Programme has also failed in its target of providing a guaranteed employment of 100 days in a year to one person per family.
Actor-turned-politician Raj Babbar and two nominated members took oath on Thursday in the Lok Sabha. The two nominated Anglo-Indian members are Ingrid Mcleod, a 42-year-old social worker from Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh -- this being his second term-- and Charles Dias, 59, president of the Kerala Anglo-Indian Associations' Union and a former official of the state electricity board.
The election team of Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance's prime ministerial candidate Lal Krishna Advani has put on its thinking caps to conjure up the maximum number of audience for his campaign rallies.Prodyut Bora, the communication wizard who heads the party's IT Cell, is planning to capture Advani's recent spree of Vijay Sankalp rallies on camera and post it on the internet to attract a larger audience.
The Election Commission's decision to announce the Lok Sabha poll dates on Monday and immediately implement the code of conduct has taken the United Progressive Alliance by surprise, as it was planning to introduce some more financial stimulus packages to beat the economic slowdown. The cabinet secretary has now decided to approach the Election Commission and seek permission to make certain announcements about the stimulus packages, as the government cannot wait.
The official announcement of the Lok Sabha election schedule, tentatively scheduled on Sunday, has been delayed as Election Commissioner Navin Chawla has taken a two-day leave. The sudden move has triggered speculations that the EC was biding for more time, to give the United Progressive Alliance government an opportunity to continue its advertisements, before the model code of conduct comes into force with the announcement of the poll schedule.
Pattali Makkal Katchi founder Dr S Ramadoss on Tuesday met Congress president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi and expressed concern over the killing of innocent Tamils in Sri Lanka. The Centre should not be a silent spectator to the suffering of Tamils in Sri Lanka, Ramadoss told Gandhi.The Sri Lankan Tamil issue has come to the forefront of national politics after Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani participated in a rally organised by Vaiko in New Delhi last week.
Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Prakash Javadekar and Pushpdan Gadhavi have bagged time to push for the creation of Telangana -- in the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha respectively -- during the fortnight-long Parliament session beginning on Thursday.Javadekar, whose resolution is listed for February 20, told reporters that he was only pursuing his party's line to fight for Telangana. It will also figure in the BJP's poll manifesto, he affirmed.
Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami, who has been in the eye of the storm after recommending the removal of Election Commissioner Navin Chawla, is currently on a one-week leave to visit various pilgrimages in Gujarat. During his trip, the CEC is scheduled to visit Somnath, Dwarka and Gandhi Nagar. Gopalaswami, an Indian Administrative Service officer from the Gujarat cadre, speaks the native language fluently and considers the state his second home.
The Election Commission has drawn up a tentative plan to announce the elections on March 10, the date from which the model code of conduct for political parties and the government comes into force. The Election Commission's plan is to complete the elections and constitute the new Lok Sabha latest by June 4. The last round of polling will be over by the end of May.
The 35-page agenda notes, which rediff.com is in possession, including annexures, gives a ready ammunition to opposition parties' chief ministers to protest at the Centre sharing nothing -- no information on the Mumbai attack -- with them. All that the agenda mentions about the ghastly terror attack is a sentence in the introduction and another while discussing the coastal security.
The latest gadget in the armour of Special Protection Group, the crack commando force that protects the Prime Minister and four other VVIPs, are electronic stunners that look just like an ordinary laptop.
© 2025 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances