Under the GST regime, most manufactured goods will turn cheaper.
Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Friday committed yet another gaffe when he named the victims of the Bhandara rape incident in Rajya Sabha which had to be expunged at the intervention of the Leader of the Opposition Arun Jaitley.
'How can you say such things? Just because he takes care of cows...'
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's dinner on Thursday for the Bharatiya Janata Party top brass failed to break the impasse over the Foreign Direct Investment in retail issue with the opposition party insisting on a discussion in Parliament on it under provisions which entail voting.
"The Parliament session has a very heavy legislative agenda. We are reaching out to the various political parties to carry through these agenda in the four weeks that we have for the session," Finance Minister P Chidambaram said today at a press conference in New Delhi.
With the Lok Sabha speaker's all-party meeting failing to break the logjam on Foreign Direct Investment in retail issue, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has invited the top brass of main Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party for a dinner on Thursday to ensure smooth functioning of Parliament in the winter session.
Dubbing the Arvind Kejriwal government in Delhi as the "worst ever", Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley on Saturday said its decision to step down over the issue Jan Lokpal was like a "nightmare" finally getting over.
'Amit Shah and Modi have a disciple and guru relationship. But Modi and Jaitley's relationship was based on friendship. That's the difference.'
With the Cabinet clearing a bill to provide reservation in promotion to Scheduled Caste /Scheduled Tribes in government jobs, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati on Tuesday met top Bharatiya Janata Party leaders to seek their support for its passage in the current session of Parliament.
Arun Jaitley, leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, on Wednesday termed the statement of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about Anna Hazare's detention "disappointing". The Bharatiya Janata Party leader said that the Opposition "rejects" the explanation given by Dr Singh on the events leading to the arrest of Hazare and his aides.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday decided to oppose certain provisions in the Lokpal Bill introduced in the Lok Sabha and move for amendments in it.
The United Progressive Alliance government and the Opposition seem to be heading for yet another showdown on the subject of key appointments -- this time over National Investigation Agency director S C Sinha being named as a member of the National Human Rights Commission
An all-party meeting on Monday failed to hammer out a consensus over the controversial Insurance Bill, which was scheduled to be taken up in Rajya Sabha.
Will voters in Ernakulam take to the Communist MP who asked 447 more questions and took part in 162 more debates than your average MP? Will Arun Jaitley's wish come true? Krishna Prasad, the renowned journalist and Outlook magazine's former editor-in-chief, reports from Kochi.
Vice President M Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, Bharatiya Janata Party leader LK Advani and several other leaders offered floral tributes to the martyrs at a solemn ceremony on Tuesday morning
Why is the Bharatiya Janata Party opposed to FDI in retail? A day after promising to scrap FDI in retail, the BJP set about fine-tuning its line to ensure it did not fall foul of the middle-class.
P A Sangma, the Opposition candidate for the Presidential poll, on Thursday filed his nomination papers in the presence of leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party, some National Democratic Alliance allies, Biju Janata Dal, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, northeast states and tribal legislators in New Delhi.
Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari, parliamentary party chief L K Advani and Leader of Opposition of both Houses of Parliament will finalise the strategy for Presidential and Vice Presidential elections and discuss the issue with the National Democratic Alliance partners.
Congress on accused senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushama Swaraj of "misleading" the people and "misquoting" the November 4 speech of Sonia Gandhi during the debate on FDI in Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
Voicing 'disapproval' over the appointment of new Central Bureau of India's Director Ranjit Sinha, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, saying it should be kept in abeyance as a parliamentary committee on Lokpal has unanimously recommended that it should be done by a colleguim.
The government objected to the demand throwing the Lok Sabha into turmoil, while the Rajya Sabha witnessed ruling party members opposing permission by the Chair to Leader of the Opposition Arun Jaitley to raise the matter.
In an indication of the growing clout of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the Bharatiya Janata Party, senior party leaders, including L K Advani and Arun Jaitley, have decided to attend his three-day fast starting this Saturday for peace, unity and harmony in the state.
The public would tend to believe that retired IPS officers appointed to head the investigation division of the NHRC would not be fair and impartial, points out B Raman
The Rajya Sabha on Tuesday passed a bill on protection of rights of transgenders after a motion to refer it to a Select Committee of the Upper House was defeated.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said government would continue reforms by taking executive actions.
Amid a massive ruckus after the suspension order, the Rajya Sabha was adjourned.
Opposition leader in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley on Friday said the United Progressive Alliance government was trapped in its own web of "chakra-vyuha" with the ill-timed decision to allow foreign players in multi-brand retail. He said that the UPA had landed itself in a no-win situation, with no escape route.
The dinner was attended by a select few guests like Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and her counterpart in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley, CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury, BJD leader Jay Panda and National Security Adviser Shivshanker Menon.
The indirect tax reform Goods and Services Tax is stuck in the Rajya Sabha.
Ansari relinquishes office after a decade.
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.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday defended the washout of nearly the entire Monsoon Session of Parliament by the Opposition saying a similar exercise in 2010 on the 2G spectrum issue had led to cleansing of the telecom sector and hoped it will bring transparency in allocation of natural resources.
Speaker refuses to adjourn Lok Sabha despite the ruckus, in the Rajya Sabha it was the same old story.
Arun Jaitley, leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha, was restrained in his reaction to the Ayodhya verdict delivered by the Allahabad high court's Lucknow bench; but his joy was hardly hidden.
He has spoken to the party's heads in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, respectively , to seek support for the two items of proposed legislation. He got no assurance.
Demanding immediate recall of Gujarat governor on Lokayukta appointment issue, a delegation of Bharatiya Janata Party Members of Parliament led by senior leader L K Advani on Friday met President Pratibha Patil who informed them that the matter is sub-judice.
Congress insists on sending legislation to select committee, says will support it in winter session.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley on Sunday said that Narendra Modi is the "best possible card" for the party in the Lok Sabha elections and dismissed media speculation that L K Advani was opposed to his elevation.
"How can you rejoice when 166 people have died, when there were dozens of conspirators and you are punishing just one man? Asked Arun Jaitley, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and Bharatiya Janata Party senior leader.
The government on Saturday assured agitating MPs that their concerns on salary hike would be addressed, National Democratic Alliance convenor Sharad Yadav said in the Lok Sabha, a day after several opposition parties conducted a 'mock' Parliament.
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