The Union Cabinet is likely to be reshuffled on Sunday. Speculation has been rife about a possible reshuffle in the wake of the exit of Trinamool Congress ministers and Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam representatives A Raja and Dayanidhi Maran in the last two years.
Seasoned bureaucrat and a stickler for rules Finance Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey will be at the helm of capital market regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), for three years. The 1987-batch Odisha-cadre Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, Pandey, would replace Madhabi Puri Buch, whose three-year term ends on Friday.
The telecom giant has asked FinMin for a settlement.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi had a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday. The meeting comes amid speculation in party circles that an expansion-cum-reshuffle of the Union Cabinet could be carried out soon.
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the dissolution of the Central Inland Water Transport Corporation Limited as part of the government's move to identify and close down "irretrievable" cases.
The Centre on Thursday evening took the first significant step towards creation of a separate Telangana state from out of Andhra Pradesh and decided that Hyderabad will be the joint capital of the two states for 10 years.
Tolerant Muslims can be counted on fingers. I think their number is not even in the thousands, the Union minister of state for law and justice said.
Several amendments to the long-awaited Competition Bill, proposed by the parliamentary committee including more powers to the proposed Competition Commission, was cleared by the Union Cabinet.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
If the Cabinet approves the long-pending Forward Contracts (Regulation) Amendment Bill, the regulator will be empowered to levy penalties besides getting the powers to approve options trading. In addition, it will pave the way for the entry of institutional players like mutual funds and foreign institutional investors into the trading arena, which many believe will deepen the markets. Similarly, the FMC will be able to decide on who can set up commodity exchanges.
'Mahayuti leaders will sit together and discuss and go to Delhi and then a decision will be taken'
The decision to make these changes to the Union Cabinet was apparently taken last week, but the timing of its announcement could not have been more unfortunate, writes Neerja Chowdhury
He is not just under attack from his opponent Shiv Chandra Ram of the RJD, but also by his uncle Paras.
Most of the 40 MLAs in the Shinde camp don't have enough legislative experience to conduct business in the House and so the first ministry expansion needed induction of veterans.
The entire census and NPR exercise is likely to cost the government over Rs 12,000 crore, the officials said.
Concerned over the huge losses to oil PSUs including Indian Oil Corp in the absence of suitable revision in petro product prices, Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar on Monday said he would raise the issue at the Union Cabinet.
Railway Minister P K Bansal's continuance in the Union Cabinet hung in balance on Saturday night as the Congress and the government received a fresh battering in the wake of the arrest of his nephew on the charge of accepting bribe to fix plum position in the Railway Board.
The government on Friday said the Lokpal Bill is ready and will be placed before the Union Cabinet for approval in its next meeting where a decision on whether to put the prime minister in its purview would be also taken.
A head count to identify the poor, including their caste and religion, was on Thursday approved by the government, which aims at ensuring that the benefits of the targeted subsidy programme reach them. A meeting of the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, gave its nod for conducting a census in rural and urban areas to identify those living below poverty line. The enumeration on the basis of caste and religion would be part of the census.
'More than Eknath Shinde's wish, we want him (Shinde) to lead us in the government.'
The Union Cabinet's nod is required to give effect to the government decision to allow private carriers to fly to Colombo, Civil Aviation Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy said on Wednesday.
What some of our leaders were up to this week.
The government told Portugal on December 12 that the gangster would not be given capital punishment if he were extradited to India.
Defence Minister A K Antony on Saturday said all members of the Union cabinet are equal, comments that come in the midst of a stand off between the Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress on issues including the Number 2 slot to Sharad Pawar.
Tata Electronics on Saturday began the construction of its Rs 27,000-crore chip assembly plant in Assam, which is expected to become operational next year and create 27,000 jobs initially. The plant will produce 4.83 crore chips per day using indigenously-developed technologies. The plant's Bhumi Pujan (foundation stone laying) ceremony was held at the project site at Jagiroad in Morigaon district in the presence of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran.
Singh's stand is untenable and his departure as inevitable.
The deadline set by anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare for passing the Lokpal Bill is inching closer, but the government seems to be in no hurry. Sources in the government said that the Union Cabinet is unlikely to discuss the Lokpal Bill on Sunday.
After her elevation as defence minister, Sitharaman has become a member of the cabinet committee on security headed by the prime minister.
The Union Cabinet on Monday deferred a decision on hiking the salary and allowances of Members of Parliament though the issue was discussed in detail.
Indians living in United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands and Italy will be able to apply for dual citizenship.
Besides the not-so-hidden unease between Modi and Adityanath, Modi chose to address the Lok Sabha to ensure that he could personally claim all the kudos, observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Singh said it is the principle of BJP not to promote nepotism and fight against dynasty rule and his decision to resign is in line with the party's principles.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday slammed the United Progressive Alliance government which decided to withdraw the ordinance that sought to give protection to convicted lawmakers from disqualification, saying it has succumbed to "dynastic" pressure.
Expressing his ignorance about allegations that Justice (retd) A K Ganguly was framed for his 2G verdict, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Monday said Union Cabinet has done whatever done in his matter.
In a significant message to the business lobby in Washington, the Union Cabinet on Thursday gave its nod to the Civil Nuclear Liability Bill.The move will encourage the nuclear power plant manufacturing companies, which have been eyeing the Rs 60,000-crore plus market in India, for the next 5-10 years. According to sources, the government will fix the civil liability at approximately Rs 2,400 crore for the manufacturers.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has removed Union Fertiliser Minister M K Alagiri and Textile Minister Dayanidhi Maran from two key sub-committees of the Union Cabinet. Both Alagiri and Maran are leaders of the Congress's ally DMK. In the wake of the multi-crore 2G spectrum scam, involving DMK leader and then telecom minister A Raja, the PM has been careful about allocating sensitive positions to the party's leaders.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and his deputies Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar took charge of their new official responsibilities at the state secretariat 'Mantralaya' here after taking oath of office on Thursday evening.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his cabinet colleagues Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Rajnath Singh, chief ministers of Nationalist Democratic Alliance-ruled states and prominent personalities from industry and Bollywood on Thursday attended the grand swearing-in of Devendra Fadnavis as Maharashtra Chief Minister in Mumbai.
The Union Cabinet will soon consider a comprehensive Special Economic Zones Bill, which would lay down guidelines for their development, operation and management.
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.
