Sulking Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Monday skipped the dinner hosted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the honour of outgoing President Pratibha Patil.
Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Saturday pitched for jobs for the locals while inaugurating Piaggio's Vespa plant in Baramati, saying it was a lacuna that needed to be filled. He made the comments in the presence of Piaggio Chairman and Managing Director Roberto Colaninno, with whom he shared the dais.
Nationalist Congress Party chief and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar is ready to become the country's prime minister, provided there is a consensus, said party leader and Union Heavy Industries Minister Praful Patel. Patel was quick to add that any talk on this right now is premature.
Nationalist Congress Party ministers on Thursday boycotted the meeting of Union Cabinet in New Delhi to show their unhappiness over party leader Sharad Pawar not being given the number two position in the government.
As per the well-established system, all the 249 public sector units are to sign a memorandum of understanding with their administrative ministries, setting the performance targets which are reviewed at the end of the fiscal year.
Patel favoured vehicles priced below Rs 10 lakh being exempted from the SUV tax announced in the Budget
Heavy Industries Minister Praful Patel said Scooters India could be considered for complete privatisation
Prices of automobiles, including cars, sports utility vehicles and two-wheelers, are set to come down with Finance Minister P Chidambaram announcing a reduction in excise duty in the Interim Budget.
Committed to keep fiscal deficit under check, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has convened a high-level meeting on Tuesday to push forward the disinvestment programme with a view to achieve the budgetary target of Rs 40,000 crore (Rs 400 billion) in the current fiscal.
The deal is estimated to be worth Rs 12,000 crore.
Even the United Progressive Alliance constituent Nationalist Congress Party on Wednesday rubbished the Planning Panel's claim that the number of poor people had declined to 21.9 per cent.
Attending a function where former Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari rolled out business plan of his Purti Group, NCP president and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said "there are no untouchables in politics".
Amid mounting criticism of poverty reduction estimates by the Planning Commission, Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Saturday joined Union Minister Kapil Sibal in questioning the criteria for fixing poverty line.
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