan, Minister of State in the Prime Minister's office
Two US Congress members have expressed doubts over the quality of inspections conducted by the US Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) on Indian drug manufacturing facilities.
Ordinary folk, every newspaper and TV channel in the country, Congressmen (including the ones who were screaming for bank bailouts during 2008) and even people on the Wall Street (what an irony!) are furious that AIG should be paying some of its executives handsome bonuses while on the dole. The details of the AIG bailout that have been made public, reluctantly, by the government focus the spotlight more clearly on the faults of the system as a whole.
Stating that the Shiv Sena was ready to provide the best lawyers to defend Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, arrested in connection with the Malegaon blast, Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Monday ridiculed Congress Member of Parliament Gurudas Kamat, who has demanded his arrest for backing her. "Whenever Congressmen have feats of Muslim appeasement, they dream of my arrest," Thackeray said in an editorial in the Sena mouthpiece Saamana.
Rita Bahuguna Joshi, who has been in the eye of storm over the on-going war between her party and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati, is not known for indulging in any kind of loose talk for which she has been charged by Mayawati.
In a bid to address the rise of Al Qaeda and Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan, United States President Barack Obama's maiden budget has proposed more military aid to the two countries. US military aid to Pakistan has remained a matter of intense discussion, however, the Congressmen this time are pitching to increase non-military aid by linking it with Islamabad's success in the fight against terrorism. The budget also seeks to increase the non-military aid.
Gandhi reportedly told them that he has already conveyed his decision to the Congress Working Committee and would not relent.
The proposed bill would suspend all pending visa petitions from countries refusing to take back illegal immigrants until they agree to repatriate our deportees. The legislation would also direct the State Department to withhold funds under the Foreign Assistance Act to countries that persist in this refusal. India is amongst eight countries to have refused to repatriate illegal migrants.
Minor incidents of violence were reported on Friday in Gwalior division as Congress workers tried to enforce bandh at several places in protest of filing of three cases against Guna Member of Parliament Jyotiraditya Scindia.
'There were any number of Congress leaders who disliked Sonia Gandhi, but they were very close to Ahmed Bhai and he would listen, and give a shoulder to cry upon.'
A portrait of Dalip Singh Saund, the first Indian-American Congressman, was unveiled at a ceremony in the United States Congress on Wednesday in Washington, DC
In an apparent reference to the recent sting operation over the Gujarat riots, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday spoke about the need to fight against anti-social forces, failing which there could be 'dangerous consequences' for secular and democratic India.
Ashok Gehlot, who spearheaded the Congress campaign and brought it back to power in the assembly elections in Rajasthan, was on Saturday sworn in as chief minister for a second term in office.Gehlot, 57, who was the chief minister between 1998 and 2003, was sworn in at a public ceremony in front of a large number of Congressmen by Governor S K Singh. He was the only one to take oath today.
The letters were sent to ten Democratic Congressman soon after the low-intensity bomb went off outside a military recruitment centre in Times Square in New York City, Analysts think the blast may be linked to the bombings of the British Consulate in 2005 and the Mexican Consulate in 2007.
Saying the Congress has an important role to play in restructuring society, Congress Member of Parliament Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday exhorted partymen, especially the youth, to combat casteism, fundamentalism and other evils weakening society.
'Look at the contributions India has made and how it has helped improve the life of the Afghan people,' says former Afghan foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah.
Nalini, who is serving a life term in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case in the Vellore Central Jail, is pinning her hopes on an early release from prison, even as Congressmen paid floral tributes to the late leader on the 17th anniversary of his death on Wednesday.She has filed a petition in the high court to set her at liberty, after her hopes for an early release on account of her good conduct while being in prison, were dashed.
'The Godse controversy may have helped Kamal Haasan reach out to a larger audience, both inside the state and outside, coming as it does when the main campaign for elections 19 is over and only those in the four assembly bypoll constituencies are drudging along,' says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'We value our friendship with the Left, but not at the cost of the national interest. If this government goes, let it go'
'What do Congressmen want, five assured months in office before the general election is called or the possibility of being re-elected for another five-year term?'
The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday alleged that the ruling Aam Aadmi Party, which spoke about sending corrupt Congressmen to jail, is now trying to save them.
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