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. "
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.
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.
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.
Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra expressed confidence in GST.
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.
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.
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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.
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.
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.
If Jaitley is finalised for the First Citizen's post, Modi will have scored two strategic goals, reports Rajeev Sharma.
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.
Gandhi used a purported audio clip to allege that Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar is 'blackmailing' Modi.
The spending will erode the surplus generated through the sale of spectrum and could put pressure on fiscal deficit management.
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.
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.
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.
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.
New Delhi is witnessing a spurt of political activity over the Goods and Services Tax Bill.
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.
There is much work to be done to design a good GST.
A parliamentary committee has pulled up the finance ministry for not adhering to Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act in cutting revenue deficit by 0.5 per cent of GDP for 2005-06 saying there should not be deviations every now and then.
"We are trying to bring the new taxation regime, which can last for another 50 years. Therefore, our endeavour is to see that new taxation system should include the basic features and time tested procedures of existing act, which have survived judicial security over the years."
Former Union minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Murli Manohar Joshi is likely to become the next chairman of the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee while Yashwant Sinha will replace him as head of the Standing Committee on Finance, BJP sources said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to keep tabs on ministers who do not attend the weekly meetings on Monday convened by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for the spokespersons of the Bharatiya Janata Party and it is a wing of the parliamentary party. Renu Mittal reports
The idea behind advancing the Budget date is to ensure that the Finance Bill is passed before the start of the financial year, on April 1, so that all central government departments get their full allocations to work with right from the first day
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said the government is ready for a discussion on the issue of alleged financial irregularities in the banking sector and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will reply to the debate.
Speaker Om Birla he will hold a meeting with leaders of all parties and then take a decision.
"The rule of law is under attack. History shall never forgive our present generation if the situation is not changed," the former PM said.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley appealed to parties to rise above partisan considerations to support it.
Taking a dig at the Congress over frequent disruptions in the Rajya Sabha, Jaitley said, "Those who claim the legacy of Panditji must ask themselves the question, what kind of history are they making."
Sitharaman, who was holding the Commerce portfolio (Independent charge), was on Sunday promoted to the Cabinet rank as was Goyal.
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