Timeline Refresh
This demand was first made by Chandrababu Naidu and his party leader Gajapathiraju who is the civil aviation minister has said that they would go ahead and rename the airport after NTR.
This is however not a new demand by Naidu. He made this demand in 2008 when the airport at Shamshabad was inaugurated by Sonia Gandhi and named the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport.
The TDP had cried foul and stated that when the airport was in Begumpet it was called as the NTR airport. Read Vicky Nanjappa's complete report on Rediff.com shortly.
The call by Li, the first foreign head of government to call up Modi since he took over as the prime minister, came after China's decision on Wednesday to send its Foreign Minister Wang Yi on June 8 as special envoy to meet the new leadership including External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.
-- Modi on Twitter.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has resigned from his Vadodara seat and will be a member of Parliament from Varanasi. The Lok Sabha Speaker will process the resignation and forward it to the Election Commission, which will then declare the seat, in Modi's home state Gujarat, vacant. Fresh elections will be held for the seat.
India will release 30 fishermen and 5 civilian Pakistani prisoners today in reciprocation.
The move by India comes after bilateral talks between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif.
Pakistan had freed the 150 prisoners as a goodwill gesture a day ahead of Nawaz Sharif's visit to New Delhi.
The ticket checker, identified as Sampat Salunkhe, has been arrested, they said.
According to a complaint filed with Jalgaon GRP by the nephew of the deceased, Ujjwala Pandey (38), tried to board an AC coach of LTT-Rajendranagar Patna Express when she was stopped by Salunkhe.
As the train started moving, fearing she would miss it, Ujjwala, with her 10-year-old daughter Palak, made another attempt at boarding following which she was given a hefty shove by Salunkhe.
The victim lost her balance and fell into the gap between the train and platform. Ujjwala's nephew Rahul Purohit, who had come to see her off, raised an alarm and the train was brought to a grinding halt.
However, by then she had been run over and killed. Salunkhe, fearing public anger, hid inside the pantry car but an angry crowed dragged him out and handed over to the police after a sound thrashing.
The Congress leader said it was Modi who himself told the world about his background.
Speaking to a TV channel, Aiyar said, "You think I am so influential that because of my one comment Modi became PM? Thank you if that is the case."
Aiyar also defended a comment made by Priyanka Gandhi, during the campaigning. Priyanka commented on Modi's 'neech rajniti', which Aiyar said, Modi's fans, "like Hitler's Goebbels, interpreted it differently."
In January, Aiyar told a news channel that Modi was free to sell tea at a Congress session. Modi used Aiyar's barb to his benefit and connected with people through his 'chai pe charcha' programme.
AirAsia India is a joint venture between Malaysia-based AirAsia, Tata Group and Delhi-based Arun Bhatia of Telstra Tradeplace. Tony Fernandes, the group chief executive officer of Malaysia-based AirAsia, in a tweet said, "Very very proud to announce AirAsia India open for sale tomorrow. Wow. First flight June 12th."
Senior party leader Manish Tewari questioned "the urgency of bringing in an ordinance for his appointment when Parliament was scheduled to meet on June 2."
"Now with Parliament scheduled to meet on June 2, there was no immediacy which necessitated that the ordinance route should be taken," he said.
"The BJP had been very critical. Now, just because they have a majority in Parliament, they have decided to adopt a process which for the lack of better words is on borders of impropriety," Tewari said.
What this means, is that issues of international affairs will be bifurcated from Doval's portfolio. The foreign policy advisor to PM Modi will be independent and will be from the Indian Foreign Service. He or she will not report to Doval, who is a retired Indian Police Sevice officer.
It is being said that Modi is considering India's Ambassador in the US -- S Jaishanker, or Shyam Saran -- former foreign secretary -- for the job.
The woman died on the spot. According to her relatives, the train had begun moving when the woman was trying to get into the AC coach. The TC stopped her from entering the bogey and there was an argument during which, the relatives said, she was pushed out. She died on the spot.
"No one has spoken to me about making me the next Lok Sabha Speaker," Mahajan said.
The MP, who is representing Indore for the eighth term, said that she had read about the speculations regarding her likely appointment only in newspaper reports.
According to unconfirmed reports, BJP patriarch L K Advani was in the reckoning to become new Speaker. Mahajan, however, said that "everything will be clear on June 6".
A major fire broke out today in a commercial multi-storey building housing a market of sarees on Puna Kumbharia road in Surat and 80 fire tenders were rushed to the spot.
"The fire erupted at Orchit tower in Vipul House, a market of sarees, located in front of Sardar market in Puna Kumbhania area of the city," a fire brigade official said.
The number of people trapped inside the premises was yet to be ascertained, officials said, adding that no injuries or casualties have been reported so far.
The fire brigade has declared a 'brigade call' and deployed 170 fire fighters and almost 80 fire vehicles were on the spot, they said. When more than 16 fire engines are called on a spot, a Brigade Call is declared.
The fire broke out at around 10 am on the fourth floor of the building, soon after the complex opened for the day's work, an official said.
"There are 12 floors in the building which mostly have cloth material establishments," the official said. The cause of the blaze was yet to be ascertained, he said.
PM has given guidelines to all ministers to have their own timetable on the priorities in each ministry for the first 100 days.
To a question on when the PM was moving in to 7 RCR, his official residence, Naidu says, "Chinta mat kariye, jald se jald ho jaayega. I can allocate houses to Ministers not Prime Minister."
PM has told all Cabinet Ministers that all Ministers of State should be taken into confidence and given proper work.
PM has said that all states should be taken along by the Centre.
PM has directed ministers to prepare agenda for the first 100 days.
The agenda for the session to be held from June 4 to 12 is as follows:
June 4-5: Swearing-in of new members of Parliament.
June 6: Election of speaker of the Lok Sabha.
June 7,8: Weekend break
June 9: President to address joint session of Parliament.
June 10-11: Vote of thanks on the President's speech, PM's address to both houses of Parliament, and discussion of any urgent business. The session may be extended by a day or so, depending on urgent business if any.
Naidu said he met the President yesterday and okayed the appointment of Kamal Nath as pro-tem speaker. Nath is the seniormost member in Parliament with over 31 years as an MP.
Naidu said two other people have been identified to be in a panel of speakers -- PA Sangma (former speaker) and Biren Singh Engti.
Rajya Sabha will begin on 9th June with a joint session.
As the pro-tem speaker, Kamal Nath will be expected to formally kick-off the proceedings to the new Lok Sabha. Among his responsibilities will be to swear-in the newly-elected MPs and facilitate the election of the Speaker of the 16th Lok Sabha.
Spokespersons for the party reiterate that Narendra Modi has promised development for all.
They rather ruin the effect of this by tacking on 'and appeasement of none'. The word 'appease' is a curious choice in this context.
Appeasement is generally used to describe the propitiation of all-powerful beings, mortal or divine, but the BJP always uses it to describe the republic's treatment of its most depressed and marginalized community, Indian Muslims. Read
"This is to ensure Parliament functions smoothly and the Budget session is more productive,' said a highly placed source.
The seven sittings will include oath administration to new members and a joint session of Parliament, to be addressed by President Pranab Mukherjee.
Three days will be kept for the debate on the motion of thanks. After that a Budget session can be held, and Parliament has time till July 31 to pass it.
Here's more
The message from the BJP leadership to its members of Parliament is that Modi will keep an eagle eye on the performance of all party MPs during the July session.
To expand his council of ministers, he will pick only those he deems to have made a mark. Party sources said expansion of the council of ministers would have to wait until the July session because most MPs were unknown entities. "We will like to see their interests and skill sets and how they perform in Parliament," a party leader said.
While his win in Vadodara was on expected lines, the fight in Varanasi was said to be tough. However, he defeated his closest rival Arvind Kejriwal by a margin by over 4 lakh votes. The BJP won 73 of 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh.
This comes in the wake of remarks by AICC member and senior leader T H Musthafa's demand that AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi should quit and Priyanka Gandhi should step in to save the Congress. Addressing the media in Kochi, the former state minister said Rahul's "foolish' policies and "immature' approach contributed to the Congress's worst-ever defeat in elections. If Rahul is not willing to voluntarily go, he should be removed, he said. "There are many leaders in the party who think that only Priyanka can ensure a comeback for the Congress,' Musthafa added.
The controversy over human resource development minister Smriti Irani's educational qualifications took a new turn on Wednesday after it surfaced that she had made contradictory declarations in her affidavits for the 2004 and 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
Contesting the elections 10 years ago from Chandni Chowk in the Capital, the actor-turned-politician had claimed that she had a Bachelor of Arts degree. "B.A.1996 Delhi University (School of Correspondence),' she had written in the column which seeks details of university education and the year in which the course was completed.But, in her affidavit filed from Amethi in the 2014 elections, she had mentioned: "Bachelor of Commerce Part-1, School of Open Learning (Correspondence), University of Delhi-1994'.
Have a look at her affidavits here.
The BJP has begun its search for a new president, with Rajnath Singh being inducted into the Narendra Modi cabinet as home minister.
Sources said one of the names being discussed is that of Amit Shah, Prime Minister Modi's close aide who the BJP says scripted a spectacular victory for the party in Uttar Pradesh in the general elections.
For some days now, party general secretary JP Nadda has been seen as a forerunner, and he still remains in contention, the sources said. Now, another party leader, Om Mathur's name has cropped up too. Mr Mathur is also close to Mr Modi - he was the BJP general secretary in charge of Gujarat for the general elections.
Power cuts in Uttar Pradesh after May 16 have been making life tough for people. While the BJP has alleged that the SP is extracting the price of its defeat from the people, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has clarified that power cuts have not been driven by any ulterior motive and that the government is committed to the welfare of the people.
RP Sahu, who runs a bakery shop in Lucknow, was elated after a 'chai wallah' became the Prime Minister of the country. However, his joy was short lived. Post elections, Lucknow has been hit by severe power cuts and Sahu's business has taken a major hit. Severe power cuts have also hit Noida, Ghaziabad and even Varanasi from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the MP.
Vidyut Upabhokta Parishad president Avdesh Verma defended the power crisis citing the system failures, which, he further said, happens during every summer season. The government figures supporting Avdesh Verma's statement say that the state of Uttar Pradesh is going through a power crisis while the BJP has hit out at the SP.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's top 10 priorities for the country are likely to be revealed on Thursday, said Nripendra Misra, in an interview to The Hindu Businessline after taking over as Principal Secretary in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). "These, in Mr. Modi's characteristic style, will necessarily have to be implemented in a time-bound manner,' he added. Mr. Misra, who was hand picked for the new role in a surprise move, having neither worked for nor having met Mr. Modi earlier, asserted that the PMO will have to reflect the image, personality and commitment of the Prime Minister.
"The entire machinery will be geared up to fulfil the mandate of the new leader,' he said. The 1967 batch IAS officer and the former Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) chairman said he saw the PMO, which is set to become an important power centre in the new dispensation, as playing three main roles.
"Priority will be placed on implementation, catalysing and facilitating inter-ministerial issues, and addressing concerns relating to the economy.' Asked to outline the PMO's strategy in connection with infrastructure and policy reforms, Mr. Misra said it was for the PM to spell this out.
"However, personally, I think we need to ask why despite large investments, completed power projects are not operational, why the NHAI is unable to deliver on road building targets, and why despite India's rich natural resources, earnings from exports of minerals have come to a halt while coal is being imported.'
On what can be done to restore confidence among serving bureaucrats, who resort to strategic inaction to avoid the risk of being dragged into court cases because of controversial decisions taken by their political masters, Mr. Misra drew attention to Mr. Modi's leadership style in Gujarat.
"Mr. Modi does three things: he guarantees stability in tenure for as many as four to five years for competent officers, offers tremendous freedom to innovate and deliver, and takes personal ownership of all decisions,' he said. "The officials and secretaries are all padded up for their new innings,' he added.
Is Rahul fit to be LoP?
Brief Parliament session soon
Chandrababu Naidu to take oath as Andhra CM on June 8
DRDO tests Akash air defence missiles
Gujarat govt reinstates cop accused in Ishrat case
TRS calls for shutdown in Telangana on Thursday
The strange case of Smriti Irani: BA pass in 2004, undergrad in 2014
Mukul Rohatgi to be Attorney General of India
Article 370: Row intensifies as Kashmir parties face off against Centre, RSS
Fast track people's grievances: Modi asks PMO officials
'The Modi-led BJP govt is on global terror radar'
Decoding: How Modi picked his 'mantris'