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.
"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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Investors can take heart from the first Cabinet meeting in the second innings.
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.
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.
As West Bengal gears up for the April-May Assembly polls, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's son Abhijit Mukherjee on Monday joined the Congress and is likely to be fielded as the party's candidate for the coming election.
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.
Accusing the Left Front government in West Bengal of ignoring Darjeeling Hills, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jaswant Singh on Friday demanded the creation of a separate Gorkhaland. Singh also demanded more funds under the Cyclone Aila package. Initiating a debate on the Finance Bill in the Lok Sabha, the Darjeeling Member of Parliament wondered, "What wrong have the Gorkhas done not to deserve a separate state."
The meeting ended at 2055 hours, after 45 minutes of drama over Banerjee sulking that she was not being consulted when important bills and amendments were being brought before the Cabinet. At this point, one minister said she should not spend so much time in Kolkata, which made her angrier.
Cong leaders Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi, former Prez Pranab Mukherjee, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav as well as CMs of six states to be present at the occasion.
It's been months since Jindal returned the private land to the state government, free of cost, but not a cottah has been distributed
Social entrepreneur Rustam Sengupta of Boond, a not-for-profit organisation, recounts why he quit a multi-million rupee job with an MNC bank in Singapore to come back to India to provide clean drinking water and electricity to the poor.
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.
Jyoti Basu, the 95-year-old communist, has lost touch with many of his comrades. But this morning the former chief minister of West Bengal did not forget to call his favourite Congressman to say, "Happy Birthday!"
Since most of the States' coffers are depleting the hike in salaries in states is unlikely to match the central government. The payout is likely to be deferred levels. Besides, many states have their own pay commissions. However, state govt employees are assessing whether it is the central pay commission's recommendations that will be more beneficial for them or the state govt's own, as state commission's recommendations are reviewed every 5 years and centre's every 10 years.
Chidambaram, who is the Congress' senior election observer for the assembly polls next year, asserted that the Trinamool Congress' entry into Goa "appears to be an imposition from the top that is based in West Bengal" and said he does not know the Mamata Banerjee-led party's motive in trying to start a unit in Goa by "encouraging defections" from other parties.
FIFA World Cup revs up television sales in India
West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacherjee inaugurated the company's year-long platinum jubilee celebrations on Wednesday.
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Sunday night formally announced suspension of the 15-day indefinite dharna, saying a final agreement has been arrived at by the West Bengal government on the Singur issue."Since the government has found a formula for the solution of the Singur issue officially, I am suspending the dharna," she said from the dharna manch, addressing a big gathering of cheering party supporters.She thanked Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi.
The alleged chit fund scam in West Bengal involving the Saradha Group revolves around a total sum of Rs 2,460 crore with 80 per cent of the depositors' monies still remaining unpaid, a latest investigation report has revealed.
'Usually, the Left backed the Congress and other 'secular' parties on the justification of keeping the BJP out. In Bengal, the alliance targets a truly secular rival,' says Shekhar Gupta.
Addressing a protest rally at Bankura against rising fuel prices and the proposed privatisation of trains on Saturday, Kalyan Banerjee demanded Sitharaman's resignation.
With only West Bengal sending in the draft amendments to Value-added Tax Bill, the finance ministry said on Thursday that a new roadmap will be drawn up for the implementation of the progressive tax regime, which was to be effective from June 1.
Kolkata's creme de la creme turned up at the launch of Bandhan, The Making of a Bank, but the evening nevertheless had an informal touch typical of the young bank with CMD Chandra Shekhar Ghosh personally welcoming the dignitaries, reports Indrani Roy/Rediff.com.
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.
In the latest string of attacks, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said that Narendra Modi becoming prime minister is a 'fantasy'.
Political observers say Banerjee is fast emerging as the face of the Opposition and would be a force to reckon with in the next general elections in 2019.
'The untimely demise of Shri Cyrus Mistry is shocking. He was a promising business leader who believed in India's economic prowess,' Prime Minister Modi said in a tweet.
The United Bank of India on Tuesday said it was planning to open 12 new branches, including one each in Bangladesh and Burma.
About 40,000 jewellers in West Bengal have gone on a three-day strike alleging high-handedness of income tax officials.
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