The Centre has conceded most of the demands of potential buyers of Neelachal Ispat Nigam Ltd (NINL). These include lowering the lock-in period for sale of assets to one year and allowing the new buyer to undertake the amalgamation of a special purpose vehicle (SPV) into NINL. An inter-ministerial group led by Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (Dipam) secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey and the core group of secretaries on divestment (CGD) headed by Cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba have decided that the lock-in period can be reduced to one year from the date of completion of sale, from the earlier three years proposed by Dipam, an official in the know said.
Asserting that it was determined to ensure the passage of the Women's Reservation Bill in Parliament, the Bharatiya Janata Party has sought to make political capital on the issue by stating that since the United Progressive Alliance coalition was in minority in the Rajya Sabha, the onus of getting it adopted was with the main opposition. BJP president Nitin Gadkari on Saturday convened an emergency meeting of the party core group to discuss the Women's Reservation Bill.
Vaibhavi Parmar list the front-runners in the race to succeed Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi if he opts for a larger national role in the BJP.
After a disastrous IPL 2022 campaign, Mumbai Indians are all set to start their preparations in earnest for the next edition, with a three-week exposure tour of England in July for their uncapped Indian players.
The United Progressive Alliance on Sunday decided not to oblige the opposition by asking for the resignation of Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, whose nephew was arrested in a bribery case, as also Law Minister Ashwani Kumar, who is in the eye of a storm over the coal-gate controversy.
Asserting that all options are open for government formation in Jammu and Kashmir, Bharatiya Janata Party state president Jugal Kishore on Monday said his party would not form an alliance in haste as they want a stable government which would last for 6 years.
Buckling under B S Yeddyurappa's pressure, Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday decided to replace Sadananda Gowda with Jagdish Shettar as the chief minister of Karnataka marking the third change in the state in four years. The decision was taken at the BJP core group meeting in New Delhi on Saturday, sources said.
For months now, the Washington Post reports, a core group of political strategists, computer specialists and management graduates have been poring over Obama's speeches and web site, his campus of change and, of course, the rhetoric of change, to nail down how Advani's campaign can be run to inspire India's untapped potential of young voters
Claiming forward movement in their parleys, the Gujjar leadership and the Rajasthan government on Tuesday held further talks to end the 26-day-old agitation for ST status.
Terror group Al Qaeda is "shaping" its regional affiliate in the Indian subcontinent to spread its operations into Jammu and Kashmir, Bangladesh and Myanmar, according to a UN report.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday failed to reach a decision on the fate of its troubled alliance with JD(U) in Bihar but indicated it favoured continuance of ties with its old ally without compromising on self-respect.
HDFC Bank has reshuffled the portfolios of its senior management team. This is the first major rejig after the amalgamation of HDFC Ltd on July 1. "The runway for our growth is large. This change is being done to bring in a very sharp focus on leveraging what we have built and for enhanced execution," said Sashidhar Jagdishan, managing director and chief executive of HDFC Bank, explaining the reason for this overhaul.
Congress top brass on Friday left the contentious issue of bringing the prime minister within the ambit of Lokpal to the government to decide.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has paved the way for the appointment of Jagadish Shettar as the next chief minister of Karnataka. BJP leader L K Advani who had reservations about the appointment of Shettar appears to have given in to the demands made by former Karnataka CM B S Yeddyurappa and his camp.
After a meeting of its core group, attended by top leaders, including L K Advani and BJP chief Rajnath Singh, the party said it was opposed to the deal and accused the government of making a 'significant strategic blunder' by turning it into a kind of an icon of India's relations with the US.
We asked colleagues, present and past, to reflect on a man who has made such a difference to their lives and careers. Here it is then, a rich collection of memories that offer enchanting glimpses of the enigmatic Ajit Balakrishnan.
Former Congress MLA from Barnala, Kewal Dhillon, and former Shiormani Akali Dal MLAs Sarup Chand Singla and Mohinder Kaur Josh also joined the BJP.
Around 100 lawmakers from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Pakistan Peoples' Party submitted the no-confidence motion before the National Assembly Secretariat on March 8, alleging that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf government led by Khan was responsible for the economic crisis and the spiralling inflation in the country.
The BJP core group held a meeting in New Delhi on Sunday to discuss the blast in a German bakery in Pune on Saturday evening in which nine persons were killed. It said the government must introspect whether the intelligence collection and security responses are still inadequate.
Trivendra Singh Rawat on Tuesday resigned as the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, ending days of speculations of a change in leadership in the hill state.
Ramgopal was expelled from the party for six years on October 23.
In a move that could take her political opponents by surprise, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati is learnt to be working overtime to hold elections this year. This, say sources, will give little time for her political rivals to prepare for the polls.
Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh late on Sunday night, the second time in a day, amidst speculation that he may resign.
Under the new reservation rule, families with income below Rs 6 lakh per annum will be eligible for quota benefit.
The BJP on Monday welcomed the Allahabad High Court verdict on Ayodhya issue saying it was a "significant step" towards building a grand temple at the birthplace of Lord Ram and opened a new chapter for national integration.
The Congress appears to be veering round to taking a call on the contentious Telangana statehood issue with party leader in charge of Andhra Pradesh saying consultation process is over and time for a decision has come.
The Congress high command held long discussions with former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and state congress chief Saifuddin Soz, but no decision was taken during the meeting whether to support the National Conference to form new government headed by Omar Abdullah.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday night said the government was confident of addressing the Left concerns on issues of national interest, including the Indo-US civil nuclear deal.
State BJP in-charge Om Mathur said the party has decided to form a core group of workers in each polling booth for the election.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday postponed its brainstorming session, scheduled for August 17-19 in Shimla, by two days, in view of a meeting of chief ministers and by-elections in some states. "It had to be postponed by two days as the prime minister has called a meeting of chief ministers to discuss internal security on August 17 and there are assembly by-elections on August 18," BJP president Rajnath Singh said.
In 2017, a retired R&AW officer conveyed that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was keen to get monarchy restored in Nepal and suggested that I support these efforts.
The Congress and the Left parties have not only extended support to the Samajwadi Party candidate but are also campaigning for him, in accordance with the spirit of the new opposition togetherness ahead of next year's general election.
Inching towards withdrawal of the controversial ordinance on convicted lawmakers, Congress top brass including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and party chief Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday grappled to work out a face saver in the wake of a huge political storm over Rahul Gandhi's public outburst against the measure.
After his public outburst against ordinance, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and is understood to have explained his reasons for opposing the move that will protect convicted lawmakers from immediate disqualification.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday announced his intent to raise quotas for Other Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the state, saying a legislation to the effect is likely to be brought in the ongoing assembly session.
Political observers are keen to see if the BJP will now be guided by its more firmly entrenched ideological dominance in picking a face solidly identified with its core planks, or if it will choose a person tilted more to its electoral calculations. Or, whether its pick will be an ode to its core supporters or a outreach to relatively new groups of votaries.
A letter, sent by Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrashekhar, made it clear that the felicitation was 'not in conformity with the country's foreign policy' and hence did not warrant the presence of any member of the Cabinet.
Describing India as an important member of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (the Quad) and a crucial partner for stability in the Indo-Pacific, the letter said that the lawmakers support the deepening strategic partnership between the two countries.
From a Pakistan-trained militant to one of the prominent separatist faces in Kashmir, life has come a full circle for chief of the banned Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Yasin Malik, who was in limelight for varied reasons over the past three decades of turmoil in the erstwhile restive border state.
