Page 1779 - Politics

People who wish construction of Ram temple angry with BJP: Rajbhar

Uttar Pradesh Minister Om Prakash Rajbhar Wednesday claimed not only seers, but also the people who wish that a Ram temple be constructed in Ayodhya were angry with the BJP. "Not only the seers, even the people who want construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya are also angry with the BJP. And, this is the reason that the government is having a tough time to make them feel happy," said Rajbhar, the chief of Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, an ally of the BJP. Attacking UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for taking a dip in the Sangam after holding a cabinet meeting in Allahabad, he said it would have been better if he had constructed a Ram temple in Ayodhya. On Tuesday, Rajbhar took a dig at his cabinet colleagues for taking a dip in the Sangam, saying they had gone there to wash off their sins. "The ministers in the Yogi Adityanath government had gone for a holy dip at the Sangam on Tuesday for washing their sins...going back on promises made to the public is also a sin and the ministers

Gandhi, Parrikar spar over Rafale a day after their meeting

Congress President Rahul Gandhi and ailing Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar were engaged in a public spat on Wednesday after the BJP leader accused Gandhi of using his courtesy meeting with him for "petty political gains" and the latter writing a letter stating that he "empathised" with Parrikars situation and understood "the immense pressure" he was under.

Pak envoy summoned over Pak foreign minister's telephonic talk with Mirwaiz

Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale Wednesday summoned Pakistan envoy Sohail Mahmood and categorically told him that Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi's telephonic conversation with separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq was a "brazen attempt" to subvert India's unity and violate its sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Ministry of External Affairs, in a late evening statement, said the Pakistan High Commissioner was "cautioned" that persistence of such behaviour by Pakistan will have "implications". The Pakistan Foreign Office on Tuesday said Qureshi spoke with the Hurriyat leader and with him efforts of Pakistan government to highlight the Kashmir issue. "The High Commissioner of Pakistan was summoned by the Foreign Secretary tonight in connection with the telephone conversation initiated by the Foreign Minister of Pakistan with Mirwaiz Umar Farooq from the All Parties Hurriyat Conference," the MEA said. It said Gokhale conveyed to the Pakistani envoy that the ...

Parrikar needs to demonstrate loyalty to PM by attacking me: Rahul on Rafale deal row

Goa Chief Minister Parrikar needs to demonstrate his loyalty to Prime Minister Narendra Modi by attacking me over Rafale deal controversy, said Congress President Rahul Gandhi in a letter sent to Parrikar on Wednesday. The Congress chief's letter comes in a response to Parrikar's letter, wherein the latter asserted that the Rafale issue was not even mentioned during the five minutes that Rahul spent at his office in Goa on Tuesday.The Gandhi scion on Wednesday claimed that during their meeting, Parrikar "clearly denied" any involvement in the new Rafale fighter jet deal "orchestrated" by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to "benefit" Reliance Group chairman Anil Ambani.Following this, Parrikar said that he felt let down that the Congress president used the courtesy visit to him for 'petty political games'. "I totally empathise with Parrikar Ji's situation & wish him well. He's under immense pressure from the PM after our meeting in Goa and needs to demonstrate his loyalty by attacking .

Intelligence should go back to school: Trump on Iranian threats

United States President Donald Trump on Wednesday stated that US Intelligence is naive when it comes to Iranian threats.Referring to Iran as "a source of potential danger and conflict", Trump said that the Gulf nation is testing rockets and much more. "The Intelligence people seem to be extremely passive and naive when it comes to the dangers of Iran. They are wrong! When I became President Iran was making trouble all over the Middle East, and beyond. Since ending the terrible Iran Nuclear Deal, they are MUCH different, but....a source of potential danger and conflict. They are testing Rockets (last week) and more, and are coming very close to the edge," he tweeted.Further stating that the only thing holding Iran back is its crashing economy, Trump tweeted, "There economy is now crashing, which is the only thing holding them back. Be careful of Iran. Perhaps Intelligence should go back to school!"In the thread, Trump also pointed out the "tremendous progress" against ISIS in Syria ...

MEA summons Pak envoy, protests Pakistan Foreign Minister's phone call to hurriyat leader

India on Wednesday lodged a strong protest with Pakistan over it's Foreign Minister's phone call to Kashmiri separatist Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq as it's High Commissioner Sohail Mahmood was summoned by Indian Foreign Secretary and told to desist from such actions.Foreign Secretary Vijay Google told the High Commissioner that Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi's phone call to Farooq amounted to "direct interference" in India's internal affairs.Qureshi called up Mirwaiz on Tuesday, in first direct contact by the new Pakistan government with the Kashmiri separatist leadership.He reportedly told Farooq about Pakistan's "efforts" to resolve the Kashmir issue. "The Foreign Secretary conveyed the Government of India's condemnation in the strongest terms of this latest brazen attempt by Pakistan to subvert India's unity and to violate our sovereignty and territorial integrity, by none other than the Pakistan Foreign Minister," a statement issued by the Ministry of

Pak minister-Mirwaiz's phone conversation: Foreign secy summons Pak High Commissioner

Pakistan High Commissioner Sohail Mahmood was Wednesday summoned by Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale in connection with Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi's telephonic conversation with Hurriyat Conference leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. Mahmood was conveyed that Pakistan Foreign Minister's action was a brazen attempt to subvert India's unity and to violate its sovereignty and territorial integrity, the External Affairs Ministry said. "The High Commissioner of Pakistan was summoned by the Foreign Secretary tonight in connection with the telephone conversation initiated by the Foreign Minister of Pakistan with Mirwaiz Umar Farooq from the All Parties Hurriyat Conference," the MEA said. It further said the "Foreign Secretary conveyed the Government of India's condemnation in the strongest terms of this latest brazen attempt by Pakistan to subvert India's unity and to violate our sovereignty and territorial integrity, by none other than the Pakistan Foreign Minister.

Derogatory remarks against any daughter not supported by BJP, Modi: Mahesh Sharma

Neither the BJP nor Prime Minister Narendra Modi support derogatory statements against any "daughter of the country", Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma said on Wednesday. His statement came after BJP MLA Surendra Singh, who represents the Bairia Assembly constituency of Uttar Pradesh, compared Congress president Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to Ravana and Surpanakha respectively -- the villains in Ramayana. "The BJP is a party with discipline. If a person, be it an MLA or anybody else, makes any derogatory statement against any daughter of this nation, we do not support it," Sharma told reporters on the sidelines of an event here. "Neither the prime minister nor our government or our party president has ever supported such statements," he said. However, Sharma hit out at the Congress for its culture of "political dynasty", which he said has only furthered with Priyanka Gandhi Vadra taking a plunge in active politics. "Now, the Congress has truly become a party ..

This is what traders, housewives, jewelers expect from Interim Budget

With the interim budget to be presented on February 1, different sections of society including homemakers, traders, wholesalers and jewellers have posed great expectations on the government.While housewives called for reduction of prices of household commodities, traders and jewelers demanded relief measures which would propel their businesses.Trader Nitin Gupta, said, "We have a lot of expectation from the budget. Whatever budget will come will be beneficial to the business community. We hope the government keeps in mind the welfare of the business community in this budget. In UP we were told that there would be only one tax in form of Goods and Services Tax (GST) and we request the government to remove this Mandi shulk (cess)".Ashok Gupta, a grocery shop owner said, "We expect that relief measures must be introduced for small traders and changes must be done in GST as well. The quarterly return must be converted to yearly return."Wholesale trader, Vaibhav Anand said, "We have ...

AIADMK cadres not for tie up with BJP

The ruling AIADMK on Wednesday invited applications from candidates aspiring to contest the Lok Sabha polls in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry even as it made it clear that party cadres were strongly opposed to a tie-up with the BJP.

Kin of Assam Movement martyrs return mementos

Family members of the martyrs of the Assam Movement returned their mementos and citations given by the BJP-led Assam government in protest against the government's move to go ahead with the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016.

Shankaracharya says Ram temple construction to begin Feb 21, ready to 'face bullets'

Religious leader Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati Wednesday said a ceremony to mark the start of construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya will take place on February 21, even if those gathering there have to face bullets. The date for the planned ceremony, akin to a shilanyas', was announced at the end of a three-day congregation of seers at the Kumbh Mela here. The announcement comes a day after the Centre filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking permission to transfer surplus land adjacent to the disputed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid site to its original owners. The dharamadesh' (edict) issued by the Dwarka Peeth Shankaracharya after the 'Dharam Sansad' urged Hindus to reach Ayodhya carrying four bricks each. The planned ceremony is being called ishtika nyas', or the laying of bricks. The Shankaracharya said the sadhus will begin their march to Ayodhya from Allahabad after Basant Panchami, which falls on February 10. He said they were ready to face bullets. The Shankaracharya ...

One day, they (Nehru-Gandhi) family will have to go: Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday taunted the Nehru-Gandhi family asserting that the family which ruled for four generations was "on bail and one day they will have to go."

Gandhi writes to Parrikar, says he never shared any details of their meeting

Congress President Rahul Gandhi Wednesday said he empathises with Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar for being "forced" to accuse him of doing petty politics over a courtesy visit and asserted he never shared any details of their meeting. Replying to Parrikar, hours after the former defence minister wrote to him, Gandhi said in his two speeches since their meeting in Panaji, he had only referred to what is already in the public domain on the Rafale deal and what the chief minister had said earlier. The ailing Goa chief minister Wednesday accused the Congress chief of using his courtesy visit to him for "petty political gains", asserting that there was no mention of the Rafale issue in their five-minute meeting. Several BJP leaders, including party president Amit Shah, also attacked Gandhi. Gandhi said he was forced to write back to Parrikar to clarify his position on the issue as the chief minister's letter to him has created an "unfortunate and unnecessary controversy". "Parrikar ...

Global oil industry braces for turmoil from U.S. crackdown on Venezuela

NEW YORK (Reuters) - More than 24 hours after the United States announced large-scale sanctions on Venezuela's nationally owned oil company, merchant trading firms and refiners were still deciphering what the measures prohibited.

Finance Commission forms panel to resolve Punjab's Rs 31,000 crore food account issue

In a major fillip to Punjab's persistent efforts for securing the waiver of Rs 31,000 crore food account, Chairman of the 15th Finance Commission N K Singh on Wednesday said the issue could not be brushed under the carpet, and formed a committee to find ways of settling the matter. An official statement quoted Singh, saying that the committee under the Finance Commission, with the Centre, the State, and the FCI, would explore all possibilities, given its terms of reference and constitutional propriety, to settle the festering problem. The chairman also assured Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh of all possible support to revive Punjab's fiscal health and socio-economic development, while promising to look into all aspects of debt waiver to help the state's distressed farmers. Meanwhile, the Chief Minister lamented that FCI was not pitching in the procurement operations in the state, whose godowns were full, leaving no space for storing the next crop. He also pointed out ...

Sumitra Mahajan says Ram temple should be built at Ayodhya

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said on Wednesday that she was a "Ram Bhakt" and wanted a Ram temple to be built at Ayodhya.

India, China discuss counter-terrorism efforts

India and China discussed regional and international counter-terrorism efforts during the eighth meeting of the India-China Joint Working Group on Counter-terrorism in Beijing on January 29-30, the External Affairs Ministry said on Wednesday.

Make separatists, Kashmiri Pandits part of talks: Faesal

Former IAS officer Shah Faesal, who recently quit the service to join politics, Wednesday called for reviving talks with Pakistan to bring lasting peace in militancy-affected Jammu and Kashmir, his home state. The 2010-batch IAS exam topper, while batting for "credible political solution" in the strife-torn state, said separatists and Kashmiri Pandits should be made part of the dialogue process to bring about peace in the Kashmir Valley. Faesal, an MBBS degree holder, was here to inaugurate the 12th Kashmir Festival, organised by NGOs Sarhad and Arham Foundation. Talking to reporters on the sidelines of the event, Faesal (35) spoke at length about his decision to resign from the elite civil services and join politics, his views on the Kashmir issue and future plans. "Looking at the conditions in the Valley, there is a need to draw the attention of central government because, till the time the killings do not stop, the situation in the state will not improve," he said. When a soldier ..

Former BSP chief Sachan joins Congress

Former Bahujan Samaj Party president K K Sachan, who has also been an MLA from Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh, said he has joined the Congress along with his supporters Wednesday. Sachan announced that he was "happy" with the manner in which the Congress was aggressively playing its role as an opposition party by highlighting issues concerning the public. Sachan is a professor in the Kashi University in Allahabad and was keen to join the party. He said he had joined the BSP in 1998. Prior to this, he had worked with the Bharatiya Kisan Union under Mahinder Singh Tikait. Sachan said he has also been the former president of the BSP when the party was in power in Uttar Pradesh and held several key positions in the party. The Congress has done some good work and its results have come out in the three states. The party has also given a lot of relief to farmers by waiving their loans, he said. "Congress party is working for the betterment of the poor sand their welfare. Congress is such a party ..