Two full-fledged semiconductor fabrication plants are going to come up in India very soon entailing multi-billion dollar investment besides several chip assembly and packaging units, Minister of Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said. In an interview with PTI, the minister confirmed that the two projects include a $8 billion proposal submitted by Israel-based Tower Semiconductors and the other from Tata Group. "I am happy to share this with you and you are probably the first one I'm sharing this with.
Industries Minister P Thangamani told the assembly. He was responding to a query by A Sounderrajan of CPI-M.
The Communist Party of India Marxist on Monday dismissed as 'defunct and ineffective' the United Progressive Alliance -Left Coordination Committee and said it made little difference whether to continue in it or not. ''The UPA-Left Coordination Committee was formed for exchange of opinion between the government and Left parties on major policies. But it has now virtually turned into an ineffective and defunct body,'' CPI-M politburo member Biman Bose said.
The United Progressive Alliance government on Wednesday won a vote on the Unorganised Workers Bill in the Lok Sabha. There were 107 votes for the bill, while 90 Parliamentarians voted against it.
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Monday raked up the issue of terrorism to attack Bharatiya Janata Party, saying nearly 22,000 people died due to the menace during the NDA regime, while there were only 800 such deaths in the UPA's last five-year tenure.
'Congress leaders who are making strategy for the Congress to win elections have not even won a class monitor elections.' 'When you have not contested school monitor elections, what will you know about the ground reality?'
The Samajwadi Party on Tuesday gave mixed signals on the possibility of joining the UPA Government, maintaining that it was the second largest party on the ruling side but becoming part of the coalition is not important.
On a two-day tour of her constituency Rae Bareli, Gandhi highlighted the UPA government's focus on education. She sought to impress upon all how the a budgetary provision of Rs. 2.25 lakh crore had been made to insure successful implementation of the Right to Education Act over the next five years
The Bal Thackeray-led Shiv Sena today took to the streets to protest the fuel price hike and FDI in retail sector by the Centre and asked the Trinamool Congress and the Nationalist Congress party to withdraw support to the United Progressive Alliance government.
The Left Front leaders, led by the Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat, have reached the Rashtrapati Bhavan to submit their letter withdrawing support to the United Progressive Alliance government to the President. Following the withdrawal of support by the Left parties the strength of the ruling coalition has been reduced to 230.
Wednesday's critical United Progressive Alliance-Left meeting on the Indo-US nuclear deal ended with both sides agreeing to meet again soon. The date for the same is yet to be finalised
The Centre on Thursday said the United Progressive Alliance allies were not covered in the reshuffle of the Council of Ministers in view of the upcoming assembly elections in various states."It was not that big a reshuffle. Only the portfolios were shuffled," Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni said while briefing media on the Cabinet meeting."It was not that big a reshuffle. Only the portfolios were shuffled," Information, Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni said
The meeting is likely to focus on removing impediments which are hampering implementation of the announced projects and policies which have been on the drawing board for long, official sources said. The social sector agenda of the prime minister includes pushing the Aam Admi Bima Yojana and Old Age Pension for the labour class, besides revamping Integrated Child Development Scheme and strengthening the public distribution system.
The Common Minimum Programme will also be made public on Wednesday.
BJP's prime ministerial candidate L K Advani on Saturday said the UPA government woke up to enact new laws to combat terror only after the bloody Mumbai attacks.
The BJP is now inventing new angles to keep its campaign relevant -- even if it's old wine in an old bottle, which is what the allegation on 'Katchatheevu' is, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The charge sheet has been filed before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Delhi and the court has listed the matter to be heard on January 16, the sources said.
Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday said the United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre was on a "ventilator", supported by Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party, which were always talking about mid-term polls. BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu said the UPA government was the "worst and corrupt government," and the country hadn't had such a government since independence.
In signals that he could well be the next prime ministerial candidate, the Congress on Monday declared that Rahul Gandhi will lead the United Progressive Alliance's campaign in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and take up an "important responsibility very soon". Congress spokesperson P C Chacko appeared confident about UPA-III, with the party planning to go for ties-ups before and after the polls in a big way.
Railway Minister and key United Progressive Alliance partner Mamata Banerjee ruled out any difference with the Union government over a Joint Parliamentary Committee to probe the 2G spectrum allocation, even as she advocated a discussion on the scam in Parliament.
Expressing disappointment with the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party's decision to abstain from voting on the issue of Foreign Direct Investment in multi-brand retail in the Lok Sabha, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley, on Thursday said that the Congress-led UPA is a lame-duck government dependent on costly support.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader M Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday said the bandh against UPA government's policies was a success and its message was to roll back FDI in retail, diesel price hike and rationing of gas cylinders.
Trinamool Congress, a former ally of the United Progressive Alliance, will move a no-confidence motion against the UPA government on Thursday when Parliament meets for the winter session.
Top leaders of UPA allies met on Friday to fine-tune their political strategy as the ruling coalition braced towards a trust vote in the Parliament in the wake of withdrawal of support by Left parties, plunging the government into a minority.
Common people's views about the economic policies of the United Progressive Alliance government.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present her sixth straight Budget ahead of the Parliamentary elections, matching the record of former Prime Minister Morarji Desai. Sitharaman in her pre-election Budget, which technically is a vote on account and popularly termed an interim Budget, will seek Parliament's nod for a grant in advance to meet the central government's essential expenditure for the first four months of the new fiscal year that starts in April. A new government elected after the April/May general elections will present the full Budget, likely in July.
It is expected that the finance ministry will be handled for some time by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
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With both friends and foes warning that spiralling prices of essential commodities might sound the 'death knell' for the Manmohan Singh government, reining in inflation will be a task for the UPA to accomplish to escape the ire of voters. As the government is caught in the web of coalition politics, the Congress-led UPA has to do a tight-rope walk so as not to annoy its Left partners and at the same time keep the voters in good humour by containing inflation.
India has allocated Rs 1.72 trillion, or 27.67 per cent of the total defence budget to cater to modernisation of the country's arsenal. Modern militaries spend up to 50 to 60 per cent of their total defence budget so that they go into combat with superior weaponry and equipment.
Voting will be held in the Rajya Sabha on Friday on the Bharatiya Janata Party's motion opposing the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance Government's move to allow Foreign Direct Investment in multi-brand retail.
Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati has decided to support the government on FDI as she does not want to destabilise the government, reports Renu Mittal
"The nation is paying a very heavy price for having a non-performing government headed by the weakest ever Prime Minister in India's history. The Prime Minister's office has been so devalued that his writ does not run even in his own cabinet," Advani alleged. He claimed the UPA regime, in addition to having failed to keep its own coalition in order, had also failed to tackle the issues of terrorism and price rise.
'His way of communication is different than the first yatra.' 'Maybe his anger and frustration stems from the fact that no one is asking hard questions to the government and he is trying to do that.'
Key UPA constituent Trinamool Congress, however, may propose the name of former West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi as Mamata Banerjee is not quite enthusiastic about Ansari's candidature for second term
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday called up Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee after which the key United Progressive Alliance ally decided to attend a meeting of the ruling coalition in Delhi on July 14.
If the government manages to deliver on Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's scheme of providing grains to the needy at nominal rates, it could mean an end malnutrition issues in rural areas.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Monday said that the United Progressive Alliance government will come back to power after the next general elections as the Manmohan Singh regime has not only lifted the country's economic growth rate, but made the process pro-poor as well.
Though CPI has called for review of support to the UPA, the CPI(M) has said withdrawal of Left support at this juncture would mean bringing down the government, which would be 'counter-productive' and only help the BJP.
Defending his party's decision to support the Presidential poll contest, Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani on Monday said the government has to build consensus on the issue and the UPA dispensation made no such effort as it sought support for Pranab Mukherjee only after announcing his candidature.
