The proposed National Investigating Agency will invoke harsher provisions than POTA (Prevention of Terrorism Act) of the National Democratic Alliance government. It was knocked out by the United Progressive Alliance Government, dubbing it draconian.
Brushing aside opposition after dithering for nearly four years, the Congress and the United Progressive Alliance coalition on Tuesday unanimously endorsed creation of a separate Telangana state from out of Andhra Pradesh.
Congress on Monday claimed that the United Progressive Alliance government is "strong and stable" despite the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen becoming the third constituent to withdraw support after Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress and Babualal Marandi's Jharkhand outfit.
Among the sectors seen as most vulnerable to corruption are the government and the public sector, infrastructure, real estate, metals, mining, aerospace, defence, power and utilities.
Vacancies to the top seven security and investigative agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation, Intelligence Bureau, Research and Analysis Wing, National Investigation Agency, Sashastra Seema Bal are waiting to be filled up.
K T Rama Rao, Telangana Rashtra Samithi leader and son of party chief K Chandrashekhar Rao, and Dr Prithviraj, Telangana Students Joint Action Committee chief, explain to Rediff.com what the immediate changes would be in the event of Telangana being declared as a separate state.
The manner in which Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demoted Jaipal Reddy and promoted Salman Khurshid has done little to salvage the reputation of an already tarnished United Progressive Alliance government, writes Renu Mittal
A 'White Paper' versus 'Black Paper' battle erupted on Thursday as the Centre and the Congress unveiled documents and crossed swords over the handling of the Indian economy during the nearly 10 years of the BJP-led NDA rule and the previous 10-year tenure of the Congress-led UPA government.
Welcoming the government's decision to back the United States sponsored resolution against Sri Lanka at United Nations Human Rights Council, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi on Monday said his party had even decided to pull out its ministers from the United Progressive Alliance and extend issue based support to it in the event of its demand not being met.
The frenetic activity currently being witnessed in the Congress combined with the United Progressive Alliance government's move to postpone the monsoon session of Parliament till end-August has once again fuelled speculation about the possibility of an early election, says Anita Katyal.
Addressing a rally, Modi alleged that artificial shortage of coal is being created in the country.
About 10,000 km of state highways were declared national highways during the last 10 years.
They said the very sanctity of the Constitutional process was being destroyed through the 'smear campaign' against her.
The Centre is expected to increase the dearness allowance by 10% to 100% by the end of February.
Party leaders claim the focus is going to be 'reviving growth with job creation' and checking inflation.
Experts agree Bharat Nirman, which has completed four years, has indeed brought about significant improvements in the country's rural infrastructure.
Bypolls will be held on Wednesday in 31 assembly seats spread across 10 states and Kerala's Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, from where Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is making her electoral debut. Though these bye-elections are not going to have any bearing on the governments, they are seen as a big test for the Congress and the INDIA bloc which failed to put up a united show in the recent Haryana assembly polls. Most of these seats fell vacant after the sitting MLAs contested the Lok Sabha elections and won while in some constituencies, the bypolls are being held due to death of the representatives. The Wayanad seat was vacated by Rahul Gandhi, who also won from the Rae Bareli parliamentary constituency which he kept. Voting will be held in seven seats in Rajasthan, six in West Bengal, five in Assam, four seats in Bihar, three in Karnataka, two seats in Madhya Pradesh, and one seat each in Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Kerala and Meghalaya. Votes will be counted on November 23.
Disrespect to alliance partners during Pratibha Patil's Goa tour to seek support for presidential poll is one of the reasons why the Congress-led government plunged into minority, former chief minister Churchill Alemao said.
In a 45-minute Twitter conference today, Sam Pitroda, advisor to the prime minister on public information infrastructure (PII) and innovations, stuck to elaborating publicly-known details on PII and the National Knowledge Network (NKN).
The government plans to convene a special session of Parliament for passage of the Food Security Bill as a divided Cabinet Thursday shunned the idea of promulgating an ordinance to implement the watershed legislation.
United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Sunday said that while the Congress ensured equitable and uniform development in all areas, the National Democratic Alliance rule was biased against states ruled by her party.
The six Congress ministers in the West Bengal government met Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the Writers' Building in Kolkata on Saturday and handed their resignation letters.
The Congress on Friday said it would pull out its ministers from the West Bengal government, days after the Trinamool Congress decided to withdraw support to the United Progressive Alliance government.
UN atomic energy chief Mohammed El-Baradei began a three-day visit to India as the ruling United Progressive Alliance-Left alliance appeared headed for a break-up over the India-United States civil nuclear energy pact.
A Public Interest Litigation has been filed in the Gujarat high court seeking a prohibition order on Central government's advertisements carrying photos of United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi, who does not hold any constitutional position.
The grilling of IB officials by the CBI in connection with the Ishrat Jahan encounter case smacks of vendetta against the Gujarat government. The myopic political regime in Delhi has not realised the significance of destroying institutions. Only Pakistan and LeT would have the last laugh, says Arun Jaitley.
The central government will hold an all-party meeting this week to finalise a strategy to resolve the Maoist problem decisively in the wake of the audacious attack in Bastar that killed 27 people, including three prominent Congress leaders.
Gandhi's thrust on the scheme comes at a time when the Congress is bracing for Lok Sabha elections due next year and assembly elections in five states, including Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, this year.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday took its grievances against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress-led United Progressive Alliance to President Pranab Mukherjee, demanding his intervention on the coal allocation issue and attacks on a constitutional institution like the Comptroller and Auditor General.
BJP vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi insisted that no parallel can be drawn between the election of A P J Abdul Kalam as President and the present move by UPA in the upcoming election for the highest office.
Obsessed with spending, the UPA has ignored the vital task of expanding the direct tax net.
Eknath Z Khobragade, a retired IAS officer and former president of the officers' forum of Maharashtra, says the provision for reservation in promotions was already in the Constitution.
The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government, in power since 2004, will have to seek fresh mandate of the people in the coming months.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi arrived here today in the wake of the deadly Naxal attack on a convoy of Congress leaders in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district.
Karunanidhi also met NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, and CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat where the issue of a successor to President A P J Abdul Kalam came up for discussion.
Alleging that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party government has failed on all fronts, the Congress on Wednesday said the party will win with clear majority in the upcoming assembly elections in the state.
The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) was launched by the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in the first flush of its commitment to the 'Aam Aadmi' agenda.
With most ministers juggling dual portfolios at the Centre, talks of an imminent Cabinet reshuffle is gaining momentum in United Progressive Alliance circles.
United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday dismissed reports of differences with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, asserting, "We all stand by him". "There are no differences between the prime minister and me. There is collective leadership," Gandhi told reporters at a function held to celebrate four years of the UPA-II government.
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