'Mr (Gautam) Adani invested in Vizhinjam port when no other viable party was willing to bid.' 'He has also been active in charitable work and CSR projects in our coastal areas.' 'As the local MP, I do not judge the local situation purely through the prism of politics.'
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi on Thursday justified his party's decision to withdraw support to the United Progressive Alliance government on Sri Lankan Tamil issue but refused to term the Centre's stand as a "betrayal".
Rejecting reports about a rift between him and Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday asserted that there was no truth in them as the two worked together almost on all issues.
Terming allegations levelled by India Against Corruption as "baseless and frivolous, the oil ministry in a six-page statement said the Congress-led UPA-I and UPA-II governments under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have been "consistently protecting the national interest".
The former defence minister said that all formalities were completed and all orders issued on OROP but its implementation is not being done by the Modi government.
Welcoming Trinamool Congress' move to withdraw support to the United Progressive Alliance government, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Rajnath Singh on Thursday said if Bahujan Samaj Party and Samajwadi Party are "honestly opposed" to FDI in retail they should also follow Mamata Banerjee's footsteps.
Spending on welfare schemes has burgeoned, but to little effect.
Sonia Gandhi and the PM are not in conflict about aam-aadmi policy
Sources in the Congress have begun to brief business houses and mediapersons with 'adequate numbers' to prove that the United Progressive Alliance government is in majority, despite Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress pulling out its 19 members of Parliament from the government.
The 71-year-old remained Sonia Gandhi's most trusted lieutenant for most of her tenure as the longest serving Congress president, standing by her side through sun and shade.
The Supreme Court has admitted for hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) alleging a major scam during the tenure of Praful Patel as the Civil Aviation Minister in the UPA-I government.
"We request and seek cooperation from all parties, including the Opposition, for smooth functioning of both Houses to make this session fruitful," Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Ananth Kumar said.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Yashwant Sinha lashed out at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday for maintaining studied silence on the BJP demand to own up moral responsibility and resigning in the Coalgate scam.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday alleged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is "directly and openly" trying to put all the blame for the economic slowdown on former Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and charged that he was equally responsible for the state of affairs.
Telangana Rashtra Samithi chief K Chandrasekhar Rao on Monday met Rahul Gandhi, a day after he held consultations with Congress president Sonia Gandhi following the passage of the Telangana bill in Parliament.
Returning from the group of 20 meeting in Los Cabos and the two-day Rio conference, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh faced a volley of questions from media persons ranging from the slump in the economy to the worsening state of the economy to the drama over the next President of the country. Here's the transcript...
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday recorded statement of former Aircel chief C Sivasankaran in connection with its ongoing investigations in the second generation spectrum allocation scam during UPA-I regime.
In some ways, Jyotiraditya parting ways with the Gandhis was similar to the saga of the Gandhis and the Bachchans, largely a story of friendship that turned sour. A fascinating excerpt from Rasheed Kidwai's The House Of Scindias: A Saga Of Power, Politics And Intrigue.
The question being tossed around is this: Is there a 'method in the madness' being seen in Parliament? Did the Congress choose to take the decision knowing its consequences? asks Neerja Chowdhury.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing CBI and ED, contended that the Congress leader was evasive during interrogation and was giving long answers.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday said the agreement signed with Switzerland for sharing banking information on demand is likely to come into force by September.
He laid stress on workers' connection with the ground and cited his own example when he was party in-charge for various assembly elections in the past.
The Delhi police on Friday submitted to a Delhi court a supplementary charge sheet in the 2008 cash-for-vote scam which deals with its efforts to trace the source of money allegedly paid to the three erstwhile BJP MPs to get their votes in favour of the Congress-led UPA-I government's trust motion.
The Congress on Wednesday said that the cash-for-vote scam was a matter between former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh and the Bharatiya Janata Party and there is "not a shred of evidence against any Congress leader".
The big budget and big boom National Food Security Bill, which will be to UPA II what the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and the Right To Information Act were to UPA I, could not be cleared by the Union Cabinet on Tuesday and has been deferred to be taken up in its next meeting.
Senior Congress leader Hans Raj Bhardwaj on Thursday made a direct attack on party president Sonia Gandhi alleging that she "shared no responsibility" and was in the "grip of sycophants and corrupt people".
The Congress seems to be ruing what it does not have in UPA II: The support of the left parties, not particularly because they let the government govern till they withdrew support over the issue of signing a nuclear treaty with the US, but because they didn't demand their pound of flesh in the allocation of ministries by not joining the government.
"BJP expresses concern over the state of affairs in the Railway Ministry. It has become a victim of coalition politics in both UPA-I and UPA-II. The ministry has become an orphan and is surviving without any protection or guidance," BJP spokesperson Jagat Prakash Nadda said.
Applying balm on the wounds of the two religious groups is a better course of action for the rulers. Common sense dictates the verdict be accepted in good grace by all sides, suggests Virendra Kapoor.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday asked Union Minister P Chidambaram to step down in the wake of media reports that he was an alleged beneficiary in the 2G spectrum scam during UPA-I, even as it charged him with failure as home minister in fighting the Naxal menace.
Admitting to irregularities in the export of non-basmati rice to some African countries during UPA-I tenure, the government on Friday said it has referred the matter to the CVC after slapping show-cause notices on officials of PSUs, involved in the transactions.
While posting the matter for hearing on Thursday, the bench said: "We are conscious that we should not usurp the jurisdiction of the concerned trial court".
'Everybody knows Baalu and all the trouble he caused in UPA-I. The AIADMK thinks it can win with the distribution of money. It may work in some parts, but not everywhere.' Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar visits Tamil Nadu's rice bowl where a former Cabinet minister is fighting for political survival.
Govt keen on reservation in private sector jobs
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday said the government is working towards creating an atmosphere where trade and industry come forward to reserve jobs for the socially underprivileged -- a practice in vogue in the public sector.
When Prime Minister Manmohan Singh vehemently defended the Civil Nuclear Liability Bill 2010, it was only the eighth time he had addressed Parliament since his government took charge in May 2009.
Congress leader V Narayanasamy on Monday called on Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi and formally staked claim to form government in the Union Territory.
Hoping for a reconciliation with the Left, SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Saturday said his party had committed a mistake by supporting the UPA-I after the Communists withdrew support on the nuclear deal issue.
How many marks will Prime Minister Manmohan Singh give to the performance of the United Progressive Alliance's second term? This is the question being asked in political circles ahead of Dr Singh's first press conference in Delhi on Monday since taking over as PM for the second time. When the UPA-I had completed one year in May 2005, Dr Singh gave six out of ten marks to its performance, but said he was not satisfied with it.
The Congress seems to have learned nothing from its defeats. At a time when its supporters worry that the idea of India is under attack, the party is still preoccupied with its own battles, notes Vir Sanghvi.
