President Droupadi Murmu on Monday administered oath to BJP MP B Mahtab as 'speaker pro-tem' of the newly-constituted 18th Lok Sabha.
Mehbooba Mufti-led PDP accused National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah of leaving them "no option".
'The AIADMK and DMK have 75% of the total votes. 25% of the voters do not support the two majors,' says DMK spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday described Om Birla as an outstanding Member of Parliament and "excellent" Speaker of the Lok Sabha, praising him for functioning above party lines and carrying everyone along while presiding over the House.
The intriguing bit is that Trump is likely to attend the talks in Islamabad this weekend -- if he does, it will be the clearest signal yet that the US is ready to exit the war with some sort of win to show, since he cannot afford to go for the talks and return empty-handed, notes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the Iran War
India on Monday announced closure of negotiations for a free trade agreement signed with New Zealand, its 18th deal so far as the country aims to boost bilateral trade and investments. The India-New Zealand FTA is expected to be signed in the next three months and it is likely to come into force next year.
Lavrov's comments came two days after Russia accused the US of attempting to prevent India and other countries from buying Russian oil, saying Washington was using a wide range of 'coercive' measures, including tariffs, sanctions and direct prohibitions.
The European Union (EU) has suspended export benefits to sectors such as textiles and plastics under a preferential scheme for India and two other countries from January 1, a move that will impact the country's shipment to the 27-nation bloc. The development is important as the two sides are likely to announce the closure of negotiations for a free tarde agreement (FTA) on January 27.
Exporters of gems and jewellery have said the free-trade agreement (FTA) has brought relief to their sector because this opens up the world's second-largest market and brings them on a par with China and Thailand, which face zero tariffs on shipments to Europe.
An ECI statement issued from New Delhi put the voter turnout at 68.76 per cent. The female turnout (74.03 per cent) was significantly higher, compared with males (64.1 per cent).
Bihar recorded its highest-ever voter turnout of 67.14 per cent in the second and final phase of the assembly elections. The election is seen as a referendum on Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Kishanganj recorded the highest polling percentage at 76.26.
The Supreme Court declined to entertain a petition by Jan Suraaj Party seeking annulment of the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections, citing violation of the Model Code of Conduct. The court directed the party to approach the Patna High Court.
Both India and the EU are likely to announce a conclusion of trade talks on January 27.
India has fully protected its sensitive sectors like dairy, rice, wheat, pulses, tea, genetically modified (GM) goods, and coffee by not granting any import duty concessions to the European Union (EU) under the bilateral free trade agreement, according to the Commerce Ministry.
S A Chandrasekhar, father of actor-politician Vijay, has appealed to the Congress party to form an alliance with his son's party, TVK, in the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.
India and the European Union (EU) on Tuesday announced the conclusion and finalisation of negotiations for the proposed free trade agreement (FTA).
Captured in powerful images and unforgettable moments, 2025 emerged as a turning point in global affairs. These images tell the defining stories that shaped the world across continents.
Voting is underway for the second and final phase of the Bihar assembly elections across 122 constituencies. Key candidates and political dynamics are in focus as the state decides its next government.
In the present hyper-connected world, there are many domestic and global factors that affect financial markets. Of them, the most powerful and often least predictable are geopolitical events, which often boil down to one diplomatic headline.
The proposed trade deal with the 27-nation European Union (EU) is expected to provide zero-duty access to the $95 billion European market for Indian textile and apparel manufacturers. Currently, India's share of the European market is just 6 per cent, or $5.5 billion.
The LPG squeeze on India's restaurant sector is the quotidian face of a deeper crisis.
Kumar said that Rahul Gandhi's claim that the caste survey in the state was held under the Congress' pressure was 'nonsensical'.
Multi-cornered contests, deep divisions within the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi, reflected in the Congress and Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray fighting separately and lack of a robust plan among its rivals helped the Bharatiya Janata Party in Mumbai polls as it looks poised to rule India's richest civic body for the first time.
The Congress on Friday alleged that the election results in Bihar reflect 'vote chori on a gigantic scale' with Rahul Gandhi vowing an in-depth review of the outcome and saying, 'we could not achieve victory in such an election that was not fair from the very beginning.'
The Congress recalled that on June 10, 2004, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was prevented by the BJP from speaking on the Motion of Thanks to the President's Address.
India has firmly denied allegations that the US Navy is using its ports to launch attacks against Iran, reaffirming its commitment to strategic autonomy and non-alignment in international conflicts.
The Congress party has announced its support for Nationalist Congress Party (SP) chief Sharad Pawar as the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections in Maharashtra.
'Nitish Kumar may be marginalised as an office-holder, but that is not the same thing as the disappearance of Nitish Kumar's politics.'
The INDIA bloc has 95 MPs in Rajya Sabha of which 45 were suspended on Monday.
The Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day following a dispute between the government and the opposition regarding Rahul Gandhi's request to speak before the Union Budget discussion commenced.
Bihar voted in the first phase of assembly elections on Thursday for 121 seats.
Alliances fight wars effectively only when they share an endgame. If Israel acted without US knowledge, then the military alliance is operating without real coordination at the level of strategic targeting. Neither picture is reassuring in a war that is no longer regional in its consequences. Prem Panicker continues his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
'Was the five-day pause ever meant to hold, or was it simply another instrument of signaling, of positioning, of buying time in a war where even the pauses are tactical?' asks Prem Panicker in his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
'When the BJP wanted the election to focus on 'ghuspathiya' and promises that look like pies in the sky, we forced them to talk about jobs, giving free 125 units of power, and addressing women's indebtedness.'
India has been on an FTA-signing spree of late. Since 2021, it has signed eight trade agreements, three of which -- with the UK, Oman and New Zealand -- were finalised in 2025 alone.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav criticizes the Election Commission of India (ECI) for not disclosing gender-wise data of electors in the Bihar assembly polls, alleging bias and conspiracy with the BJP.
Tejashwi Yadav, the INDIA bloc's CM candidate, promised to scrap the Waqf (Amendment) Act if voted to power in Bihar, criticizing the current CM and the BJP.
China defended the BRICS economic alliance, stating it is not a bloc for confrontation, after former US President Donald Trump threatened tariffs on countries aligning with its 'anti-American policies'.
Ajit Pawar became a ray of hope for Muslims, the only man in power who could resolve their grievances.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced the signing of the India-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA), saying it accounts for 25 per cent of global GDP and one-third of global trade.
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