Page 1758 - Politics

IT industry lauds Interim Budget boost to AI use

The Indian IT industry on Friday lauded the Interim Budget 2019-20 for its push to adopt Artificial Intelligence (AI).

At Rs 3 Lakh crore, defence budget is highest ever: FM

Allocation for defence budget has for the first time crossed the Rs three lakh crore mark with the government setting aside Rs 3,18,931 crore for the sector in the interim budget 2019-20, which is a hike of over Rs 20,000 crore allotted last year.The allocation for defence pensions has also been hiked to Rs 1,12,079 crore and the total expense on the defence forces and pensions accounts to 15.48 per cent of the total government spending. Presenting the interim budget in Parliament, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said: "Our Defence Budget will be crossing Rs 3,00,000 crore for the first time in 2019-20."The minister said, "for securing our borders and to maintain preparedness of the highest order, if necessary, additional funds would be provided".The government has increased the allocation for buying new weapon systems and modernisation from Rs 10,000 crore to Rs 1,08,248 crore."The revenue expenditure would be taken care of by an allocation of Rs 2,10,682 crore," the minister said.The ...

Interim Budget in line with our policies over last 5 years: Piyush Goyal

Rejecting the opposition's allegations that the Interim Budget was a please-all one ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said all the announcements were consistent with the government's policies and endeavours over the last five years.

Centre trying to remove AP from Country's map, alleges CM

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu Friday accused the NDA government of discriminating against South India in the matter of allotting cabinet berths and criticised a saffron party lawmaker for trying to defend the Centre. Referring to the Union Budget, the Chief Minister said in the State Assembly there was "not one word" about Andhra Pradesh in the budget and alleged that the Centre was attempting to remove the state from the country's map. "In the initial days, there at least used to be a reference to AP. In this budget, there is not a mention of Andhra Pradesh. Looks like they ultimately want to remove AP from the India map," Naidu said. Accusing the Centre of discriminating against south India and not giving any berth in the Union Cabinet to at least one MP from the region, he asked if it was not part of the country. When the two BJP MLAs P Vishnu Kumar Raju and Manikyala Rao protested, the Chief Minister said Sadananda Gowda (from Karnataka) was the .

Budget like ruling party's manifesto: Sharad Yadav

Mocking the budget as a manifesto of the ruling BJP, opposition leader Sharad Yadav claimed the government has announced a number of sops keeping the general election in mind and said people are not "foolish" as not to see through them. Terming Finance Minister Piyush Goyal's mention of government's achievements in his speech as "bulls**t", he said in a statement, "The achievements as mentioned in the budget speech are bulls**t as nowhere has any poor person benefitted from the government's schemes. The ruling party is very good at making false statements." It is ridiculous that the government has presented a full budget and not the interim budget as announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said, questioning who will fulfil these promises when its tenure ends in May. "This budget is just like a party's manifesto and campaigning material before general election," Yadav said. He claimed that he has been told only 89 lakh houses have been built for the poor under the government's ...

PM-led panel's meet on CBI chief selection 'inconclusive'

The second meeting of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led panel on CBI chief's selection remained inconclusive, officials said Friday. The panel had earlier met on January 24 but could not decide on the CBI chief. Friday's meeting was attended by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge. The post of the CBI chief has been lying vacant since January 10 after the unceremonious exit of Alok Verma, who had been engaged in a bitter fight with Gujarat-cadre IPS officer Rakesh Asthana over corruption charges. Both Verma and Asthana had accused each other of corruption. Verma, after being removed from the post of CBI director by the PM-led panel, was named as the Director General of Fire Services, Civil Defence and Home Guards -- a less significant portfolio. Verma did not accept the offer and wrote to the government, saying he should be considered as deemed superannuated as he has completed 60 years age of superannuation on July 31, 2017. He had taken over as the ...

Amid protests over Citizenship Bill, Modi to arrive in Assam on Feb 8

Amid the ongoing protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit the northeastern states on February 8 as he is scheduled to inaugurate some projects in Assam and Tripura, a senior BJP leader said.

PM-headed panel meets to decide on CBI chief

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi-headed selection committee met here Friday to decide on the new chief of the country's premier investigative agency CBI, which is working without a regular director, officials said. The outcome of the meeting was not immediately known. This was the second meeting of the panel as its January 24 sitting had remained inconclusive. Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge are the members of the committee. The post of the CBI chief has been lying vacant since January 10 after the unceremonious exit of Alok Verma, who had been engaged in a bitter fight with Gujarat-cadre IPS officer Rakesh Asthana over corruption charges. Both Verma and Asthana had accused each other of corruption. Verma, after being removed from the post of CBI director by the PM-led panel, was named as the Director General of Fire Services, Civil Defence and Home Guards -- a less significant portfolio. Verma did not accept the offer and wrote to the

Will step in if emotions are channelised during polls in WB: CEC

Chief Election Commissioner, Sunil Arora Friday said West Bengal was an "emotional state" and the Commission would step in during the coming Lok Sabha election if the emotions were "channelised". The full bench of the Election Commission which is here to review poll preparedness, had in-depth interactions with concerned officials to ensure that people are not forcefully prevented from voting in the state, he said. "West Bengal is an emotional state. But if emotions are channelised in other channels (wrong practices during polls) we shall step in," Arora told reporters. On political parties requesting the EC to deploy special general and police observers in West Bengal, he said, "We (Commission) have taken stock of all the feedback that we got and will look into it when we return." "In any case the deployment is done by police observers who are from outside the state. We will take whatever measures are needed to execute this," he said. Arora further said that strict action would be ...

Interim budget has no value, sign of desperation of Modi govt: Mamata

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday slammed the Centre for declaring a number of populist proposals in its interim budget before the general election, saying the announcements had no value and was a sign of desperation. "There is nothing concrete in the budget.... Everything is just for show to win votes. It's a sign of desperation to retain power," Banerjee said. "No government in its interim budget can take up full-fledged plans ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. So the announcements made in the interim budget have absolutely no value," the Trinamool Congress chief said. The Narendra Modi government on Friday made a big populist push in its final budget before the polls, exempting people with an earning of up to Rs 5 lakh from paying income tax, announcing an annual cash dole of Rs 6,000 to small farmers and providing a monthly pension of Rs 3,000 to workers in the unorganised sector. "Who will implement this (interim budget)? Will the new government that will come ..

Govt, oppn reach understanding on six bills after Venkaiah Naidu's intervention

With the intervention of Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu, the government and the opposition reached an understanding on six bills to be taken up for consideration and passage in the upper house, sources said Friday. However, no consensus was reached on the contentious triple talaq and citizenship amendment bills, sources said, suggesting that their fate hangs in balance. Earlier in the day, Naidu urged both the government and the opposition, saying a sincere effort shall be made to ensure proper functioning of the House to send out the right message, as this budget session is the last one before general elections. Following his intervention, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and his deputy Vijay Goel held a 30-minute-long meeting with Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and leaders of other parties, official sources said. As a result of the meetings, it was decided six legislative proposals, including one to replace an ordinance, will be ...

U.S. sets deadlines in Venezuela oil sanctions

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Any non-U.S. entities purchasing petroleum and petroleum products from Petróleos de Venezuela SA in transactions that involve any U.S. persons, the U.S. financial system or U.S. brokers must be wound down by April 28, the U.S. Treasury Department said in a notice posted early on Friday.

Following are the top foreign stories at 2010 hours

Following are the top foreign stories at 2010 hours: FGN10: US-CHINA-3RDLD TALKS Washington: US President Donald Trump said he would soon meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to try to secure a "great" trade deal between the world's two largest economies as crucial talks to resolve the tariff war that rattled the global economy ended without any deal. By Lalit K Jha FGN14: PAK-SHARIF Lahore: Ousted Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif should be shifted to a hospital from prison after he developed cardiac complications, a media report quoted a special medical board constituted to monitor his health as recommending. FGN19: LANKA-POLITICS Colombo: Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe-led government today sought the consent of the Speaker of Sri Lanka's Parliament to form a 'national government', a move seen as a step to get a majority in the 225-member House. FGN20: US-RUSSIA-2NDLD TREATY Washington: The United States said Friday it was withdrawing from the landmark Cold War INF ...

Efforts to form non-BJP front still on: TDP chief Naidu

TDP president and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu Friday said talks are still going on to bring "like-minded" political parties to take on the BJP in the general elections. So far, four meetings were held with non-BJP parties and the parleys are still underway, he told reporters after a meeting of the Opposition parties here. Naidu said there is a "democratic compulsion" for all the Opposition parties to come together. However, the political compulsion of each party at the state-level will be taken into account, while forming a united force to fight the saffron party in the Lok Sabha polls. "Keeping political compulsions into account, all the like-minded parties will come together to take on the BJP. We are still in the process. We are discussing...So far, four meetings are held," Naidu said. The motto is to 'Save India, Save Nation'. There have been instances of pre-poll and post-poll alliances, he said, adding that "let us see how things will shape up". Asked about

Turkey charges US consulate employee with espionage

A Turkish court on Friday accepted an indictment charging a local employee of the US consulate in Istanbul with espionage and attempting to overthrow the government, state media reported. Metin Topuz, who liaised with the US Drug Enforcement Agency for the American mission, is accused of having links to US-based Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen. Ankara alleges that Gulen ordered a failed coup in 2016, but he denies the claims. The Istanbul court, which accepted the prosecutor's indictment issued last month, ordered Topuz to remain in jail, state news agency Anadolu said. He has been in custody since September 2017. Topuz's trial will begin on March 26 and the first hearing will last three days. He faces life in jail if found guilty. The consulate employee is suspected of having contacts with former police officers and a prosecutor on the run accused of links with the Gulen movement, Anadolu reported. The agency added that the indictment claimed Topuz had "very intense contacts" with ..

S Africa's new chief prosecutor pledges end of impunity

South Africa's new chief prosecutor vowed Friday to fight political interference and corruption as she took office after years of scandal that have dogged the country's legal system. Respected lawyer Shamila Batohi was appointed as head of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) by President Cyril Ramaphosa after her predecessor was accused of improperly protecting former president Jacob Zuma. Batohi told reporters that she took over the NPA "at a time of crisis, not only for the organisation, but for the rule of law in South Africa." "Perpetrators of crime and corruption within the state and private sector... your days of acting with impunity are numbered," she said. Batohi said she had received assurances from Ramaphosa that there would be no political interference in the state prosecutor's work. Batohi's predecessor Shaun Abrahams was dubbed "Shaun the sheep" for his apparent loyalty to Zuma. An ongoing enquiry into corruption under Zuma's rule has heard evidence of systematic ...

NATO 'fully' supports US withdrawal from missile treaty

NATO said Friday it fully supported the US decision to pull out from a Cold War missile treaty with Russia, saying Moscow was in breach of the agreement. "The United States is taking this action in response to the significant risks to Euro-Atlantic security posed by Russia's covert testing, production, and fielding of 9M729 ground-launched cruise missile systems. Allies fully support this action," the transatlantic alliance said in a statement.

Opposition parties discuss farm crisis, unemployment, to approach EC on EVMs

Over 20 opposition parties including the Congress, SP, BSP and the Left on Friday discussed the agrarian crisis, rising unemployment and "attacks on democratic institutions" by the Modi government here and resolved to petition the Election Commission (EC) over tampering of EVMs.

Govt is 'bribing' voters, alleges Cong; dubs budget 'election manifesto'

Dubbing the budget by the Modi government as an "election manifesto", the Congress on Friday accused it of "bribing" voters ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in its "full-fledged budget" instead of an interim one. Congress chief Rahul Gandhi also alleged the government has destroyed the lives of farmers over the past five years, and now by announcing "Rs 17 a day" for them in the budget, they have insulted them for everything they stand and work for. However, leaders of the BJP-led NDA lavished praise on the budget and expressed hope that its sops for the middle class, farmers and small industries will boost their electoral prospects. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said it benefits every section of society and will boost growth. While former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh dubbed the budget as an "election budget", Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge termed it as BJP's "election manifesto". Speaking to reporters outside Parliament, Kharge said: "This is all being done for ...

Modi hails budget for benefitting everyone, Oppn dubs its sops 'jumla'

Leaders of the BJP-led ruling alliance lavished praise on the Union Budget with Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying it benefits every section of society and will boost growth but the Opposition scorned its populist push, calling it election 'jumla' and an "account for votes" not vote on account. With some Union ministers hailing the budget as a "surgical strike" on the Opposition, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi mocked their show of euphoria, saying surgical strike will happen on Modi and his government on issues like the Rafale deal, jobs and demonetisation during the general election. The NDA leaders expressed hope that the budget's sops for the middle class, farmers and small industries will boost their electoral prospects and their optimism was visible in their praise for these. BJP chief Amit Shah said the interim budget "benefits" all sections of the society and asserted that it has underscored the Modi government's dedication to the aspirations of the country's youth, farmers and ..