NEW DELHI, July 22 (UPI) -- NEWSTRACK
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BJP will not boycott monsoon session of parliament
New Delhi, July 22 (UPI): Unlike previous Budget session, India's Hindu nationalist opposition Bhartiya Janata Party will not boycott the proceedings of the monsoon session of parliament beginning July 25, said The Hindu newspaper Friday.
The decision to participate in the debate in the parliament was announced by BJP's parliamentary spokesman Vijay Kumar Malhotra after a meeting of party leaders with Lok Sabha (Lower House) speaker Somnath Chatterjee.
Malhotra said his party would give notices to raise several issues during monsoon session of parliament. He said party leaders told the Speaker that BJP and its allies would expect to get opposition space that was their due, said the newspaper.
In the last session opposition's space was taken away by Communist parties, which are supporting the government from outside, as the BJP led opposition had boycotted the parliament.
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Left parties voice their concern over US-India nuke agreement
New Delhi, July 22: Four Left parties supporting Manmohan Singh government from outside voiced their concern over India-US agreement on civilian nuclear cooperation and warned the government against any deal to buy US weapons, The Hindustan Times newspaper said Friday.
The CPI (M) and other Left parties said the government should clarify whether there has been an understanding reached about buying US defence equipment to the tune of billions of dollors.
Referring to India-US joint statement, the Communist parties said it only continued the pro-American shift in India's foreign policy initiated by previous Atal Behari Vajpayee government.
They alleged that the government had reached agreements with the US without adequate discussion in the United Progressive Alliance and with the Left parties, the newspaper said.
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Advani to quit as BJP chief in December
New Delhi, July 22: The president of Hindu nationalist Bhartiya Janata Party Lal Krisnha Advani would step down after party's plenary session in Mumbai, capital of western state of Maharashtra in December, The Times of India newspaper said Friday.
Advani, who came under attack from his party's parent organization, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh for his remarks over Pakistan's founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah, had conveyed his decision to quit as BJP chief to RSS leadership last Sunday.
Only after Advani agreed to handover the reins of the party to younger generation, RSS called off its oust Advani campaign, the newspaper said.
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India's textile export is booming
New Delhi, July 22: India's textile exports to the US and Europe are booming, since the global trade was freed from the quota regime the Multi Fibre Arrangement at the start of this year, The Times of India newspaper said Friday.
Global studies on the likely impact of dismantling MFA had predicted China and India to be the number one and number two beneficiaries respectively. India's export to the US and Europe, which account for 60 per cent of the country's total textile export, have in fact done better than what the government and exporters expected in the initial period, the newspaper said.
"In the European market India, which ranks third among all exporting countries increased its market share from 6 per cent in January-May 2004 to 8 per cent in January-May 2005," said the newspaper quoting US and EU import data for the same period.
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Gujarat makes parental nod mandatory for love marriages
New Delhi, July 22: The western Indian state of Gujarat has ruled that parental permission is must for lovelorn couples entering matrimony in the State, The Times of India newspaper reported Friday.
"The state government has quitely introduced rules, asking courts not to register marriages unless there is parental consent in writing," the newspaper said.
It said as a result couples in love are being turned away by marriage registrars. The newspaper reported at least 40 couples have been turned away from the sub-registrar's office in Surat, an industrial town of the state as it refused to endorse "unlawful" marriages, the newspaper said quoting Babu Rayka, president of Surat District Bar Association.
The Bhartiya Janata Party government led by Chief Minister Narendra Modi in western Gujarat had come under severe attack after his administration was charged of instigated anti Muslim riots in the aftermath of Godhra train burning incident in February-March 2002 that killed more than 2000 people mainly Muslims.
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