Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman responded to Rahul Gandhi's speech at the Congress plenary meet where he compared the BJP to the Kauravas, hungry for power whereas the Congress was like the Pandavas fighting for the truth. 

Promising a party overhaul, Rahul Gandhi says the dais is empty. It has been purposely kept empty, for the youth in the party, he says explaining why top guns in the party are not on dais, but sitting in the audience. He is going to change the organisation he promises.

Speaking on Day 2 at the Congress Plenary meet, Former Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh took aim at the current dispensation and said that the BJP headed by PM Modi has messed up the nation's economy. 

Day 2 of Congress's plenary session begins in New Delhi.

Congress leader Anand Sharma is addressing the session.

"The Modi government has disrupted India's foreign policy. In the last four years they have made this a divisive policy. They have pursued this in a cavalier manner, non-serious manner," he said.

"The PM is carried away by his own propaganda. Today it is a matter of concern that we have mismanaged our relations with major capitals of the world, with major strategic partners and our immediate neighborhood," Sharma said.  -- ANI

Five members of family killed and two others injured in Pakistani shelling along Line of Control in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday, the state police said.

"Due to shelling from across in Balakote sector of Poonch, five civilians died and two are injured who are being shifted to the hospital," J&K Director General of Police S P Vaid said.

More details awaited.   -- PTI, ANI

Image for representation only.

Russians on Sunday began voting in the presidential election, in which President Vladimir Putin is seeking a fourth term.

According to the CNN, polls have opened in the Far East, and 109 million voters are eligible to cast ballots across the 11 time zones of the world's biggest country.

As per the CNN report, this is going to be a one-sided election as widely expected to cement President Vladimir Putin's power for another six years.

Despite a lacklustre campaign period, Putin is the clear front-runner as Putin's fiercest political opponent, Alexei Navalny, has been barred from competing.

It is expected that this election is going to be a repeat of the 2012 election with Putin-dominating.

This election is riding high on anti-West sentiments in the country as Russia is dealing with the diplomatic crisis with the United States and the United Kingdom.  -- ANI

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang was today endorsed for a second five-year term by the country's rubber-stamp parliament after he was nominated by President Xi Jinping.

Li, 63, a second ranking leader in the ruling Communist Party of China, has completed the first five-year tenure along with Xi who is now regarded as the 'core' leader of the party placed along with party founder Mao Zedong.

Xi, 64, was yesterday re-elected unanimously by 2970 deputies of the National People's Congress, days after it ratified constitutional amendment to remove the decades old two-term limit for the president and vice president posts.

Xi was also re-elected as the Chairman of the Central Military Commission which is the overall high command of the two million strong Chinese military.

He heads all powerful organs of power the CPC, the military and the Presidency.

Li, who maintained a low profile under Xi mainly looking after economy, was endorsed as premier for his second tenure.

But significantly he was nominated by Xi, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Other officials who got elected included was Yang Xiaodu director of the national supervisory commission, a newly formed anti-corruption body with statuary powers.

Xu Qiliang and Zhang Youxia were elected as vice chairmen of the Central Military Commission headed by Xi.

The NPC which has approved a complete overhaul of the Chinese government is also expected to nominate a host of new officials including a new foreign minister and governor of the central bank, the People's Bank of China.

The NPC deputies also elected president of the Supreme People's Court, procurator-general of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, and members of the 13th NPC Standing Committee.  -- PTI

Bharatiya Janata Party general secretary Ram Madhav has said that they can 'consider' returning to paper ballot after due discussion if every party thinks so.

His statement comes a day after the Congress, in a resolution adopted in its plenary session, called for reverting to the old practice of paper ballot 'as adopted by other major democracies to help restore the credibility of the electoral process'.

The party said it was necessary as there were misgivings on the 'misuse' of electronic voting machines to 'manipulate the outcome contrary to the popular verdict.'

Reacting to the Congress's resolution, Madhav told ANI, "I would like to remind the Congress that the decision to shift from paper ballots to EVMs was taken because of a larger consensus. Now today, if every party thinks that we should return to paper ballots again, after due discussion, we can consider.'  -- ANI

Citing disparity in the number of consulates of the two countries, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that 23 British diplomats have been declared personae non gratae and will be expelled within a week.

TASS quoted Russian foreign ministry as saying in a statement, 'On March 17, British Ambassador to Moscow Laurie Bristow was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry where he was handed a note saying that in response to provocative actions of the British side and evidence-free accusations against the Russian Federation over the incident in the city of Salisbury on March 4 this year, the Russian side has taken the following retaliatory measures.'

This comes after British Prime Minister Theresa May expelled 23 Russian diplomats over spy poisoning.

The Foreign Ministry further said that there was a disparity in the number of consulates of the two countries and Russia withdrew permission to open the British Consulate General in St. Petersburg.

'Due to the unregulated status of the British Council in the Russian Federation, its activities are terminated,' the statement said.

'The British side has been warned that if more unfriendly actions against Russia follow, the Russian side reserves the right of taking other retaliation measures,' the ministry added.

Yesterday, Russian Ambassador in London Alexander Yakovenko said that the Russian diplomats expelled from the United Kingdom over the spy poisoning will leave that country along with their families on March 20.  -- ANI

The India-United States two-plus-two meeting has been postponed as of now due to uncertainty over confirmation of nomination of Mike Pompeo, as the new Secretary of State, according to officials.

The first two-plus-two meeting between India and the US was tentatively scheduled for April 18-19.

The launch of two-plus-two dialogue was announced last summer when Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a successful meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House.

However, there was no official announcement of the high-level dialogue involving the foreign and defence ministers from the two countries.

India's foreign and defence secretaries were in Washington, DC early this week for preparatory talks with their American counterparts.

The Indian delegation landed in Washington, DC amidst the firing of Rex Tillerson as the Secretary of State by Trump.

The delegation continued with their meetings both at the State Department and the Pentagon as scheduled, during which it was decided to hold the two-plus-two dialogue at a later date, which is unlikely to be held before the summer.

The two-plus-two dialogue was seen as a vehicle to elevate the strategic relationship between the two countries.

After June last year, the two countries have tried at several other dates for this dialogue including sometime in November and December.

Officials also checked for a time in January this year, but both sides were having a tough time in finding a day when all the four leaders -- External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman from India and Defence Secretary Jim Mattis and former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, were available.

It was finally in February this year that two-days in mid-April was zeroed in for the talks.

However, the plans had to be scuttled as on March 13, Trump announced that Tillerson has been fired and he nominated Pompeo, who is currently the CIA director, to replace him as the Secretary of State.

Pompeo needs to be confirmed by the Senate.

Spring recess of the Congress begins on March 22 and lawmakers would resume their legislative business on April 2. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which hold the confirmation hearing, has not scheduled it on its calendar yet.

Once Pompeo's nomination process breezes through this committee then it would go to the Senate floor for a vote.

Given the sharp differences between the Republicans and the Democrats in the Senate, officials decided not to take any chance by going ahead with the mid-April date for the two-plus-two talks.

"Thus, it has been postponed for now," an informed US official said.

The official quickly pointed that this would have no impact on the bilateral relationship as the meetings this week by the foreign and defence secretaries decided to continue with their agenda.

The new dates will now be determined after Pompeo occupies the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department and settles down as the top American diplomat.  -- PTI