New Delhi: The government may have passed the FDI test but it still has to work hard to push its other economic legislations with the BJP unwilling to concede an inch on the banking law amendment bill. On Monday, the Lok Sabha witnessed a direct confrontation between the Opposition and the government over the banking bill. The Left Front and the BJP have objected to Finance Minister P Chidambaram's move...
08:38 AM, Dec 11, 2012
New Delhi: There was an uproar in the Rajya Sabha over news reports on Walmart lobbying for its entry into India. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ravi Shankar Prasad raised the issue in the Upper House and said, "There should be an inquiry into who was paid by Walmart." Prasad said the reports were a serious matter at a time when FDI in retail was cleared in both Houses of...
12:32 PM, Dec 10, 2012
New Delhi: After winning the battle for FDI in retail with the help of Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati, the UPA government is planning to introduce an amendment bill for reservation of Scheduled Castes and Tribes in promotions in government jobs in the Rajya Sabha on Monday. In lieu of her support on the key FDI vote, Mayawati had sought early passage of the bill. The bill seeks to amend...
09:03 AM, Dec 10, 2012
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Friday asked the city government to shift temporary night shelters for the homeless and the poor closer to their work places. A division bench of Chief Justice D Murugesan and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw allowed the plea of NGO Shahri Adhikar Manch Begharon Ke Liye that the shelters should be closer to the work place of people so that the poor can use...
08:28 AM, Dec 09, 2012
Srinagar: People in remote Kashmir villages struggle severely due to acute power, water and fuel shortage as temperatures plummet below zero degree Celsius. A distraught Mohammad Khaliq and his wife take stock of the massive destruction a fire has caused in their village in south Kashmir in which scores of houses were gutted at a time when freezing temperatures have made life miserable. Khaliq said, "This is left of our...
07:59 AM, Dec 09, 2012
AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal has said that FDI in retail should have been decided through a referendum. He was speaking in Kolkata. ...
08:01 PM, Dec 08, 2012
Commerce Minister Anand Sharma has said that FDI in multi-brand retail is now a reality and the government will look to build consensus on the pension and insurance bills. Speaking to CNBC-TV18 Executive Editor Shereen Bhan, Anand Sharma also said that the Opposition was graceless in its defeat. Following is an excerpt from the interview: Shereen Bhan: Is this now the law of the land? There seems to be confusion...
07:40 AM, Dec 08, 2012
New Delhi: 5:52 pm: JD(U) president Sharad Yadav said that the party would take action against MP Upendra Kushwaha for voting in favour of the UPA government on the issue of FDI in retail in the Rajya Sabha on Friday. 4:45 pm: Recounting of votes on FDI is underway in Rajya Sabha after the government demanded it as the number of votes appeared more than the actual strength of the...
10:08 AM, Dec 07, 2012
New Delhi: The UPA government looks all set to win the winter test in both Houses of Parliament. This comes after Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati declared that she will vote for the government on FDI in retail in the Rajya Sabha. This has assured the UPA of the much-needed numbers ahead of the vote. The other fence-sitter from Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party, has announced it will stage a...
07:55 AM, Dec 07, 2012
BSP supremo Mayawati on Thursday declared that her party will support the UPA government on FDI vote in the Rajya Sabha. "The government's proposal on FDI has some loopholes but the plus point for the current FDI policy of Central government is that states won't be forced to implement it," said Mayawati. ...
11:47 PM, Dec 06, 2012
New Delhi: High drama was witnessed in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday after Congress MP Prabha Thakur broke into tears over a remark senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader M Venkaiah Naidu made against her. Though the BJP leader initially refused to apologise but after the woman MP left the House, Naidu regretted his statement and said it was not deliberate. Thakur was on Thursday seen coming to the Well during...
10:43 PM, Dec 06, 2012
New Delhi: Emphasising that foreign investment in retail will prove the death knell for small traders, the Shiv Sena on Thursday accused the government of selling the country to foreigners. "The government is selling the country to foreigners like Walmart. If Sukhdev and Bhagat Singh were alive, they would have bombed the people who are sitting here and selling our country," said party's Sanjay Raut, while speaking in the debate...
09:09 PM, Dec 06, 2012
New Delhi: Strongly opposing foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said the policy will make India a country of "sales boys and sales girls". Stating that the entry of international retailing chains without correcting the manufacturing sector would eventually destroy production in the country, Jaitley said the coming generations would be left with little options. "The essence is that domestic...
05:32 PM, Dec 06, 2012
New Delhi: The country was not ready for foreign investment in retail, the Trinamool Congress said Thursday while blaming the government for keeping "international opinion" above national interest. "Trinamool is against seeing India only as a market but the Congress-led minority government has rejected this idea. FDI is a Foreign Direct Instruction," Trinamool MP Derek O'Brien said in the Rajya Sabha during a debate on foreign direct investment (FDI) in...
05:26 PM, Dec 06, 2012
New Delhi: 7:57 pm: Rajya Sabha has been adjourned till 11 am on Friday. 7:00 pm: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut says that FDI in retail is a bid by the government to sell off the country. Citing Bofors, 2G spectrum and coal scams, the Shiv Sena leader said, "Till now the government has looted the country, but now it wants to sell it off." Raut accused the government of...
11:20 AM, Dec 06, 2012
New Delhi: The UPA-II government has won the winter test in the Lok Sabha, defeating the Opposition motions over FDI in retail and changes in Foreign Exchange Management Act. But now its time for an acid test in the Rajya Sabha, where the government is not in a majority. There were enough indications that the government will have it easy in Lok Sabha when it puts to vote the contentious...
07:55 AM, Dec 06, 2012
New Delhi: It was joy all over the Treasury benches as the opposition motion to withdraw the decision on FDI in retail was defeated in the Lok Sabha. Soon after the vote, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh congratulated Commerce Minister Anand Sharma and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath for their efforts in ensuring the government's victory. Singh was also seen greeting National Conference patron Farooq Abdullah and was full of praise...
09:56 PM, Dec 05, 2012
New Delhi: After a heated debate in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, the government remains confident of winning the vote on FDI in both the Houses. With Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal leading the government in the FDI debate against BJP's Sushma Swaraj, the government expects to gain the numbers in a vote which will happen on Wednesday with Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Samajwadi Party (SP) likely to bail the...
07:50 AM, Dec 05, 2012
The International Olympic Committee on Tuesday suspended the Indian Olympic Association citing government interference. ...
09:24 PM, Dec 04, 2012
The Lower House turned into a battleground on Tuesday as the government and the Opposition had a heated debate over FDI in multi-brand retail. ...
08:59 PM, Dec 04, 2012
