Apparently upset over not being elevated to cabinet rank, Srikant Jena on Wednesday kept everyone guessing as to whether he would assume charge as Minister of State for Statistics and Programme Implementation with independent charge.
A 15-year-old girl, severely burned in an attack in Odisha, has been airlifted to AIIMS Delhi for specialized treatment. The incident is under police investigation.
The principal of a college in Odisha was arrested after a student set herself ablaze following alleged sexual harassment. The incident has sparked protests and political tensions in the state.
After withdrawing support to the United Progressive Alliance government over the Sri Lankan Tamil issue, DMK's five representatives resigned from the Union Council of Ministers which were accepted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh late on Wednesday night.
Accusing United Progtressive Alliance's Presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee of 'manipulating' his resignation from chairmanship of Indian Statistical Institute, the ruling Biju Janata Dal in Odisha today hit the streets holding Union Minister Srikant Jena responsible for doing it on back date.
We take a look at those MPs who are yet to spend their MPLADs funds
'Naveen Patnaik's simplicity makes him look like an innocent fellow. But he is not like that. You can go to Odisha's mining areas and you can understand what is going on under his nose. A colossal loss to the national exchequer has taken place in Odisha,' Union Minister Srikant Jena tells Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt.
Replying to supplementaries during Question Hour in the Lok Sabha, minister of state for chemicals and fertilisers Srikant Jena said the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority has been asked to look into demands for bringing 23 anti-cancer drugs within the ambit of price control.
The government is in talks with pharmaceutical companies for ensuring availability of cancer drugs at a minimal price at their low-cost pharmacy chain Jan Aushadhi stores across the country.
Union Minister M K Alagiri will no longer have to fight shy of Parliament on the ground that he is not well-versed in English or Hindi.
In its third list of candidates for the coming Lok Sabha elections, the Congress on Tuesday fielded 58 candidates, mostly tried and tested ones. While most sitting ministers, including Kapil Sibal (Chandni Chowk), Krishna Tirath (Northwest Delhi), Sachin Pilot (Ajmer) and Srikant Jena (Balasore) were retained, the surprise elements were state Youth Congress President Vishwajeet Kadam replacing tainted Suresh Kalmadi from Pune and cricketer Mohammed Azharuddin from Tonk-Sawai Madhopur (Rajasthan).
What may work for the BJP is the growing resentment against V K Pandian, a bureaucrat-turned-politician who Jay Panda alleges has hijacked the Odisha government.
Sixteen former ministers of the United Progressive Alliance government are staying unauthorised in government bungalows for over a month now and have been served eviction notices, the Lok Sabha was told on Wednesday.
There may be shortage of drugs till pharmaceutical companies supply new batches with revised MRPs.
It will bring 348 essential drugs under price control.
Retail inflation, based on Consumer Price Index, was at 10.36 per cent in May.
The government on said its ambitious Kashmir rail plan has the largest cost overrun of Rs 5,500 crore among those rail projects which have been delayed by more than a decade.
Several Indian fertiliser companies are in talks with foreign firms to set up production units jointly, the government said.
The government on Thusday said it is examining a proposal for setting up a venture capital fund to promote drug discovery in India.
'It is so invigorating, nobody gets tired of it,' says Minister of State for Chemical and Fertilisers Srikant Jena.
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has said the party cannot afford the spectacle of its ministers and state presidents running away from a tough contest. Anita Katyal reports
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