The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved a proposal to increase reservation for women to 50 per cent in panchayats.
Minister for Information and Broadcasting Ambika Soni urged that private television channels to show restraint and evolve self-regulatory mechanism so that their programmes do not hurt the sentiments of people.
Caught between conflicting demands, Culture Minister Ambika Soni on Friday said government will take a decision that fits 'international norms and the sentiments' of all those involved while working out a solution for the controversial Sethusamudram project.
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.
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday questioned reports of rating agencies on the Indian economy.
Amid questions over how the then Union Carbide chief Warren Anderson fled India, the central government said on Thursday that the group of ministers set up on the Bhopal gas tragedy issue will look into all aspects related to the incident and facts would be presented before the nation.
Rahul Gandhi's name does not figure for any organisational post.
Government on Thursday cast doubts on the veracity of the National Human Rights Commission report which ruled out rape in Bhatta-Parsaul during the recent farmers' agitation, saying one report cannot negate all the charges.
"Prime Minister has directed me to do whatever possible....the bottomline is to procure the memorabilia," Culture Minister Ambika Soni told media-persons as the government made last ditch efforts to stop the auction of Gandhi's personal belongings.
Facing Anna Hazare's threat to go on an indefinite fast from August 16, government and the Congress on Thursday hardened its stand, making it clear to activists involved in the drafting the Lokpal Bill that Parliament is the final authority in making laws.
Among the new entrants in the council headed by the Prime Minister, which will now have 147 members, are Ambika Soni, Dayanidhi Maran and Salman Khursheed have made their entry as Union Ministers while BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley have come in as Leaders of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha respectively.
The global meltdown, coupled with economic recession and the terror incidents, has hit the tourism industry adversely. While there is a fall of foreign tourist arrival, hotel bookings are also witnessing many cancellations. Besides rationalisation of luxury tax, ministry has also sought seamless movement of vehicles meant for tourists.
The government is also evolving a comprehensive strategy to minimise any adverse impact of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai on tourism. Countries like the US, Britain, France and Australia on Thursday advised their citizens to defer travel to India's commercial capital till further notice.
It has now been decided by the government that on the occasion of Karnataka's Rajyotsava day and Andhra Pradesh's formation day, both falling on November 1, Kannada and Telugu be declared as classical languages, Culture Minister Ambika Soni said in Delhi on Friday.
Left planned nationwide protests over UPA government's economic policies.
The states where these monuments are untraceable are Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.
Several complaints had been received about illegal and unlicensed television channels and action had been taken against them, the government informed the Rajya Sabha.
With the information and broadcasting ministry issuing showcause notices to several broadcasters, the government on Wednesday favoured a self-regulatory mechanism to monitor content that does not violate the laid down norms.
Rapid urbanisation, multi-storeyed buildings and development projects have led to disappearance of 35 Centrally-protected monuments and sites across the country.
The Centre has postponed taking a decision on the suggestion made by a three-member ministerial group regarding the Delhi high court judgment to decriminalise gay sex.
Coming out in defence of its deal with UK-based SIS Live for telecast of the Commonwealth Games, Prasar Bharti on Monday said the selection of the company was made with the approval of Minister for Information and Broadcasting Ambika Soni.
Informing that the Cabinet had approved a resolution in this regard, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni told media persons that the high court verdict will be just one step in the legal process and that it did not necessarily end with the judgment unless it is acceptable to all sections.
Bowing to the pressure from various states, the Union government on Thursday withdrew the bill to put sports in the Concurrent list.
This will be the second merger of an associate bank with the SBI after a similar exercise with the State Bank of Saurashtra in August 2008.
In the complaint filed at the Parliament Street police station, she demanded action against Law Minister H R Bharadwaj, Culture Minister Ambika Soni and Shipping Minister T R Baalu.
Rajnath Singh warned the Centre that his party would launch a nationwide movement if it did not immediately withdraw its affidavit that there was no historical evidence to prove Lord Ram's existence.
"The message of the Friendship Year has been that our millennium friendship needs to be actively harnessed for realising the full potential of our bilateral relations."
Around five million foreign tourists had visited India in 2007 which was a big jump from the 3.92 million tourists during the previous year, Union Tourism and Culture Minister Ambika Soni said. Around 400 million domestic tourists had also traveled across different parts of the country during 2007.
The government on Tuesday informed Parliament that despite stiff competition from private television channels, there was an increase in net revenue of Doordarshan during the previous financial year.
Though the bill has been pending before the upper house since 24th November,1988 no decision could be reached in the house. "The cabinet has at its meeting held on August 29,1988, approved the proposal to transfer the subject of sports from the state list to the concurrent list of the Constitution of India. The main objective behind proposed Sixty First Amendment bill was to ensure effective implementation of National Sports Policy,1984.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is also not immune to unwanted and unsolicited calls from loan companies.
Tourism Minister Ambika Soni said 5.08 million tourists visited India in 2007, recording a growth of 14.56 per cent. This was better than the world average of around 6 per cent. However, since October 2008, there has been some reduction, she said. In December 2008, foreign tourist arrivals numbered 521,990; this was 12.5 per cent lower than the number of arrivals in the corresponding month of the previous year. Similarly, January saw a 17.6 per cent drop to 487,262 arrivals.
"It's a full-scale civil war in the UPA, a signal of collapse of this unnatural alliance," BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar said at a news conference in Delhi.
It is now mandated that a state party can submit only two nominations per year for World Heritage Sites, of which one site has to be a natural site, and has put an annual limitation of 45 nominations per year.
India ranked 42nd in international tourists arrivals in 2006, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation. India recorded foreign tourist arrivals of 4.45 million. The top four countries of the world in terms of international tourist arrivals were France (79.1 million), Spain (58.5 million), USA (51.1 million) and China (49.6 million), she said. India was achieving a consistent high growth rate of 13.3%, 13.5% and 12.4% in 2005, 2006 and 2007 respectively.
According to the 2006 Readers' Travel Awards announced by Condé Nast Traveller UK India is the world's fourth top travel destination.
While Delhi topped the list among states in terms of foreign tourist arrivals, Andhra Pradesh received the maximum number of domestic tourists during 2005.
Ambika Soni, the new I&B minister, called for a full-presentation on Tuesday on both these issues from senior I&B officials, a day after she took charge of the ministry.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances