An empowered group of ministers headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, which decides on revising rates of the sensitive products, has not met since June last year even though crude oil prices have spiralled upward by about 50 per cent.
Empowered group of ministers on fuel pricing was likely to meet soon.
Chief of Army General VK Singh and heads of the Intelligence Bureau and Research and Analysis Wing will also attend the meeting where Chidambaram would give his ministry's assessment of the situation in the valley. The CCS would also discuss the request for army assistance sought by and Kashmir Chief Ministe Omar Abdullah to help control the vloatile situation in the state
A day ahead of Mexican Central Bank Governor Agustin Carstens' visit here to seek support for his candidature for the top IMF post, the Finance Ministry on Thursday said the decision on India's vote will be taken by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Highly-placed sources in the government say that Congress President Sonia Gandhi had asked Pranab to make the second statement, rolling back the Telangana announcement. However, Mukherjee is learnt to have the told her that the second statement should come from the person who made the first statement, for better credibility. He also advised the Congress president that the prime minister should be kept out of the picture.
Corruption has emerged as a major issue in the country but Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was not responsible for the situation, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said on Saturday. ''I don't hold the prime minister responsible for the entire issue related to corruption. But the situation reflects that governance is not up to the mark,'' he said.
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday ruled out a Joint P Parliamentary Committee investigation into alleged irregularities in the 2G spectrum allocation, but appealed to the Opposition to let Parliament function smoothly.
The National Advisory Council, headed by United Progressive Alliance Chairman Sonia Gandhi, will also meet on Thursday to look at the Food Security Bill, a crucial component of the second UPA government's promise to provide cheap and plentiful food to the poor.
Following the increase, petrol in Delhi will cost Rs 68.64 a litre.
Under severe attack over rushing senior ministers to the airport to meet Ramdev, the government is understood to have decided that senior ministers, especially Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, will not meet him again for further talks.
Former Union law minister and civil activist Shanti Bhushan has urged the government to hold an open debate on the Lokpal Bill so that the people of India get to know the stance taken by the various members of the drafting committee.Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, chairman of the Lokpal Bill Drafting committee, is yet to respond to Bhushan's demand.Bhushan, who is one of the five representatives of the civil society on the panel, said the government was backtracking.
P Chidambaram was conspicuous by his absence on the dais at the second day of the plenary.
India will set up a high-level committee to identify areas for expanding economic ties with the United States, from where it expects an estimated investment of $250-300 billion in infrastructure space.
The chairman and CEO of Dow Chemicals Andrew Liveris will not attend the Indo-US CEO Business Forum meeting scheduled to be held in Washington.
Stressing that the Cabinet notes meant for Group of Ministers should be in line with the procedures, a Cabinet secretariat circular cites Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee pointing out mistakes galore in the notes submitted to him for one of many GoM meetings he chairs.
On instructions from Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, the Intelligence Bureau has taken up the task of identifying a sudden quantum jump in the amount of foreign money flowing in the country through withdrawals by foreigners on credit and debit cards issued by foreign banks.
Commerce Minister Anand Sharma and Planning Commission Deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia will also participate in the India-US Business CEOs Forum Meeting.
On instructions from Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, the Intelligence Bureau has taken up the task of identifying sudden quantum jump in the foreign money flowing in the country through withdrawals by foreigners on credit and debit cards issued by the foreign banks.
In its policy review meeting on Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of India hiked interest rates by 25 basis points.
Indian currency notes will soon bear the rupee symbol. It will also have extra security features.
As the race for the next International Monetary Fund chief hots up, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday said he was in touch with his counterparts from developed and emerging economies on the issue and was keeping a close watch on the developments.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday asked tax collectors to become technology-savvy and develop an effective intelligence system to prevent evasion and punish wrong-doers.
The government convened a meeting of UPA allies in the wake of persisting opposition demand for JPC into 2G spectrum allocation, an issue which has paralysed Parliament turning the winter session into a virtual washout.
The process of selling stake in other profit-making PSUs is already underway.
Terming as "slow" the drafting of Lokpal Bill, joint panel co-chair Shanti Bhushan on expressed doubts over completion of the process by the deadline of June 30 and urged the government to communicate to the civil society its position on issues of divergence.
Amid protests from political parties over the hike in petrol prices, the government on Monday said the product was deregulated and the revision in the fuel rate was done by the oil marketing companies.
US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee announced the establishment of a new US-India Economic and Financial Partnership to strengthen bilateral engagement and understanding on macroeconomic, financial sector and infrastructure-related issues.
"Unprecedented" direct taxes collection of Rs 7.90 lakh crore in 2010-11 has "greatly strengthened" the country's efforts for fiscal consolidation, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said.
Headline inflation for March stood at 8.98 per cent, while food inflation was at 8.76 per cent for the week ended April 16.
The decision to finance these districts for rapid improvement in schooling, health care and drinking water comes nine months after Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee listed the drive in his Union Budget to ensure the poor and the tribals do not head to the Naxals for help.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had earlier given a tax holiday to the Railways till December 31. Banerjee now wants the tax relief extended to March 31.
The standoff in Parliament over a joint Parliamentary probe into the alleged irregularities in the 2G spectrum allocation continued on Tuesday with the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha adjourning till noon, following uproar by the opposition parties.
The deadlock over the 2G spectrum scam continued when the opposition rejected the government's offer of a probe by the Public Accounts Committee into the scam. Finance minister Pranab Mukherjhee had called for a luncheon meet on Monday afternoon to try and break the dealock which has paralysed parliamentary for the past eight days, where the opposition's repeated call for a Joint Parliamentary Committee has not allowed any business to be transacted in either house.
Leader of the Lok Sabha and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has invited leaders of all parties for a luncheon meeting to discuss a way out to end the impasse in Parliament as both Houses have not been able to transact any business since the winter session commenced.
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is likely to meet the leaders of the opposition parties again on Monday morning in his bid to break the impasse between the government and the opposition parties that has disrupted functioning of both houses of Parliament since the session began on November 9.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday called for flexibility in the framework that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is in the process of creating, to help countries manage large capital flows that could put economies at risk as they come out of the global financial crisis.
Amid the rituals of Maha Ashtami (the third day of the five-day festival), Pranab Mukherjee spoke to Shine Jacob on the Moody's downgrade of State Bank of India and other issues.
Away from the political chaos in New Delhi, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is celebrating the Durga Puja at his ancestral home in Miriti village of West Bengal's Birbhum district.
Far from the rough and tumble of politics, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is in Kolkata at his ancestral home at Miriti in Birbhum district to perform Durga Puja as he has been doing every year.
With the exit of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader A Raja from the Union government in the wake of the massive telecom scam and President Pratibha Patil accepting his resignation late on Monday evening, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is likely to table the CAG report on the 2G spectrum controversy in Parliament on Tuesday.
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