Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh was hopeful that the bill will be passed in the Budget session.
The government said it will appoint an independent regulator for the aviation sector by October this year. After clearance from the Parliament, it would take about three months to set up the regulator. The regulator would look into aspects like aeronautical charges, user development fee, passenger fee and others. Govt is also considering a Greenfield Airport Policy. It will also soon come out with a Vision Document 2020 that will contain plans for airport infrastructure, etc.
Press Council Chief Justice Markandey Katju on Saturday urged Parliament to refer the Lokpal Bill to a Standing Committee for further consideration so that a workable corruption investigation machinery can be created. In its present state, the Bill can create a parallel bureaucracy that could turn into a "Frankenstein monster" and double or triple corruption, he said in a statement.
Dismissing suggestions that Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi's idea of giving constitutional status to Lokpal Bill was a delaying tactic by the Congress, the ruling party made it clear that it was for the collective wisdom of the Standing Committee and Parliament to accept the proposal.
The Budget session of Parliament started Monday with the President's address.
The revised draft of the Electricity Bill will be brought before Cabinet for approval soon, Power Secretary R V Shahi said in New Delhi on the sidelines of a seminar on power conservation.\n\n\n\n
The Standing Committee on Finance, which met under the chairmanship of senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha, has decided to finalise its report by March 2, enabling Parliament to consider the ambitious reforms in direct tax regime.
Activist Aruna Roy on Thursday night questioned political parties for raising objections to the provision of setting up of Lokayuktas in the Lokpal Bill, saying they did not oppose such a move earlier.
The disengagement process between India and China in eastern Ladakh is in final stages and on the brink of completion, top officials of the country's defence establishment on Thursday told a parliamentary panel during a meeting, which sources said turned 'stormy' amid several questions asked by opposition members including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
Abhishek Manu Singvi, chairman of 30-member Standing Committee of Parliament, on Wednesday adopted the Lokpal draft for consideration and approval by the union cabinet before it is tabled in both houses in the form of an anti-corruption bill.
"What the RTI Act did was to make available to citizens any information that could be provided, that the government was obliged to provide to a Member of Parliament (MP). In theory, that channel remains open to us," says prominent economist and RTI activist Reetika Khera about how Indian citizens could still have access to information that they want
Seeking to dispel the impression of policy inaction, the government is likely to give a push to pension sector reform by approving changes in the proposed PFRDA Bill so that it can be taken up by Parliament for the passage in the Monsoon session next month.
India's Parliamentary Standing Committee on Food and Consumer Affairs has called for a complete ban on futures trading in essential commodities like wheat, rice and sugar.
The much-delayed Women's Reservation Bill may not come up in the Budget session of Parliament as it has to be scrutinised by a new Parliamentary panel. A Union minister, who declined to be identified, said work needed to be done on the Bill which was before the Standing Committee on Law and Justice.
A five-time Member of Parliament from Uttara Kannada Lok Sabha constituency is now the Minister of State in the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
Government on Friday ruled out replacing its Lokpal Bill with another, saying it will be better to have amendments to the one already introduced.
Admitting that the government was in a "bind" from which it has to come out, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday night said that "practical and pragmatic" solutions have to be found to the Lokpal issue.
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.
The pension reforms Bill is likely be passed with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) deciding to support it in the parliamentary standing committee. The Bill has been pending since 2005. Its revised version was tabled in the Budget session of Parliament this year.
The terrorist attack on a key Pakistani naval airbase last month during which 10 security personnel were killed and two maritime surveillance aircraft destroyed was carried out with "inside support", senior Pakistani military officials told a Parliamentary panel.
Following is the text of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's remarks at the all party meeting on the Lokpal issue in New Delhi on Wednesday evening.
Kejriwal spoke exclusively to rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt and was making his final position clear. Before the third round of agitation against corruption begins in the last week of December read the logic and passion behind it in this the first of a two-part series.
The results of the assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh are also likely to play out during the start of the session.
A Parliamentary Standing Committee on Railways observed that projects were started without much 'justification and background' work. The projects were not completed despite making huge investments on them, as new projects were taken up.
After 17 tumultuous years, a nationwide Goods and Services Tax (GST) will rollout from midnight of June 30, overhauling India's convoluted indirect taxation system and unifying the $2 trillion economy with 1.3 billion people into a single market.
Rejecting the demand for referring Insurance Bill to a Select Committee, the government on Thursday said the Congress was 'stonewalling' the key reform measure to deny credit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi before he goes to the United States.
But BSNL operates in the dynamic telecom sector with high growth rates. BSNL's problems have more to do with management and interference from the DoT.
'I was never interested to work as Leader of Opposition but accepted the role on demand of the party MLAs'
India's per capita expenditure on defence is less than $10, while the average expenditure of the top ten spenders in Asia is $800 approximately.
A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Justice KM Joseph said the concepts of liberty, equality and fraternity must not be "strange bedfellows" to the ruling class.
In a far-reaching verdict, the Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and the election commissioners will be done by the President on the recommendation of a committee, comprising the Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the CJI, to maintain the "purity" of the electoral process.
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram has said the government would soon introduce the Communal Violence (Prevention, Control and Rehabilitation) Bill with amendments to prevent violence in the name of caste and religion.
With Team Anna stepping up the heat on the corruption issue, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday said the government was open to reasoned debate on the Lokpal Bill but made it clear that there was no single solution to tackle the problem.
Pakistan said on Thursday it will adopt a "positive and constructive" approach to its upcoming talks with India with a view to resolving all outstanding issues, including the Kashmir problem, on the basis of sovereign equality and mutual respect.
After introducing the controversial nuclear liability bill in the Lok Sabha amid opposition protests, the government on Friday said it hopes to bring it for consideration in the Monsoon session of Parliament.
The Union Budget for 2017 is likely to be presented on February 1. An approval for merging the Railway Budget with the General Budget was accorded by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday.
'What matters is meeting the needs and expectations of the people who have voted to provide governance for the country.'
The Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee is keen to field senior leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra from Varanasi and will soon send a proposal in this regard to the top leadership, said newly appointed party's state president Ajay Rai on Sunday.
Chinese Parliament approved the nomination of Vice President Xi Jinping for the vice-chairmanship of the powerful Central Military Commission, paving the way for him to succeed President Hu Jintao in 2012.
Last week Sheela Bhatt spoke to Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal about the government's Lokpal bill in the first part of an interview. On Friday, as the parliamentary standing committee submitted its report to Parliament, we bring you the second part of the interview with Kejriwal.
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