Three Delhi MPs get key ministries

September 29th, 2009 CHANDIGARH - Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former union minister Arun Jaitley Tuesday said certain ministries of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government were "arrogant" and "lacked humility" in governance. "There is a sense of arrogance in some of the ministries.

September 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was Wednesday given an overview of the Delivery Monitoring Unit (DMU) set up in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) for monitoring the government's flagship programmes, new initiatives and iconic projects. The DMU, which was set up in July, will ensure effective delivery of selected programmes through monitoring the outputs stated by the concerned ministry, fast-tracking of implementation and ensuring trouble-shooting through periodic reviews and informing the prime minister on a quarterly basis on the performance of the selected projects.

August 3rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - India's 81 main water reservoirs were only 35 percent full on July 30, the government's Central Water Commission (CWC) said here Monday. More than halfway through the annual monsoon, the lack of water due to poor rainfall is raising the spectre of shortages of power as well as water for irrigation.

August 3rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, has constituted a Council under his chairmanship to advice the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and ensure coordination between the Ministries, stakeholders and partners.

July 29th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow in the first two months this fiscal touched $4.43 billion even as the world was embroiled in a financial crisis, the government said Wednesday. "Despite the economic slowdown, FDI inflow showed a growth of 11 percent to $27.31 billion in 2008-09 compared to $24.58 billion in the previous fiscal," a government statement said.

July 3rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - After the Delhi High Court's landmark verdict decriminalising gay sex, the matter is now in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's court - on whether to amend the archaic law dealing with the issue. "The prime minister has asked all three ministries - home, law and health - to sit and take a view," Law Minister M.

May 21st, 2009 NEW DELHI - A meeting that was scheduled for Thursday morning between President Pratibha Devisingh Patil and the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, has been cancelled owing to the continuing deadlock between United Progressive Alliance (UPA) allies and the Congress over allocation of key ministries.

May 21st, 2009 NEW DELHI - A meeting scheduled between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Pratibha Patil Thursday morning on government formation was postponed, reportedly because the list of the council of ministers was yet to be finalised, sources said. According to a top government source, the Congress led United Progressive alliance's key allies that included the DMK (which won 18 seats) and the Trinamool Congress (19) intensified their demand for more ministerial positions than they had been offered.

May 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Congress was leading in six of the seven parliamentary constituencies in the national capital, about two hours into the counting of votes Saturday. Those leading were -- Kapil Sibal from Chandni Chowk, Sandeep Dikshit from East Delhi, Ramesh Kumar from South Delhi, Krishna Tirath from Northwest Delhi, J.P.

May 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Congress party was leading in all seven parliamentary constituencies in the national capital, after three hours of vote counting Saturday. Those leading were Kapil Sibal from Chandni Chowk, Sandeep Dikshit from East Delhi, Ramesh Kumar from South Delhi, Krishna Tirath from Northwest Delhi, J.P.

May 7th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will chair a cabinet meeting here Friday to review the functioning of various ministries, his media advisor Deepak Sandhu said. The meeting will take place against the backdrop of several ministers, including Sharad Pawar (agriculture), Lalu Prasad (railways) and Ram Vilas Paswan (Steel) seemingly distancing themselves from the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.

April 15th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Power Secretary V.S. Sampath will be the new election commissioner, official sources said here Wednesday.

April 7th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The most questions members asked during Question Hour in the three parliament sessions in 2007 were about the finance ministry, while the least number of queries were on panchayati raj, according to a report. According to the 'Citizens' Report on Governance and Development 2008-2009', around 7.61 percent of the total 14,379 questions asked in the three sessions of the Lok Sabha (the lower house) were related to the finance ministry.

January 11th, 2009 DHAKA - Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has told her team of ministers, 25 of whom are newcomers, that she would remove them if they fail to perform. She told them to take charge of their ministries within seven days after which she 'will not accept excuses', New Age newspaper quoted her as saying Monday.

December 23rd, 2008 NEW DELHI - K. Chandramouli, a 1975 batch officer of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) with Uttar Pradesh cadre, has been named the next central provident fund Commissioner, it was announced Wednesday.