In what could be yet another historic appointment in the annals of the Indian-American community's immigrant experience, senior administration sources have told rediff.com that Nisha Desai Biswal is strongly tipped to be appointed the new assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs

With a series of scams battering the government, Parliament was paralysed again on Monday, as an aggressive Opposition demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union ministers P K Bansal and Ashwani Kumar.

Opposition, including Bharatiya Janata Party, Left and other parties, on Tuesday walked out of the Lok Sabha, charging the government with indulging in one scam after another and saying they would not be party to the passage of the Finance Bill and the Railway Budget.

Congress leaders, who don't like Ashwani Kumar's way of doing things, believe that the minister should remain in the cabinet to act as a buffer between the PM and the opposition, says Renu Mittal

Government's effort to end impasse in Parliament by reaching out to BJP for early passage of key finance bills on Friday came a cropper as the opposition indicated that it is unlikely to cooperate unless it is assured that JPC chairman P C Chacko's draft report on 2G will be rejected.

Senior Congress leaders admit that the JPC issue has boomeranged against the party, reports Renu Mittal.

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance on Saturday demanded to know how the Joint Parliamentary Committee's draft report on 2G spectrum allocation issue had exonerated Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram without examining them and appealed to all members of the committee to reject the document.

The House committee set up to probe the alleged thrashing of a police officer by a group of legislators in the Maharashtra legislature premises last month has recommended departmental inquiry against the concerned police personnel and revocation of suspension of three of the five MLAs.

It behooves US to encourage integration of India into the Asia-Pacific, says US Congressman Ed Royce.

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, till yesterday the government's major ally, joined hands with arch-rival the All India Anna DMK and other Tamil Nadu political parties on Wednesday to reject the request of Finance Minister P Chidambaram for a structured debate on Union Budget 2013 in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, and the passage of the Budget.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday demanded an "independent and credible" inquiry into the violation of human rights in Sri Lanka even as she refused to comment on key United Progressive Alliance partner the Dravida Munnetra Kahzagam withdrawing support to the bgovernment at the Centre

Say technology is evolving so quickly it is hard for security experts to keep up.

With the Opposition targeting the government on alleged irregularities in the farm loan waiver scheme, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday promised "stringent possible action" against defaulters, if any.

Thanks to policy paralysis at the Centre, we are doing exactly the opposite of what the doctor prescribed, writes M R Venkatesh.

Chinese military build up is a cause of concern for the countries in the region, a top American commander said on Tuesday after China announced a 10 per cent increase in its defence budget.

Ganesh Natarajan answered many IT-related questions during an hour-long rediff chat on Tuesday.

Last year, the finance ministry had sent a reminder notice to Vodafone to pay Rs 14,000 crore (Rs 140 billion) of income tax dues, which the telecom major said it didn't owe. Later, it offered conciliation.

Recently, some software firms formed a separate body called the Indian Software Product Industry Round Table, or iSpirt.

Budget has received mixed reaction from experts.

Whether it is the chopper deal, the Kurien case or the anti-rape ordinance, divisions in the Opposition ranks on these issues has eased the pressure on the UPA government, feels Sunita Moga

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday virtually rejected the government's proposal for setting up a Joint Parliamentary Committee to probe the VVIP helicopter deal, saying that the move was aimed at scuttling the probe as current Lok Sabha's term will end next year.

With the Budget Session of Parliament getting underway, the United Progressive Alliance government is hoping that its pending legislations will eventually be approved this time even though financial business will naturally have to be given precedence,k says Sunita Moga

Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P J Kurien, who is in the eye of a storm over the Left demand for his resignation in the wake of fresh charges in the Suryanelli rape case, on Friday presided over the Upper House without objection from any member.

It is the anti-rape law that poses the biggest challenge.

Enactment of key legislations like strengthening of anti-rape laws, land acquisition bill and Lokpal bill is likely to be delayed with some Opposition parties objecting to the present form of the proposed measures.

The top brass of the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday decided to strongly protest against Leader of the House in Lok Sabha Sushilkumar Shinde during the budget session till he tenders an apology for his remark on 'Hindu terror' against the principal opposition.

The upcoming Budget Session of Parliament is set to be stormy with BJP on Monday announcing that it would raise issues like the VVIP chopper deal and Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde's remarks on saffron terror.

Rahul Gandhi on Saturday set time-bound targets for the state Congress chiefs, who were asked to increase contact with workers, making it clear that reward will be linked to their performance and tickets will be given only after the candidates fulfill the set criteria.

The mother of the Suryanelli gang-rape victim in Kerala has written to United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi to ensure that PJ Kurien does not chair the Rajya Sabha when the bill on sexual violence against women comes up in Parliament.

President Vladimir Putin told Olympic chiefs on Wednesday that Russia would have its facilities ready in time to host the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, despite rising costs and concerns about corruption and humans rights abuses.

A legislative panel probing the alleged drug nexus involving peddlers, policemen and politicians in Goa will summon top cop Kishan Kumar to appear before it.

Believe it or not, Prime minister Manmohan Singh's Cabinet is unable to arrive at consensus on the exact identity of AADHAAR -- Unique Identification Number (UID).

The government on Thursday amended the controversial Lokpal Bill, de-inking it from the setting up of Lokayuktas in the states and transferring powers of sanction of prosecution against public servant to the ombudsman. The Union Cabinet accepted 14 of the 16 recommendations made by the Rajya Sabha Select Committee, which was set up in May last year amid sharp differences among political parties, because of which the legislation has been stuck in the Upper House.

Expressing serious concern over the menace of disruptions in Parliament and legislatures, President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday said time had now come to address the issue, which cannot simply be brushed aside, to bring a recalcitrant administration to its knees.

Stepping up the heat, Congress MPs from Telangana on Friday appealed to Sonia Gandhi to announce decision on creation of a separate state as promised by January 28, failing which they threatened a showdown with party.

Senate passed the measure earlier in a rare New Year's Day session and Obama said he will sign it into law shortly.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Friday announced setting up of "appropriate" memorial of Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji in the Arabian sea off the Mumbai coast.

In 2003, the United States Congressional Research Service asserted that there is a danger that India may develop a bio weapons programme. It claimed that 'India is believed to have an active biological defence research program as well as the necessary infrastructure to develop a variety of biological agents'. However, there is no evidence in the public domain of India ever having pursued an offensive bio weapons programme.

The much-hyped Lokpal Bill will be delayed further with the government on Wednesday saying it will bring the measure in the Rajya Sabha in the budget session with required amendments in the light of the report of the Select Committee.