The monsoon session of Parliament is likely to be convened around the second week of September, at the time when the India-United States nuclear agreement is expected to go through all the processes including the final voting by the American Congress.The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs is expected to take a decision on the matter next week, amid indications from the government as also the Congress that there is no hurry to convene the session.
Both houses of Parliament were prorogued on Friday, almost a month after being adjourned sine die, ending the possibility of an extension of the Monsoon session in the face of continued stand-off between government and opposition.
The Centre has been divided over the stand to be taken by it on the issue. The Culture Ministry wanted to be cautious on the issue by saying that no study has been conducted on whether the Ram Sethu between India and Sri Lanka was man-made or natural. The Shipping Ministry, however, wanted to state clearly in the affidavit that the bridge had been formed naturally.
India' can't succeed unless it is made easier for people to do business.
The allotment is expected to attract investments of $1.5 billion, around 57 per cent less than the $3.5 billion commitment for the 52 blocks awarded under the previous auction. ONGC and its partners bagged the maximum number of 20 blocks in the seventh round, which closed on June 30. Australian mining major BHP Billiton and its partner GVK Power, bidding for the first time, won seven deepwater blocks.
The government on Thursday decided to continue the ban imposed on Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) for its alleged links with certain Pakistan-based terrorist outfits.
The Union Cabinet and the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Thursday approved a slew of social sector initiatives, including treating the backlog of reserved vacancies of other backward classes (OBCs) as a distinct group not subject to the limit of 50 per cent reservation in a year.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Friday cleared award of four Coal Bed Methane (CBM) blocks to an Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group-led consortium and three blocks to a consortium led by Australia's Arrow Energy.
The government also sought approval from Parliament for equity infusion worth Rs 2,345 crore into struggling Air India and another Rs 1,300 crore for Air India Asset Holding.
The national highways selected for upgrade include -- Gurgaon-Jaipur, Surat-Dahisar, Chilkaluripet-Vijaywada and Panipat-Jalandhar. These four stretches together measure about 838 km.
Kapur, who is being investigated by the CBI on charges of possessing assets disproportionate to his known income, headed the list of candidates for promotion as DG, Ordinance.
A bonanza is in the offing for the senior ranks as the Defence Ministry has cleared proposals for creating more than 110 posts of Generals.
At present, 60 per cent of the mutual fund industry's corpus comes from fixed income schemes, which invest in stable return giving instruments such as government securities and bonds.
The BrahMos systems for the two ships are estimated to cost Rs 25 billion, making it the world's most expensive anti-ship missile.
The Assam government has also decided to publish a white paper on what it has so far done to persuade the Centre to accord ST status to the community.
Gen Singh said the operations were basically focused to ensure that the terrorists do not succeed in their design of infiltration and carrying out destruction and endangering the lives of citizens of our country.
The government has given up plans to reconvene a parliament session to secure approval for a common goods and services tax.
The commerce ministry is preparing a note for the Cabinet proposing further relief for the rupee-hit exporters, especially those in the job-oriented textiles and leather sectors. The package is likely to be cleared by Commerce Minister Kamal Nath on Tuesday before it goes to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs later this week, he said.
The sale will be conducted after the requirements of buffer and strategic stocks are met. The buffer norm for wheat on April 1 was 4 million tonnes (mt). Creation of a 3 mt strategic stock has also been proposed. The central pool had a wheat stock of 24.38 mt on August 1. After meeting the monthly requirement of about a million tonne for the August-March period and excluding the stock norms, the Food Corporation of India will be left with a stock of 9.3 mt.
"ITIRs were conceptualised keeping in view the need to boost the growth of both IT/IT enabled services (ITeS) and Electronic Hardware Manufacturing (EHM) units," an official statement said. These regions would become major magnets for investment, creating employment opportunities and economic growth in the area while reducing the pressure on existing urban centres by enabling growth of new townships, it added. The ITIRs will be much larger than IT SEZs.
Gandhi's remarks came after the Supreme Court gave clean chit to the Modi government on the purchase of 36 fully-loaded Rafale fighter jets from French company Dassault Aviation.
Overcoming differences, the Centre on Thursday firmed up an affidavit on Sethusamudram project to be filed in the Supreme Court.
Through the upgradation, the Indian Air Force is planning to increase the life of its Mirage fighters by 25 years. The upgradation will involve advanced radars, avionics and arming them with air-to-air missiles with longer reach beyond visual range.
The oil ministry is in fact of the view that the government should bear the entire burden of the revenue losses incurred by the oil marketing companies, after the increase in prices is effected.
The Cabinet Committee on Prices chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday reviewed inflation, including rising onion prices and decided to take further measures like cut in taxes and improving supply of essential commodities.
Setting up of the network will ensure that each accident victim on these corridors is able to get medical assistance in time. In fact, the draft policy on road safety, which the Ministry for Road Transport and Highways is currently finalising, also carries a proposal on the same lines.
Roads account for the second largest amount of bad loans.
Sugar mills may get some relief from the government following a proposal to raise the interest rate subsidy on loans against excise duty paid by the mills during the last and current financial years.
Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale summoned Pakistan High Commissioner to India Sohail Mahmood to his South Block office and issued a very strong demarche .
India on Thursday approved crucial amendments in the WTO agreement on TRIPS permitting governments to break the monopoly of manufacturers of patented drugs by giving 'compulsory licenses' in emergency situations.
The agreement 'Reducing the Risk from Accidents relating to Nuclear Weapons' will be signed during the visit of Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri to New Delhi for the Joint Commission meeting.
The Cabinet Committee on Prices is likely to ban exports of steel and steel products. The other measures being considered include levying an ad-valorem duty on iron ore exports and bringing down the excise duty on steel to 8% from the current level of 14%. Steel ministry is considering many steps to bring down steel prices. Also, reimbursement of service tax on foreign agents used by exporters will be further increased. Ban on exports is not the only solution, experts say.
The Department of Telecom gearing up for the 3G spectrum auction as per schedule on January 30 and has left it to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs to take a call on the reserve price for a pan-India 3G licence.
The BJP on Sunday said its senior party leader L K Advani had never said that he was not aware of the decision to send former External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh along with terrorists in an aircraft to Kandahar for release of passengers of a hijacked Indian plane.
According to unconfirmed reports, North India has seen a Rs 3 hike. A Delhi-based dealer said the companies had told him that the price would go up by Rs 5 a bag in a day or two. "The companies raised wholesale prices and we passed on the burden to consumers," said a Mumbai-based dealer who did not want to be named. The present retail price in Mumbai is Rs 274 per bag. Market sources said Chennai had seen a hike of Rs 3.
The decisions were taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Prices at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's official residence in Delhi on Monday night. The CCP approved ban on export of non-basmati rice with immediate effect and decided to extend the ban on pulses export for one more year from Monday, Finance Minister P Chidambaram told reporters after the meeting that lasted over three hours.
The BJP had not filed till May the expenses statement for the Karnataka Assembly elections held last year in July.
Speaking at the function, Nath asked exporters to provide inputs for a mechanism for refund of local taxes to them. "We are in the process of formulating the scheme and will incorporate valid suggestions from exporters," he said.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the purchase of 68 aircraft by the country's flagship carrier Air India, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said on Thursday.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs will discuss the proposal to lift the ban on state-owned companies from investing in mutual funds in its weekly meeting on Thursday.
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