Commonwealth Games Organising Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi on Tuesday hit back at former Sports Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar for his scathing criticism of the upcoming event, saying the senior Congress leader's comments are "irresponsible" and "anti-national".
Continuing his tirade against the just-concluded Commonwealth Games, former Sports Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said India should have focused on improving the plight of its poor instead of spending thousands of crores on the event which only "denigrated" its image.
The Rajya Sabha on Tuesday witnessed a spat between Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar and Samajwadi Party member Naresh Agarwal at the fag end of an impromptu debate on illing of five Indian soldiers by Pakistan troops.
Aiyar, who was suspended on Thursday, said the Congress party had given him a lot and there was no future for India without the party.
A chastised Aiyar did proffer a conditional apology, but that did not apparently smooth the ruffled feathers of the troubled Congress leadership.
In July, the Planning Commission said that the number of people living below poverty line has come down both in rural as well as urban areas.
"My guess is by not hosting the Asian Games, we probably saved ourselves something of the order of Rs 5000 crore," Sports Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said on Sunday.
A "constructive dialogue" on the tri-nation gas pipeline from Myanmar to India through Bangladesh was progressing with "considerable satisfaction", visiting Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said on Monday.
Mocking Congress MP Mani Shankar Aiyar's tea vendor taunt at BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, the party on Friday distributed tea to public free of cost to register their protest against the controversial remark.
The Congress on Tuesday distanced itself from senior party leader Mani Shankar Aiyar's remarks that he would be "unhappy" if the Commonwealth Games was a success and that only "evil" will patronise such events.
Holding Pakistan responsible for delay in implementation of the liberalised visa regime, Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar on Monday said relaxation in norms was essential for improving trade relations between the two neighbours.
A slow and ineffective response to allegations of scams under the erstwhile United Progressive Alliace government strengthened anti-Congress impressions in the minds of voters, which resulted in the party's poor show in the Lok Sabha polls, senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar said on Thursday.
A couple of months after exiting the Petroleum Ministry, Mani Shankar Aiyar on Thursday lashed out at the way the top bureaucrats functioned in the ministry.
With the delimitation exercise changing the face of Lok Sabha constituencies, many members of the Lower House may have to work hard to adapt to new political contours. But Mani Shankar Aiyar, the union panchayat minister, can rest in peace. He is the only Member of Parliament who could resurrect his constituency (Mayiladuturai in Tamil Nadu's Nagapattinam district) after it was declared abolished by the delimitation commission.
Raj Thackeray listed out his expectations from the PM in his third term in office.
Diplomat-turned-politician Mani Shankar Aiyar on Friday tore into United Progressive Alliance's handling of Anna Movement, which he said was a "Frankenstein monster" created by the central government itself.
After raising strong objections to Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar's comments allegedly comparing Members of Parliament shouting slogans in the Well of Parliament with animals -- three Bharatiya Janata Party MPs on Friday gave a notice in the Rajya Sabha for alleged breach of privilege by him.
Seventeen members, including new and re-elected ones, took oath in Rajya Sabha, which reassembled after a month-long break, on Thursday.
Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar will visit Pakistan from June 3 to boost energy ties and discuss the $4.16 billion Iran-India gas pipeline project.\n\n
'He gave this 'gaali' (abuse) to me or you? Did he abuse me or Gujarat? Did he abuse the cultured society of India or me?' Modi asked the people at a rally in Banaskantha.
Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar will visit Pakistan in the second fortnight of May to discuss modalities of Iran-India gas pipeline besides other areas of cooperation in the hydrocarbon sector.
Scoffing at former minister Mani Shankar Aiyar's suggestion of close India-Pakistan cooperation on combating terror, Lalit Mansingh, former ambassador to the United States, argued that India needs to discuss with countries like China and Pakistan from a position of strength. Aziz Haniffa reports.
Enhancing cooperation in the hydrocarbon sector, vital for the energy security of the two fastest growing economies in the world, will be high on the agenda of talks Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar will hold with Chinese leaders.
Congress MP Mani Shankar Aiyar, who stirred up a controversy with his "tea-vendor" taunt against Narendra Modi, on Monday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial candidate of starting personal attacks against leaders and said he had only given a "fitting reply".
Former Union Minister and the Congress candidate for the Mayiladuthurai Lok Sabha seat, Mani Shankar Aiyar strongly believes that the good work done by him as an MP for the constituency over the past two decades will fetch him a comfortable victory in the upcoming polls.
Petroleum minister Mani Shankar Aiyar on Wednesday ruled out hiking petrol and diesel prices in step with the firming up of international oil prices and the increase in excise duties.
Notwithstanding the demand of the Left parties, Petroleum Minister Mani Shanker Iyar on Friday asserted that there would be "no rollback" of the hike in petro products prices.
Indo-Pak talks can succeed if it is restructured to make it uninterrupted and New Delhi co-opts Islamabad in the war on terror rather than rely on the US, newly nominated Rajya Sabha MP Mani Shankar Aiyar has said.
Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar will visit Tehran early next week to salvage the LNG-for-oil field deal, which hit an obstacle after Iran sought a very high price for liquefied natural gas it plans to sell to India.
Congress MP Mani Shankar Aiyar on Tuesday said it was not the party but the "mela" at its headquarters that he had described as a "circus" and hoped that it has not lost its capacity to laugh at itself.
Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar has blamed bureaucrats in his ministry for the fiasco over appointment of additional government directors on ONGC board, saying legal opinion should have been taken instead of doing 'guess-work'.
The party also wanted an immediate restoration of Veer Savarkar's plaque at the Cellular Jail memorial.
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