Neerja Chowdhury says that dynastic politics is the bane of our democracy.
The Anderson issue showed no signs of abating on Friday with P V Narasimha Rao's son Ranga Rao suggesting that his father would not have taken a decision on his own about granting 'safe passage' to the Union Carbide chief a few days after the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy.
The Balochs were totally suppressed by the Punabi-dominated Pakistani Army till 2004. But their desire for independence has remained as strong as ever. They started a second war of independence in December 2005, which continues till now despite the ruthless actions taken to suppress them by the previous government of Pervez Musharraf and the present government of Asif Ali Zardari.
It is an open secret that Manmohan Singh is not a popular figure in the Congress, but Sonia's presence, support and strategy are proving a blessing for the good doctor. When P V Narasimha Rao ran into rough times, Sonia remained indifferent and the Congress had left him to the wolves, says Rasheed Kidwai, author of books on Sonia Gandhi and the Congress party.
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According to sources, several opposition leaders are also considering boycotting the inaugural function on Sunday, alleging that the government has insulted the President.
'The most nauseating part of the book pertains to the Gujarat riots. Advani rejects the settled truth that the post-Godhra violence was State-sponsored.'
Former PM Rao used to tell people that the maharaja of the erstwhile Gwalior state, Madhavarao Scindia was in "too much of a hurry to become prime minister", the authors say.
Former Union Communications Minister Sukhram was on Wednesday sentenced to three years imprisonment by a Delhi court for amassing disproportionate assets worth Rs 4.25 crore during his tenure in the P V Narasimha Rao government. The verdict was delivered in a packed courtroom in New Delhi in the presence of the octogenarian politician, from whose official house in Delhi Rs 2.45 crore in cash were recovered 13 years ago by a CBI team.
Former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao is back in the news with the All India Muslim Personal Law Board accusing him of being equally responsible for the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992. The board went on to say that Rao could never be forgiven for the demolition of the Babri Mosque.
Former union urban development minister Sheila Kaul and her colleague P K Thungan are set to face criminal trial in a 1995 scam relating to allotment of over 40 shops and stalls in Delhi, as a Delhi court on Monday ordered framing of charges against them in the case.
The five-state assembly elections are seen as a now-or-never, no-holds battle for the Congress, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Accusing the Congress of using money power to win the trust vote, the Communist Party of India-Marxist said on Friday that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had 'bettered the record' of his predecessor P V Narasimha Rao for indulging in immoral and shady practices' to remain in power.
The architect of India's economic reforms, Manmohan Singh, has another big mission on his hands now.
"Just because I have criticised someone on the issue does not mean that I do not appreciate him," Gandhi told reporters.
India was forced to drop plans to explode a nuclear bomb for the second time in 20 years in 1994 at the last moment, according to the nuclear scientist in-charge of the aborted atomic test programme. Nuclear scientist Krishnan Santhanam told Times Now TV that the plans to explode the bomb at Pokhran was put on "hold" due to apparent US pressure.
In switching over, Nitish has sent out a message that if he could not now become the NDA's PM, then he would need to stay on as CM at the very least, which a third term for Modi would not let him have, N Sathiya Moorthy points out.
Addressing the annual meeting of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the BJP leader slammed the Manmohan Singh government as 'non-functional' and 'internally paralysed' and claimed that 'people are already looking beyond' it.
Jaswant Singh again reiterated that he would share the information with the PM.
If there was one man who was responsible for pivotal role that the Left parties played on the national stage from 1989 to 2008, it was Harkishen Singh Surjeet, who passed into the ages on August 1. He was 92.
The Congress on Thursday objected to Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar deleting some portions of Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge's speech from official records, saying he used no unparliamentary words and some of the expressions he employed were earlier used even by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
He is accused of blackmailing an US official, who had allegedly secually exploited his girlfriend.
The hospital has said that he will continue to be in intensive care till he is completely out of danger.
He also dubbed the Congress' alliance with BSP in Uttar Pradesh in 1996 as a "sell out".
Leader of Opposition L K Advani has contended that he had no desire to become BJP president again after the 2004 shock defeat which had depleted the NDA's strength in the Lok Sabha from 304 to 186. The responsibility for the defeat was collective and there was no question of pinning the blame on any individual, Advani wrote in his book My Country My Life.
Following is the chronology of events in the murder case of Shashi Nath Jha, private secretary Jharkhand Mukti Morcha Chief Shibu Soren, in which he and four others were on Tuesday sentenced to life imprisonment by a Delhi court.
Driven by the winds of globalisation, people are moving towards a global culture which is emerging as a threat to local cultural symbols and identities, even as social media, television and pop culture glamorise a particular way of life that the people are sadly "blindly aping", Chief Justice of India N V Ramana said on Friday.
The US had virtually compelled the P V Narasimha Rao government in 1995 not to conduct nuclear tests after it got to know about preparations for it, a former US official indicated on Monday.
"It is up to the PM to do whatever is right in the national interest," Singh said.
Party sources said Jaswant Singh has forwarded the letter purportedly written by a US diplomat to a Senator, which has a reference to the 'mole' in the PMO during Rao's tenure.
Congress seeks to turn tables on Jaswant Singh
The two main factions in Karnataka's Congress party -- one led by Siddaramaiah and the other by D K Shivakumar -- are both contenders for the chief ministership. Both groups have fought hard to get their choice of MLAs the party ticket, notes Aditi Phadnis.
Several leaders arrived at the former PM's residence and remembered his contribution to the country.
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