Hyderabad, The CBI Thursday arrested Andhra Pradesh excise minister Mopidevi Venkataramna in an illegal assets case linked to YSR Congress leader Y S Jaganmohan Reddy. Earlier, Minister for excise Mopidevi Venkatramna was questioned by CBI officials for over six hours at Dilkusha Guest House, the camp office of the investigating agency. The minister was questioned about the land allotments made to Vanpic company for a port project when he was minister for infrastructure and investment in the cabinet of Jaganmohan Reddy's father Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy. ...
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Bangalore, Microsoft today announced an innovative programme to aid ten early stage start ups by hosting them on Windows Azure and help their businesses that take advantage of the Cloud. Announcing the programme, Microsoft India (R&D) Managing Directoir Amit Chatterjee said Microsoft will neither have any stake or share IP with these ten start ups who would be provided technical and business guidance besides mentoring and connecting them with prospective investors and venture capitalists. He said these start ups who would be selected through a rigorous screening process would also have the benefit of working out of Microsoft R and D office here for four months, using resources of Microsoft's BizSpark programme and USD 60,000 in Azure credit. He said they would leverage the unlimited possibilities enabled by an open and flexible cloud platform, the metro user interface on Windows 8 and Windows phne, besides other technical inputs of Microsoft. He said over the next three years Indian tech smart entrepreneurs have a major play in the 'connected network and continued services' arena as business will flourish in the cloud environment. The start ups could be from ...
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New Delhi, The government on Wednesday claimed that political parties were in the know of the move to refer the Lokpal bill to a select committee and that leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley was consulted on its composition. "The committee was drawn up after consultation," parliamentary affairs minister Pawan Bansal said. The government claimed that there might have been a gap in communication within BJP as party MPs protested the move while Jaitley sat without intervening. Jaitley contested the government's suggestion that he was on board, saying that he had only been informed about the move to refer the bill to a select committee. "I was not consulted, the ministers merely told me about the government's plan," he said. He also said that when Bansal met him, he had told the minister that he intended to "raise objections with relation to the incompetent amendment to refer the bill to a select committee". He pointed out that in the House, he had asked the government to be upfront about its intent rather than getting a Samajwadi Party MP to move the amendment. Speaking to the media, Bansal said all parties were consulted over the composition of the ...
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Mumbai, BJP leader Sanjay Joshi, bete noire of the Gujarat chief minister, on Thursday resigned ahead of the party national executive meeting beginning here, a move seen as an effort by the party president to buy peace with Narendra Modi. "Joshi, who was invitee member of the national executive, has in a letter to party president Nitin Gadkari said that he is relinquishing his post in the larger interest of the party," BJP sources said hours before the inauguration of the two day conclave. The move by Gadkari is significant as the shadow of Modi could have hung over the conclave as speculation had mounted over the Gujarat strongman's absence amid no official word from Gandhinagar. Modi had also not attended the last meeting of the National Executive held in Delhi in December apparently peeved over the induction of Joshi into Uttar Pradesh election campaign by Gadkari. He had also not campaigned in the UP polls. As per official programme, Modi will be in Udaipur in Rajasthan today to attend the birth centenary celebrations of Maharana Pratap and will be returning to Ahmedabad. As per his associates in Gandhinagar, Modi could make it to Mumbai tomorrow in view of the ...
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New Delhi, As UPA completes three years in office, BJP on Tuesday claimed the government may fall anytime as coalition partners were unhappy and were not even ready to break bread together. During a discussion on the issue at the party's Parliamentary Party meeting here, BJP while referring to Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee refusal to attend a dinner hosted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, said the three years of UPA regime would be written in "black letters." "Its allies are not happy with it. A leader of the ally party does not even want to eat food together. You can imagine the state of affairs... The UPA is not even in a position of eating snacks. "I wonder what would be the flavour of the dinner hosted to celebrate the three years of completion of government," said BJP spokesman Shahnawaz Hussain after the party's meeting. He said, "The completion of three years of UPA regime will be written in black letters." Hussain said, "This government can anytime...(fall). The government claims to have a total majority of 272, but the actual figure seems 227 as even its allies are not happy with it." The party also discussed the "failures" of the present ...
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New Delhi, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader P.A. Sangma, whose name has been proposed for president by the AIADMK and the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Tuesday said he would urge parties to "respond to the call of conscience" and choose a tribal for the post. Sangma, who met Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to thank him for backing his presidential candidature, told reporters: "We hope that other political parties, including those in the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) and the NDA (National Democratic Alliance), respond to the call of conscience in the nation by the tribal people and support us in the coming presidential election." Marching ahead in the presidential race after being backed by BJD leader Patnaik and AIADMK chief J. Jayalalithaa, Sangma is making attempts to get support from major parties. Sangma, who was accompanied by other tribal lead­ers from different political parties, said: "We belong from different political parties but we are fighting a common cause of projecting a tribal as a presidential candidate." Thanking Patnaik and Jayalalithaa, he said: "Indeed it is time, a distinguished tribal leader needs to be the 'rashtrapati' of this great ...
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New Delhi, With the government sending the controversial Lokpal Bill to a Rajya Sabha select committee for further scrutiny and discussion on Monday, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has accused the former of not being sincere in its efforts to pass anti-graft proposal. "This has become quiet clear, that the intentions of the government over bringing the Ombudsman (Bill) were not correct since the very beginning. The government has once again exposed its corrupt face protecting corrupt people," Naqvi told media here. Expressing displeasure over sending the bill to a select committee, BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said: "Any search proposal for select committee can come only and only by the minister in charge who is in possession of the entire proposal. It could not have come from anyone else." "This kind of procedure was most unwarranted. We deeply regret it, and also condemn it. The present consideration is also permissible in terms of Article 252 of the Constitution, where such considerations are permissible only when two state assemblies empower the Rajya Sabha to consider such a proposal," he added. Communist Party of India (CPI) ...
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New Delhi, The crisis in Air India continued as pilots' strike entered its fifteenth day on Tuesday. The national carrier had on Monday sacked 30 more of its striking pilots, taking the number of pilots who have lost jobs so far up to 101. Earlier, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh has sought support of all Air India unions to restore the airline's financial health and its past glory. In a meeting with leaders of Air India unions, Singh said the recommendations of the Dharmadhikari Committee, which went into all issues like pay parity and career progression, would be implemented only after all the unions are consulted. Meanwhile, General Secretary of the Air India Engineering Association, Pradeep Bhogale, said that the minister had appraised the unions about the government's intentions for a turnaround plan to improve the ailing national carrier's sagging position. "He (Singh) informed us about the 30,000 crore rupees equity infusion by the government of India. He informed that with this equity infusion, there is a turnaround plan, and that there are milestones (which) we have to cross, and we have to bring back the glory (that) was with Air India," Bhogale ...
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Lucknow, In an apparent move to expand its base beyond the geographical and political boundaries of Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party is preparing to contest the Gujarat assembly elections, scheduled to be held later this year. The larger plan is to contest assembly elections in all the four states, where elections are to be held before the 2014 Lok Sabha polls to test the political waters in these states and also push for a national status for SP, which is still a state party. Eyeing on a substantial migrant population from Uttar Pradesh settled in the industrial belts of Bharuch and Vapi in south Gujarat apart from Ahmedabad and Vadodra in central Gujarat, SP national president Mulayam Singh Yadav is expected to address a meeting of the party workers in Ahmedabad on June 7. The party is expected to make the final announcement of its plans to contest the assembly elections in Gujarat at this meeting. According to party insiders, a host of senior SP leaders including chief minister Akhilesh Yadav will also hold meetings thereafter. South Gujarat general secretary of Samajwadi Party, Gulab Singh met Mulayam recently in Delhi, and it was decided that SP supremo will visit ...
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New Delhi, In yet another twist, the controversial Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill was on Monday referred to the select committee of Rajya Sabha, further delaying the setting up of the anti-graft ombudsman which has been hanging fire for 42 years. The bill, on which debate had remained inconclusive in the Rajya Sabha during the last winter session, was referred to the select committee through a motion soon after minister of state for personnel V Narayanasamy moved it for consideration and passage. Interestingly, the motion for referring the bill to the select committee was moved initially by Samajwadi Party member Naresh Agrawal. This was strongly objected to by BJP, Left parties and BSP, with their members arguing that only the minister concerned could move such a motion and accusing the ruling coalition of "using the shoulder" of "friendly opposition" party. After high drama marked by arguments and counter-arguments over whether rules permitted any other member to move such a motion, the government yielded and the motion was moved by Narayanasamy which was immediately passed by voice vote. He said the 15-member committee would have to submit its report by the first day of ...
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New Delhi, The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is probing the complaints of money laundering against Indian Premier League (IPL), Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told the Rajya Sabha Monday. Speaking during question hour, Mukherjee said: "There are certain irregularities which are being looked into, particularly relating to some complaints received that there are foreign investments in IPL." "Those are being looked into by the Enforcement Directorate because those are the criminal activities like money laundering," he said. Mukherjee said the IPL is a body of the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) and till 2006, the BCCI enjoyed income tax exemptions. He said the BCCI lost exemption registration in 2006 following the verdict of the Allahabad High Court and since then, it is subject to tax. "Tax demands were raised for the assessment years 2007-08 and 2008-09 amounting to Rs.118 crore and Rs.257 crore respectively. As much as Rs.249 crore has already been recovered from the BCCI," he said. The matter was also raised in the Lok Sabha and replying to queries, Sports Minister Ajay Maken said that the ministry has written to the ED to look into the money ...
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New Delhi, The government Monday released the much-awaited white paper on black money, which makes a strong pitch for setting up the Lokpal and Lokayuktas but carries no official estimate of the illicit money stashed by Indians abroad. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee tabled the white paper in the Lok Sabha. The paper carries no estimates on the quantum of money stashed abroad, but quotes figures released by different agencies. "There are no reliable estimates of black money generation or accumulation, neither is there an accurate well-accepted methodology for making such estimation," the paper said. It pointed out that among the estimates made so far, there is no uniformity, unanimity, or consensus about the best methodology or approach to be used for this purpose. "There have also been wide variations in the figures reported, which further serves to highlight the limitations of the different methods adopted." The paper made a strong pitch for setting up the Lokpal and Lokayuktas to effectively deal with the menace of black money and other corrupt practices. In the foreword to the report, Mukherjee pointed out that in this past year the government has ...
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New Delhi, Asserting that the Central Government is not serious about passing a strong Lokpal Bill, social activist Arvind Kejriwal has said Team Anna would decide its future course of action after the budget session of parliament ends. "We are waiting for the parliament session to get over. Our future strategy and agitation will be announced after that," Kejriwal told media here. "We do doubt their (government) intentions. When the budget session was so big then why did they not get the bill earlier? Why on the last day? They could have got it 15-30 days earlier, so defiantly there is a doubt over their intentions," he added. Earlier, former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer and Team Anna member Kiran Bedi has said the Central Government is not serious about endorsing an effective Lokpal Bill, since it would be like sounding the death knell for corrupt politicians. "The Lokpal Bill is a very tough law for people who are corrupt and they also happen to be in power. They also know that there is enough proof against them. It will be very difficult for them as they will be investigated and like former telecom minister A Raja they will go to jail because whistleblowers ...
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New Delhi, The nation today paid homage to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, who was killed in a suicide bomb attack on this day 21 years ago. President Pratibha Patil, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the departed leader's wife and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi went to the late leader's memorial 'Vir Bhumi' here and paid their respects. Rahul and Priyanka also paid floral tributes at the memorial of their father, who was assassinated on May 21, 1991 at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu during a poll campaign. Vice President Hamid Ansari, Delhi Lt Governor Tejinder Khanna, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, Parliamentary Affairs Minister P K Bansal and Urban Development also paid homage to Gandhi. Priyanka's husband Robert Vadra was present on the occasion. School children waving national flags were also present at the memorial. A speech by the late prime minister, during which he talked about preserving the dignity of institutions, was played at the ...
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New Delhi, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has refused to endorse finance minister Pranab Mukherjee for the President's post, giving a twist to the race. Banerjee told a TV channel, "I love Meira Kumar, she is very soft spoken, Gopal Gandhi has done good work, Kalam was a good president. Pranab may be the son-of-the-world but if you ask me my choice, I will go with Kumar, Gandhi and Kalam. But if Congress wants to go with Pranab, its their choice." The comment puts a question mark on Mukherjee's bid to wade into the race. While Congress is still to announce its preference for the top post, there is also a section in Congress that feels Mukherjee cannot be spared for the for the President's post because he is crucial to the government. If the West Bengal CM vetoes the finance minister, it may be difficult for Congress to evolve a consensus around his ...
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New Delhi, Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday tabled a White Paper on black money in Parliament, providing information on black money parked abroad, as promised to the House during a debate on the Finance Bill last week. "I will try to give all the relevant and possible information," Mukherjee had said in the Lok Sabha, while promising to bring the White Paper in the on-going Budget Session. The Opposition, led by the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) has been accusing the government of going slow on the black money probe. However, there are indications that the White Paper might not carry all the information about the unaccounted for money lying overseas, as the government appointed expert committees are expected to submit their reports in July or August. "In respect of estimates of black money, three institutions are studying it independently and they will give their reports at the end of an 18-month period, and that period is coming to a close around July or August," Mukherjee had said, while replying to the argument raised by senior BJP leader L K Advani the Lok Sabha last Tuesday. The White Paper, however, is likely to contain the report of an official ...
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Lucknow, Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee(PAC) of Parliamenty and former BJP president Dr Murli Manohar Joshi today held the Centre responsible for the devaluation of Indian currency and said the wrong policies of the UPA-II was leading the country into financial crisis. "The Centre has lost its path to control the financial crisis and the scams in the country are responsible for the devaluation of the Indian currency," he added. Addressing a press conference here, Dr Joshi said now Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee was also holding the international financial crisis responsible for the devaluation of the currency after assuring the country for past six months that the situation in under control. "Government should discuss the financial situation of the country in Parliament and the people of the country should know the real fact behind the crisis," he said. Demanding that the exports of the country should increase as the foreign reserve of the country is fast decreasing, Dr Joshi said that in no way the farmers of the country should suffer due to the financial crisis in the country. Talking about the deteriorating law and order situation in Uttar ...
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New Delhi, With the Budget session set to conclude on Tuesday, the much-debated Lokpal Bill, instead of being brought in the Rajya Sabha, could be referred to a Joint Select Committee amid lack of consensus on its key provisions. "A decision will be taken tomorrow", a Union minister involved in the process said when asked whether the bill would go to a Joint Select Committee or Select Committee. When a Bill comes up before a House for discussion, it may be referred to a Select Committee of the House or a Joint Committee of the two Houses. The Select or the Joint Select Committee considers the Bill clause by clause just as the two Houses do. A senior Congress leader, who declined to be identified, said the possibility of the bill being referred to a Joint Select Committee, cannot be ruled out. Reports said that in the absence of consensus on key provisions of the legislation including the one dealing with Lokpal's superintendence over CBI appears to be deterring the government from bringing the bill in the Rajya Sabha this week. The bill has already been passed by the Lok Sabha. Uncertainty hung over the bill coming up in the Upper House in the current session with ...
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Chennai, AIADMK chief and Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa on Sunday stepped up her lobbying for the candidature of NCP leader and former Lok Sabha speaker PA Sangma for the upcoming Presidential elections. She spoke to several non UPA leaders including BJP leader LK Advani, CPM general secretary Prakash Karat, CPI leader AB Bardhan, Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav, Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and TDP leader Chandrababu Naidu in an effort to build consensus in Sangma's favour. . "As part of her campaign for Sangma, Jayalalithaa has spoken to the leaders over the phone and asked them to support Sangma who is also a tribal leader from north east and capable person for the presidential post," a statement issued by the AIADMK headquarters here stated. It also recalled Sangma's meeting with Jayalalithaa on May 15 at the state secretariat in Chennai. Jayalalithaa officially announced her support for Sangma on May 17. Jayalalithaa's latest initiative comes two days after she asked all parties to "rise above political considerations," and support the tribal leader for the top constitutional post. . In a coordinated move, Jayalalithaa and her ...
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New Delhi, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma and Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has rejected the Parliamentary standing committee's suggestion to delete a clause in the Land Acquisition Bill allowing the government to acquire land for public-private-partnership (PPP) projects Talking to media here, Sharma said that they would be putting up this point in front of the cabinet as it may hamper investments. "You cannot take a view which is regressive, which prevents the rules of manufacturing, which will virtually hamper the investors' sentiments. We have to encourage investors in our economy particularly in the manufacturing sector and jobs will only be created there. I have taken on board fully the concerns of the manufacturing and engineering sectors of the industry and what has been conveyed by captains of the industry," he said. "We will be placing this very firmly before the cabinet because we cannot take any step which in fact goes against the original spirit and de-industrialises this country or brings down industrial growth and investments," he added Sharma also said that he was in touch with Jairam Ramesh on this matter and hopes for a proper ...
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