Page 1760 - Politics
Interim Budget cover-up of govt's failure: CPI leader D Raja
CPI leader D Raja Friday alleged the Interim Budget 2019-20 was presented with an eye on the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and was a cover-up for the government's "monumental failure" in managing the economy. "It is not a growth-oriented budget. No measures were announced to reduce poverty. It is a cover-up for their monumental failure in managing the economy," he told PTI. The interim budget has been presented keeping an eye on the general elections slated over next few months, he said. With regard to an annual income support scheme announced for farmers, he said there is no clarity about the list of farmers and the way it will be implemented. "It may help landholding farmers and not tenant/landless farmers. Only Rs 2,000 may reach farmers before elections," he added. Raja further said the government has taken a "contradictory position" by announcing tax exemption on individual income of up to Rs 5 lakh and Rs 6.5 lakh per annum (with savings). On one hand, the government has ...
Indian American Republican Rep. Niraj Antani to run for Ohio state Senate in 2020
Niraj Antani, an 27-year-old Indian-American Republican state representative, has announced that he will be running for the Ohio state Senate in 2020. Antani represents Miamisburg in the 42nd Legislative District. He is currently serving a third term in the Ohio House of Representatives. He will run for the open State Senate District 6, currently represented by Senator Peggy Lehner whose term is ending and also she is retiring, Antani was quoted as saying in a statement by a local radio station on January 30. The Ohio Senate District 6, which encompasses most Dayton area suburbs, has been a Republican stronghold since 1985. "Having been born and raised in this community, I am running for state senator to ensure every Ohioan who works for it has the opportunity to achieve their American Dream," Antani said in a statement. "I will lay out a vision throughout this campaign to solve the many great challenges our community and state face." The Ohio Senate is the upper chamber of the Ohio ..
Interim Budget: Not something new in India
The Interim Budget, which Finance Minister Piyush Goyal presented in the Lok Sabha on Friday, is not something new in India's parliamentary governance. Goyal, who got the charge of Finance Ministry only recently after Union Minister Arun Jaitley went to the US for his treatment, also takes care of Railways, Power, Corporate Affairs, and Coal ministries.In 1948, then Finance Minister R K Shanmukham Chetty had presented a vote-on-account, also called the Interim Budget, which was followed by Independent India's first full-fledged Budget. R Venkataraman and Pranab Mukherjee, who went to become President of India, too presented the Interim Budgets as the country's Finance Ministers.Former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha has the distinction of presenting two Interim Budgets, first for Chandrashekhar led government in 1991 and thereafter in 1998 when then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee led NDA was in power at the Centre.Jaswant Singh, a BJP veteran from Rajasthan, also presented the ...
Interim Budget a farce, manifesto of BJP: Mamata
Expressing concern over monetary provisions to meet the Interim Budget proposals, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday described the document as a "farce" and "manifesto of the BJP".
Opposition leaders tear into BJP's interim budget
With the BJP presenting interim budget, its sixth and final one ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, several opposition leaders on Friday attacked the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government, accusing it of announcing populist schemes intended at confirming re-elections.Congress president Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter to criticise the newly-announced Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi, which entails payment of Rs 6,000 annually to each of the 12 crore marginal farmers in the country."Dear NoMo, 5 years of your incompetence and arrogance has destroyed the lives of our farmers. Giving them Rs. 17 a day is an insult to everything they stand and work for. #AakhriJumlaBudget," Rahul tweeted.Congress leader and former finance minister P Chidambaram said that the budget "is not a Vote on Account, but an Account for Vote"."The Interim Finance Minister tested our patience by the longest interim budget speech in the recent memory. It was not an interim budget, it was a full-fledged ...
Budget not a vote on account, but an account for votes: Chidambaram n Interim Budget
Senior Congress leader and former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Friday described the Interim Budget 2019-2020 presented by Union Minister Piyush Goyal as "not a vote on account, but an account for votes".He trashed the new initiatives announced in the Budget as "last gasp announcements" by the government with an eye on the Lok Sabha elections, and said that if they were important interventions then "what was the government doing for five years?""My one-line comment on the budget is that it was not a vote on account, but an account for votes. The interim Finance Minister tested our patience by the longest Interim Budget speech in recent memory. It was not an Interim Budget. It was a full-fledged budget accompanied by an election campaign speech. By doing so, the government has trampled on time-honoured conventions," Chidambaram told media here."A government confident of returning to power would have respected the conventions. It is crystal clear that the government has no hope of
Marginal hike in defence budget, modernisation to stay on track (IANS Special)
India's defence budget crossed Rs 3 lakh crore-mark as the outlay for the armed forces has been increased in the interim budget to Rs 3,05,296 crore against last year's revised estimate of Rs 2,85,423 crore -- a hike of 6.96 per cent.
Final 'jumla' of Modi government: AAP on budget
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday called the Interim Budget for 2019-20 the "final jumla" of the Modi government.
Highlights: Populist sops draw loud cheers amid Modi-Modi chants
Populist announcements, including full income tax exemption for individual tax payers having an annual income up to Rs 5 lakh and Rs 6,000 cash support to small and marginal farmers drew the most attention from Lok Sabha members on Friday when Finance Minister Piyush Goyal was presenting the Interim Budget 2019-20.
EC to visit J-K next week to decide on holding assembly polls
The Election Commission will visit Jammu and Kashmir next week to take stock of the situation there before deciding on the Assembly elections in the state, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora said Friday. Jammu and Kashmir is currently under President's Rule. The commission will hold a meeting with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) officials and then visit the state to decide on holding the elections there along with the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Arora said "We had held a meeting (through video conference) with the chief secretary and the DGP of Jammu and Kashmir. Similarly, when the Assembly was dissolved prematurely, we had sought specific inputs from the MHA," he told reporters here. "Next week, or eight-10 days later, we will hold another meeting with the MHA and the commission will itself visit the state to take stock of the situation and then it will be able to give a conclusive answer on this," the CEC said to a question on holding Assembly polls in Jammu and ...
DDA not handing over sites for mohalla clinics, Delhi govt tells HC
The AAP government on Friday told the Delhi High Court that DDA is not handing over sites for setting up 'mohalla clinics', saying it is impermissible under the master plan for the national capital and to wait till 2021 for the next plan. A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V K Rao was also told by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government that apart from the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) various other local agencies, including DMRC and DJB, were also creating hurdles in setting up the clinics on land owned by them. The court issued notices to the DDA, Delhi metro (DMRC), the jal board (DJB) and other local agencies seeking their responses to the Delhi government's application by March 29, the next date of hearing. The Delhi government, in the application filed through its additional standing counsel Sanjoy Ghose, has said that 333 sites for which no objection certificate (NOC) has been received have been handed over to the Public Works Department to construct the ...
Mixed responses from saints of Brijbhumi to govt's plea on Ayodhya land
The Modi government's move to return undisputed land in Ayodhya to its original owners, including Ram Janambhoomi Nyas, has received mixed responses from the saints of Brijbhumi. Saint Ramesh Baba, who recently received Padma Shri for works in protecting hillocks in the region, believes the government's decision will not make much of a difference. "The government should bring an ordinance for the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya, if it is really serious on the issue or has regard for the feelings of the majority of the population," Baba said. Terming the Centre's petition 'a positive approach' in the Ram temple matter, Mahant of Akhand Dayadham Bhaskaranand Mahraj said solid groundwork was being laid for the Ram temple. "The saint community wants action and not lollypops," he said, adding they may boycott the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls, in case no concrete steps were taken by political parties for their cause. Mahant of Uma Shakti Peeth Vrindaban Swami Ram Devanand Saraswati, ...
US imposes visa restrictions on Ghana
Washington has imposed visa restrictions on Ghana following a row over the deportation of Ghanaians staying illegally in the United States. US officials have accused the West African country of refusing to accept the return of Ghanian nationals that it wants to deport. "Secretary of State (Mike) Pompeo has ordered consular officers in Ghana to implement visa restrictions on certain categories of visa applicants," the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement. "Without an appropriate response from Ghana, the scope of these sanctions may be expanded to a wider population," it said. Some 7,000 Ghanaians are living illegally in the United States, according to the US embassy in Accra. Washington said the sanctions would not be lifted until Ghanaian authorities comply with the directives. "We hope the Ghanaian government will work with us to reconcile these deficiencies quickly," said Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen. There was no immediate comment from the Ghanaian
Opposition leaders meet to discuss EVM tampering issue
Top leaders of various opposition parties met on Friday to discuss the issue of alleged tampering of EVMs and develop their future course of action. Sources said the Congress convened the meeting to discuss a joint strategy on the issue of alleged tampering of electronic voting machines (EVMs) as some parties have questioned their efficacy and demanded the EC revert to the old system of ballot paper. Congress president Rahul Gandhi, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah, Samajwadi Party's Ram Gopal Yadav, Bahujan Samaj Party's Satish Chandra Mishra, DMK's Kanimozhi, Trinamool Congress' Derek O'Brien, CPI's D Raja, CPI-M's T K Rangarajan, Rashtriya Janata Dal's Manoj Jha, Aam Aadmi Party's Sanjay Singh, and Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Jayant Chaudhary, among others, attended the meeting, the sources said. Senior Congress leaders Ahmed Patel, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mallikarjun Kharge and A K Antony were also present in the meeting. Various opposition parties have been
Tamil Nadu budget on Feb 8
Tamil Nadu's budget would be presented on February 8 by Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, who holds the Finance portfolio. The budget for 2019-20 would be tabled in the House at 10 am that day, an official release here said. With the Union budget bringing relief to the middle classes by pushing up the income tax threshold to Rs five lakh, it is expected that the State too may have some surprise in store in its annual financial statement ahead of the Lok Sabha election. The first session of the Assembly for the year began on January 2 with the customary address of Governor Banwarilal Purohit to the House. The Opposition parties had boycotted his address. A gift hamper to every family (including Rs 1,000 cash component) with a ration card for the harvest festival of Pongal (in January) was among the announcements he had made. On January 8, the House was adjourned sine die after the passage of several Bills including ones that extended the term of office of special ...
CPI slams NDA over NSSO report
Attacking NDA government on the issue of unemployment data on a NSSO report, the CPI Friday demanded that the actual report be put before Parliament. "What has come out now is only through press leakage. It should be introduced in Parliament. There is a need that the true report is known to the country," CPI general secretary S Sudhakar Reddy told reporters here. The government Thursday said it has not finalised the survey on labour force which reportedly showed that the unemployment rate in the country hit a 45-year high of 6.1 per cent in 2017-18. The National Sample Survey Office's (NSSO's) periodic labour force survey, according to the Business Standard newspaper, states that unemployment was last this high in 1972-73. The unemployment rate was 2.2 per cent in 2011-12, it said. Unemployment grew in the country because of the economic policies of the NDA government, Reddy alleged. "..It is a horrible thing to try to hide the truth about unemployment. Unemployment grew
Law Ministry gets additional Rs 666.66 crore for conduct of LS polls
The Law Ministry has been allocated an additional sum of over Rs 666 crore for conduct of Lok Sabha elections due this summer. According to Vote on Account 2019-2020, an additional provision has been made for the Law Ministry of Rs 666.66 crore (voted) in revenue section for conduct of the polls. The Law Ministry is the administrative ministry for the Election Commission. Certain funds are also allocated to the Home Ministry for elections which is largely used for transportation and logistics related to security personnel. Some of the amount spent by the Home Ministry is later reimbursed by the Law Ministry. Separately, the Election Commission has been allocated an additional Rs 12.14 crore (voted) in revenue section and Rs 16.67 crore (voted) in capital section for voters' awareness campaign under and for acquisition of land from DDA for construction of office building. The Lok Sabha elections are a mega exercise involving thousands of polling personnel and security forces. The ...
SC seeks CBI, interim chief's reply on DSP Bassi's plea challenging transfer
The Supreme Court Friday sought responses from the CBI and its interim director M Nageswara Rao on a plea of Deputy Superintendent of Police A K Bassi challenging his transfer to Port Blair in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sanjiv Khanna issued a notice to the probe agency and Rao and sought their response in six weeks. Senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, appearing for Bassi, said this is the case which raises questions on the governance of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Dhavan said that Bassi was brought back to Delhi on January 9 after he made a representation to CBI director Alok Verma following an apex court verdict, but on January 11 he was again transferred to Port Blair. "This matter will also affect the purity of investigation the officer was doing," he said. The bench then said, "Issue notice returnable in six weeks." On January 21, Bassi moved the apex court challenging his transfer, saying it was vitiated by mala fide ..
Official: UN team to listen to Khashoggi murder audio
An advisor to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says a United Nations human rights expert will listen to the audio recordings of the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi as part of an investigation. Special Rapporteur Agnes Callamard and her team of experts met Tuesday with advisor Yasin Aktay, a friend of Khashoggi's. He told reporters the team would have access to the audio, according to Turkish media. Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist who wrote critically about the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was killed inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2. His remains have not been found. The team on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary killings will leave on Feb. 3. It has met with Turkey's foreign and justice ministers and the prosecutor leading the case.
US poised to announce withdrawal from nuclear arms treaty
The Trump administration is poised to announce Friday that it is withdrawing from a treaty that has been a centerpiece of superpower arms control since the Cold War and whose demise some analysts worry could fuel a new arms race. An American withdrawal, which has been expected for months, would follow years of unresolved dispute over Russian compliance with the pact, known as the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces, or INF, treaty. It was the first arms control measure to ban an entire class of weapons: ground-launched cruise missiles with a range between 500 kilometers and 5,500 kilometers. Russia denies that it has been in violation. US officials also have expressed worry that China, which is not party to the 1987 treaty, is gaining a significant military advantage in Asia by deploying large numbers of missiles with ranges beyond the treaty's limit. Leaving the INF treaty would allow the Trump administration to counter the Chinese, but it's unclear how it would do that. Secretary of ..