In an affront to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has refused to relieve an Indian Administrative Service officer he wanted as his private secretary in what appears to be fast soiling relations between the two since differences cropped up over Teesta river deal with Bangladesh.
RSS-aligned Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) on Monday expressed disappointment over the government's budget proposals with regard to divestment and foreign direct investment, especially in the insurance sector. The BMS, however, lauded the government for its current efforts on the massive vaccination programme, a special scheme for tea workers in West Bengal and Assam, labour oriented push on infrastructure projects in construction sector and development of five major fishing harbours viz. Kochi, Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Paradip, and Petuaghat as hubs for economic activities etc. On other Budget proposals, it said in a statement that "mixing the beautiful concept of Aatmanirbhar Bharat with FDI and disinvestment in the Union Budget is disappointing for the employees".
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday put the onus on West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to give a reply to Home Minister P Chidambaram's letter which asked the government to disarm CPI-M cadres in the state. "The home minister has written to the state government. He has fulfilled his responsibility. Now the state government should fulfil its responsibility and reply by acknowledging receipt of the letter," he said.
Kumar, a well-known economist and the author of several books, would succeed Amit Mitra, who has become the Finance Minister of West Bengal.
Banerjee, during a nearly 50-minute meeting with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee at his south Kolkata residence on Saturday, proposed that Congress should join the ministry to be headed by her.
These meetings with Pawar has fuelled speculations about the possibility of opposition parties coming together to form a third front against the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Bowing to pressure, the finance ministry may give industry relief from some of the new levies proposed in the Budget.
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's son Abhijit Mukherjee on Monday quit his job from Steel Authority of India Limited to join politics and contest the upcoming West Bengal assembly elections.
Though a host of pro-public announcements made by her in the last Railway Budget (2010-11) has been implemented, Indian Railways' finances have gone from bad to worse.
However, he pointed out that the manner in which Smriti Irani was taking the name of President in the House was not proper and in consonance with the status and position of the President.
Jaitley said the geographical expansion of the BJP in Kerala, after Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh in the South, and the 11 per cent vote share in West Bengal were 'important milestones'.
Empowered group of ministers on fuel pricing was likely to meet soon.
Former US defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld once had to catch Mukherjee in Kirnahar during the Puja.
Whenever people think of India, they will think of Ficci as a place they could go to facilitate investment, says Rajiv Kumar.
Expelled Bharatiya Janata Party member, currently an independent Member of Parliament from West Bengal's Darjeeling, Jaswant Singh on Monday found support from an unexpected quarter -- Leader of Opposition and BJP senior leader L K Advani.Singh had raised the issue of the hunger strike by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leaders in his constituency for a separate Gorkhaland state and sought support from both the treasury bench and the Opposition.
Complaints of electronic voting machine malfunctioning poured in from several booths on Tuesday during the third and largest phase of Lok Sabha polls which saw voters turning out in large numbers to cast their vote in 116 seats, including all constituencies of Gujarat and Kerala.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said the mass consumption items such as pulses, wheat, rice, flour, and curd will not attract the 5 per cent goods and services tax (GST) when sold loose, and not pre-packed or pre-labelled. The clarification came amid protests and widespread criticism by Opposition Members of Parliament over foisting GST on daily-use essentials and subsequent price rise. The all-powerful GST Council, chaired by the Union minister, had last month decided to impose GST on some mass consumption items to simplify the rate structure, which came into effect on Monday.
The BJP chief began his speech with the slogan of uprooting the TMC government from Bengal and said in order to do that, he would visit all the districts of the state.
Modi, 68, was administered the oath of office and secrecy by President Ram Nath Kovind at a glittering ceremony at the forecourt of majestic Rashtraparti Bhavan.
A poll update from Maharashtra's Nashik, where Raj Thackeray is on fire
Euphoric about India's biggest IPO, possibly to garner up to Rs 15,000 crore, from the world's largest coal producer CIL, Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal on Friday said October is an "auspicious" month to launch the issue.
Senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee called up Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee on Monday night and they are likely to hold final round of talks on Tuesday to resolve differences over seat sharing between the two parties for the Assembly polls in West Bengal.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha said the petitions raise three separate issues and hence, the need to hear them separately.
Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the state governments have been asked to identify Rohingya refugees in their regions and collect their biometric details.
Amid the rituals of Maha Ashtami (the third day of the five-day festival), Pranab Mukherjee spoke to Shine Jacob on the Moody's downgrade of State Bank of India and other issues.
"I extend puja greetings (Saradiyar Subhecchha) to all people and wish them well," a relaxed Mukherjee said while leaving for his ancestral home with his wife.
Sources said the belief was that by that time,Trinamool Congress chief Mamata could well be out of the cabinet as there is every likelihood that she could be the next chief minister of West Bengal. Along with this, the the fate of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam would also be clear, depending on whether they win the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections. The Congress may rejig its relationship with the DMK depending on the post-poll scenario in Tamil Nadu.
"We are concerned. It (killings) should stop. After all who are being killed are average political workers," Home Minister P Chidambaram told media persons in New Delhi.
In December, some 400 youngsters aged 15 to 18 years boarded a train for the Tata Jagriti Yatra (TJY), a 9,000-km, 16-state journey of 18 days from December 24, 2010 to January 11, 2011, starting from Mumbai travelling through Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Hyderabad, Orissa, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, to Delhi, Rajasthan and Gujarat and back.
As indicated by Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, the UPA government has already initiated process to make higher allocation in social sector.
The finance minister along with his cabinet colleague and Defence Minister A K Antony have been asked by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi to submit a report on the scam.
Investors can take heart from the first Cabinet meeting in the second innings.
In the turf war between the battered Communist Party of India-Marxist and its arch rival, Trinamool Congress, veteran Congressman and Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has found a new place of prominence.
The FinCom has recommended a record 10% increase in states' share.
New Delhi's timing couldn't have been worse, both for India's fledgling electric vehicle (EV) sector and prospective electric bike buyers. It was hard to miss the perfect storm brewing for India's EV industry since early 2022. On one hand, you had several accidents involving battery fires that unnerved consumers; on the other, uncertainty had crept in over subsidies.
As counting is on in the five states - Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Assam and West Bengal -- here's a look at where the heavyweights stand.
The scheme is in the lines of Nabard's self-help group bank linkage programme, which is recognised as one of the largest microfinance programmes in the country.
In what could hit trading on Power Exchange of India Ltd, the Forward Markets Commission has warned it to cease trading in contracts beyond 11 days of payment and delivery. The FMC has also advised traders to desist from trading such contracts on PXIL.
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