Page 1692 - Politics

'Independent' CBI should raid Prime Minister's Office: Kejriwal on Rafale report

An "independent" CBI should raid the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), seize files and make arrests in connection with the Rafale fighter jet deal, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said Friday. His party colleague and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said he will file a case against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in light of the new "expose" on Rafale deal. "In the light of today's expose on Rafale, 'independent' CBI shud raid PMO, seize all the files related to Rafale and make arrests just like they raided my office and residence and Kolkatta police commissioner(sic)," Kejriwal tweeted. The AAP's attack came after a report was published by The Hindu newspaper on Friday which claimed the Defence Ministry raised strong objections to "parallel discussions" conducted by the PMO during the negotiations over the Rs 59,000 crore Rafale deal between India and France. Singh maintained that his party was the first to flag Rafale deal "scam" as he cited a letter written by him to the Chief Vigilance .

Rafale chief negotiator deprecates attempts to malign deal

Former Air Marshal SBP Sinha, who headed the negotiations from the Indian side in the Rafale aircraft deal, on Friday deprecated attempts being made to malign the "excellent procurement" of the fighter planes that the government has initiated."There are attempts being made to malign the excellent procurement that the government of India has initiated to procure. It was very surprising for me to know that in the article printed today a note within the MoD has been used to malign this procurement by concealing facts," he told ANI.He said that the note does not bear the remarks of the defence minister and hence, nobody knows what the defence minister had to say on this. "It was created by S K Sharma, who was not a part of the Indian negotiation team," he said.The negotiation team chief said that the PMO never intervened in the negotiations, adding the letter itself is a clear proof of no intervention. "This letter never reached the negotiation team meetings or to me. It is not even ...

India to train 1,800 Bangladeshi civil servants

India will train 1,800 civil servants from Bangladesh in ethics in administration and public policy among other areas of governance, officials said. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on Friday between the National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG), an institute under the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), and the Ministry of Public Administration, Government of Bangladesh, in this regard, they said. K V Eapen, Secretary DARPG and Director General of NCGG, said the collaboration represents a historic milestone in training and capacity building programmes between India and Bangladesh. He said that Bangladesh civil servants will be trained in e-governance and service delivery, public policy and implementation, information technology, decentralization, urban development and planning, ethics in Administration and challenges in implementation of sustainable development goals (SDGs). This is the second time that the NCGG has signed an MOU for a .

Rafale deal rocks Lok Sabha, Sitharaman says Oppn flogging a dead horse

Opposition members were heard shouting slogans demanding resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue

Modi rubbing salt into Andhra's wounds: CM

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Friday termed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Parliament address on Thursday as "appalling" and alleged that he was rubbing salt into the wounds of his state instead of doing justice to it by fulfilling his commitments.

Speaker reprimands Cong MP Gogoi

Strongly disapproving of Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi's attempt to disrupt BJD MP Tathagata Satpathy's speech in Lok Sabha, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Friday said not allowing members to speak is akin to killing democracy. After the House met post-lunch, Satpathy began the discussion on the interim Budget in the absence of Congress' Veerappa Moily who was to speak first. The Congress members, however, started protesting on the Rafale issue, demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the fighter jet deal. Congress members Gogoi, Rajeev Satav, Sushmita Dev and others trooped into the Well shouting slogans. Gogoi, with a placard in his hand, walked up to Sathpathy's seat and started raising slogans as the BJD member's microphone was on and the camera usually focuses on the person who is making the speech. "Gaurav Gogoi, don't go there. Please stay in your limit," an upset Speaker said. Gogoi immediately stepped back. In the past, Mahajan had reprimanded Dev for ..

SC dismisses Tejashwi Yadav's plea

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea by RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav challenging the Bihar government's decision asking him to vacate a bungalow in Patna that was allotted to him when he was Deputy Chief Minister.

Madhya Pradesh BJP leader Ramkrishna Kusumaria joins Congress

Veteran BJP leader and former Madhya Pradesh minister Dr Ramkrishna Kusumaria Friday joined the Congress in the presence of party president Rahul Gandhi. The senior leader joined the ruling party in the state at 'Aabhar rally', attended by farmers who benefited from the loan waiver scheme announced by the newly-elected Congress government. Kusumaria was formally inducted into the party by Congress general secretary in-charge of the state Deepak Babaria, who offered him a 'soot ki mala' (garland of handspun). In his speech, Kusumaria accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of "ignoring and disrespecting its senior leaders". He won assembly election for the first time from Hatta in Damoh district in 1977. Later he won Lok Sabha election from Damoh four times and once from Khajuraho. Kusumaria was a minister in Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led BJP government in 2008. Praising Rahul Gandhi and chief minister Kamal Nath, he said the country and the state would prosper under their .

JK admin creates separate division for Ladakh

In a major decision, the Jammu and Kashmir administration Friday created a separate division for Ladakh, which was part of the Kashmir division till now. Ladakh will now have a separate divisional commissioner and an inspector general of Police (IG) with a full administrative and revenue division at par with Kashmir and Jammu divisions, an order issued by the administration said. "Ladakh created as a separate administrative and revenue division. Jammu and Kashmir will have three divisions -- Jammu, Ladakh andKashmir," it said. The administration has sanctioned creation of a separate administrative and revenue division comprising Leh and Kargil districts, with its headquarters at Leh, the order said. It has also ordered constitution of a committee under chairmanship of principal secretary, planning, development and monitoring department to identify the posts of divisional level heads of departments that may be required for the new division, particularly their staffing pattern, ...

Ahead of Parliamentary hearing, Twitter says fighting political bias in India

Geared up to face a 31-member Parliamentary panel hearing on February 11, Twitter on Friday said it is proactively working with the political parties to verify candidates, elected officials and relevant party officials whose accounts will be active in the public conversation.

Jobless youth will punish the BJP in LS polls: Akhilesh

Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Friday said with the hopes of the nation's youth for jobs dashed, they will be restless and "punish" the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Akhilesh hits back at PM for mocking 'mahagathbandhan'

Attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for mocking the proposed opposition alliance as "maha-milawat," Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav warned Friday that the "concoction" of parties should not be taken lightly. "This is such a concoction that you don't know which party will get obliterated (yeh aisi maha-milawat hai ki kaun kahan mit jayega pata nahi)," Yadav said at a press conference here. He was asked about Modi's comment, terming the proposed mahagathbandhan, or the grand alliance, a maha-milawat (adulteration). Modi had said the maha-milawat will be rejected by the country's "healthy democracy" in the coming Lok Sabha polls. Yadav said his party's alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) will remain intact and the seat-sharing details will be declared at the right time. On the prime minister's "ulta chor chowkidar ko daantey" (thief accusing the guard) remark, Yadav said Modi should make clear for whom does this comment hold true. Yadav said the BJP government wants to .

Rahul provoking armed forces against government: Sitharaman

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday rejected Congress President Rahul Gandhi's charge that Prime Minister Narendra Modi ran parallel negotiation for the Rafale deal and accused him of provoking the armed forces against the government.

Shocking that PMO was holding "parallel negotiations" on Rafale: A K Antony

Former defence minister A K Antony claimed Friday it was "shocking" that the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) was conducting parallel negotiations on the Rafale deal and alleged it had "special interests to protect". "This is shocking to me. In the defence negotiations, only the Defence Ministry is involved," the senior Congress leader told reporters outside Parliament. "Never in the history of Government of India it has happened like that. What is the special interest of the PMO?... Why did the PMO take such a special interest in this case? They have special interests to protect. They want to favour somebody," he alleged. Antony was reacting to a report published by The Hindu newspaper on Friday that the Defence Ministry raised strong objections to "parallel discussions" conducted by the PMO during the negotiations over the Rs 59,000 crore Rafale deal between India and France. "Some serious thing is wrong there. Otherwise, the PMO has no role in price negotiations. It is the duty ...

Ladakh to be J&K's third administrative division

In a landmark decision, the Jammu and Kashmir government on Friday declared Ladakh as the third administrative division of the state.

Rahul's Rafale allegation 'yet another lie': BJP

The BJP Friday described Rahul Gandhi's allegations against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Rafale deal as "yet another lie from his lie-manufacturing factory" and accused the Congress president of working at the behest of foreign forces for the cancellation of the fighter aircraft deal. The Prime Minister's Office was directly involved in negotiations with the French on the Rafale deal and Modi was guilty in the scam, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said on Friday in a fresh attack on the government over the fighter jet agreement. It is an open and shut case, Gandhi declared, citing a report in The Hindu newspaper claiming the Defence ministry raised strong objections to "parallel discussions" conducted by the PMO during the negotiations over the Rs 59,000 crore Rafale deal between India and France. A number of Union ministers from the BJP hit out at Gandhi after he cited the Hinndu report to launch a fresh attack on Modi. "The lie-manufacturing factory of Rahul Gandhi continues .

PMO has something to hide, says former Defence Minister AK Antony

In the wake of the latest media report on the Rafale deal, veteran Congress leader and former Defence Minister A K Antony on Friday questioned whether the PMO had any "special interest" to push the contract."Defence deals are the responsibility of the Ministry of Defence, why the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) took such special interest in it. Whom does it want to protect, the PMO has something to hide. The Prime Minister will have to answer these questions," he told reporters here.He also demanded that a joint parliamentary committee should be set up to probe the alleged irregularities.Meanwhile, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman rebuked Congress president Rahul Gandhi's allegation based on a media report that claimed the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) ran parallel negotiations with France on the multi-billion Rafale fighter jet deal."A newspaper published a file noting written by the (then) Defence Secretary. If a newspaper publishes a noting, then the ethics of journalism will ...

BJP committed to Ram temple; SP, BSP, Congress should clarify stand: Amit Shah

BJP president Amit Shah on Friday asserted that his party is committed to constructing the Ram temple in Ayodhya. He has asked Congress, Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) to clear their stand on the issue, which is currently sub judice.Shah said at a booth level rally of party workers: "BJP is committed to making the Ram Temple at the same place in Ayodhya... As soon as the case of Ram temple came up, the Congress party said this should be done after 2019. Why? It is the oldest case in India. Why do you want to delay this case?He added, "I want to ask Akhilesh Yadav, Mayawati and Rahul Gandhi, what's your stand on the Ram temple? Whether you agree or not, BJP will make sure that Ram temple is constructed at that place."The Centre had on Tuesday approached the Supreme Court for permission to restore the "excess" land surrounding the disputed portion in Ayodhya to Ram Janambhoomi Nyas.The government, in a petition, sought directions for releasing the 67 acres which it ..

Illegal migrants are SP, BSP vote bank: Shah

Calling illegal migrants a vote bank of the Samajwadi party and the Bahujan Samaj Party, BJP president Friday said every intruder will be sent out of the country if the party returns to power. Addressing Bharatiya Janata Party workers, Shah reiterated the BJP's commitment to the construction of a Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya. He challenged opposition parties to make their stands clear on the temple. The meeting in Maharajganj was the latest in a series of Shah's interactions with party workers, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

Cong may declare LS candidates for HP later this month: Leader of opposition

The Congress may declare its candidates later this month for the four Lok Sabha seats in Himachal Pradesh, a party leader said Friday. Mukesh Agnihotri, the Leader of Opposition in Himachal Assembly, told PTI that the process of finalising the candidates had already begun. A total of 42 party leaders applied to get tickets for the four seats till February 4, the final date for filing applications. Agnihotri said a five-member screening committee would soon meet to shortlist them. The committee includes Himachal Congress president Kuldeep Singh Rathore, leader of opposition Mukesh Agnihotri, AICC in-charge for Himachal Congress Rajni Patil, co-in charge Gurkirat Singh Kotli and AICC general secretary (organisation) Venu Gopal. The screening committee will soon meet and recommend to the Congress Election Committee (CEC) two to three probable candidates for each of the four seats, he added. Subsequently, the CEC will consider their names and hopefully the party president Rahul Gandhi ...