The Rajya Sabha did not function for the eight consecutive day on Thursday. Opposition members say the government has failed to make any effort to run the House, and many point the finger at Chairman Venkaiah Naidu. The BJP is not ready to resolve the issues, the Congress has alleged. …

Upset over repeated disruptions and washout of proceedings, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Thursday met leaders of all parties including Congress leader in the House Mallikarjun Kharge and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Narendra Singh Tomar. The Speaker has learnt to have conveyed to the leaders that the image of the …

Political parties joining any opposition alliance must commit to a one-time comprehensive farm loan waiver and agree to implement the M.S. Swaminathan Commission’s recommendations on minimum support prices, said Maharashtra farmer leader Raju Shetti. “That must be on the election manifesto. That is our main condition for joining the gathbandhan …

How easy is it to access a bottle of monocrotophos pesticide, which was allegedly used to poison the ‘prasada’ served to devotees at the Sulwadi temple in Chamarajanagar district that claimed 15 lives? A farmer can simply knock on the door of the local pesticide dealer, who is not too …

The government on Thursday moved a proposal in Parliament for an additional Rs. 41,000 crore to recapitalise public sector banks, over and above the already budgeted Rs. 65,000 crore, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told a press conference. If approved by the House, this would take the total recapitalisation package for …

Apollo-8 astronauts Frank Borman, James Lovell and William Anders, on their return from a spectacular whirl round the moon, to-night [December 25] sped back into the grasp of earth’s gravity at 23-09 I.S.T., after successfully breaking free of lunar gravity. Their spaceship dashed unerringly “right down the corridor” towards a …

The aid climate showed signs of distinct improvement with the announcement here [New Delhi] to-day [December 19] that the United States would sign aid agreements with India in the next few days for $231 million of project and non-project aid, and $167 million of food aid. At the same time, …

The events that led to the Stockholm peace agreement, and the way forward What triggered the truce? The ceasefire between Yemen’s Houthi rebels and forces loyal to President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi in the port city of Hodeida came into existence on December 18. The agreement was reached in UN-mediated talks …

The passage of a Bill in the Lok Sabha to secure the rights of transgender persons is a progressive step towards extending constitutional protection to this highly marginalised community. The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2018, as passed, is an improved version of the legislation introduced two years ago. …

In the din over the Bharatiya Janata Party’s losses to the Congress in three States in the Hindi heartland, the dismal defeat of the ruling Congress party to the Mizo National Front in Mizoram has gone insufficiently noticed. With this, the Congress has lost its last remaining State in the …

One of the low points in Parliament’s history is that when 2,733 Sikhs were massacred in three days in Delhi in November 1984, it did not pass any resolution condemning the killings or even condoling those deaths. This was despite the resolutions sponsored by the Rajiv Gandhi government in January …

In a democracy, citizens have the freedom to criticise laws that violate their idea of dignity “It has become a fashion of the day to make a hue and cry about personal liberty,” the Maharashtra government lamented before the Supreme Court in early December. The government said this in response …

Delhi in the cooler months, between early October and late March, once a six-month stretch of mild sunshine, blue skies, crisp air, festivals of every major religious community, associated with agricultural cycles, equinoxes and other natural and cultural punctuations of the annual solar calendar braided with the monthly lunar calendar, …

A newly-discovered blind amphibian from Panama will be named after Donald Trump in recognition of the U.S. President’s stance on climate change, according to a media report. EnviroBuild, a U.K.-based sustainable building materials company, announced on Tuesday that it would be using Dermophis donaldtrumpi as the name for the amphibian …

Japanese scientists have detected evidence of water in 17 asteroids for the first time using data from the infrared satellite AKARI. Researchers from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and University of Tokyo found that water is retained in asteroids as hydrated mine- rals, which were produced by chemical reactions of …

Elon Musk on Tuesday took a break from futuristic electric cars and private space travel to unveil a low-cost tunnel he sees as a godsend for city traffic. The billionaire behind Tesla and SpaceX late on Tuesday put the spotlight on a 1.8 km tunnel created by his Boring Company …

The Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (BORI), which houses one of South Asia’s largest and most invaluable agglomeration of rare manuscripts, opened its treasure vault digitally by launching an e-library of ancient religious and historical works on Wednesday. Nearly 1,000 rare books and manuscripts in Sanskrit and its related languages are …

A silent revolution has transformed driving in Norway. Eerily quiet vehicles are ubiquitous on the fjord-side roads and mountain passes of this wealthy European nation of 5.3 million. Some 30% of all new cars sport plug-in cables rather than gasoline tanks, compared with 2% across Europe overall and 1-2% in …

There was not a single country out of 149 assessed by the World Economic Forum where women on an average made more or as much as men It could take 202 years for women to earn as much as men because the global pay gap is so vast and the …

State-owned Canara Bank said it would raise up to Rs. 3,000 crore by issuing Basel III-compliant bonds. The decision was taken at the bank’s board meeting held on Wednesday, it said in a regulatory filing. The board has decided to raise additional tier-I capital through Basel III-compliant additional tier-I perpetual …