Page 1653 - Politics
Barring BJP, Kashmir parties bat for simultaneous LS, Assembly polls (News Analysis)
Barring the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), every other political player seems to want simultaneous Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
Citizenship Bill provisions clarified to NE leaders: Government
The government on Tuesday said various provisions related to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 have been clarified to political leaders and some Chief Ministers of northeastern states.
Ensure safety of Bengalis in Assam: MPs (Lead, Supersedes earlier version)
The Trinamool Congress and the Congress on Tuesday accused the BJP of playing "dirty politics" in Assam and urged the Union government to ensure the safety of Bengali people in the state.
Those rely on 'falsehood' are banished from public life: Jaitley to Rahul
Union Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday hit out at Congress President Rahul Gandhi for continuously targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Rafale fighter jet deal, saying in mature democracies those who deliberately rely on "falsehood" are banished from public life.
TN urges centre to allot additional 1,500 Hajj seats
: The Tamil Nadu government Tuesday urged the Centre to allot an additional 1500 Hajj seats to the state's quota in view of the demand. Chief Minister K Palaniswami wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Centre has allotted 3,534 seats in 2019 for the people of Tamil Nadu to perform Hajj. "The Tamil Nadu State Hajj Committee has already received 6,379 applications for performing Hajj this year. To overcome this huge gap, I request you to instruct the Ministry of Minority Affairs to allocate 1,500 additional seats over and above the quota allotted to Tamil Nadu," he said. This would benefit pilgrims intending to perform Hajj from Tamil Nadu, the chief minister added. Palaniswami recalled that last year too,the Centre had increased Tamil Nadu's quota from 3,542 seats to 3816 on his request.
Reliance Defence says MoU cited by Rahul has no link with Rafale deal
Reliance Defence said the "proposed MoU" cited by Congress President Rahul Gandhi on the Rafale deal on Tuesday was a reference to its cooperation with Airbus Helicopter and had "no connection" with the Rafale deal.
Saudi Prince expected to seal multi-billion dollar deals in Pakistan
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman will travel this weekend to Pakistan where he is expected to announce multi-billion dollar investments to help the Kingdom's traditional ally tide over financial crisis amid declining foreign exchange reserves.
TN's interests over Palar river will be protected: Palaniswami
Chief Minister K. Palaniswami on Tuesday said that his government is taking all legal steps to protect Tamil Nadu's rights over the Palar river.
Centre of Excellence in Bengal for agri & horticulture by 2019
A Centre of Excellence in agriculture and horticulture with Israeli help is likely to come up in Chinsurah of Hooghly district, six years after the idea was first conceived, a state government official said Tuesday. State food processing industries and horticulture secretary Nandini Chakravorty said the centre will come up by end-2019, but did not give further details. Chakravorty was addressing a seminar on food processing organised by the Merchants' Chamber of Commerce here. In 2013, an Israeli envoy had first expressed interest to set up a Centre of Excellence in the state. Israel was then involved in preparing action plans in 11 states in India based on an agriculture cooperation agreement in 2006. As of now, more than two dozen centres of excellence have come in the country with Israeli cooperation. When the original plan was submitted for the West Bengal centre, it talked of focusing on potato cultivation. The centre would have also adopted Israeli technology in ..
Will not compromise on rights on inter-state Palar river; TN
: The Tamil Nadu government Tuesday asserted that it would not compromise on its rights on the inter-state Palar and said it has asked Andhra Pradesh not to take up construction of 30 new check-dams on the river. Chief Minister K Palaniswami said the state has asked the Andhra Pradesh government not to approve the construction of 30 check-dams, pointing out that court cases on similar issues were pending in this connection. According to the Madras-Mysore Agreement of 1892, Palar is an inter-state river and the upper riparian state cannot take up such activities without the consent of the lower riparian ones, he said. The DMK and Congress raised the issue of Andhra Pradesh's reported move to construct 30 new check-dams across Palar in the state assembly, saying that if it materialised, it would affect parts of Tamil Nadu, including Vellore. "After coming across reports of Andhra Pradesh's proposal to construct 30 new check-dams across Palar, a communication has been sent .
BJP having discussions with friendly parties: Rao
The BJP is having discussions with friendly parties and it will definitely have a tie-up in Tamil Nadu for the coming Lok Sabha polls, the party's general secretary P Muralidhar Rao said Tuesday. "We are having discussions with friendly parties. Definitely BJP will have alliance and the alliance in Tamil Nadu will be for good governance and positive development," he said. There is progress in the discussions, he said. Asked if AIADMK leader and Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M Thambidurai attacking the Centre over demonetisation and implementation of Goods and Services Tax in Parliament would scuttle the chances of a possible alliance with that party, he said "AIADMK has not issued such kind of statement.." BJP does not have any problem as far as engagement with regard to electoral alliance in Tamil Nadu with any parties is concerned, Rao said. The party would elaborate soon about alliance talks, he said. Asked about criticism by Thambidurai, he claimed the public response to .
On Day 2, Priyanka Gandhi meets grassroots party workers
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on the second day of her Uttar Pradesh visit met party workers from various constituencies falling under eastern UP and took feedback from them about the ground situation, a senior party leader said on Tuesday.
Vote out the BJP, opposition leaders appeal to youth
Citing rising unemployment, the widening social and communal rift and curbs on freedom of speech, a score of opposition leaders on Tuesday appealed to the youth to vote out the BJP government in the upcoming general elections "to save the country".
Turkey orders detention of 1,112 people over Gulen links
Turkey on Tuesday ordered the detention of 1,112 people over suspected links to the network of US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, accused of orchestrating an attempted coup in 2016, the media reported.
PM, Shah pooh-pooh attempts by opposition to forge a 'grand alliance'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah Tuesday pooh-poohed attempts by the opposition parties to cobble a grand alliance for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, asserting it will not hurt the prospects of the BJP to return to power. The comments by Modi and Shah come a day after Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu's daylong fast in Delhi became a rallying point for opposition unity for the second time in less than a month to take on the BJP at the hustings. On January 19, 22 opposition parties came together at a rally in Kolkata convened by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee. Delhi's ruling AAP is also planning a mega rally of non-BJP leaders Wednesday against the Modi government in the national capital. While Modi mocked the planned 'mahagathbandhan' as "maha-milawat"(highly adulterated), saying all the faces in this grouping are only indulging in competition in threatening and abusing him, Shah dubbed ...
Ensure safety of Bengalis in Assam: TMC MPs
The Trinamool Congress on Tuesday accused the BJP of playing "dirty politics" in Assam and urged the Union government to ensure the safety of Bengali people in the state.
Where are 'achche din'? asks Opposition
Opposition parties on Tuesday accused the Modi government of not fulfilling its promise of ushering in 'achche din' (good days) as they attacked it in Lok Sabha over issues like unemployment and farm distress. The treasury benches countered the charge, saying the macro-economic fundamentals are better than before and the poorest people are the biggest beneficiaries of this government's policies, but the Congress party does not see good in anything. The Modi government has "not done anything" in the last four-and-half years and now it was making promises for the future," Congress member K C Venugopal said while initiating discussion on the Finance Bill 2019. "What happened to the 'achche din aayenge' slogan?" he questioned, and wanted to know why the promises made by the NDA government have not yet been met. He also charged that Finance Minister Piyush Goyal as member of the Rajya Sabha was not aware of what was happening on the ground, especially with regard to farm ...
Separatists call for two-day shutdown against legal challenge to Article 35-A, 370
Separatists on Tuesday called for a two-day shutdown to protest the legal challenge to Article 370 and Article 35-A of the Constitution, which grant special status to Jammu and Kashmir and special rights and privileges to its "permanent residents", respectively. Petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court, challenging the constitutional validity of Article 370 and Article 35-A. "People of Jammu and Kashmir will forcefully resist every challenge by New Delhi to change the demography of the State by rolling back hereditary state subject laws of 1927 (protected by Article 35-A of the Constitution), being contested in the Supreme Court of India through their agents," separatists' Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) said here. The apex court is scheduled to hear the petitions challenging Article 35-A during the week. To protest the "vicious move", the separatists called for a complete strike on Wednesday and Thursday. "The late announcement and ambiguity over the dates of hearing of (PILs
Ceasefire violations more than doubled in 2018 compared to 2017; BSF suffered more casualty
The number of ceasefire violations or crossborder firings in Jammu and Kashmir more than doubled in 2018 compared to the previous year, while the casualties the BSF suffered in terms of death of its jawans in these incidents increased by three times, the government informed Parliament Tuesday. Such incidents saw a surge in 2018 and continued unabated this year, and 219 cases of crossborder firing or ceasefire violations have been reported up to January 31, meaning an average of seven incidents per day. In 2018, the number of ceasefire violations was 2,140 which led to death of 14 BSF personnel and injuries to 53 others, Minister of State for Home Hansram G Ahir said in a written reply to Lok Sabha. These figures were quite high compared to 2017 when number of ceasefire violations or crossborder firings was 971, in which 4 BSF personnel were killed. The causality figures do not include those of army personnel as they come under the Defence Ministry. Upto January 31 this year, one BSF .
Cong, BJP war of words over Rafale turns uglier
The war of words between the Congress and the BJP over the Rafale issue turned uglier Tuesday as Rahul Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "treason" and acting as Anil Ambani's middleman, prompting the ruling party to claim that he worked as a lobbyist for foreign firms. The Gandhi family has a history of "looting" the country, BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said in a counter-attack, adding that it was height of "shamelessness and irresponsibility" that the Congress president "abused" the "honest" prime minister Modi. Firing a fresh salvo at Modi, Gandhi released to the media an email dated March 28, 2015 purportedly written by Airbus executive Nicolas Chamussy to three recipients with the subject line "Ambani". Quoting from the email, Gandhi claimed that Ambani was aware in advance of the Rafale deal before India and France announced it in 2015 during Modi's visit to the country and said that it was in violation of the Official Secrets Act. Modi's action "puts him in ...