New Delhi: Congress top brass, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and party chief Sonia Gandhi, on Friday deliberated on the way ahead on the issue of Food Security Bill.
All options were considered, was the response of party sources who said no decision has been taken about the future course of action on the ambitious legislation as also on the Land Acquisition Bill.
Food Minister KV Thomas was specially invited to the deliberations amid talk that the party could even consider convening a special session of Parliament for the purpose. The Law Ministry had recently told the Food Ministry during inter-ministerial consultations that without the list of intended beneficiaries with state governments in place and setting up of a redressal mechanism, an ordinance should not be promulgated as it would make the proposed law meaningless.
The Food Bill aims to give legal right to a uniform quantity of 5 kg foodgrains at a fixed price of Rs 1-3 per kg via ration shops to 67 per cent of the population. The annual food subsidy will increase to Rs 1.2 lakh crore from the existing Rs 85,000-90,000 crore after implementation of the proposed law....
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09:28 PM, May 17, 2013
New Delhi: Union Railway Minister Pawan Bansal and Law Minister Ashwani Kumar are not going to resign just as yet. The Congress Core Group, which met on Sunday evening, has decided to fight it out with the Opposition over the railway bribery and coal scam controversies. Sources say that the allies, too, are backing the Congress on both these issues. "I don't think it is in keeping with the canons...
07:53 AM, May 06, 2013
New Delhi: Amid mounting demand for removal of Railway Minister PK Bansal from the Union Cabinet, Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Sunday held consultations with Defence Minister AK Antony on the issue. Antony drove to 10, Janpath ahead of the Congress Core Group meeting. Bansal is in the eye of a storm in the wake of the arrest of his nephew by CBI on the charge of accepting bribe to...
07:33 PM, May 05, 2013
New Delhi: The Congress core group met a short while back to discuss the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) affidavit on coal block allocation scam report with its allies and backed Law Minister Ashwani Kumar. Kumar told the core group his job was to look at the legal points in the draft and that he had done nothing wrong. Allies said the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would be the next...
02:25 PM, Apr 26, 2013
With the Centre's deadline on the issue of Telangana approaching, Congress top brass, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and party chief Sonia Gandhi, held one more round of talks on the issue Saturday evening. ...
09:54 PM, Jan 26, 2013
Although the Centre is not opposed to the demand for death sentence to the accused in the Delhi gangrape, justice has to be sought within the legal framework, Union Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said on Tuesday. ...
10:31 PM, Dec 25, 2012
The protests over the brutal gangrape of a 23-year-old paramedical student in a moving bus in the national capital continued on Tuesday despite it being Christmas holiday. As the protesters remained undeterred by the steps taken by the administration, the Delhi Police earlier detained as many as 12 girls who defied the police and tried to break through barricades, even as the Congress core group reviewed the situation in the...
08:19 PM, Dec 25, 2012
A small group of people gathered at Jantar Mantar on Tuesday demanding stringent punishment to those involved in the gangrape of a young girl even as India Gate remained out of bounds for demonstrations. ...
07:30 PM, Dec 25, 2012
New Delhi: 3.44 pm TMC ministers plan to stage dharna at Jantar Mantar on September 30. 3.43 pm: TMC leaders leave to meet PM at 7 RCR. 3: 10 pm: Future is ours: Sudeep Bandopadhyay. 3: 09 pm: There is no credibility left in the UPA government: TMC MP Sudeep Bandopadhyay. 2: 42 pm: Congress ministers in West Bengal to resign from the state Cabinet at 5 pm on Saturday....
03:34 PM, Sep 21, 2012
New Delhi: Congress sources said on Wednesday that there will be no rollback on FDI in multi-brand retail, however adding that a rollback on the diesel price hike and the cap on subsidised LPG cylinders could not be completely ruled out. The sources said that Finance Minister P Chidambaram made it clear during the Congress Core Group meet on Wednesday that there would be no rollback on FDI in retail....
12:22 PM, Sep 19, 2012
New Delhi: The Congress core group on Tuesday put on hold an immediate hike in the prices of petrol and diesel. The Congress party maintained that it was against the immediate hike. According to reports, Union Oil Minister S Jaipal Reddy and Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram argued in favour of the immediate hike at the core group meet. While a hike in the prices has not been ruled out...
07:59 PM, Sep 11, 2012
New Delhi: The Congress core group met on Friday again to discuss the controversy surrounding the foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail. According to sources, the Congress will again reach out to key ally Mamata Banerjee on the issue before Wednesday. Sources further said that the government would take a decision on the need for deferment of FDI next week. This came after Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee rejected Prime...
09:50 PM, Dec 02, 2011
New Delhi: The Congress core committee met on Saturday to discuss the political situation, including the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report that has indicted the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and the Delhi government for irregularities in the Commonwealth Games. The Congress is standing by Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit saying that she hasn't been indicted in the CAG report. The party's also making sure it doesn't repeat the Ashok...
12:46 PM, Aug 06, 2011
