Merely because an educational institution is regulated by a statute does not take away from it the character of a minority institution, the Supreme Court observed on Tuesday as it commenced hearing the vexed question of minority status of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).
'Modigate is snowballing into a huge thing with the electorate. The BJP is in for huge punishment by the electorate.'
Key United Progressive Alliance ally Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday said the Centre's ruling coalition had become "vulnerable" after the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's pullout and that elections were round the corner.
Grappling with the intractable issue of Aligarh Muslim University's minority status, the Supreme Court said on Thursday the 1981 amendment to the AMU Act, which effectively accorded it a minority status, only did a "half-hearted job" and not restore to the institution the position it had prior to 1951.
They noted that the exercise had begun in 2011 and an Inter-Ministerial Group submitted its recommendations in 2012 after meeting for 10 times.
There is no use of the BJP targeting the likes of Mamata Banerjee and M K Stalin, directly by the party's political bosses, both in Delhi and the respective state capitals, or even using the Raj Bhavans to fire those salvos from. Successive elections have proved that it's counter-productive, if anything. But the BJP is yet to understand it, acknowledge it, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
'It is the first-time voters and the agnostics who are often influenced by political advertising.' 'These swing voters tend to make a huge difference in the outcome of any election.'
Although the credit for acquiring the technological skill must be given to India's outstanding nuclear scientists, the decision to go nuclear was a political one that entailed clarity of vision, courage and resolve, points out Rup Narayan Das.
Neither the BJP, nor the Congress before it, made any manifesto commitments on defence spending, even though allocations have plummeted from 4 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in the late 1980s to less than 2 per cent today, points out Ajai Shukla.
Thank God for the United Progressive Alliance. Without its comic blundering, hiss-worthy arrogance and world-class smugness, we would really be gloomy. A parade of errors and puzzling decisions keeps us angered and entertained -- but most importantly, distracted. Or we would notice our economy's problems are less to do with this or any conceivable government, and more a set of principles and circumstances that aren't being questioned and addressed.
The Samajwadi Party on Tuesday said it was not supporting the UPA government due to any compulsion, a day after Union minister Beni Prasad Verma claimed that SP and Bahujan Samaj Party will continue supporting the dispensation at the Centre.
The Congress leader also said that the BJP wants to change the Constitution, and reduce and weaken the rights given to the people through the statute book.
Official said a CBI inquiry has been recommended against Aman Biradari for violation of various provisions of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act.
Voting for the second phase of Lok Sabha polls will be held on Friday for 88 seats in 13 states with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi seeking a second-straight term from Wayanad in Kerala.
Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde on Tuesday tore into the Uddhav Thackeray faction for 'abandoning' Hindutva and Bal Thackeray's ideology and even recited the Hanuman Chalisa in Lok Sabha as his party opposed the no-confidence motion against the Modi government.
The poverty ratio in the country has fallen steeply during the UPA regime to 21.9 per cent in 2012 from 37.2 per cent in 2004, said the UPA government's Report Card released by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
An institution of national importance must reflect the "national structure", the Centre told the Supreme Court on Tuesday while pointing out that around 70 to 80 per cent students studying at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) are Muslims even without reservation.
Neerja Chowdhury analyses why BSP supremo Mayawati is bargaining hard with the UPA government
"The remark is disgraceful and unfortunate," Dr Singh told reporters in Parliament when asked to comment on Advani's statement in Lok Sabha.
Odisha Chief Minister and Biju Janata Dal supremo Naveen Patnaik on Thursday ruled out his party's support to the UPA government at the Centre which was facing "instability" following Trinamool Congress' decision to withdraw support.
In an exclusive interview with IBNLokmat, Union Agriculture Minister and Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar has blamed the United Progressive Alliance for the spiralling prices of food items.
Ahead of the monsoon session of Parliament, leaders of the UPA allies on Monday met in New Delhi to discuss their strategy to counter the Opposition which is geared up to target the government on price rise and a host of other issues.
What is most troubling is that not a single party that is part of INDIA has talked about any kind of reform and economic sense, argues R Jagannathan.
Biju Janata Dal supremo and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday termed as "baseless rumours" reports that his party would support the United Progressive Alliance government following the Trinamool Congress's pullout. He also made it clear that there was no question of the BJD abstaining if the UPA government seeks a trust vote in Parliament.
Trinamool Congress strategy of opposing the United Progressive Alliance candidate has raised question mark over its continuance in the Congress-led coalition.
'For the last two elections, the Congress manifesto has been thrown into the dustbin.' 'This manifesto will also be thrown into the dustbin.'
Troubleshooter for the Congress and the government not long ago, Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday refrained from making any comments on UPA-II at a time when it is accused of non-performance.
Veteran Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani on Friday lashed out at the United Progressive Alliance government describing it as "indecisive and incompetent."
Agriculture credit jumped seven-fold to Rs 7,00,000 crore (Rs 7 trillion) in the past ten years of UPA government, boosting foodgrains output to a record and enabling enactment of food law.
Manmohan Singh, reveals the former President, was keen that either P Chidambaram or Montek Singh Ahluwalia be the finance minister.
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee declined to attend the dinner being hosted by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi on the eve of Presidential elections.
The RSS has accused Congress-led UPA of dilly-dallying over the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru to appease the minority community.
Doddamani has maintained a low profile; he has always worked actively behind the scenes in managing and strategising for Kharge's successive electoral campaign.
Lalu was apparently referring to his wife Rabri Devi.
The launch coincides with the birthday of Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
For the entire UPA regime, from 2005-06 to 2013-14, the average annual farm growth according to the GDP back series data is 3.8 per cent, which too is higher than the first four years of the NDA, though these two periods aren't comparable because one spans nine years and the other four.
UPA-II has yielded a 7.5 per cent average annual growth rate
NDA should not repeat former govt's mistake of holding back much-needed reforms
The infrastructure sector received a huge facelift in the last nine years with improvement in road and railway networks, power generation and teledensity, among others, says the UPA government's report card.
In his absence, the party stares at uncertainty as many of its other senior leaders are either in jail or in political obscurity.
