Hammered by the courts, trapped by scams and corruption charges, battling constant postponement of decisions and facing assembly elections in five states, the Congress party is likely to hold its chintan shivir (brainstorming session) in Jaipur on March 26-27 to make itself battle ready for the next round of elections.

Communist Party of India - Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat on Sunday stated that the Left parties would not compromise on the demand for a joint parliamentary committee probe into the 2G spectrum scam.The CPI-M leader underlined the urgent need for an alternative economic policy as the people were reeling under scorching prices for the 'wrong policies adopted by the United Progressive Alliance'.

With the washout of winter session of Parliament weighing heavily on its mind, the government on Sunday appealed to the opposition to ensure a smooth budget session beginning next month expressing readiness to discuss all issues, including 2G spectrum, "on priority".

The budget session of Parliament will begin on February 21 and the general budget is slated to be presented to Lok Sabha on February 28.The decision to recommend the date for convening of the session to the President was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs chaired by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is also Leader of the House in Lok Sabha.

The Budget session of Parliament will begin on Feb 21 and the general budget is slated to be presented to Lok Sabha on Feb 28.

Inordinate delays by the government in making appointments for crucial posts in Reserve Bank of India and State Bank of India have resulted in slower policy decision-making. For more than two months now, the deputy governor's position has been vacant in Reserve Bank of India. Usha Thorat, one of the four deputy governors of the central bank, retired on November 10.

In a bid to intensify their protest seeking statehood status for Telangana, the members of the Telangana Rastriya Samithi and the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday picketed the offices of all the district collectors. Members of both the parties came out in huge numbers and gheraoed the offices of the district collector and also shouted slogans in favour of a separate state.

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday justified its demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the 2G spectrum scam, saying just holding discussions in Parliament on the issue would have no outcome as it happened in the case of price rise.

Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar held talks with leaders of the opposition in her attempt to break the Parliament impasse on the 2G spectrum issue.Leaders of several parties including the Trinamool Congress, Shiv Sena, Akali Dal, Samajwadi Party, RJD and the National Conference did not attend the luncheon meeting called by the Speaker to find a solution to the deadlock.

The ban on listing and other roadblocks on ownership have tainted the Jalan Committee report.

"I am innocent till proven guilty," a beleaguered Suresh Kalmadi said after CBI raided his house in New Delhi and questioned him for eight hours over allegations of bungling in the conduct of the sporting extravaganza.

'Is there any truth to the rumour that the Income Tax authorities have traced a money trail to a senior politician down in South India?'

In this exclusive interview with Parliament expert C V Madhukar, Founder and Director of PRS Legislative Research, he tells rediff.com's Sahim Salim that there is a need for a JPC to look into the smooth functioning of the Parliament, if for nothing else.

Justice Soumitra Sen of the Calcutta high court, who has been indicted by a judicial committee on an impeachment motion, has filed his reply to the Rajya Sabha, countering the charges against him.In his reply submitted on Thursday, Justice Sen is understood to have contended that he had done no wrong and there was no basis for the charges against him, on the basis of which he was found guilty by the committee set up by Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari.

Anguished over the stalemate in Parliament over demand of Joint Parliamentary Committee into 2G Spectrum scam, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar on Friday said she would "do anything" to ensure that it does not spill over to the budget session.

The Central Bureau of Investigation got into an overdrive to complete the 2G scam investigations by February after the Prime Minister's office (PMO) wanted to shrug off the impression that the government is mired in corruption.

The 2010 winter session is set to go down in the history of the Parliament as one and the first one which did not deliberate even a minute. It is likely to be adjourned sine die.

The tug-of-war between government and the Opposition over a joint parliamentary committee probe into the 2G spectrum case showed no sign of ending on Tuesday, with Parliament adjourning for the day due to protests from opposition parties. The Opposition protests in the Lok Sabha, however, appeared to be losing steam, as decibel levels remained considerably low compared to the previous week.

'The crossing of lines has dangerous implications for the credibility of the media -- its greatest asset. Already, many journalists have strayed from the profession's proper boundaries. It would be even worse, and ethically more repugnant, if journalists become political fixers or take instructions from corporate lobbyists.'

Virginia Senator Mark R Warner, a Democrat considered close to New Delhi, would co-chair the Senate-India Caucus in the new US Congress, replacing his veteran party colleague Chris Dodd.

At a meeting with the central bank, bankers opposed the entry of new banks, as there were enough players already. Newer entrants would only increase "unnecessary" competition and deplete their margins, top bankers told central bank officials.

Top Pakistani officials are refusing to disclose how and on what the country's powerful spy agency Inter Services Intelligence spent a whopping Rs 5.55 billion allocated to it during 2007-08. "This is highly sensitive information and hence I can't talk about it at an open forum," Finance Secretary Salman Siddiqui told the Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly or the lower house of parliament.

Ending months of wrangling between treasury benches and the opposition, the Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed the civil nuclear liability bill after government dropped the contentious provision of 'intent' in the case of accident adopting a Bharatiya Janata Party amendment, paving the way for nuclear commerce with the world.

Gopal Krishna makes a case against the nuclear liability bill.

RBI to issue discussion paper on new licence conditions this week.

The government has proposed a new regulatory architecture for large financial institutions, by establishing "a college of supervisors" comprising representatives from various regulatory agencies.

Announcing her nomination among several others, Obama said: "I am grateful that these impressive individuals have agreed to join my administration. I am confident they will serve ably in their new roles, and look forward to working with them in the coming months and years."

The Secure Federal File Sharing Act, introduced as a way to protect government information critical to citizens' privacy or America's national security, prohibits government employees and government contractors from installing dangerous file-sharing software on their government computers, a media release said.

Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, senior vice-president of the Bhartiya Janata Party, has alleged that in the name of developing Delhi for the Commonwealth Games in October later this year, the development of certain individuals is becoming more visible. Speaking to rediff.com, Naqvi said the Government of India should step in and control the needless expenditure being incurred.

Activist Gopal Krishna makes a case that the Unique Identification Number project is a gross violation of fundamental human rights and points out that a similar project/law in Britain is going to be repealed.

There is a lack of connect between the Congress president and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in UPA-2. But Sonia Gandhi has ensured that the government does not waver from her pet policies -- NREGA, RTI etc, notes Neerja Chowdhury.

With the Centre taking a U-turn on caste-based census and agreeing to include it as a part of the ongoing census exercise, an angry P Chidambaram virtually walked out of the Lok Sabha and did not return even for Vande Mataram recital when the House came to a close after the eventful Budget session.

After introducing the controversial nuclear liability bill in the Lok Sabha amid opposition protests, the government on Friday said it hopes to bring it for consideration in the Monsoon session of Parliament.

Growth is coming from sectors which are interest rate-sensitive, says D Subbarao.

Since few read discussion papers or Parliament committee reports on Budgets, this doesn't help policymaking

The Manmohan Singh government may have to take a legislative holiday on at least controversial issues till the next Budget session. Or it needs to get a lot more creative on coalition building. The reason is that the ruling United Progressive Alliance does not have a majority in the Rajya Sabha, and has to depend on an unpredictable opposition for help in passing Bills. In the Lok Sabha, although it is larger, it can face some unpleasant surprises.

K Alan Kronstadt, a specialist in South Asian affairs for the US Congressional Research Service, on how more US oversight on funding to fight terror in Pakistan could help both countries and even India.

There is a serious move afoot to reschedule the second half of the budget session of the Parliament with sources disclosing that leader of the Lok Sabha and Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee would discuss the rescheduling of dates in the meeting of floor leaders of political parties which he has called on April 5.

The home ministry's mega housing project will be implemented through the Public Private Partnership mode as the pace of construction of old projects, being done by Central Public Works Department, has been less than satisfactory.

The political crisis faced by the Digambe Kamat-led government in Goa has blown over with the Congress leadership managing to convince the Nationalist Congress Party, protesting alleged irresponsible utterances against it by some Congress MLAs, to vote for the finance bill in the state assembly.