Amidst the flurry of political activities in Delhi over selection of the Presidential nominee, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, whose name has been reported to be Congress' first choice as candidate, on Thursday telephoned former West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.
The controversial note, made by the finance ministry and sent to the Prime Minister's office on March 25, 2011, involved two Cabinet ministers -- finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and home minister P Chidambaram, who was the finance minister at the time of the 2G scam in 2007-08.
Agriculture output has been reduced due to adverse impact of shortfall in rain or floods in some parts of the country.
Besides Mukherjee and Deora, the EGoM would have power minister Sushilkumar Shinde, fertiliser minister M K Alagiri, law minister Veerappa Moily and Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.
The country's economy is estimated to grow at 7.2 per cent in 2009-10 from 6.7 per cent last fiscal. Inflation on Monday rose to 8.56 per cent in January from 7.31 per cent in the previous month on various food items turning costlier.
"The puja is around 100 years old. Pranab's grandfather late Jangaleswar Mukherjee started the puja," said Goutam Roy, who has been looking after puja arrangements for the last couple of years.
India's Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will arrive in London on Thursday to participate in the two-day G20 Finance Ministers' and Bank Governors' meeting commencing on Friday to discuss the financial crisis.
Food production in the current fiscal is likely to go down as sowing will be 20 per cent lower due to the weak monsoon, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Tuesday. Also, 161 districts have been declared drought-prone, he added.
The announcement of the Assembly election schedule in five states between January 30 and March 3 has raised the possibility of rescheduling of the Budget for 2012-13 this year.
The Intelligence Bureau dismissed the incident stating that there was no bug but a chewing gum in the finance minister's office. But then why would the Finance Minister even write a letter to the Prime Minister seeking his intervention if there was really nothing there?
The weekly inflation figure is the highest during the past one year. Soaring onion and other vegetables' prices led to the sharp rise in inflation at 18.32 per cent for the week that ended on Christmas, up from 14.44 per cent recorded in the previous week.
Brushing aside speculations of tension with ally Trinamool Congress, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday said the two parties would form an alliance to fight the 2011 Assembly election.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday briefed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the ongoing investigation against the owners of Indian Premier League teams.During the briefing, Mukherjee explained to Dr Singh how bids for franchisees were made.Reportedly, Dr Singh and Mukherjee also discussed the names of Nationalist Congress Party leaders Praful Patel and Supriya Sule being drawn into the IPL controversy.
A day before unveiling the Budget, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will table the Economic Survey in Parliament on Thursday which will take stock of the economy and also the impact of stimulus on industry.
In a surprise statement, Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said the Congress has announced that Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is not their Presidential candidate, comments that came shortly after a Congress spokesperson suggested he is too "valued" to be spared.
Confident of meeting the schedule of introducing the goods and service tax in the beginning of the next fiscal, state finance ministers will meet the finance minister Pranab Mukherjee around mid-June on various issues relating to the new tax system.
Welcoming the truce between the Ambani brothers Mukesh and Anil, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday said it would do a lot of good to the business world.
Pranab Mukherjee, who will be on a five-day visit to US from September 21, will address the 8th Annual India Investment Forum Meeting.
Inflation has remained stubbornly close to double-digit levels during the first quarter of the current fiscal.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee spelt out the details of the United Progressive Alliance's austerity measures on Friday, saying he has advised ministers to travel in the Economy Class domestically and in the Business Class during international travel. The Finance Ministry has asked the various ministries to ensure a 10 per cent cut in non- planned expenditure, except in expenses related to security.
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Wednesday threw a spanner in the Congress party's works by proposing a completely different set of names for the post of President.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee asked all chief ministers to reduce state levies on diesel, kerosene and cooking gas to mitigate the impact of the price hike on the common man.
Union Minister Pranab Mukherjee worshipped Goddess Durga on Thursday at his ancestral home in Mirati village on 'Mahasaptami', the first day of the four-day long puja.
With the rupee fast losing value against the US dollar, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday blamed volatility in global commodity prices for currency depreciation and said deteriorating balance of payment (BoP) situation in several Asian countries also put stress on currencies.
Concerned over a spike in crude oil prices in international markets due to turmoil in West Asia, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Wednesday the government is monitoring the situation and will manage it.
Critics call fiscal deficit projections ambitious; government to meet Opposition, chief ministers to discuss issues after Budget session
In Kolkata, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee let her annoyance be known.
Here are few excerpts from the July 30 debate
Hitting back at Team Anna, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has rejected their allegations of corruption against him as "unfair" and "self-seeking" and said it reflected the lack of responsibility on behalf of those claiming to represent high standards of ethical behaviour.
Pranab said he had clarified this issue in no uncertain terms with US Treasury Secretary who had brought up this issue during bilateral talks.
In the backdrop of Dayanidhi Maran's exit from the Union cabinet over the 2G scam issue, senior Congress leader and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday discussed the current political situation with Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi and asserted that the alliance between the two parties would be strengthened.
Principal Advisor in the Planning Commission and former Chief Statistician of India Pronab Sen did not share RBI's views.
The expectations of our people and that of our global collaborators and the foreign investors from us are high and rising. In the best of times these expectations would rest heavily on our shoulders.
Amid the raging controversy over the note on P Chidambaram vis-a-vis 2G spectrum auction, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee would meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New York on Sunday to sort out the issue.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who gave up his smoking pipe years ago, feels that others too deserve encouragement to kick the habit and hence has subject tobacco products to higher taxation, while exempting toy balloons from central excise duty.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday expressed disappointment about the outcome of a meeting with Union Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on the financial condition of the cash-strapped state.
Concerned over the washout of Parliament this week, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday said Parliament is not meant for "disruptions" and also appealed to his "political colleagues" to keep aside politics from major economic decisions.
When a group of pro-Telangana Members of Parliament went to meet Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday to "discuss" the separate state issue, Mukherjee snapped at them and said: "Please don't waste my time. There is nothing more to discuss now."
He's the first finance minister to present Budgets on either side of an election and the first to do so after a quarter-century gap.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday said Rahul Gandhi could "probably" become the next prime minister.
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