'Why should they say that their doors are open? Are we beggars? My doors are open for them,' a defiant Mamata said.
Mukherjee is visiting Pakistan to formally invite President Pervez Musharraf to attend the SAARC Summit to be held in India on April 3-4.
It was significant that the ceremony took place at 24, Akbar Road, the party's former national headquarters, and not at its new office in Kotla Road.
The fire, described as 'minor', was due to a short-circuit in the antechamber next to Pranab Mukherjee's room, according to the fire department.
The meet assumes significance as the Mumbai unit of the I-T department is handling probe into high-value cases of tax evasion including the Indian Premier League case, probe into the investments of Pune-based stud farm owner Hassan Ali Khan and tax related cases of the top cricketing body of the country -- Board of Control for Cricket in India.
Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had a brief meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on salient features of the Budget.
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.
Officials in Dhaka have been given details of persons indulging in insurgency and other terrorist activities during a meeting of the Home Secretaries from the two sides.
In the first objection from within Congress, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday said he is not in favour of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh appearing before the Public Accounts Committee on the 2G spectrum issue as he was accountable to the Lok Sabha and "not to any committee".
"Whenever we will be in a postion to share it with Pakistan, it will be done so," External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told media-persons in New Delhi when asked when India will respond to Pakistan's questions.
The revised draft DTC, released earlier this month, has dropped the contentious issues of the first discussion paper.
Even as India's annual inflation rate touched 10.16 per cent in May, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday ruled out the possibility of interest rates rising in the short term. He said he expected inflation to be on the higher side till the middle of July.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has arrived in New York for a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the 2G spectrum issue in the wake of a Finance Ministry note involving P Chidambaram.
However, he disappointed big time by not announcing any relief in taxes or change in the tax structure to bring relief to the common man.
The finance minister also says that India requires an investment of $850 billion to $1 trillion in the next 5-7 years.
The results of the 10 assembly by-elections in West Bengal once again proved that the people wanted the Trinamool Congress-Congress alliance and the ruling Left Front was losing popularity, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in Kolkata on Wednesday.
"Instances of inhuman treatment of Indian prisoners have come to the notice of consular offices of our mission in Islamabad from time to time," External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in a written reply.
A committee has been formed and the price situation was being reviewed, the finance minister added.
Just 6.4% of branches owned by new private sector banks are in the rural areas
Protesting the 'erroneous' stand, Prasenjit Bose, former convenor of the research unit of CPI-M, decided to send his resignation letter to the CPI-M leadership, and was later expelled from the party. We present the letter, where he elaborates his stand, which was first published in Pragati, on July 22.
'The government will soon announce new procedures to make it easier and mandatory for all arms agents to register themselves with not only the Defence ministry, but also Reserve Bank.'
The first anniversary of the Mumbai terror attacks on Thursday saw Leader of the Opposition L K Advani expressing concern over the relief to the victims and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee hitting back, accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party of exploiting the 26/11 terror attacks for political gains
The meeting, on the sidelines of the Annual Spring session of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, will happen within a couple days of about a dozen US industry associations writing to the US Treasury Secretary to take up the controversial move by India to amend the Income Tax Act with retrospective effect.
Crossing Rs 49, the Indian currency is moving fast towards the Rs 50-to-a-dollar mark.
In a bid to end the impasse inParliament, the government reached out to the Bharatiya Janata Party saying it was ready for a discussion on 2-G spectrum issue and a Supreme Court-monitored CBI probe but rejected the demand for a JPC, which failed to cut ice with the main opposition.
The DMK on Monday put on hold the resignations of its six ministers from the UPA Government in a dramatic new turn, with the party and Congress engaged in hectic negotiations to sort out their seat-sharing problems in Tamil Nadu. Senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee telephoned DMK chief M Karunanidhi twice, and urged him not to pull out his ministers from the cabinet during the Budget Session, and sought a day's time to resolve problems.
In a possible precursor to further rate cuts, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's meeting with public sector bank chiefs on Monday will review their benchmark prime lending rates and interest rates on loans for automobiles, homes, small and medium enterprises and non-banking finance companies.
VDS schemes in the past offered amnesty to people declaring black money and paying tax. This policy has been criticised as it amounted to penalising honest tax payers by asking them to pay tax at higher rates.
In a clear indication that it is against the appointment of an American special envoy for the sub-continent, India said on Tuesday that there was a bilateral mechanism to improve Indo-Pakistan ties and third party intervention would not make any difference.Asked about US media reports that the incoming Obama administration may appoint former President Bill Clinton or some other person as special envoy, Pranab Mukherjee said that such news reports were speculative.
In the Budget 2012-13, the government had pegged 2012-13 gross domestic product growth at 7.6 per cent (plus, minus 0.25 per cent).
'The inflow of FII or FDI has not distorted the market sentiments and therefore there is no question of putting any curbs.'
Emerging after a 20-minute meeting, Mukherjee told reporters that he has had a 'close relationship' with Karunanidhi since the 1970s.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Sonia's political secretary Ahmed Patel were also present.
United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in New Delhi on Wednesday on a day's visit, during which New Delhi is expected to share with her evidence on the Mumbai terror strikes, pointing towards involvement of 'elements' based in Pakistan.
"There is no denying the fact that we voted against Iran at IAEA. The intention was to ensure that its nuclear issue does not go to the Security Council as it would entail sanctions and more problems," External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said while rejecting allegations that India's foreign policy was being affected by the Indo-US nuclear deal.
Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee has ruled out any move to convert the short range surface-to-surface Prithvi missile into an anti-missile or a nuclear shield.
The prime minister's decision is reportedly a fallout of the 'hue and cry' created during his Washington visit over the 2G spectrum issue.
'Modi had not discussed demonetization with me prior to his announcement on 8 November 2016. 'I learnt of it along with the rest of the country. 'I was not surprised when he did not discuss the issue with me prior to making the public announcement. 'It fitted in with his style of making dramatic announcements.' A fascinating excerpt from Pranab Mukherjee's The Presidential Years: 2012-2017.
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday maintained that he will speak, if necessary, on the finance ministry note on 2G spectrum allocation issue only after talking to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday.
