Thaindian News

Bhubaneswar, May 15 (IANS) Former president of the Congress party's Orissa unit and former MP Chintamani Jena has died here, family sources said Thursday. Jena, 85, was elected to the state assembly from Basta constituency thrice - 1967, 1971 and 1974 - and was twice elected to the Lok Sabha ... Read more...

Guwahati, May 15 (IANS) Assam is hoping that Unesco will this time accord World Heritage Site status to South Asia's largest river island of Majuli, which is located in the state and is an important seat of Vaishnavism. "We hope the World Heritage Committee that is meeting in Quebec, Canada, ... Read more...

By Rakesh Mohan Chaturvedi Rae Bareli (Uttar Pradesh), May 14 (IANS) Congress president Sonia Gandhi's tour of her Lok Sabha constituency Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh appeared jinxed from the word go. Gandhi had to cut short her visit by a day to be able to go to Jaipur where serial ... Read more...

Hyderabad, May 13 (IANS) Election authorities rejected the nomination of opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) candidate from one assembly constituency as he was convicted in a criminal case. Nomination of Ramesh Rathod from Khanapur assembly constituency in Adilabad district was rejected by the Election Commission officials during scrutiny Tuesday. By-elections to ... Read more...

By Fakir Balaji Shikaripura (Karnataka), May 13 (IANS) In the heart of Malnad region in central Karnataka, two former chief ministers - B.S. Yeddyurappa and S. Bangarappa - are locked in a mother of all poll battles in the second phase of the state assembly elections May 16 from this constituency, ... Read more...

New Delhi, May 13 (IANS) In a move that could widen the gap between the two parties, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Prakash Karat Tuesday said Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh was "factually incorrect" when he accused the Left of "bulldozing" the bill that led to the removal ... Read more...

Hyderabad, May 12 (IANS) The Election Commission of India Monday issued notices to the Andhra Pradesh government and a state minister for allegedly violating the model code of conduct for the May 29 by-elections. Issuing the notices on complaints by opposition parties, the poll panel asked the Congress government and ... Read more...

New Delhi, May 12 (IANS) Mounting pressure on the government over rising prices, the Communist Party of India (CPI) Monday submitted a 'petition' to parliament and warned the UPA government of "serious consequences" if it did not contain inflation. "The government, which is good for nothing, should be changed," CPI ... Read more...

New Delhi, May 12 (ANI): Members of various trade unions submitted a petition with one crore signatures to the Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on Monday urging lawmakers to take effective steps to curb the price spiral in the country. Members of the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) and ... Read more...

By Rajeev Ranjan Roy New Delhi, May 11 (IANS) The purpose of reserving seats for women in legislatures will be defeated if these are not earmarked for different social strata, say supporters of reservation along caste lines. In support of their argument, they say there are only 11 woman Scheduled Caste ... Read more...

New Delhi, May 10 (ANI): UPA Chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday promised infrastructure for higher education in the backward areas. Addressing a convocation function of Jamia Hamdard University in New Delhi, Gandhi said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has put his personal imprint into the initiatives. "Prime Minister Dr. ... Read more...

New Delhi, May 10 (ANI): Some women MPs are likely to be included in a key Parliamentary Committee which will take up the Womens Reservation Bill on May 27. Incidentally, at present the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice does not have a single woman ... Read more...

Lucknow, May 10 (IANS) Akhilesh Das, former central government minister and Congress Rajya Sabha MP who recently resigned from the upper house of parliament, was formally inducted into the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) here Saturday. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati appointed him as the ... Read more...

New Delhi, May 9 (IANS) Senior Congress leader and union Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh Friday took an indirect dig at Congress president Sonia Gandhi by saying that the "yardstick of loyalty in the Congress has become limited these days", while praising Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and even Sanjay ... Read more...

New Delhi, May 9 (IANS) The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) will discuss its relations with the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and the party's future course of action at a two-day national convention beginning here Saturday. "We will discuss ways in which the UPA alliance can be strengthened. Other issues will ... Read more...

New Delhi, May 9 (ANI): The Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Somnath Chatterjee, and not President Praibha Devisingh Patil will release the book, "Mohi Kahan Vishram", at a function in Parliament House Annexe today. A copy of the book will be presented to the President of India, said a ... Read more...

Bangalore, May 9 (IANS) Karnataka goes to polls from Saturday to elect a 224-seat assembly. But very few are considered key constituencies. The two most prominent are Shikaripura in Shimoga district, around 270 km from Bangalore, and Ramanagaram, about 40 km from here. The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) chief ministieral candidate, ... Read more...

By Syed Zarir Hussain Shillong, May 9 (IANS) Politics is in their blood. This may sound clich Read more...

New Delhi, May 8 (IANS) Rajasthan has topped the major states in implementing the Members of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD) scheme by not only completing the projects under the scheme in 2006-7, but by overshooting the target 10 percent, says a government report. Rajasthan completed 5,554 projects during the ... Read more...

New Delhi, May7 (ANI): Defence Minister A K Antony today ruled out abandoning the country's main battle tank Arjun and said the tanks sould soon be inducted into the armed forces after rectifying existing defects. "There is no question of abandoning the prestigious project. It is the country's first ... Read more...

New Delhi, May 7 (IANS) The women's reservation bill that ensures 33 percent of seats in parliament and state assemblies for women is being bitterly contested by some parties arguing for a "quota within quota". But the document anyway gives preference to women belonging to Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled ... Read more...

New Delhi, May 6 (ANI): United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government on Tuesday introduced Women's reservation bill for reserving one-third seats in Lok Sabha and State Assemblies for women amidst uproar in Rajya Sabha. A day after the Union Cabinet approved the tabling of the Womens Reservation Bill in Parliament, Law ... Read more...

By Sharat Pradhan Lucknow, May 6 (IANS) The resignation of former union minister Akhilesh Das from the Congress and the Rajya Sabha has come as no surprise to the Uttar Pradesh party leadership that is expecting him to join the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). "We could see it coming over ... Read more...

New Delhi, May 6 (ANI): A day after the Union Cabinet approved the tabling of the Womens Reservation Bill in Parliament, Law Minister H R Bhardwaj presented it even as Samajwadi Party (SP) members protested against the move. The Bill, which seeks to earmark 33 per cent of seats for ... Read more...

New Delhi, May 6 (ANI): The much awaited Womens Reservation Bill will be tabled in the Rajya Sabha today, following an approval by the Union Cabinet late last evening at an emergency meeting called by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh at his residence. After its introduction in the Upper ... Read more...

New Delhi, May 5 (IANS) The cabinet Monday night decided to table the long-awaited Women's Reservation Bill that provides for 33 percent reservation for women in the parliament and state assemblies in the Rajya Sabha Tuesday, official sources said. There was no official briefing after the Monday night cabinet meeting, ... Read more...

New Delhi, May 5 (IANS) The much-delayed women's reservation bill, expected to be introduced in the Rajya Sabha Tuesday, is likely to face one hurdle less with Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and Railways Minister Lalu Prasad Monday giving up his 12-year-old opposition to it. "Hum laagu karwaaenge (I will ... Read more...

New Delhi, May 5 (IANS) The defence ministry Monday admitted in Parliament that the indigenous main battle tank (MBT) Arjun has shown some recurring defects, besides having some faulty parts, in the just-concluded winter trials. "Failure of power packs, lower accuracy and consistency have been noticed during the ongoing Accelerated ... Read more...

New Delhi, May 5 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Monday alleged that the government is not serious on introducing the long pending Womens reservation bill in the on-going session of the parliament. UPA should clarify its stand first, as they constitute the government. What stand ... Read more...

New Delhi, May 5 (IANS) Owing to pressures from the aviation industry, the central government has once again deferred decision on the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) Bill, 2007, which was scheduled to come up for approval in parliament during the budget session, sources said Monday. The Lok Sabha was ... Read more...

New Delhi, May 5 (IANS) The Congress admitted Monday that some political parties continued to have reservations over the legislation favouring 33 percent quota for women in parliament and assemblies. "It cannot be denied that people do have reservations on the issue. Once we have resolved these differences and reached ... Read more...

New Delhi, May 5 (ANI): Minister of State Defence Production Rao Inderjit Singh said on Monday that Hindustan Aeronautic Limited (HAL) has concluded an agreement with Airbus Industries for supply of 2,000 shipsets of forward passenger doors worth 150 million Dollars during March 2008. He further said that there ... Read more...

New Delhi, May 5 (IANS) Acting on a request from all parties, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee Monday retracted his decision to refer 32 MPs, most of them from the opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA), to the house privileges committee. Pranab Mukherjee, leader of the house, said: "MPs met the ... Read more...

New Delhi, May 5 (IANS) Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee Monday retracted his decision to refer 32 MPs, most of them from the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), to the house privileges committee for alleged disorderly conduct. "I will reconsider the decision in right earnest," said Chatterjee after MPs of ... Read more...

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New Delhi, May 5 (IANS)The women's reservation bill providing 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and state assemblies has been gathering dust for 12 years with no government willing to give it the push that will make it an Act. Here are some facts about the bill which ... Read more...

New Delhi, May 5 (IANS) A silent protest by MPs of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) against the speaker's decision to refer some fellow members to the house privileges committee for disorderly conduct led to the adjournment of the Lok Sabha Monday. The proceedings began with a two-minute silence for ... Read more...

New Delhi, May 5 (ANI): Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday is likely to chair a high level meeting of the Law Ministry to finalise the roadmap for the Women's Reservation Bill. The Prime Minister had recently told a Communist Party of India (CPI) delegation that his Government plans to ... Read more...

By Rajeev Ranjan Roy New Delhi, May 5 (IANS) A lone voice has emerged from the corridors of power to plead for the endangered Olive Ridley turtles in Orissa - seeking a ban on all missile tests from Chandipur during April and May every year. Bhartruhari Mahtab, a member of the ... Read more...

New Delhi, May 4 (IANS) The Lok Sabha is expected to have a stormy sitting Monday over US President George W. Bush's remarks on the Indian middle class eating well and contributing to the global food crisis, as also Speaker Somnath Chatterjee's move to refer some fellow members to the ... Read more...