Law Minister Salman Khurshid on Friday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of not speaking about its problems with Lokpal Bill before the debate on it in Rajya Sabha and sought to know from the party why it did not ask for the legislation to be put to vote with limited discussion.
These ministers are meeting select group of editors and senior reporters every week to put forward their viewpoints. The wooing of journalists at the ministerial level is unprecedented and shows the defensive mood prevailing within the government.
The reshuffle in the Union Cabinet, carried out on Wednesday, appears to have some focus on assembly election-bound states like Kerala and Uttar Pradesh.
Close on the heels of activist Anna Hazare threatening another round of agitation about the Lokpal Bill, the government, Team Anna and opposition parties Bharatiya Janata Party and Communist Party of India Marxist on Saturday said they were ready for an open dialogue on a strong anti-corruption bill. "The doors are open and we have never shut it. Rather, it was Team Anna which had slammed the door on us," Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid said.
Union Minister for Corporate and Minority Affairs Salman Khurshid on Friday expressed the need for opening up the core areas in wildlife parks to tourists.
The Sachar Committee report is not sacrosanct like the Quran and has to be looked at with a critical eye, Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said. "The Sachar Committee report is not Quran. It could be wrong and its recommendations and observations need to be looked at with a critical eye. The recommendations should not be seen as a special thing given to Muslims," he said. The Rajinder Sachar Committee was appointed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday accused Union minister Ghulam Nabi Azad of making casteist remarks against Narendra Modi by referring to the backward community to which the Gujarat chief minister belongs and demanded an apology from him as well as the Congress.
The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), the investigation arm of the Union corporate affairs ministry, has begun prosecution proceedings against the alleged perpetrators of the country's largest accounting fraud that took place in Satyam Computers last year.
Amid the ongoing debate, Corporate Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Tuesday said that lobbying and public relations are part of a democratic set-up but cautioned against their use to subvert corporate governance.
Law Minister Salman Khurshid on Friday night described as "internal affair" of Team Anna the sharp differences in it and declined to comment on the possibility of any break-up in the civil society led by the Gandhian.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is likely to write to state governments to vacate Wakf properties occupied by them, Minorities Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said on Friday.
The percentage was 63.14 per cent in Hathras, 61.89 per cent in Firozabad, 63.04 per cent in Kasganj, 65.7 per cent in Etah, 61.51 per cent in Mainpuri, 59.13 per cent in Farrukhabad, 61.93 per cent in Kannauj and 58.35 per cent in Etawah.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera tweeted, "Shayad meri tapasya mein kuch kami reh gayi (Maybe my penance fell short)."
Take a look at the pictures of Barack Obama's visit to India. You can see Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, Indian Ambassador to the US Meera Shankar and National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon. Can you spot Foreign Minister S M Krishna anywhere?
Amid roiling controversy over Lokpal Bill drafting committee members, Union Minister Salman Khurshid on Saturday ruled out any changes in the panel and said the government is looking forward to receiving inputs from Justice Santosh Hegde on the bill.
Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid on Monday downplayed the row over the finance ministry note on Home Minister P Chidambaram's stand on the 2G spectrum issue, saying there is no scope for any worry over the document and inferences drawn out of it were "not correct". Khurshid also said the note was not worth keeping the media "preoccupied" for such a long time. "I have seen the note. I don't think the note has anything on which we should express worry," Khurshid said.
The government on Wednesday said that the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) guidelines which require listed companies to meet corporate governance norms for best practices in management may now be extended to unlisted companies as well.
On the eve of the maiden meeting of the 10-member joint committee on Saturday to draft the Lokpal bill, government on Friday said it has an open mind on the issue.
The government has ruled out a separate marriage law for the Sikhs and dropped the proposal to amend the Anand Marriage Act of 1909 to provide for registration of the Sikh marriages.
Law Minister Salman Khurshid, a key negotiator with Team Anna, on Sunday said there may have been "errors of judgment" in handling Hazare's fast but there were no mistakes.
Congress young guns take offence over old guard's utterances.
The new Companies Bill, which is likely to be tabled in the Winter Session of Parliament, will contain provisions to rule out a recurrence of the Satyam episode which shattered the confidence of India Inc, Minister of State for Corporate Affairs Salman Khurshid said on Thursday.
Following the prime minister's reported call to his Cabinet colleagues to stay away from any business interests, Corporate Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Thursday suggested that ministers should hand over their businesses to a trust, as is being practised in the United States.
Salman Khurshid, who took over as law minister, on Wednesday said that he will discuss the issue of the resignation of Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam with Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and take a decision after getting directions from him.
Corporate Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Friday said that he is not surprised that B Ramalinga Raju has retracted his infamous January, 2009, confession of perpetrating accounting fraud at Satyam.
The Company Law Board (CLB) on Thursday allowed infrastructure finance company IL&FS to take over Maytas Properties, a company promoted by the family members of disgraced Satyam founder Ramalinga Raju.
"There have been regular complaints of illegal encroachment and sale of Wakf properties the country wide. Hence, we tried to amend some provisions of the existing Wakf Act 1995. Now questions are being raised as why Wakf properties is being registered. This is an age in which even births and deaths are being registered. I fail to understand why should there be any objection to registration of Wakf properties," Khurshid said in New Delhi.
The role of independent directors on the board of Indian companies will be clarified in the new Companies Bill and their responsibilities will be made finite in terms of what they are answerable for, said Union Corporate Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid.
Irrespective of their voting preferences, most voters would find this comparison with ISIS revolting. More specifically, would it persuade anybody who voted for Narendra Modi to change her or his mind? asks Shekhar Gupta.
"The government has taken several steps to protect interests of investors. The Companies Bill, 2009, which is before the Parliamentary Standing Committee, has allowed Class Action Suit for the first time in the country," corporate affairs minister Salman Khurshid said in the Lok Sabha.
Amid the raging storm over the Niira Radia tapes, Corporate Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Wednesday said his ministry would hold discussions with other ministries to regulate corporate lobbying.
Amid strong public reaction to the judgement in the Union Carbide case, the government is understood to be looking at legal position to check if Carbide India's non executive Chairman Keshub Mahindra could be barred from taking directorship in any company.
Actor-director Rajiv Kapoor, son of celebrated filmmaker-actor Raj Kapoor, passed away on Tuesday, February 9. He was 58.
Most IT companies today have multiple delivery centres, physically verifying documents is arduous and difficult to determine where the actual billing is done
Affluent politicians in India are obviously upset with what the affluent corporate Indian is permitted to legitimately take home as a pay package.
The salaries that Indian CEOs get is just about okay by international standards. But it is the promoters who take the biggest packages.
Corporate Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Wednesday downplayed fears that investors would lose confidence due to the row between SEBI and IRDA over market-linked insurance policies, as the issue will be resolved in favour of either one regulator or the other by the courts.
Commenting on the deal, revenue secretary Sunil Mitra said, "I am proud India is going out and doing great things in the world sphere. I am proud as an Indian."
Mahindra Satyam has reportedly requested Khurshid to take up the issue of taxation with the Finance Ministry as it would be unjust to tax income that was never there.
The government on Thursday said it has prosecuted over 13,000 companies during the three years ending 2008-09 for not following the provisions of the Companies Act.
