Page 1767 - Politics
Akali Dal gives a miss to NDA meet
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Thursday skipped a meeting of the NDA convened to chalk out the strategy for the Budget session of Parliament with one of its leaders saying that the party was extremely upset over the RSS interference in management of gurdwaras.
Modi to launch BJP campaign in Karna on Feb 10
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to launch BJPs Lok Sabha poll campaign in Karnataka on February 10 from Hubballi, the state unit of the party said Thursday. He would also address two more election rallies in February, while BJP president Amit Shah was expected to be in the state on February 14 and 21, state unit chief B S Yeddyurappa told reporters here. The BJP has set a target of winning more than 22 seats out of the total 28 in the state in the upcoming polls as part of the mission to make Modi Prime Minister again. Speaking to reporters after a meeting with Lok Sabah poll in-charges of constituencies and party office-bearers, Yeddyurappa said . He said Shah was likely to visit the state on February 14 and 21 and programme will be decided shortly. Later, the BJP in a statement said Modi will visit the state on February 10, 19 and 27, and former Deputy Chief Minister R Ashoka has been made the in-charge of the Prime Ministers rallies. Yeddyurappa said the ...
Questioning of Mamata's aide by CBI is political vendetta:
Senior Trinamool Congress leader Sabyasachi Dutta Thursday criticised the questioning of a close aide of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Manik Majumdar, by the CBI in connection with the Saradha ponzi scam. Dutta who is a TMC MLA and also Mayor of Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation (BMC) alleged that the BJP government is pursuing political vendetta ahead of Lok Sabha elections to malign the TMC. He said Majumdar is an elderly person and is neither a leader nor a elected representative of the party. "He is a aged man. This kind of questioning of Manikda is nothing but political vendetta to malign us. He is neither a elected representative nor a leader. This is political vendetta to malign us ahead of elections," Dutta said. The CBI had given a notice to Majumdar, who has been Banerjee's secretary since her early days in politics, to appear before it, the officials said in New Delhi. But he had expressed his inability to come to the agency's Salt Lake city ...
Sri Lanka sends bone fragments from mass grave for US analysis
Bone fragments from one of the biggest mass graves found in Sri Lanka since its civil war ended nearly a decade ago have been sent to the US for analysis, officials said Thursday. The remains of dozens of men, women and children were found at the site in the northern Mannar district where Tamil guerrillas fought security forces during the conflict. The fragments were sent with a forensic expert to a Miami-based laboratory this week to determine when those buried had died, a senior official from the Office on Missing Persons (OMP) said. Establishing a timeframe would point to which forces were in control of the area at the time. Tamil Tiger rebels and government forces both held the region at different times during the conflict, as did troops from neighbouring India, who were originally deployed as peacekeepers in 1987, but ended up fighting the Tigers until 1990 when they withdrew. In a statement, the OMP said it expected a report from the US lab by the end of next month. The mass ...
CM told me govt not free to act on its own on Ayodhya issue: Puri Peethadhishwar
A prominent Hindu seer Thursday claimed that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath shared with him the government's compulsion of not taking any decision on Ayodhya temple issue independent of the Supreme Court directions. Puri Peethadhishwar Swami Nischlananda Saraswati made the claim after the chief minister met him at Kumbh Mela. The chief minister also had a meeting with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat, who was here to attend a VHP 'dharma sansad' religious council). "He (Yogi Adityanath) told me that the Ayodhya matter is in the Supreme Court," Swami Nischlananda told reporters here. He also quoted the chief minister as telling him that the government was not free to take any decision on its own in the matter. "I, however, told the chief minister that the Ayodhya tangle should be resolved at the earliest. It does not have to be kept hanging because it hurts the faith," said the Puri Shankaracharaya. "At this, he (the chief minister) assured me that he would
JNU writes to Sumitra Mahajan, Naidu after MPs participate in campus protest
The Jawaharlal Nehru University administration has written to Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu and Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan after some MPs participated in a protest meeting called by the varsity's teachers' association at its administrative building. The protest meeting was called by the JNU Teachers' Association to resist dilution of reservations in public education which was attended by MPs Manoj Jha, Jitendra Choudhury and L Hanumanthaiah, among others. The JNU administration expressed "considerable distress" regarding the incident which has "violated the order of the Honourable High Court of Delhi as well as the varsity's rules and regulations". "The JNUTA had invited Manoj Jha and Jitendra Choudhury for a protest in the campus, which is their democratic right. However, what is shocking and unexpected is that the JNUTA office-bearers misled the honourable Members of Parliament and brought them to protest at the administration building which has been prohibited by the high .
EU launches mechanism to defy US sanctions on Iran
The European Union has announced the setting of a mechanism to safeguard trade with Iran and defy sanctions imposed by the US after Washington pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal.The new proposed new institution INSTEX (Instrument In Support Of Trade Exchanges, EU and Iran) will be able to carry out trade without relying on direct financial transactions, reported Al Jazeera.The US administration who has been closely watching European efforts to create a financial mechanism has warned that any attempt to disassemble its "maximum pressure" on Iran will face penalties.The project which marks EU's first concrete step against Donald Trump's withdrawal from the nuclear deal is a project of the governments of France, Germany and Britain and will receive formal endorsement of all 28 EU members.In May 2018, United States President Donald Trump announced that Washington would be withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). In ...
AgustaWestland: Why defence purchases needed middlemen during Cong's tenure, asks Jaitley
Why Defence purchases needed middlemen in Congress' tenure, asked Union Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday, while taking a jibe at Rahul Gandhi-led Congress party over the extradition of alleged lobbyist Deepak Talwar and co-accused in AgustaWestland case Rajiv Saxena.Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday got four-day custody of Saxena, and Talwar after they were extradited to India from Dubai on Wednesday.The two were arrested at around 2 am on Thursday after they landed in Delhi in a special aircraft at around 1.30 am.Jaitley further asserted that no one who cheats India will be allowed to escape."No one who cheats INDIA can hide anywhere in the world and escape. INDIA's Diplomatic strength and more civilized International procedures will get better of him," he tweeted."The UPA Skeletons are tumbling out by the day. Why did all Defence purchases need middlemen? If the Prime Minister is honest, if he imposes a culture of honesty in governance, no person who cheats India will ...
Consider investing in India's oil reserves, refineries, LNG terminals: Prez Kovind to Algeria FM
Algeria should consider investing in India's oil reserves and refineries, President Ram Nath Kovind said after meeting with the Foreign Minister from the African country here on Thursday.President Kovind met with the Foreign Minister of Algeria Abdelkader Messahel at Rashtrapati Bhawan.India and Algeria are cooperating in the fields of defence and civil nuclear energy.The President's Secretariat took to its official Twitter handle to tweet about the visit."Foreign Minister of Algeria, Abdelkader Messahel, called on #PresidentKovind. The President said that India and Algeria are cooperating in space, defence and civil nuclear energy. The President invited Algeria to consider investments in oil reserves, refineries and LNG terminals."On Thursday evening, the Algerian foreign minister also signed a diplomatic facilitation on cultural cooperation with External Affairs Minister of India Sushma Swaraj at the Jawaharlal Nehru Bhawan in New Delhi."Two documents - on cultural cooperation and ..
Akali Dal abstains from NDA meeting
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), also known as Akali Dal, and a key ally of BJP in Punjab, on Thursday abstained from the NDA meeting called to discuss the issues to be considered and taken up during the Interim Budget Session of Parliament, which began today.SAD MP Prof Prem Singh Chandumajra, who was supposed to attend the NDA meeting on behalf of his party, said that "there are some issues, which need to be sorted out and I am confident these issues will be resolved mutually.""It was actually a coincidence that at the same time I had to attend a programme. But yes there are some issues, which need to be sorted out and I am confident that these issues will be resolved mutually," said Prof Chandumajra.SAD has accused the BJP of meddling in Sikh's religious affairs by trying to install its own people in the management of gurdwaras.Akali Dal, which has majority in the Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) headquartered in Amritsar, is said to be upset with the alleged move of BJP ...
Senior bureaucrat Ramesh Abhishek given additional charge as Civil Aviation Secretary
The government on Thursday gave senior bureaucrat Ramesh Abhishek additional charge as Secretary of Civil Aviation Ministry.
Mirwaiz told Pak Minister Kashmir row can't be solved unless India, Pakistan come close (Lead, correcting headline/IANS Interview)
Chairman of the moderate faction of Hurriyat Conference Mirwaiz Umar Farooq says his telephone conversation with Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi was their first contact from the Imran Khan administration at the "political and leadership level" and they told him that Kashmir issue cannot be solved unless India and Pakistan come close to each other.
HC quashes lease rent demand notices to judges' society
The Bombay High Court has quashed three notices issued by the Maharashtra government demanding Rs 4 crore as lease rent arrears from a housing society of retired judges. A division bench of Justices R M Borde and V L Achliya was hearing a petition filed by Foreshore Housing Society challenging notices issued by the government in 1995, 1996 and 2016. The government had demanded arrears and interest of lease rent from October 1989 to December 2016. According to the petition, in 1980 few judges of the high court requested the government to allot land for a housing society for retired and serving judges. In 1983, the government allotted them land in suburban Malad at a rent of Rs 2,280 per square meter per annum. The society initially agreed to the rent, but later it learnt that an adjoining plot allotted for government servants' society was charged less rent. The petitioners sought that their lease rent should therefore be reduced. In 1995, the Collector of Mumbai informed them that the .
West Bengal budget to be placed on February 4
The West Bengal Budget for the fiscal 2019-20 is scheduled to be placed on February 4, the state's Parliamentary Affairs Minister Partha Chatterjee said on Thursday. The budget session of the state assembly will commence from Friday. "The budget session will begin with the Governor's address on Friday," Chatterjee said, after the meeting of the Business Advisory Committee and the all-party meeting chaired by Speaker Biman Banerjee. West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra will table the state budget on February 4, he added. The Congress and the Left Front boycotted both the meetings, accusing the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) of not giving enough importance to the views of the opposition. "Instead of boycotting, they should attend the meetings to place their views. I would expect that they would attend the House and take part in the proceedings," Chatterjee said. The opposition also alleged that it was "unprecedented" that no discussion would be held on the Governor's .
PM's visit to J-K: Separatists call for shutdown
Separatists have called for a shutdown in the valley on Sunday to protest the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Jammu and Kashmir. Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik -- under the banner of joint resistance leadership -- Thursday appealed to people to observe a shutdown in Kashmir on Sunday when the prime minister is scheduled to arrive in the state. "A person who is in his pursuit to crush Kashmiri resistance, hurting Kashmiri economy and other oppressive measures deserves only a protest," the separatists said in a statement.
Tarun Gogoi appointed as chairman of Congress campaign committee for Assam
Former chief minister Tarun Gogoi has been appointed as the chairman of the Congress campaign committee for Assam while senior party leader Debabrata Saikia named as the chairman of the coordination committee of the state. Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge and former chief minister Siddaramaiah have been appointed as the members of the campaign committee in Karnataka. N Uttam Kumar Reddy, Bhatti Vikramark Mallu have been appointed members of the Telangana election committee while Girish Dewangan and Shailesh Nitin Trivedi members of the party's Chhattisgarh election management team. The party has also appointed social media coordinators and co-coordinators for the states of Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, J&K, Kerala, Manipur, Tripura, Sikkim, Mizoram and Meghalaya.
JNU writes to Sumitra Mahajan, Venkaiah Naidu after MPs participate in campus protest
The Jawaharlal Nehru University administration has written to vice-president M Venkaiah Naidu and Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan after some MPs participated in a protest meeting called by the varsity's teachers' association at its administrative building. The protest meeting was called by the JNU Teachers' Association to resist dilution of reservations in public education which was attended by MPs Manoj Jha, Jitendra Choudhury and L Hanumanthaiah, among others. The JNU administration expressed "considerable distress" regarding the incident which has "violated the order of the Honourable High Court of Delhi as well as JNU's rules and regulations". "JNUTA had invited Manoj Jha and Jitendra Choudhury for a protest in the campus, which is their democratic right. However, what is shocking and unexpected is that the JNUTA office bearers misled the honourable Members of Parliament and brought them to protest at Administration Building which has been prohibited by the High Court for any ...
Amarinder warns officials against undue notices to industry
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday warned officials of the Excise and Taxation Department of strict action for issuing any undue tax assessment notices to Industry in the state.
Oppn parties to meet Friday to discuss EVM issue
Top leaders of various opposition parties will meet Friday to discuss their future course of action on the issue of alleged tampering of EVMs and might also move the Election Commission thereafter, opposition leaders said. Sources said the Congress has convened a meeting of opposition leaders 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 that the EC revert to the old system of ballot paper. The sources add that the opposition parties may petition the Election Commission (EC) to demand that some percentage of VVPAT (voter verifiable paper audit trail) be compulsorily counted to match the EVMs. "The opposition parties are meeting seriously to raise the issue of EVMs. We are trying to discuss the issue in a meeting of all opposition parties. We are demanding that the EC compulsorily count some percentage of VVPAT (paper trail of votes) with the EVMs," said TMC leader Derek ...
Patnaik constitutes ministerial panel to deal with agitators
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Thursday constituted an inter-ministerial committee to deal with agitation by different organisations and associations, official sources said. The committee comprises Finance and Excise minister S B Behera, Transport and Commerce minister Nrushingha Sahu and Women and Child Development minister Prafulla Samal, they said. As large number of organisations and associations stage agitation during the assembly sessions, the state government this time want to resolve the issues through discussions. The budget session of the Odisha Assembly begins from February 4.