Speaking at ‘Gita Prerna Mahotsav’, organised “to celebrate 5,151 years of religious book Gita” at the Red Fort Maidan in New Delhi, on Sunday, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj pressed for the centre to declare Bhagwad Gita as the rashtriya granth (national scripture). She said that only a formal announcement on this effect was pending. Do you think Sushma S
The first phase of polling in Jammu and Kashmir witnessed a significantly higher turnout, compared to recent elections in the state. Does this signal a greater wish to join the democratic practice after long years of insurgency and election boycotts? Or, is this in line with the nationwide trend of higher voting percentages, thanks to cleaned-up voter rolls and other initiatives from the electi
Around 9 pm on Monday (October 6), Pakistani troops opened fire at BSF posts in Kanachak and Pargwal, as well as those in Arnia and RS Pura sector, along the line of control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir. Seven civilians were killed and over 50 people injured in villages along the border in Jammu, according to an Indian Express report. While defence spokespersons were quote
With Delhi lieutenant governor (L-G) Najeeb Jung sending a report to president Pranab Mukherjee, reportedly seeking permission to invite the single largest party to take a shot at forming a government in Delhi, speculation is rife that the BJP would be called to attempt it. Jung’s report gives a detailed analysis of the political situation in the city-state and underlined t
In financial terms, the Narendra Modi government has completed its first quarter. At 11 minutes past 11 am today (September 1), the Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex was up 200 points at 26,837, while the NSE Nifty was up 62 points at 8,016 – both new highs. According to latest figures released by the central statistics office, under the ministry of statistics and programme impl
Narendra Modi has issued a set of 19 commandments to bureaucrats. Coming as part of the prime minister’s maxim of `minimum government, maximum governance`, these ask a bureaucrat to maintain political neutrality and good behaviour with the public, among others. According to media reports, these rules also mandate babus to now declare their “private interests relating to public dutie
Dinanath Batra, president of ‘Siksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas’ and national convener of Siksha Bachao Andolan and also a member of the national executive of the RSS’s education cell, is back in news. Having earlier hit the spotlight for getting renowned American scholar Wendy Doniger’s book on Hinduism ‘pulped’, Batra’s books, which are prescribed in Gujar
The Narendra Modi government was on Thursday forced to agree to a discussion in Rajya Sabha on the Gaza violence after the opposition parties continuously disrupted the proceedings of the House. On Wednesday, the ruling BJP rejected a similar suggestion in the Lok Sabha. External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj had objected to any discussion on the matter saying it would amou
Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje has asked the Centre why the UPA’s flagship Mahatma Gandhi national rural employment guarantee Act (MGNREGA, or commonly referred to as NREGA) cannot be delivered as a scheme. In a letter to union minister for rural development Nitin Gadkari, sent on June 6, Raje said, “It is a moot issue why rural employment should be guaranteed by a
The union home ministry recently sent a circular stating that officials of all union ministries, departments, corporations, or banks should use Hindi on social media outlets like Twitter, Facebook, Google and blogs. DMK chief M Karunanidhi has been first off the block in criticising the move, saying, “This is a beginning to impose Hindi on a person against his wishes.” Most southe
While Narendra Modi came to power riding on promises of good and clean governance, one cabinet colleague who has become an embarrassment for the administration is Nihal Chand. The Lok Sabha MP from Gangapur in Rajasthan has been accused of sexually assaulting the victim, along with 16 others, in 2011. All 17 have been issued a notice by a court in Jaipur. On Tuesday (June 17), the victi
Amid deteriorating law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh that has witnessed the rape and murder of women besides political murders that include three BJP leaders in the past fortnight, the union home ministry is mulling a proposal to divide the state into two for better governance. According to a report published in The Economic Times, the union home ministry appears to be veering to
With the national capital going through regular, hours-long power cuts even as the mercury notches newer highs, lieutenant-governor Najeeb Jung has said that all high-mast halogen lamps should be switched off between 10 pm and 1 am, as should air-conditioners in government offices in the afternoons, when power demand peaks. The lieutenant-governor, who is in charge of administration in
The first day of Modi government saw a controversy when Mos PMO Jitendra Singh spoke about the need to debate whether Article 370, which accords J&K autonomy on various fronts, be revoked or not. J&K CM Omar Abdullah was quick to rebuke Singh and BJP. “Art 370 is the ONLY constitutional link between J&K & rest of India [sic],” Abdullah tweeted, adding, &ldqu
After all the drama surrounding the elections in the world’s largest democracy subsided on May 16, it was time for some introspection for the Congress party, which faced its worst electoral defeat in so many years of its existence. Immediately after the results — depicting a complete rout for the Congress, were declared, the party’s president Sonia Gandhi and vice-pre
Narendra Modi, Gujarat chief minister and the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, landed in a soup moments after casting his vote in on April 30. He held a miniature metal lotus – the party’s symbol – to take a ‘selfie’ with his cellphone and then addressed the waiting media, holding the lotus in full display of the television cameras. And all this within 100
Father Frazer Mascarenhas, principal of St Xavier`s College, Mumbai, has triggered a political storm with his email sent out to students of the premier institution, criticising the ‘Gujarat model of development’. The note, which is also put up on the college website (read it on the homepage here) comes just before Mumbai goes to the po
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal has stirred a fresh controversy for his reported remarks that sections of the Indian media have been “bought” over, as part of a political conspiracy to create a wave in favor of BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. At a party fundraiser in Nagpur on Thursday, where he allegedly made the remark, Kejriwal also rep
On February 18, Lok Sabha passed the much talked-about Telangana Bill—amid protests and a black out of the event on the Lok Sabha TV. The Congress high command went ahead with the bill despite opposition from the Congress chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, Kiran Kumar Reddy, who resigned this morning. Coming barely two months before the important 15th Lok Sabha elections, this move
The election commission is planning to tell the government to raise the limit of campaign expenses allowed for candidates. [Read the Indian Express report here: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/politics/raise-electi
