Who will take over the tasks of the prime minister and oversee the functioning of the government during the third week of September? This is the question that is being discussed in the corridors of power in Delhi, as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be in the United States from September 21 to September 28 to attend the United Nations General Assembly session. United Progressive Alliance trouble-shooter and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will also be away, in Washington.
Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has sent a missive to the Comptroller and Auditor General, expressing concern over delayed audit reports adversely affecting the flagship National Rural Drinking Water Programme. In a personal letter to CAG Vinod Rai, he has drawn attention to the ministry not being able to release funds to the states as they are not submitting audits of accounts of grants-in-aid along with the utilisation certificates.
Union Minister for Rural Development on Thursday met nine Union Ministers with the draft of a Bill for lower level bureaucracy, which is likely to be presented in parliament by early next week.
Security at the Parliament House has been tightened further in view of the "prevailing security scenario" for the rest of the monsoon session.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Lokpal Bill will meet in New Delhi on September 7 to decide its procedure to fast track the comprehensive exercise for formulating a strong legislation. It will kick off its work by hearing Central Bureau of Investigation director A P Singh and Central Vigilance Commissioner Pradeep Kumar who have been sent notices to appear before it.
The government has ruled out a separate marriage law for the Sikhs and dropped the proposal to amend the Anand Marriage Act of 1909 to provide for registration of the Sikh marriages.
In an unprecedented move that will surely bring her on a collision course with the state government, Gujarat Governor Dr Kamla Beniwal, using her special powers, has appointed retired judge of Gujarat high court Justice RA Mehta as the Lokayukta of the state.The governor has bypassed the Narendra Modi-led state government while making the appointment. The state government has been sitting on the file regarding the appointment of a state Lokayukta.
Union Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma has protested, on behalf of the corporate sector, against the Union environment and forests ministry's 'unreasonable environment regulations' being clamped on the industrial projects.
The Delhi Police finds itself in a piquant situation after allowing Team Anna Hazare's India Against Corruption to fast for a strong Lokpal Bill upto September 2 at the Ramleela grounds. The place has been booked by another organisation for a rally on September 1.
Fugitive gangster and drug smuggler Santosh Shetty has been arrested in Bangkok by the Thailand police. Mumbai crime branch officials took him into custody on Thursday.
The Election Commission is bracing up right from now for a hectic and crucial 2012 when it has to handle elections of the new president and vice-president of India and conduct assembly elections in five states, including the all-important Uttar Pradesh.
Union Minister M K Alagiri on Monday spent half-an-hour with his stepsister Kanimozhi, who is behind bars for her role in the 2G scam, in Tihar jail. Kanimozhi affectionately addressed Alagiri as anna (brother) as the two spent time together discussing Tamil Nadu politics and the on-going Parliament session.
Members of Parliament will now be able to access Parliamentary documents on their Apple iPads and Samsung tablets - Samsung Galaxy Tab.
On Wednesday, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Arun Jaitley and Rajnath Singh were in Bengaluru to oversee a special secret ballot election process within BJP MLAs from Karnataka to choose the next chief minister. The two candidates were D V Sadananda Gowda and Jagdish Shettar.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday tried to put a brave front about the political muscle-flexing by former Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, who is trying to appoint his preferred candidate as his successor. The party leadership believes Yeddyurappa's clout has dipped after he was forced to resign on Sunday.
Home Minister P Chidambaram on Monday informed media personnel that the Centre was referring the issue of creation of a separate state of Telangana back to the Andhra Pradesh assembly to rebuild a consensus.The Andhra Pradesh assembly had passed a resolution in January last year, seeking deletion of Clause 14(F) from the Presidential Order for the purpose. The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs has decided to refer back the resolution to the assembly, Chidambaram said.
The last decision by Jairam Ramesh as environment minister was to ban the use of bulls as performing animals. This means that bulls can no longer be used in jallikattu, a bull-taming sport played in Tamil Nadu during Pongal celebrations.
Union Minister of Rural Development Jairam Ramesh on Friday visited Bastar in Chhattisgarh to understand the implementation of rural development schemes in the area.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday directed Telangana Congress members of legislative assembly and Parliament to withdraw their resignations, paving way for United Progressive Alliance to come out with a package for Telangana.
Shortly after the incident and the media furore that followed over Usmani's death, Maharashtra's Director General of Police Ajit Parasnis ordered a state criminal investigation department inquiry into it. As many as six Mumbai crime branch officials have been questioned so far
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