Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj on Monday demanded that the United Progressive Alliance government convene an all-party meeting over the issue of Foreign Direct Investment in retail before making any statement on it in the Parliament.
The industry is counting minutes and hours in the run-up to the Parliament session on Wednesday, as finance minister Pranab Mukherjee has said any announcement would be made in the House.
Information and Broadcasting minister Ambika Soni spoke to rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt briefly on the current logjam in Parliament over the government's decision allowing 51 per cent foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail trade.
A rollback or dilution of the policy is not the only fear these multinationals have; they are also facing upfront political opposition.
pkeepers in many cities took out marches demanding a rollback of the government move on FDI in retail.
The stalemate in Parliament over Foreign Direct Investment in retail and other issues led to adjournment of the Question Hour in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha for the eighth consecutive day on Thursday.
There is palpable disappointment within a section of Young and Aspirational India that has come to identify with Centre Right economic thinking and had looked up to the BJP to advance that agenda in the years to come, says Shashi Shekhar.
Ahead of his meeting with Congress members of Parliament to allay their apprehensions on FDI, Mukherjee met Gandhi at her 10, Janpath residence for about 10 minutes, party sources said.
Opposition firm on its demand for FDI decision reversal, even as PM asks dissenters to fall in line.
With Parliament paralysed for the fifth day running and no business being transacted, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is under pressure to partially rollback the Foreign Direct Investment in retail, which was approved by the Union cabinet last week.
The biggest fear many of the e-commerce firms have is the possible requirement to change business models overnight, which would drastically increase costs as well as disrupt businesses.
The government made these changes in the third edition of the Consolidated FDI Policy Circular, a ready reckoner on foreign investment-related regulations that was released in New Delhi on Thursday.
Opposing government's decision to allow foreign direct investment in the retail sector, deputy leader of Bharatiya Janata Party in Lok Sabha Gopinath Munde on Sunday said that they would not allow proceedings to take place in the Parliament on Monday.
She said that she had apprised BJP president Nitin Gadkari of her plan of action.
Defence Minister A K Antony expressed his displeasure to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in presence of their Cabinet colleagues on Thursday, for permitting 51% Foreign Direct Investment in multi-brand retail.
Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday asserted that it would use all mediums of democratic protest to oppose the move to allow Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail, saying this would harm self-employed retailers.
Committee of Secretaries has come up with a pointless set of guidelines.
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