A total of 73 women got elected to the 18th Lok Sabha against 78 women MPs in the 17th Lok Sabha.
Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma announced plans for a new anti-conversion law following the arrest of two nuns from Kerala on charges related to religious conversion and human trafficking. The announcement comes amid political tensions and accusations of wrongful arrest.
A 15-year-old girl in Odisha, India, has died after allegedly being set on fire by unidentified assailants. The incident has sparked outrage and prompted investigations by local authorities.
A victim of alleged human trafficking and forceful conversion in Chhattisgarh claims she was coerced by Bajrang Dal activists to give a false statement. She also alleges police did not record her statement properly and that the arrested nuns are innocent.
Vice President Dhankhar had in March this year undergone an angioplasty at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi.
The Election Commission of India has initiated the process to hold the vice presidential election following Jagdeep Dhankhar's resignation. The electoral college is being constituted, and the election schedule will be announced soon.
'The protection of secrecy and anonymity gets lost with this linking.'
Sources said the party has picked up some other leaders who will represent it during the 16-hour debate.
President Droupadi Murmu addressed the nation on the eve of Independence Day, praising the response to terrorism, highlighting achievements in defense self-reliance, and emphasizing unity and progress.
Opposition parties have agreed to the agenda of taking up a special discussion on the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor on Monday in Lok Sabha and the next day in Rajya Sabha, brightening up the prospect of normalcy returning to Parliament after the virtual washout of first-week proceedings.
When the government chooses to either ignore or use identity documents only when it suits them, it shakes people's sense of stability, notes Shyam G Menon.
Leaders of 16 opposition parties demanded a special session of Parliament on Operation Sindoor in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) parties held a meeting on the issue in the national capital on Tuesday.
Prajwal Revanna broke down in court as he appealed to the judge for a lesser punishment.
'The Election Commission's involvement in the avoidable SIR controversy has carried a message down to the last voter -- who just does not like it,' observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
According to the PIL, the 'Ghar Ghar Guarantee Scheme' involves the distribution of guarantee cards that promise various financial and material benefits in exchange of votes.
Several leaders of the BJP and its allies are of the view that the NDA this time is unlikely to follow the instincts that made it pick Dhankhar and will be more conventional in its search for his successor.
'Earlier, we used to talk about a deficit economy. There is a deficit in democracy' 'If you read superficially Gandhi and Ambedkar and Nehru, some misconceptions and misunderstanding come to mind, as if they were at loggerheads and they differed radically in their views' 'India is one nation. There is only one citizenship. No citizenship for South India and no citizenship for North India and another for the Northeast'
The highlight of Tuesday's debate on Operation Sindoor was the speech by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with the rebuttal by Congress's Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi coming a close second.
Landslides blocked arterial roads leading up to Dharali where dozens of people were trapped and many homes and cars swept away by the raging waters on Tuesday. Eleven Army personnel from the nearby camp in Harsil were among those missing.
'Ordinary Indians are not happy with the tone and tenor of the American president.'
The Election Commission of India (ECI) asserts that major political parties participated in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, deploying booth level agents despite opposing the exercise in the Supreme Court. The ECI defends its authority to conduct the revision to maintain the integrity of elections.
The opposition party, however, said the four eminent Congress MPs and leaders who have been included at the instance of the Modi government will, of course, go with the delegations and make their contributions.
A statement issued by the parliamentary affairs ministry earlier on Saturday said the all-party delegations will project India's national consensus and resolute approach to combating terrorism in all forms and manifestations.
As an IAS officer in Kerala, Gyanesh Kumar -- who the Congress described as Amit Shah's 'right hand man' -- had a good working equation with the state's Congress and Left leaders.
'Raising the entire amount in one go may not be prudent, given the market dynamics.'
The government will send seven all-party delegations to key partner countries, including members of the United Nations Security Council, later this month to convey India's message of zero tolerance against terrorism following the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor.
The accused challenged a trial court's order rejecting their bail plea in the December 2023 incident.
The government on Thursday told an all-party meeting that the Pahalgam attack was carried out to vitiate the atmosphere at a time when the economy of Jammu and Kashmir was on the upswing and tourism was booming. Briefing reporters after the meeting chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union minister Kiren Rijiju said all parties said they were with the government and against terror. The party leaders were briefed by Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Union Home Ministry officials on the steps being taken to prevent the recurrence of such incidents, Rijiju said. Home Minister Amit Shah, present in the meeting, interjected wherever required as officials briefed MPs, according to sources. At least 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed and scores injured when terrorists shot them in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday.
'Shibu Soren was the tallest leader of tribals in the country.'
Congress leader Salman Khurshid, who is a part of India's diplomatic mission abroad, on Monday said it is 'distressing' that people back home are calculating political allegiances and asked if it is 'so difficult to be patriotic'.
Union Minister and Lok Janshakti Party-Ram Vilas leader Chirag Paswan is planning to convene a meeting of Scheduled Caste MPs of different parties as he works to mobilise support ahead of his party filing a review plea in the Supreme Court against its judgment allowing sub-categorisation of reservation within the community.
The opposition has raised questions regarding Jagdeep Dhankhar's sudden resignation as the vice president, with concerns about the reasons behind his decision and its timing.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi along with the five other Congress MPs from Uttar Pradesh will visit violence-hit Sambhal on Wednesday, party's state unit chief Ajay Rai said.
The Congress on Tuesday claimed that there are "far deeper reasons" for Jagdeep Dhankhar's resignation as the vice president than the health reasons cited by him, and said his resignation speaks highly of him but poorly of those who got him elected to the post.
Upset over the possible appointment of Ramchander Rao as Bharatiya Janata Party's Telangana President, the party's firebrand MLA Raja Singh on Monday wrote to Union Minister G Kishan Reddy saying that he is resigning from the primary membership of the saffron party.
'Talking about boycotting polls is simply a move to galvanise party leaders, workers, and supporters for the big political fight.'
The BJP's top leadership will drop its MPs found to be facing anti-incumbency, according to its internal surveys -- a pivotal tactic to ensure the party achieves its target of winning 370 seats.
The revised salaries of MPs are significantly lower than the salaries drawn by top bureaucrats in the country.
In a post on X, the Indian Embassy in the US said that the all-party parliamentary delegation led by Tharoor called on Vice President Vance this morning.
While naming him as the NDA candidate for the Vice President's post, the BJP had described him as 'Kisan putra', a move seen in the political circles aimed at reaching out to the politically significant Jat community which had participated in huge numbers in the year-long farmers' protests against agriculture reform measures unveiled in June 2020.
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