Lok Sabha secretary general gets year’s extension

September 17th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government Thursday extended the term of the 13th Finance Commission by three months to Jan 31 next year. The commission, which was supposed to submit its report by Oct 31, had sought extension as it could not complete the deliberations due to the general elections.

August 12th, 2009 CHANDIGARH - Haryana Special Economic Zones (SEZs) project is "the biggest land scandal in the history of India" and the alleged scam should be probed a high level judicial official, the opposition Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) said Wednesday. INLD general secretary Ajay Chautala said the ruling Congress had grabbed poor farmers' land on the false assurances of creating 200,000 jobs through these SEZs.

July 17th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The extension of Presidential rule in Jharkhand by another six months has been approved by the Parliament, after the Government assured that the assembly polls would be held there "at the earliest opportunity". "We will hold elections at the earliest opportunity.

June 18th, 2009 RAIPUR - At least four senior leaders of Chhattisgarh's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are lobbying hard for the state's lone Rajya Sabha berth, which was vacated last month by party leader Dilip Sigh Judeo, party sources here said Thursday. BJP national vice-president Karuna Shukla, who is also the niece of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, tribal leader Nandkumar Sai, former assembly speaker Premprakash Pandey and state general secretary (organisation) Rampratap Singh are the top claimants for the Rajya Sabha berth.

June 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI -Commerce Secretary G.K. Pillai was Friday named the new home secretary and will take over from incumbent Madhukar Gupta, who retires June 30.

June 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Union Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar has been given one-year extension, the government announced Monday.

May 25th, 2009 CHENNAI - With the DMK's issues regarding joining the United Progressive Aalliance (UPA) government nearly resolved, the party announced here Monday that A.K.S. Vijayan will be the leader of its parliamentary party in the Lok Sabha.

May 19th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A record 59 women MPs have been elected to the new Lok Sabha - the highest since independence, and 17 of them are less than 40 years. According to PRS Legislative Research, an organisation that aims to strengthen legislative debate, among the 59 women MPs in the 15th Lok Sabha, a majority - 23 - are from the Congress.

May 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Parliament House Annexe building will have an eco-friendly extension at a cost of Rs.2.62 billion (Rs 262 crore). Vice Presient Mohammad Hamid Ansari and Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee laid the foundation stone for the new building Tuesday in the lawns of the Annexe.

March 18th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Shatrughan Sinha will contest from the Patna Saheb in Bihar during the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. His name was among 40 BJP candidates announced for contesting elections.

February 28th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Congress president Sonia Gandhi Saturday appointed former union minister Jairam Ramesh as the party's co-ordinator for the coming Lok Sabha elections. 'The Congress president has approved the appointment of Jairam Ramesh as co-ordinator for Lok Sabha elections-related affairs,' a statement released by Congress general secretary Janardan Dwivedi said.

January 22nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, leader of the house Pranab Mukherjee and opposition leader L.K. Advani led parliamentarians in paying floral tributes to freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on his 112th birth anniversary Friday.

January 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Congress Friday decided to invite the party's top district and block level officials to Delhi to prepare a strategy for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Party general secretary Janardan Dwivedi, who chaired the general secretaries' meeting, told reporters, 'The meeting is expected to be held before Feb 15.' At least 7,000 people would attend the meeting, said another general secretary of the party, B.K.

January 12th, 2009 CHENNAI - Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi's elder son M.K.

January 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee Wednesday launched the Hindi website of the lower house. Addressing the launching ceremony at Parliament Library Building, the speaker said the launch of the Hindi website would be beneficial for MPs and the Lok Sabha secretariat.