Government will assist the Supreme Court in arriving at a "right decision" on the issue of decriminalising homosexuality and no decision should be expected from the Union Cabinet on the matter, Law Minister M Veerappa Moily said on Sunday.
Veerappa Moily was forced to defer the Judges (Declaration of Assets and Liabilities) Bill, 2009 after the Opposition, including the Bharatiya Janata Party and Left, took strong objection to Clause VI of the Bill which states that High Court and Supreme Court Judges would declare their assets but the same would not be made public.
The Congress saw no hand of Y S Jaganmohan Reddy in the rebellion in newly constituted Andhra Pradesh ministry over the allocation ofportfolios and expressed confidence that it will soon be over. "It's not some kind of a Jagan plot. It could be a bargain tactic to take advantage of the tough situation," a senior party leader, who declined to be identified, said.
Bharatiya Janata Party leaders have hailed M Veerappa Moily's announcement after taking over as the Union law and justice minister that the next five years will be an era of judicial reforms. The party's legal hands, including former ministers, said that the BJP was willing to go the extra mile to cooperate with the government in ushering in the much-delayed judicial reforms.
As oil minister, he has overseen India's petroleum and natural gas needs. But now he also runs the environment ministry, where he has issued permits for 100 stalled projects in a month-long spree that has delighted industry but shocked green activists.
The much-awaited women's reservation bill will be brought to the Lok Sabha soon, the government said on Saturday.
A clarification on delinking Aadhaar account from disbursal of subsidised LPG cylinders would be issued within a week, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Veerappa Moily said during Question Hour.
Announcing the fifth poll 'guarantee' of the Congress ahead of the May 10 assembly polls in Karnataka, party leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday promised free travel for women in public transport buses, if it's voted to power in the state.
"There are differing views (in the Cabinet), but that does not mean divisions," Law Minister M Veerappa Moily said when asked about the lack of consensus at the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday on conducting caste-based census.
There are indications that the Centre will order a reinvestigation of the case against former Haryana director general of police S P S Rathore, convicted of molesting a teenaged girl who later killed herself, in the face of public outcry that he got away with a light punishment and that should be charged with abetment to suicide.
The Centre on Saturday sought to downplay the growing momentum for carving out of small states in some regions after the decision on Telangana and said cooperation of (undivided) states and political parties is needed in addressing such demands.
A homemaker in every family would get a monthly assistance of Rs 1,000, the manifesto said.
OIL, which had paid a total dividend of 190 per cent in 2011-12, in January declared an interim dividend of 110 per cent for the current fiscal.
Union Minister Jairam Ramesh is back in the Congress's high-profile Group on Future Challenges, which also has Rahul Gandhi as its prominent member. Ramesh, who was earlier the convener of the Group, was dropped after its first meeting late last year, without any official explanation. Confirming his return, senior party leader M Veerappa Moily, who heads the panel said, "Ramesh is now a member of the group".
Seeking to take the wind out of defiant Y S Jaganmohan Reddy's sails, Congress on Monday announced Rs 1 lakh each to the families of those who committed suicide in the wake of the death of then Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and his father Y S Rajasekhar Reddy.
Former Chief Justice of India A M Ahmadi, whose dilution of charges in the Bhopal gas case has created a storm, on Saturday said he would not like to enter into the blame game over the issue of accused getting light punishment.
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The five discoveries -- D4, D7, D8, D16 and D23 - hold 0.805 trillion cubic feet of reserves, or about one-fourth of the restated reserves in the currently producing Dhirubhai-1 and 3 (D1&D3) fields in KG-D6 block, and are worth $10 billion.
Hinting that the government's options were open on the new law, Dr Singh said, "We have not reached a conclusion yet. I have asked a group of officials to study the administrative reforms commission report and then we will decide."
The Bill also seeks to extend nomination of Anglo-Indian communities to the Lok Sabha and the state assemblies by another 10 years. The Constitution (109th Amendment) Bill 2009 moved by Law Minister M Veerappa Moily seeks to extend the reservation beyond January 25, 2010 when the time period of 60 years under Article 334 of the Constitution lapses.
After Moily took over as oil minister, the central government agreed to link prices with global indices.
The opposition parties on Sunday slammed the move to hire public servants through lateral entry, claiming it will snatch reservations from SCs, STs and OBCs, but the Bharatiya Janata Party hit back stating the National Democratic Alliance government was bringing transparency to this mode of recruitment started by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance.
Sixteen former ministers of the United Progressive Alliance government are staying unauthorised in government bungalows for over a month now and have been served eviction notices, the Lok Sabha was told on Wednesday.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday released its second list of candidates for the Lok Sabha polls. The Election Commission has cleared 52 candidates of which 20 are from Karnataka.
In a shake up ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan resigned on Saturday from the Union Council of Ministers and more may be in line for being drafted into party work.
Karnataka BJP too said such a proposal is "neither the wish nor the will" of the party.
Moily insisted that no proposal has been moved to the Cabinet for raising diesel rates beyond the 40-50 paise a litre monthly increase, which has been implemented since January.
Thirty-five of the 77 Union ministers have failed to file annual details of their assets and liabilities before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh even over a month after the passage of the deadline.
In a message for the Congress, poll strategist Prashant Kishor on Friday said those looking for a quick revival of the grand old party-led opposition following the Lakhimpur Kheri incident are in for a big disappointment as there are no quick fix solutions to the "deep-rooted problems" of the party.
The Group of Ministers on Telangana is set to discuss the draft bill for the creation of Telangana on Saturday.
Terming Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal ordering FIR against it as shocking, Reliance Industries said the complaints that were used to base the action are baseless and devoid of merit or substance.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, however, was conspicuous by her absence at the event, which was attended by tens of thousands of people as the Congress sought to promote opposition unity.
Sports Minister Jitendra Singh responded to his senior colleague in the government Veerappa Moily's letter to him in connection with Jwala Gutta's ongoing impasse with the BAI, saying that he will examine her case and see how he can extend support to her.
Oil Minister M Veerappa Moily has asked the finance ministry to cut duties on branded petrol and diesel that offer better mileage and help cut fuel consumption.
The Turkmenistan event underscores the lengths to which China's oil-and-gas companies will go to curry favour in resource-rich locales.
While the government had in June approved a new formula for pricing of all domestically produced natural gas, the Cabinet yesterday allowed the same principles to also be applied to Reliance Industries' currently producing fields in KG-D6 block subject to certain conditions.
Could Jairam Ramesh's frank comments work to the BJP's advantage?
All the issues around which the grand old party wanted to fight the May 10 assembly elections have been put on the backburner as party state president DK Shivakumar in damage control mode took up a temple run.
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