Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Saturday appeared to rule out early Lok Sabha polls, saying "our aim is to go till the very end".
Both the Congress and the UPA government are racing against time to try and revamp their image with the people. The new direct benefit transfer schemes, the proposed food security bill, the land acquisition bill and perhaps the women's reservation bill are among the vehicles that the Congress intends to use to reach out to the people, says Saroj Nagi.
Out of 24,230 IIT and NIT grads, about 8,000 students didn't find any takers during campus placement drives this year.
If you want to see our currency improve, then lower the interest rates, improve the growth and the rupee will rise, says Surjit S Bhalla.
If you want to see our currency improve, then lower the interest rates, improve the growth and the rupee will rise, says Surjit S Bhalla.
Is she, like the AIADMK's Jayalalithaa with the Vajpayee government in 1998, playing bully to a government that she knows cannot survive without her Parliamentary support? Or is there a greater scheme behind her erratic actions? Discussing the mercurial Mamata Banerjee on the Rediff Chat is Senior Editor Indrani Roy, a long-time watcher of Bengal and Mamata politics.
It is unusual for Congress chief ministers to say no to Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi, but some of them have gathered the courage to oppose Gandhi's dream project.
In the first sign of dissent within the ruling UPA government, Agriculture & Food Minister Sharad Pawar on Wednesday indicated that covering two-thirds of the population under the proposed Food Security Bill was not feasible.
Scoffing at the criticism over the government's decision to bring an ordinance to implement the Food Security Bill, Union minister Manish Tewari on Thursday accused the Opposition of shedding "crocodile tears" over Parliamentary propriety.
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi has criticised the Opposition parties for stalling the Food Security Bill in Parliament, and asserted the United Progressive Alliance government was determined to enact the legislation for the benefit of people.
HDFC has declined by over 7% and is the top Sensex loser.
Bhagwati criticised Amartya Sen for supporting the Food Security Bill, saying it is going to fuel inflation.
Why is Amit Shah becoming Modi's star player? Who is the most powerful man at Shastri Bhavan? Why is Kapil Sibal waiting for Independence Day? All this, and more, in this week's Dilli Gupshup.
The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs took the decision to extend the session till September 6 at a meeting held in Parliament House.
Modi can abandon the path of Hindutva only at risk to his position within his own fraternity. But if he pursues a hard line, he faces the risk of being hauled up by his coalition-partners. For the first time in a decade, Modi is not in enviable situation, observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Will Jayalalithaa fill the vacuum created after Nitish Kumar's exit from BJP-led NDA? Why the UPA government's Cabinet reshuffle ended with a whimper... Why the food security bill was stalled at the last moment... All this and more in this week's Dilli Gupshup.
Chhattisgarh proves no cash transfer or UID is needed to make PDS work.
It is eyeing the proposed Food Security Bill as one of the areas of pro-active involvement, even as the government is not much interested to consult the estranged comrades. The Bill has the potential of being the biggest social sector programme of the second Manmohan Singh government, just as the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act did during the first UPA regime.
If politicians are not even aware of the deep economic trouble a country is in, the crisis can only escalate.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday strongly backed the Centre's new Direct Benefit Transfer system that will ensure cash transfer directly in the hands of beneficiaries of various schemes, saying it is in line with many other "revolutionary" measures taken by the UPA.
A much stronger focus was required on irrigation and water management. The FM merely acknowledged that it was a problem.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi Thursday evening met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the backdrop of speculation of a cabinet reshuffle.
The Budget session of Parliament was abruptly adjourned sine die on Wednesday , with the second phase turning out to be a total washout amid opposition demands for the resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and ministers Ashwani Kumar and P K Bansal.
Flagging the challenge of raising foodgrain production, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday promised all assistance to states for improving agricultural growth.
Opposition to FDI in retail is misguided, says Pranab Bardhan, professor of economics in University of California, Berkeley.
The Budget is likely to implement the Congress's poll promise of a Food Security Bill, apart from increasing funds for schemes under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, earlier known as NREGA.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who has been spearheading the UPA's ambitious Food Security Bill, left the Lok Sabha while the voting was underway on Monday night on various amendments moved by the Opposition.
The National Advisory Council, chaired by Congress party president Sonia Gandhi, met for the second time on Thursday after its recent revival and unanimously endorsed the idea of universal access to the public distribution system (PDS) in rural areas.
The National Advisory Council, chaired by Congress party president Sonia Gandhi, met for the second time on Thursday after its recent revival and unanimously endorsed the idea of universal access to the public distribution system in rural areas. It was agreed that a universalised PDS should be implemented initially in 150 districts, a member said.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Saturday expressed anguish over the gruesome gangrape of a 23-year-old photojournalist in Mumbai.
A nationwide agitation was held on the call of 'December 8 Kisan Mahaandolan' as protesting farmers vociferously reiterated their demand of repealing the new farm laws, which they have termed as "kala kanoon".
India's tactical and operational response demonstrated its ability to prosecute tri-service operations, even without a formal tri-service doctrine or the higher command structure needed to coordinate it, points out Ajai Shukla.
Implementing the Food Ordinance is the bigger challenge and there are many provisions of the National Food Security Bill which need to be expanded and strengthened.
The government's subsidies on food, fertilisers, LPG and kerosene are pegged at Rs 5.96 lakh crore in the current fiscal, over 2.5-fold jump from the initial budget estimates as the Centre distributed additional foodgrains free of cost to help poor mitigate the impact of COVID-19 pandemic. In February 2020 Budget, presented in the pre-COVID scare, the government had estimated the subsidy bill at Rs 227,794 crore. However, all the budget estimates, have undergone major revisions as the country imposed strict lockdown to check the spread of COVID-19.
The industry needs a 10 year extension of tax benefits for standalone R&D entities.
Whether it was the MGNREGS or the NFSA or the Aadhaar-based DBT scheme for cash transfer, the Modi government has built on the basic architecture created by the Singh government. Policy makers in the Modi government, instead of discarding them as products of the previous political regime, worked on them, expanded their scope and reach, and used new tools to improve their performance, explains A K Bhattacharya.
A core member of Team Anna and expert of food security, Devinder Sharma, told rediff.com that there is a debate going on within Team Anna whether the Gandhian should hold his proposed fast to press for a stringent Lokpal Bill from December 27 in Mumbai.
When the landslide hit, Sruthi's house was washed away, along with its inhabitants. She lost her entire family and some relatives. All she had left for a close confidante was her fiance Jenson. Days after the landslide and the loss of her family, Jenson died in a road accident that also left Sruthi with serious injuries. News of the accident and Sruthi's backdrop as the lone surviving member of a family wiped out in the July landslide, was picked up by the media, and people rushed to help.
Union Cabinet committee on accommodation has allotted 6 Krishna Menon Marg -- the prestigious type 8 bungalow -- to the Jagjivan Ram Foundation.
In the chair was Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, a Bharatiya Janata Party leader of the old school with friends across parties unlike the duo who currently run the BJP.
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