Bangladesh’s largest Islamist party enforces nationwide strike

Bangladesh’s largest Islamist party enforces nationwide strike

Bangladesh’s largest Islamist party enforced a nationwide dawn-to-dusk strike Thursday in protest against the death sentence handed down to its chief in a 10-year-old arms smuggling case. Fourteen people, including two former Bangladeshi ministers and Indian separatist leader Paresh Baruah, were awarded death penalty by a court in the country’s southeastern port city of Chittagong […]

BJP suspends two MLAs for praising Nitish Kumar

BJP suspends two MLAs for praising Nitish Kumar

The BJP Thursday suspended two of its legislators in Bihar for choosing to back Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, and not the party’s prime ministerial hopeful Narendra Modi, as the next prime minister. Bharatiya Janata Party’s state president Mangal Pandey said the party has suspended two legislators – Rana Gangeshwar Singh and Avanish Kumar Singh – […]

HC dismisses plea against ordinance on convicted lawmakers

HC dismisses plea against ordinance on convicted lawmakers

The Delhi High Court Thursday dismissed a plea seeking quashing of the government’s decision to bring an ordinance to shield convicted lawmakers from being unseated. A division bench of Chief Justice N.V. Ramana and Justice Manmohan, giving relief to jailed legislators and parliamentarians, said if an individual’s the right to stand for an election if […]

CBI inquiry in VVIP chopper deal in advanced stage, says Antony

CBI inquiry in VVIP chopper deal in advanced stage, says Antony

The CBI inquiry in the alleged kickbacks in the deal to acquire 12 VVIP helicopters from AgustaWestland was in “advanced stage”, Defence Minister A.K. Antony said Thursday, noting that action on complaints of corruption had helped streamline the defence procurement process. Talking to mediapersons at ‘Defexpo 14’ here, Antony said that modernisation of forces was […]

NCP welcome to join our front: CPI-M

NCP welcome to join our front: CPI-M

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is welcome to join the Third Front, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) said Thursday. “NCP is welcome to join us if they want to quit the UPA,” CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury said. He was asked if the NCP would become a part of an alternate front of non-Congress, non-BJP […]

Women, girls denied voice in decision making: Kofi Annan

Women, girls denied voice in decision making: Kofi Annan

Women and girls are major drivers of development, yet in India and elsewhere, they continue to be denied opportunities to have a voice in decisions that affect their lives, and those of their families and communities, former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said Thursday. Giving the keynote address at the 14th Delhi Sustainable Development Summit […]

Parliament panel endorses another anti-corruption bill

A parliamentary panel Thursday recommended that a bill to amend the Prevention of Corruption Act be passed in the current parliament session itself — taking the total number of anti-corruption legislations listed for passage to seven. The Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) bill has amongst its provisions bringing the corporate sector under the Act, but with […]

Rahul to visit Gujarat

Rahul to visit Gujarat

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi will Saturday visit Gujarat and tour the historic Bardoli region where a ‘satyagraha’ by farmers was led by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in 1928, party leaders said Thursday. Gandhi will also visit the historic Swaraj Ashram dedicated to the Bardoli Satyagraha and is a major tourist attraction. Later in the afternoon, […]

Senior separatist leaders arrested in Srinagar

Senior separatist leaders arrested in Srinagar

Senior separatist leaders Shabir Ahmad Shah, Muhammad Nayeem Khan and Mushtaq-ul-Islam were arrested here Friday after organising a seminar in remembrance of JKLF founder Muhammad Maqbool Bhat and parliament attack convict Afzal Guru in a hotel here, police said, As these separatist leaders came out of the hotel in city centre Lal Chowk after the […]