Timeline Refresh
Chairman Hamid Ansari is trying to wind up the proceedings and get the house to vote on the bill. This is what the bill is about. Read
The Samajwadi Party disrupted the Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha on Monday, arguing that if reservation for Dalits in promotion could be proposed, why not the same could be done for the Muslims. Samajwadi Party MPs also asked why the Sachar Committee report was not being implemented. Read more
"What can I say if their party says something. A demand can be made for anything...The promise of Congress made in its election manifesto (to provide reservation to backward Muslims) is our first priority....We never talked about proportonate reservation. We never made any such promise," Minority Affairs Minister K Rahman Khan told reporters.
He was responding to questions on Samajwadi Party leader Ramgopal Yadav's demand in Rajya Sabha that Muslims should be given reservation in proportion to their population through an amendment in the Constitution.
"Tibetan affairs are totally China's domestic affairs," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a media briefing here. Recently, politicians in the US, the European Union and Canada had disregarded facts, confused right and wrong and groundlessly accused China on Tibet-related issues, Hua said.
"I have been informed today by Rajeev Ranjan Nag, member of Press Council of India and convener of the team I appointed for looking into complaints of paid news and violation of Press freedom in the Gujarat election, that large scale practice of paid news in the recent Gujarat elections has come to the notice of the fact finding team," Katju said in a statement.
And remember the Falun Gong cult? Read
"Mr Rehman Malik, Interior Minister of Pakistan has been telling us repeatedly that he had arrested Mr Hafiz Saeed thrice and that on each occasion, he was let off by the courts for lack of evidence," Shinde said in an identical statement in both Houses of Parliament.
"We had been given to understand by the Interior Minister of Pakistan that Mr Hafiz Saeed had been arrested on the charges of being a part of the conspiracy for the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. ....
"When we pursued this matter, they have given us papers pertaining to the detentions of Shri Hafiz Saeed in 2002 and 2009. "From the papers given to us, it is clear that the detentions of Shri Hafiz Saeed in the aforesaid cases were for other reasons and not for his role as a conspirator in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. Therefore, I can only say that Mr Rehman Malik appears to have been misinformed in the matter," the minister said.
Tweet from Subramaniam Swamy: Let entire India BOYCOTT India-Pak Cricket Series. Despite Hafiz Saeed roaming free in Pakistan, GREEDY BCCI wants Cricket
"In Gujarat, electors and candidates won't have to wait for too long a period as the results would be out after two days. But my concern is for the voters and candidates in Himachal Pradesh," Advani, the Lok Sabha MP from Gandhinagar, told mediapersons after casting his vote.
"They have been waiting for a long period. I don't think that electoral results in one state would affect voting patterns or result in another state. This is one area I urge the Election Commission of India (ECI) should look into," Advani said.
He added, "I had a discussion with the Prime Minister regarding holding Lok Sabha and Assembly elections simultaneously in all states. What is happening in the last few years is that every year, some state goes to polls." "But, this is not what the founding fathers of the Constitution of India had envisaged as they wanted elections to be held after every five years," he said.
"Voter turnout of 54 to 55 per cent was recorded till 3 PM," state Election Commission officials said.
Around 1.98 crore voters will decide the fate of 820 candidates, contesting in the second phase of the election.
Veteran BJP leader L K Advani exercised his franchise at a polling booth in Shahpur area here. Earlier in the day, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley and Chief Minister Narendra Modi cast their vote. Modi, who is contesting from Maninagar Assembly constituency, is locked in a direct contest with Congress candidate Shweta Bhatt, wife of suspended IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt.
A new entrant, Shweta (pictured) is testing political waters for the first time. The constituencies where polling started include 17 in Ahmedabad city, 40 constituencies in five districts-Vadodara, Dahod, Panchmahal, Kheda and Anand-of central Gujarat, 32 seats in five districts -Patan, Mehsana, Sabarkantha, Gandhinagar and Banaskantha-of north Gujarat, and six seats in Kutch district.
The bench, which heard the plea by counsels Bikash Bhattacharya and Rabishankar Chatterjee, observed that it was a seminar where Mamata had spoken and everyone could have their own opinion. It observed that Banerjee had not mentioned any particular case or court.
In a letter to Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, TDP Politburo member Yanamala Ramakrishnudu referred to UnionMinister of State for Tourism K Chiranjeevi's address at the Pradesh Congress brainstorming session yesterday, wherein the latter alleged that "Y S Jaganmohan Reddy has been using the cell phone to run political affairs from the jail."
However, she was undeniably warm to women reporters in Parliament who she plied with sweets, idli and vada and even hugged
Our sources say she also met President Pranab Mukherjee earlier in the day. Mamata's rare presence in Parliament meant that her party MPs surrounded her in the Cental Hall, even as Congress ministers and CPM MPs avoided her. TMC leader Mukul Roy's take on this is that she has proved she is a mass leader. Well...
Senior BJP leader Yashwant Singh said, "The Indo-Pak cricket series (commencing on December 25) should be cancelled. "What kind of goodwill we are creating by playing cricket matches after Malik's visit," he told reporters outside Parliament House. "...our Home Minister has shown weakeness by not reponding to Rehman Malik in kind. He should have immediately responded, if he (Malik) used hard words, he (Shinde) should have used hard words," Sinha said.
The basic objective of the PDS to arrest hunger among the poor will be defeated if the beneficiaries are provided cash instead of cheap food leading to closure of the Food Corporation of India, state Minister for Food and Supplies Jyotipriya Mullick said on Sunday. More
The Maharashtra government announces a SIT probe into alleged irrigation scam in Maharashtra. The SIT will probe the irrigation scams from the BJP-Sena tenure. Water expert Madav Chitale to head the team.
The shortage has been accepted by Defence Minister A K Antony and has been widely reported in media leading to a sense of insecurity among masses, Kuamr said. Demanding filling up of the vacant posts immediately, he said even former Army Chief V K Singh had written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh regarding shortage of arms and equipment in the Indian Army.
Also read: Gun control: Change is possible -- and fast
The issue triggered an uproar in the House in the morning with SP members rushing into the Well leading to its adjournment for 30 minutes during Question Hour.
Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Ram Gopal Yadav (SP) said the Rajinder Sachar Committee in its report pointed out that the condition of Muslims was worse than Dalits and so there should a Constitutional amendment to provide for quota to Muslims.
"When quota in promotion (for SC/ST) can be given by amending Constitution, then why Muslims should not be given reservation in proportion to their population through a Constitution Amendment Bill," Yadav asked. LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan and RJD members supported him.
This is her second visit to Rae Bareli within a span of one month. Earlier, she had held meetings with party workers during her two-day visit here on November 8 and November 9.
On the first day of her visit last time, Priyanka, held block-wise meetings of party workers up to nyaya panchayat level and talked about strengthening the organisation and discussed development works. She had also assured people in her brother Rahul's constituency Amethi that she would visit them regularly and keep in constant touch. Congress had won only two seats in Amethi while in Rae Bareli it drew a blank.
"We have detained four people and have impounded two buses,' said a police official. The victim along with a male friend had boarded a whiteline private bus at around 11 pm from Munirka in south Delhi to go to Palam, where she lives.
Police said that around five to seven bus crew started misbehaving with the girl a few minutes after she boarded the bus, which was traveling without other passengers.
The victim''s boyfriend tried to prevent the men from molesting her, but the men beat him up and sexually assaulted the girl. The accused then threw the girl and her boyfriend out of the bus near Mahipalpur in south Delhi''s Vasant Vihar area.
"They took out a rod and beat him badly and then dragged her to the bus cabin where they raped her," the uncle of victim''s friend said. Her friend, who used to work in a software firm, was escorting her home after watching a film at the Select City Walk mall in Saket. The police said it was not clear yet whether the five assailants were passengers or bus staff. No arrests have been made so far; the police have seized two buses.
The victim's friend registered a complaint with the Vasant Vihar police station at around 1.15 am. A First Information Report (FIR) has been lodged at the Vasant Vihar police station. The cops have seized two buses, however, no arrests have been made so far.
"We are fully opposed to the Bill and whenever it comes up for voting in the House, we will vote against it," SP spokesperson Mohan Singh told reporters outside Parliament House.
He said though the SP is isolated on this issue in Parliament, it enjoys wide support from the people outside. Asked if SP is under CBI pressure to support the government, Singh said, "We have accepted in the past that CBI is used to exert pressure. CBI is misused by the government."
On a sarcastic note, Singh said, "It appears there is no corruption in the Congress and all corruption is in other parties. CBI is there only to probe against Lalu Prasad, Mulayam Singh and M Karunanidhi."
This is what Malik said. Read
Bharwad was shot at in Panchmahal district today and is said to be very close to Narendra Modi. He was among the two MLAs caught watching porn in the Gujarat Assembly.
-- DeshGujarat
Akil Bakhshi: Shweta Bhatt's contest from Maninagar is historic. More than the result, it has symbolic value. Dictatorship will never go unchallenged.
Dhaval Parekh: How i wish my name was enrolled in maninagar constituency ,giving me a chance to elect another term for namo.
"Around 20-21 per cent voting has been recorded across 95 Assembly constituencies till 11 am, where brisk polling is underway in second phase," a state Election Commission official said. Modi, who is seeking a third term in office, exercised his franchise at Nishan High School in Ranip area of the city.
Confident of returning to power, Modi said, "I thank all the voters. In this election, people of Gujarat will make a hat-trick by giving a third term to us. People of the state will once again vote BJP to power...the sentiments of people here is giving you an clear indication of that".
Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitely cast his vote at Chimanbhai Patel Institute opposite Karnavati club. Jagruti Pandya, the wife of slain former MoS of Home Haren Pandya casted her vote at New Sharda Mandir school in Paldi. Shweta Bhatt, the Congress candidate contesting against the Chief Minister, exercised her franchise in Memnagar Panchayat Balmandir. Serpentine queues were seen since morning at 23,318 polling stations, with women and youths coming out in large numbers.
BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad raised the issue on Rehman Malik's comment in Rajya Sabha as Yashwant Sinha gave notice to Lok Sabha to discuss Malik's remarks during zero hour.The
BJP has accused the UPA govt of letting Rehman Malik off the hook and acting 'deaf and dumb' on the Rehman Malik's statements.
"If the film can be released before the 2014 elections, as Uddhav wants, it has the potential to be his electoral trump card against estranged cousin and political rival Raj Thackeray,' a senior Shiv Sena leader said. Read
Interesting read on the Telegraph.
The company, which sells Bajaj Allianz General's non-life-insurance products, wants to be among the top three companies in India selling insurance on the Internet in the next three to five years. But even with a name like Mr. Buffett's behind it, that's a lofty goal for a newcomer to India's $40 billion insurance industry. Read
Family sources said, her body will be kept in Our Lady of the Health Church at Shirva in Udupi district for two hours for the public to pay homage before the funeral service there at 4pm.
The body of Jacintha arrived in Mangalore on Sunday afternoon.Jacintha's husband Benedict Barboza and her son Junal,16, and daughter Lisha,14, accompanied the coffin from London.Meanwhile, the parish priest in Shirva village said Jacintha Saldanha's funeral would take place here on Monday.
Also see: The saddest journey home
Here's the first part of the interview.
"I thank all the voters. People of Gujarat will vote the BJP to power for a third consecutive term in this election," Modi told mediapersons. "I am committed to the six crore Gujaratis. I live for them. I believe that I am also serving the country through my work in Gujarat. Gujarat is a part of the country and not outside it," he added, when asked to comment on his Prime Ministerial ambitions. Several BJP leaders, including Sushma Swaraj, have openly endorsed Modi as the Prime Ministerial candidate.
Though a faction of the ULFA led by its chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa has sat across the table for a dialogue with the government, the faction led by the commander in chief Paresh Barua continues to remain opposed to the peace process.
Similarly, a faction of the NDFB led by Ranjan Dairmari is still not involved in the peace process, while the government has begun peace talks with a faction of the NDFB led by Govinda Basumatary. More on Rediff.com in a bit.
Soon after casting his vote, he told reporters, "It's a very peaceful election. It is such a election that has been contested by people of Gujarat themselves... an election where youth and women folk have taken up the responsibility on their shoulders... It will be a historic one because it has been contested on the issue of good governance and development plank."
Congress candidate from Maninagar constituency Shweta Bhatt was also seen casting her vote at Maninagar alongside her husband Sanjiv Bhatt, a suspended IPS officer and a known Modi baiter.
Bhatt is directly taking on Narendra Modi on his home turf Maninagar on a Congress ticket.
CNN-IBN: A medical student was allegedly gangraped in a private bus in the Vasant Vihar area of southwest Delhi. The incident happened on Sunday night. The victim's male friend registered a complaint with the Vasant Vihar police station at around 1.15 am.
According to the police, the girl and her friend were stripped and thrown out of the bus after the assault. The girl is said to be in a critical condition at the Safdarjung hospital.
AFP: Attacks in Iraq, including a string of bombings against Shiite places of worship and a car bomb at a Kurdish political office, killed at least 17 people and wounded at least 77, officials said.
Two car bombs and seven roadside bombs exploded near two Shiite places of worship, known as husseiniyahs, in the northern city of Kirkuk, while a magnetic "sticky bomb" targeted a policeman near the city yesterday, police said. Sadiq Omar Rasul, the head of the Kirkuk health directorate, put the toll from the various attacks at 13 killed and 57 wounded.
Oil-rich and ethnically mixed Kirkuk is part of a swathe of territory in northern Iraq that the autonomous Kurdistan region wants to incorporate, over the strong objections of Baghdad.
AP: A man was arrested after firing about 50 shots in the parking lot of a SouthernCalifornia shopping mall, prompting a lockdown of storescrowded with holiday shoppers.
Marcos Gurrola, 42, of Garden Grove was taken into custodyby bicycle police officers patrolling around the open-airFashion Island mall around 4:30 p.m. yesterday, policespokeswoman Cathy Lowe said. She said he fired into the airand onto the ground in the parking lot near a Macy'sdepartment store. No one was injured, but the gunfire caused panic, coming aday after a gunman killed 26 children and adults at a Connecticut elementary school, and days after a deadly mallshooting in Oregon.
The mall was crowded with holiday shoppers and the parkinglot was full. Witnesses said they ran, screaming and duckingfor cover.
"It's a miracle nobody got injured," said Sven Maric, whosaid he was celebrating his wife's birthday at a restaurantpatio about 40 meters away. "The bullets had