In his first formal interaction with the office-bearers of the revamped All India Congress Committee on Saturday, Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi said the party would be working towards giving 50 per cent representation to women in party posts.
Child protection groups are worried about unaccompanied children in Uttarakhand, reports Kavita Chowdhury
Amid criticism over the response of the Congress government in Uttarakhand to the devastation in the state, party president Sonia Gandhi on Monday flagged off relief supplies from the national capital. Party vice-president Rahul Gandhi, whose "absence" from the country when the disaster struck was questioned by Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, was present on the occasion.
Roads and national highways are the lifeline of the country, says Oscar Fernandes.
The the scheme has a subscriber base of 35 million.
Earlier, the chief minister of Punjab had written in the same vein to the prime minister.
In the entire month's recess during Parliament's Budget session, said the Bharatiya Janata Party, the major opposition grouping, none from the government spoke to it on any of the major stuck legislation.
He said permitting Etihad would not only amount to "certain demise of national carrier Air India" but also stunt the growth of the New Delhi international airport as a world-class hub for the South Asian region.
Interacting with the Finance Minister P Chidambaram, party general secretaries and other functionaries urged populist measures such as farmer loan help, minority and tribal welfare schemes, while reaching out to the middle class by increasing the income tax exemption threshold and doubling the number of subsidised cooking gas cylinders.
The Congress is revamping its communication and publicity strategies as part of its election preparations, keeping in mind the importance of engaging the youth through social networks.
Jairam upset state health services absent in Naxal-hit regions.
Even as the Congress is preparing itself for the 2014 general elections, at least five of its state units are waiting for the high command to appoint organisational heads. These units have passed resolutions authorising Congress president Sonia Gandhi to appoint state chiefs.
With the victory over FDI in multi-brand retail in Parliament, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance is now gearing up for the party's all important 'Chintan Shivir' (brainstorming camp) next month.
The first floor of 268, Sukhdev Vihar, a nondescript white and grey bungalow, houses the headquarters of at least three companies/businesses owned by Robert Vadra, the son-in-law of Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Vadra, who had been renting the premises for seven-odd years, has recently bought the property.
Congress president and United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi has directed all party-ruled states to subsidise three additional cylinders a year for domestic liquefied petroleum gas, raising the cap on subsidised cylinders from six to nine.
Earlier in the day, leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said the Bharatiya Janata Party would allow Parliament to function if the coal block allocations were cancelled and an independent inquiry was ordered.
The events and the political line-up are eerily reminiscent of 1987 when the then finance minister, V P Singh, quit the Rajiv Gandhi government, launched a movement against corruption that was supported by both the Left parties and the Bharatiya Janata Party and eventually went on to become the prime minister in 1989.
At the 13 Talkatora Road bungalow, his home for 16 years, Mukherjee confessed: "Unlike the Lok Sabha elections, in this election, there is no worry."
According to senior leaders, the prime minister's assistance could be taken to mollify Banerjee. If the PM, for whom Banerjee has great respect, were to talk to her before Mukherjee visits Kolkata on July 8, then there could be chances of a turnaround in the TMC's position
TMC leaders say party may do a rethink on UPA's choice for President. Kavita Chowdhury reports