Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who is meeting state finance ministers on Thursday to garner support for the Constitution Amendment Bill for a goods & services tax (GST), is likely to immediately dole out about Rs 13,000 crore (Rs 130 billion) in Central Sales Tax (CST) compensation to states.
We should work in unison to boost growth: FM
The past three weeks have demonstrated that the Congress is still to recover from the drubbing it received in Lok Sabha elections, says Rediff.com contributor Anita Katyal
The minister clarified that she had not favoured the former IPL chief and all such allegations were 'baseless'.
He said it will be 'foolhardy' to diminish institutions for short-term political gains.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday took a dig at the culture of dynastic politics and appeared to target Congress by taking a veiled swipe at Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra who is embroiled in controversies over his land deals.
Strongly opposing Aam Aadmi Party leader Prashant Bhushan's suggestion on the deployment of armed forces in Kashmir with the consent of the people, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday hit out at his party for taking a "weak" stand on issues of national security.
Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told the Rajya Sabha 'the government is absolutely sensitive and seized of the matter'.
'So, why did Kejriwal, the crusader against corruption, choose such an officer as his principal secretary? He has to explain. After that, he realises that Kumar's case is not picking up, so he changes tracks and picks up Jaitley for the DDCA case.' 'I personally feel this is part of Kejriwal's strategy. If he has evidence against Jaitley, then why doesn't he file a first information report like he did in the petroleum case?'
Nearly five years ago when he joined the Congress, ex-cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu had said he is a 'born Congressman' now coming back to his roots.
Amid hectic discussions on formation of the new government, indications emerged on Saturday that Narendra Modi would have a "small and compact" Cabinet that will take oath along with him on May 26 in the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhawan.
The government on Monday came under sharp attack on the issue of crucial files of Coal ministry going missing, with the Opposition alleging that it was a conspiracy to save Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the coal block allocation scam and demanding an impartial probe into it.
India's existing web of federal and state sales taxes is levied at different stages of the supply chain and often results in double taxation, while forcing trucks to spend nearly a quarter of their road time in border checks or other inspections.
Narendra Modi "does not deserve" to be BJP's PM candidate if the Cobrapost claim on illegal spying on a woman architect in Gujarat in 2009 are found to be correct, Congress women leaders said today demanding an inquiry into the issue by a Supreme Court judge.
Leader of the House Arun Jaitley maintained that the governments in Goa and Manipur are being formed as per the democratic norms.
The Reserve Bank of India also banned with immediate effect issuance of letters of comfort which, like LoUs, are used by importers to fund their overseas purchases.
A bill to auction coal mines is also likely to be passed later.
Naidu asked members to keep the prestige and the decorum of the House and said they should feel privileged to be in this House because of the people's trust on them.
Both Houses were adjourned multiple times as Opposition members kept on shouting slogans against the PM.
As many as 20 new faces are expected to be inducted into the Union Council of Ministers on Sunday in the first revamp exercise which is likely to bring in BJP leaders Manohar Parrikar, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Rajiv Pratap Rudy and Bandaru Datttatreya while elevating a few.
She recited a Kashmiri verse, which was part of a poem by Sahitya Akademi award winner Pandit Dinanath Koul. She rendered the verse in both Kashmiri and Hindi. Besides, the minister quoted woman Tamil poet Avvaiyar, Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar, a verse from Raghuvamsa by Kalidasa, as well as late finance minister Arun Jaitley while talking about the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
Rahul Gandhi stressed the importance of an electoral understanding in UP if the BJP is to be defeated in the Lok Sabha polls.
Uproar over the killing of five Indian soldiers on the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir by Pakistani troops on Tuesday led to adjournment of Parliament until noon.
The TDP supremo said he had not contacted any party yet but given the 'TDP's credibility' they were supporting the no-trust motion.
Having sparked off a major political controversy with his tweet -- that the Gujarat riots led to the formation of terror outfit Indian Mujahideen -- All India Congress Committee general secretary Shakeel Ahmed on Monday said he was surprised by the Bharatiya Janata Party's strong reaction to the comment as he was merely referring to the charge-sheet filed by the National Investigation Agency after the Bodh Gaya serial blasts
A Constitutional Amendment Bill paving way for the creation of a Judicial Appointments Commission to replace the present collegium system to appoint judges to higher courts was passed in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday amid high drama with the Bharatiya Janata Party walking out.
'I'm Indira Gandhi's daughter-in-law. Not afraid of anyone,' says Sonia Gandhi.
The Delhi high court, on Tuesday, dismissed as "premature" the plea of former Indian cricketers Kirti Azad, Bishan Singh Bedi and others seeking a court-monitored probe by CBI or SIT into the alleged financial irregularities in the Delhi and District Cricket Association.
Congress engaging in a 'false show of jubilation', said Amit Shah.
Ushering in the biggest programme in the world to fight hunger, Parliament on Monday gave its nod to the landmark Food Security Bill which seeks to provide highly subsidised foodgrains to the country's two-third population as a right.
Four junior ministers - Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Sanjiv Kumar Balyan, Faggan Singh Kulaste and Mahendra Nath Pandey - have resigned ahead of the rejig.
Miffed that Narendra Modi's presence has been limited in Varanasi city on Thursday, BJP leader Arun Jaitley slammed the returning officer for denying permission to the party's Bharat Vijay rallies and the Ganga aarti scheduled in the city.
BJP sources said their party has consistently maintained that while it is committed to the formation of a separate state of Telangana, it also wanted the concerns of the Seema-Andhra region to be adequately addressed. Oddly enough, Sushma Swaraj did not press this issue in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. Anita Katyal reports.
Everything you wanted to know about Prime Minister Narendra Modi but didn't know who to ask. Read on!
Justice P Sathasivam was on Friday sworn in as the 40th Chief Justice of India by President Pranab Mukherjee.
The issue of imposition of President's Rule in Uttarakhand echoed in Parliament on Monday with Congress members in both Houses storming the Well and party leader Mallikarjun Kharge staging a dharna in the Lok Sabha.
The Congress has reasons to enjoy the BJP's discomfiture. After all, the Insurance Bill was introduced by the UPA government in 2008 but was constantly blocked by the BJP on some pretext or the other which was then in the Opposition.
The extended Winter session of Parliament got off a stormy start on Wednesday with uproar over the Telangana and caste-reservation issue stalling proceedings.
Meanwhile, the AP CM said that the TDP is ready to bring no-trust motion against Centre as last resort.
Courts are "enthusiastic" to portray politicians as criminals, Law Minister Kapil Sibal said on Tuesday asking them to be "extremely careful" while delivering judgments which have an impact on the polity of the country.
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