New Delhi: 1:07 pm: Trouble is growing for Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal. A Public Interest Litigation in the Punjab and Haryana High Court has revealed preferential allotment of land to Pawan Bansal's family members. 21.26 acres of land in Zirakpur was allotted to railway bribery scam accused Vijay Singla's father Mithan Lal Singla and others. The land worth crores of rupees was leased for 33 years at a rate...
12:27 PM, May 10, 2013
New Delhi: Congress President Sonia Gandhi has told Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to take a final decision on Law Minister Ashwani Kumar and Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal. Sources say Sonia Gandhi feels that the damage must be controlled and spoke to Manmohan Singh on Thursday. The Congress Core Committee will meet on Friday and a decision is likely. This comes even as reports say Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is...
09:34 AM, May 10, 2013
New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is still not keen on Law Minister Ashwani Kumar's removal, sources have told CNN-IBN. Sources add that Manmohan Singh is worried that if Ashwani Kumar goes, he too will come under further opposition fire. One of the solutions being worked out is that Ashwani Kumar's portfolio be changed. Sources have also told CNN-IBN that Railway Minister Pawan Bansal might not survive the cash for...
07:55 AM, May 10, 2013
New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is still not keen on Law Minister Ashwani Kumar's exit, sources said on Thursday. The sources said that the PM's main worry was that he would be in the line of fire if Ashwani resigned. At the Cabinet meet at the PM's residence, the solution offered was changing the portfolio of Ashwani Kumar. Meanwhile, sources added that Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal is unlikely...
07:08 PM, May 09, 2013
Already in the docks over the CWG, 2G and chopper deals, the UPA has now been hit by two more scams, one in the Railways and one over coal block allocations. The Supreme Court has also come down on the functioning of the government and its bureaucracy. In such a situation with the general elections drawing closer, can the UPA ignore the clamour for Ashwani Kumar and Pawan Bansal's removal?...
06:46 PM, May 09, 2013
New Delhi: Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal skipped a Cabinet meet at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's residence on Thursday even as Law Minister Ashwani Kumar attended it. Both Bansal and Ashwani are under fire over the Railway Board bribery case and the coal scam probe respectively. Sources had earlier said that the Congress wanted the PM to decide on Ashwani's fate. Sources said the PM was seriously considering the possibility...
06:12 PM, May 09, 2013
New Delhi: Law Minister Ashwani Kumar, who has been under pressure to resign after the Central Bureau of Investigation told the Supreme Court that he not only saw the coal scam report but also suggested some changes in it, is likely to be replaced. Sources say that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is seriously considering the possibility of replacing Ashwani Kumar. Sources say that the Manmohan Singh may either ask a...
02:26 PM, May 09, 2013
New Delhi: A day after the Supreme Court came down heavily on the government and the Central Bureau of Investigation for sharing the coal scam probe report, Attorney General GE Vahanvati met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday. Law Minister Ashwani Kumar had also reached the PMO to meet Manmohan Singh but he was not given an appointment. Vahanvati, Ashwani Kumar and the two officials of the PMO and the...
01:57 PM, May 09, 2013
New Delhi: As pressure builds on the Prime Minister to sack the Law Minister following the Supreme Court's observation on the affidavit filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the coal scam, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader LK Advani has hit out at Manmohan Singh alleging he is defending Ashwani Kumar to save himself. "Having decided to brazenly defend its two ministers, more particularly its...
11:29 AM, May 09, 2013
Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has requested Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to increase the number of foreigners' tribunals in the state from the existing 36 to 100. Gogoi met the prime minister at the latter's residence in New Delhi on Wednesday and appealed to increase the number of tribunals as the existing ones are inadequate to dispose of the large number of pending cases, leading to harassment of genuine...
05:55 AM, May 09, 2013
It's not an exaggeration to say that the concerns raised by the Supreme Court on Wednesday over the coal scam probe not only appear to indict the CBI, but the Attorney General, the Law Minister and the PMO. ...
10:10 PM, May 08, 2013
New Delhi: The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government is committed to enacting the Food Security Bill after considering all opinions, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Wednesday. "The Food Security Bill is a very important legislation for the government. The UPA is committed to make this law after considering all opinions," he told reporters here. Corruption, he said, was a major issue in the country and all sections of society...
04:59 PM, May 08, 2013
New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday hailed the party's showing in Karnataka polls, saying the result was a rejection of BJP's ideology and suggested the same would be repeated in the Lok Sabha elections as well. Singh praised the efforts of Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, saying he took a "leading role" in the campaigning for the polls held on Sunday. "It is...
03:59 PM, May 08, 2013
New Delhi: Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Wednesday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to press for a Supreme Court-monitored SIT probe into the 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases in the capital. "We want that a Special Investigation Team be formed and it should probe the cases under the supervision of the Supreme Court. There are so many cases on which no action has been taken like the Nangloi case...
01:44 PM, May 08, 2013
The dual-power centre in the Congress now seems to be split wide open with differences emerging over the fate of the Law Minister and the Railway Minister. The PM is firmly backing Pawan Bansal and Ashwani Kumar, while many in the party, including Sonia Gandhi, believe their position has become untenable. ...
10:18 PM, May 07, 2013
New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wants to know why Delhi University was "in a hurry" to extend the three-year bachelor's degree programme to four years and will get the matter examined, CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury said on Tuesday. Singh assured a delegation of Left and other MPs that he would "get the matter looked into," Yechury told reporters here after the meeting in Parliament. When the delegation submitted a...
08:40 PM, May 07, 2013
The Samajwadi Party chief slammed the Congress for presenting the Food Security Bill, saying, "The House is not in order. Presenting the Food Security Bill at this time is not appropriate." ...
07:29 PM, May 07, 2013
New Delhi: Differences have reportedly cropped up between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi with the latter wanting the Prime Minister to address media on all issues plaguing the government, sources say. But Manmohan Singh is not keen to talk to the media on any of the corruption allegations including 2G spectrum scam, Railway Board bribery and Railway Protection Force officers transfer and posting scandal and the...
06:32 PM, May 07, 2013
The legendary actor and former Chief minister of Telugu Desum Party Dr NT Rama Rao's statue has been unveiled at the Parliament today. The event was a conglomeration of politicians, family members and celebrities from the Southern film industry who participated at the event. Meera Kumar, speaker of Lok Sabha unveiled the bronze statue. The statue stands 9 feet 3 inches tall. The event was prestigious as Prime minister Manmohan...
05:25 PM, May 07, 2013
New Delhi: With no headway in Parliament, sources now say that the government is holding backchannel talks with the Opposition to get the crucial food and land bills passed. CNN-IBN learnt from sources that the Congress and the BJP leaders met in Parliament, with UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Opposition leader Sushma Swaraj even seen hugging each other. Sources added that the BJP had deputed Ananth Kumar to initiate backchannel...
05:14 PM, May 07, 2013
