President Pranab Mukherjee hosted an iftar reception on Friday evening at Rashtrapati Bhavan which was attended among others by Vice-President Hamid Ansari and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.
'The Railway Board -- and every official in the ministry -- functions according to the whims and fancies of the Railway Minister,' former railways minister Dinesh Trivedi tells Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar in an exclusive interview. 'It is the system that needs to be changed. It has to go from a one person-oriented ministry to an organisation-oriented ministry. The system should be transparent.'
Charging that the government is working for dealers and brokers where every decision is up for sale, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday demanded that Railway Minister Pawan Bansal be sacked for the alleged involvement of his nephew in a bribery scandal.
Believe it or not, Prime minister Manmohan Singh's Cabinet is unable to arrive at consensus on the exact identity of AADHAAR -- Unique Identification Number (UID).
The fourth day of questioning was deferred from June 17 to this day after Gandhi requested the agency for postponing the session as he wanted to be with his mother and Congress president Sonia Gandhi in hospital, where she is admitted for post-Covid issues.
A draft legislation is ready for setting up a permanent water disputes tribunal to resolve the water related disputes among the states in an expeditious manner, new Water Resources Minister Harish Rawat disclosed on Tuesday after assuming the charge.
Union Minister Harish Rawat, who was sulking after having been denied chief ministership of Uttarakhand, on Sunday had all smiles as celebrations broke out at his residence in New Delhi over his elevation to the Cabinet rank.
The new Lokpal Bill was introduced by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Bansal in Lok Sabha on Thursday after an hour-long acrimonious debate among members of various political parties.
The decision to cut development expenditure does not bode well for safety and amenities.
She left the agency's office in central Delhi just before 7 pm on Tuesday after recording her statement.
Attacking the opposition for Rajya Sabha's failure to pass the Lokpal Bill, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Bansal on Friday said the Bill will be taken up for consideration in the Budget Session of Parliament. "The conduct of the opposition, particularly the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Rajya Sabha, showed that they were only interested in not passing the Bill," he told a press conference the night after the House was adjourned sine die abruptly.
While agency sources informed that Gandhi recorded his statement and checked its transcript minutely, Congress leaders said the investigators took multiple breaks during his questioning
Unhappy with the ultimatum set by Anna Hazare on the Jan Lokpal issue, a senior minister on Wednesday said the government is committed to bring a "strong and effective" Lokpal bill to deal with corruption but made it clear that this cannot be done by "putting a pistol on someone's neck".
The Congress alleged that the money-laundering law has been weaponised to target and humiliate people, and urged the Supreme Court to decide soon on the matter concerning the National Herald-Associated Journals Limited case.
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram will lead a 36-member all-party parliamentary delegation on a three-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir beginning next Monday. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Bansal will also be assisting the home minister. He will be alternate leader of the delegation.
The government had a close shave on the penultimate day of the budget session of the Parliament when the Left demanded a division at the time of introduction of the Pension Regulatory Authority Bill.
As many as 81 legislations have been lined up by the United Progressive Alliance government for the Winter Session of Parliament beginning on Thursday. However, with only 23 working days till the Lok Sabha winds up on December 21, the fate of several such legislations remains doubtful.The government will also push for the passage of six of the ten Bills pending in the Lok Sabha and 13 of the 36 Bills pending in the Rajya Sabha.
Sidhu backed his wife saying 'she would never lie', while the CM said she refused to contest from Amritsar.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday for the third consecutive day of questioning in the National Herald money laundering case, with the agency seeking answers on decisions taken with regard to the media organisation and its owner Young Indian.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was questioned for over eight hours by the Enforcement Directorate for the second consecutive day in the National Herald money-laundering probe and was again summoned on Wednesday, even as the opposition party continued its protests and sparred with the BJP, accusing it of conspiring to defame the Gandhi family through the ''false'' case.
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.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was questioned for over 10 hours by the Enforcement Directorate in a money-laundering probe linked to the National Herald newspaper and was called to depose again on Tuesday, as his party protested across the country, alleging that the Centre was targeting the Opposition by misusing agencies.
A Delhi court on Monday granted bail to one of the alleged middlemen in the Rs 10-crore railway bribery case while reserving its order on the bail plea of Vijay Singla, nephew of former Railway Minister Pawan Bansal.
On joining the party, Kumar said, "I am joining Congress because it's not just a party, it's an idea. It's a country's oldest and most democratic party, and I am emphasising on 'democratic'...Not just me many think that country can't survive without the Congress..."
Aam Aadmi Party convenor Arvind Kejriwal commenced his road show in Chandigarh on Sunday in support of party candidate Gul Panag for the April 10 election.
With its back against the wall, the Congress party has channelised its resources to a strategically picked 32 constituencies in the national capital, though it is contesting on all 70 seats. The party, which was almost decimated in the 2013 Assembly election, thinks the worst is over. The Congress hopes to bag at least 12 seats, where it believes it is in a strong position.
At the NSE, it tumbled 8.45 per cent to Rs 132.10.
Replying to questions on Dr Singh's statement on Thursday that he was ready to face CBI in the matter as he has nothing to hide, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Soorjewala said that the prime minister has "stated the obvious as nobody in the country is above the law".
Lawyer of both the accused, asserted that CBI's case against both his clients was merely on the basis of recorded conversations allegedly intercepted by the agency.
Special CBI Judge Swarana Kanta Sharma observed that the accused was 'concealing himself' and despite issuance of non bailable warrants against him twice, he could not be arrested by the probe agency.
Actor, reality show hostess-turned-politician Kirron Kher's hard work has won her the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat, but it has also left her completely exhausted.
'It is mind-boggling that a party can be in rigor mortis even after numerous electoral defeats,' observes Ramesh Menon.
Earlier, a special CBI court had issued non-bailable warrants against Neeraj Singal, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Bhushan Steel Ltd, and Purushotam Totlani, an alleged middleman, in connection with the Syndicate Bank bribery case.
The judge had on Wednesday dismissed the anticipatory bail plea of Singal.
An impartial probe into the coal scam can only take place once Prime Minister Manmohan Singh steps down from office, Bharatiya Janata Party said on Friday in reaction to his offer to face CBI in a coal block allocation case.
Actor-turned-Bharatiya Janata Party nominee Kirron Kher on Wednesday visited former MP Harmohan Dhawan at the latter's residence in Chandigarh apparently to seek support for her candidature, but failed to win over the sulking leader.
The lawmakers seem as uninterested as those who use the railways.
The compulsions of domestic politics notwithstanding, India and Bangladesh script a new story in bilateral relations, say Nayanima Basu and Aditi Phadnis
Here is the full transcript of Congress vice president and Lok Sabha poll campaign chief Rahul Gandhi's first formal TV interview with Times Now Editor-In-Chief Arnab Goswami.
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