New Delhi: Key UPA ally and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar is sulking again over not being made number two in the Union government. According to sources, Pawar and his close aide Praful Patel are even ready to quit the Cabinet. Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and Heavy Industries Minister Praful Patel on Thursday skipped key UPA Cabinet meet for the second time in a row. While the...
09:15 PM, Jul 19, 2012
Nagpur: Virtually putting on notice the former Lok Sabha Speaker and senior party leader PA Sangma for his insistence on contesting the Presidential poll, the Nationalist Congress Party on Tuesday said the north-east leader will face action if he chose to break ranks. "We have supported Pranab Mukherjee who is the best choice for the country for the top Constitutional post. Sangma should respect the party's decision and should not...
08:25 PM, Jun 19, 2012
New Delhi: There's a new name in the growing list of Presidential hopefuls. For the first time on Thursday, two political parties came out with a joint name for President. Former Speaker PA Sangma, who had been lobbying for a Scheduled Tribe as the next President, has got support from AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. However, Sangma so far has failed to get his own party,...
09:30 PM, May 17, 2012
New Delhi: The whole ONGC auction confusion has taken its toll on the government's disinvestment plan as this was being seen a test case for more such deals. As a result the divestment of Oil India and heavy engineering goods firm BHEL have been put on hold. Heavy Industries and Power Enterprises Minister Praful Patel had earlier said that it would happen during the next fiscal. The government is looking...
07:55 AM, Mar 02, 2012
New Delhi: The Cabinet has allowed state-run companies to buy back shares and participate in the government's divestment programme. "The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the buy back proposal," Minister of Heavy Industries Praful Patel said. The government is far short of meeting its target of raising Rs 40,000 crore through stake sales in the current fiscal year ending in March. Sources say only PSU with surplus cash...
12:27 PM, Mar 01, 2012
New Delhi: Union heavy industries minister Praful Patel is batting for the auto manufacturers on the diesel duty proposal. The Indian auto manufactures, specifically the diesel auto manufacturers, are concerned about an additional excise duty on diesel cars in Union Budget. Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Patel said dual diesel pricing is not feasible right now. "We have not pitched for hike in duty for diesel vehicles," he said adding, "diesel is...
04:49 PM, Feb 28, 2012
New Delhi: In the thick of a controversy, Union Minister Praful Patel on Tuesday urged Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh for a thorough probe into the change of aircraft by Air India allegedly to accommodate his family members on a trip to Maldives in 2010. In a letter to Singh, Patel referred to news reports appearing on Tuesday and some on earlier occasions relating to an RTI query wherein it...
06:10 PM, Feb 21, 2012
Panaji: NCP leader Praful Patel on Saturday announced that the party will fight the forthcoming Goa assembly polls in alliance with Congress. Patel who held a series of meeting with local leaders including ticket aspirants said that the party will contest seven seats and support Congress in other constituencies. "We are going to have pre-poll alliance with Congress. We will continue our association with Congress," Patel said. Goa will go...
03:57 AM, Feb 05, 2012
Catch the day's top stories on India at 9 with Rajdeep Sardesai. ...
11:47 PM, Feb 03, 2012
New Delhi: A Canadian journalist, who reported on bribery charges levelled against Union Minister Praful Patel, on Friday tweeted that there was no evidence to show that he took bribe. In a series of tweets through the day, 'The Globe and Mail' scribe, Stephanie Nolen, made it clear that she had written only on allegations made against Patel by an Indian- born Canadian citizen, Nazir Karigar who is being prosecuted...
11:38 PM, Feb 03, 2012
A high profile mix of politicians and filmstars were present at the Riteish-Genelia wedding. ...
09:02 PM, Feb 03, 2012
New Delhi: A day after the stunning 2G blow in the Supreme Court, there was more trouble for the UPA government on Friday as an India-born Canadian claimed that he paid Union Minister Praful Patel a 250-thousand dollar bribe in 2007. According to the Canadian, he paid the bribe to help Canadian firm Crypto Metric bag a 100-million dollar deal with Air India for a facial-recognition security system. However, the...
05:48 PM, Feb 03, 2012
New Delhi: In more trouble for the UPA government, an India-born Canadian has claimed that he paid Union Minister Praful Patel $ 250,000 as bribe in 2007. Nazir Karigar claimed that the bribe was paid to help Canadian firm Crypto Metric strike a $100-million deal with Air India for a facial recognition security system. However, the deal never came through. Praful Patel, who was the Civil Aviation Minister then, has...
09:26 AM, Feb 03, 2012
New Delhi: Air India has been put on notice by the Chief Information Commissioner for refusing to reply to specific RTI queries pertaining to a flight that was cancelled and used allegedly to ferry former Civil Aviation Praful Patel's daughter Poorna Patel and some IPL players. On April 20, 2010, a scheduled Delhi-Coimbatore flight was cancelled less than 12 hours before its departure. This flight was then used to ferry...
06:57 AM, Jan 26, 2012
Hardoi: Predicting mid-term polls, BJP leader Sushma Swaraj on Sunday said the Manmohan Singh government has lost the trust of the people due to price rise and corruption and will not complete its five-year tenure. "In 2009 Congress-led UPA government was formed, by 2010 it became unpopular, and in 2011 it has become infamous due to rising price-rise and corruption... I think government will not complete its tenure and there...
10:49 PM, Nov 13, 2011
New Delhi: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report on Air India has come down heavily on the Civil Aviation Ministry while terming the acquisition of aircraft by the airline as "risky" and a "huge waste". The report, tabled in Parliament on Thursday, also called the merger of Air India and Indian Airlines as "ill-timed". Former Civil Aviation minister Praful Patel was in trouble after the CAG report blamed the...
09:28 PM, Sep 08, 2011
New Delhi: Former Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel on Thursday defended himself and said the purchase of aircraft and the Air-India Indian Airlines merger were collective government decisions. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report had earlier slammed the Aviation Ministry for the decisions. Patel said it was known that finances of airlines is not good enough for acquisition. "Losses got compounded due to delay in acquisition," said Patel. He...
06:26 PM, Sep 08, 2011
Former civil aviation minister Praful Patel spoke exclusively to CNN-IBN after the CAG tabled its reported in Parliament. Patel said it was the whole government who took decisions for Air India. ...
02:43 PM, Sep 08, 2011
New Delhi: Rising commodity prices, global economic risks and increasing unemployment are the issues that have made headlines at the World Economic Forum at Davos. About 2,500 global leaders are attending the summit and India is fielding its biggest-ever delegation of 125 CEOs and senior ministers like Home Minister P Chidambaram, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma, Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath and Heavy Industries Minister Praful Patel. Corporate India...
07:40 AM, Jan 27, 2011
New Delhi: Praful Patel, who took over as Cabinet Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, on Thursday said Air India, under his previous charge, should not be declared sick as restoring financial health to national carrier is "completely doable". "Thankful to the Prime Minister for the new responsibilities" given to him, Patel, 53, said Air India required for a long time fresh equity and the decision on the same...
02:11 PM, Jan 20, 2011
