Page 1764 - Politics
Govt didn't perform in 5 years, what will they do now, questions Cong
The Congress party on Friday said that nothing is expected from the interim budget, which the Narendra Modi-led government is scheduled to present in the Parliament today."Those who could not do anything in the last five years what good can they do with this budget? They will just try to tell their populist schemes in it. Till now all the budgets they have presented common man has not benefited even by a bit. They anyway have only 4 months, out of which two months will be spent in polls. They will ll try to introduce populist schemes in the budget keeping an eye on Lok Sabha polls," Leader of the Congress party in Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, told ANI. Meanwhile, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal arrived at the Parliament earlier today, ahead of the presentation of the interim budget. This is Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government's sixth and last financial exercise, which will seek Parliament's nod for spending for six months of the new financial year till the formation of the
We won't invade N. Korea: US envoy
The US State Department's top envoy on North Korea has said that Washington was not looking to invade Pyongyang and signalled that America will be willing to formally end the Korean War.
Trump to say when, where he'll hold 2nd North Korean summit
President Donald Trump said Thursday he will announce next week the site and date for the second summit he plans with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un around the end of February. Trump later said he would likely make the announcement during his State of the Union address to Congress on Tuesday. "They very much want the meeting," Trump told reporters, and he asserted that his administration has made "tremendous progress" toward reining in the North's nuclear ambitions. The president said that before he took office in January 2017, "it looked like we were going to war with North Korea. Now, there's no missile testing. There's no rocket testing, there's no nuclear testing. We got back our prisoners, our hostages. We're getting back our remains." Trump long has contended that his outreach to Kim and their initial summit last June in Singapore have put the US and North Korea on the path to peace. But his list of concrete achievements has not grown in the months since that meeting, and his ..
Indian-American Congressman to chair key Congressional subcommittee on foreign affairs
Indian-American Congressman Ami Bera has been named the head of a key Congressional subcommittee that will have broad jurisdiction to conduct oversight into America's foreign policy. The 53-year-old four-term Congressman would chair the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. I've always believed that the United States has a duty to lead the world through our example. We have an obligation to confront pressing international issues, build partnerships, and work in a bipartisan manner to strengthen our national security, he said. The subcommittee will have broad jurisdiction to conduct oversight into America's foreign policy. Our goal is to hold government accountable, support the mission of our diplomats, and investigate abuses when they occur. Effective oversight is crucial in any foreign policy mission, Bera said. Bera said he looks forward to work with House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Engel and his Republican colleagues to strengthen their global .
Finance Minister Piyush Goyal arrives at Parliament ahead of Interim Budget presentation
Finance Minister Piyush Goyal arrived in Parliament on Friday morning to present the Interim Budget of the central government.The Interim Budget, also known as a vote on account, will seek the Parliament's nod for meeting the expenditure for the first six months of new fiscal-2019-20. A full-fledged Budget will be presented in Parliament once the new Central government is formed after the General Elections, due in March-April.The full-fledged budget is expected to be presented in July, which will be preceded by the tabling of the Economic Survey.Finance Minister Goyal, who examined the final copy of the interim budget document on Thursday evening here, will present the budget in the Lok Sabha at 11 am.Goyal was appointed interim Finance Minister on January 23 with Arun Jaitley undergoing treatment in the United States.
Piyush Goyal reaches Parliament, flashes briefcase
Finance Minister Piyush Goyal arrived at Parliament on Friday morning, ahead of the presentation of the Interim Budget for 2019-20 fiscal.Finance Minister Goyal flashed the briefcase containing the copy of his budget speech and other budget-related relevant papers before entering Parliament.The budget briefcase carries a huge weight of the country's future and economic progress. It is a century-old tradition successfully followed by the Indian government.The tradition of posing the briefcase before the budget speech started with Independent India's first ever budget presented by then Finance Minister RK Shanmukham Chetty on November 26, 1947.Friday's interim budget is Prime Minister Narendra Modi led NDA government's sixth and last financial exercise, which will seek Parliament's nod for spending for six months of the new financial year till the formation of the new government at the Centre.The new Central government, likely to get elected after the General elections by May, is ...
Trump says he will meet Xi after US-China trade talks end with no deal
US President Donald Trump said he would soon meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to try to secure a comprehensive trade deal between the world's two largest economies as the two-day talks to resolve the conflict that has rattled the global economy ended without any agreement. The US and China have been locked in an escalating trade spat since early 2018, raising import tariffs on each other's goods. Last year, Trump imposed tariff hikes of up to 25 per cent on USD 250 billion of Chinese goods. The move prompted China to increase tariffs on USD 110 billion of US goods. Trump and Xi agreed to halt any further tariff increases for 90 days beginning January 1. During the latest round of talks, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer led the US delegation while Vice Premier Liu He headed the Chinese side. The White House said in a statement that the two sides had made progress but that "much work remains to be done." The administration said it would keep a "hard deadline" of March 2,
Budget 2019: Piyush Goyal meets President Kovind
Union Finance Minister Piyush Goyal called on President Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Friday morning ahead of presenting the Union Budget, as part of tradition.The Finance Minister shook hands with President Kovind and held a brief meeting with him at Rashtrapati Bhavan.The President's House tweeted photos of the meeting and posted: "As per tradition, Finance Minister @PiyushGoyal calls on #PresidentKovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan before presenting the Union Budget."As the standard practice is, a vote-on-account or approval for essential government spending for a limited period is taken in an election year and a full-fledged budget is presented in the Lok Sabha by the new government. If the budget date falls a few months ahead of General Elections, then an interim budget is presented.Finance Minister Goyal, also the Railway Minister, examined the final copy of the document on Thursday evening here. He will present the Interim Budget in the Lok Sabha at 11 am. He is also ...
Shutdown in Andhra over demand for special status
Normal life was paralysed across Andhra Pradesh on Friday due to a day-long shutdown called over demands for a special category status to the state.
Demonetisation a mega scam, unemployment at highest since independence; Arvind Kejriwal
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday took a jibe at the central government calling demonetisation a "mega scam" and said that unemployment was at its highest since independence.Taking to Twitter, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader said, "Demonetisation was not a disaster, it was a mega scam. It destroyed India's economy & irrespective of whichever fraud Modi govt might indulge in to hide NSSO data, everyone in this country knows unemployment rate is the highest now than ever since 1947."His remarks come a day after President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday justified the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led central government's demonetisation move and said that it had "struck at the very root" of the country's parallel black economy.
Judge awards USD 300M to family of journalist killed in Syria
A Washington judge has hit the Syrian government with a USD 302 million judgment over the 2012 death of journalist Marie Colvin, a longtime foreign correspondent for The Sunday Times. In a verdict unsealed late Wednesday night, US District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson concluded the Syrian military had deliberately targeted the makeshift media center in the city of Homs where Colvin and other journalists were working. Sustained artillery barrages against the apartment building housing the media center killed Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik on February 22, 2012. Colvin, who had covered conflicts around the world for the British newspaper, wore a signature black patch over her left eye after being blinded by a grenade in Sri Lanka in 2001. The 2018 film "A Private War" was based on her life. Lawyers for Colvin's family argued that her death was no accident. They hope to recover the USD 302 million verdict by targeting frozen Syrian government assets overseas. The Syrian ...
France wants UN to address new threats from terror financing
France is preparing a UN Security Council resolution that would step up measures to counter threats from terrorism financing, the French ambassador said Thursday. The draft resolution, which is expected to be a centerpiece of France's presidency of the council in March, will take a broad approach to cutting off terror groups from international finance. French Ambassador Francois Delattre told a UN meeting that "the response of the international community must continue to evolve to better adapt to the threats" posed by terrorist financing. The council has adopted resolutions aimed at choking off revenue to the Islamic State jihadist group and Al-Qaeda-linked fighter, including a major text in 2015 that allows for sanctions. Delattre did not provide details of the proposed resolution, but diplomats said it could oblige all UN member states to clamp down on anonymous transactions and the use of new financial tools to funnel funds to terror groups. UN diplomats on Thursday heard several ..
US special envoy for Pyongyang talks to meet counterparts from two Koreas
In the run-up to the second USA-North Korea summit, the United States' Special Representative for North Korea will be travelling to Seoul on February 3 to hold meetings with his counterparts from both North and South Korea.The Special Representative, Stephen Biegun, is slated to meet with South Korea's Special Representative, Lee Do-hoon, in Seoul."Biegun will also have follow up meetings with his North Korean counterpart to discuss next steps to advance our objective of the final fully verified denuclearization of North Korea and steps to make further progress on all the commitments the two leaders made in Singapore," a statement issued by the US Department of State noted.This comes right after Biegun assured Pyongyang that the United States was not interested in a regime change during an address at Stanford University on Thursday (local time)."We're not going to invade North Korea," he had said, urging the elusive state to comprehensively declare all of its nuclear and missile ...
Venezuela frees 3 foreign journalists
Venezuelan authorities freed three foreign journalists and have permitted them to continue reporting from the South American nation.
Budget 2019: Will take care of everything says MoS (Finance)
Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla on Friday asserted that the budget will take care of everything.Speaking to ANI, Shukla said: "Modi government is a popular government, it is natural that we will take care of everything. We will do whatever is possible for the people. We have always presented a good budget."The Interim Budget or a vote-on-account for 2019-20, the last financial exercise by Prime Minister Narendra Modi led Central government before the General Elections, will be presented in the Lok Sabha by Finance Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday at 11 am.Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing the all-party meeting on Thursday, said the government's focus lies on finding solutions to problems of people.The current session of Parliament will have 10 sittings spread over 14 days.
Interim Budget copies reach Parliament
Much-awaited interim budget copies on Friday reached the Parliament.Finance Minister Piyush Goyal, who examined the final copy of the interim budget document on Thursday evening here, will present the budget in the Lok Sabha at 11 am.Goyal was appointed interim Finance Minister on January 23 with Arun Jaitley undergoing treatment in the United States.The Interim Budget, also known as a vote on account, will seek the Parliament's nod for meeting the expenditure for the first six months of new fiscal-2019-20. A full-fledged Budget will be presented in Parliament once the new Central government is formed after the General Elections, due in March-April.As per the standard practice, a vote-on-account or approval for essential government spending for a limited period is taken in an election year and a full-fledged budget is presented by the new government. If the budget date falls few months ahead of polls, then an Interim Budget is presented.The full-fledged budget is expected to be ...
Piyush Goyal leaves for North Block ahead of Interim Budget presentation
Finance Minister Piyush Goyal left his residence for the Ministry of Finance in the North Block on Friday morning, ahead of the presentation of the Interim Budget for 2019-20 in the Lok Sabha.As per the standard practice, a vote-on-account or approval for essential government spending for a limited period is taken in an election year and a full-fledged budget is presented in the Lok Sabha by the new government. If the budget date falls a few months ahead of General Elections, then an interim budget is presented.Finance Minister Goyal, also the Railway Minister, who examined the final copy of the document on Thursday evening here, will proceed towards the Rashtrapati Bhavan from the North Block.Finance Minister Goyal will present the Interim Budget in the Lok Sabha at 11 am. He is also expected to address the media around 3.30 pm.The interim budget will seek Parliament's nod for spending till a new Central government is not sworn-in.The new government, elected after the General ...
Pratyeka Hoda Sadhana Samiti holds statewide bandh over special status of Andhra
The Pratyeka Hoda Sadhana Samiti on Friday has called for one-day state bandh demanding the Central Government to accord Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh.The political quarters, including the Telugu Desam Party, the CPI, the CPM and the Congress has extended support to the bandh call.In addition, Secretariat employees, the RTC workers, lorry owners, student organisations and other voluntary organisations have also joined the bandh.The Andhra Pradesh government led by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and the Centre have been at the loggerheads ever since the announcement of 2018-19 Union Budget. Naidu alleged that the Centre ignored the demand of 'Special Category Status' to Andhra Pradesh in the budget, while the latter brushed aside the allegations.
Budget 2019: Piyush Goyal arrives at Ministry of Finance
Finance Minister Piyush Goyal reached the Ministry of Finance in the North Block on Friday morning, ahead of the presentation of the Interim Budget for 2019-20 in the Lok Sabha.As per the standard practice, a vote-on-account or approval for essential government spending for a limited period is taken in an election year and a full-fledged budget is presented in the Lok Sabha by the new government. If the budget date falls a few months ahead of General Elections, then an interim budget is presented.Finance Minister Goyal, also the Railway Minister, who examined the final copy of the document on Thursday evening here, will proceed towards the Rashtrapati Bhavan from the North Block.Finance Minister Goyal will present the Interim Budget in the Lok Sabha at 11 am. He is also expected to address the media around 3.30 pm.The interim budget will seek Parliament's nod for spending till a new Central government is not sworn-in.The new government, elected after the General Elections due by May, .
USA imposes visa restrictions on Ghana
The United States, on Thursday (local time), imposed visa restrictions on Ghana for a "lack of cooperation in accepting their nationals ordered removed from the United States.""Ghana has failed to live up to its obligations under international law to accept the return of its nationals ordered removed from the United States," Kirstjen Nielsen, the Secretary of Homeland Security, outlined. "As a result, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo has ordered consular officers in Ghana to implement visa restrictions on certain categories of visa applicants. Without an appropriate response from Ghana, the scope of these sanctions may be expanded to a wider population," a statement released by the US Department of Homeland Security read."The sanctions will remain in place until the Secretary of Homeland Security notifies Secretary Pompeo that cooperation on removals has improved to an acceptable level," the statement added.Nielsen further called for the Ghanian government to cooperate with the ...