Government sources said the ministers deliberated on various arrangements being made to deal with increasing cases of coronavirus cases as well as to ensure adequate supplies of medicine and essential commodities during the lockdown.
Steel and Fertilisers Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Friday asserted that government would pursue reservation for socially backward classes in the private sector as per commitment made in the Common Minimum Programme.
Concerned over rising coking coal prices and insecurity of supplies, Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Saturday asked public sector steel producers to scout for mines abroad.
The invite to Paswan from the BJP assumes significance as this made it clear that the LJP remains a member of the NDA despite walking out of the alliance in Bihar during the state assembly polls.
Steel Authority of India Ltd, the country's largest steelmaker, will invest a massive Rs 100,000 crore for expanding capacity to 40 million tonnes by 2020, Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan announced in New Delhi on Friday.
It aims at slashing the average market prices from 10 to 30 per cent for low-end brands and from 30 to 60 per cent for high-end ones.
At the meeting which lasted for more than half an hour, the leaders of the two parties are understood to have discussed the key issue of seat-sharing among alliance partners in the NDA, which also includes Ram Vilas Paswan's LJP.
Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan on Tuesday fired a salvo at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and said that he should now enjoy the power as November 8 will bring an end to his delight.
The effort was aimed at bringing greater cohesion in the alliance ahead of the assembly polls in three states, including Bihar.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Cabinet colleagues celebrated the second International Day of Yoga on Tuesday at different parts of the country.
Manmohan Singh and almost all his Cabinet colleagues were among those who drove to her 10, Janpath residence in New Delhi to wish her.
The government on Tuesday said the steps taken by the national pharmaceutical pricing authority for enforcement of prices fixed by it had resulted in recovery of an overcharged amount of Rs 80.08 crore (Rs 800.8 million) till October this year.
The BJP is seeking to make an issue out of Kanchi Shankaracharya's arrest and Jharkhand Mukthi Morcha chief Shibu Soren's reinduction into the Union Cabinet.
The government does not intend to introduce a mechanism to control the prices of steel and iron ore as they are deregulated and are governed by market forces, the Lok Sabha was informed on Monday.
Government on Tuesday warned private steel producers to check prices or be prepared for an intervention, a move that may lead to controlling of prices, which were deregulated almost a decade ago, indirectly.
Union Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Tuesday announced the decision to merge the ailing steel plant with the Steel Authority of India Ltd and said the proposal would now be taken to the Union Cabinet for formal approval.
The RSS wants three nominees inducted: Tejaswi Surya, the young BJP MP from Bengaluru South, Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, a Rajya Sabha member, and former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.
On the efforts for a complete alliance among the United Progressive Alliance partners in Bihar, Lalu said there was no UPA in Bihar.
Outcome of this assembly election could be even more confused -- in terms of forming a government -- than the February poll, says psephologist.
Chemicals and Fertiliser Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said on Thursday that the Union government will introduce maximum retail price-based pricing regime for medicines
A day after the dissolution of the Bihar assembly, Paswan claimed that he had been receiving telephone calls from Muslim leaders thanking him for his "tough stand" over having a Muslim chief minister for the state
'Lalu doesn't mind the BJP but is not ready for a Muslim CM. He wants only Rabri Devi,' says Ram Vilas Paswan.
'The present timing suggests it was done under some political influence,'says Supreme Court lawyer Prasant Bhushan.
Ram Vilas Paswan's LJP is accusing Laloo Prasad Yadav's RJD of 'sabotaging' the prospects of its candidates in the Lok Sabha polls.
In a bid to prevent a split in the LJ legislature party in Bihar, party national general secretary Suraj Bhan Singh arrived in Patna on Sunday morning to take back the available party MLAs to Delhi to attend a meeting called by Paswan.
One of the politically sensitive issues on which the United Progressive Alliance government will have to decide soon is the subsidy increase on phosphatic fertilisers by up to Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion) to keep a check on domestic prices.
Fertiliser ministry officials on Monday briefed the new minister Ram Vilas Paswan about the pending decision on increasing subsidy on phosphatic fertilisers by upto Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion) to keep a check on domestic prices.
Taking a swipe at the 'Modi wave' before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, he said, "The Sena has seen enough 'waves' in its journey."
LJP to tie up with Congress in WB, go it alone in TN, Kerala, Pondicherry
The meeting comes as part of Paswan's efforts to seek support of like-minded parties in a bid to form a government in Bihar, now under President's rule.
LJP sources said the BJP's defeat in the five state polls have ignited a rethink in the party over its ties with the saffron party.
The grand old party, which had gone to polls in February this year in alliances with RJD and LJP contesting 84 seats, could secure just ten and finish second in as many, polling a meagre five per cent of votes.
Union Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said the hospitality industry would be asked whether it can do it "voluntarily" or or needed the government to make legal provisions for it.
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