Breaking his silence over India's participation in the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting scheduled at Colombo next month, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said a decision would be taken only after considering all relevant factors, including sentiments of Tamil people.
Karunanidhi was convinced that using the 2G cases against the DMK and reopening the fodder case against Lalu Prasad Yadav were products of the Congress leadership's short-sightedness. A revealing excerpt from A S Panneerselvan's Karunanidhi: A Life.
MK Stalin's ruling AIDMK rival does not thankfully face such problems as he did, but its problems could be worse if saner counsel does not prevail between now and the assembly polls, warns N Sathiya Moorthy.
Maharashtra has the maximum polluting industries in the country followed by Uttar Pradesh, Environment and Forest Minister T R Baalu informed the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Expressing 'surprise' over India supporting a 'weak' and 'diluted' United States resolution against Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council, former United Progressive Alliance ally Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Thursday said New Delhi had by its action "totally disappointed" the entire Tamil diaspora.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Tuesday night withdrew its support to the United Progressive Alliance over the Sri Lankan Tamils issue and ruled out any reconsideration, a move that makes the government vulnerable despite its assertions of having a Parliamentary majority.
DMK leader T R Baalu said he had given a notice of breach of parliamentary privilege against Chacko over the leakage of the JPC draft report.
Top Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leaders, including party chief M Karunanidhi's son MK Stalin and daughter Kanimozhi, besides thousands of party workers today courted arrest across Tamil Nadu as part of a 'fill-the-jail' protest against the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government which has "foisted cases" against its cadres.
The condition of Union Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, undergoing treatment for serious liver ailment at a hospital in Chennai, was stated to be stable on Friday.
United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi wants Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam M Karunanidhi to be present when the Congress nominee for the Presidential Polls presents his/her nomination papers on June 16 to Returning Officer V K Aghnihotri in Parliament House, say sources in New Delhi.
As the government came under attack from the Opposition during the debate on the recent communal riots in the national capital that have claimed over 50 lives, the BJP members alleged that the violence was a pre-planned conspiracy and the home minister and authorities took pro-active steps to control the situation.
Key United Progressive Alliance ally Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Tuesday demanded that the Centre should immediately scrap the training programme for Sri Lankan army personnel in the country, arguing that such exercises create doubts in the minds of people of Tamil Nadu about the government's intentions.
Expressing concern over repeated fire incidents in trains, a parliamentary panel has asked the Railways to find a solution to the problem with the help of technology and experts to prevent recurrence of such incidents.
Seeking to create a pressure group in the ruling United Progressive Alliance to take on the Congress, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday called up Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav and Dravida Munetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi.
DMK's TR Baalu said the name of the person cannot be divulged as of now and parried questions on whether the candidate is among the five persons whose names have been made public. "Madam will announce it shortly. Not today... At any point within this week," he said.
Seeking to exert pressure on the Centre, United Progressice Alliance's key ally Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Thursday said "any weakened response" by it on the Ram Sethu issue would only "expose the betrayal of hope and promise" given to Tamil Nadu.
Raja and Kanimozhi met Karunanidhi at his Gopalpuram residence.
Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi's son Tamilarasu and daughter Selvi met their half-sister Kanimozhi, who has been arrested in the 2G spectrum case, at a trial court in New Delhi.
Tears welled in her eyes and she hugged her mother but soon the normally-composed Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP Kanimozhi lost her cool and asked journalists to leave her alone in the court which rejected her bail application.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam-Congress alliance appeared headed for a break with six Union Ministers of the regional party set to resign on Monday even as Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee appealed to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi to reconsider his decision to pull out of the United Progressive Alliance government.
A day after Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam announced its decision to pull out of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government, the party said today that its ministers would submit their resignations on Monday.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief Karunanidhi has summoned all DMK MPs in Chennai on Tuesday, to discuss the nuke liability bill, common enterance test for medical students other political issues affecting the state.
BJP, AIADMK oppose the project while DMK and CPI(M) support the Sethusamudram shipping project across the Palk Strait. T E Narasimhan reports
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader M K Stalin on Monday met his half-sister and party member of Parliament Kanimozhi, arrested in connection with the 2G scam, at Tihar jail in New Delhi.
With the Budget and the Finance Bill yet to be passed, senior Congress leaders have gone into overdrive to salvage the situation and save the government and ensure that the DMK with its 18 MPs is back on track as far as the UPA is concerned.
The chairmen of the standing committees have a special status. They can summon any senior officer and convene a meeting at his or her will in any part of the country. The chairman can also take the committee to any state with prior intimation to have an on-the-spot study.
Amid speculation that she will succeed A Raja as Telecom Minister, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP Kanimozhi said a decision on the issue will be taken by party president M Karunanidhi, even as she made it clear that the alliance with Congress is "as strong as ever".
Upset over political developments in Maharashtra, the Congress and other opposition parties boycotted Constitution Day celebrations in the Central Hall of Parliament and held a joint protest in front of the Ambedkar statue inside Parliament complex.
Criticising the move, the opposition led by the Congress said that Question Hour is the 'golden hour of the House'. Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, said the argument and rationale that has been put forth by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi is far from convincing.
While the DMK dubbed the meeting as only a 'courtesy visit', Rao did not meet the waiting reporters.
Among those attending the meeting from the government side were Defence Minister AK Anthony, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal. The Left parties were represented by the Communist Party of India's A B Bardhan and D Raja, and the CPI-M by Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechuri
A delegation of MPs from Tamil Nadu on Saturday arrived on a five-day visit to Sri Lanka, during which they will visit camps where Tamils displaced due to the civil war are currently lodged.
Port administrations are planning to install IT gadgets like Radio Frequency Identification tags in trucks, scanners and also use speedboats for patrolling. The boats alone are likely to cost around Rs 40-50 crore (Rs 400-500 million). Union Minister of Shipping T R Baalu has also asked the directorate general of shipping to undertake a special audit on security in all the major ports to ensure compliance with all security measures.
If Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami lives by the rulebook, so does his colleague Navin Chawla. Only that the book is written by him and the rules are his own.
This is a story that shows how the muddle, contradictions, arguments and corruption that curiously generate much of India's success, can also sometimes block progress.
In the wake of Mumbai attacks by terrorists who came by the sea route, the Centre on Friday decided to authorise the Coast Guard to check all the "suspicious merchant vessels" prior to entry at the country's ports.
The session, which was earlier scheduled to conclude on April 3, is now likely to be adjourned sine die on March 23, sources said.
Shah said nobody can stop him from introducing a resolution on Kashmir in Parliament.
Business in Rajya Sabha was on Thursday deadlocked with the opposition objecting to All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader V Maitreyan being asked to leave the House after he sought the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's response to charges against his cabinet colleague T R Baalu for favouring his sons' firms.
The saffron party also slammed Union Shipping Minister T R Baalu for announcing that the Sethu Samudram project will be completed in November next year saying his statement on the Vijayadashmi day was a 'deliberate attempt' to hurt the sentiments of crore of believers.