Chinese astronauts Jing Haipeng, 50, and Chen Dong, 37, were blasted off into space by Shenzhou-11 (heavenly vessel) spacecraft.
In an unprecedented admission, Communist Party of India-Marxist patriarch Jyoti Basu on Friday said he had breached party discipline by openly canvassing for maverick West Bengal transport minister Subhas Chakraborty's induction into the Central Committee as well as the state secretariat.
"I am spending two hours daily to ease the problems caused by demonetisation. I am breaking my head daily but we are unable to find a solution to this problem," the CM said.
The powerful Left members from states like Kerala and West Bengal have told the top brass that if the issue of price rise and terrorism is not handled in a politically savvy manner, then the countdown to withdraw support to the UPA government should start. Within both the Congress and the CPM, a debate is on over the future course of action. The Congress Working Committee is meeting on May 31 to discuss the Karnataka results, price rise and other hot issues.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) contention that capitalism was the only way to industrialise West Bengal has made Left Front partners aghast.
Communist Party of India-Maoist central committee member G Saraiah alias Azad and his wife Padma were shot dead in an exchange of fire with Greyhound commandos in the forests between Kantanapalli-Rampuram villages in Eturunagaram mandal. Azad was suspected of organising the killing of 16 tribals in Nizamabad district in 2002.
Defying a Communist Party of India directive to quit his post before the trust vote, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on Monday chaired an all-party meeting in New Delhi ahead of the special session of the Lok Sabha to decide on the confidence motion.The Speaker had called the meeting of the floor leaders of parties to discuss issues related to the trust vote being sought by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in the wake of the Left withdrawing support to the UPA.
The CPI-M, in its last Congress in Delhi, had decided to develop its independent strength and expanding its political base in new areas and among various sections of people, like Dalits, tribals, minorities, women and other downtrodden sections more vigorously. The two-day meeting of the central committee in Delhi will give final touches to the CPI-M's Political-Organisational Report, which would be adopted by the party's Congress slated in March-April at Coimbatore.
Communist Party of India-Maoist Central Committee member and in-charge of Haryana, Lanka Venkata Papi Reddy alias Ranganna alias Latchanna, surrendered before Andhra Pradesh Home Minister K Jana Reddy in Hyderabad on Saturday. Speaking to newsmen, Papi Reddy, 47, said that he decided to surrender and join the 'mainstream of public life' due to his failing health.
China's ruling Communist Party on Tuesday confirmed that Congress president Sonia Gandhi has accepted President Hu Jintao's invitation to visit the country, saying the event will further enhance friendship between leaders of the two countries.
Though Andhra Pradesh police has not confirmed the arrest of Sattanna so far, Revolutionary Writer Association founder Varavara Rao alleged that the Maoist leader was taken into custody by a special police party from Angamaly in Ernakulam district in Kerala on a specific tip-off.
Expulsion from the party often entails a social boycott of the person by the members of the political family, say insiders, and this is not going to be easy for Somnath Chatterjee who has spent the best part of his life in the CPI-M.
CPI-M leader W R Varadarajan said senior party leaders Harkishan Singh Surjeet and Jyoti Basu have requested the party to relieve them from politburo due to their advanced age and immobility. A decision on the request would be made on April 3. Both had urged the CPI-M to relieve them in the last Congress, but the party had requested them to continue as it felt their advice and guidance would be vital.
CPI (M) is set to meet the FM to discuss economic policy ahead of the Budget.
The Communist Party of India Marxist Politburo has decided to meet in New Delhi soon to take an 'appropriate decision' if the talks between the Left Front and the United Progressive Alliance fail to end the logjam over the India-United States nuclear agreement.The party central committee, in its meeting in Kolkata last week, had authorised the politburo to take a final decision if the UPA government went ahead with the operationalisation of the nuclear deal.
In a Facebook post, the minister, who was mauled on social media, said "a mistake is a mistake" and hoped the state's enlightened people and sports personalities would understand his folly.
The meetings would follow the CPM's politburo and central committee, which are meeting in Kolkata this month end to take stock of the political situation.
The CPM will review its decision to support the UPA only if the govt operationalised the N-deal, leader Nilotpal Basu said. The CPI(M) also downplayed the apparent differences between the party's Bengal leaders and General Secretary Prakash Karat.
Making it clear that the Left was not prepared to back down on the issue, Bardhan said it was up to the government to decide whether it wanted to continue or commit sati on the issue.
Yechury briefed the prime minister about the deliberations of the CPI-M's central committee and the position taken by the party.
Amid reports of the Left taking tougher stand on the Indo-US nuclear deal, CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat on Tuesday held an hour-long meeting with Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu.
Bindu and Kanakadurga, who broke centuries-old tradition by entering the holy shrine, said there were no objections from the devotees and called those who were protesting riot-mongers.
At least 10 CPI(M) workers were injured in a clash that broke out after activists of a right wing Hindu outfit attacked the Left party's headquarters in New Delhi on Sunday. The protest turned violent as scores of RSS activists clashed with CPM workers and started pelting stones at the party office where a CPI(M) Central Committee was meeting, police sources said.
Xi-Kim meeting took place amid concern in Beijing that the North Korean leader is getting too close to US sidelining China pointing to its declining importance in the Korean Peninsula peace process.
'I am not the Manas Deka who attacked Kanhaiya,' says the BJP activist who shares the same name with the man who allegedly tried to 'strangle' the JNUSU leader.
This is the second all-India bank strike in as many months.
Terming as "rigged" the death sentence to ousted Iraq president Saddam Hussein, the Communist Party of India-Marxist on Sunday denounced the Iraqi High Tribunal verdict and demanded intervention by the UPA government to get it rescinded.
Maharashtra police on Tuesday raided the homes of prominent Left-wing activists in several states and arrested at least five of them for suspected Maoist links. Near simultaneous searches were carried out at the residences of prominent Telugu poet Varavara Rao in Hyderabad, activists Vernon Gonzalves and Arun Farreira in Mumbai, trade union activist Sudha Bhardwaj in Faridabad, and civil liberties activist Gautam Navalakha in New Delhi. Subsequently, Rao, Bhardwaj and Farreira were arrested. Although Navalakha was also arrested, the Delhi high court ordered police not to take him out of the national capital at least until Wednesday. According to unconfirmed reports, others whose residences were raided are Susan Abraham, Kranthi Tekula, Father Stan Swamy in Ranchi and Anand Teltumbde in Goa. The raids were carried out as part of a probe into the violence between Dalits and the upper caste Peshwas at Koregaon-Bhima village near Pune after an event called Elgar Parishad, or conclave, on December 31 last year. Here are their brief profiles:
According to the police, CPI-Maoist central committee member Sande Rajamouli alias Prasad was killed in an exchange of fire with a special police party in the vicinity of Dharmavaram railway station at 10 pm.
The Sensex opened with a positive gap of 209 points at 14,458
The Chinese Communist Party's all important 19th Party Congress is just months away, and President Xi Jinping finds himself confronting unlikely challenges to his pre-eminent position, says former RA&W officer and China watcher Jayadeva Ranade.
The court said that the 65-year-old Ghandy, who is in custody in the case since September 2009, was suffering from various ailments and his condition has 'visibly deteriorated' during the period of trial.
A day after being extensively trolled in the social media for his gaffe describing late legendary boxer Muhammad Ali as a Keralite, Sports Minister E P Jayarajan admitted his "mistake." In a Facebook post, the minister, who was mauled on social media, said "a mistake is a mistake" and hoped the state's enlightened people and sports personalities would understand his folly. Soon after reports of Ali's passing away broke on Saturday, a Malayalam television channel had contacted the minister for a condolence message. In the phone-in news programme Jayarajan had said, "I came to know only now that Muhammad Ali had died in America. Ali was a prominent personality in Kerala's sports scenario. He had won several gold medals for Kerala and had taken our state's fame skyhigh.. I wish to convey Kerala's sorrow and the sorrow of the state's sport lovers." Explaining the circumstances that led to the mistake, Jayayrajan said he was on his way to attend a function when he was called by the television channel for his reaction. The person who called him said "our Muhammad Ali died in America. He has won several gold medals," and that the minister should give a condolence message, Jayarajan said.
'We must share a good relationship with that country but not a strategic one so that we become a part of their global ambitions and our soil is used to give a call for regime changes in countries which they consider "evil empires".'
In order to prevent "unwanted elements" from entering the party with an aim of contesting up coming Lok Sabha polls, the Aam Aadmi Party has formed screening committees, both at the national and the state level.
In an interview with Rediff.com Puducherry CM spoke about his plans for the state, Rahul Gandhi and his daily friction with the lieutenant governor.
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