Page 132 - Politics
Iran made a very big mistake: Trump on US drone downing
In a possible confrontation over increased tensions with Iran after the downing of a US drone near the Persian Gulf, President Donald Trump on Thursday said that "Iran had made a bid mistake.""Iran made a very big mistake," Trump wrote on Twitter without mentioning any further detail.Earlier today, Washington had said that one of its drones had been downed in international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz by an Iranian surface-to-air missile.But Iran's Revolutionary Guard said it had shot down an "intruding American spy drone", RQ-4 Global Hawk, after it violated Iranian airspace over the southern coastal province of Hormozgan.The move intensified the volatile situation that further deteriorated the relations between Washington and Tehran that heightened earlier this week after Trump announced his decision to deploy 1000 additional troops to the Middle East for "defensive purposes to address air, naval, and ground-based threats" in the region following the attack on the oil ...
Bribes are being sought for govt jobs in my name: Goa CM
Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said Thursday that he had learnt that some people were asking for bribes in his name for securing a government job. No bribe is needed for getting a government job, Sawant said while speaking to reporters here, and warned of strict action against the culprits. "No one needs to pay anyone for a government job. We are not demanding any bribe," he said. After the code of conduct for elections was lifted, the state government advertised several vacancies. Sawant said bribes were also being asked in the name of some MLAs. He had also received two or three specific complaints where government servants allegedly asked for money for securing a job, he said. "I will conduct inquiry into these complaints and strict action would be taken," the chief minister said. People should approach police or inform his office if any government official asked for a bribe, he added. Some 20 per cent of government officials shirk work and such people would face ...
Cong objects to BJP leaders' comments on Rahul using mobile phone during president's address in Parl
The Congress raised strong objections on Thursday to the comments made by BJP leaders on its president Rahul Gandhi using his mobile phone during the president's address to a joint sitting of both houses of Parliament and said the ruling party should not make such remarks. Congress's senior spokesperson Anand Sharma said Gandhi did not understand a few words and there was no disrespect to the president, as was being said by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). "I think it is very frivolous if the BJP is saying so. If you see the footage, half of the ministers were talking to each other. Senior ministers. Were they showing disrespect to the president? It is not a fair comment," he told reporters here. "A serious political party, which is in power, should not make such remarks," Sharma said. Some BJP leaders earlier raised objections to Gandhi's conduct during the president's address and said "it only shows the lack of seriousness of the opposition leader". They alleged that when President
To ensure security of Indian vessels, Navy deploys warships in Gulf of Oman, Persian Gulf
Amid rising tensions between the US and Iran as well as recent incidents related to maritime security, the Navy has deployed its warships in the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf to reassure the Indian vessels operating and transiting in the region, it said on Thursday. In addition, aerial surveillance by Indian Navy aircraft was also being undertaken in the area, it said. "INS Chennai and INS Sunayna have been deployed in the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf to undertake maritime security operations. In addition, aerial surveillance by IN aircraft is also being undertaken in the area," the Navy said. The Information Fusion Centre - Indian Ocean Region, which was inaugurated by the Navy in December, 2018 at Gurugram, was also keeping a close watch on the movement of ships in the Gulf region, it added. India's strategic and security interests are closely linked to the Indian Ocean Region. The country's energy security is also linked to the safety and security of ships while operating .
US retains India in Tier 2 list of countries in its report on human trafficking
The US on Thursday retained India in Tier 2 list of countries in its annual report on human trafficking, arguing that the country does not fully meet the minimum standards for its elimination even as it is making progress. Tier 2 is for those countries whose governments do not fully meet the TVPA's minimum standards but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards. TVPA stands for Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, which is a Congressional legislation that requires an annual report from the State Department on status of human trafficking in countries across the world. There are more than 90 countries in Tier 2. In its India section of the report, the State Department said that the Indian Government does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. "The government demonstrated overall increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period; therefore,
Vishwanath firm on quitting as JDS KTKA president
Firm in his resolve to quit as JD(S) state president, A H Vishwanath, MLA, Thursday threatened to resign from the assembly if party chief and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda did not accept his resignation. Pressuring Gowda to relieve him, Vishwanath said "You have to accept my resignation today. Else, I will have to consider resigning from (my) Hunsur assembly constituency. The situation is difficult.Hence, you should not feel pained. I can face anybody but I lack strength to face you." The JD(S) leadership has been refusing to accept his resignation. Deve Gowda has been repeatedly saying they would persuade Vishwanath to drop his plans to resign. The JDS supremo told reporters Thursday that Vishwanath was the leader of backward communities and he would urge him to continue as the JD(S) state chief. Vishwanath had announced his resignation as JD(S) state president a fortnight ago, flaying the functioning of the coalition government besides taking moral responsibility
Rahul was listening to whatever was necessary in President's address: Anand Sharma
Congress president Rahul Gandhi was "listening to whatever was necessary" in President Ram Nath Kovind's address to the joint sitting of Parliament on Thursday, party leader and former Union Minister Anand Sharma told reporters here.Sharma, who was responding to BJP's allegations that Rahul was busy using a phone during President Kovind's address, said: "He was there, and was listening to whatever was necessary."When asked to comment on BJP's allegations that Gandhi's act disrespected the President, Sharma said: "There were certain queries about certain words. There were some difficult Hindi words which they (Rahul) did not hear clearly as to what was said.""There is nothing like disrespecting as it is being said. I think it is very frivolous if the BJP is saying this," he said.The senior Congress leader also alleged that there are several ministers who were talking to each other during Kovind's address in the Central Hall of Parliament."If the footage is taken, then half of the ...
BJP names Saron Pandey observer for its legislature party leader election in Odisha
The BJP Thursday named its general secretaries Saroj Pandey and Arun Singh as central observer and in-charge respectively for the election of the party's legislative party leader in the Odisha Assembly. The BJP has emerged as the main opposition party in the state by winning 23 seats in its 146-member assembly as Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik led his Biju Janata Dal to power for a fifth consecutive term with victory in 112 seats. BJP leaders said Pandey and Singh will leave for the state soon to oversee the election of the legislature party leader.
Prez Trump says Iran made 'very big mistake' by downing US drone
President Donald Trump said Thursday that Iran has made a "very big mistake" by shooting down a US spy drone, an incident that is likely to further escalate already soaring tensions between Washington and Tehran. Both the US and Iran said that Iranian forces had shot down an American military surveillance drone, but the two sides offered conflicting details on the incident. US officials confirmed that a high altitude drone on a surveillance mission over the Strait of Hormuz was hit by an Iranian surface-to-air missile in international airspace. Iran, however, said its elite Revolutionary Guard shot down an RQ-4 Global Hawk drone as it flew over southern Iran and that the incident sent a "clear message to America". The US military's Central Command confirmed a US Navy Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS-D) aircraft was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile system. The BAMS-D is a RQ-4A Global Hawk High-Altitude, Long, Endurance (HALE) drone that can carry out surveillance .
Paswan to file nomination for Rajya Sabha tomorrow
Union Minister and chief of the Lok Janashakti Party (LJP), Ram Vilas Paswan will file nomination for Rajya Sabha as an NDA candidate at Bihar Legislative Assembly in Patna on Friday.Paswan has been assigned with the responsibility as Union Minister for Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution for the second time in the Prime Minister Narendra Modi led government.In the recently-concluded Lok Sabha elections, LJP had contested six seats in Bihar as a constituent of the BJP-led NDA and have won on all of them.LJP president Ramvilas Paswan's brother Ramchandra Paswan won the from Samastipur constituency whereas Ramvilas's son Chirag Paswan was re-elected from the Jamui (SC reserved) seat for the second time.LJP chief did not contest these elections and was eyeing a Rajya Sabha seat.
Goal is to establish 50,000 start-ups by 2024: President
President Ram Nath Kovind said Thursday the government will take steps to further improve the start-up ecosystem in the country with an aim of having 50,000 such enterprises by 2024. Addressing the joint sitting of Parliament, Kovind said India has joined the league of countries with most number of start-ups in the world. "To improve the start-up ecosystem, the government is simplifying the rules. This campaign will be further expedited. Our goal is to establish 50,000 start-ups in the country by 2024," he said. Start-up India initiative of the government aims at fostering entrepreneurship and promoting innovation by creating an ecosystem that is conducive to the growth of budding entrepreneurs. So far, as many as 19,303 start-ups have been recognised by the department. Since last year, the commerce and industry ministry has started conducting ranking exercise of states and union territories to encourage them take proactive steps towards strengthening the ecosystems within their ...
Shah allocates work to his two deputies
Home Minister Amit Shah has allocated work to his two deputies G Kishan Reddy and Nityanand Rai -- that include affairs of Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast and Centre-state relations, officials said. While Reddy has been given divisions like Jammu and Kashmir, the Northeast, Union Territories, cyber security and counter-radicalisation, Rai has been allocated Centre-state division, Police-I (that looks after transfer postings of IPS officers), foreigners divisions and others. Besides the Intelligence Bureau, Shah will take care of all decisions involving Cabinet matters and President's house. Shah will also be the final authority to take any decisions in subjects allocated to the two ministers of state in his ministry, a home ministry official said. This is the first time that both the Northeast and Jammu and Kashmir divisions have been allocated to the same minister of state. In the previous NDA government, junior minister Kiren Rijiju was in-charge of the Northeast division and ...
AGP delegation meets PM
A delegation of the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) Thursday called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discussed with him various issues concerning the state. The team, led by AGP president and Assam minister Atu Bora, apprised the Prime Minister about the prevailing situation in the state. Newly-elected Rajya Sabha MP Birendra Prasad Baishya said it was a courtesy call on Modi, who was elected as Prime Minister for the second consecutive time. The AGP delegation also met Home Minister Amit Shah. Apart from Bora, the AGP team included Baishya, Assam ministers Keshab Mahanta and Phani Bhusan Choudhury. The AGP is a constituent of the NDA and a partner in the Assam government.
NC pledges to foil any attempt to fiddle with special status of JK
The National Conference Thursday pledged to foil conspiracies being hatched to fiddle with the special identity and singular entity of Jammu and Kashmir. "Those nurturing wild dreams of trifurcating the state or tinkering with its special status are destined to fail, as the people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh are determined to frustrate all their attempts with their full might," NC General Secretary Ali Mohammed Sagar said. Addressing senior functionaries and party delegates in Poonch, the former minister also cautioned against the machinations being engineered to weaken the party, which he claimed is a bold voice of the people of the state and a binding force between the regions and the communities living in harmony for centuries. "To achieve their malicious agenda, anti-people and anti-poor elements are being encouraged to cause divisions and wedge between the people," he claimed without identifying the conspirators but exhorted the party cadre to remain vigilant against their ...
Activists write open letter to parties, seek all future elections be held with paper ballots
A group of activists Thursday jointly demanded that all elections in the country in future should be held with paper ballots, following reports of alleged irregularities in functioning and transport of electronic voting machines during the recent Lok Sabha polls. At a press conference here, the activists from different organisation also released an 'open letter' addressed to political parties, saying, "The opposition parties should raise the matter with the electoral authorities." Activist and poet Gauhar Raza, former DUTA chief Nandita Narain, JNUSU president N Sai Balaji, AISA Delhi president Kawalpreet Kaur and Shabnam Hashmi, among others, cited various incidents reported during the Lok Sabha polls. "There were reports of several EVMs being left unattended, or many voters complaining about malfunctioning of EVMs. Then, there was a debate over counting of VVPATs. The elections left several doubts in our minds," Kaur told reporters. So, the Election Commission of India (ECI) should .
AAP MLA Haji Ishraq Khan meets Delhi BJP chief, dismisses 'rumour' of joining saffron party
Setting off the rumour mill, AAP MLA Haji Ishraq Khan met Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari on Thursday, even as the Arvind Kejriwal-led party has moved a petition before the speaker of the Legislative Assembly seeking disqualification of two of its MLAs under the anti-defection law. Khan rubbished the "rumour" that he had any plans to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), while claiming that he met Tiwari regarding construction of a girls' college in his constituency, Seelampur. "There is a land of the Uttar Pradesh Irrigation department in Seelampur constituency. Three years ago, I had demanded using this land for construction of a girls' college. I met Tiwari to remind him of the demand and he assured his help for it," he told PTI. However, sources in the Delhi BJP said there was "more than what met the eye" since during the recent Lok Sabha election, many Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs, who wanted to quit the party, were in touch with senior leaders of the saffron party. Former Union ...
Odisha govt increases retirement age of contractual doctors
In a bid to overcome doctors' crisis in the state, Odisha government Thursday decided to increase the retirement age of physicians for contractual engagement in various state-run hospitals. "The retirement age of contractual doctors will be increased from 68 years to 70 years," Health and Family Welfare Minister Naba Das said. Addressing a meeting attended by chief district medical officers, the minister said CDMOs and district collectors can recruit contractual doctors and paramedics, if required. He also asked the CDMOs to submit a report to the Health department on the number of vacant doctors' posts in state-run hospitals by July 15. Of the 6719 sanctioned posts of doctors in the state, only 513 posts remained vacant. However, what has caused problem for the health department is that many doctors remain absent without informing the government. "We will no more tolerate this type of absence," Das said asking CDMOs to initiate legal actions against those doctors who ..
List Al Jazeera as 'foreign agent': US senators to Trump admin
A group of influential US lawmakers has urged the Trump administration to get Al Jazeera listed as a "foreign agent", saying the state-owned media company of Qatar has "inherently engaged" in political activities and sought to influence public opinion in America. The US requires all agencies, individuals and organisations controlled or funded by international governments to be registered with the Department of Justice under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) which aims to restrict the spread of propaganda inside America. In a letter to the justice department, nine powerful Republican Senators sought information on any steps taken to determine whether the popular television news network from the Middle East should be registered as a "foreign agent". In the past, China's state-run Xinhua news agency and Russian television Russia Today (RT) have been asked to register as an agent of foreign government by the justice department. International media outlets registered in the US as .
KTK CM appoints Cong MLA as head of pollution control board
In a move seen as an attempt to pacify disgruntled Congress legislators, the coalition government in Karnataka Thursday appointed MLA Sudhakar K as the chairman of the state pollution control board. Sudhakar has tweeted confirming his appointment. In his tweet, he thanked AICC chief Rahul Gandhi, Siddaramaiah, chief minister Kumaraswamy, AICC general secretary K C Venugopal, deputy chief minister G Parameshwara, KPCC president Dinesh Gundu Rao and party colleagues "who have vested their belief in me to chair the KSPCB." Sources said, retired IFS officer C Jayaram has resigned as chairman to make way for Sudhakar. Sudhakar has repeatedly expressed his displeasure over not being inducted into the coalition cabinet. Though Sudhakar's name was recommended by Congress for the State Pollution Control Board in the past,it was reportedly not cleared by the Chief Minister citing technical reasons. JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy had earlier clarified that Sudhakar's ..
IMA ponzhi scheme fraud: ED summons owner of firm
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) Thursday issued a summon to Mohammed Mansoor Khan, absconding owner of the city-based IMA jewels, which had allegedly duped over 30,000 investors by promising them impressive returns on their deposits. The ED put up a notice at the firm's office asking the absconding Khan to appear before it on June 24 at 11 am. The first summon was issued by the assistant director Basavaraj R Magdum. This comes close on the heels of the Special Investigation Team seeking a red corner notice from Interpol. The SIT had recently carried out searches on the premises of IMA Jewels and associated properties. Khan went absconding after allegedly threatening to commit suicide in an audio clip. He even accused Congress MLA Roshan Baig of taking Rs 400 crore from him and not returning it. Baig has categorically rejected the charge, saying the issue surfaced because of his fallout with some of his political adversaries. The Congress MLA had burst out against former ..