The Bharatiya Janata Party and its two Assam allies -- the Asom Gana Parishad and the United People's Party Liberal -- on Wednesday 'almost finalised' their seat-sharing pact for the Assam assembly polls and a formal announcement will be made in a day or two, sources said.
The BJP also suspended its state executive council member Kheto Semaparty, who had signed the joint declaration.
The nominees are Congresswoman Deb Haaland as Secretary of Interior, Jennifer Granholm as Energy Secretary, Michael Regan as administrator for Environmental Protection Agency and Brenda Mallory as Chair of the Council of the Council on Environmental Quality.
While Himanta Biswa Sarma scotched rumours that he would be the king this time, political sources in Guwahati maintained that he, and not Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, had a bigger say in choosing candidates, reports Radhika Ramaseshan.
People may belong to any caste and religion, they are not safe, the Congress leader alleged.
Fifteen ministers took the oath in Rajasthan on Sunday in a cabinet expansion that included 12 new faces, fulfilling a key demand of former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot whose rebellion last year shook the state's Congress government.
Noting that a very important policy for advancement of SCs and STs was Schedules Caste Sub-Plan and Tribal Sub-Plan, Raju said the group has recommended a central and states' legislation on them.
Naga splinter groups impatient with stalled talks as well as rebel Manipuri groups who have a stake in disrupting upcoming elections to the state assembly, are believed to be regrouping in the borderlands of China's Yunnan province and Myanmar, taking advantage of the turmoil in the latter by using it as a transit corridor.
'Guarding the borders in extreme weather conditions is not easy and most people don't realize it is a very tough job.'
'It indicates the grooming of the party's new leadership.' 'It is also a signal to the states that these ministers represent.'
On Thursday, violent mobs went on the rampage in the Nagaland capital vandalising and setting on fire government offices and vehicles, prompting deployment of five columns of army to bring the situation under control.
The bill passed by Council of ministers which allows women to vote and to stand for election has to be approved by Parliament.
The Pakistani Taliban on Saturday named Khan Syed Mehsud alias Sajna as its new chief, a day after a US drone strike killed its former leader Hakimullah Mehsud in the lawless North Waziristan tribal region.
Assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat are over. Another set of state elections is due in 2018. Here's an assessment of the next round of the electoral challenge and how it could change India's political equations.
Slamming the Bharatiya Janata Party-led alliance in Assam as coming together of "two dangerous forces of communalism and divisiveness", Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "insulting" people of the state
Creation of new state entails long drawn administrative process, could take as much as a decade
'We would try our best that the temple structure becomes visible in the next two years.'
In a note to his students titled 'In a Background of Elections - The Development Debate', Dr Frazer Mascarenhas, principal of Mumbai's St Xavier's College, slams Narendra Modi's Gujarat and is in all praise of United Progressive Alliance's Rojgar Yojana and the Food Security Act
Blockade is an issue which has seemingly widened the divide between the hills and the plains.
'The present government's greatest weakness is its intolerance. Tolerance is the key tenet of democracy. How can any government stop someone from speaking one's mind?'
Union minister Prakash Javadekar said the government has taken care of the interests of everyone and 'the interest of India'.
'I am hopeful of getting all six seats from Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur, either for the BJP or with our allies.' 'The same is true about Meghalaya.' 'We will have to work hard in Mizoram and in Tripura.' 'In Assam, we won seven seats. In 2019 election, we will add to this number.'
Here's a list of the full first-time ministers in the second term of the Narendra Modi government.
Here's the full text of President Ram Nath Kovind's customary address to the joining sitting of Parliament on the first day of the budget session.
'Under the guise of Maoism, the State is presently determined to clear out the whole Bastar area of its tribal population.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah and chief ministers of various BJP-ruled states attended the ceremony.
Bodo tribals influence as many as 30 seats. No wonder, national parties are keen to forge alliances with Bodo groups.
'While they were respectful of the PM, it was clear that as ministers, they owed their positions as much, if not more, to Mrs Gandhi.' 'When attacks were mounted on the PM, there was very little coordinated effort by the Congress, UPA ministers or other politicians to speak up in his favour and strongly defend him.' B K Chaturvedi, Cabinet Secretary during the early years of UPA1, reveals how the Manmohan Singh-Sonia Gandhi equation worked. A riveting excerpt from Chaturvedi's memoir, Challenges Of Governance: An Insider's View
Hoping that the new state of Telangana will come into being by January, over a dozen Congress leaders from the region are said to be lobbying hard with the party high command for the chief minister's post.
The theme of the reshuffle is to fulfill Modi's earlier promise of 'maximum governance, minimum government.' Some key ministries are likely to be merged.
Zeliang, however, was unfazed saying he would continue to remain the NPF leader in the House.
BJP strategists know it may not repeat its 2014 performance in its traditionally strong bases in the north and the west. This is where the success in the north east and east is so important.
BJP's best bet lies in the TDP and the TRS striking a deal with the Congress and framing the battle as a UPA versus NDA clash, reports Radhika Ramaseshan.
'The government is using the Intelligence Bureau to go after NGOs.' 'It is not only the NDA, the UPA also didn't like NGOs.' 'NGOs predominantly work with the poor. So, when you cancel an NGO, the affected are the poor, the Dalits, the tribals, the street children and the marginalised.'
Parrikar returned to Goa as the chief minister for the fourth time, though he could not complete full terms in his earlier stints.
Modi's second visit to Arunachal Pradesh was vehemently opposed by China which urged India to refrain from taking any action that may "complicate" the boundary question.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi who inducted 19 new ministers into his Cabinet on Tuesday has carried out major changes in the portfolios of his top ministers.
Congress is still undecided about its move
In the third reshuffle since coming to power, Prime Minister Modi raised the strength of his Council of Ministers from 73 to 76.
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