The CPI-M leader also demanded the setting up of a House Committee to examine the latest developments in various central universities.
The bill would prohibit unaccounted money from being pumped into the sector and as now 70 per cent of the money has to be deposited in bank accounts through cheques.
'Like 2014, 2017 was also Modi's election.' 'Every voter you met, apart from those who are BJP cadres, everybody said they would vote for Modi, not the BJP.' 'The one and only factor is the Modi juggernaut. He is the one who turned the tide.' 'The wave which he created in 2014, and to maintain it for three years, is a huge task in itself.'
'India needs to adopt a more proactive policy of triggering exports to China.'
The government has proposed that political parties cannot be designated public authorities as defined in the RTI Act. Anita Katyal reports
A day after the Prime Minister's Office sought to counter the perception that Manmohan Singh has been "weak" in his tenure, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley on Saturday took potshots at him.
Suggesting police highhandedness contributed to the Arab spring, Rahul Gandhi made a strong pitch for police reforms as he interacted with street vendors.
Former Miss India and actor Gul Panag on Thursday joined the Aam Aadmi Party and will be its candidate for Lok Sabha polls from Chandigarh, a place where she was born and describes as her "family's home".
China on Monday said Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's three-day visit from Tuesday is of great importance for deepening strategic partnership amid expectations that the two sides would sign some key pacts, including one to prevent incursions along the LAC.
Upset over not getting a Lok Sabha ticket, former Bihar Congress chief Mehboob Ali Kaiser could join Lok Janshakti Party, led by Ram Vilas Paswan, in a couple of days.
Leaders from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh gave an exhaustive account of the reasons for the party's defeat to party general secretary Digvijaya Singh on Monday and enumerated the steps to be taken for rebuilding the party. Rediff.com contributor Anita Katyal reports.
The National Democratic Alliance on Monday finalised its seat sharing for Bihar polls with the Bharatiya Janata Party contesting 160 out of the 243 assembly constituencies while allies Lok Janshkati Party and Jitan Ram Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha being allotted 40 and 20 seats respectively.
The Insurance penetration in India is very low at 3.9 per cent.
Nitin Gokhale, national security expert and founder BharatShakti.in, tells us what the controversy is all about.
Making a scathing attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Friday warned that the country faced the biggest threat from communal forces and their ideology even as the AICC resolution called upon "like-minded political and social forces to come together at this critical juncture".
As Maharashtra's main political players, the Congress-nationalist Congress Party alliance and Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena combine, brace for the Lok Sabha and subsequent state assembly polls this year, they would have to contend with a new opponent, the Aam Aadmi Party, which has decided to take the electoral plunge in a big way.
"There is no doubt we are fighting with our backs to the wall but these political bonfires in the BJP will help to consolidate our position to some extent," a senior Congress leader tells Rediff.com's Anita Katyal.
The way communal politics has become the only way to decide political discourse is unfortunate and bad sign for the future of democracy, says Syed Hassan Kazim
The results for the bypolls in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar, Telangana, Maharashtra, Punjab and Tripura were announced on Tuesday.
'Mainly, his strategy to win UP veered around spreading the message of Hindu identity, projecting Modi's leadership, encashing anti-incumbency against the Samajwadi Party and UPA governments in Lucknow and Delhi respectively.' Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com provides exclusive insights into Amit Shah's strategy that gave Narendra Modi an awesome victory in Uttar Pradesh.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday over the Muzaffarnagar riots, accusing it of vitiating the atmosphere ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, and promised stern action against all those found guilty.
'Tell me, what is more important to Modi -- his position as prime minister or as an RSS pracharak?' 'We feel he gives priority to his position as an RSS pracharak. Otherwise, why did he not agree to go to Parliament as the prime minister of the country and air his opinion on ghar wapsi as demanded by the Opposition?'
Rediff.com gives you a look at newbies in the Council of Ministers
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sumitra Mahajan will be appointed Speaker of the 16th Lok Sabha on Friday. Other key parliamentary posts like that of Leader of Opposition, deputy Speaker, chairman of the Public Accounts Committee and head of the all-important standing committee on finance will be keenly contested.
Congress leaders told Rediff.com that if Sonia or Rahul Gandhi do not take up the leader of opposition's post in Lok Sabha, it would lead to factionalism and internal dissension, something that the party can ill-afford at this juncture. "Kamal Nath is undoubtedly a senior MP but his candidature is bound to be opposed by the MPs from southern states as they have won more seats," remarked a senior Congress functionary, adding that senior ministers like Veerappa Moily and Mallikarjun Kharge can be expected to push their candidature for this post. Anita Katyal reports.
The Congress will not fall into the BJP's trap by naming anyone as its prime ministerial candidate, reports Anita Katyal.
As the Lok Sabha election draw closer, a weary Congress is gradually getting reconciled to the idea of a stint in the opposition even though its strategists are convinced that the party will win up to 140 seats. Anita Katyal reports.
Subramanian Swamy stole the BJP thunder in Tamil Nadu by meeting DMDK's Vijaykanth in Chennai, and his efforts seem to have paid off, at least in the interim, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Ten trade unions with a combined membership of 15 crore workers in public and private sector, including banks and insurance companies, are on a nationwide strike to protest against changes in the labour laws.
The Congress has already been deserted by the urban middle classes and the youth, but by outsourcing its battle against the Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi to the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Admi Party, the grand old party could end up inflicting more damage on itself.
In a shocking first in Maharashtra's history, a mob attacked a police station last week, assaulted two policemen, dragged one of them out, paraded him with a saffrom flag and made him chant, 'Jai Bhavani, Jai Shivaji.'
Despite their depleted numbers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday extended an olive branch to the opposition, saying he would take them along in decision-making and would work for development of all sections, including Muslims.