While Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi has made it clear that he will not be joining the government, the Sunday reshuffle will be closely watched for how much influence Rahul Gandhi will have on it, says Neerja Chowdhury
Smarting under its recent electoral debacle, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam will make a token representation at the second anniversary celebrations of the United Progressive Alliance II in New Delhi on Sunday evening. None of its six Union ministers will be present at the event
Veteran journalist Kanchan Gupta woke up on Thursday morning to find that his Twitter account (@KanchanGupta) had been blocked. With about 25,319 followers "who listen to what I have to say" on the microblogging site. Gupta, who by his own admission, has been writing against the Congress party, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the United Progressive Alliance II, was shocked to find out that his account was inaccessible
The United Progressive Alliance government will suffer a set back if ally Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam doest not contain the infighting between T R Baalu, leader of DMK parliamentary party, and Union Minister S S Palanimanickam, DMK's five time MP from Thanjavur constituency, over the new railway line in Thanjavur.
The schedule to conduct the elections for the vice president's post is held up as the Election Commissioner H S Brahma is on a foreign jaunt. Moreover, the United Progressive Alliance-II is yet to appoint the third Election Commissioner.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist on Monday demanded that the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance II government at the Centre take immediate steps to end the nexus between the Trinamool Congress and Maoists to ensure peaceful elections in West Bengal.
The UPA has failed over the last three years because it is in denial mode, refusing to accept that so much is rotten inside the government and the party, says Sheela Bhatt.
Claiming that Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh did not get a free hand in effecting United Progressive Alliance II first ministerial reshuffle, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday said the exercise has "failed" to show the government's resolve to fight corruption.
In this mindless game of the back-and-forth, the government and its several eloquent but stubborn actors seemed to have lost the plot. Too much of spewing to spin a fact deluded them into thinking that the game was already won; that Hazare would quietly leave Delhi, says Mahesh Vijapurkar.
In this mindless game of the back-and-forth, the government and its several eloquent but stubborn actors seemed to have lost the plot. Too much of spewing to spin a fact deluded them into thinking that the game was already won; that Hazare would quietly leave Delhi, says Mahesh Vijapurkar.
Team Congress says it opposes Team Anna's Lokpal recommendations because it could create a parallel system of government. If so, we should support Team Anna without reservation because right now we seem to have no government at all, says T V R Shenoy.
Ahead of submitting his resignation, Railway Minister and Trinamool Congress leader Mukul Roy on Friday said the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance-II government no longer had the moral right to continue in power.
With people reposing faith in the UPA and voting for stability, this is the government's chance to fulfill its promises, ensure growth and development of the country, check runaway prices, and offer succour to the aam aadmi.
Divestment is the government's mantra to earn big bucks at a time when the country is reeling under a crisis.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, speaking on the second day of the Congress plenary meet on Monday in New Delhi, said the PM's post should be above suspicion and that he is ready to appear before the Public Accounts Committee in the 2G spectrum scam even though there was no precedent to do so.
India recorded 7.4 per cent growth in 2009-10, which was more than the 7.2 per cent projected earlier.
Singh said the government has been monitoring inflation and has been taking measures to check the rising prices, particularly food products hit by poor monsoons last year. "But for this (high inflation), international financial crisis and high prices of petroleum prices in global markets are to blame.
The government on Friday said the Lokpal Bill is ready and will be placed before the Union Cabinet for approval in its next meeting where a decision on whether to put the prime minister in its purview would be also taken.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, speaking on the second day of the Congress plenary meet on Monday in New Delhi, said the PM's post should be above suspicion and that he is ready to appear before the Public Accounts Committee in the 2G spectrum scam even though there was no precedent to do so.
In first year of the UPA-2, non-performance is visible in all areas of governance, writes Virendra Kapoor.
Census exercise with caste enumeration will be carried out with the reference date of October 1, 2026, in snow-bound areas like Ladakh and of March 1, 2027, in the rest of the country, the Home Ministry announced on Wednesday.
Four of the most important ministries in the United Progressive Alliance government remained untouched in the major Cabinet reshuffle on Tuesday. Let's take a look at these ministries:
India and the US have collaborated through the past one month on launching a powerful satellite; are commencing joint production of GE Aerospace's F414 jet engines in India; India is participating in a massive three week-long military exercise in the Western Pacific, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The Rajya Sabha member was not keeping well for the past few days and was admitted to a private hospital in Lucknow, where he died around 7 pm.
A K Bhattacharya on the deliberations in the government that have moved beyond fiscal policy to infrastructure, land rights for tribals, and so on.
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, who was the cynosure of all eyes at the United Progressive Alliance anniversary function last year, was conspicuous by his absence Wednesday night.
Mamata Bannerjee, a key United Progressive Alliance constituent, has put the cat amongst the pigeons by demanding that the UPA set up a co-ordination committee to discuss important issues and decisions before they are made and implemented. She said the recent petrol price hike was undertaken without her consent.
Renu Mittal takes a hard look the two years of the United Progressive Alliance government.
The United Progressive Alliance will celebrate the first anniversary of its second consecutive term in office on Saturday after a sweet and sour year marked by misses and hits in governance and its deft management of uncertainties of coalition politics.
Noted jurist and Bharatiya Janata Party member of parliament Ram Jethmalani on Friday slammed the ruling United Progressive Alliance government as "shameless" for remaining in office even after the Supreme Court's criticism of it for the "laggardly pace" of probe into the issue of black money stashed abroad in tax havens.
The United Progressive Alliance's first anniversary celebrations tomorrow are essentially going to be a Congress affair. Barring Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee, no other top leader of any of the ally or supporting parties is expected to be present at the bash to mark six years in office of the Congress-led coalition.
The appointment of Lt Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag as the next army chief will not be affected by the change of government, said new Defence Minister Arun Jaitley whose party BJP had strongly opposed the United Progressive Alliance government for elevating him to the top post.
Pledging to take corruption head on, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance on Sunday night promised to punish the guilty in scams and assured the people that it would demonstrate through actions and not words what it meant.
In light of the recent announcement of the government to introduce Foreign Direct Investment in retail sector, the United Progressive Alliance government is facing a backlash from its allies.
'It is best for Sonia to retreat to the background and let Rahul gradually come to the fore to stand by Manmohan Singh.'
Singh's reaction came after a recent media report alleged that a few leaders of the UPA-II dispensation tried to establish a false narrative that the Army in 2011-12, then headed by him, was planning a "coup" to usurp the then Manmohan Singh government.
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.
'If the Singh government was characterised by policy paralysis, this one is afflicted by hyperactivism, sans a roadmap,' says Yogendra Yadav.
The UPA's old schemes are unravelling while the new ones are still to take off, says Sunita Moga
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