Having failed its litmus test, the Bengal's ruling party is back to square one, trying to draw up a fresh strategy ahead of the polls in Meghalaya and Tripura.
The Committee headed by senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha had proposed no tax on income of up to Rs 300,000 per annum; 10 per cent for Rs 300,000-10 lakh (Rs 1 million); 20 per cent, for Rs 10-20 lakh (Rs 1-2 million) and 30 per cent on annual income beyond Rs 20 lakh (Rs 2 million).
With the United Progressive Alliance-II's tenure coming to an end, France had wanted India to sign a pact to provide government guarantee for completion of negotiation for 126 fighter aircraft with Dassault company but Defence Minister A K Antony has refused to do so.
The government package for public sector banks, announced last Friday, has been welcomed by the stock market with the PSU banking index booking smart gains.
In an interview, Jairam Ramesh, former environment minister, speaks of the formation of a new Congress under the tutelage of Rahul Gandhi in which older leaders would play an advisory role.
More than 20 national leaders will attend the meeting, TMC sources said. Most of them have already arrived in Kolkata.
Talking to reporters outside Parliament, Dr Singh said: "We have wasted a lot of time in the last two-three sessions and hope this is not repeated in this session. The government is willing to discuss all issues on the floor of the House."
Rahul Gandhi, who is scheduled to again visit poll-bound Gujarat from Saturday, said the government can't break the back of small and medium businesses, crush the informal sector and destroy millions of jobs.
The Congress on Sunday kept up its attack on the Narendra Modi government over the Rafale deal with France and questioned why the state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited was kept out of the agreement for the purchase of the fighter jets.
The old India was economically fragmented. New India will create one tax, one market, one nation, said Jaitley.
'As a seasoned politician I know how to talk and understand the opinion and sentiments (of other political leaders).'
A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi will pronounce the verdict.
In the wake of recent resignation of Union Minister Najma Heptulla due to the undeclared age bar of 75 years for ministers put by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, now speculations are rife in Ahmedabad on the fate of Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel, who will touch the line in November.
"Party is taking note on what is being said by whom. They have not come out against Narendra Modi, they have just made a comment on our strategy about Bihar. The section of media has highlighted it as a headline," Union urban development minister said.
A fresh political war of words erupted on Tuesday over the Rafale issue as the Bharatiya Janata Party accused the Congress leadership of corruption citing claims of a French media report on 'commissions' being paid during the United Progressive Alliance rule and said the Indian National Congress should be renamed 'I Need Commission' party.
'Everybody knows that any solution would upstage and expose official bungling.' 'That is something Mrs Sitharaman's masters will not allow.' 'No matter how high the cost in human misery, they will squander a fortune on the unnecessary Central Vista extravaganza,' notes Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
While reserving the verdict, the apex court had said that the pricing details of Rafale jets could only be discussed after it decides on whether to make it public.
Bharatiya Janata Party and Communist Party of India on Monday came together to take on the government over JPC report on 2G scam, alleging that the "fraud" and "fabricated" document was tabled in Lok Sabha in violation of rules which has set a "bad precedent".
Asserting that there is nothing wrong in allocation of coal blocks, former Union Coal Secretary Prakash Chandra Parakh on Wednesday said if the Central Bureau of Investigation considers a conspiracy in this case then Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh should be held equally responsible being the final decision maker.
Naidu said that efforts are on to bring together all non-BJP parties and that he had met Congress president Rahul Gandhi to discuss measures on protecting democracy.
If you love India, you cannot weaponise religion to stay in power, asserts Ramesh Menon, author, Modi Demystified: The Making Of A Prime Minister.
Congress senior leaders concede that UPA could be safe in terms of numbers but that does not solve problem totally
In its essence, GST is a national level system of value added taxation of goods and services, says Shankar Acharya.
Even Subramanian Swamy, who says he is an ardent supporter of the prime minister, has been taking proxy pot shots at him.' 'At the ground level too, there is resentment from workers and local leaders who have perhaps not got whatever they may have wanted,' notes T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan.
Amid reports that Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi may be anointed the Congress Prime Ministerial candidate, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday said the recent Assembly polls results have shown the party has "failed" under his leadership and has no possibility of doing well in the Lok Sabha polls.
Two former union ministers have sought registration of an FIR into the fighter jet deal between India and France alleging "criminal misconduct" by high public functionaries.
Over 20 political parties, except the Biju Janata Dal and the Communist Party of India-Marxist-led Left Front, took part in the massive rally.
The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday questioned Congress chief Sonia Gandhi in a money laundering case related to the National Herald newspaper and summoned her for a second round of questioning in the case on July 25.
New body to replace Plan panel might retain 40% of existing staff
With the role of the venerable elder thrust on him in UP, Mr Singh has had to attune himself to the politics at the Centre, observes Aditi Phadnis.
Around 250 financial market players will participate in a closed door meeting with Narendra Modi on February 27.
The Left parties attacked the government's policies and said the country was heading towards an economic emergency.
A day after Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi took a jab at Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and dubbed the Gujarat development model as a 'toffee model', Modi on Tuesday compared Gandhi to a child and said the word toffee had caught his fancy after he had repeatedly spoken about balloon.
Five months into office, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will expand and reshuffle his Council of Ministers on Sunday, bringing in new faces and is likely to drop a few.
The government is looking into the complaints about the procedure to determine the winner of the multi-billion dollar combat aircraft deal, Defence Minister A K Antony said on Thursday while admitting that there was no money to sign such a big deal in this fiscal.
The Opposition unity to fight the Bharatiya Janata Party seems to have run into rough weather as the Trinamool Congress and the Congress are at daggers drawn over the recent instances of 'poaching' by the Mamata Banerjee-led camp, with the grand old party finding itself in a tight spot.
Latching on to comments by former Coal Secretary P C Parakh, the opposition on Wednesday targeted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, saying he cannot escape responsibility in the controversial allocations as held the charge of the Coal Ministry at that time.
The government will push for the passage of a long-pending bill to provide statutory status to the Unique Identification Authority of India in the winter session of Parliament.
Hema Malini and Shaina NC have also been omitted from the group.
The Modi government is notoriously honest about one fact: It does not listen to economists, observes Shekhar Gupta.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances