Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni on Friday accused news channels of helping civil society activist Arvind Kejriwal to malign the image of people by airing his "unsubstantiated allegations of wrong-doings".
P Chidambaram proposed that Sonia should be made the party's interim president.
With the victory over FDI in multi-brand retail in Parliament, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance is now gearing up for the party's all important 'Chintan Shivir' (brainstorming camp) next month.
Dubbing Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's recent comment on women as "childish", Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni on Thursday said he is not "sensitive" towards women.
15 year old Thulasi Nair shares her experience of working with Mani Ratnam.
15 year old Thulasi Nair shares her experience of working with Mani Ratnam.
The stage is set now for a major revamp of the Union Council of Ministers on Sunday with the likely induction of at least ten new faces and promotion of some ministers of state, besides a rejig in the Cabinet, in which Anand Sharma may get the external affairs portfolio.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh is all set to carry a major reshuffle in his Cabinet that is scheduled to take place around 11:30 am on Sunday. The reshuffle is likely to see the inclusion of several young faces
Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni on Saturday said Law Minister Salman Khurshid will respond to the allegations against him on returning from his foreign visit and questioned whether it was fair to demand resignations by creating pressure through dharnas.
Home Minister P Chidambaram was on Friday appointed the head of the Empowered Group of Ministers on spectrum auction that was reconstituted after Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar declined the job.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi held consultations with party leaders as the 72-hour deadline set by Trinamool Congress for rollback of diesel price hike, LPG subsidy cap and FDI in retail ended on Monday amid indications a worst case situation could be a pull out of union ministers by the key ally.
Chief ministers of Tripura and Uttarakhand on Sunday joined the anti- National Counterterrorism Center chorus taking to 12 the number of opposing states even as their Gujarat counterpart Narendra Modi accused United Progressive Alliance of "attacking" the country's federal structure.
Maintaining that the United Progressive Alliance government is not in favour of "censorship but self-regulation" by the media, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni on Monday said certain ground rules for respect of national symbols have to be followed by every Indian citizen.
Slamming the Karnataka government for failing to stop attacks by Hindu outfits on young boys and girls in the state in name of moral policing, the Centre on Monday demanded firm action against the "hoodlums" for such acts.
Union minister Ambika Soni on Friday defended her cabinet colleague P Chidambaram in the last year's midnight crackdown at Ramlila Maidan, saying that the Supreme Court had only held Delhi police and yoga guru Ramdev's organisation responsible for the incident.
A US daily's trenchant criticism of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has come under attack from Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni, who plans to take up the issue with the External Affairs Ministry so that "strong action" can be taken in the matter.
The Information and Broadcasting Ministry today said it could not put in place a regulatory framework for mobile TV service as the available spectrum for the service was far below requirement.
Army Chief General V K Singh's tryst with controversies seems nowhere close to coming to a halt. Be it the age row, letter 'leaks' or offer of bribe, the maverick general is literally shaking the entire nation on a regular basis.
Congress leaders are a jubilant lot after the results.
Taking serious note of mushrooming media schools in the country, government is mulling framing guidelines to protect the interest of students who have to eke out exorbitant fees for these unrecognised courses.
Advocating self regulation in the broadcast sector, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni on Thursday defended Press Council chairman Justice Katju for initiating a debate on whether to have a regulatory body and for raising the issue in public.
"I cannot agree with any statement which says that there is lack of governance. I cannot agree with that perception at all," Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni told reporters.
Government on Saturday hailed the verdict of Delhi court dismissing a plea to make Home Minister P Chidambaram an accused in the 2G case, saying it vindicates its stand and also of the Congress party.
The government on Tuesday said it was open to the idea of holding an all-party meeting on the issue of regulating contents on cable television but maintained that a 'fatwa' or a direction will not help serve the purpose.
Information and Broadcasting minister Ambika Soni spoke to rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt briefly on the current logjam in Parliament over the government's decision allowing 51 per cent foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail trade.
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday questioned reports of rating agencies on the Indian economy.
As the government faces heat over corruption and black money, it is planning to bring a law to prevent the misuse of benami transactions, a key source of illicit funds.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni said the Union Cabinet has accepted the proposal of the Ministry of Railways for payment of PLB equivalent to 78 days' wages for 2010-11 for all eligible non-gazetted Railway employees.
Besides, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry secretary general Amit Mitra, L Suresh, vice president of Film Federation of India, UTV Group chief financial officer Rajeev Waghle, chief financial officer of Reliance Big Films Subhashish Sarkar and Zee Tele films chief executive officer Puneet Goenka, among others, were also part of the delegation.
'Ghulam Nabi Azad and Kapil Sibal are the two people who have been marked and punished'
With the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections just around the corner, senior Congress leader from the state P L Punia has pitted himself against Union minister Ambika Soni over the yet unreleased Bollywood film 'Arakshan' directed by Prakash Jha.
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi is trekking 18 kilometres up in the mountains of Uttarakhand to the Kedarnath Temple.
Don't want to send paper invitations on your wedding? A rash of 'wed sites' send personalised SMS reminders, travel options and weather updates to the guests
Justifying the government's action in seeking a second legal opinion from the Attorney General on Army Chief General V K Singh's age row, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni on Friday said it was done in view of fresh material and points coming up on the issue. Soni's justification comes in the wake of the Supreme Court questioning the government's action of seeking the Attorney General's opinion for the second time on the issue.
The government on Thursday insisted Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's office had not been bugged, claiming the whole thing was "bogus" and the matter should be closed now. "I had myself talked to the finance minister on Wednesday evening on this matter. There is nothing to take forward. The finance minister has categorically and emphatically stated (to the media) that it has been investigated and the answer is there has been no bugging," said Ambika Soni.
Check out the star attendees and winners of the CAMA awards 2017.
Condemning the killing of a senior journalist of English tabloid Mid-Day in Mumbai on Saturday, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni said no civilised society can tolerate this kind of attack on the freedom of the press."This act has challenged the freedom of press and the perusal of objective reporting. This incident is a sign of insanity perpetuated by mindless individuals in which innocent citizens are killed," she said.
Facing Anna Hazare's threat to go on an indefinite fast from August 16, the 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.
Government has approved Rs. 7,029 crore compensation to states for the losses they suffered due to reduction in central sales tax rate.
