The BJP needs to win maximum number of seats from northeast to strengthen Prime Minister Narendra Modi so that development of the region continues.
The Public Accounts Committee of Parliament has sent to the Telecom Ministry, a volley of questions including why views of the Finance Ministry, Law Ministry and even the Prime Minister were ignored when taking decisions on allocation of spectrum in 2008.
The government convened a meeting of UPA allies in the wake of persisting opposition demand for JPC into 2G spectrum allocation, an issue which has paralysed Parliament turning the winter session into a virtual washout.
Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi has written to Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha who is likely to consult the parliamentary affairs ministry before framing his response on the government's plans to advance the budget presentation to February 1, sources said.
While Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu asked the protestors not to make the House a "clog in the wheel" of progress, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said they should keep in mind the larger interests of the nation.
The standoff in Parliament over a joint Parliamentary probe into the alleged irregularities in the 2G spectrum allocation continued on Tuesday with the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha adjourning till noon, following uproar by the opposition parties.
Facing stiff opposition over the Nuclear Liability Bill, the government on Friday said it will consult all political parties before tabling the draft legislation in Parliament. "
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is likely to meet the leaders of the opposition parties again on Monday morning in his bid to break the impasse between the government and the opposition parties that has disrupted functioning of both houses of Parliament since the session began on November 9.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday hit out at Opposition parties for stalling the proceedings of Parliament, after their demand for a probe by the Joint Parliamentary Committee into the spectrum scandal was not accepted by the government.Reacting to a question on whether Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would make a statement on the resignation of Telecom Minister A Raja over the 2G spectrum scam, Pranab lost his cool.
Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee will present the Rail Budget on July 1.
Dr Murali Manohar Joshi, chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, has said that the constitution of a Joint Parliamentary Committee to probe the 2G spectrum scam would in no way hamper the job of the PAC that is investigating the massive scam right now.He was reacting to the statement made by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee that once the JPC was announced, the ongoing probe by PAC will amount to duplication of work.
Putting aside its winter fiasco, Parliament is all set for a smooth budget session from Monday with government telling the Opposition that an announcement on the constitution of a Joint Parliamentary Committee into the 2G spectrum will be made on Tuesday.
The committee members from the ruling and Opposition parties, in separate interactions with BSE and NSE, termed the volatility as 'clueless' and wanted both the exchanges to pull up their socks.
'This (opposition to the project) is not just architects, but everyone needs to know more.' 'We need to be allowed to participate, maybe, you can ignore what we have to say, that's your decision.' 'At least follow the process.
Unlike the regimes of Jayalalitha, Palaniswami and Karunanidhi, ministers are actually getting to make decisions on their own, with the unmentioned rider that they would be held responsible and accountable, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The National Health Protection Scheme -- announced by the finance minister -- is aimed at benefiting 10 crore poor families by providing coverage of up to Rs 5 lakh per family per year.
A committee would be set up by the finance ministry to consider the long-pending demand of ex-servicemen for a 'one-rank one-pension' scheme.
"For the Lok Sabha elections, we are making meticulous planning on all fronts including electronic voting machines (EVMs) and the voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT)," he said.
A Parliamentary committee has asked the Ministry of Small Scale Industries to work closely with Uttar Pradesh Finance Corporation for reviving mini cement plants in the state.
The bill will lapse on June 3 with the dissolution of the present Lok Sabha.
Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra expressed confidence in GST.
A meeting of United Progressive Alliance allies scheduled for Monday night, in the wake of persisting Opposition demand for a joint parliamentary committee into 2G spectrum allocation, was postponed at the last moment. The meeting convened by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is now expected to be held in a day or two. It had to be postponed as a number of leaders of allies were not in Delhi. The issue has paralysed Parliament.
Hitting back at the Bharatiya Janata Party for demanding a joint parliamentary committee probe into the 2G spectrum allocation, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday said it had no right to speak on the issue as the Tehelka sting operation had earlier exposed its party president taking a bribe on camera. "People should not forget what we have seen in the earlier regime, what happened in Tehelka. How the president of a national party was found taking money," he said.
The spending will erode the surplus generated through the sale of spectrum and could put pressure on fiscal deficit management.
Once passed by Parliament, the bill will replace an ordinance promulgated on December 30 last which provides for a fine of 10,000 or five times the cash held, whichever is higher, on holding of more than 10 banned 1,000 and 500 rupee notes.
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In a stern warning to Bharatiya Janata Party members of Parliament, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday asked them not to cross the 'lakshman rekha' with controversial remarks as it hurts the government and the party.
What makes Dhankar so outspoken? Could it because as governor he will be in the driver's seat if the Trinamool Congress performs below par in the elections next year? Shikha Shalini reports.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has released a list of 50 ministers with their assigned locations, where they will participate in the Yoga Day celebrations on Tuesday.
The government said on Friday that the controversial Women's Reservation Bill would be brought for consideration in the Lok Sabha in the Monsoon Session of Parliament -- a move apparently aimed at dividing opposition unity.
An all-party meeting on Tuesday failed to break the stalemate in Parliament over the demand for a joint parliamentary committee into 2G spectrum scam, leaving no immediate signs for return of normalcy in both Houses that have remained paralysed for four days.
Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance Chairman Yashwant Sinha wants the government to first introduce goods and services tax (GST) at the central level and set example for states to implement the indirect tax reform.
Uttar Pradesh presented a deficit budget for the financial year 2011-12.
'Clearly, the depositors of cooperative banks need the maximum protection.'
If Jaitley is finalised for the First Citizen's post, Modi will have scored two strategic goals, reports Rajeev Sharma.
Top Pakistani officials are refusing to disclose how and on what the country's powerful spy agency Inter Services Intelligence spent a whopping Rs 5.55 billion allocated to it during 2007-08. "This is highly sensitive information and hence I can't talk about it at an open forum," Finance Secretary Salman Siddiqui told the Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly or the lower house of parliament.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was on Monday named as the Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha, while Congress veteran Ghulam Nabi Azad was declared the Leader of the Opposition.
Concerned over the exploitation of credit card holders, a parliamentary committee has suggested that the Reserve Bank of India should prescribe maximum interest rate that can be charged by banks from customers.
The Parliamentary Committee on Public Undertakings (COPU) expressed serious concern over outsourcing of printing of Indian currency notes amounting to Rs 1 lakh crore (Rs 1 trillion) to three countries in 1997-98 and said that such a tendency would put India's economic sovereignty at stake.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday appointed observers for Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir a day after the party's good show in the assembly elections in the two states.
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