Communist Party of India-Marxist member in the Joint Parliamentary Committee on 2G spectrum allocation Sitaram Yechury on Wednesday supported calling former Telecom Minister A Raja as a witness before the panel saying it will help reaching "closer to the truth".
The Joint Parliamentary Committee on 2G scam is set to get a fresh extension with the Lok Sabha on Monday unanimously adopting a resolution to this effect.
Government's effort to end impasse in Parliament by reaching out to BJP for early passage of key finance bills on Friday came a cropper as the opposition indicated that it is unlikely to cooperate unless it is assured that JPC chairman P C Chacko's draft report on 2G will be rejected.
Amid opposition plans to corner the JPC Chairman over clean chit to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the much-talked about meeting of the panel to adopt the draft report on the 2G scam was on Thursday postponed following death of a Lok Sabha member.
Indicted in the draft JPC report, former Telecom Minister A Raja on Monday hit back maintaining that "every major decision", including entry fee and non auction of spectrum, was taken after consulting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and P Chidambaram and Pranab Mukherjee.
Even as Bharatiya Janata Party MPs are boycotting the Joint Parliamentary Committee looking into the 2G spectrum scam, the panel's chairman P C Chacko has ruled out summoning of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
A big question mark looms over whether Bharatiya Janata Party members in the Joint Parliamentary Committee on 2G spectrum allocation case will attend Thursday's meeting with the Opposition still adamant that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram should be examined by the panel.
Bharatiya Janata Party members of the Joint Parliamentary Committee examining the 2G spectrum issue on Thursday boycotted the meeting of the panel in protest against Chairman P C Chacko's refusal to accede to their demand to summon the prime minister and the finance minister.
Hitting out at JPC Chairman P C Chacko for not inviting former Telecom Minister A Raja to depose before it, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Yashwant Sinha alleged that the panel could be used to "conceal the truth" in the 2G scam rather than expose it.
A meeting of Joint Parliamentary Committee examining 2G scam on Tuesday saw heated exchanges as Bharatiya Janata Party members demanded summoning of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and top PMO officials which was countered by Congress members with their own list of witnesses that included all National Democratic Alliance telecom ministers.
Seeking to take the sting out of the Samajwadi Party's counter to SC/ST quota in promotion bill, the Congress on Monday said it was also for a fair deal to Muslims but the issue was 'not contrary or contradictory' to the proposed measure.
Rejecting Bharatiya Janata Party's demand for suspending talks with Pakistan, Congress said it is in favour of a composite dialogue as having any "hostile" attitude is not a solution.
Former Union Telecom Minister A Raja has rejected Joint Parliamentary Committee chairman P C Chacko's offer giving him a chance to respond on the 2G spectrum allocation issue in written submissions, saying he wants to personally depose before the panel to tender evidence on the matter.
Congress will fight the 2014 Lok Sabha elections under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, the party said on Tuesday.
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.
Sources in the JPC said that panel Chairman P C Chacko is set to tell Raja that instead of appearing before JPC as a witness, he can submit a "rebuttal note" on the statement made by Attorney General G E Vahanvati before the Committee that the controversial press note regarding 2G licences was changed at the last minute by the former telecom minister in 2008 with a different pen.
The Joint Parliamentary Committee, probing the 2G telecom spectrum allocation scam, is unlikely to call former Telecom Minister A Raja as a witness before it.
The drafting of the Joint Parliamentary Committee report on 2G scam could be delayed with key United Progressive Alliance ally Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam insisting on calling former Telecom Minister A Raja as a witness.
Ending its nearly two-month-old boycott, Bharatiya Janata Party members on Thursday attended the meeting of Joint Parliamentary Committee on the 2G scam and said they would continue to press for summoning of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram as witnesses.
Amid demands for calling Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram as witnesses before the Joint Parliamentary Committee on 2G, Bharatiya Janata Party members in the panel on Thursday once again abstained from its proceedings. During the last meeting of the JPC on October 11, the BJP members had stayed away after accusing JPC Chairman P Chacko of failing to finalise the list of witnesses and include the prime minister and Chidambaram in it.
There is a shift in the Congress regarding Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, says Renu Mittal.
The storyline sounds simple and thin but the way it is presented makes Ithihasa worth watching.
Chairman of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on 2G scam P C Chacko on Wednesday ruled out summoning Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to depose before the panel, saying there was no such precedent.
The Joint Parliamentary Committee on 2G spectrum scam has deferred its October 3 meeting, in view of the Lok Sabha Speaker's efforts to persuade Bharatiya Janata Party, members who have threatened to quit the panel alleging bias on his part, its chairman P C Chacko said on Saturday.
After staging a walkout from the meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Committee examining the 2G spectrum scam, the BJP on Tuesday accused its Chairman P C Chacko of being 'biased' and threatened to quit the panel.
The Congress on Saturday saw "no crisis" over the opposition of it allies like Trinamool Congress to the FDI in retail and said that the party was fully behind Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the issue.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi has expressed herself against MPs' demand to sport red beacons atop their cars in Delhi.
Former Telecom Minister A Raja's written submission before the Joint Parliamentary Committee, in which he had claimed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was in the loop over policy decisions, does not form part of the panel's report on 2G spectrum scam.
The Joint Parliamentary Committee examining the 2G scam has sought a copy of the Presidential Reference made by the Centre before the Supreme Court on its February 2 decision on allocation of second generation radiowaves.
Shortage of trained nut pluckers is a grim farm sector problem in Kerala but for 37-year-old Selvin Chacko coconut plucking is a hi-tech profession involving car, mobile and even a dedicated website.
In January this year, VW had said it will invest a minimum of Rs 2,000 crore on its Indian operations by 2013 to ramp up capacity, launch new models and strengthen research activities.
An all party delegation from Kerala on Friday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and sought his intervention to resolve the issue of Mullaperiyar dam between the state and Tamil Nadu. Senior Congress Member of Parliament P C Chacko said the prime minister advised the two sides not to take up any campaign to create differences and tension between the two states. "The prime minister advised us that such a campaign should not be taken up," Chacko said.
Miffed at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's remarks that Parliament should not pre-judge the 2G issue, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jaswant Singh on Tuesday said the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the matter should be wound up.
Joseph, a Dalit Christian, was abducted on Sunday and killed by a gang of criminals allegedly engaged by his fiancee's family.
The Supreme Court on Monday sought response of the Rajya Sabha-appointed panel on Sikkim High Court Chief Justice P D Dinakaran's allegations that the committee has exceeded its jurisdiction in probing charges of judicial misconduct and corruption against him.
'Only when you are close to the party, will you understand what the BJP stands for.'
Kingfisher Airlines said it has entered into a code sharing and frequent flyer agreement with American Airlines, which will be effective from 2011. "The code share on Americans flight to Chicago will mark the first time ever that Kingfisher Airlines will place its code on any flight operating into the United States," executive vice president-commercial, Kingfisher Airlines Manoj Chacko said.
Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai on Monday appeared before the Joint Parliamentary Committee, which is probing the 2G spectrum scam, to explain how the government auditor quantified the losses in the spectrum allocation at Rs 1.76 lakh crore. Rai was asked to brief the Committee, chaired by Congress leader P C Chacko, on the allocation and pricing of telecom licences and spectrum during 1998 to 2009.
"It is very unfortunate that a party which was formed on a promise of alternative politics, on the promise of practising transparency, accountability, internal democracy and not resorting to power politics broke all promises. It became like an ordinary conventional political party," said Bhushan.
The Joint Parliamentary Committee on the 2G spectrum scam on Wednesday began examining the telecom policy pursued during the National Democratic Alliance rule as it sought to know the quantum of losses incurred during that period and decided to summon the then Attorney General Soli Sorabjee in this connection.
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