Refuting allegation of misusing position to get corporate funding for his family-run NGO, Oil Minister M Veerappa Moily on Wednesday said he had at no point extended any help or favour to any company for seeking aid.
Criticising various provisions in the proposed GST regime, Moily said it will be a "technological nightmare" and the anti-profiteering provisions in it are "far too draconian."
The government is planning to amend the Special Marriage Act and relevant laws to curb the menace of honour killings of young couples and kangaroo court rulings, which have seen a spurt in recent months.
Oil Minister M Veerappa Moily on Friday hinted at a reduction in price of petrol in next few days, the first cut in rates in over five months.
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.
India has insisted that US must provide a direct access to its investigators to interrogate Pakistani-American David Headley, who has confessed to plotting the Mumbai terror attacks.
A decision on repealing the controversial Section of the Penal Law which criminalises homosexuality would be taken only after considering concerns of all sections of society, including religious groups like the church, Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily said on Sunday.
Diesel is currently sold at a loss of over Rs 10.80 per litre.
In the wake of "public sentiment" in the Aarushi Talwar murder case, the Law Ministry has asked the Central Bureau of Investigation to have a fresh look at the closure report in the teenager's death probe, Law Minister M Veerappa Moily said on Sunday.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved appointment of Sarraf, who at present is Managing Director of ONGC's overseas arm, ONGC Videsh Ltd.
The government hailed the consensus among major political parties on the Women's Reservation Bill on Sunday and said no single party could claim credit for it.
Amid a grouping of political parties from Telangana stepping up its campaign for a separate state, Centre today said it had no plans to set up a second States Reorganisation Commission and ruled out imposition of President's rule in the state.
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.
The Congress on Wednesday released a list of 40 leaders who would be the party's star campaigners for the May 10 assembly elections.
The reduction in rates is likely to be announced by the month end as per the practice of fortnightly revision in prices, and has been made possible due to appreciation of rupee against the US dollar.
The coming assembly and Lok Sabha elections -- the choice of candidates, the campaign strategies and the negotiations with other Opposition parties --0 represent the real test for Mallikarjun Kharge.
The youngest in the CWC is 31-year-old Neeraj Kundan, who is an ex-officio member of the body as the president of the National Students Union of India, the students' wing of the party.
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.
While 39 members of the all-important panel are general members, it has 32 permanent invitees, including some in-charges of state and 13 special invitees.
The opposition on Tuesday termed as an 'election jumla' the women's reservation bill brought by the government with many leaders raising questions over the proposed legislation, contending it doesn't account for reservation for OBC communities and that it will be effective at the earliest by the 2029 Lok Sabha polls.
Excerpted from Sahara: The Untold Story by Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Ghulam Nabi Azad's resignation from the Congress on Friday marked the most high-profile exit of one of the "Group of 23" (G-23) leaders, who had written to party chief Sonia Gandhi two years ago for a "collective and inclusive leadership" in the organisation, exposing the faultlines in the grand old party.
Even as the grand old party seeks to promote opposition unity ahead of the hustings next year, Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, however, would be conspicuous by her absence at the event at Sree Kanteerava Stadium.
Will the new Congress government implement the five 'guarantees' that helped it in part to wrest power from the Bharatiya Janata Party in toto or will they now add a "conditions apply" clause?
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.
'Soniaji is like a mother to the party. We revere her even now'
It said the Congress will infuse new blood in leadership roles without creating new fault lines and cementing its ideological moorings.
The conference was seen by many as a show of strength by the Opposition with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, his Jharkhand counterpart Hemant Soren and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav joining in to raise their voice against oppression of backward classes.
Union Minister and Kerala Congress leader, Vayalar Ravi has reacted with shock at the death of former Kerala Chief Minister K Karunkaran. Ravi told rediff.com on phone from New Delhi that this is a great loss not only for Kerala but for the Congress as a whole.
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.
'Ram Sene or Bajrang Dal were supposed to be fringe elements, but with the BJP in power, they have become mainstream elements.' 'The government is either keeping quiet or indirectly supporting them.'
A homemaker in every family would get a monthly assistance of Rs 1,000, the manifesto said.
'This kind of poisonous and anti-national activities happening in the country and the economic failure of the Modi government may boomerang in the form of a Congress revival.'
The senior Congress leader asserted that those calling for reform should have had a discussion with others as well.
The letter was not a challenge to leadership but a parchment of action to strengthen the party, Congress MP Vivek Tankha asserted, while former union minister Mukul Wasnik said those who saw the letter as an "offence" will also soon realise that the issues raised are worth consideration.
Former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh will head all the three committees.
The studies found that sectors with the highest unaccounted income included real estate, mining, pharmaceuticals, pan masala, gutkka and tobacco, bullion and commodity markets, film industry, educational institutes and professionals.
The appointees are expected to reflect Rahul Gandhi's vision of a new Congress with MP and Rahul's "bench mate" in the LS, KC Venugopal, expected to play an important role.
Even though it was stated that no action would be taken against the senior leaders who had written to Sonia Gandhi, they say that the retaliation had already begun, reports Aditi Phadnis
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