Politics

Naresh Agarwal on Narendra Modi-Powell meeting

New Delhi, Feb 13 (ANI): Commenting on the Narendra Modi-Nancy Powell meeting Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agarwal on Thursday said that the meeting would not change the image of Modi and people will never elect someone who spreads communal violence as their Prime Minister.

Feb 13, 2014

Trying to make consensus on Telangana: Congress

New Delhi, Feb 13 (ANI): Congress leader Satyavrat Chaturvedi on Thursday said the Congress is trying to make a consensus among its leaders over the Telangana statehood issue. He also termed regular Parliament disruptions as unfortunate.

Feb 13, 2014

JD (U) targets Modi over his "chai par charcha" campaign

New Delhi, Feb 13 (ANI): Senior JD (U) leader Shivanand Tiwari on Thursday targeted BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi over his "chai par charcha" campaign and said that Election Commission should probe as to from where the BJP is getting money to organize big rallies and campaigns for Modi. The BJP has launched its "chai par charcha" or "discussion over tea" campaign, a mega outreach programme named to highlight that Modi sold tea on trains as a young boy.

Feb 13, 2014

US envoy Nancy Powell meets Modi in Gandhinagar

Gandhinagar, Feb 13 (ANI): US Ambassador to India, Nancy Powell met Gujarat Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Thursday. The meeting, which signals the end of Washington's boycott of Modi for his alleged role in 2002 Gujarat riots, took place at the Chief Minister's residence in Gandhinagar. It is the first high profile meeting between Modi and a US official since the US State Department revoked his visa in 2005 on grounds of "sever violations of religious freedom" in Gujarat.

Feb 13, 2014

Kejriwal govt to table Jan Lokpal Bill in Delhi Assembly today

New Delhi, Feb 13 (ANI): The Arvind Kejriwal government has declared that it will table the Jan Lokpal Bill in the Delhi assembly today, ignoring Union Law Ministry's view that the Centre's prior approval is required. The Union Law Ministry has held that the rules governing Delhi government's legislative business were constitutional where Centre's consent was required before its passage. The Law Ministry has held that the Transaction of Business Rules (TBR) make it mandatory that the Lt Governor refer to the Centre every legislative proposal which may necessitate additional financial assistance.

Feb 13, 2014

US-Afghan Relation Deteriorates as 65 Detainees from Bhagram Detention Centre Freed [Latest Reactions]

In what is likely to mark a new low in relations between Afghanistan and the US forces in the country, 65 detainees are being released from the Bagram detention centre.

Feb 13, 2014

Kejriwal is by persuasion a naxalite: Subramanian Swamy

New Delhi, Feb 13 (ANI): Taking a dig at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy said that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader is by persuasion a naxalite. Swamy's comments comes after AAP government in Delhi announced that Delhi people, who had not paid their electricity bills during Kejriwal's agitation against alleged inflated billing by discoms, will get a 50 percent rebate in payment of arrears.

Feb 13, 2014

India to help Fiji with indelible ink, vehicles for polls

New Delhi, Feb 13 (ANI): The Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Fiji, Ratu Inoke Kubuabola met his Indian counterpart Salman Khurshid in order to strengthen bilateral ties between the two countries. India and Fiji held talks on bilateral, regional and multilateral issues and decided to enhance cooperation in various fields, including agriculture and health care. Both nations also signed three pacts - Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on development cooperation, water resources management and on standardisation and conformity assessment - to expand cooperation in the respective sectors. Khurshid said that India will extend possible electoral assistance to Fiji for the general elections due in September this year. Khurshid also mentioned that both sides have agreed to boost cooperation in the area of agriculture, especially in the sugar sector.

Feb 13, 2014

Chief Justice hits at Sibal's remark over 'weak accountability in judiciary'

New Delhi, Feb 13 (ANI): Chief justice of India P Sathasivam hit back at Law Minister Kapil Sibal rejecting his view over accountability process in judiciary to be exceptionally weak, said that all complaints against judges were dealt according to the existing mechanism. Sibal had made a remark saying the process of accountability within the judiciary was "exceptionally weak". Meanwhile, the chief justice said Sibal was unfortunately not having accurate and proper information about the role of judges and how the judiciary functions. Sathasivam also gave details about the procedure in place to deal with such cases against judges of Supreme Court, High Courts and other subordinate courts and employees working under them. Sathasivam said at present, no request of the government or any of its agencies were pending in the Supreme Court.

Feb 13, 2014

Security tightened along Assam-Arunachal border to maintain peace

Assam, Feb 13 (ANI): On January 29, armed people from Arunachal Pradesh raided a village in Assam's Sonitpur district and gunned down 10 people and injured many. It was believed to be a border land dispute. However, intelligence inputs reveal that assailants were provoked by Maoists or some other local militant outfit to create instability in the area. A battalion of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) is patrolling the inter-state border between Bhalakpong in Arunachal Pradesh and Bhairabkunda in Assam along India's border with Bhutan to curb the movement of militants. The forces will be deployed till the Supreme Court-appointed Commission headed by retired High Court judge Tarun Chatterjee submits it report, to define boundaries of the two states, in dispute since 1951.

Feb 13, 2014