Page 1709 - Politics
Qatar takes delivery of first French-built Rafale jet fighter
Qatar on Wednesday took delivery of the first of 36 Rafale multi-purpose jet fighters it has ordered from French manufacturer Dassault. The hand-over ceremony in Merignac, southwestern France, where the planes are built, was attended by Qatar Defence Minister Khalid bin Mohamed Al-Attiyah and Dassault Aviation chief Eric Trappier. Qatar ordered 24 of the fighters in 2015, adding 12 more last year. It also has an option to buy 36 more. The twin-engine fighter has been in service with the French Air Force since 2004. France has also sold Mirage F1, Alpha Jets and Mirage 2000 fighters to Qatar. After failing to sell the Rafale abroad for several years, France finally won a contract from Egypt in 2015 for 24 jets, followed by the sale to Qatar. In September 2016, India also agreed to buy 36 of the fighters. Qatar has upped its defence spending after being diplomatically isolated by its Gulf neighbours. Since June 2017, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt have imposed
Elvis Golmes to be AAP South Goa candidate
AAP leader Elvis Golmes, who was the party's Chief Ministerial candidate in the 2007 Assembly elections, will be the Lok Sabha candidate from South Goa, the party announced on Wednesday.
Pakistan's SC tells military not to interfere in politics
Pakistan's Supreme Court on Wednesday warned the powerful military and intelligence agencies against interfering in political matters and curtailing media freedom in the country.
SC notice to Centre on high security number plates
The Supreme Court has issued notice to the central government on a petition seeking contempt action on two government notifications issued on the court's orders relating to high security vehicle number plates over 10 years.
9 Congress, 3 BJP legislators skip Karnataka joint session
Despite whips issued by various parties to their legislators to be present on the first day of the Budget session of Karnataka legislature, as many as nine MLAs from the Congress and three from the BJP on Wednesday were found absent from the House.
BJP top grosser, spender in 2018 Karnataka polls: ADR
As much as Rs 356 crore were collected and Rs 170 crore were spent by political parties which contested the May 2018 Karnataka elections. The BJP was the highest grosser with Rs 213 crore and spent nearly Rs 139 crore, also the most.
Priyanka accompanies Vadra to ED office, makes a political statement
Priyanka Gandhi on Wednesday made a strong political statement of openly backing her controversial husband Robert Vadra by dropping him at the Enforcement Directorate office when he came to face questioning in connection with a money laundering case filed against him.
Ex-MP CM flays Mamata for corruption
Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Wednesday accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of "unending corruption and appeasement" and claimed she was the second leader to divide Bengal after Lord Curzon, the then Viceroy of British India.
Delhi government seeks public opinion on MSP
The Delhi government on Wednesday sought public opinion on the proposed implementation of the M.S. Swaminathan Committee report for the minimum support price (MSP).
NCP slams Maha over sit-in protest by daughters of farmers
The NCP Wednesday slammed the Maharashtra government over the agitation launched by daughters of farmers in Puntamba village in Ahmednagar district for various demands including a complete loan waiver. Maharashtra Nationalist Congress Party unit president Jayant Patil said the "annatyag" (food abandonment) agitation will force the "irresponsible" BJP government to vacate power. "The 'annatyag' agitation by the farmers' daughters will compel the irresponsible BJP government to vacate power," Patil said in a tweet with hash tags of 'Kisan Long March', 'Farmers' and 'Parivartan Yatra'. Parivartan Yatra is the public outreach programme the NCP has undertaken ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. Daughters of farmers in Puntamba village, which saw a movement for loan waiver two years ago, launched a fresh agitation on Tuesday over a slew of demands of the peasants. These young women, all in their early 20s, are demanding complete farm loan waiver and other relief measures like ...
BSP-SP alliance has left BJP 'sleepless': Mayawati
BSP president Mayawati Wednesday claimed that the BSP-SP alliance has left the BJP's top leadership 'sleepless' and 'afraid', due to which the party curses the coalition in all its meetings. Mayawati's counter came hours after BJP president Amit Shah attacked the alliance at a meeting of booth-level workers in Aligarh. "The BSP-SP alliance has not only made the BJP's top leadership sleepless, but also afraid and they are out to curse it in all the big and small programmes," the BSP chief said in a party release. "We got to hear the same in the Aligarh programme, in which the alliance was termed a farce," Mayawati said. "This cursing only encourages the people of the 'sarv samaj' associated with the alliance to work hard, in turn adding to the frustration of the BJP," she added. Mayawati said the BJP could sense its defeat in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The BJP is sensing that it will face a drubbing in the upcoming elections and will lose power because of the BSP-SP alliance, ...
Lebanon names 1st female Arab minister in charge of security
Lebanon's new interior minister has taken office, becoming the country and the Arab world's first female official in charge of powerful security agencies. Raya El Hassan took over Wednesday as a part of a new government named after nearly nine months of deadlock. She is one of four women in the 30-member Cabinet, a historic record for female political representation in Lebanon. El Hassan says she is "assuming the challenge" of the ministry in charge of implementing the law and serving citizens. She will be in charge of multiple, often competing security agencies, and of maintaining stability where until recently the country has grappled with militant groups and limited spillover from the war next door in Syria. El Hassan in 2009 also became the region's first female finance minister.
Netanyahu rival places high in Israel's ruling Likud primary
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's chief internal rival has placed high in the ruling Likud's primary elections. Near final results published Wednesday show former Cabinet minister Gideon Saar finishing third after Netanyahu in the internal party vote for Likud's list for the April 9 elections. Netanyahu views Saar as a potential replacement and had lobbied party members hard to push him down the list. The Likud party has a strong lead in polls and is expected to win around 30 out of parliament's 120 seats. With Netanyahu facing a series of corruption charges, the primaries have taken on added significance as an indicator for his potential successor within the party. Transportation Minister Israel Katz and Knesset speaker Yuli Edelstein came in first and second after Netanyahu.
Arjun Munda returns after permission denied to hold meeting in WB
Senior BJP leader Arjun Munda said Wednesday he was denied permission by Bishnupur administration in West Bengal to hold a meeting there, amid claims from the saffron party the TMC government was restricting their leaders from addressing political rallies in the state. Munda was scheduled to address a rally of BJP workers in Bishnupur town in Bankura district of southern West Bengal, close to his home state of Jharkhand. He said he had to return to Jamshedpur, about 161 km from Bishnupur, without addressing the rally as the district administration "did not give permission to hold it". "No reason was given (by the administration)," Munda told reporters after his return. But Bankura Superintendent of Police Koteswara Rao Nalavat said permission was not given for Munda's meeting as adequate security was not available in view of TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee's scheduled meeting at Onda, about 22km from Bankura town, during the day. A bitter political tussle is raging between the Bharatiya .
BJP to take up mass contact programmes ahead of LS polls
BJP would take up various mass contact programmes in Telangana in February as part of its preparations for the coming Lok Sabha elections, party's state president K Laxman said here Wednesday. The party would approach the beneficiaries of the NDA governments schemes under the 'Kamala Jyoti' programme and light 'deepams' in their homes on February 26, he told PTI here. Another exercise is 'Mera Parivar-BJP Parivar' (My family-BJP family) of hoisting party flags atop the houses of every BJP worker, he said. On February 11, the death anniversary of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay, the party would reach out to the people to download the Modi app. BJP would set up 'suggestion boxes' at various places in the state to seek opinions on preparation of its manifesto, Laxman said. There was also a plan to organise a motorbike rally, he said. The BJP would organise cluster-wise meetings of Lok Sabha constituencies, he said. The exercise began on Tuesday with Union Minister Nitin Gadkari .
Hold meetings with CMs, ministers to get more work: CPWD to top officers
Seeking to bag more work, the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) Wednesday asked it officials across the country to hold meetings with chief ministers, chief secretaries and state ministers to get their projects executed through the agency. In a letter written to all the top officers, CPWD director general Prabhakar Singh said the agency is currently witnessing a new period of accelerated change in its functioning, be it addition to new clients and assignment of new works. Singh said he was frequently meeting with Union ministers, chief ministers and other ministers, secretaries and the department has succeeded in getting new works. CPWD, a premier central government authority in charge of public sector works, comes under the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry. "I would request you to have similar meetings with chief ministers, ministers of state governments, chief secretaries and other senior functionaries and make presentation on capabilities and achievements of the CPWD ..
'Special place in Hell' for no plan Brexiteers: EU leader
European Union leader Donald Tusk on Wednesday condemned those calling for Brexit with no idea how to carry it out, saying he hopes Theresa May now has a "realistic" plan. The British prime minister is due in Brussels on Thursday to discuss ways to ensure Britain's orderly withdrawal from the EU and avoid what Tusk warned would be a "fiasco." But Tusk, standing by Irish leader Leo Varadkar, warned once again that the divorce deal May agreed last year but failed to sell to her parliament will not be reopened. Neither will the deal's "backstop" that ensures an open Irish border, he said, denouncing the British eurosceptics pushing for an abrupt "no deal" departure. "I've been wondering what that special place in Hell looks like, for those who promoted Brexit without even a sketch of a plan how to carry it out safely," Tusk said. Ireland's Varadkar met Tusk, who represents EU member states as president of the European Council, before talks with EU Commission president Jean-Claude ...
9 Cong MLAs skip legislature session, keep coalition on edge
Ignoring whip, nine Congress MLAs in Karnataka skipped the legislature sitting Wednesday, keeping the ruling coalition on tenterhooks on the opening day of the budget session. TheNine Congress MLAs included the four -- Ramesh Jarkiholi, Umesh G Jadhav, B Nagendra, Mahesh Kumathalli, who had skipped the January 18 Congress legislature party (CLP) meeting, official and party sources said. MLA J N Ganesh, who is declared absconding after an alleged brawl with a colleague lawmaker at a resort recently, was among the absentees. The whip asking all ruling coalition legislators to be present on all days of the budget session of the assembly was issued Tuesday amid allegations of renewed bid by BJP to destabilisethe Kumaraswamy ministry. The joint session of the legislature began on a stormy note with the opposition BJP questioning the legitimacy of the JDS-Congress government. Unruly BJP members created a ruckus disrupting the address of Governor Vajubhai Vala, forcing him to ..
Just 16 MPs show interest in using MPLAD funds for facilities at rly stations
Just 16 members of Parliament have shown interest in using their MPLAD funds to provide facilities at railway stations, under an ambitious scheme proposed by the railways, the ministry said Wednesday. In reply to a query in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Railways Rajen Gohain said the railways has also decided that whatever amount is contributed by MPs, an equal amount will be provided by the national transporter to develop facilities at railway stations. Railway Minister Piyush Goyal in 2017 had appealed to members of Parliament to sponsor benches on railway platforms using MPLADS (Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme) fund. "Many Members of Parliament have expressed their desire to provide public facilities/items like benches at railway stations out of their respective MPLAD Funds. Request for provision of steel benches, as per above scheme, on equal sharing basis, has been received from 16 MPs," he said. The railways, in fact, has also said that for every bench
Newly elected Jind MLA Middha takes oath
Newly elected BJP MLA from Jind assembly constituency in Haryana, Krishan Middha, took the oath of office here Wednesday. Speaker Kanwar Pal administered the oath of office and secrecy to Middha. Later, interacting with the media persons, Middha said during the tenure of four-and-a-half years of the present BJP government in the state, there has been overall development in Jind. During the previous Congress regime, Jind remained neglected, he claimed. He said the people of Jind are extremely happy with the development works done in Jind. I will work with complete dedication so that maximum development could be carried out in Jind, the MLA added. Notably, Middha will have a short tenure of few months as Haryana Assembly polls are due in October this year. RulingBJP in Haryana had registered its first ever victory from Jind assembly segment winning the high-stakes bypolls last month. The BJP had wrested the seat from main opposition INLD. 48-year-old Krishan Middha (48) had defeated ...