An end to the ongoing logjam in Parliament on the issue of Foreign Direct Investment in retail on Wednesday appeared in sight, with the government giving enough hints that it has no problem over a vote on the issue. In an effort to break the impasse, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath, along with his deputy Rajiv Shukla, held a meeting with Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and her Rajya Sabha counterpart Arun Jaitley.
Faced with a deadlock in Parliament over FDI in retail, Government has convened an all-party meeting in New Delhi on Monday as the Left and the Right have remained adamant on discussion under a rule that entails voting.
This year the meeting will take place from Tuesday to Thursday in Lahore. The Cairn Group is composed of World Trade Organisation members pressing for further agricultural reform within the WTO.
Reports of Walmart engaging lobbying firms to get entry into India and demand for quota in promotion in government jobs rocked Parliament leading to washout of Question Hour in both Houses.
Asserting that there is no compulsion for implementing FDI in retail and states are free to decide on it, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath on Wednesday urged all political parties to vote against the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Against the backdrop of claims made by a former Comptroller and Auditor General official on its report on 2G spectrum, the government on Monday favoured a discussion in the Lok Sabha on the "serious" matter.
Congress reached out to Samajwadi Party Supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav for his support for passage of the Food Security Bill which is expected to be introduced in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday coinciding with the birth anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi.
President Pranab Mukherjee talked though on the ordinance to protect convicted lawmakers as he questioned three Union ministers -- Law Minister Kapil Sibal, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath and Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde. He sought minutes of the Cabinet and all party meetings after which the United Progressive Alliance withdrew the decree.
A Congress MP reveals to Sheela Bhatt the Congress plan to protect the Speaker and home minister and muscle through the tabling of the Telangana bill in Parliament.
The government on Thursday said it will set up a committee to look into the allegations that US retail giant Walmart indulged in lobbying activities in India to gain entry in the country's market.
A day after the Congress reached out to Mulayam Singh Yadav seeking support for passage of the Food Security Bill, the Samajwadi Party on Tuesday decided to support the legislation but will move amendments seeking to give farmers their due for crops and giving more grains per person.
It was a faux pas by Treasury Benches members when they voted against a clause in the Food Security Bill in the Lok Sabha on Monday night, thinking it was a division on an amendment moved by the Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj.
Sources said the Cabinet at its meeting on Thursday is expected to finalise the schedule for the session, the first after the Narendra Modi government has taken over.
The Congress on Monday distanced itself from former Finance Minister P Chidambaram's statement that the banning of Salman Rushdie's controversial novel 'The Satanic Verses' by the Rajiv Gandhi government was wrong.
Eight Union ministers, two former chief ministers and one ex-governor are among those who are set to test their electoral fate in the first phase of elections on April 19 when 102 seats across 21 states and Union territories will go to polls.
Venting his anguish over disruptions in Parliament, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said his heart bleeds over what is happening in the House and it is sad for democracy.
The controversial Communal Violence Bill and the bill for creation of Telangana will be tabled in the next session of Parliament, Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said on Thursday.
Eight-term member Sumitra Mahajan was on Friday unanimously elected Speaker of the 16th Lok Sabha, becoming the second woman presiding officer of the Lower House after her predecessor Meira Kumar.
The Lok Sabha will have a sitting on Saturday, despite being a Saturday, notwithstanding strong demands by several members of Parliament, leaders and ministers against it
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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Friday discussed the strategy to be adopted in the monsoon session of the Parliament on issues such as Telangana and proposed amendments in the Right to Information Act.
N Srinivasan may have put up a brave face by outrightly rejecting demands for his resignation but Union minister for Parliamentary Affairs Kamal Nath feels that the Tamil Nadu strongman's position has become "untenable."
With Lok Sabha elections due in April-May, government will hold a session of Parliament in the first fortnight of February to pass the vote-on-account.
High drama was witnessed in Lok Sabha on Thursday as an exasperated government brought a motion to suspend 11 members from Andhra Pradesh, including seven from Congress, for protesting over Telangana issue, but an aggressive opposition scuttled the move.
It is time to pack up, sir! Please resign and save some honour of the Lok Sabha, an anguished Sheela Bhatt reports from the Lok Sabha press gallery after watching the shameful goings on over the tabling of the Telangana Bill.
The legislation will now be sent to President Pranab Mukherjee for his assent.
In the 230-member House, the BJP has 127 MLAs and the Congress 96.
The bill on separate Telangana could rock the last session of the 15th Lok Sabha beginning Wednesday with several parties asking the government to first get the Vote on Account passed before taking up any other legislation.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's tweet that Congress president Sonia Gandhi should have been taken to hospital in a "well-equipped" ambulance provoked a Congress attack on him saying politics should not be played on the health of leaders.
A committee tasked by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to assess the situation on the China border is understood to have reported that Indian troops are not being allowed to patrol up to the perceived Line of Actual Control by Chinese army.
The government on Wednesday reached out to opposition Janata Dal-United as continued disruptions in Parliament blocked passage of the United Progressive Alliance's 'game changer' Food Security Bill that aims to provide foodgrains at cheap rates to 67 per cent of the population.
Amid demands for getting the long-pending Women's Reservation Bill passed, the government on Wednesday said it is ready to extend the last session of the 15th Lok Sabha if the House agreed.
Putting behind the acrimony witnessed during the session, Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj on Friday praised Sonia Gandhi and other Congress leaders for their conduct in the Lok Sabha.
The government is likely to firm up next week a view on how to go about the food security bill. Indications to this effect were available on Wednesday with the government sources saying a decision will be taken only after Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar's return from Rome where he has gone to attend Food and Agriculture Organisation conference.
The introduction of the Telangana Bill itself has run into a controversy with several parties, including the Bharatiya Janata Party, telling Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar that they do not accept that the legislation has been introduced.
Lamenting that lot of time has been wasted in the last two to three Parliament sessions, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday asked the opposition to cooperate in the passage of the legislative business including the "most important" ordinance on Food security bill.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Monday made a strong pitch for the party being given the post of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha contending that it is the single largest party in the opposition.
The first session of the newly-constituted 16th Lok Sabha will be held from June 4 to June 11 with President Pranab Mukherjee addressing the joint sitting of both Houses on June 9.
The Congress had moved the motion on Wednesday, targeting the Chouhan government over law and order, unemployment, inflation, corruption, 'discrimination' against the opposition legislators, atrocities against women and tribals, farmers' problems and other issues.
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