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.
The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a batch of pleas seeking to review its October 2023 verdict declining legal sanction to same-sex marriage.
He drew the roadmap of India's economic reform, unshackled it from the licence raj and pulled it back from the brink when even its gold reserve was pledged.
BJP sources said a meeting of the National Democratic Alliance is expected to take place soon to highlight its growing strength and to dispel the impression that the departure of some of its oldest allies such as the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, Shiromani Akali Dal and the Janata Dal-United have the left the saffron party without a major partner.
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.
Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud on Tuesday said the State has an obligation to recognise unions entered into by queer couples and grant them benefit under the law.
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 action followed a show-cause notice to the Shahpura MLA, who is a former Speaker of the state assembly, from the party's state unit president CP Joshi.
The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved the amendment of the Telegraph Act giving statutory status to the Universal Service Obligation Fund.
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.
Swami Chinmayanand, Kailash Meghwal, Prahlad Singh Patel, Nagmani and P C Thomas were also inducted as ministers of state into the council of ministers.
Home Minister Shivraj Patil briefed the Union Cabinet on the terrorist attack in Ayodhya on Tuesday.
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.
Her successor in the HRD Ministry Prakash Javadekar elevated as a member of the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs.
If it was Andhra Pradesh last Budget, it's poll-bound Bihar that has now turned to Centre with a list of demands. How the NDA government is delivering on promises.
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.
The ordinance will be tabled in the next session of the legislature, it said, adding that 27 posts were approved for the commission.
The Union Cabinet is likely to review prices of petrol and diesel as crude oil price continue to move northward.
The revamped Special Economic Zone (SEZ) law is unlikely to see the light of the day before the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, two people aware of the matter said. The commerce department had sought the Union Cabinet's nod to bring amendments to the existing SEZ Act, 2005 late last year. The plan, thereafter, was to introduce the Bill in the winter session of Parliament. Cabinet's approval remains pending.
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
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 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.
This is part of the government's plan to raise Rs 40,000 crore (Rs 400 billion) from disinvestment in the current financial year.
P K Mishra, a retired IAS officer of the Gujarat cadre, is currently serving as the principal secretary to the prime minister.
Why did the political system in the country react to these two decisions of the Modi government in a diametrically opposite manner? asks A K Bhattacharya.
"It is just that Fadnavis and I have swapped our chairs. Only Ajit Pawar's chair is fixed," said Shinde, who was the CM before the assembly elections with Fadnavis and Pawar as his deputies then.
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.
Sonowal, a law graduate, is considered to be a rarity -- an honest politician who also worked to unite different communities with his oft-repeated lines 'Barak-Brahmaputra-plains-hills'.
FHe is the only one among 17 ministers from the outgoing council of ministers who lost the Lok Sabha polls to be reappointed minister.
Two vacancies of election commissioners have arisen following the resignation of Election Commissioner Arun Goel and Anup Chandra Pandey's retirement.
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the signing of a comprehensive economic cooperation agreement, a kind of a free trade pact, between India and Mauritius which is aimed at liberalising norms to boost two-way commerce
Seasoned bureaucrat and a stickler for rules Finance Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey will be at the helm of capital market regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), for three years. The 1987-batch Odisha-cadre Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, Pandey, would replace Madhabi Puri Buch, whose three-year term ends on Friday.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday lashed out at the Congress, saying a Union cabinet minister is "shielding" Tehelka Editor Tarun Tejpal, who is accused of sexually assaulting his junior.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Justice, and Personnel in its report in December last had recommended passage of the Bill in its present form and suggested that the issue should not be left to the discretion of political parties.
Key point under deliberation remains the requisite number of people whose consent is required for acquisition of land by govt.
This is a brief background of the new Cabinet Ministers.
