Sharad Pawar

V-P: BJP may field Sharad Yadav, TMC 'undecided'

New Delhi: After the Presidential poll, the Vice Presidential election has once again exposed the squabbles within the UPA, with ally Trinamool Congress yet again claiming to be "undecided" on the ruling coalition's nominee for the post - incumbent Hamid Ansari. UPA's newfound crisis manager Home Minister P Chidambaram had said that Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee - the duo that gave the...  

Pawar welcomes Ansari's candidature for VP's post

Mumbai: Union Agriculture Minister and NCP chief Sharad Pawar has welcomed the candidature of Hamid Ansari as Vice President of India. "Even though I was not present for the meeting in Delhi, there was a consultation process with other constituent partners including the NCP. In the deliberation, NCP has decided that Ansari's candidature is agreeable," said Pawar. He said NCP is part of the decision taken by the UPA leadership...  

Is Antony number two in the government?

New Delhi: After the exit of Pranab Mukherjee from the Council of Ministers, Defence Minister A K Antony seems to have got the number two position in the government. Indication to this effect came as Antony was allocated the seat next to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the Cabinet meeting in New Delhi on Thursday. Antony was allocated the seat to the right of the Prime Minister, where Mukherjee used...  

Poor rains may hit pulses production this year: Pawar

Mumbai: The less-than-expected rains in the country is likely to bring down the total pulses production this year, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said on Friday. The country had produced 17.02 million tonnes (MT) of pulses in the 2011-12 crop year (July-June), slightly lower than the annual demand of around 18-20 MT. "The June rainfall was not satisfactory for agriculture and water reservoirs. This could affect the overall production of...  

Chidambaram to head EGoM on spectrum allocation

New Delhi: Home minister P Chidambaram will head the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on spectrum allocation, while Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar will no longer be a part of the panel. Sources said the spectrum EGoM will decide only on auction modalities. Members of EGOM will work as a GoM on matters of spectrum pricing. Final decision on spectrum reserve price will be taken by the Cabinet. The EGoM was...  

Drought fears haunt Bihar as monsoon gets delayed

Jehanabad: Bihar is experiencing a drought-like situation with a rainfall deficit of 60 per cent. Most villages are finding it hard to even find drinking water. This, even as Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar downplayed fears of a drought on Tuesday. Its peak sowing season and Vindhyachal Mishra can do nothing but sit at home. Mishra's farmland lies barren as the dry spell in Bihar's agricultural heartland continues unabated. If...  

Sharad Pawar is unreliable and fickle: Arjun Singh

New Delhi: Sharad Pawar is at the receiving end of late Congress veteran Arjun Singh who has accused him of being flip-flop, unreliable and fickle and wondered when the "final rupture" would take place between him and the Congress. Singh's criticism and his unfavourable assessment of the NCP chief has been made in the late leader's soon-to-be released autobiography "A Grain of Sand in the Hourglass of Time" being brought...  

Pawar allays drought fear, expects normal monsoon

New Delhi: Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Tuesday downplayed the drought dear, saying that heavy rainfall is expected from next week onwards in the country. While admitting that the deficiency of rainfall is 31 per cent upto July 2, he said, "Certain states, which are known for early sowing have been effected. Particularly Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and parts of UP and Bihar." "Nine per cent of sowing has been...  

Sharad Pawar quits as telecom EGoM head

New Delhi: Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Monday quit as the head of EGoM on Telecom. Pawar said that allegations against him in the 2G case ill motivated. "I am stepping down as chairman of 2G EGoM to avoid getting dragged into unnecessary controversy over 2G spectrum allocation," Pawar said. "The Prime Minister has agreed to relieve me as chairman of EGoM on 2G," Pawar added. In February 2012, the...  

Telecom EGoM to be held within couple of days: Pawar

New Delhi: A crucial meeting of the reconstituted Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM), scheduled for Monday, has been postponed, Agriculture Minister and head of the ministerial panel Sharad Pawar said. The meeting of the EGoM, the first after Pranab Mukherjee resigned as the Finance Minister to contest Presidential election, was to decide on auction of telecom spectrum. "The meeting has been postponed because I have got some other work," Pawar...  

Sharad Pawar to head EGoM on spectrum auction

New Delhi: Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar will head a high-powered ministerial panel tasked with the onus of deciding on auction of telecom spectrum, a top DoT official said on Friday. The Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) has been reconstituted after Pranab Mukherjee, who was heading it, resigned as Finance Minister to contest the Presidential elections. "The EGoM will now be headed by Pawar," the official said, adding the panel may...  

Alan Issac elected as new ICC president

Issac becomes the eighth president, while ex-SA player David Richardson succeeds Lorgat as new chief executive. ...  

Alan Issac to succeed Pawar as ICC president

New Zealand's Alan Isaac will take over at the body's five-day Annual Conference starting on Sunday. ...  

A split NDA may back Sangma, Left still to decide

New Delhi: A divided NDA is expected to meet and take a final call on who to back in the race for the President's post. The NCP will also meet to decide on the fallout of PA Sangma's resignation while the Left will consider abstaining as an option when it meets on Thursday. The announcement of Sangma's resignation came from the new NDA entrant Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy. Sangma...  

Withdraw or face the music, NCP tells Sangma

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...  

Sangma can face disciplinary action from NCP

New Delhi: PA Sangma could face disciplinary action from NCP if he ignores his party's direction to withdraw from the Presidential race and back UPA nominee Pranab Mukherjee. Indications to this effect were available on Sunday with party chief Sharad Pawar saying that "we are part of the UPA. We are happy with the candidature of Pranab Mukherjee and the conduct of all party men should be consistent with the...  

NDA split over President, meet inconclusive

New Delhi: Sharp divisions within the NDA emerged on Sunday over the decision of supporting Pranab Mukherjee's candidature for the post of President and there was also lack of clarity on extending support to PA Sangma. The NDA spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said that they will take a final call on the issue only after having consultations with the chief ministers of the NDA ruled states. Sources said that Senior BJP...  

NDA undecided, Sangma refuses to opt out

New Delhi: The race to the post of President has never been this intense before. With the NDA yet undecided on its Presidential nominee, PA Sangma adamant that he will not opt out and Trinamool Congress Chief Mamata Banerjee firm that only APJ Abdul Kalam will have her support, the whole exercise has indeed become an interesting one. The NDA called a meet on Sunday to decide on its Presidential...  

Mamata will take 'appropriate' decision: Pawar

Mumbai: NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday expressed the confidence that Trinamool Congress supreme Mamata Banerjee would take an "appropriate" decision on the issue of Pranab Mukherjee as Presidential poll candidate. "West Bengal is getting an opportunity to have a President for the first time. I am sure she will take and appropriate decision. She always talks of Bengal pride. She should take decisions accordingly", Pawar told reporters. Mukherjee, he...  

Maharashtra by-poll: NCP wins Kej Assembly seat

Mumbai: The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Friday retained the Kej Assembly seat, with its nominee Prithviraj Sathe defeating Sangeeta Thombre of BJP in the by-poll. Polling was held in the Kej scheduled caste (SC) reserved Assembly constituency in Beed district on June 12, after the death of sitting NCP MLA and former minister Vimal Mundada. Sathe trounced Thombre by around 8,000 votes. Mundada's son Akshay and husband Nandkishore Mundada...