Page 1228 - Politics
'Anything is possible' before April 12 Brexit day: EU's Tusk
EU Council President Donald Tusk said Friday that until the new April 12 deadline, "anything is possible" on Brexit, including Britain cancelling its withdrawal. "Until April 12, anything is possible -- a deal, a long extension, if the UK decided to rethink its strategy or revoking Article 50, which is a prerogative of the UK government," Tusk said at the end of a summit where EU leaders agreed to let Prime Minister Theresa May postpone Brexit.
Army to induct Dhanush howitzers, Air Force to commission Chinook choppers in service next week
The Dhanush gun system is based on the designs of the Bofors howitzer which was inducted in the Army in 1980s and would be the third type of artillery gun to be inducted into the force after the K-9 Vajra and the M-777 ultra-light howitzers."The Dhanush guns would be inducted into the Army at a ceremony to be held in Ordnance Factory Jabalpur on March 26 where senior functionaries of the Army would be present," Army officials said.The Army has placed an order for more than 110 of these guns with the Ordnance Factory and they would help the force to modernise its artillery which had been awaiting induction for over three decades till sometime ago.Meanwhile, the Indian Air Force will induct the first four of its 15 Chinook heavy-lift choppers on Monday in Chandigarh where these helicopters have been deployed.AF Chief Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa would be inducting the planes into the force. India has paid close to USD 1.5 billion for 15 of these helicopters which would be also used for ..
DMK's habit to prevent welfare schemes: Palaniswami
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K.Palaniswami on Friday said it is the habit of the DMK party to prevent government benefits from reaching the poor.
Ban on JKLF will turn Kashmir into open air prison: Mehbooba
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti Friday said ban on the Yasin Malik-led Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front was a "detrimental step" that will turn Kashmir into an open air prison. The JKLF was banned on Friday for "promoting" secession of the militancy-hit state from the Union of India, officials said in New Delhi. "Detrimental steps like these will only turn Kashmir into an open air prison," Mehbooba said in a tweet. Banning the outfit under various provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act after a high-level meeting on security chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, officials said the Centre is of the opinion that the JKLF is "in close touch with militant outfits" and is supporting extremism and militancy in Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere. They said the outfit claims "secession of a part of the Indian territory from the union" and supports terrorist and separatist groups fighting for this purpose. Mufti said, "Yasin Malik renounced violence as a way of resolving J&K ...
Cong Telangana chief, TRS MP Kavitha file nominations
The Congress' Telangana president N Uttam Kumar Reddy, TRS MP K Kavitha and several others filed their nominations Friday for the Lok Sabha elections. Uttam Kumar Reddy, who is presently MLA from Huzurnagar, filed the nomination for the Nalgonda Lok Sabha constituency. Talking to reporters, he urged voters to elect Congress nominees in the highest number of seats. Kavitha, daughter of Telangana Rashtra Samithi president and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, filed her nomination from Nizamabad which she is representing in the outgoing Lok Sabha. Congress nominees A Revanth Reddy and Konda Vishweshwar Reddy filed their nominations from Malkajgiri and Chevella respectively. The TRS on Thursday announced nominees for all the 17 Lok Sabha seats in the state. The Congress has announced candidates for 16 constituencies, while BJP has named candidates for 10 seats. Telangana goes to the polls in the first phase on April 11. The last date for filing nominations is March 25.
NCP Lok Sabha candidate gets death threat
The security agencies went into a tizzy after Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) general secretary and Lok Sabha candidate from Raigad Sunil Tatkare received a purported death threat, official sources said here on Friday.
Yasin Malik-led Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front banned by Centre
The Yasin Malik-led Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) was banned on Friday for a series of violent acts and being in the forefront of separatist activities in the militancy-hit state since 1988, Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba said. Listing out its subversive and violent activities, Gauba said the JKLF spearheaded the separatist ideology in Kashmir Valley and the action was taken following the "zero tolerance" policy of the central government against terrorism. "Murders of Kashmiri Pandits by JKLF in 1989 triggered their exodus from the valley. Malik was the mastermind behind the purging of Kashmiri Pandits from Kashmir Valley and is responsible for their genocide. "The JKLF has many serious cases registered against it. This organisation is responsible for murder of four Indian Air Force personnel and kidnapping of Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of the then Union Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in the V P Singh government," he told a press conference here after a meeting of the ...
President Kovind to visit Croatia, Bolivia, Chile next week
President Ram Nath Kovind will next week visit Croatia, Bolivia and Chile and hold talks with the leadership of these countries to strengthen ties in keys sectors such as trade, investment and renewable energy. Kovind will first visit Croatia from March 25-28 in what would be the first visit by an Indian president to the European country, Vijay Thakur Singh, Secretary East in the Ministry of External Affairs, said at a media briefing. During the visit, Kovind will participate in the India-Croatia Business Forum. He will also deliver an address at the University of Zagreb. He will hold talks with his Croatian counterpart Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic and Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, Singh said. From Croatia, Kovind will head to Bolivia on March 28 for a three-day visit, the first high-level visit to the Latin American country since the establishment of diplomatic ties, the secretary east said. Kovind will hold restricted and delegation-level talks with Bolivian President Evo ...
Nagaland MP, ex-CM file nominations for LS polls
Sitting Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) MP, Tokheho Yepthomi and Congress candidate K.L. Chishi on Friday filed their nominations for the lone Lok Sabha seat.
Agatha Sangma, Pala file nominations in Meghalaya
In a bid to return to Parliament after ten years, former Union Minister Agatha Sangma on Friday filed her nomination papers as a candidate of the National People's Party (NPP) for the Tura parliamentary seat in Meghalaya.
Janata Dal (S) not to contest Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra
The Janata Dal (S) will not be contesting Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra, a party leader said Friday. JD(S) national general secretary Justice (retd) B G Kolse-Patil said neither he nor any candidate from his party will enter the fray in Maharashtra, which has 48 Lok Sabha seats, the second highest after Uttar Pradesh (80). The former judge of the Bombay High Court criticised the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), a front led by Dalit leader Prakash Ambedkar, for failing to enter into a pre-alliance with the Congress-NCP combine in the state. Kolse-Patil himself was a strong contender to contest from Aurangabad, a seat offered to him by Ambedkar a few weeks ago. The VBA is contesting the polls in Maharashtra. "Prakash Ambedkar failed to have an alliance with the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in the state. There was no point in going with VBA, it is going to help the BJP- Sena alliance, which is ruling as well as ruining the country," Kolse-Patil told PTI. The .
CBDT refutes media report on Yeddyurappa diary papers
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on Friday was dismissive about the papers which the Congress claimed to be parts of a diary, saying the loose sheets alleging payment of Rs 1,800 crore by former Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa to top BJP leaders prima-facie appear to be of a doubtful nature and were given by a Congress leader during a raid on him for tax violations."All efforts have been made by the Income Tax Office concerned to procure the originals of the disputed writings. However, the details about the place and custody of the original writings and, if the original writings exist, are not available," said Income Tax Commissioner Surabhi Ahluwalia in an official statement.Earlier during the day, the Congress alleged that some top BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had received Rs 1,800 crore from Yeddyurappa, who rubbished the charges as "atrocious and malicious" and threatened to file a defamation case. He said that an inquiry had found the ...
Govt bans JKLF, says it is fomenting terror in J-K
The central government on Friday banned the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), saying the outfit led by former militant leader Yasin Malik is actively engaged in inciting secessionism and illegal funnelling of funds for fomenting terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.The government declared the outfit as "an unlawful association under Section 3(1) of the Unlawful Prevention Act 1967", Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba told reporters here.The outfit, which had initiated a militant movement in Kashmir in 1988 and was involved in numerous acts of terror, had given up the use of gun in 1994 but continued its separatist activities.Gauba noted that JKLF was involved in the killing of Kashmiri Pandits, which resulted in their exodus from the valley in 1990.The outfit also was involved in kidnapping of Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of then Union Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in December 1989, as well as the killing of four IAF personnel besides several other acts of terror, he said.At least 37 ..
Sam Pitroda is Rahul Gandhi's 'alter-ego: BJP
Latching on to Sam Pitroda's controversial comments on Balakot air strike, the BJP on Friday said the "alter-ego and chief strategist" of Rahul Gandhi had exposed the Congress to "ridicule" as he "does not believe the armed forces"."It is BJP's charge that since morning Sam Pitroda has exposed the Congress to ridicule. He is not an ordinary person. He is the advisor, alter-ego and chief strategist of Rahul Gandhi. He (Pitroda) was very close to his (Rahul's) late father Rajiv Gandhi," BJP leader and Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters.He was commenting on the remarks by Pitroda, a close confidant of Rahul and chairman of Overseas Indian National Congress, who questioned the death toll in the air strike carried out by the Indian Air Force on Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror camp in Pakistan's Balakot on February 26 in retaliation to the Pulwama terror attack of February 14."He (Pitroda) does not believe the armed forces," Prasad said.In an interview to ANI earlier on Friday,
Congress has lost its balance, spinning web of lies: BJP
Dismissing the corruption allegations levelled by Congress against the party, BJP accused it of spreading falsehood and a web of lies.Citing a news magazine report, the Congress earlier alleged that some top leaders of the BJP, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had received Rs 1,800 crore from former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa.Addressing a presser here, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala alleged that there was a diary which had mentioned about payments allegedly made to the BJP's Central Committee which includes Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari, besides the Prime Minister.Dismissing the allegations, Prasad fired back at the Congress, saying, "The Congress party wherein many top leaders are out on bail and suffering many court proceedings has now resorted to spreading a web of lies and falsehood. The Congress party is desperate... It has lost its balance."Raking up the issue of raids by Income ..
Two Himachal BJP MPs may be dropped
In a clear signal from the BJP's first list of candidates, party's veterans from Himachal Pradesh - among them Shanta Kumar, 84, a member of the outgoing house - may not be fielded for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections owing to the party's age bar.
JKLF banned for promoting terror, secessionism
The Indian government on Friday outlawed the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) led by Muhammad Yasin Malik, alleging it was responsible for promoting terrorism and secessionism in the state.
Union minister Jitendra Singh files nomination from Udhampur-Doda parliamentary seat
Union minister Jitendra Singh filed his nomination papers from the Udhampur-Doda parliamentary constituency in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday. Accompanied by Railways Minister Piyush Goyal, Singh arrived at the deputy commissioner's office in a procession and filed his nomination before the returning officer. After filing the papers, 64-year-old Singh, the Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office, addressed a party rally. "I am seeking votes on my development report card of five years, which is in itself a history of sorts in journey of development in this constituency. There is a long list of major infrastructure projects undertaken and completed," he told reporters here. The sitting parliamentarian said development work carried out in the constituency in the past five years was "hundreds of times higher" than that done in the previous six-and-half decades. "Voting in my favour is vote for return of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the service of the nation and continuance .
NCP announces candidates for Madha & Osmanabad LS seats
The NCP Friday named Solapur Zilla Parishad president Sanjay Shinde, who returned to the party, as its candidate from Madha Lok Sabha seat, and former state minister Ranajagjitsinh Patil as its nominee from Osmanabad constituency. NCP chief Sharad Pawar made this announcement at an event in Baramati, where Shinde returned to the party fold five years after quitting it. Shinde, a known critic of NCP's sitting Madha MP Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil, got elected to the Zilla Parishad as an independent and is backed by the Shiv Sena and BJP. The NCP named Shinde from the seat after Mohite-Patil allegedly refused to contest the polls, to be held next month, despite the party offering him a ticket for the election. Earlier this week, Mohite-Patil's son, Ranjitsinh, joined the BJP and the Parliamentarian said he had given his "consent" for the latter to join the ruling party. This had impelled the NCP to look for another candidate for Madha constituency. "The NCP has nominated Sanjay .
'Mahagathbandhan' announces seat-sharing formula in Bihar, Sharad Yadav to fight on RJD symbol
The opposition 'Mahagathbandhan' in Bihar on Friday announced its seat-sharing formula for the 40 Lok Sabha seats in the state, half of which will be fought by Lalu Prasad's RJD and nine by the Congress. Former JD(U) president and NDA convener Sharad Yadav will contest on the RJD symbol and merge his party Loktantrik Janata Dal (LJD) with it after the Lok Sabha polls, RJD national spokesman Manoj Jha and RJD state president Ram Chandra Purve told newsmen. Recent entrants to the 'Grand Alliance' - Upendra Kushwaha's Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) and Mukesh Sahni's Vikassheel Insan Party (VIP) will field their candidates in five and three seats, respectively, they said. Former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi's Hindustan Awam Morcha (HAM) has been given three seats. The RJD leaders made the announcement in the presence of representatives from all alliance partners, including Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee president Madan Mohan Jha. Top leaders like Tejashwi Yadav (RJD), Kushwaha ...