In Parliament: SMEs' Bill
| Suzuki shares The board of car maker Maruti Udyog has approved the purchase of Suzuki Motor Corporation's shares in their joint venture Maruti Suzuki Automobile India Ltd (MSAIL) for Rs 12 crore and merge the arm with itself, the Lok Sabha was told on Thursday. |
| The MUL board had approved constitution of a panel of five directors for the purpose of valuation of shares of MSAIL, Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Kanti Singh said. |
| Wheat imports Defending the decision to import 35 lakh tonnes of wheat, the government has said this was due to a steep decline in wheat procurement which would be nearly 95 lakh tonnes this year as against estimated 150-160 lakh tonnes, Agriculture, Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Sharad Pawar said in the Rajya Sabha. |
| Electricity Act The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed a Bill to repeal the Union Duties of Excise (Electricity) Distribution Act, 1980 which had become obsolete. |
| Railways tickets Railways have increased reservation charges for return tickets with effect from April 1, 2006, the Rajya Sabha was informed. While Rs 10 has been increased in the second and sleeper class and Rs 15 in other classes of passenger, mail and express trains, Rs 20 has been increased in all classes of Rajdhani and Shatabdi Express trains and Rs 15 in second class and Rs 20 in AC chaircar of Jan Shatabdi Express trains, Minister of State for Railways R Velu said. |
| Patel's air expenses More than Rs 21 lakh have been spent towards the air fare expenses of Minister of State for Civil Aviation Praful Patel in the last two years during which he also received a cash allowance of $2,925, the Lok Sabha was informed on Thursday. |
| Transport policy The government has approved the National Urban Transport Policy last month to promote integrated land use, greater use of public transport and non-motorised modes of travel besides making use of cleaner technologies, the Rajya Sabha was informed. |
| BSNL 'mini-ratna' State-owned BSNL had been accorded the "mini ratna" Category-I status, Minister of State for Communications and IT Shakeel Ahmad said. |
| He added that BSNL had not been given navratna status as it did not fulfil the depertment of public enterprises' criteria of having obtained at least excellent or very good memorandum of understanding rating in three of the last five years. |
| Telecom operators The government has asked telecom operators to take strict measures to stop any possible unauthorised sale of customer information by their employees, Minister of State for Communications and IT Shakeel Ahmad told the Rajya Sabha. |
| Delhi master plan Private participation in land development, more liberal norms for development control and mixed land use policy are proposed in the 2021 Delhi Master Plan, Urban Development Minister S Jaipal Reddy told the RS. |