NEW DELHI: The head of India’s Congress party said on Tuesday its ruling coalition was intact, despite a key ally breaking ranks to abstain as a bill to reserve a third of parliamentary seats for women was passed by the upper house.

Already under fire over issues such as food inflation and a proposed hike in fuel prices, the government has been hit by two days of turmoil trying to push through the legislation.

While the Congress-led coalition still has a majority, the stand-off may give the government less breathing room over key pending economic legislation.

Sonia Gandhi, seen as the country’s most influential politician, was asked by reporters whether she was confident in the stability of the government.

“I think so. One can never tell. I am not not an astrologer. I wish our former partners remained with us,” she said, according to the Press Trust of India.

The bill was passed in an evening vote after a raucous day in the upper house of parliament, but it still needs the approval of the lower house.

“It is a historic occasion, which calls for celebration,” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in the upper house where the bill was supported by a majority of opposition parties.

Two regional parties pulled their support on Monday, and on Tuesday the Trinamool Congress party, one the government’s most influential allies, abstained to protest at Congress’ handling of the bill and said it would do the same in the lower house.

The Trinamool Congress party, whose leader, Mamata Banerjee, is the railways minister, said Congress had not properly consulted its ally on pushing through the bill in the upper house in the face of strong opposition from some regional parties.

Detractors say the legislation will be passed at the expense of other disenfranchised minorities such as Muslims, or benefit women already in privileged classes.

Trinamool faces an election in its stronghold state of West Bengal next year where about 20 percent of voters are Muslims.

The women’s bill is a test for Congress, which sees the quota as a cornerstone of its election-winning platform of inclusive growth, but which might lose some political capital needed to push economic reforms and maintain high growth.

The bill, which was first introduced in 1996, is intended to speed up women’s empowerment in a country where women lag far behind on many social and health indicators. Women lawmakers and activists shouted “we have made it” outside parliament.

Seven lawmakers were suspended on Tuesday and physically evicted from the house, and the sessions adjourned several times as those against the bill besieged the speaker of the house to shout slogans and stall the debate.

INDIA NEW DELHI: Socialist lawmakers forced India’s parliament to adjourn twice Tuesday as they tried for a second day to block passage of a historic bill to increase the number of female lawmakers across the country.

On Monday, angry legislators in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of parliament, rushed to the chairman’s seat as he presided over the session, tore up copies of the bill and tried to grab his microphone.

The house suspended seven lawmakers on Tuesday because of their behavior the day before, but they refused to leave the chamber, again stalling debate on the proposal and forcing parliament to adjourn twice.

The bill to reserve one-third of legislative seats for women has faced strong opposition since it was first proposed more than a decade ago, with many political leaders worried that their male-dominated parties would lose seats.

The proposal is an attempt to correct some of the historical gender disparities in India, where women receive less education than men and are weighed down by illiteracy, poverty and low social status.

Mulayam Singh Yadav, the leader of a socialist group, said Tuesday a portion of the women’s quota should be set aside for minorities and lower castes, which have been socially and economically disadvantaged as well.

However, the main opposition parties, including right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party and communist groups, already have announced their support for the legislation proposed by the ruling Congress Party.

The bill would raise the number of female lawmakers in the 545-seat lower house to 181 from the current 59. It would nearly quadruple the number of women in the 250-seat upper house. The bill would also apply to state legislatures.

The uproar in the Indian parliament continued today, while the membership of some seven MPAs has been suspended for tearing copies of the Women’s Reservation bill on Monday in the Rajya Sabha, upper house of Indian parliament, when it was tabled in the House.
The bill seeks to provide 33 percent reservation to women in Parliament and state legislatures. Of those suspended 4 belonged to Samajwadi Party (SP) 2 to JUD and one an independent. The session has been adjourned till 2:00pm.
On the other hand, SP’s chief Mulayam Singh Yadav maintained that Congress government has not taken any of the ally parties in confidence regarding the bill. Meanwhile, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) Chief Lalu Prasad, and Janata Dal-United leader Sharad Yadav met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today to demand amendments in the bill.

INDIA:The Women Reservation Bill is to be introduced in the upper house on Monday, International Women’s Day, before being considered by the decision-making lower house at a later date.

“We will table the bill in the upper house today,” Congress party leader P.S Ghatwar told AFP. “The bill if passed then will move to lower house.”

The controversial proposal to reserve 33 percent of seats, first introduced in parliament in 1996, would dramatically increase women’s membership in both houses of parliament where they occupy about one in 10 seats.

The legislation needs the approval of two-thirds of legislators. If passed, women would occupy 181 of the 545 seats in the lower house.

“Our government is committed towards women empowerment. We are moving towards one-third reservation for women in parliament and state legislatures,” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told a women’s leadership summit on Saturday.

The bill has the backing of the Congress-led ruling coalition and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Several socialist parties vow to oppose it, arguing that if passed it would lead to upper caste, not lower caste, women in parliament

Attempts to pass the bill have been blocked by various political groups who demanded separate quotas for women from Muslim and low-caste communities.

Sonia Gandhi, president of the Congress party and regarded as India’s most powerful politician, has thrown her weight behind the bill, saying she attaches the “highest importance” to it.

It will be a “gift to the women of India if it is introduced and passed” on International Women’s Day, she told party lawmakers last week.

The main opposition on Monday voiced support for the bill.

“I see no reason why it should not be tabled, it is true that there is no unanimity but there is a huge consensus,” senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley said.

But leaders of socialist parties such as the Samajwadi Party said they would oppose it.

“We will do everything to make sure that bill is not passed,” said Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Politics in India has traditionally been a male bastion, but women now hold prominent positions, including President Pratibha Patil and Sonia Gandhi. India has had one female prime minister, Indira Gandhi.

Women currently occupy 59 seats out of 545 in the lower house. There are just 21 women in the 248-seat upper house.

GANDHINAGAR: Gujarat assembly on Saturday passed a bill making voting to municipal corporations, municipalities, and district, taluka and village panchayats compulsory. The Gujarat Local Authorities Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2009, also ratifies Centre’s suggestion to reserve 50% seats in all local bodies for women.

CM Narendra Modi and most of his ministers were, however, absent when the Bill was being voted in the House. Also missing were nearly 40% of MLAs in a House of 181.

Questioned on reason for their absence, state urban affairs minister Nitin Patel, who tabled the Bill in the House, told TOI, ‘‘The CM was busy. You can’t expect him to remain present for every Bill being passed in assembly. PM Manmohan Singh also is absent from Parliament when voting happens on important Bills.’’

Opposition leader Shaktisinh Gohil said, ‘‘The CM is one of the voters in the state assembly, yet he is unfortunately often absent in the House during voting. This is of true of majority of MLAs too. How can we mandate others?’’ BJP MLAs participating in the debate suggested those who do not vote should be penalised with denials of driving license or passport, or concessional bank loan, or government jobs.

NEW DELHI : India cannot accept a global warming treaty that would stall its drive to lift millions out of poverty, Premier Manmohan Singh said as he left for the final phase of UN climate talks in Copenhagen.

Singh is among the world leaders descending on the Danish capital for the final two days of a summit blighted by bitter wrangling that could wreck efforts to draw up a sweeping pact to combat global warming.

Singh said he looked forward to “constructive deliberation” but stressed that the developed world needed to address the concerns of poorer nations over the impact of any proposed agreement on their economic growth.

“Climate change cannot be addressed by perpetuating the poverty of the developing countries,” he said in a departure statement released by his office. India went to the Danish capital with an offer to reduce its carbon intensity by 20 to 25 percent by 2020, compared to 2005 levels.

“We are willing to do more provided there are credible arrangements to provide both additional financial support as well as technological transfers from developed to developing countries,” Singh said.

The fraught negotiations in Copenhagen received a shot in the arm Wednesday when wealthy nations pledged some 22 billion dollars to fund the fight against global warming.

India remains steadfastly opposed to binding emission cuts and has refused to adopt a peak year when its emissions would have to stop growing and start falling.

The presence of around 120 world leaders at the end of the summit, including US President Barack Obama, is meant to inject momentum into reaching a deal to stop climate change after the end of 2012, when obligations run out under the landmark Kyoto Protocol.

India: Mayawati writes to PM for a separate Poorvanchal, Mayawati, state chief of India’s northern Uttar Pradesh shot off a letter to prime minister, Manmohan Singh seeking to carve out a ‘Poorvanchal’ state, which would comprise the eastern parts of the state, said an official on Sunday.
Mayawati’s demand comes in the wake of her favouring the creation of ‘Bundelkhand’ and ‘Paschimanchal’ states out of Uttar Pradesh. “The state chief (Mayawati) in her letter which she has written on December 13 has urged the federal government to give its nod for the creation of Poorvanchal keeping in consideration aspiration of the people living there. This will also help in the better administration of the region,” said Vijay Shanker Pandey, Additional Cabinet Secretary, Uttar Pradesh. Chief Minister Mayawati had shot off a letter earlier on March 15, 2008 seeking Poorvanchal.
Mayawati’s demand comes after the federal government’s nod to forming a separate state of Telangana from southern Andhra Pradesh. The Additional Cabinet Secretary said that Mayawati, in her letter, had pointed out that the Poorvanchal region, which is socially and economically backward, requires financial assistance. “The state chief (Mayawati) through also letter also requests the prime minister (Manmohan Singh) to approve financial assistance of Rs. 80,000 crore (Rs. 80 billion), which she had sought earlier for the development of Poorvanchal,” said Vijay Shanker Pandey, Additional Cabinet Secretary, Uttar Pradesh.
Since attaining independence in 1947, India has had to balance the challenges of maintaining different peoples under one federal system as well as the relationship between central power in the capital Delhi, and the states of the world’s largest democracy.
The Gorkhas, ethnic Nepalese, and West Bengal called for an indefinite strike from Friday demanding their own “Gorkhaland” to protect their heritage. Other groups have also been pushing forward demands for a statehood demands.

New Delhi : Congress MP from Nagpur and former central minister Vilas Muttemwar Friday said he would meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi to demand a separate Vidarbha state.

“I will meet the prime minister and Congress president on this issue. I am waiting for an appointment,” said Muttemwar, who wrote a letter to the Congress chief andthe prime minister Thursday afternoon demanding the centre’s intervention to carve out a separate Vidarbha state.

“We want a separate Vidarbha state. There is no change in our stand,” Muttemwar told IANS, reacting to Congress leader Oscar Fernandes’s statement that any decision on separate Vidarbha state would be taken only after discussions within the party and the government.

Muttemwar said that there had been a demand for separate Vidarbha state for over 50 years.

Russia became the latest country to strike a civil nuclear deal with India yesterday when it agreed to supply reactors to Asia’s third largest economy.

International power companies from Russia, France, the UK, the US and Canada are flocking to India seeking opportunities to help one of the world’s fastest- growing economies meet its energy demands. The contribution of nuclear energy in India is forecast to rise from 4,000MW to as much as 470,000MW over the next 40 years.

The Russian deal follows a civil nuclear agreement with the US at the end of last year that helped clear the way for India to buy atomic power plants, technology and fuel from the nuclear club of nations.

Manmohan Singh, India’s prime minister, told reporters at the Kremlin after talks with Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s president: “Today, we have signed an agreement which broadens the reach of our co-operation beyond the supply of nuclear reactors to areas of research and development and a whole range of areas of nuclear energy.” The two leaders also struck defence accords including a partnership to produce a multipurpose transport aircraft.

New Delhi and Moscow have been close partners since India’s independence 62 years ago. During this period, Russia became the largest supplier of military hardware to India. But it is energy that Mr Singh has described as the greatest “emerging dimension” of the relationship.

India: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh left for a three-day visit to Russia during which the two sides are expected to sign a framework agreement on civil nuclear cooperation and three pacts in the field of defence.
In a statement, Singh said he will review with President Dmitry Medvedev the status of bilateral cooperation, including in the key areas of defence, civil nuclear energy, space and hydrocarbons at the annual summit tomorrow.
“The Annual Summit is the principal mechanism for the advancement of our strategic partnership with Russia. This is a partnership based on the solid foundation of long-standing friendship, deep mutual trust and strong convergence of interests,” Singh said.He noted that over the years, Indo-Russian multifaceted cooperation has acquired greater depth and maturity through joint efforts. “We seek to strengthen these ties further.