The Janata Dal (United) has clarified that its alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party would remain intact despite recent bickerings, saying it was a "necessity" for the two parties to remain together.
To tackle acute shortage of skilled workers, Germany has agreed to open its labour market for specialists from non-EU countries, including India, by easing the minimum salary requirement to obtain a residence permit.
Shiv Sena has so far expressed concerns over car shed for the city's planned metro network, the bullet train and the West Coast refinery projects.
In an interview to Council of Foreign Relations website, Stephen P. Cohen, a leading expert on Pakistan, talks about the ongoing political crisis, Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer's assassination, growing sense of insecurity in Pakistan, importance of China and more.
Pranab's earlier fear of Sonia relying too heavily on a coterie due to her lack of experience turned out to be unfounded. As per Pranab, Sonia had her close advisers but she did not follow anyone's advice blindly. A fascinating excerpt from Sharmistha Mukherjee's Pranab, My Father: A Daughter Remembers.
The Telangana issue has rekindled Bodo tribe's demand for statehood in Assam besides adding fire to the long-standing statehood demands of different other ethnic communities including Karbi, Dimasa, Koch-Rajbongshi.
The collegium system has shut the doors of judgeship in the higher judiciary on Dalits, OBCs and even the poor among the upper castes
The victory of the Bodoland People's Front, the Congress's coalition partner since 2006, in all the 11 assembly constituencies in the Bodoland Territorial Council areas will be crucial for the ruling party's win in the forthcoming assembly elections.But for the support of the BPF, which is headed by the former leader of the now disbanded Bodo Liberation Tiger Hagrama Mohilary, the Congress, which had only 53 seats in its kitty, would not have been able to form the state govt.
The BJP's strategy seem to be to wean away allies from the Congress, in Dravidian Tamil Nadu, and maybe later in UP, Bihar and elsewhere, though in slow doses, but without wooing them into a new alliance. The idea seems to be only to weaken the INDIA bloc from within -- and leaving it at that, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The controversy over a newspaper advertisement featuring Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his Gujarat counterpart Narendra Modi deepened with the state police carrying out searches at the office of an ad agency in Patna on Sunday.
In a clear snub to its coalition partner, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday cancelled a dinner for the top brass of the Bharatiya Janata Party, to convey his disapproval about an advertisement featuring him with Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and another on the aid provided by Gujarat during the devastating floods that had hit Bihar two years ago. The Janata Dal - United leader has always distanced himself from Modi.
The ruling Pakistan People's Party on Saturday unveiled a package of sweeping constitutional reforms aimed at curbing President Pervez Musharraf's powers, including those of dissolving parliament and appointing the chiefs of the armed forces. The party, however, remained mum on reinstating judges sacked by Musharraf during emergency last year, an issue that has strained ties with coalition partner Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League N, which quit the cabinet.
They met at Modi's residence in New Delhi a day after the NDA won a majority of seats in the Lok Sabha election, paving the way for him to take the oath for a third consecutive term, a first for any ruling alliance since 1962.
'The private sector believes that some enablers in labour-intensive sectors like apparel, toys, tourism, and media retail, can unlock a lot of jobs.'
'The allegations of government involvement in targeted assassinations abroad are likely to help, not hurt, the ruling party.' 'True or false, they convey a sense of muscularity and, in some quarters, are celebrated as a harbinger of 'great power' status.'
The Janata Dal-Secular leader also said that he may move the confidence of motion on May 24.
Ashok Chavan was sworn in as Maharashtra chief minister at the head of 26-member Congress-Nationalist Congress Party ministry in Mumbai on Saturday evening, two weeks after the assembly elections results were declared.
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi asserted that the Congress will protect the Constitution and the reservation system at all costs and foil "conspiracies" of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
He said the new approach developed by his administration, empowered US commanders in the field, enabled partners on the ground, and directly confronted ISIS's "wicked" ideology.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday reiterated that he will not resign over the present crisis engulfing his state. "I know most of the media has been running stories about my resignation. I have no intention to resign," he told a TV channel during an interview. Abdullah refused to answer when asked if he enjoyed the confidence of the people and his coalition partner Congress.
Mian Javed Latif said a decision on PML-N supremo and the three-time prime minister Sharif's anticipated return will be discussed with the coalition partners.
He had changed the spelling of his name from Yediyurappa to Yeddyurappa after he had to resign as chief minister in 2007.
Senior leaders of Pakistan's ruling coalition partners the Pakistan's People's Party and the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz -- will resume talks for the fourth day in Dubai on Thursday, about finalising a deal to reinstate deposed judges, while insisting that there is no threat to the government. "We have made progress during seven hours of marathon meetings, but there are still differences on certain legal issues," PML-N leader Chaudhry Nisar said.
He, however, expressed confidence that a series of state-specific alliances, where like-minded parties would come together on an anti-BJP platform, was likely for the 2019 general election.
The Nationalist Congress Party on Friday said that the defeat of its coalition partner Congress in the assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh show that the party was ignorant of ground realities.Stating that national politics cannot move forward without the NCP, Pawar said that it was an important party. In Gujarat, the NCP had won three seats. "With this, the party has made its presence felt in 11 assemblies," he said.
The ceremony was scheduled to be held on Monday, but President Alvi had refused to administer the oath to the lawmakers, compelling the government to postpone it.
Two weeks after the results, coalition partners -- the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party -- were still struggling to put together a government and discussions between the two parties are expected to resume in New Delhi on Tuesday.
The prestigious Poonch Assembly by-election scheduled for December 12 is going to witness a tough contest between the candidates of ruling Congress and the Opposition National Conference (NC), with the coalition partner, People's Democratic Party (PDP) providing vital support to its Congress ally.
West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya continued defending the actions of Communist Party of India Marxist cadres in Nandigram on Wednesday, unfazed by the scathing attack by his coalition partners about his previous comments. "I am saying today what I have said yesterday. Those who returned home merely followed the tactics of the opposition," said the chief minister,
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday invited Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to campaign in Bihar, a move that is sure to be a red rag to the Janata Dal-United and may revive a bitter clash between the two coalition partners ahead of the assembly elections.
The Congress met Karnataka Governor Rameshwar Thakur on Monday and urged him to dismiss the Kumaraswamy-led state government. Congress leaders also asked Thakur to impose President's rule in Karnataka. During the meeting, Congress legislators submitted individual letters to Thakur stating that they will not support any party in government formation.
The Indian American community and US business that had lobbied feverishly for the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal, are euphoric over the recent developments where Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has decided to go ahead with the accord come what may and even in the wake of the Left coalition partners withdrawing their support and leaving the country in a state of political uncertainty.
'The lack of a majority isn't the issue. He has enough in 240, especially as none of his allies can pull down his coalition.' 'That's why he's started as if this were just another, normal term. That pretence is vital for him.' 'The change for Modi 3.0 comes not from numbers, but from the new environment of contestation,' points out Shekhar Gupta.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf believes that the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) will part ways because of several insurmountable issues. However, Musharraf's main ally, the PML-Q, holds the opposite view.
Asked about the PPP's move to link the restoration of judges with a Constitutional package for judicial reforms, Sharif said the two could not be linked. "We have been discussing both since Wednesday and that (Constitutional package) is a separate issue. The restoration (of the judges) will take place through a resolution," Sharif said after a meeting with PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari.
With the 30-day deadline for restoring the judges expiring on Wednesday, senior leaders of the two parties, including Sharif and PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, are trying hard to sort out their differences on modalities. Some progress was made during the talks, but there were unresolved issues, Sharif said adding, he expects the negotiations to conclude on Thursday.
As back channel talks continued between Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party to explore the possibility of a coalition government in Maharashtra, there were strong indications on Saturday that the latter may form a government on its own with the Nationalist Congress Party's outside support in keeping with the "sentiment" in the party.
Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said the failure to consummate the Indo-US nuke deal would not jeopardise overall US-India relations. "It's very, very important to emphasise that India-US relations are multi-dimensional, multi-layered, multi-faceted. The Indo-US nuclear deal was neither the beginning and nor is it going to be the end of that," he said.
