Page 1174 - Politics
Have consulted eminent economist including Raghuram Rajan for NYAY scheme : Rahul Gandhi
Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said that the Congress had consulted eminent economists including former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan, before it came up with the minimum guaranteed income scheme , which ensures that nobody in the country remains below the benchmark of Rs 12,000 per month.He also alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a fake promise of Rs 15 lakh while Congress will actually give Rs 3,60,000 to the 20 per cent of the population in the country."Chowkidar Chor Hai but Congress will give Rs 3,60,000 to the twenty percent of the population in the Country. I can say it is a surgical strike on the poverty after which no one in the country will remain poor," said Rahul Gandhi addressing booth levels workers of his party here.Congress on Tuesday clarified that its minimum income guarantee initiative, NYAY (Nyuntam Aay Yojana), is not a "top-up scheme" but assures Rs 72,000 to 20 per cent of India's poorest families."We have consulted eminent economist all ...
US consulate staffer faces Turkey spying trial
A US consulate staffer went on trial in a Turkish court on Tuesday accused of spying and attempting to overthrow the government in a case that fuelled tensions between the United States and its NATO ally. Metin Topuz, a Turkish citizen and long-time liaison with the US Drug Enforcement Administration, was arrested in 2017 accused of ties to US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen, who Ankara says ordered a failed 2016 coup. Turkish police escorted Topuz weeping into the Caglayan courthouse in Istanbul, where he faces life in jail if found guilty, an AFP reporter said. Topuz rejected the indictment that charges he was in contact with police officers and a former prosecutor accused of involvement in the Gulen movement. "During my 25 year service at DEA, I met a lot of police personnel and public officials and exchanged business cards with them," Topuz told the court. "I have no duty other than to serve as a translator between the interlocutors. "I haven't betrayed my homeland as is claimed...
Cong announces candidates for Navsari and Kutch LS seats
The Congress Tuesday announced names of leaders from Dalit and Koli communities from Navsari and Kutch Lok Sabha constituencies in Gujarat. With the announcement of candidatures of Naresh Maheshwari from Kutch, a seat reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC), and Dharmesh Patel from Navsari, the total number of candidates declared by the party has reached six. Gujarat has total 26 seats. A Dalit leader, Maheshwari is the former Kutch district president of the Congress. He had also served as the president of the Youth Congress. Patel comes from the influential OBC Koli community. The Congress had earlier announced its candidates from Ahmedabad West, Vadodara, Anand and Chhota Udepur constituencies. Maheswari and Patel will face BJP nominees Vinod Chawda and C R Patil from Kutch and Navsari seats, respectively. Chawda and Patil have been renominated by the BJP, which has so far announced names of 16 contestants from Gujarat. In 2014 elections, the BJP won all the 26 seats in the .
BJP insulted Advani by dropping him, says 'sad' Mamata
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Tuesday described LK Advani as one of the pillars of the BJP and said leaving him out of its candidates list is an insult to the veteran leader. Banerjee, also the Trinamool Congress supremo, said political parties should not ignore their senior leaders. "(Atal Bihari) Vajpayee-ji, Advani-ji were the pillars of the BJP. Advani-ji is a senior man. And now how he has been left out. This is of course an insult to Advani-ji," she told reporters at the state secretariat. The BJP fielded party president Amit Shah from Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat in Gujarat and dropped Advani, now 91, who had won six times from that seat in the past. "I'm feeling sad for him (Advani). This may be his last chance. Advani-ji was actually their mentor. But when there is no need, they (senior leaders) are forgotten. But old is always gold. This is my personal feeling," she said. The chief minister said she might talk to Advani to convey her ...
AAP was formed as people were unhappy with BJP, Cong: Kejriwal
Delhi Chief minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal said Tuesday that his party was formed because the people were not happy with the governance of Congress and the BJP. He asserted that if Delhi gets full statehood, the whole world would laud the national capital. Addressing a rally in Rohini, Kejriwal said Delhi has been exploited for the past 70 years and it is time that the people in the city join the Aam Aadmi Party's movement to get full statehood. "If people would have been so happy with the Congress and the BJP then why AAP would have been formed. The government schools were in bad condition under her (Sheila Dikshit) governance," he alleged. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised full statehood for Delhi in 2014, he did not make it. You voted for the Congress in 2009, they also lied to you on statehood," he said. Taking a dig at Modi, Kejriwal said when the prime minister was unable to handle Pakistan, how could he be expected to take care of the Delhi Police. "Let us handle
Madrid's North Korea embassy assailant offered stolen info to FBI: court
The alleged leader of an armed group that broke into Madrid's North Korean embassy in February, roughing up employees and robbing computers, offered the stolen information to the FBI, a Spanish court said Tuesday. Adrian Hong Chang, of Mexican nationality, contacted "the FBI in New York five days after the assault to faciliate information related to the incident in the embassy," Spain's National Court said in a statement, adding he said he had acted of his own accord. These are the first official details to emerge from the mysterious incident on February 22 after investigating magistrate Jose de la Mata lifted the secrecy surrounding the case. Prior to this, media reports had merely said that a group of men had burst into the diplomatic mission, roughing up employees before making off with documents and computers. The incident took place days before a high-stakes nuclear summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump that ultimately failed to reach an ...
Farooq Abdullah questions BJP's claims over Balakot airstrike
National Conference (NC) chairman Farooq Abdullah on Monday launched an attack on the BJP-led Central government over its claims on the IAF strike in Pakistan's Balakot."If 300 people have died [in Balakot air strike], would there not be an international cry to ascertain the matter? Today no one talks of Ram temple. Before that strike in Balakot, it was just temple, temple, and temple," he said, while addressing an election rally here with Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N Chandrababu Naidu.Abdullah also said that the country should maintain good relations with the neighbouring countries. "It was not fair on the part of the Central government to attack the neighbouring country keeping in view the ensuing elections," he said.On February 26, the Indian Air Force (IAF) carried out a strike at a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror training camp at Balakot in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The strike was in response to the terror attack in Pulwama in which 40 CRPF personnel lost their ...
BJP leader suspended for insulting PM, Shah
The BJP on Tuesday said that it has suspended a senior party leader for six years for making disparaging remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah.
Turncoats, newcomers rule the roost in new BJP candidate list
The BJP, in its fresh list of 10 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal, continued to restore faith on turncoats and newcomers, including a leader from the politically-significant Matua community. In the latest list released on Tuesday, the BJP nominated two turncoats from the Congress and the Trinamool Congress. Earlier in its list of 30 candidates, the saffron party had nine turncoats from the TMC, the CPI(M) and the Congress. With an eye on Matua votes, the BJP has fielded late Binapani Devi's grandson Shantanu Thakur, an emerging leader of the community, from the Bongaon Lok Sabha constituency against his aunt and sitting TMC MP Mamata Bala Thakur. While nominating Shantanu Thakur from the seat, it overlooked the candidature of K D Biswas, a Matua himself, and a regular BJP face in the area for the past one decade. The Matuas originally hail from the erstwhile East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, and began migrating to West Bengal at the beginning of the ...
British PM's North Irish allies say will not vote for Brexit deal
Prime Minister Theresa May's Northern Irish allies said Tuesday they would continue to oppose her Brexit deal and raised the prospect of delaying Britain's EU exit by one year to allow more time for negotiations. "We will not vote for an unamended or unchanged version," the Democratic Unionist Party's Brexit spokesman Sammy Wilson wrote in a commentary in the Daily Telegraph newspaper. The comments deal a heavy blow to May's chances of getting her deal though parliament, despite influential Brexit-supporting MPs in her party earlier hinting they could back her plan in order to make sure lawmakers do not block the process entirely. "There are some colleagues who I admire greatly and who have stood firmly with us in defending Northern Ireland who now take the view that the Withdrawal Agreement, even though it is a rotten deal, is better than losing Brexit," said Wilson. "To them I say that, if the deal goes through, we have lost our right to leave the EU. If we sign up to it, we give ...
Owaisi-led AIMIM to contest Aurangabad LS seat; fields Jaleel
After a series of flip flops, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) Tuesday announced its decision to contest the Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra, where it fielded its MLA Imtiaz Jaleel from the Aurangabad constituency. The Hyderabad-based party, led by MP Asaduddin Owaisi, has joined hands with Maharashtra's Dalit leader Prakash Ambedkar to launch a new political front, the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), for the Lok Sabha polls. Ambedkar had on March 16 announced that the AIMIM would contest the Lok Sabha polls from at least one seat in Maharashtra. "Imtiaz Jaleel will be AIMIM's candidate for the Aurangabad Parliamentary Constituency," Owaisi tweeted. Jaleel said he would contest from the Aurangabad Lok Sabha constituency, which will vote on April 23, under the banner of VBA. "It's time for my city to change. It's not about me. From here on it's always going to be 'We'. Let's all vote for Aurangabad," tweeted Jaleel. A former journalist, Jaleel was elected ..
Kashmir will always remain an integral part of India:Abdullah
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Tuesday asserted that Kashmir would always remain an integral part of India come what may. "We are responsible for the strife in Kashmir..we couldnt take care of the jannat. Let us all make it jannat (paradise) again," Abdullah said at an election rally of the Telugu Desam Party in Kadapa town of Andhra Pradesh. In the same breath, he said progress of both India and Pakistan would stall if the two remained enemies. Recalling late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayees words, Abdullah said "If we neighbours remain friends, we both can progress. If we remain enemies, progress of both will stall." "If we are Hindustani, we want to make Hindustan stronger. We also want our neighbour strong, be honest and end terrorism," he added, referring to Pakistan. The National Conference leader slammed the BJP for raking up the Ram temple issue ahead of elections. "Before an election, a lot of noise is made that the Ram temple will be built. Have you
Two senior BJP leaders in Rajasthan join Congress
Former BJP leaders Ghanshyam Tiwari and Surendra Goyal on Tuesday joined the Congress party ahead of the ensuing Lok Sabha elections.They were inducted into the party fold in the presence of Congress president Rahul Gandhi here.A five-time MLA and former state minister Ghanshyam Tiwari resigned from the BJP on June 25 last year.He was the sitting MLA from Sanganer assembly constituency and had won the last election with a margin of over 60,000 votes.Surendra Goyal resigned from the BJP on November 12 last year, after he was denied the ticket to contest the state assembly polls. He was the state's Water Resources Minister.
Black flags shown to Ravi Shankar Prasad at Patna airport
BJP candidate from Patna Sahib, Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who is the BJP nominee from Patna Sahib was on Tuesday shown black flags by alleged supporters of another party leader on his first visit to the city after being announced candidate for the seat. Prasad was shown black flags by alleged supporters of R K Sinha, a Rajya Sabha member, who was hopeful of a ticket for the seat. It lead to a clash with the party workers who had gathered at the airport to welcome the union minister. The two groups shoved each other and exchanged blows and were quelled by security personnel deployed at the airport. It was not known if any of them were detained. The state unit of BJP in a statement later in the day asserted that the protesters had "no past or present relation" with the party and expressed suspicion that they were "hooligans" sent by "vested interest groups in the rival camp" to provoke the party workers who were in a "festive mood". The Patna Sahib seat is ...
In TN, MPs spend Rs 810 cr from sanctioned Rs 913 cr
Out of total sum of about Rs 913 crore available under the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) with the district authorities in Tamil Nadu, Rs 801 crore has been spent, said Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
'Indian Armed forces left without anything during UPA regime'
Attacking the previous Congress-led UPA regime for 'not buying even one thing' for the armed forces during its 10 year tenure, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the personnel did not even have bullet proof vests, leave alone Rafale jet, which was never bought. "I want to ask why during the UPA period not even one thing was bought for our armed forces. Not even bullet proof vests were bought in the 10 years, leave alone buying Rafale, which they did not,"Sitharaman said speaking at an election convention of the BJP's candidate from Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency, Kummanam Rajashekahran, who resigned as Mizoram Governor to contest the polls. The defence minister did not name her predecessor A K Antony, who hails from Kerala and said she did not want to comment on him as he an elderly person and a senior leader. Sharpening her attack on the Congress, she said "Totally, the Indian armed forces were left without anything. There were guns, but no bullets. ...
BJP has escalated war between people from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, says Ghulam Nabi Azad
BJP has "escalated a war" between the people from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, said Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad here on Tuesday."BJP has escalated a war between the people from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and tried to eliminate people's love and brotherhood just for the sake of vote politics," he said, while partaking in six-day 'Bus Yatra' of the Congress party ahead of the ensuing Lok Sabha elections.Congress 'Parivartan Yatra' began from Delhi's border passing through Gurugram's Rajiv Chowk, Badshahpur, Sohna, Nuh, Tandu, Dharoheda, Bawal, Rewari, Kund, Etali, Mirzapur, and Narnaul."BJP has committed the biggest scam in the form of demonetisation. It promised to provide 10 crore jobs to the people of this country but in vain," he said.Addressing the gathering, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, chairman of the Congress Coordination Committee, said: "Everyone is aware of the purpose of the Congress Parivartan rally. Everyone knows that Haryana needs a change."Haryana Congress ...
Congress announces 3 more candidates for Lok Sabha polls
The Congress party on Tuesday released a list of three candidates who will be contesting the ensuing Lok Sabha elections in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh.The Central Election Committee (CEC) of the party has fielded two candidates from Gujarat and one candidate from Uttar Pradesh.Naresh N Maheshwari and Dharmesh Bhimbhai Patel will contest from Kachchh and Navsari Lok Sabha constituencies respectively in Gujarat, which go to polls on April 23 for all 26 Lok Sabha seats.Congress party has fielded Sanjay Kapoor from Rampur Parliamentary constituency in Uttar Pradesh. The polling in 80 constituencies of Uttar Pradesh will be held during all seven phases--April 11, 18, 23, 29, May 6, 12 and 19.The seven-phased Lok Sabha elections are scheduled to be held from April 11 and will go on till May 19. Results of the polls will be declared on May 23.
BJP will win all 10 LS seats in Hry: Khattar
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar held a roadshow here on Tuesday and exuded confidence that the ruling BJP will win all the 10 Lok Sabha seats from the state. Khattar said the BJP will seek votes on the basis of development work undertaken by both the state and the central government. "People have time and again put their stamp of approval on our policies and programmes," he said. At present, the BJP has seven Lok Sabha MPs from Haryana. Khattar rode a flower-bedecked open-top jeep. A large number of people had lined up on both sides of the roads in the city. The chief minister was accompanied by Minister Krishan Lal Panwar, Panipat MLA Rohita Rewri and Panipat Mayor Avneet Kaur. Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, Khattar will be holding a series of public meetings and roadshows in the state. Over the next few days, Khattar will hold roadshows and public meetings in Karnal, Jhajjar, Bhiwani, Kaithal and Yamunanagar districts. Meanwhile, the Congress in Haryana launched a ...
Demonetisation has hurt the country very badly: Pawar
NCP president Sharad Pawar Tuesday said demonetisation was an "unfortunate" decision that has hurt the country "very badly". He also said the after-effects of the 2016 decision will be felt for years to come. Addressing a rally here in Marathwada region, Pawar said several industrial units shut down due to demonetisation announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as a result of which 15 lakh people lost their jobs. "Demonetisation was the unfortunate decision that has hurt the country very badly. Its after effects will be felt in coming years. The Modi government has completely finished farmers, farm labourers and the working class," Pawar charged. The former Union minister said the Modi government was working only for industrialists and capitalists. "Farmers are distressed. Instead of targetting the rich who have black money, the Modi government hit the common man by taking away their hard earned money. Demonetisation was misuse of power," he alleged. Pawar said even the