Chavan, Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal and Home Minister R R Patil have also been invited for a speech against terrorism by the US president, scheduled at the Taj hotel in the afternoon. However, the ministers have not confirmed whether they will attend the function or not, an official from Mantralaya (the state secretariat) said
While his main attack was on eminent veteran lawyer Shanti Bhushan and his activist son Prashant Bhushan -- both of whom are members of the Lokpal Bill draft committee -- he also trained his guns on Karnataka Lokayukta and former Supreme Court Judge Santosh Hegde and Magsaysay awardee Arvind Kejriwal.
Friends, family members and Union ministers on Friday hailed the Supreme Court order granting bail to activist Binayak Sen, who was sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of sedition by a Chhatisgarh trial court.Union ministers P Chidambaram and Salman Khurshid expressed happiness over the court's decision to release Sen, who was convicted and sentenced for helping Naxals set up a network against the State. Law Minister M Veerappa Moily termed it as an "eye opener".
In an apparent bid to woo the Muslim electorate, Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid has said that pictures of the Batla House encounter case had brought tears to the eyes of Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
The government on Friday said it has asked companies for suggestions to incentivise corporate India's contribution to social and environmental programmes.
Government and Team Anna had a late night meeting on the eve of a debate in the Lok Sabha on the Lokpal issue which may lead to Anna Hazare calling off his 11-day hunger strike.
Law Minister Salman Khurshid also made it clear that there was no question about anyone from the government ever saying that they don't care what happens to Hazare's health. "The main concern for me and the prime minister is Anna's health. We are very concerned about it," he told reporters outside Parliament.
Law Minister Salman Khurshid on Friday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of not speaking about its problems with Lokpal Bill before the debate on it in Rajya Sabha and sought to know from the party why it did not ask for the legislation to be put to vote with limited discussion.
Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said on Monday his ministry looked at implementing the Sachar committee recommendations as its top priority despite the fact that there were some "flaws" in the report.
These ministers are meeting select group of editors and senior reporters every week to put forward their viewpoints. The wooing of journalists at the ministerial level is unprecedented and shows the defensive mood prevailing within the government.
The Government has found company law violations by all 10 franchisees of the Indian Premier League and has asked the Registrar of Companies to take penal action wherever necessary, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Thursday.
The government is awaiting reports from the ED and the US agency before deciding whether or not accounts of the Ramalinga Raju family-promoted Maytas firms need restating.
In the book 10 Flashpoints: 20 years that is set to be released on December 2, the former union minister has looked back at the security situations that have impacted India in the last two decades.
Close on the heels of activist Anna Hazare threatening another round of agitation about the Lokpal Bill, the government, Team Anna and opposition parties Bharatiya Janata Party and Communist Party of India Marxist on Saturday said they were ready for an open dialogue on a strong anti-corruption bill. "The doors are open and we have never shut it. Rather, it was Team Anna which had slammed the door on us," Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid said.
The reshuffle in the Union Cabinet, carried out on Wednesday, appears to have some focus on assembly election-bound states like Kerala and Uttar Pradesh.
The Sachar Committee report is not sacrosanct like the Quran and has to be looked at with a critical eye, Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said. "The Sachar Committee report is not Quran. It could be wrong and its recommendations and observations need to be looked at with a critical eye. The recommendations should not be seen as a special thing given to Muslims," he said. The Rajinder Sachar Committee was appointed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Senior Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Salman Khurshid on Wednesday hit back at their party colleague Kapil Sibal and other leaders of the G-23, alleging that they were trying to break the party by continuing to hold meetings even after the Congress Working Committee (CWC) had discussed 'all' issues during its recent meeting.
Union Minister for Corporate and Minority Affairs Salman Khurshid on Friday expressed the need for opening up the core areas in wildlife parks to tourists.
Sidhu visited the revered Gurdwara Darbar Sahib and offered prayers and stressed on 'opening of a new friendship chapter' and trade between the two countries, days after India early this week reopened the visa-free Kartarpur corridor for Sikh pilgrims.
Law Minister Salman Khurshid on Friday night described as "internal affair" of Team Anna the sharp differences in it and declined to comment on the possibility of any break-up in the civil society led by the Gandhian.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday accused Union minister Ghulam Nabi Azad of making casteist remarks against Narendra Modi by referring to the backward community to which the Gujarat chief minister belongs and demanded an apology from him as well as the Congress.
Amid the ongoing debate, Corporate Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Tuesday said that lobbying and public relations are part of a democratic set-up but cautioned against their use to subvert corporate governance.
Congress young guns take offence over old guard's utterances.
The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), the investigation arm of the Union corporate affairs ministry, has begun prosecution proceedings against the alleged perpetrators of the country's largest accounting fraud that took place in Satyam Computers last year.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is likely to write to state governments to vacate Wakf properties occupied by them, Minorities Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said on Friday.
Take a look at the pictures of Barack Obama's visit to India. You can see Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, Indian Ambassador to the US Meera Shankar and National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon. Can you spot Foreign Minister S M Krishna anywhere?
Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid on Monday downplayed the row over the finance ministry note on Home Minister P Chidambaram's stand on the 2G spectrum issue, saying there is no scope for any worry over the document and inferences drawn out of it were "not correct". Khurshid also said the note was not worth keeping the media "preoccupied" for such a long time. "I have seen the note. I don't think the note has anything on which we should express worry," Khurshid said.
Amid roiling controversy over Lokpal Bill drafting committee members, Union Minister Salman Khurshid on Saturday ruled out any changes in the panel and said the government is looking forward to receiving inputs from Justice Santosh Hegde on the bill.
On the eve of the maiden meeting of the 10-member joint committee on Saturday to draft the Lokpal bill, government on Friday said it has an open mind on the issue.
The government on Wednesday said that the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) guidelines which require listed companies to meet corporate governance norms for best practices in management may now be extended to unlisted companies as well.
The government has ruled out a separate marriage law for the Sikhs and dropped the proposal to amend the Anand Marriage Act of 1909 to provide for registration of the Sikh marriages.
Law Minister Salman Khurshid, a key negotiator with Team Anna, on Sunday said there may have been "errors of judgment" in handling Hazare's fast but there were no mistakes.
The new Companies Bill, which is likely to be tabled in the Winter Session of Parliament, will contain provisions to rule out a recurrence of the Satyam episode which shattered the confidence of India Inc, Minister of State for Corporate Affairs Salman Khurshid said on Thursday.
Salman Khurshid, who took over as law minister, on Wednesday said that he will discuss the issue of the resignation of Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam with Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and take a decision after getting directions from him.
Following the prime minister's reported call to his Cabinet colleagues to stay away from any business interests, Corporate Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Thursday suggested that ministers should hand over their businesses to a trust, as is being practised in the United States.
Corporate Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Friday said that he is not surprised that B Ramalinga Raju has retracted his infamous January, 2009, confession of perpetrating accounting fraud at Satyam.
The Company Law Board (CLB) on Thursday allowed infrastructure finance company IL&FS to take over Maytas Properties, a company promoted by the family members of disgraced Satyam founder Ramalinga Raju.
The 40-page policy document mentions that "attempts would be made to ensure there is a population balance among various communities in the state. Extensive campaigns would be run in communities, groups, and geographical areas where fertility rates were higher."
"There have been regular complaints of illegal encroachment and sale of Wakf properties the country wide. Hence, we tried to amend some provisions of the existing Wakf Act 1995. Now questions are being raised as why Wakf properties is being registered. This is an age in which even births and deaths are being registered. I fail to understand why should there be any objection to registration of Wakf properties," Khurshid said in New Delhi.
The role of independent directors on the board of Indian companies will be clarified in the new Companies Bill and their responsibilities will be made finite in terms of what they are answerable for, said Union Corporate Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid.