Page 1647 - Politics
Bluff, bluster and intimidation have been Modi govt's philosophy: Sonia Gandhi
In a blistering attack on the Modi government, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi said Wednesday "bluff, bluster and intimidation" have been its governance philosophy, while asserting that her party will confront political adversaries with all its vigour. Addressing the Congress Parliamentary Party's general body meeting, Sonia Gandhi also hailed party president Rahul Gandhi, saying he has brought fresh energy into the party organisation and has put together a team which blends experience and youth well. "We go to the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls with renewed confidence and resolve. Our victories in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh have given us new hope," she said at the meeting attended by Rahul Gandhi, former prime minister Manmohan Singh, Congress' leader in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad, among others. "Our opponents were earlier projected as being invincible. The Congress president took them head-on, mobilizing and motivating lakhs of our .
N Korea slams Seoul for escalating military tensions
Pyongyang, on Wednesday, slammed Seoul for escalating cross-border military tensions while criticising the increase in South Korea's defence budget."Such South Korean military's belligerent behaviour does not fit with the Panmunjom, September Pyongyang declarations and North-South Korea military agreements," Yonhap News Agency quoted North Korea's ruling party's media as saying.Pyongyang has raised an issue with the visit of South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman, General Park Han-ki's, visits to troops during the Lunar New Year's holiday in the previous week.Furthermore, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea has also slammed Seoul for an increase in its defence budget and its plan to induct stealth jets from the United States in its forces in March."Military provocations, that could pose challenges to the trend toward dialogue and peace, should never be tolerated" Rodong Sinmun, the mouthpiece added.In his recent address, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called on South ...
With paper planes, Congress MPs protest outside Parliament over Rafale deal
Raising slogans against the Narendra Modi government, Congress lawmakers protested outside Parliament on Wednesday over the Rafale deal. Party president Rahul Gandhi led the demonstration in which Congress lawmakers were seen carrying paper planes and posters, alleging scam in the multi-crore fighter jet deal. UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh were also present in the protest near the Gandhi statue in Parliament complex. Stepping up his attack on Modi over the Rafale issue, the Congress president cited a media report to claim that the prime minister's argument of better pricing and faster delivery of the jets to defend the deal has been "demolished". His attack came after a report in The Hindu newspaper claimed that the Rafale deal was not on "better terms" than the UPA-era offer. Trinamool Congress MPs also held a demonstration inside the complex, alleging misuse of the CBI by the Centre.
World court to rule on Iran's billions frozen in US
The International Court of Justice on Wednesday will give its decision on a bid by Iran to recover USD 2 billion in frozen assets that the United States says must be paid to terror victims. The US Supreme Court ruled in 2016 that Iran must give the cash to survivors and relatives of victims of attacks blamed on Tehran, including the 1983 bombing of a US Marine barracks in Beirut. Iran said the US decision breached 1955 Treaty of Amity with the United States, an agreement signed before Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution severed relations between the countries. At the last hearing on Iran's appeal in October at the Hague-based tribunal, Washington said Iran has "unclean hands" and that its alleged support for terrorism should disqualify the case from being heard. The ICJ is the top court of the United Nations and was set up after World War II to resolve disputes between member states. Its rulings are binding and cannot be appealed, but it has no means of enforcing them. Wednesday's ruling ..
LS adjourned till noon amid protest by SP, TMC members
The proceedings of Lok Sabha were Wednesday adjourned for nearly 50 minutes during Question Hour amid slogan shouting by SP and TMC members over different issues. Immediately after the House paid obituary to former member of the House Kunji Lal, Dharmendra Yadav (SP), whose forehead was seen bandaged, raised the issue of lathicharge by Uttar Pradesh Police on SP workers in Allahabad yesterday. "MPs are being beaten up. Police carried out lathicharge. Our leader (former Uttar Pradesh chief minister) Akhilesh Yadav was detained," he said. Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan asked him to raise the matter after Question Hour. After the Speaker started the Question Hour, SP and TMC members jumped in the well and started sloganeering. The Question Hour lasted barely for five minutes. A peeved Speaker adjourned the House for nearly 50 minutes till noon when the slogan shouting continued. Samajwadi Party workers clashed with police in several parts of Uttar Pradesh Tuesday after the
UP Chief Secretary given 6-month extension
Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary Anup Chandra Pandey has been given a six-month extension by the Union government, a state government spokesman said on Wednesday.
I'm not being dictated to by RSS: Himachal CM (IANS Interview)
Facing the challenge of retaining all the four Lok Sabha seats, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur says he is not being dictated to by the RSS and that he enjoys a free hand to lead the party in the coming elections.
SP-BSP delegation meets UP Governor to protest grounding of Akhilesh
A delegation of the Samajwadi Party (SP) and its ally Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) met Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik at the Raj Bhawan on Wednesday and submitted a memorandum against the grounding of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav at the Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport here.
Australia to reopen Christmas Island detention centre: PM Morrison
Australia will reopen the controversial Christmas Island detention centre for asylum seekers, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Wednesday, ramping up border protection measures after an embarrassing defeat in Parliament which passed a legislation that would give refugees easier access to mainland hospitals. Morrison said he would reopen the detention centre, which was closed last year, to cope with what he predicted would be an influx of transfers from Manus Island and Nauru. "I am not at liberty to go into the detail of what they are, for obvious reasons. This Parliament has already tipped its hand enough to the people smugglers," he said. "We have approved putting in place the reopening of the Christmas Island detention facilities, both to deal with the prospect of arrivals as well as dealing with the prospect of transfers," Morrison said. The prime minister's announcement came after the opposition Labor party and independents voted on Tuesday to amend hardline immigration laws to .
Trump: Congresswoman Omar's apology for Israel remark 'lame'
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that freshman Rep Ilhan Omar's apology for suggesting that members of Congress support Israel because they are being paid to do so was "lame" and that she should resign. In a pair of tweets over the weekend, the Minnesota Democrat, who is one of the first two Muslim women to serve in Congress, criticized the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC. "It's all about the Benjamins baby," she wrote, using slang for $100 bills. Asked on Twitter who she thought was paying members of Congress to support Israel, Omar responded, "AIPAC!" Trump told reporters at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday that "anti-Semitism has no place in the United States Congress." The president said it was "terrible" what Omar said. "I think she should either resign from Congress or she should certainly resign from the House Foreign Affairs Committee. What she said is so deep-seated in her heart." He said her apology was "lame and she didn't mean a word of it." Omar said she
PM's defence on pricing of Rafale deal demolished: Rahul
Stepping up his attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Rafale issue, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday cited a media report to claim that the PM's argument of better pricing and faster delivery of the jets to defend the deal has been "demolished". His attack came after a report in The Hindu which claimed that the Rafale deal was not on"better terms" than the UPA-era offer. "The PM defended his personal RAFALE bypass deal on 2 counts: 1. Better Price 2. Faster Delivery. Both have been demolished by the revelations in the Hindu today," he tweeted. The government has in the past rejected all such allegations and claims against the deal. Three senior Defence Ministry officials who were the domain experts on the seven-member Indian Negotiating Team (INT) came to a "well-substantiated and clear conclusion" that the Narendra Modi government's new Rafale deal for 36 flyaway aircraft was not on "better terms" than the offer made by Dassault Aviation during the procurement ..
UP chief secretary Anup Chandra Pandey gets extension for six months
Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary Anup Chandra Pandey, who was due to retire this month, has got extension for six months, official sources said here on Wednesday. Pandey, a 1984 batch IAS officer, was due to retire on February 28 and the Yogi Adityanath government requested the Centre for extension of his services. "Centre has approved the extension of the chief secretary," Principal Secretary-Information, Avanish Awasthi, said.
'I'm sorry'- Thai princess apologises after ill-fated run for PM
A Thai princess has apologised after her short-lived candidacy for prime minister earned a royal rebuke from her brother -- the king -- and sent jitters across the politically febrile country just weeks before elections. Thailand has been mired in political drama since Friday, when Princess Ubolratana's name was submitted as a prime ministerial candidate by the Thai Raksa Chart Party. The party is allied with the powerful Shinawatra clan, which has won all elections since 2001 but whose patron, the billionaire ex-premier Thaksin, lives in self-exile to avoid jail. Ubolratana's unprecedented bid to enter frontline politics unravelled within hours after King Maha Vajiralongkorn decried the entry of a royal into the political fray as "highly inappropriate". Thailand's monarchy is seen as above politics, although royals have intervened in public during times of political crisis. The princess was disqualified as a prime ministerial candidate by the Election Commission on Monday, which ...
Trump not 'thrilled' with border deal, but govt shutdown seems unlikely
US President Donald Trump has said he was not "thrilled" by a border security deal reached by a bipartisan group of lawmakers but appeared to express openness to the agreement to avert another government shutdown, suggesting that he will find sources of money for his controversial border wall other than Congress. Democrats and Republicans have struck a deal to offer USD 1.375 billion for 88.5 kilometers of new barriers along the southern border, as well as other border security measures to avert another crippling government shutdown over Trump's wall along the US-Mexico border. The funding offer is far less than the USD 5.7 billion Trump demanded late last year when he triggered a record partial government shutdown that lasted 35 days. Building a wall along the US-Mexico border is a campaign promise of the 72-year-old Republican President. Trump said that he is looking at getting USD 23 billion for border security from various sources. Will be getting almost USD 23 BILLION for Border .
WB govt appoints Rina Mitra as principal advisor, internal
Rina Mitra, an IPS officer who was a contender for the CBI chief's post, has been appointed as the principal advisor to the West Bengal government on internal security, a senior official said Wednesday. The 1983-batch IPS officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre retired as special secretary (internal security) with the MHA on January 31. The responsibilities of Mitra for the newly created post would be defined later in a separate order, the official said. Mitra would likely be reporting directly to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on the rearrangement of security agencies in the state, he said.
Venezuela's Guaido vows to bring in aid next week
Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido told tens of thousands of supporters on Tuesday that desperately-needed humanitarian aid would be brought into the country on February 23, despite opposition from President Nicolas Maduro. "It's sure that the humanitarian aid will enter Venezuela because the usurper will have no choice but to leave Venezuela," said self-proclaimed acting president Guaido. US aid has been piling up in Colombia at the border with crisis-hit Venezuela but until now the bridge border crossing has been barricaded by the military, under Maduro's orders. "We have almost 300,000 Venezuelans who will die if the aid doesn't enter. There are almost two million at health risk," said Guaido, recognized by 50 countries after declaring himself as Venezuela's interim leader. Taking his authority from the constitution, National Assembly leader Guaido considers Maduro "illegitimate" following his reelection last year in a poll widely viewed as fraudulent. Guaido is trying to ...
Aid enters Venezuela from Feb. 23: Guaido
National Assembly Speaker Juan Guaido, who proclaimed himself Venezuela's interim president on January 23, has announced that humanitarian aid being stockpiled abroad will begin entering the country on February 23.
Posters pop up in Delhi to welcome Mamata Banerjee with a democratic jibe
'Welcome to Delhi, where democracy is alive and kicking, Didi', reads one of the many posters that have popped up in the Central Delhi ahead of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's arrival here on Wednesday.Put up by an organisation known as Youth For Democracy, a number of posters have been installed at many places of the city taking a jibe at Banerjee ahead of her participation in the opposition protest at Jantar Mantar.The posters have caricatures of West Bengal Chief Minister along with different captions aimed at taking a dig at Banerjee for different political developments in her state in the recent past.Large numbers of such banners have been installed at major areas of Jantar Mantar road, Bang Bhawan (Hally Road) and Windsor Palace Circle Area.'Didi, no one is going to prevent you from addressing people here', reads the caption of another poster.Mamata Banerjee is in the national capital today to join the opposition protest in the city.Along with Banerjee, Andhra ...
Trump condemns 'all acts of violence' after attack on BBC cameraman at his rally
US President Donald Trump has condemned "all acts of violence" including those against media after a BBC cameraman was attacked at his campaign rally in Texas. The White House in a statement on Tuesday did not refer to the specific incident but said "President Trump condemns all acts of violence against any individual or group of people - including members of the press." "We ask that anyone attending an event do so in a peaceful and respectful manner, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said after the mainstream media expressed concern over the attack on the BBC cameraman at a Trump rally in El Paso, Texas on Monday night. BBC's Ron Skeans was shoved and sworn at by a man wearing a Make America Great Again hat at the rally. The attacker was immediately ushered away by the security. The BBC later asked the White House to review security for media attending President Trump's rallies. In a letter, the BBC said the press area was unsupervised, and no security had tried to intervene .
TikTok to be banned in Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu Information and Technology Minister M Manikandan on Tuesday said in the Assembly that the AIADMK government will take measures to ban TikTok app in the state.Independent MLA Tamimun Ansari had requested the state government to ban the Tik Tok app.While speaking in the Assembly, Manikandan said that there have been reports that TikTok app is being used to degrade Tamil culture and it's leading to law and order issues.Manikandan also said in the state assembly that the "state government will request Centre to ban TiK Tok app in the same way blue whale game was banned.