Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday graced the 60th Independence Day celebrations of the Maldives as the guest of honour, signalling a renewed warmth in bilateral ties after a spell of unease.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio praises India's measured and professional investigation into the Red Fort car explosion, calling it a terrorist attack. The US has offered assistance, but acknowledges India's capabilities in handling the investigation.
The first meeting of leaders of the National Democratic Alliance after the election results was held at caretaker Prime Minister Narendra D Modi's residence in New Delhi on Wednesday, June 5, 2024.
The new Delhi government has appointed six cabinet ministers, including Parvesh Verma, who defeated AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal in the recent assembly polls. The ministers, all BJP MLAs, will be administered the oath of office on Thursday afternoon. The new ministers will take oath along with CM-designate Rekha Gupta in a grand ceremony to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other dignitaries at Ramlila Maidan later in the day.
The biggest challenge will be to convert his regime into a coalition of minds. But given the fact that he is instinctively an authoritarian leader and supporter of the hard Hindutva line, the survival of his government will depend on his ability to balance between his heart and mind, between instinct and pragmatism, asserts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author of Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times.
The members of the cabinet committees included Union ministers from the Bharatiya Janata Party and its National Democratic Alliance partners like Janata Dal-United, Telugu Desam Party, Janata Dal-Secular, Shiv Sena and Lok Janshakti Party-Ram Vilas.
BJP strategists are missing something somewhere, and they have not acknowledged it, to be able to repair it in good time, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of halting military conflict with Pakistan within five hours of being asked by then US President Donald Trump. He made the allegations during a rally in Muzaffarpur, Bihar, also criticizing the media and the deletion of names from electoral rolls.
Khaleda Zia, Bangladesh's former first female prime minister and chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, has died at the age of 80 after a prolonged illness.
While there are some new faces in the cabinet, leaders such as BJP president JP Nadda and Jual Oram have returned as ministers.
Officials said the government is keen to conform to the convention of the Union Budget for 2026-2027 being presented on February 1 despite it falling on a Sunday in 2026.
The government on Wednesday approved a Rs 7,280 crore scheme to promote manufacturing of rare earth permanent magnets, a move which would help reduce India's dependence on China.
Rijiju also hit out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, saying that his own party MPs "get uncomfortable" when he speaks in Parliament and are apprehensive that he will do "anap-shanap baatein" and the party will have to bear the consequences.
The CCS meet was held at the prime minister's Lok Kalyan Marg residence, a day after he held a meeting with the top military brass and accorded operational freedom to the armed forces on the "mode, targets and timing" of India's response to the April 22 attack that killed 26 people.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday allayed apprehension that privatisation of state-owned banks would hurt financial inclusion and national interest. She said the bank nationalisation done in 1969 has not yielded the desired result as far as financial inclusion was concerned.
Lobbying has intensified among NDA partners in Bihar for the post of Speaker in the assembly, with BJP MLA Prem Kumar considered a frontrunner. A special assembly session will be convened soon to elect the Speaker.
Why did the political system in the country react to these two decisions of the Modi government in a diametrically opposite manner? asks A K Bhattacharya.
'I want to ask the entire nation and the opposition. Can a Chief Minister, Prime Minister, or any leader run the country from jail?'
The cabinet of the new government led by Rekha Gupta balances representation of all major communities that propelled the Bharatiya Janata Party to power in Delhi with a massive majority after over 26 years.
The government on Wednesday approved two schemes worth Rs 45,000 crore to help exporters tide over the impact of high tariffs imposed by the US on Indian shipments.
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.
A strategist and a quintessential political leader with grassroots connect, Rajnath Singh is credited with expanding the Bharatiya Janata Party's organisational network in the Hindi heartland state of Uttar Pradesh in the 1990s and the subsequent decades.
Nitish Kumar is poised to lead the NDA government in Bihar, with key political developments unfolding ahead of the swearing-in ceremony. The article covers the election of the NDA leader, cabinet allocation discussions, and reactions to the election results, including Prashant Kishor's claims and the family feud within Lalu Prasad's family.
It was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who picked the evocative term 'Operation Sindoor' to codename the Indian armed forces' strikes on nine terror sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, official sources said on Wednesday.
The opposition INDIA bloc has declared RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav as its chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming Bihar assembly elections.
Minister of State Prahlad Singh Patel on Monday posted on social media platform X that the Union Cabinet has approved the women's reservation bill, but deleted the post within an hour.
The Supreme Court's opinion on the presidential reference can impact on any number of cases if and when governors, if not the President, take a literary view of the Supreme Court's 'ppinion' on their 'discretionary powers' without reference to the rider on 'reasonable time', points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi cut short his two-day visit to Saudi Arabia and returned to New Delhi on Tuesday night following a deadly terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir. Modi, who held bilateral talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah, skipped an official dinner hosted on Tuesday to address the crisis. He was originally scheduled to return to India on Wednesday night. The attack, claimed by The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist group, prompted an urgent internal meeting at the Ritz Carlton hotel in Jeddah, attended by Modi, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, and other senior officials.
He will succeed incumbent Rajiv Gauba, who completes his unprecedented five-year term in the top bureaucratic post this month-end.
The Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday approved the full Budget for 2024-25, sources said.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray launched a scathing attack on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), questioning the outcome of the recent Maharashtra assembly elections and alleging hypocrisy in the BJP's stance on corruption. He also hinted at internal changes within the MNS, emphasizing the need for discipline and a renewed focus on the party's goals.
Besides the not-so-hidden unease between Modi and Adityanath, Modi chose to address the Lok Sabha to ensure that he could personally claim all the kudos, observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday took a major step to implement its key plank of "one nation, one election" as the Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the constitutional amendment bill to roll out the concept of simultaneous Lok Sabha and state assembly polls, sources said.
In a boost to the space programme, the government on Wednesday approved the Chandrayaan-4 mission to bring back moon rocks to earth, to send a spacecraft to orbit planet Venus and to expand the Gaganyaan project to build an Indian space station.
'Are elections still fair in India, or are we all witness to a macabre style of 'selection' of lawmakers? The jury will be out on this for a long time because there is no definitive evidence on either contention, at least as yet,' notes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author, Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times.
The Cabinet meeting and the holy dip comes on a day that marks the first anniversary of the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
'...as then it brings them closer to the complaints and grievances that the public faces.'
Citing evolving needs and aspirations of the citizens, he said that the civil service must adapt to contemporary challenges to remain relevant.
Kapil Mishra, a former AAP member and a vocal critic of the BJP, RSS, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has undergone a complete political transformation, becoming a controversial figure often regarded as the "posterboy of Hindutva." He has now been inducted as a minister in the newly formed Delhi government, marking a significant shift in his political allegiance and raising questions about his role in shaping the city's future.
'If all of us (all the 57 Shiv Sena MLAs) stand together we can change the dynamic. We are not afraid of anyone.'
