It is expected that the finance ministry will be handled for some time by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The six presidential nominees to the Rajya Sabha have reportedly been handpicked by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, in an attempt to reassert her authority in the United Progressive Alliance government, which has allegedly acquired a pro-United States stance under the aegis of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.The five persons nominated are Mani Shanker Aiyer, Javed Akhtar, Dr Balchandra Mungekar, Bombay Jayshri and Dr Ram Dyal Munda.
The failed alliance with Congress for the May 30 civic polls in West Bengal notwithstanding, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said her party did not want any rift with the United Progressive Alliance government.
Opposition backed Presidential candidate P A Sangma will file his nomination on Thursday, the day when United Progressive Alliance nominee Pranab Mukherjee will submit his papers.
Pranab Mukherjee, who seems headed towards the Rashtrapati Bhavan, on Saturday turned nostalgic at his ancestral house in Bengal's Birbhum district.
Bharatiya Janata Party National President Nitin Gadkari on Friday led party leaders and workers in courting arrest as part of its nationwide 'jail bharo' agitation in Nagpur to protest rising inflation and recent hike in petroleum products.
The Congress on Friday rejected opposition Presidential nominee P A Sangma's demand for a debate with United Progressive Alliance's Presidential nominee Pranab Mukherjee saying the President of India is not supposed to be managing the economy of the country.
Faced with severe criticism after Italy refused to send back two marines accused of killing Indian fishermen, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government may take a hard stand and expel Rome's envoy in New Delhi Daniele Mancini.
A member whose party is a supporter of the United Progressive Alliance on Friday pleaded in the Lok Sabha for saving Rajiv Gandhi's killers -- Murugan, Santhan and Perarivalan -- from the gallows.
Govt ready to discuss issues of public importance: Azad
Election Commission of India is set to announce the poll schedule for Karnataka next week. While the Congress is hoping to regain some of its credibility, the BJP already seems to have resigned to its fate. Sunita Moga reports
The Central Bureau of Investigation and the Centre were at loggerheads on the coalgate scam in the Supreme Court on Tuesday with the agency pointing out irregularities in the coal block allocation during the United Progressive Alliance-I tenure and the government vehemently refuting the allegations.
The print order for former President A P J Abdul Kalam's yet to be released book 'Turning Points -- A Journey Through Challenges', a sequel to his earlier work, 'Wings of Fire', is being stepped up to 50,000 copies from 30,000 earlier.
While two Team Anna members targetted United Progressive Alliance Presidential nominee Pranab Mukherjee and demanding a probe into allegations against him, anti-graft crusader Anna Hazare on Monday appeared to endorse his candidature for the top post terming him as "better than other UPA ministers".
'If the total amount is spent, it will be highest Budget spend on MGNREGA.'
With United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi naming Pranab Mukherjee as the Presidential candidate, priests at Sri Jagannath Temple at Puri sought the Lord's blessings for him.
Pranab Mukherjee, the United Progressive Alliance's presidential candidate, has friends across the political spectrum, in the Left as well as the Bharatiya Janata Party, says Aditi Phadnis
Ending months of speculation, the ruling coalition met on Friday evening at the residence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh where its Chairperson Sonia Gandhi put forward the name of the 77-year-old veteran Congressman from West Bengal as its candidate, which was unanimously approved by the leaders of the constituent parties
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday met senior Congress colleagues, including Pranab Mukherjee, to discuss the Presidential poll issue ahead of the United Progressive Alliance meeting.
Sources in the Samajwadi Party said that Mulayam Singh Yadav, his cousin and party general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav and another senior leader Naresh Aggarwal have held at least five rounds of discussion with Congress leaders
Notwithstanding the failure of alliance with the Congress for the civic polls in West Bengal, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee said on Wednesday that her party would be in the United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre as long as "we get the minimum respect".
The Communist Party of India-Marxist on Thursday termed as "unprecedented" the proposal to make Prime Minister Manmohan Singh a presidential candidate, saying it shows the lack of principles that ties the United Progressive Alliance coalition
The Congress silence comes at a high cost, notes a Rediff Correspondent.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday during which the issues of financial package for the state and United Progresseive Alliance's Presidential candidate are likely to come up for discussion.
The United Progressive Alliance government had faced criticism from all quarters over the detention of Anna Hazare hours before the activist was scheduled to go on an indefinite fast.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee arrived in Delhi on Tuesday night for consultations with United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday on the issue of the Presidential poll nominee of the UPA, amid intense speculation on Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's candidature for the post.
Even though Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel will move this proposal only on Thursday in the Cabinet meeting, the government is already going ahead with the proposal regardless of the response from other concerned ministries like finance, environment and forests, and tourism and the planning commission.
Hitting out at the government for calling Team Anna members "anti-national", the Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday said it is not right and unjustified to level such allegations against those critical of the policies of the United Progressive Alliance dispensation.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday shot off a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, complaining against Home Minister P Chidambaram's comment on the issue of IPS officers, alleging that the United Progressive Alliance government was trying to destabilise his government.
The Confederation of All India Traders, the apex body of trade federations and small-scale sector players in the country, upped their campaign on Saturday against the United Progressive Alliance government's proposal to bring in foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail by another notch. The CAIT announced a nationwide campaign, 'Retail FDI bhagao, apne vatan ko bachao' (Chase out FDI in retail, save our nation) in the national capital on Saturday.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, which has been opposing the National Counterterrorism Centre, on Saturday accused the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government of failing to provide leadership in fighting terror and asked it to bring in a strong anti-terror law if it was serious on the issue.
United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi wants Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam M Karunanidhi to be present when the Congress nominee for the Presidential Polls presents his/her nomination papers on June 16 to Returning Officer V K Aghnihotri in Parliament House, say sources in New Delhi.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leaders T R Baalu and M K Stalin on Thursday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and are believed to have discussed the issue of selection of a candidate for the presidential election. The meeting lasted for around 5 to 7 minutes and was described by the DMK leaders as a courtesy call.
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