Pawar, who postponed Monday's scheduled meeting of the EGoM, saying he was busy, sent a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to relieve him as head.
Rajya Sabha also rejected an opposition sponsored motions to send the bill to a select committee of the House and for making triple talaq a civil offence with 100 votes against it as compared to 84 in favour.
'Defence does not new 'planning commissions'; it needs an implementation commission.'
The empowered group of ministers has been reconstituted after Pranab Mukherjee, who was heading it, resigned as Finance Minister to contest the Presidential elections.
The finance minister's office had sought the Cabinet Secretary's opinion whether Mukherjee should remain part of the EGoM in the wake of his presidential candidature.
The empowered group of ministers, headed by P Chidambaram (who has now taken over as the Finance Minister) has suggested a 20 per cent lower base or reserve price at Rs 14,000-15,000 crore (Rs 140-150 billion) for 5 Mhz of airwaves as against around Rs 18,000 crore (Rs 180 billion) recommended by sectoral regulator Trai for the auction of spectrum vacated after the Supreme Court order.
A Group of Ministers on Friday gave its approval to the Madhya Pradesh government to dispose of 350 metric tonnes of Union Carbide toxic waste in Germany.
The auction of 2G spectrum might be delayed, as the government may file a petition in the Supreme Court for an extension of the timeline. According to current SC directive, the auction has to be conducted by August 31 this year. However, due to procedural delays, the department of telecommunications is looking at extending the timeline.
The EGoM decided to auction a minimum of eight blocks in all service areas after reserving spectrum for refarming against the allocation of 900 MHz for incumbent operators whose licences will expire during 2014-2016.
Indian aviation has deep-rooted problems that need comprehensive and coordinated solutions, and high aviation turbine fuel pricing is certainly the most urgent.
A day after NCP leader Samir Bhujbal was arrested by the ED, party chief Sharad Pawar said he has not seen such "blatant misuse of power" in last 40 years.
The much-awaited merger between Air-India and Indian is expected to be cleared by the Union Cabinet by end of February, with the committee of secretaries submitting its recommendations to the Group of Ministers.
The ministry wanted to use spectrum in the 700-MHz band for mobile TV services.
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday questioned reports of rating agencies on the Indian economy.
Still battling the fallout of last month's steep Rs 7.54 a litre hike in petrol price, the government on Friday said it is not considering raising rates of diesel, domestic gas (LPG) and kerosene for the moment.
Two days after constituting a 10-member Group of Ministers on Telangana, the government reorganised the panel, dropping Minister of Human Resource Development M Pallam Raju and bringing in Defence Minister A K Antony. The number has also been brought down to seven.
The Telecom Commission (TC) on Saturday put the onus of deciding the contentious issue of the base price for auction of 1,800 MHz of 2G band spectrum on the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
The deadline set by anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare for passing the Lokpal Bill is inching closer, but the government seems to be in no hurry. Sources in the government said that the Union Cabinet is unlikely to discuss the Lokpal Bill on Sunday.
While Arun Jaitley remains part of the decision making process, Piyush Goyal, who was given additional charge on May 14, attends cabinet meetings and takes the day-to-day decisions.
Out of the total amount, Rs 17,359.77 crore is aircraft loan, while Rs 31,517.04 crore is working capital loan.
National carrier Air India incurred a loss of over Rs 5,500 crore during the 2009-10 fiscal, the government said on Wednesday.
PMO to have direct say in decision-making through MoS Narayanasamy.
The Cabinet on Friday fixed a minimum or base price of Rs 14,000 crore for the Supreme Court mandated auction of telecom spectrum.
A group of ministers will soon meet in New Delhi to decide on allowing foreign entities to pick up stakes in the airline sector in India, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said on Wednesday.
In a relief to telecom operators, the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) is believed to have suggested setting a 20 per cent lower base or bid start price at Rs 14,111-15,111 crore for the proposed spectrum auction.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday dubbed as an eyewash the setting up of a Group of Ministers to draft a new bill to insulate the Central Bureau of Investigation from political interference.
Two decisions by an empowered group of ministers on Tuesday demonstrated the government's continuing inability to come to grips with the problems being faced by the aviation sector.
The GoM will meet on Saturday to finalise single-stage, simplified, return filing under the GST; report will be placed before GST Council on March 10.
Information and Broadcasting minister Ambika Soni spoke to rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt briefly on the current logjam in Parliament over the government's decision allowing 51 per cent foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail trade.
An effigy of Union Home Minister P Chidambaram was set on fire by victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy on Saturday to protest the decision by the Group of Ministers of not revising the figures of deaths and the injured in the curative petition pending before the Supreme Court. The GoM decision would mean the victims would not be able to claim additional compensation, which they have been clamouring for.
Law Minister Salman Khurshid, who has courted controversy by his statement on granting nine per cent quota for minorities, on Friday said he had no regrets as he had not done anything unlawful.
Singh, the Finance Minister in the National Democratic Alliance regime, was heading the Group of Ministers (GoM) on the issue of limited mobility and unified licencing during the relevant period.
A group of ministers, headed by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, has been formed to resolve inter-ministerial differences stalling the national manufacturing policy which aims at giving a boost to the sector.
Earlier this week, the Empowered Group of Ministers approved the draft of the Food Security Bill, which will entitle 75 per cent of rural households and 50 per cent of urban households to subsidised foodgrain.
An Empowered Group of Ministers headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram had on February 28 decided to sell the stake in IOC, the nation's largest oil firm, at a discount of 10 per cent through an off-market deal.
A group of ministers led by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday allowed Air India to raise Rs 7,400 crore (Rs 74 billion) by issuing government-guaranteed bonds or by other means.
In a major initiative to strengthen the cash-strapped aviation sector, a group of ministers on Tuesday decided to allow airlines to directly import jet fuel to enable them save on high incidence of tax and permit Air India to raise Rs 7,400 crore (Rs 74 billion) by issuing bonds or other means.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi involves junior ministers in the decision-making process and holds a meeting of the Council of Ministers every last Saturday of the month, but there is a group of ministers that he reaches out to more often.
But says the airline will have to meet targets to get fund.
Environment is holding up growth and economic development is a common refrain.
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