Amid the government's keenness to introduce Lokpal Bill in Parliament before the end of the winter session on December 22, the Union Cabinet on Sunday night had informal discussions on the much-hyped legislation which is expected to be taken up by the Cabinet formally on Monday.
The agreement is aimed at expanding economic cooperation and facilitate people-to-people contact between the two countries, Parliamentary Affairs Minister P R Dasmunsi told reporters.
Bhupender Yadav's entry to the Modi government as a Cabinet minister is seen as his just reward after serving as a party office-bearer for the longest term among all current occupants.
The 86-year-old Congress leader had been suffering from various ailments, sources in Medanta Medicity said.
However, the amendment would not be applicable to all persons of Indian origin, their children and grand children, who migrated to Pakistan and Bangladesh after January 26, 1950.
Union Cabinet committee on accommodation has allotted 6 Krishna Menon Marg -- the prestigious type 8 bungalow -- to the Jagjivan Ram Foundation.
As several political parties make a pitch for conducting caste-based census, the Union Cabinet is set to discuss the vexed issue on Thursday.
The Union Cabinet on Monday recommended President's Rule in Jharkhand. According to official sources, the Jharkhand assembly will be kept under suspended animation.The state had witnessed political uncertainty after Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren was forced to resign, in the wake of his humiliating defeat in the bypoll in Tamar constituency.
Modi said the newly-sworn in government took four major decisions related to farmers' and traders welfare in the first meeting of the Union Cabinet.
Sources in the party have been maintaining that Congress will induct at least one minister from West Bengal during this reshuffle.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday chaired a meeting of the Union Cabinet for the first time after he underwent a heart bypass surgery nearly two months ago. The meetings of the Cabinet and the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs were held at his official Race Course Road residence today, unlike the meetings which were held in South Block during his absence. External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee had presided over those meetings.
A reshuffle-cum-expansion of Union Council of Ministers appears to be on the cards after the July 19 Presidential elections.
The government on Wednesday decided to set up a Group of Ministers to take a view on the controversial issue of whether there should be a caste-based census. The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, discussed the issue over which various ministers are divided, official sources said. The Cabinet then decided that a GoM should take a final decision on the issue, they said. The GoM is likely to be headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved the amendment of the Telegraph Act giving statutory status to the Universal Service Obligation Fund.
Swami Chinmayanand, Kailash Meghwal, Prahlad Singh Patel, Nagmani and P C Thomas were also inducted as ministers of state into the council of ministers.
As the Centre announced the inclusion of caste enumeration in the next census on Wednesday, opposition parties said it is a victory for their long-standing demand and sought time-bound implementation.
The Union Cabinet on Monday cleared a proposal for setting up the National Investigation Agency.The NIA, a federal agency, will probe terror cases as well as other organised crimes with inter-state and foreign linkages.The NIA is expected to invoke harsher provisions than the Prevention of Terrorism Act, which was repealed by the United Progressive Alliance government.
Home Minister Shivraj Patil briefed the Union Cabinet on the terrorist attack in Ayodhya on Tuesday.
Festivals and a looming election combined to make it a season of bonanza for voters as the Union Cabinet unveiled a swathe of measures designed to please all.
Paswan said he was willing to contest the upcoming Bihar assembly polls as an NDA partner "if the BJP so desires", and made light of estranged uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras' recent meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
The reshuffle in the Union Cabinet, carried out on Wednesday, appears to have some focus on assembly election-bound states like Kerala and Uttar Pradesh.
The Jammu and Kashmir assembly unanimously passed a resolution on Monday expressing shock and anguish over the terrorist attack in Pahalgam and resolved to fight resolutely to defeat the nefarious designs to disturb communal harmony and hinder progress.
In big bang reforms, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a relief package for the telecom sector that includes a four-year moratorium on payment of statutory dues by telecom companies as well as allowing 100 per cent foreign investment through the automatic route. Briefing reporters on the decisions taken by the Cabinet, Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said nine structural reforms for the telecom sector were approved. The definition of AGR, which had been a major reason for the stress in the sector, has been rationalised by excluding non-telecom revenue of telecom companies.
Her successor in the HRD Ministry Prakash Javadekar elevated as a member of the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs.
The Union Cabinet is likely to review prices of petrol and diesel as crude oil price continue to move northward.
Mulayam Singh joining the Cabinet will be good news for many who increasingly worried about the stability of the United Progressive Alliance government. Sheela Bhatt reports
Till now, he was being guarded by a small team of the central paramilitary force SSB.
Industry experts believe that health insurance companies are unlikely to experience business cannibalisation due to the central government's decision to extend health coverage to people aged 70 and above, regardless of their income level, under the Ayushman Bharat scheme. On Wednesday, the Union Cabinet expanded the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) to include all senior citizens aged 70 and older. This move is expected to benefit nearly 45 million families, comprising 60 million senior citizens, by providing Rs 5 lakh in free health insurance coverage per family.
Expressing unhappiness over the announcement of the much-touted direct cash transfer scheme by the government even when the model code was in force, the Election Commission on Sunday wrote to the Union cabinet secretary seeking a report on the matter.
The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved the Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill. According to the provisions of the Bill, judges would not be allowed to delay judgments beyond three months after the conclusion of arguments. The Bill lays downs standards and accountability for members of the higher judiciary.The Bill aims at laying down judicial standards and establishing a mechanism to deal with complaints of 'misbehaviour' or 'incapacity' of a judge of the Supreme Court
The Union Cabinet on Friday increased the dearness allowance and dearness relief by 4 per cent to 42 per cent to benefit 47.58 lakh central government employees and 69.76 lakh pensioners. The combined impact on the exchequer on account of both Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief will be Rs 12,815.60 crore per annum, I&B Minister Anurag Thakur told reporters after the meeting of Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).
The Janata Dal-Secular demanded that the Congress government should sack Khan from the Cabinet for his racist slur.
President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra D Modi, senior Cabinet ministers, Congress and Opposition leaders paid their respects to former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh, who passed into the ages on Thursday night, at his residence in New Delhi on Friday.
This is part of the government's plan to raise Rs 40,000 crore (Rs 400 billion) from disinvestment in the current financial year.
The much talked about reshuffle of the Union Cabinet will take place on Monday, ahead of which C P Joshi and Ajay Maken stepped down as Cabinet ministers. Both Joshi and Maken had handed over their resignations on Saturday night. Their resignations were today accepted by President Pranab Mukherjee with immediate effect, a Rashtrapati Bhavan communique said.
'India today feels enough is enough and we need to teach Pakistan a lesson.' 'Unless compelled, Mr Modi will think 10 times before taking the extreme step.'
Sharad Pawar and other NCP-SP leaders will take a decision on whom to take back in the fold, said the MLA from Karjat-Jamkhed in Ahmednagar district.
Decks were cleared for tabling the report of Justice Nanavati Commission, which probed the 1984 anti-Sikh riots with the union cabinet clearing the action taken report.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin did not attend the traditional 'At Home' reception hosted by Governor R N Ravi on Republic Day. Stalin instead visited Madurai to participate in events celebrating the cancellation of the Centre's tungsten mining initiative. The Chief Minister and his cabinet colleagues boycotted the event, following suit with the ruling DMK's allies, including the Congress party. Governor Ravi, who has been critical of the DMK regime, had targeted the Stalin-led government in his Republic Day Eve address, alleging that many state-run universities in Tamil Nadu were in a dire financial crisis. In Madurai, CM Stalin, recalling his assurance that tungsten mining would not be allowed while he remained in office, said the village elders visited him in Chennai and invited him for the felicitation function. He said rather than praising him, it is the people who should be greeted, thanked and felicitated. The union government recently announced its decision to annul the auctioning of the mining rights.
