'Every Congressperson is disillusioned in different degrees.'
An open war broke out in the Congress over its whitewash in the Delhi elections with senior leader Sheila Dikshit attacking chief ministerial candidate Ajay Maken and the party virtually asking her to shut up.
Veterans in the travel industry, a well-known corporate lawyer, and a marquee US-based hedge fund have backed the upcoming low-cost airline Akasa Air. Founded by former Jet Airways chief executive officer (CEO) Vinay Dube, the venture counts ace stock trader and investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala as its biggest financial backer with an investment of around Rs 300 crore. A person with knowledge of the development said most of the people were well known to Jhunjhunwala and Dube, who approached them during the conception stage.
Joint parliamentary committee Chairman P C Chacko on Tuesday said the committee, probing the 2G telecom spectrum allocation scam, has called all important witnesses but is yet to take a decision on calling former Telecom Minister A Raja before it.
The Joint Parliamentary Committee has found not a "single file or record" to show any culpability of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram in the 2G spectrum allocation, its chairman P C Chacko said justifying the clean chit to them in the draft report.
An all out war broke out on Thursday in the JPC on 2G scam when half of its 30 members demanded removal of the committee chief P C Chacko and the ruling party hitting back by seeking the ouster of three BJP members.
In an exclusive interview with Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt, BJP MP Harin Pathak, a member of the Joint Parliamentary Committee probing the 2G scam, says without mincing words that panel chief P C Chacko cannot decide exclusively whether to summon prime accused former Union Telecom Minister A Raja or not.
Delhi Congress Chief Arvinder Singh Lovely will not contest the upcoming assembly elections in the national capital, where the party has been pushed to the third place behind Bharatiya Janata Party and the Aam Aadmi Party, and instead look after its organisation of the polls.
The Congress leader was brought to the jail on Thursday evening and he has got no special facilities, except a separate cell and a Western toilet as specified by the court, prison officials said. Like other inmates, he will also have access to the prison's library and can watch television for a specified period.
Joint Parliamentary Committee Chairman P C Chacko on Thursday decided to refer to the Lok Sabha Speaker the demand to summon Finance Minister P Chidambaram as a witness before the panel on the 2G scam.
The Congress on Wednesday claimed that there was nothing wrong in former Union minister A Raja and Suresh Kalmadi being made members of Parliamentary Standing Committees. While Raja is the main accused in the 2G spectrum scam, Kalmadi is a prime accused in the Commonwealth Games scam.
The 54-year-old leader had taken over as the Congress's Delhi unit chief four years ago, after the party lost the 2015 assembly elections.
Submitting a dissent note against the JPC report on 2G spectrum, Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday said it was flawed and a bundle of contradictions drafted by people in the government on the directions of the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister as a "cover up" exercise.
The AAP has declared candidates on six of the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi.
Amid a political uproar over bomb blasts at Narendra Modi's rally venue in Patna, Congress on Monday appeared to suggest that his brand of politics was allegedly providing an opportunity to disruptive elements to engage in such activities.
The recent protests by employees of Urban Company and the case of a a Zomato delivery executive who died in a road accident point to the severely straitened condition of gig workers during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Budget 2021 had promised several measures to help the cause of gig economy workers, but most of them are yet to see the light of day. Even after a year, the country's gig workers continue to be without any social security cover or a minimum wage guarantee. "In Budget 2021, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced that the government is looking toward including migrant and gig workers for social security benefits," says Srinivas Kotni, managing partner, Lexport, a consulting firm. Parliament had passed the Code on Wages in 2019 and Code on Industrial Relations, Social Security and Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions in 2020.
He said a tie-up between the two parties could have caused a 'damage' to the BJP-led NDA on the 23 seats.
With the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament on a questioning spree in 2G spectrum scam case, it has not gone down well with Joint Parliamentary Committee chairman PC Chacko who feels that the PAC has gone beyond its mandate, and wants a 'conflict' to be avoided. Chacko underlined that the PAC's mandate was limited to looking into accounting irregularities in the 2G spectrum allocation as highlighted by the comptroller and auditor general, and it should not give an impres
Stepping up its attack, the Congress party on Monday said that Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan cannot escape responsibility for the "45 deaths" connected to Vyapam scam and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should take "moral responsibility".
The Cabinet has cleared a Bill to set up a government-owned development finance institution (DFI) with initial paid-up capital of Rs 20,000 crore so that it can leverage around Rs 3 trillion from the markets in a few years to provide long-term funds to infrastructure projects as well as for development needs of the country. To put it in perspective, Rs 3 trillion constitutes slightly less than 3 per cent of the Rs 111 trillion to be spent on over 7,000 projects in the National Infrastructure Pipeline from 2019-20 to 2024-25. Besides, the government will give Rs 5,000 crore as grant to the institution, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday told the media after the Cabinet meeting.
As a political storm brewed over Defence Minister A K Antony's statement on the killing of five Indian soldiers in Poonch, Congress today maintained he did not give a clean chit to Pakistani Army in connection with the incident.
Indrajit Gupta believes the edit team was forced out because it had become more vocal in demanding ESOPs that were expressly promised in their appointment letters in 2008.
Yashwant Sinha, Bharatiya Janata Party's member of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on 2G spectrum scam, on Saturday wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar requesting her to reject the panel's report.
Sibal threw the ball in Kejriwal's court saying, "He knows better".
The Congress, who has presently become a "leaderless" party, has also been facing multiple shocks at the state levels.
'It is not only the hero who displays guts and cleverness but the villain can also have these traits.'
Although Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi might be the Congress' enemy number one, in private, many Congressmen blame Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the party's current plight.
Alleging "connivance" between the Sangh Parivar and the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government at the Centre, the Congress party on Wednesday said the silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue of reconversions will upset the social equilibrium in the country.
Opposition parties on Tuesday demanded that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal step down owning "moral responsibility" after a Bihar University told Delhi High Court that provisional certificate of law minister in his government Jitender Singh Tomar is "fabricated".
Lovely had quit the Congress and joined the BJP in the presence of party president Amit Shah.
Rashid Alvi was dropped as the Congress spokesperson with the All India Congress Committee on Sunday bringing in a new team of eight spokespersons, retaining existing three and inducting five fresh faces.
Lamba alleged AAP supremo and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal made promises which he knew he would not be able to fulfil.
Fifteen opposition members of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on 2G spectrum scam on Wednesday wrote to the committee secretariat rejecting the panel's draft report in toto, setting the stage for worsening of the confrontation with the government on the issue. The 15 members, who had met Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar last week to express "no-confidence" in panel chief P C Chacko, wrote separate letters stating that they are rejecting the report "in toto".
The Congress on Thursday brushed aside comparisons between Rahul Gandhi with Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi saying only those interested in propping up the Bharatiya Janata Party leader indulged in such acts.
The Congress on Thursday brushed aside comparisons between Rahul Gandhi with Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi saying only those interested in propping up the Bharatiya Janata Party leader indulged in such acts.
Abraham and Susan Chacko of London run a culinary website www.chackoskitchen.com -- here's some festive recipes from their new e-book 'Christmas With Susan'.
The controversy over Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde's Hindu terror remark refuses to die down with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ion Thursday saying that he should have 'at least apologised' and Congress insisting that his 'regret' does not mean his statement was factually incorrect.
Notwithstanding strong demand by Bharatiya Janata Party members for calling Finance Minister P Chidambaram, the Joint Parliamentary Committee examining 2G spectrum allocation scam is unlikely to call him or any other minister as witnesses.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has given a notice for moving a breach of privilege motion in both Houses of Parliament against Joint Parliamentary Committee Chairperson P C Chacko for leakage of the panel's report on the 2G spectrum allocation issue.
The Congress on Tuesday hit out at spiritual leader Asaram Bapu for his controversial remarks against the Delhi gangrape victim and then against the media saying they 'reflect a very sick and unhealthy mind'.
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