Parliament Monsoon Session Live Updates: After five-day break, Lok Sabha to discuss Shubhanshu Shukla's space visit today
Protests erupt: TMC MPs are staging a protest over Bengali language row outside the Parliament premises. Congress Rajya Sabha MPs Syed Naseer Hussain, Ranjeet Ranjan, Rajani Patil, and Neeraj Dangi have submitted Suspension of business notice under Rule 267 to discuss the 'threats to the foundational principles of electoral democracy.' So far, there has been no discussion on the Bihar SIR, despite a series of protests by the Opposition.
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Scroll.in
15 minutes ago
- Scroll.in
‘Draconian': Opposition on bills for removal of PM, CMs and ministers held on criminal charges
The Opposition on Wednesday described three bills that propose the automatic removal of the prime minister, chief ministers and ministers arrested on account of serious criminal charges as 'draconian' and 'squarely destructive'. During the day, Union Home Minister Amit Shah introduced the three bills – the Constitution 130th Amendment Bill, the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Amendment Bill and the Government of Union Territories Amendment Bill – in the Lok Sabha amid a ruckus. The bills allow for the removal of the prime minister, chief ministers and ministers of Union Territories or states if they have been under arrest for 30 consecutive days on charges of committing an offence punishable with imprisonment for five years or more. The removal would come into effect from the 31st day of their arrest and detention, as per the bills. Arrested ministers can be reinstated once they are released from custody. The bills were sent to a joint parliamentary committee for scrutiny. The committee has MPs from all parties. Commenting on the bills, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said that it was 'completely draconian', ANI reported. 'To say it as an anti-corruption measure is just to pull a veil across the eyes of the people,' Vadra told reporters. 'Tomorrow, you can put any kind of a case on a CM, have him arrested for 30 days without conviction, and he ceases to be a CM.' She described the three bills as 'absolutely anti-constitutional, undemocratic and very unfortunate'. After Shah tabled the three bills in the Lok Sabha, Congress MP Manish Tewari stood up and said that the Constitution states that there should be rule of law. 'And the basis of that is that you are innocent until proven guilty,' he said. 'This [the bills] hopes to change that.' The Chandigarh MP described the draft legislation as ' squarely destructive ', adding that it would change the judicial jurisprudence of Article 21 that grants the fundamental right to life and personal liberty. Samajwadi Party MP Rajeev Rai told reporters that one more line should have been written in the three bills that either the 'criminal' joins the Bharatiya Janata Party or this bill would be applied to them. Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Manoj Jha claimed that the difference between the accused and the convicted had blurred. 'Supreme Court had commented about ED that they are becoming a part of political game,' he said. 'They will slap Prevention of Money Laundering Act cases against anyone and put them behind is a tactic.' Jha added: 'Wherever you can't win elections, you need not indulge in horse-trading. Just destabilise them and topple them. I think the home minister wants to target a few people from his own party as well.' Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale accused Modi and Shah of seeking 'new tricks' to destabilise Opposition-led state governments. 'When vote-chori is exposed, Modi-Shah are looking for new tricks,' the Rajya Sabha MP said. 'A new bill is being brought today to allow the CBI [Central Bureau of Investigation] and ED [Enforcement Directorate] to directly topple state governments for the BJP.' Gokhale was referring to the Congress' allegations that there were discrepancies in more than 1 lakh names in the Mahadevapura Assembly segment in the Bangalore Central Lok Sabha constituency. The Congress has cited this as evidence that the Election Commission has been colluding with the Bharatiya Janata Party. The poll panel had dismissed the allegations as ' false and misleading '. Gokhlale on Wednesday said that a person can be said to be a criminal only when convicted by a court. 'Until then, they are merely an 'accused'. You cannot remove a CM or minister based on mere accusation. Arrest by Modi-Shah's central agencies is not proof of guilt.' The MP added that there had been zero arrests of Union or state ministers from the BJP in the last 11 years. 'All arrests have targeted Opposition leaders,' he said. Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra claimed that the introduction of the three bills was a 'dark day' for democracy. 'Today is one of the darkest days in Indian democracy,' the Krishnanagar MP said. 'Late last night, the BJP introduced a bill which is a constitutional amendment bill, and with this, any Opposition minister can be arrested and within 30 days.'
Indian Express
15 minutes ago
- Indian Express
What both the US and Russia don't understand about today's India
By Manoj Sinha and Ramanand Sharma Prime Minister Modi's absence in Alaska a few days ago signaled the end of a temporal fantasy once hyped at rallies and whispered in think tanks: The Trump-Putin-Modi triangle. For a moment, it seemed alluring. The idea had flair. But illusions do not bend history. The triangle collapsed not with a dramatic explosion, but with the slow grind of reality. Trump always approached international politics the way he did real estate deals: As transactions. Nations were customers or competitors, never equals. NATO allies were free riders, Russia and India were dead economies, and trade deficits were personal insults. Tariffs soon became his weapon of choice. At Houston's 'Howdy Modi' rally, he had basked in camaraderie, hugging Modi before a roaring crowd. Yet the knife was always under the table. By 2019, India's duty-free trade privileges were scrapped. Last month, Trump slapped 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods, punishing Delhi for refusing to abandon Russian oil. He accused India of 'financing Putin's war machine,' even as tariffs threatened $87 billion in exports. For Washington, it was moral posturing, but for India, it was survival. Russian crude at $20–30 cheaper than Brent was oxygen for a nation of 1.4 billion. Trump assumed coercion would bring Delhi to heel. Instead, India reminded Washington it was not Mexico, Japan, or Canada. Trump's bullying only confirmed what Delhi has long known: America's friendship often comes with a cost. Since 1947, India has refused to mortgage sovereignty to any bloc, be it Washington, Moscow, or Beijing. That explains what looks like a contradiction to the West. India drills with the US Navy while buying Russian S-400s. Modi beams alongside Trump, then lands in Moscow the next week. To Washington, this feels like betrayal. To Delhi, it is sovereignty in action. If Trump misread India, Putin did too. Isolated and sanctioned, he wooed Modi with oil discounts, defence offers, and a 'privileged partnership.' Trade surged to $65 billion, but Putin wanted more: An ideological ally, a BRICS crusader against the West. But PM Modi never abandoned the US Dollar and never let BRICS become anti-American. For Delhi, Moscow was a supplier, a hedge, a lever against China, nothing more. Putin mistook invoices for loyalty. The triangle cracked when Trump claimed he had 'stopped a war', boasting of mediating between India and Pakistan and later invited Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff to the White House. For Delhi, this was sacrilege. Kashmir is bilateral for India, never a playground for American theatrics. Meanwhile, Europe scolds India for buying Russian oil, accusing it of funding Putin. But the hypocrisy is glaring. Europe gorged on Russian gas for decades before discovering a moral conscience. It was Europe, not India, that bankrolled Putin's war chest. India merely seized an opportunity. Even as refiners sold re-exported fuel back to Europe, Brussels sermonised. When India asked for alternatives, there was no answer. No subsidies, no discounts, just lectures. India's choice was clear: It could not allow its economy to be crippled to soothe Europe's guilt. Tariffs cannot manufacture trust. Mediation cannot overwrite sovereignty. India will keep buying Russian oil because it must. It will deepen defence ties with Washington because it should. It will trade with Europe, balance China, and shape BRICS, all on its own terms. The tragedy is that the West still refuses to accept India as an independent pole in a multipolar world. History will not remember the hugs or handshakes. Strongmen may command applause, but national interest will dictate the fate of nations. Sinha is Principal, Aryabhatta College, University of Delhi. Sharma is an Assistant Professor, Aryabhatta College, University of Delhi
Time of India
15 minutes ago
- Time of India
Russia says it will keep selling oil to India despite US tariffs
Russia expects India to continue buying its oil, a senior official said, even as the South Asian nation faces higher US tariffs and harsh criticism from Trump administration officials for the trade. India's imports of Russian crude are likely to stay at current levels, Evgeny Griva, the deputy trade representative of Russia in India, told reporters in New Delhi on Wednesday. The remarks come amid rising tariff tensions between the US and India. President Donald Trump has imposed a 25% tariff on Indian goods and threatened to double it to 50% on Aug. 27 — a rate that would make India's $85 billion in annual US exports uncompetitive. Half of that penalty is for New Delhi's purchases of Russian oil, which the US sees as helping fund Russian President Vladimir Putin's war on Ukraine. India has defended its right to buy from the cheapest source, calling the tariffs 'unreasonable.' Russia sells oil to India at about a 5% discount, leaving Asia's third-largest economy with few alternatives, Griva said. He projected bilateral trade to grow by about 10% a year. For India, the advantage of Russian oil is that it can trade at a lower cost, making it a key tool for keeping domestic inflation in check. India has edged away from the US in the face of tariff threats. Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed Putin as a 'friend' after a call with the Russian leader this week and New Delhi has moved to bolster relations with China. Modi is set to visit China in late August — his first trip to the country in seven years — to meet President Xi Jinping. India's External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar is on a three-day visit to Russia to co-chair bilateral talks on trade, science and other issues. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday repeated Washington's threat to raise import duties on Indian goods, saying it was 'secondary tariffs for buying the sanctioned Russian oil.' He said India was 'profiteering' from the oil purchases, and 'some of the richest families in India' were benefiting. India historically relied more on the Middle East for oil, importing little from Russia. That changed in 2022, after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and a $60-per-barrel price cap imposed by the Group of Seven nations that aimed to limit the Kremlin's oil revenues while keeping supplies flowing globally. India's imports from Russia amounted to about 1.7 million barrels a day, or nearly 37% of the nation's overseas purchases, in mid-2025. After a brief pause earlier this month, India's state-run refiners have returned to buying Russian oil, Bloomberg News reported Wednesday. The US is India's top trading partner, while Russia ranks fourth. Roman Babushkin, a senior Russian diplomat in India, said Moscow is ready to take more of India's tariff-hit goods and help India manufacture jet engines domestically.
