The shifting of S Jaipal Reddy from the petroleum ministry and elevation of Salman Khurshid on Monday kicked up a political storm with parties suspecting the government of coming under corporate pressure and accusing it of promoting those facing corruption charges.
When T Subbarami Reddy invites you, stars and politicians make sure to attend.
The Congress also demanded an inquiry into his conduct.
Science and Technology Minister S Jaipal Reddy, who represents the Chevella Lok Sabha constituency in Andhra Pradesh, is considered a front runner for the post of chief minister of the proposed state of Telangana. He gives his first formal interview to rediff.com's Anita Katyal.
A bill to establish a statutory independent regulator for biotech sector covering research, transport, import, manufacture and use of organisms and products of modern biotechnology was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Singh is accompanied by External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, Renewable Energy Minister Farooq Abdullah, Human Resource Development Minister M M Pallam Raju and Science and Technology Minister S Jaipal Reddy.
Among those who submitted their respective ministry's suggestions was Minister of Urban Development S Jaipal Reddy who called on the finance minister in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Salman Khurshid was on Sunday made the external affairs minister and Veerappa Moily given petroleum portfolio as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh undertook a major reshuffle of Council of Ministers and inducted 17 new faces.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist on Thursday claimed S Jaipal Reddy has paid the price for "defying the country's biggest corporate" by being shifted out of the petroleum ministry and said this exposed "the tentacles of big business in the appointment of ministers".
Pakistan was ready to buy petroleum products from India if these were offered at "right prices", the country's minister of Petroleum and Natural Resources Asim Hussain said.
Formation of the Rangarajan panel comes after Reddy proposed that the revision issue be placed before the empowered Group of Ministers.
Amid growing street protest and unease in the party over the steep hike in petrol prices, Congress on Thursday hinted at a partial rollback as Oil Minister S Jaipal Reddy cut short his Turkeministan visit and met Sonia Gandhi's political secretary Ahmed Patel.
With rupee depreciation leading to jump in oil import bill, Petroleum Minister S Jaipal Reddy on Tuesday said there is an immediate need to raise fuel prices, but refused to say when the hike will actually take place.
70-year-old Reddy, who was made the petroleum minister in January 2011, was shifted to the Ministry of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences in the Cabinet reshuffle on October 28.
'It is very difficult to be an honest politician in a country where the system is absolutely corrupt. Jaipal Reddy is one up even on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who is considered clean and honest. Reddy has gone a step ahead by playing an active role in stopping corruption. He has put things on record; he has walked the extra mile to ensure that public money is valued highly. One must recognise Reddy's efforts, and make it an example for India's younger generation.'
Among the documents that Arvind Kejriwal handed out in his press conference on Wednesday, was a page from the letter from the former minister of petroleum and natural gas, S Jaipal Reddy, and marked as annexure 5, to Reliance Industries about its KG Basin oil extraction
Finance Minister and Congress trouble-shooter Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday took command of the consultations with Andhra Pradesh leaders to prepare the ground for the creation of Telangana, even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh decided against imposing President's rule in the troubled state after holding talks with Governor E S L Narasimhan. Assisting Mukherjee in the consultations are Petroleum Minister S Jaipal Reddy and members of a core committee.
The government on Tuesday ruled out any further increase in diesel and cooking fuel prices even though the current retail rates are lower than their cost of production.
According to reports, the price of petrol is expected to go up by Rs 5 and diesel by Rs 6.
The Congress party slammed Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and claimed that his pressure tactics resulted in the varsity's denial of permission.
A strong view is now emerging -- at the top levels of the All India Congress Committee and the United Progressive Alliance government -- over the recent spat between state Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy and Union Petroleum Minister S Jaipal Reddy on the Gas pricing issue.
With a high-powered ministerial panel on fuel pricing being scrapped, a cabinet committee may consider raising the prices of diesel, LPG and kerosene, Oil Minister S Jaipal Reddy indicated on Wednesday but refused to say when the issue would be taken up.
Meeting on Tuesday to decide on letting foreign airlines buy into domestic ones.
It was agreed at the meeting to recommend to the competent authority on two issues namely the Declaration of Commerciality of certain wells in the NEC 25 and KG D6.
Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, S Jaipal Reddy is likely to be the Leader of Lok Sabha and the decision to this effect is likely to be taken on Friday in the core committee meeting. Informal consultations between the prime minister and Sonia Gandhi has already taken place, say highly placed AICC sources.
The opening ceremony of the Delhi Commonwealth Games, at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium, on October 3, will have a spiritual touch. Azaan, Vedic and Buddhist chants will be played in the background as performers, wearing costumes depicting different aspects of the pluralist character of India, present the theme song Swagatan in different Indian languages.
Sharing concerns of the common-man, Oil Minister S Jaipal Reddy said the decision to hike petrol price was taken by the oil companies, but the government is conscious of the 'sense of disturbance' caused by it among the consumers.
Public sector oil marketing companies currently lose Rs 11.65 per litre on diesel.
The seven-member grouping has seen two changes -- S Jaipal Reddy replacing Murli Deora after taking over as the Oil Ministry, while Kamal Nath has given away to the new Road Transport and Highways Minister C P Joshi.
The Oil Ministry has been trying since July to get an Empowered Committee of Secretaries to vet the separate price proposals of RIL and Essar but the panel has so far not decided to take up the issue.
Geo-political reasons are to be blamed for spike in global oil prices, he says.
Reliance Industries' eastern offshore KG-D6 gas field has seen output drop to 29 million units a day, against a planned 80 million units, causing acute shortage in power generation, Oil Minister S Jaipal Reddy said on Tuesday.
More than six months after a Reserve Bank of India order threw out a mechanism to pay for Iranian oil, Oil Minister S Jaipal Reddy on Tuesday said India is trying to ensure uninterrupted supplies of crude from the Persian Gulf nation.
With the Congress high command making up its mind to take disciplinary action against the rebel Member of Parliament Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, his camp followers have stepped up their counter attacks.
Attacking rebel Congress Member of Parliament Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, Union Minister and senior party leader from the state S Jaipal Reddy on Saturday said he was violating party discipline and termed his actions as "very undesirable".
The doctor husband of Union Minister S Jaipal Reddy's niece has been arrested by police and booked for murder following her suspicious death. Police said on Wednesday that Chaitanya Reddy allegedly killed 26-year-old Kiran Reddy, also a doctor, in "an inebriated" condition following a heated argument, and that the death four days back was due to "smothering and asphyxiation."
Oil Minister S Jaipal Reddy on Monday rejected senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Murli Manohar Joshi's attack on Home Minister P Chidambaram on the issue of CAG indictment of his ministry for alleged favours to private firms, saying such attacks would harm decision making at higher levels.
State-owned Indian Oil Corp and GAIL Ltd are looking at picking up an equity stake in LNG projects in Africa to meet growing energy needs of the country, Oil Minister S Jaipal Reddy said on Friday.
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.
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