Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal may have been quick to deny any role in Railway Board bribery scandal and ask for a thorough CBI probe. But his image as an honest man, whose integrity could not be challenged, has been demolished. Anita Katyal reports
Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Saturday said the resignations of Union ministers Ashwani Kumar and Pawan Kumar Bansal would not pose any danger to the United Progressive Alliance government.
Opposition parties in India have demanded the resignation of Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw after a stampede at New Delhi railway station killed 18 people. They blamed the government for "gross mismanagement" and accused them of "covering up" the death toll. The stampede occurred on Saturday night as passengers rushed to board trains for the Maha Kumbh festival in Prayagraj. The Congress, the Left, Trinamool Congress, and the Rashtriya Janata Dal have all criticized the government's handling of the situation, while BJP leaders have defended the government. The incident has highlighted the failure of the Railways and the government to make adequate arrangements for the large number of devotees travelling to Prayagraj.
Maken is considered a close confidant of Rahul Gandhi and was without any post ever since he resigned as Congress general secretary in charge of Rajasthan a few months ago.
The authority said in its order that it believes that the movable assets and equity shares that were attached by the ED are proceeds of crime and linked to the offence of money laundering.
The top court had come down heavily on the ED and said it is not expected to be "vindictive" in its conduct and must act with utmost probity and fairness.
'Rahul Gandhi is going to turn 54 and in India political leaders peak when they are around 60.' 'This 'bhai-behen ki jodi' has done a wonderful job for the Congress.' 'Priyanka Gandhi was a very effective campaigner.'
The Aam Aadmi Party has sought the setting aside of Tuesday's election, alleging tampering of ballot papers, and fresh elections under the supervision of a retired high court judge.
Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Manoj Sonkar on Tuesday defeated Aam Aadmi Party's Kuldeep Kumar to win the post of mayor in the Chandigarh mayoral polls.
A provisional order has been issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act against the newspaper's publisher Associated Journals Ltd and its holding company Young Indian, the central probe agency said in a statement.
Mastermind Shrinivas Rao Dadi, 49, who has sound technical knowledge despite limited education, was taken into custody by a team of Bangur Nagar police station from a plush hotel in Hyderabad, the official said.
The petitioners had sought interim order of protection from any coercive action and for the probe to be stayed in the case pending the hearing of their pleas.
The plenary session in Chhattisgarh's Nava Raipur will start from February 24 and is expected to be attended by around 15,000 delegates.
A non-Gandhi is set to become the Congress president after 24 years.
Amid suspense over who could take on Shashi Tharoor in the Congress president polls, party's central election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry on Tuesday said AICC treasurer Pawan Kumar Bansal has got nomination forms collected, adding that it may be for someone else.
The Congress also fielded former Patiala mayor Vishnu Sharma from the Patiala assembly seats against its former leader Amarinder Singh.
Realty major DLF's chairman Rajiv Singh remains the wealthiest Indian real estate entrepreneur with a wealth of Rs 59,030 crore, according to GROHE-HURUN India. With a wealth of Rs 42,270 crore, Mangal Prabhat Lodha and his family of Mumbai-based Macrotech Developers (Lodha Group) is at the second position. Arjun Menda & family of Bengaluru-based RMZ Corp debuted at the third position on the list, with a wealth of Rs 37,000 crore.
Congress observers for Rajasthan on Tuesday recommended disciplinary action against three key loyalists of Ashok Gehlot but did not seek any action against the chief minister, as the party scampered to resolve the crisis that has cast a shadow on the election of the party president.
With the election campaign in Karnataka witnessing a bitter war of words between the BJP and the Congress, both the parties rushed to the Election Commission, seeking ban on electioneering by top leaders of the other side.
The discussions are mostly one-on-one, party insiders said on Thursday, a day of many meetings.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, assured the court that everything is under consideration.
This comes as Supreme Court is hearing a petition filed by lawyer-cum-petitioner, Gaurav Kumar Bansal, seeking an ex gratia compensation for those family members, who died due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Several Supreme Court lawyers on Monday wrote to the apex court alleging that they have received calls threatening judges over the case involving the security breach that left Prime Minister Narendra Modi stuck for 20 minutes on a flyover in Punjab last week.
The Congress steering committee on Friday approved several amendments to the party constitution, one of which is to give permanent membership to former prime ministers and former party presidents in the all-powerful working committee.
The counting of votes for the Rajya Sabha elections was delayed on Friday in Maharashtra and Haryana over alleged violation of rules, officials said.
A delegation of Congress leaders comprising Pawan Kumar Bansal, Vivek Tankha and Ranjeet Ranjan met the Election Commission and handed over a memorandum by Ajay Maken, its candidate for the Rajya Sabha poll in the state.
Congress leader Sukhjinder Randhawa and Brahm Mohindra will be two deputies to Punjab's Chief Minister-designate Charanjit Singh Channi, said party leader Pawan Kumar Bansal.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot will meet the Congress high command in New Delhi on Wednesday amid suspense over whether he will file nomination for the post of party president, sources in Jaipur said.
The Supreme Court Monday said no state should deny the ex-gratia compensation of Rs 50,000, as recommended by National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), to the kin of persons who died of COVID-19 on the sole ground that death certificate does not mention it as the cause of death.
The plea has been filed by the Centre in a PIL, which was earlier instituted by lawyer Gaurav Kumar Bansal, saying it may not be desirable to continue the process of ex gratia payment without any outer limit.
'Manish Tiwari has been trying for the Chandigarh seat since 1991, but I have never considered him a rival. If all he said the other day was targeted against me, it is unacceptable and I take strong exception to it,' former Railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal tells Anita Katyal in an exclusive interview.
The Centre had earlier the apex court that the ex-gratia compensation of Rs 4 lakh cannot be paid to the families of those who have died of COVID-19 as the finances of state governments and the Centre are under severe strain.
A bench of Justices MR Shah and BV Nagarathna said the nodal officer to ensure all eligible claimants apply for ex-gratia compensation.
Former Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal's Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat is up for grabs. And there are quite a few in the reckoning. Anita Katyal reports
Pawan Kumar Bansal prefers to maintain a low profile and people who work with him say the minister is "very courteous".
Pawan Kumar Bansal prefers to maintain a low profile and people who work with him say the minister is "very courteous".
The Supreme Court on Wednesday pulled up state governments for failing to disburse claims to the next of kin of COVID-19 victims, and issued a show cause notice to the Andhra Pradesh chief secretary as to why contempt action be not initiated against him.
The Congresshas announced a three-phased campaign, "Mehngai-mukt Bharat Abhiyaan".
It comes a day after party chief Sonia Gandhi proposed, at a meeting of the Congress Working Committee, the formation of a group to assess the party's losses in Kerala, Assam, West Bengal and Puducherry.
'Come, join this army. This is not an army of hatred, this is not an army of violence, this is an army of truth and this is an army that will defend the idea of India'
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