‘Give permanent leave to sachin, rekha’
New Delhi: Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and film actor Rekha’s long absence from the Rajya Sabha led to Samajwadi Party member Naresh Agarwal to suggest that both the MPs should be given permanent leave by the House. When Deputy Chairman P J Kurien informed the members that Tendulkar had sought leave from February 21 to March 7 citing his engagement in the India-Australia test cricket series, Agarwal said jokingly “both of them hardly come to the House. Why not give both of them permanent leave” which evoked peals of laughter from members.
selection of jaitley, karan singh hailed
New Delhi: leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha and senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley and Congress veteran Karan Singh’s selection as the best parliamentarians was welcomed by the Rajya Sabha on Friday. “It is a matter of great pride for Rajya Sabha that two eloquent members of the House have been nominated as best parliamentarians,” Senior BJP leader Najma Heptulla said, with members thumping the desk. Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien, who was in Chair said it was a matter of pride.
Govt to ammend PCI Act to give more teeth
New Delhi: To give more teeth to the media watchdog, Government on Friday said it will amend Press Council of India Act to empower it to suspend accreditation of a journalist or editor and registration of a publication besides stopping advertisements if they abuse their independence. “The Government is considering amendment in the Press Council of India Act,” Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari said in the Rajya Sabha while replying to a resolution made by a member.
J’khand needs elected legislature: PC
New Delhi: lamenting that the administration in Jharkhand had “virtually collapsed”, Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Friday said this could be rebuilt only by an elected legislature. “...I found that all institutions in Jharkhand have virtually collapsed. These cannot be built by (imposing) President’s rule. It can only be done by an elected legislature,” he said in reply to a debate on state’s budget for next fiscal in lok Sabha. later, the House passed the budget for 2013-14. Initiating the debate, Nishikant Dubey (BJP) demanded special status for Jharkhand and threatened to stop all mining activities in the State, leading to Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh condemning his statement. Yaswant Sinha (BJP) said the Government should request the President dissolve the assembly to pave the way for early elections.
New Ias officer to save MHA imageIJ
New Delhi: The Home Ministry on Friday appointed a senior IAS officer as its spokesperson in an apparent bid to shore up its image. Nirmaljeet Singh Kalsi, a 1984-batch Punjab cadre IAS officer, currently serving as Joint Secretary in the MHA, has been given the additional charge of spokesperson of the Ministry, which, so far, had only an Indian Information Service officer.
Keqiang for stronger ties with india
New Delhi: Hours after he was elected as China’s new Premier, li Keqiang called up Prime Minister Manmohan Singh saying he was looking forward to strengthening bilateral relations.Singh, while congratulating li on his election, expressed his desire to work together with China’s new leadership. The Prime Minister expressed satisfaction with the progress in recent years.