This will be the first full-year Budget of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government since it came to power for a third consecutive term in July last year.
Seeking to lower temperatures between India and China in the wake of recent verbal spats, both Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao did not discuss the territorial dispute over Arunachal Pradesh nor the proposed visit to that state of Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama.
Activist Swami Agnivesh on Friday launched an attack on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, accusing them of being silent about crucial issues and not listening to the voices of the people. Addressing protestors as Anna Hazare launched his fast at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi, he said, "Mr Manmohan Singh, the country wants you to end your silence and open your mouth. You have been silent for the past three years".
The government said the\ndecisions taken by it last year were the 'highest' in the last ten years.
President Droupadi Murmu addressed both Houses of Parliament, highlighting the government's achievements in various sectors, including economic growth, social welfare, and infrastructure development. She emphasized the government's efforts to lift the economy out of "policy paralysis" and create a more inclusive society. Murmu also acknowledged the challenges posed by digital fraud and cybercrime and stressed the need for a social infrastructure revolution. The President's speech is considered a policy statement, outlining the government's vision and roadmap for the future.
Under criticism for being mum on a number of issues plaguing the nation, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh is setting in motion regular interactions with senior journalists, beginning on Wednesday. But senior analysts B Raman feels the PM needs to relook at his media strategy and set up a body of mediapersons on the lines of the White House Press Corps.
Manmohan Singh, the economist credited with playing a key role in ushering in economic reforms in the 1990s, demits office of Prime Minister after 10 years, leaving a mixed legacy of achievements and failures.
A hectic schedule awaits Singh who leaves on the eight-day trip on September 19 with a stopover at London where he will meet British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Reports (not denied by India) that the USA had 'for the first time provided real-time details to their Indian counterparts on the Chinese positions and force strength in advance of a PLA incursion' into Tawang at the LAC in December 2022, helping India thwart China's expansionist designs, show how operationally effective the USA-India friendship has become on the ground. A engaging excerpt from Sreeram Chaulia's must-read new book, Friends: India's Closest Strategic Partners.
60 per cent [people in Pakistan] think Indo-Pak relations are better under Manmohan Singh than it was under his predecessor, Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
The senior Congress leader was in a coma since October last year, when he was admitted to AIIMS after he suffered a brain haemorrhage.
Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti on Wednesday spoke to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the row over killing of two fishermen allegedly by two Italian marines and agreed that the issue should be resolved amicably in accordance with law.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday attacked the United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre and accused Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of neglecting and using Assam, which he has been representing since 1991, for his "political advantages".
26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed may become an ugly fly in the soup at the lunch meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday. But senior Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir hopes that the two leaders will focus instead on smaller issues like Siachen, Kori Creek and water
Congress circles have started speculating about who could possibly be Rahul Gandhi's prime ministerial choice in the remote possibility that the UPA gets the numbers to form a government for the third time in 2014. The three names which are being mentioned in this connection are Manmohan Singh, P Chidambaram and A K Antony. Sunita Moga reports.
Prime Minister designate Manmohan Singh on Thursday said the public sector units like the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and Gail would not be privatised.
'This is a new government. We will look at all options and before we rush into new arrangements, we will have to have a broad domestic consensus,' the prime minister said.
The Congress on Sunday hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his 'redistribution of wealth' remarks targeting the party, saying after facing 'disappointment' in the first phase of Lok Sabha polls, the PM has now resorted to 'lies' and 'hate speech' to divert people from the real issues.
India should convert the Trump threat to an India opportunity, re-embracing a more liberal trade regime as a way of reviving manufacturing output and exports.
Several newly elected MLAs including Navjot Singh Sidhu, Manpreet Singh Badal, Brahm Mohindra, Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Rana Gurjit Singh, Pargat Singh, Razia Sultana, O P Soni are in the race for becoming ministers, party sources said.
'We are going to need more technical people in government.' 'You can't expect a generalist to understand the complicated world of financial engineering.' 'I regret to say that most of our politicians have no competence to deal with these things. Nor is there a willingness to learn.'
Former finance minister Manmohan Singh on Monday said that 8 per cent growth would remain only a dream unless hard measures to hasten reforms, including steps to rein in fiscal deficit and reviving the manufacturing and farming sectors, were taken.
Speaking in the Rajya Sabha on the precarious condition of state finances, Congress leader Manmohan Singh on Tuesday said the state finances were in dismal shape.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh is heading for the most crucial time of his political career. On Tuesday, no less than the Supreme Court dragged Prime Minister's Office in the massive telecom scam and that gives the hint of forming of the political storm which has the potential to damage PM Dr Singh.
Kangana Ranaut's decline as an actor feels complete, observes Utkarsh Mishra.
The 17th Lok Sabha had 272 sittings altogether over its five-year tenure from 2019-2024.
Pakistan on Monday said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's remarks in the Round Table Conference on Kashmir contained many positive elements.
