Page 136 - Politics
'One Nation, One Election' will create confusion among voters: Deve Gowda
Former prime minister and JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda on Thursday said "One Nation, One Election" -- holding simultaneous polls to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies -- would create confusion among the voters. "I have my own apprehensions about it. I feel we are not so advanced," he told reporters here, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi called an all-party meeting in New Delhi to build a consensus on the idea. It was announced after the meeting that a committee for giving "time-bound" suggestions on "One Nation, One Election" would be set up by the prime minister. Deve Gowda said, "There are some people who welcomed it and some who did not. Let us be honest. The only thing is, there is one polling booth here and another polling booth for the Assembly polls that side. There will be confusion. That is the one disadvantage where I am little bit perturbed." He said there would be somebody to guide the voters, which the Election Commission (EC) alone could do and not the political .
Priyanka Gandhi expresses concern over crime against women and children in UP
Congress national general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday expressed concern over the increasing violence against women and children in the state and asked the government to take the responsibility of their safety."Predators are victimising innocents in Uttar Pradesh. Women are being pushed into a life of fear. Men are being burnt alive. But the government is not seeing anything. When will the UP government start taking responsibility for the security of women and children?" Priyanka tweeted.Priyanka, who is also in-charge of eastern UP, posted pictures of several news headlines (in Hindi) about crime in the state on her Twitter handle.The Congress leader's comment comes in the wake of a sudden spurt in incidents of violence against women and children. Most recently, a woman was allegedly raped by four men in front of her husband in Uttar Pradesh's Rampur.
Tamil Nadu Assembly session from June 28
The first session of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly will be convened on June 28, state Governor Banwarilal Purohit said on Thursday.The session is scheduled to begin at 10 am, Purohit said in a statement.This will be the first session of the State Assembly after Lok Sabha elections and by-polls to 22 Assembly constituencies were held.The session is expected to be a stormy one as the Opposition will raise a host of issues, including water crisis, which has crippled Tamil Nadu, including its capital Chennai.In the national elections, DMK-led alliance had won 37 out of 38 Lok Sabha seats in the state while ruling AIADMK suffered a rout, managing just one seat.The DMK too made gains in the by-elections, winning 13 seats while the AIADMK garnered nine seats.In the 234-member Assembly, AIADMK has 123 members, DMK 101 and Congress has eight members. The Indian Union Muslim League and independents have one member each.
EU leaders to add to pressure on Russia over MH17
EU leaders will heap fresh international pressure on Russia on Thursday over the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 by demanding Moscow cooperate with a Dutch probe that led to charges against four men. The Kremlin will also be served with a tough warning over its move to make it easier for Ukrainians living in breakaway regions of their country's east to obtain a Russian passport. International investigators on Wednesday charged three Russians and a Ukrainian with murder over the 2014 catastrophe, in which 298 people were killed, with the trial in the Netherlands set to start in March next year. But neither Russia nor Ukraine extradites their nationals and the Kremlin has denounced the "absolutely unfounded accusations" against the men, all of whom have military and intelligence links. EU government leaders at a summit in Brussels will welcome the criminal charges over the downing of the plane, which was hit by a missile over part of eastern Ukraine held by pro-Russian rebels ..
We will stick to principle of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas': Arjun Ram Meghwal
Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal on Thursday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's slogan -- 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas' -- is the basic principle on which the nation will move forward.Meghwal, who was talking to media persons, said: "When members come for taking oath in the parliament, there are some emotions and feelings which they carry. We believe in 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas' and we will move forward keeping this in mind."Talking about the challenge of smooth conduct of parliamentary works, the Union Minister said: "We have met the leaders of all political parties. We hope the opposition parties will refrain from disrupting the government business."The 17th Lok Sabha's first session commenced on June 17, which will conclude on July 26.
Egypt condemns Erdogan's 'irresponsible' claim stating Morsi was killed
Egypt on Thursday strongly condemned the "irresponsible" claim made by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that his ousted Egyptian counterpart Mohamed Morsi had been killed.The Turkish President on Wednesday had blamed the Egyptian authorities for not taking any measure to save the former head of state, while he struggled "on the floor of the courtroom for 20 minutes," during a trial session, reported Sputnik."Morsi was struggling on the floor in the courtroom for 20 minutes. Authorities, unfortunately, did not intervene to save him," Erdogan said. "Morsi was killed, he did not die of natural causes."Erdogan is not the first to question the manner in which the former Egyptian President died. On Tuesday, the United Nations (UN) had called for a "thorough and transparent investigation" to clarify the "cause of [Morsi's] death," reported Al Jazeera."Any sudden death in custody must be followed by a prompt, impartial, thorough and transparent investigation carried out by an ...
Devendra Fadnavis will be CM again with everyone's support: BJP's Ram Kadam
Soon after reports emerged about the Shiv Sena aiming for its own Chief Minister in the upcoming Maharashtra elections, BJP leader Ram Kadam said that current chief minister of the state Devendra Fadnavis will return to power with everyone's support."Devendra Fadnavis is appreciated by all and he will be the Chief Minister again with everyone's support. Shiv Sena is our ally, leaders of the opposition are of the opinion that Devendra Fadnavis should be the Chief Minister," Kadam said.Shiv Sena in its mouthpiece Saamana hinted at having a Chief Minister, who will be from the Uddhav Thackeray-led party after the Maharashtra state Assembly elections, which are scheduled for later this year."We are in alliance with the BJP, but Shiv Sena has its own thinking. Shiv Sena is moving forward with one resolve. With this resolve, we will 'saffronise' the Vidhan Sabha tomorrow and on the 54th foundation day, there will be a Shiv Sena Chief Minister," the Shiv Sena said in an editorial in ...
Would ensure next Maha CM is from our party: Sena
The Shiv Sena, which is an ally of the BJP-led Maharashtra government, has said the next chief minister of the state will be from Uddhav Thackeray's party. The Sena made the claim in its mouthpiece 'Saamana' on Wednesday, the day when Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis attended its foundation day function here. It said even though it has a tie-up with the BJP, the "Shiv Sena is an independent political entity". "We have to resolve to turn the next Vidhan Sabha 'saffron' and ensure that a Shiv Sena chief minister will be seated on the dais at the party's 54th foundation day next year," the Marathi daily said. Taking stock of its 53-year-old history, the publication said the Shiv Sena's soul is its 'movement' - be it for Hindu pride, Marathi "asmita" (identity) or rights of sons of the soil. Terming Thackeray as his "elder brother", Fadnavis during the function on Wednesday said the BJP-Sena alliance will have a thumping victory in the coming state Assembly polls, and that ..
TN Assembly to meet on June 28
Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Thursday summoned the state Assembly to meet on June 28, the first time after the bypolls to 22 seats in which both the ruling AIADMK and opposition DMK increased their numbers. The House is likely to take up the DMK's plea for Speaker P Dhanapal's removal, after he issued notices to three pro-Dhinakaran AIADMK MLAs for alleged anti-party activities on April 30. According to a notification issued by the governor, the Legislative Assembly will meet at 10 am on Friday in the Assembly chamber at the state Secretariat. The obituary reference to deceased DMK MLA from the Vikravandi constituency in Villupuram, K Rathamani, is expected to be made on the opening day of the session, the duration of which will be decided later by the Business Advisory Council. The House meets at a time when the state is reeling under a severe water crisis, prompting the DMK-led opposition to mount criticism against the K Palaniswami-led AIADMK government over its ...
Turkey sentences 24 to life in 'coup ringleaders' trial
A Turkish court on Thursday gave life sentences to 24 people in one of the biggest trials over the 2016 failed bid to overthrow President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, state media reported. Of the 24, the judge gave 17 accused 141 aggravated life terms each over the deaths of 139 people, for "violating the constitution" and "attempting to assassinate the president", state news agency Anadolu reported. Such sentences carry harsher prison conditions. Former air force chief Akin Ozturk and Mehmet Disli, the brother of former ruling party lawmaker Saban Disli, who since September has served as Turkey's ambassador to the Netherlands, were among the 17. There was a tense atmosphere minutes before the judge issued his verdicts with dozens of people including relatives of those killed during the coup bid in July 2016, lambasting the court for not allowing them to enter. Saliha Arigan, whose son was killed on the night of the failed overthrow, pressed herself against the gates, crying and shouting to .
Two rescuers among 14 civilians killed by Syria regime fire: monitor
Regime bombardment killed 14 civilians including two rescue workers in an ambulance in embattled northwest Syria on Thursday, a Britain-based war monitor said. Those killed also included seven children in various areas of the jihadist-run Idlib province, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said. A regime air strike targeted an ambulance in the town of Maaret al-Noman, killing two rescue workers inside, it said, in the latest deadly bombardment on the wider region of some three million people since late April.
Serbia president '99% sure' Kosovo talks will be dropped
Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic said Thursday he was "99 per cent" sure a Paris summit aimed at reviving talks with Kosovo would be cancelled, as the former war foes remain stuck in an acrimonious diplomatic deadlock. Belgrade and Pristina leaders were expected to meet in Paris in early July in an effort to reboot the dialogue aimed at normalising relations. Twenty years after they were divided by war, the Balkan neighbours still have a tense relationship as Belgrade refuses to recognise the independence that Kosovo, a former province, unilaterally declared in 2008. "I can say with 99 percent certainty that the Paris (meeting) will not take place," Vucic was quoted as saying by Beta news agency. He said he expected the summit to be cancelled after Kosovo signalled that "Europeans are not the ones who should solve the Kosovo problem." In recent weeks Pristina leaders have been insisting on the need for involvement from the United States, their top ally, in a dialogue that so far ...
Iran says shot down US drone over its territory
Iran's Revolutionary Guard said Thursday it had shot down a US "spy drone" which violated Iranian airspace near the Strait of Hormuz, in the latest incident to stoke tension in the strategic sea lane. There was no immediate reaction from the United States. The US-manufactured Global Hawk surveillance drone was hit with a missile "after violating Iranian air space" over the waters of Hormozgan province, the Guard said in a statement. The Iranian military did not immediately publish images of the drone. The incident comes at a time of growing antagonism between Iran and the United States following two waves of still unexplained attacks on Gulf shipping, which Washington has blamed on Tehran. Iran has denied any involvement and hinted that the US might have orchestrated them itself to provide a pretext for the use of force against the Islamic republic. Shooting down the drone on Thursday was "a clear message" that Iran will defend its borders, the head of the Revolutionary Guard ...
Copies of 10 ordinances issued by previous govt tabled in
Copies of ten ordinances, which could not be converted into Acts of Parliament by the previous government in the last session of the 16th Lok Sabha, were tabled in both Houses of Parliament Thursday. The Union Cabinet had recently approved converting most of the ten ordinances into fresh bills to be introduced in the ongoing session of Parliament. Ministers of state for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal and V Muraleedharan tabled the ordinances in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha respectively, which met briefly on Thursday. After the Narendra Modi government returned to power, it decided to give a fresh push to these proposed laws in the newly-constituted Lok Sabha. These ordinances will have to be converted into laws within 45 days of the beginning of the session, else they will lapse. Besides the ordinance on triple talaq, the other ordinances lined up include the Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Ordinance, Companies (Amendment) Ordinance, the Banning of Unregulated ..
Prez addresses joint sitting of Parliament for second time
President Ram Nath Kovind addressed the joint sitting of both houses of Parliament for the second time this year. Dressed in a cream 'bandgala', Kovind was on Thursday accorded a ceremonial honour by the President's Bodyguard (PBG) as he walked down the stairs of the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Kovind chose a car over buggy for his journey to Parliament complex. A batch of horse-mounted guards were already in their formation -- one batch acting as a pilot while another followed him. Separately, two horse-mounted guards walked in the front and two others in the rear. The PBG is a horse-mounted unit of the Indian Army. It is rare to see the horse-mounted guards accompany the President outside the Rashtrapati Bhavan. The capital usually gets the visual treat only thrice a year. However, this year it is happening for the fourth time. The horse-mounted guards accompany the President during the Republic Day and Beating Retreat ceremony. The only other time when the President steps out ...
I have asked Rahul not to resign as Congress president: Gowda
Former Prime Minister and Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) founder HD Deve Gowda on Thursday said that he has asked Rahul Gandhi to reconsider his decision to resign from the post of Congress party president."I have briefed Rahul Gandhi and told him to reconsider his stand to resign," Gowda told reporters during a press conference here.Talking about the issues related to JDS, Gowda said: "Our party will hold a meeting of all members on Friday. The committed workers will be felicitated.""Our president H Vishwanath has said that he will not quit the party but does not want to continue as the president. I have called a meeting of backward class leaders. We will try and convince him to continue," he said."On June 23, I will call a meeting of those leaders who have lost the Lok Sabha polls. No discussions will take place on the coalition government or the Cabinet expansion in the meeting," he said.
UN rights commissioner arrives to survey Venezuela crisis
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet arrived in Venezuela Wednesday as part of a visit to review the country's ongoing economic and political crisis. She is set to meet with both President Nicolas Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaido before making a final statement to the media on Friday. Bachelet tweeted that she was looking forward to "working with all actors to promote and protect all human rights for all Venezuelans". According to the UN, some four million Venezuelans have fled the country since 2015 as basic goods have become elusive, public services and health systems have collapsed and hyperinflation has taken hold. Bachelet first met with Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza on Wednesday night, who said he expressed the government's willingness to work with the high commissioner to "correct what needs to be corrected... in order to preserve the human rights of Venezuelans". The pair also discussed the impact of "illegal" US ...
Can't implement Kelkar committee report as it is: Fadnavis
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis Thursday said the state government cannot implement Dr Vijay Kelkar committee's report on balanced regional development "as it as", since its parameters do not match with those mentioned in the Constitution. There will be huge injustice to Marathwada and Vidarbha regions if the report is implemented as it is, he said. The Kelkar committee, constituted by the erstwhile Congress-NCP government, has given some recommendations for balanced regional development and the report was accepted by the state government in December 2014. "The committee has considered tehsil as its unit, while the Constitution talks about regional imbalance. Hence, we cannot accept the report as it is and implement it," Fadnavis said. He was replying to a question raised by several members of the Congress and the NCP in the Legislative Council. "If we start implementing it, there will be huge injustice to Marathwada and Vidarbha...hence we cannot ...
Yemen rebels target Saudi desalination plant: coalition
A Yemeni rebel strike targeted a desalination plant in the southwestern Saudi province of Jizan, a Riyadh-led military coalition fighting the rebels said Thursday. The projectile struck near the plant in the Al-Shuqaiq area of Jizan late Wednesday, coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki was quoted as saying by the official Saudi Press Agency. It reported no casualties or damage, adding that they were investigating the nature of the projectile. Late Wednesday, Yemen's Iran-aligned Huthi rebels said they fired a missile at a power station in Jizan province. The White House said on Thursday that President Donald Trump had been briefed about reports of a missile strike on Saudi Arabia, without offering details. The rebels, who have faced persistent coalition bombing since March 2015 which has exacted a heavy civilian death toll, have stepped up missile and drone attacks across the border in recent weeks. Last week, a rebel missile attack on the international airport in the southwestern city .
Downing of US drone aimed at sending 'clear message' to Washington: IRGC commander.
Iran's move to shoot down US spy drone flying over country's airbase was aimed at sending a "clear message" to Washington, said Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander-in-chief Major General Hossein Salami on Thursday."The downing of the American drone was a clear message to America," said Salami, adding that Tehran was not seeking war with any country, but remains fully prepared to defend itself against any aggression, reported Sputnik.The Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk spy drone was shot down on Thursday by the IRGC after it entered the Iranian airspace near the Kouhmobarak district. There has been no immediate confirmation from the Pentagon about the incident, although, a spokesman for US Central Command has insisted "there was no drone over Iranian territory."The development comes at a time of heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington owing to a recent attack on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman. Although it remains unclear who was responsible for the ...