Page 1693 - Politics
Cong would have resolved Goa mining crisis, feels GMPF
A year after the Supreme Court passed an order that led to the shutdown of mining operations in Goa, the body representing mining dependents feels that if the Congress was in power in the state, it would have found some solution to the crisis. It also says that the ruling BJP has not done enough to ensure the mining activities resume in the state. On February 7 last year, the apex court had quashed second renewal of 88 mining leases, bringing to a halt the iron ore extraction industry in the coastal state. Around two lakh people are dependent on this industry. Talking to PTI, Goa Mining People's Front (GMPF) president Puti Gaonkar Friday said the mining operations in Goa would have resumed if the Congress was in power in the state. "Congress would have worked out a solution for the crisis. Mining would have started, if it was in power," he said. The GMPF has organised a candle light march on Friday evening to mark the completion of one year of the the SC verdict. "The ..
Purported note on Rafale indicates Parrikar had no knowledge of progress in negotiations: Omar
National Conference leader Omar Abdullah Friday said a purported Ministry of Defence note on Rafale indicated that then defence minister Manohar Parrikar had no knowledge of the progress in negotiations for the fighter jet deal. He was reacting to a report in The Hindu which claimed the Defence Ministry had 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. The purported note claimed it was clear that such parallel discussions had "weakened the negotiating position of MoD and Indian Negotiating Team". "The then Defence Minister @manoharparrikar was clueless about the progress of negotiations. All he could say was 'IT APPEARS that @PMOIndia & French President's office are monitoring the progress'. He had no direct knowledge of progress & passed the buck back to the PMO," Abdullah said. "How can he claim that 'para 5 is an over-reaction' when he had no direct knowledge of .
Modi undermined Air Force, Defence Ministry in Rafale deal to help cronies: Yechury
CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury alleged on Friday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had consistently undermined the Air Force and the Defence Ministry to benefit his "cronies" in the Rafale deal. Yechury's comments come after a report in The Hindu newspaper claimed that the Defence Ministry had raised strong objections to "parallel discussions" conducted by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) during the negotiations over the Rs 59,000-crore Rafale deal between India and France. "Modi has consistently undermined the Air Force & Defence Ministry in the Rafale deal for corruption, to benefit his cronies. His actions have hurt the public exchequer & damaged national security. These facts have been hidden from Supreme Court where a review petition is pending," Yechury tweeted. "The PM must take responsibility for the loss to the exchequer, violation of procedure to get far fewer fighter jets than what Air Force wanted. All just to help cronies," the Communist Party of India .
Mamata Banerjee is not Jhansi Ki Rani, but Kim Jong-un of North Korea, says Union Minister Giriraj Singh
A day after All India Trinamool Congress called West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as the new-age 'Jansi ki Rani,' Union Minister Giriraj Singh on Friday compared her with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.In the Lok Sabha on Thursday, TMC leader Dinesh Trivedi drew a parallel between the Central government and the pre-independence British regime and called Banerjee as today's 'Jhansi ki Rani'.Singh told ANI, "Maybe this is an abusive remark towards 'Jhansi ki Rani.' She can be a Putana (demon), who has destroyed the whole West Bengal. She can become Kim Jong-un, who can kill those who speak against her.""She does not have the power to become 'Jhansi ki Rani' or 'Padmavaat.' She can support Rohingya infiltrators and talks about distributing India. 'Jhansi ki Rani' fought to save the country. She is fighting to divide it."Recently a full-blown face-off between West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government and the Centre erupted after a CBI team moved to arrest ...
No cut in defence budget: Pak
Underlining that Pakistan government and the Army are enjoying a period of "unprecedented coordination", a senior minister has ruled out any cut in the country's defence budget and said it could instead increase for the national security. Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry in a press conference after a Cabinet meeting on Thursday said the country's defence budget is already low as compared to other countries in the region, and therefore it should be increased. Asked about the government's austerity measures to reduce running expenditures by 10 per cent, he said, "Some people have problems about the defence budget and try to make it an issue. However, they don't know that our defence budget is already lower than that of other states in the region, including India." "We want to increase our defence and security; therefore we need to increase our defence budget and for that purpose we want to generate more revenue." Chaudhry said the government and the Army were enjoying a period of ...
DMK petitions EC seeking holding of bypolls to 21 TN assembly
DMK President M K Stalin Friday urged the Election Commission to hold by-polls for 21 vacant assembly seats in Tamil Nadu simultaneously with the Lok Sabha elections, due by May. A delegation headed by Rajya Sabha MP and DMK leader Kanimozhi submitted a letter addressed to the EC by Stalin at the office of the poll panel in New Delhi, a party release said here. "We request the ECI to hold elections to the 21 Assembly seats along with election to 39 parliamentary seats in Tamil Nadu," Stalin said in the letter, a copy of which was released to the media here. The DMK chief said this would save time of voters, the EC and government staff and also ease the burden on the public exchequer. Of the 21 seats, as many as 18 had fallen vacant following the disqualification of ruling AIADMK MLAs loyal to ousted leader TTV Dhinakaran by the Assembly Speaker in September 2017, which was upheld by the Madras High Court late last year. The court had also lifted an earlier stay on ...
PM has mocked India's diversity by terming grand alliance as Mahamilavat: Ahmed Patel
Responding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's sharp criticism of the grand alliance and terming it as 'grand adulteration', senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel on Friday said that through such remarks Prime Minister is mocking India's diversity."Kolkatta to Chennai, Jammu Kashmir to Kanyakumari cannot be termed as grand adulteration but diversity of a nation. Those who are mocking this diversity will get a fitting reply from the people of this country," Patel said.Taking a jibe on the opposition parties efforts to get united under the umbrella of Grand Alliance or Mahagathbandhan, Prime Minister Modi had on Thursday in the Lok Sabha said that 'Mahamilavat' (Grand adulteration) of opposition parties was not acceptable to the country."The people of India have seen the work a Government with a full majority can do. They have seen the work of NDA. They do not want a Mahamilvat government of those who assembled in Kolkata," Prime Minister said.
Siddaramaiah calls for suspension of dissenting legislators
Karnataka former chief minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Friday called for the suspension of four dissenting legislators of the party under the anti-defection law."I have issued notice and whips, three times, to them to participate in the budget session and the CLP meeting and the honourable Speaker should take legal action against them," former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader said at a press conference here.He added, "All four dissenting lawmakers wrote a letter to me in which they said that they can't come before February 15. I have already given sufficient opportunity to them. Now, the unanimous decision of the party is to proceed with a legal action against all four of them under the anti-defection law." He said the legislators Ramesh Jarakiholi, Mahesh Kumtalli, Nagendra, Umesh Jadhav and Ganesh JN were absent from the CLP meet held in January this year.Earlier in the day, Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy removed one of the four dissenting Congress .
Maharashtra Assembly may be dissolved on Feb 28: Congress
The Congress has claimed that the Maharashtra Assembly may be dissolved on February 28 after the budget presentation, paving the way for simultaneous elections with the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
Rahul in Bhopal
Congress President Rahul Gandhi arrived here in Madhya Pradesh on Friday to attend the "Aabhar" rally.
14 dead in 2 hooch tragedies in UP, Yogi orders crackdown
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday ordered a crackdown on the illicit liquor mafia in the state after 14 reported deaths on account of spurious liquor consumption in Saharanpur and Kushinagar.
PDP's Irshad Rasool Kar joins National Conference
Irshad Rasool Kar, former PDP district president of Baramulla in Jammu and Kashmir, Friday joined the National Conference in presence of party president Farooq Abdullah at his residence here. NC vice president Omar Abdullah and other senior leaders were also present to welcome Kar into the party. Kar, son of Congress stalwart late Ghulam Rasool Kar, had unsuccessfully contested the 2014 Assembly elections as an independent candidate from the Sopore constituency in Baramulla district after he was denied ticket by the Congress. He joined the PDP in June 2015 but resigned from the party on Thursday.
Karnataka Congress to take legal action against 4 rebel MLAs
The ruling Congress in Karnataka on Friday decided to take legal action against its four 'rebel' legislators for defying the party whip to attend the 10-day Budget Session of the Assembly and skipping its legislature party meeting here.
BSP's lawyers will put their side in court: Akhilesh on SC view
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav Friday said BSP's lawyers will present their side before the Supreme Court, which expressed a tentative view that party chief Mayawati has to deposit the public money used for erecting statues to the state exchequer. The SP and the BSP have recently forged an alliance for the Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh. "I don't have full information about this. The court might have made some observations. BSP's lawyers will put their side in the court," Yadav said. The court, earlier in the day, said it was of the tentative view that Mayawati has to deposit public money used for erecting statues of herself and elephants, the party's symbol, at parks in Lucknow and Noida to the state exchequer. A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi has posted the matter for final hearing on April 2. Attacking the BJP without taking its name, the SP chief said, "A statue is going to be installed in the Lok Bhavan here. We will also install a statue of SP leader Ram .
Left unhappy with big brotherly attitude of Grand Alliance in Bihar
The big brotherly attitude of the RJD and the Congress is not going down well with the Left parties including the CPI, the CPI(M) and the CPI(ML), keen though they are to be a part of the Grand Alliance in Bihar for the upcoming elections.
Budget discussion begins in LS amid din
The Lok Sabha Friday took up the discussion on the Interim Budget amid din as members of several opposition parties raised slogans against the government over the Rafale deal. The Interim Budget was presented on February 1. As Kalraj Maishra, who was the presiding officer in the Speaker's absence, allowed a discussion, protesting Congress members intensified their slogan-shouting, objecting to the debate when the House was not in order. One member was seen tearing papers and throwing them at the Speaker's table, and Mallikarjun Kharge of the Congress said, "It is not good. The House is not in order." To this, Mishra said the House will be in order if the protesting members go to their seats. Veerappa Moily of the Congress was to speak first but BJD's Tathagata Satpathy started the discussion in his absence and hit out the government for completely following "misdeeds and modus operandi" of the previous Congress government. Taking a dig, he said the underlying message of ...
DMK requests EC to hold by-elections along with LS polls
DMK President M.K. Stalin has requested the Election Commission of India (ECI) to hold the by-elections to the 21 vacant Assembly seats in Tamil Nadu along with the Lok Sabha polls.
Probe Vadra, Chidambaram but give answers on Rafale: Rahul to govt
Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Friday said he has no problem if the government investigates his brother-in-law Robert Vadra or senior party leader P Chidambaram as long as it also answers questions on the Rafale jet deal. Gandhi launched a fresh broadside against the government on the deal following a report in The Hindu newspaper claiming the Defence ministry raised strong objections to "parallel discussions" conducted by the PMO during the negotiations between India and France. "Whatever inquiry you want to do, you do it. You implement the law. Robert Vadra, P Chidambaram - you implement the law on everyone. No problem. But you also give answers on the Rafale matter," he said at a press conference. Vadra was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for nine hours on Thursday, the second day of his deposition in connection with a probe into allegations of money laundering to purchase assets abroad. Karti Chidambaram, son of former finance minister P Chidambaram, was also ...
US condemns attempted space launch by Iran; seeks tougher international sanctions
The US has called for tougher sanctions against the Iranian regime following the reported second failed space launch by Tehran in defiance to the international community and the Security Council resolutions. Images released by the Colorado-based company DigitalGlobe have showed a rocket at the Imam Khomeini Space Center in Iran's Semnan province on Tuesday. Industry experts have suggested the launch failed just after liftoff. The US stated that Iran's attempted launch is an ability to eventually build ballistic missiles to threaten America's allies. "In defiance of the international community, the Iranian regime continues to develop and test ballistic missiles, including a reported second failed space launch in less than a month," Robert Palladino, State Department Deputy Spokesperson, said. He said that space launch vehicles use technologies that are virtually identical and interchangeable with those used in ballistic missiles, including in the Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles ...
Jaitley slams Congress over Triple Talaq Bill
Union Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday slammed the Congress for its promise to withdraw the Triple Talaq Bill, saying that 32 years after legislatively overturning the Supreme Court's Shah Bano judgment, the party has taken another step to drive Muslim women to live a life which is an "antithesis of human existence".