India will appeal against the verdict of the Hague tribunal in Antrix-Devas deal case, in which the international court had declared the annulling of the contract as "unfair" and "inequitable" and asked it to pay huge amount as compensation.
Ravi said that a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs had been fixed with the agenda of proroguing them, to have a fresh session in February with the Presidential address on the first day.
'National assets, created over the years through tax-payers's money, should not be handed over to business houses at throwaway prices.'
The approval to bring in the FDI is subject to compliance with RBI and SEBI guidelines, besides subjected to approval of the relevant high courts for the demerger of distribution business of Volvo India. The finance ministry had already approved the FDI proposal of Volvo to invest $30 million (Rs 123 crore) for induction of foreign equity up to 8.1 per cent by way of acquisition of shares in EML.
Chidambaram's son Karti has been questioned twice by the ED in this case.
In the backdrop of the Mumbai terror attacks, the Cabinet Committee on Security held a meeting on Tuesday to chalk out future plans for enhancing internal security through tough laws and establishment of a federal agency. The CCS meeting, held at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's residence, was attended by Home Minister P Chidamabaram, Defence Minister A K Antony, Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta and National Security Advisor M K Narayanan.
A Cabinet Committee on Security meeting will be held on Tuesday, which will take up the issue of deployment of NSG in places like Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai, where there is a need for beefing up security.
Finance Minister announced the approval of the scholarship scheme for students of minority communities. The scheme will be effective during 11th Five Year Plan.
"How many more lies will be peddled to sustain a sinking dynast? India, certainly deserves better," Jaitley said.
In a move that could raise the hackles of neighbouring Pakistan and China, India will soon raise two new division-sized army formations to give more teeth to its mountain warfare machinery.The Defence Ministry's proposal for raising of the two mountain divisions was approved recently by the Cabinet Committee on Security, ministry sources said.The proposed mountain divisions will further enhance the tactical strength of the Indian army in its strategically important areas.
In a bid to encourage the fertiliser industry to increase its production volumes, the government has extended the system of actual freight reimbursement to all types of fertilisers. Currently, only urea enjoys this concession.
Central government employees and pensioners will get an additional 6 per cent dearness allowance from next month, putting a burden of over Rs 6,000 crore (Rs 60 billion) on the exchequer.
Retail, telecom, media and a host of sectors in which foreign direct investment is restricted stand to gain from changes in FDI policy that the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs cleared on Wednesday linking approvals to the concept of control for the first time.
"The prime minister asked the ministers to stay alert on the global financial situation," Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh told reporters after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.
For the second time in as many months, the Government on Wednesday night cut petrol price by Rs 5 a litre and diesel by Rs 2 per litre, while the domestic LPG rate was also slashed by as much as Rs 25 per cylinder.
The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved the implementation of the national policy on biofuels.
The government on Thursday decided to sell 10 per cent shares in Nalco and Neyveli Lignite Corporation.
In order to provide greater leeway to central government departments and ministries to finalise centrally-funded projects, the Department of Expenditure under the finance ministry has increased the financial limits of projects requiring approval from various cost-approving bodies.
The clearance to raise the 10,000-strong Combat Battalion for Resolute Action (COBRA), under the command and control of the Central Reserve Police Force, was given last evening by the Cabinet Committee on Security chaired by the prime minister.
According to sources, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion and Ministry of IT have supported the reserve price of Rs 2,020 crore (Rs 20.2 billion) as was originally recommended by DoT. Last week, the finance ministry had asked the DoT to double the reserve price for pan-India 3G spectrum.
Pepsico India Holding need not divest 49 per cent equity in bottling firms to Indian companies, with the government today exempting it from the obligation following change in FDI rules for the food processing sector.
Aiming at bolstering the sagging economy as well as providing housing to all, the urban poor will get 5 per cent interest subsidy for home loans up to Rs 100,000, taken during the Eleventh Plan period.
While the government expects the new urea policy to bring more investment, the fertiliser industry is less than enthused. New capacities to make urea, industry representatives say, will come up only if adequate fuel and timely payment of subsidy dues is ensured.
The BJP's faces for 2019 will be Dharmendra Pradhan, Piyush Goyal, Nirmala Sitharaman, Yogi Adityanath and Devendra Fadnavis, says R Rajagopalan.
Announcing this in New Delhi, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said trial runs on the new third runway of IGI Airport would begin in ten days from now. Once operational, it would go a long way to ease the air traffic congestion over the Delhi airspace. The two airports, as per the recommendations of the respective state governments, would be developed by the state-owned AAI and not privatised.
The 'AH-64-E' choppers are known as one of the most advanced multi-role combat helicopters.
The introduction of 10 per cent mandatory blending of ethanol with petrol is unlikely to happen from this October, as decided by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs in October 2007.
A meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs was specially convened this morning to consider OVL's Imperial bid, as Tuesday is the last date for making the offer to the target company's shareholders. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh chaired the meeting that had just one agenda and lasted one-and-half hours, but no official word was available.
The government has cleared the indigenous construction of seven stealth frigates and six nuclear-powered submarines to bolster naval power.
'The target for next year is unlikely to be more than that of this year. The more you divest in any cycle, the less your potential pipeline for the next,' said an official. 'The first two issues we want to tackle and complete in FY20 are Air India and Hotel Ashok.'
"As FM, I granted approval in the normal course of business," he said in a statement.
The decision comes after Australian mining major BHP Billiton said it would not improve the terms of its bid. BHP Billiton, the largest mining company in the world, and new entrant GVK Oil and Gas were the sole bidders for five deepwater blocks and hence the provisional winners after the bidding closed on June 30 this year.
Announcing the decision after the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, Finance Minister P Chiadambaram said this is an ad-hoc measure and the recommendation of Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices has been referred to the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council. The CACP had recommended the paddy MSP at Rs 1,000 per quintal for 2008-09 Kharif season.
With shrinking employment opportunities in the state sector, the government on Thursday approved a Rs 1,800 crore (Rs 18 billion) scheme for incentivising private sector to employ 1,00,000 disabled people a year.
The Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs is all set to announce the guidelines for FDI in commodity exchanges. Following this, the Forward Markets Commission is expected to submit the proposal for ownership structure of exchanges before the Union ministry of consumer affairs.
It is a 'cause for security concern' to India, Naval Chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta told media persons in New Delhi when asked about the revelations by satellite pictures that China had amassed five nuclear submarines carrying long range missiles. Defence Minister A K Antony sought to be evasive on the subject, saying the country's armed forces are capable of taking 'full care of our security interests' whether it is sea lanes or land borders.
The Cabinet Committee for Economic Affairs is expected to meet on Wednesday evening to take this decision, given the cheap crude prices in the global market. The government had last cut petrol prices on December by Rs 5, and diesel rates by Rs 2 a litre.
The government has enhanced the emoluments of the President, the Vice President and governors to Rs 1.5 lakh, Rs 1.25 lakh and Rs 1.10 lakh respectively. The Cabinet secretary and defence chiefs too have been given substantial increments.
The extent of the government's concern about inflation was evident at the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Prices, which started at 8 pm on Monday and went on past 12 midnight. Commerce Minister Kamal Nath challenged Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar to explain why wheat import this season had been delayed.
Ahead of the crucial meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Prices for considering options to tame rising inflation, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said on Monday the government is looking at further cuts in duties on import of essential commodities. "Yes, we are looking at further cuts. There is increase in international oil prices and it has to be met with import duty caliberation which we are considering," Nath told reporters in New Delhi.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances