With his party not faring well in the Uttar Pradesh elections, senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid on Tuesday said the party leadership will assess the performance and draw conclusions.
The Enemy Property Act has turned two senior cabinet ministers into adversaries. Salman Khurshid, minister for corporate affairs and minority issues, directly targeted Home Minister P Chidambaram during the Union Cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
The first batch of 900 pilgrims on Thursday left for Jeddah in three flights from the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi to attend the annual Haj pilgrimage.
The government is working towards reducing the number of cases pending before various courts through initiatives like e-courts, Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid said on Thursday.
Law Minister Salman Khurshid, who met Anna Hazare recently, on Wednesday rejected his charge that the government was trying to create a wedge between Team Anna members.
Accusing the government of conspiring to split his team, Anna Hazare on Wednesday said he will not hold talks with government any more on Lokpal issue, an announcement that came in the wake of leak of reports of his meeting with Law Minister Salman Khurshid recently.
Union Law Minister and Congress leader Salman Khurshid has been embroiled in a controversy over his comments on the minority quota. In the midst of hectic campaigning for his wife Louise Khurshid, who is contesting from the Farrukhabad assembly seat, he tells Kavita Chowdhury why he will continue to talk about the minority quota and the reality of Indian politics.
The Election Commission on Saturday issued notice to Union Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma over his remarks on sub-quota for minorities, holding that prima facie it was a violation of the Model Code of Conduct and sought his reply by Monday evening.
The Election Commission on Wednesday put a lid on the standoff with Law and Minorities Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid after he expressed regrets over his "defiance" of the poll body over his remarks on subquota for minorities in government jobs in Uttar Pradesh.
Seeking to end his row with the Election Commission over his comments on sub-quota for Muslims, Law Minister Salman Khurshid has expressed regret, saying it was never his intention to transgress the law and undermine the poll code of conduct.
Law Minister Salman Khurshid on Monday night sought to cap the stand-off with the Election Commission over his Muslim sub-quota remarks by writing a letter to the poll body in which he is understood to have said that he has all the respect for the constitutional authority.
The Tamil Nadu Assembly has passed a resolution demanding that the three killers of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi should not be hanged. The execution was to take place on September 9.
A day after distancing itself from Law Minister Salman Khurshid's remarks on reservations, Congress on Saturday tied itself in knots, saying it favoured further increase in job quotas for backward minorities in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh. The Congress also said that there should not have been a ban on the Centre's decision on 4.5 per cent reservation for minorities in jobs as it was taken prior to the poll announcement.
Law Minister Salman Khurshid, who has courted controversy by his statement on granting nine per cent quota for minorities, on Friday said he had no regrets as he had not done anything unlawful.
The government on Monday clarified that accounting regulator ICAI hasn't reported any irregularity in the account books of some Indian Premier League teams. 'The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has not reported any irregularities in the accounts and violations of auditing norms by some Indian Premier League (IPL) teams,' Corporate Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid told the Rajya Sabha.
The fate of 961 candidates, including Union ministers Giriraj Singh, Subhash Bhamre, S S Ahluwalia and Babul Supriyo of the BJP and former Union ministers Salman Khurshid and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury of the Congress, will be decided by about 12.79 core voters in the fourth phase.
Rubbishing all criticism of Manmohan Singh being a weak Prime Minister, Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid said he is the best person for the job and has provided "thoughtful, philosophical" leadership in uncertain times.
Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid on Friday said all demands of Anna Hazare on Lokpal Bill "cannot be accepted" and the activist has to decide the "limits" of his exercise.
The senior leader said there an all-round support for Sonia and Rahul Gandhi is "apparent to anyone who is not blind".
Terming the spat between Rahul Gandhi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati as "part of democracy", Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Friday said the Congress leader's movement has "energised" the functioning of democracy.
The government on Thursday said it wants the Lokpal Bill to be tabled in the Rajya Sabha after evolving consensus among the political parties. "We would like the Bill to come to the Rajya Sabjha only after there is a consensus. If the Bill is brought and then consensus is sought in the House, it would lead to certain problems," Law Minister Salman Khurshid told reporters outside Parliament House.
There is no duplication in simultaneous investigations being done by CBI and Enforcement Directorate into the multi-crore Satyam Computer scam, Corporate Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said on Thursday.
Reacting to the Delhi court order that allowed Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy to become a witness in his complaint against Home Minister P Chidambaram in connection with the 2G telecom scam case, Law Minister Salman Khurshid on Thursday said that there was no case against Chidambaram. "There is no case against Chidambaram. The court has not yet given any indication as to whether it agrees to a case against Chidambaram or not," he said.
The government is considering allocation of quota to minorities within the existing 27 per cent reservation for Other Backward Castes in central services, Minority Affairs minister Salman Khurshid said on Friday.
The government is considering giving reservation to backward Muslims within the 27 per cent quota fixed for Other Backward Classes and a decision in this regard will be taken soon, Law Minister Salman Khurshid said on Thursday.
Contrary to Anna Hazare team's description of government's Lokpal Bill draft as a "very big hoax", Swami Agnivesh, an associate of the Gandhian's anti-graft campaign, on Friday termed the latest draft as an "improvement" of its 2010 draft.
Khurshid said SFIO's investigation was limited to alleged corporate law violations by Satyam founder B Ramalinga Raju, and others.
'Swach', the low-cost water purifier from Tatas has received the New Product Innovation award and Tata Steel has won the award for the game Tata Steel-Corus from LeapVault.
Questioning the government's move to make the Lokpal a Constitutional authority, Team Anna on Wednesday said it was a tactic to delay or avoid its passage and "fool" the people.
Chavan, Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal and Home Minister R R Patil have also been invited for a speech against terrorism by the US president, scheduled at the Taj hotel in the afternoon. However, the ministers have not confirmed whether they will attend the function or not, an official from Mantralaya (the state secretariat) said
While his main attack was on eminent veteran lawyer Shanti Bhushan and his activist son Prashant Bhushan -- both of whom are members of the Lokpal Bill draft committee -- he also trained his guns on Karnataka Lokayukta and former Supreme Court Judge Santosh Hegde and Magsaysay awardee Arvind Kejriwal.
Friends, family members and Union ministers on Friday hailed the Supreme Court order granting bail to activist Binayak Sen, who was sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of sedition by a Chhatisgarh trial court.Union ministers P Chidambaram and Salman Khurshid expressed happiness over the court's decision to release Sen, who was convicted and sentenced for helping Naxals set up a network against the State. Law Minister M Veerappa Moily termed it as an "eye opener".
The government on Friday said it has asked companies for suggestions to incentivise corporate India's contribution to social and environmental programmes.
In an apparent bid to woo the Muslim electorate, Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid has said that pictures of the Batla House encounter case had brought tears to the eyes of Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
The former Tehelka editor-in-chief also thanked the court for a "rigorous, impartial and fair trial" in the case.
Government and Team Anna had a late night meeting on the eve of a debate in the Lok Sabha on the Lokpal issue which may lead to Anna Hazare calling off his 11-day hunger strike.
Law Minister Salman Khurshid also made it clear that there was no question about anyone from the government ever saying that they don't care what happens to Hazare's health. "The main concern for me and the prime minister is Anna's health. We are very concerned about it," he told reporters outside Parliament.
Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said on Monday his ministry looked at implementing the Sachar committee recommendations as its top priority despite the fact that there were some "flaws" in the report.
The Government has found company law violations by all 10 franchisees of the Indian Premier League and has asked the Registrar of Companies to take penal action wherever necessary, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Thursday.
The government is awaiting reports from the ED and the US agency before deciding whether or not accounts of the Ramalinga Raju family-promoted Maytas firms need restating.
