For the Congress to be taken seriously, it has to convince those around it that it could actually double its Lok Sabha seat share from the existing 52, and vote-share by a third more from the stagnating 20 per cent in 2014 and 2019, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Mayawati was outmanoeuvred by the BJP in the race for the Rajya Sabha in Uttar Pradesh just days after she helped the Samajwadi Party snatch two Lok Sbaha seats from the saffron party in bypolls.
They have been accused of asking anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protesters to go to 'any extreme', spreading discontent in the community by calling CAA/National Register of Citizens anti-Muslim, and organise demonstrations to 'malign the image of the Government of India'.
The Committee on Public Undertakings (COPU) of Parliament has summoned the telecom secretary R Chandrasekhar on Tuesday to estimate the loss suffered by public sector undertakings BSNL and MTNL in the 2G and 3G spectrum allocations.
At present, Road Secretary R S Gujral is handling the additional charge of NHAI chairman, the position which has been vacated by Brijeshwar Singh, for three months.
The AIADMK leader, however, told cops he believed that the arrested middleman -- Sukesh Chandrasekhar -- was a high court judge.
The meeting between Cabinet secretary K M Chandrasekhar and heads of banks along with representatives of chambers will be held at a time when almost 50 per cent of PSU banks have reduced their benchmark lending rates effective from Thursday. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had said there is scope for further cuts in interest rates in his meeting with industrialists last week.
Buoyed by the prospects of a good monsoon, the government today said inflation would halve to 5-6 per cent by December end and the economic growth would accelerate to 8.5 per cent during the current fiscal.
In addition, the finance ministry will present a report on steps taken to step up flow of resources to SMEs, textiles, gems and jewellery and rupee and foreign currency resources to exporters.
Meeting a long-pending demand of over a crore defence veterans and 12 lakh serving jawans, the government on Monday substantially increased the pension of ex-servicemen.
A panel will examine the merits and demerits of various dates for the commencement of the financial year.
The government on Monday said that the stimulus packages to perk up the economy during the slowdown are not likely to be withdrawn this fiscal and the exit when it happens will be a gradual one.
Quick estimates available with the commerce ministry show that exports dipped 12 per cent in November, almost the same as October.
Heavy snowfall has made movement in Jammu and Kashmir difficult, but the Election Commission is determined not to postpone the elections.
In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the BJP is looking to fill the Opposition slot and not aspire to occupy pole position.
The Central Bureau of Investigation in association with Council of Europe organised a one-day conference on International Police Cooperation against cyber crime at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi.
To discuss ways of increasing lending to optimise stimulus package impact.
The Congress expressed its 'whole-hearted' support to the 'Bharat bandh' called by farmer unions against the new agri-marketing laws and announced that it will hold protests that day at all district and state headquarters in solidarity with the demands of the farmers. TRS president and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said the party rank and file would actively participate in the bandh to ensure it was a success.
The unions would give the notice for strike to the Government on August 4, All India Trade Union Congress' Andhra Pradesh unit General Secretary P J Chandrasekhar Rao told reporters in Vijayawada on Wednesday. Prior to that, the union representatives would meet here on July 21 to finalise their stragegy for the stir, he said. The strike call has been given by 56 unions and their affiliated units which have prepared a seven-point charter of demands, Rao said.
Some banks made it clear that banks have to make commercial decisions. "There is a limit to which we can reduce the deposit rates because of competing investment products such as small savings instruments," said a bank chief. With banks unable to lower deposits rates, lending rates were unlikely to drop significantly. A banker is said to have talked about the fact that companies that are unable to sustain themselves during the present downturn would face many risks.
"Overall we are beginning to see some hopeful signs. . . in a number of sectors we have seen some changes... cement, steel, capital goods... I don't think 5.1 per cent is what we are going to achieve," Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar said here at the CII Annual session in New Delhi.
'Today, political formations seem to adopt an 'us' versus 'them' approach which shows up even in their attitude towards civil servants.'
'This creates an added layer of fear.'
India is unlikely to see any large-scale job cuts as it has a strong domestic market to consume what it produces, Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar said.
The govt is likely to announce the new Sebi chief by Feb 10 as interviews for the position is over. Six people have been interviewed.
The government may simplify Fringe Benefit Tax, rationalise tax structure and depreciation norms for research and development in the next Budget, apart from making efforts to raise the Tax-GDP ratio and garner more funds for development.
Already embroiled in Sushma Swaraja and Vasundhara Raje controversies, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union government does not want to get caught in a petty fight between two regional parties.
'The skills and abilities of civil servants are still respected, even though they become whipping boys when things go wrong.'
Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Governor E S L Narasimhan briefed President Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi on Wednesday about his success in sorting out differences between Chief Ministers Nara Chandrababu Naidu and K Chandrasekhar Rao.
In comments that may be seen as pointers to the forthcoming Budget, a senior government official said that raising tax rates was no more an option.
She said despite being aware of adverse political consequences, the Congress went ahead and created Telangana, and paid the price in the elections that followed.
It is intriguing that the CBI has shown little interest in the most scandalous and biggest collective investment scheme ever, from the Sahara group, asserts Debashis Basu.
The polling started at 7 am and would continue till 5 pm.
In the first dedicated mission of its commercial arm New Space India Limited (NSIL), the Indian Space Research Organisation on Sunday successfully launched Brazil's earth observation satellite Amazonia-1 and 18 other co-passengers, including five built by students, onboard a Polar rocket from the spaceport in Sriharikota.
India is expected to sign Double Taxation Avoidance Treaties with more countries as part of measures to ensure smoother international trade, a senior finance ministry official said on Wednesday.
Export oriented units have approached the finance ministry for abolishing "sunset clause" in the Income Tax Act to get tax exemptions beyond March 2009, so as to attract more investments and maintain their competitiveness globally.
With 11 people succumbing to swine flu in Telangana so far this year, the state government on Wednesday sought Centre's help to check the spread of the deadly virus.
The Telangana government is examining the issue of increasing the salaries of the members of legislative assembly and the council in view of their "grossly inadequate" pay structure.
Singh claimed that the state police set up the website to trap Muslims youths and it is "radicalising and encouraging them to become ISIS modules".
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