The 27 special rally trains are ferrying supporters to the Patna rally from different parts of Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Orissa.
Another CD on the cash-for-votes episode surfaced on Monday with three United Progressive Alliance parties claiming that the Bharatiya Janata Party had stage managed the entire show for political gains.
Sonia held discussions with Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Lalu Prasad and Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan in an effort to break the logjam over the issue that has created a face-off between the Congress and the Left parties. The leaders of the UPA constituents conveyed to Sonia that they back the nuclear deal, but do not favour early polls, particularly because of high inflation.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad on Tuesday said his party would contest the Lok Sabha polls in Bihar in alliance with the Congress, the Nationalist Congress Party and the Lok Janashakti Party, but ruled out conceding more than 13 seats given to the United Progressive Alliance allies in 2004 elections.
The government has already decided to accord priority to fertiliser and power units for allocation of gas from the Krishna-Godavari basin. According to sources, the empowered group of ministers on gas, which met last week, has made it clear it will be able to provide additional gas to steel firms only after meeting the requirements of the power and fertiliser units. Among the steel majors, Essar, Ispat and Vikram Ispat have gas-based units.
Drug banks, cancer fund now health ministry's babies.
''I strongly denounce the way you are conducting yourself. It is shameful and disgusting behaviour,'' Chatterjee told BSP member Brajesh Pathak, who continued to agressively counter Union Fertilizer Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, despite repeated requests from the Chair to resume his seat. But Pathak refused to listen to the Chair, prompting Chatterjee to remark: ''Ham yeh hone nahin deyenge... Hamko hataiye yahan se .
Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Sarbananda Sonowal, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Narayan Rane, all of whom are being seen as probables for induction as ministers in the Modi government, arrived in the national capital on Tuesday amid indications that the Union Council of Ministers is likely to be expanded on Wednesday.
The Australian government has supported a proposal from Indian steel companies for acquiring equity stakes in coking coal companies and coking coal properties in the country.
Accompanied by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, 72-year-old Pratibha filed the documents before the returning officer and Lok Sabha Secretary General P D T Achary at the Lok Sabha Secretariat.
The decision on whether to remove the LJD from the UPA will be taken by chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers and Steel Ram Vilas Paswan on Tuesday released a new policy on Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemical Investment Regions.
Expressing anguish over incidents targeting north Indians in Mumbai, Union Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Wednesday said he had written a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the issue.
Shatrughan Sinha is said to be miffed at being "sidelined" in the party and the government.
Last week, a panel of judges headed by the Chief Justice of India ordered that Karnan be transferred to the Calcutta high court. The junior judge reacted that he would fight the order and asked the Chief Justice of India to "not interfere" with his jurisdiction, and also stayed his own transfer order.
The duo face a tough challenge to their ministerial aspirations.
Govt has given the medicine price regulating body a freedom to control prices of medicines.
Government on Friday assured the Rajya Sabha that essential drugs would not come under the new patent regime and companies manufacturing patented drugs would not be closed down.
Apparently angry over the delay in finalisation of seats among United Progressive Alliance allies in Bihar, Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan on Saturday stepped up pressure on the Rashtriya Janata Dal, threatening to go it alone if an alliance does not happen soon. "I have directed my party workers to be ready to contest on all 40 seats in Bihar as the alliance talks do not appear to have fructified till now," said Paswan.
A proposed Rs 9,000 crore (Rs 90 billion) greenfield modernisation and expansion programme is expected to give a fresh lease of life to Iisco Steel Plant, a unit of Steel Authority of India.
'We have done what we needed to do on behalf of the consumers'.
As per the new guidelines, the wholesalers will get 15 per cent margin while retailers will 35 per cent over the cost of manufacturing of generic medicines, Minister of Chemicals and Fertiliser Ram Vilas Paswan told reporters.
The AIIMS has not issued any bulletin on Jaitley's health since August 10.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday tore into the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance, blaming its "appeasement politics" for the failure of law enforcement agencies to rein in terror activities when it was in power and claiming it raised the "bogey of Hindu terror" to "misdirect" investigation.
Paswan has said that this is not a vote gimmick but a genuine concern of the party.
The AIIMS has not issued any bulletin on Jaitley's health condition since August 10.
Lok Jan Shakti chief Ram Vilas Paswan said that he does not see the possibility of the alliance fighting the next elections as a combined force throughout the country and feels it is too early to name Manmohan Singh as the Prime Ministerial candidate. He said that it was possible to have a pre-poll alliance in some states, but not in every state.
Terming north-Indians as the life-line of Mumbai, Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Thursday said that anti-people forces like the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and the Shiv Sena were trying to divide the nation."Maharashtra has 57 per cent of north Indians who are toiling for the progress of the state and nation. MNS and Bal Thackeray would face a severe repercussion of their drive, to separate people, on the basis of region or language," said Paswan.
Agriculture ministry to prepare blueprint for purchasing onions directly from farmers and the expenditure on damages would be shared equally between the Centre and state governments.
Expressing concern over depleting mines reserves in the country, Minister of Steel Ram Vilas Paswan today said the Indian government is looking out for overseas acquisition of mines.
The leak was not from any tanker lorry, sources said adding, FACT officials had informed them the trucks were not filled with the gas since Union Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister Ram Vilas Paswan visited the unit on Thursday.
The first of the gigantic petroleum, chemicals and petrochemical investment regions - each of which is projected to attract investment of Rs 70,000 crore
Paswan, who has chosen to plough a lonely furrow in the ongoing assembly elections, reiterated that the LJP was and will remain loyal towards the BJP, which was staring at the spectre of yet another "paltimaar" (volte face) by the JD-U president.
The new pharma policy proposed by Chemicals Minister Ram Vilas Paswan is likely to call for a central mechanism to oversee research and development projects in the country.
One of the demands is that export duty should be rolled back in view of industry promising to hold the price line. A decision will be taken soon," Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan told reporters. The industry has also promised to restrict export at the existing level and the government is monitoring the situation closely, the minister said, adding that "we are satisfied with the industry's action."
Finance Minister P Chidambaram's budget announcement to cut the excise duty on drugs from 16 per cent to 8 per cent received a loud applause from many corners. However, the common man is yet to see its impact as there are many loose ends to be tied up and loopholes to be plugged before drug prices show any downward trend.
Lok Janshakti Party leader Ram Vilas Paswan on Thursday said the creamy layer should not be excluded from reservation benefits while Congress leader Digvijay Singh said Parliament was supreme in policy issues.
The government on Friday said a new pharmaceutical policy would be announced shortly based on the recommendations of the Pronab Sen Task Force.
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