Page 178 - Politics
Hong Kong to suspend controversial extradition bill
The embattled government of Hong Kong on Saturday is expected to announce a suspension to the efforts to pass a controversial China extradition bill, in an apparent bid to quell further unrest and mass demonstrations that have been building up pressure on the city's government since a week.Authorities told CNN that Chief Executive, Carrie Lam, will give a public statement at 3 pm (local time).Pro-democracy lawmaker Alvin Yeung was quoted as saying that Lam is expected to use the phrase "postpone" with regard to the bill. The pro-democracy camp, of which Yeung is a member, understands that there currently is no timetable in place for the resumption of talks on the bill.A senior pro-Beijing lawmaker also confirmed CNN that Lam would announce a delay of the bill, but said it was not being shelved.According to South China Morning Post, Lam along with other Beijing officials in charge of the city's affairs held meetings in neighbouring Shenzhen to seek a solution to a crisis that has made .
Shiv Sena appoints Vinayak Bhaurao Raut as parliamentary party Leader for Lok Sabha
Shiv Sena MP Vinayak Bhaurao Raut was appointed to represent the party in the lower house of the parliament on Saturday here.Member of Parliament from Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg constituency of Maharashtra, Raut has been appointed as the group leader of Shiv Sena Parliamentary Party in Lok Sabha.Shiv Sena has a strength of 18 members in the 17th Lok Sabha.Raut was previously elected as a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from Vile-Parle for 1999-2004 and member of Maharashtra Legislative Council from Shiv Sena in 2012.
Making India USD 5 trillion economy challenging but achievable: Modi
The goal of making India a USD 5 trillion economy by 2024 is "challenging, but achievable" with the concerted efforts of states, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the fifth meeting of NITI Aayog's Governing Council here Saturday. The meeting is being attended by all chief ministers, except Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal) and K Chandrashekhar Rao (Telangana), and senior union ministers. Modi, according to an official release, stressed that NITI Aayog has a key role to play in fulfilling the mantra of "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, SabkaVishwas". Recalling the recent general elections as the world's largest democratic exercise, the prime minister said that it is now time for everyone to work for the development of India. He spoke of a collective fight against poverty, unemployment, drought, flood, pollution, corruption and violence. The goal to make India a USD 5 trillion economy by 2024 is challenging but can surely be achieved and stressed that the states should recognise their core ...
HK suspends controversial extradition bill
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced on Saturday the "suspension" of her controversial proposed extradition bill which has generated massive opposition in the streets.
Pakistan for talks with India on equality: Qureshi
Pakistan wants talks with India on the "basis of equality" and in a "dignified manner" and has said it's up to New Delhi to decide whether it wants to engage with Islamabad to reconcile issues.
Centre seeks report from West Bengal on political violence
The Centre on Saturday sought a report from the West Bengal government on the measures it took to contain political violence in the state and the steps it took to bring the culprits to book.
UK-Iranian begins fresh hunger strike in Tehran jail
A British-Iranian mother being held in a Tehran prison on sedition charges has begun another hunger strike in protest at her detention, her husband said Saturday. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 40, is refusing food as she marks her daughter's fifth birthday, Richard Ratcliffe said in a statement. His wife was arrested in April 2016 as she was leaving Iran after taking their infant daughter to visit her family. She was sentenced to five years for allegedly trying to topple the Iranian government. "She had informed the judiciary that she has begun a new hunger strike (she will drink water) -- to protest at her continuing unfair imprisonment," he said. "This is something she had been threatening for a while. Nazanin had vowed that if we passed Gabriella's fifth birthday with her still inside, then she would do something -- to mark to both governments -- that enough is enough. This really has gone on too long." A project manager with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the media group's ...
Kerala chief minister meets Modi, raises issue of Thiruvananthapuram airport's privatisation
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his residence here Saturday and expressed the state's reservation on the privatisation of Thiruvananthapuram international airport. This is for the first time that the Left leader was meeting Modi after he assumed office for the second time following the BJP-led NDA's victory in the Lok Sabha polls. Vijayan is here to attend the Niti Aayog meeting. During the brief meet, attended by state PWD minister G Sudhakaran and Chief Secretary Tom Jose, Vijayan submitted a memorandum citing various demands including further aid for rebuilding the flood-hit state. Official sources said the chief minister requested the Centre to retain the airport in the public sector and not to hand over its management to any private company. Kerala's concern over its reported exclusion from the priority list of the national highway development and the need to get more central assistance for various projects also figured in the ...
MP govt in talks with foreign firm for 300 'smart cow sheds'
The Madhya Pradesh government is in talks with a foreign firm to build 300 "smart gaushalas" (cow sheds) to house abandoned cattle, state Animal Husbandry Minister Lakhan Singh Yadav said Saturday. He informed that, as per the plan, the foreign firm will be asked to build 60 such cow sheds every year and complete the work in a five-year period. "We are in talks with a foreign company to build 300 smart gaushalas (cow sheds). We are going to sign a Memorandum of Understanding for it," he told PTI. Government sources said non-resident Indians are being approached to fund these 300 cow sheds which would be equipped with air-conditioners. Yadav said the state government would set up 1,000 cow sheds of its own besides these 300. Building cow sheds was a promise of the Congress during the 2018 Assembly polls.
US grants energy-hungry Iraq new Iran sanctions waiver: source
The United States has granted Iraq another 90-day waiver to continue with vital energy imports from neighbouring Iran despite re-imposed sanctions, a government source said Saturday. The extension came after "long discussions" with Washington ahead of a looming deadline on a previous extension granted in December, the official, close to the negotiations, told AFP on condition of anonymity. The talks came amid spiking tensions between Iraq's two closest allies -- the US and Iran -- following a twin attack on tankers in the Gulf that US President Donald Trump has blamed on Tehran. Iranian energy imports are vital to Iraq, one of the world's hottest countries, which faces chronic blackouts that often leave homes without power for up to 20 hours a day. Summer temperatures in Baghdad are already topping seasonal averages, boosting electricity consumption and raising fears of a repeat of last summer's mass protests over power outages. To compensate, Iraq pipes in up to 28 million cubic ...
Nepal's ethnic Newaris protest against Guthi bill
Thousands of people belonging to the ethnic Newar community staged anti-government protests on Saturday, demanding withdrawal of a controversial bill, which they say has provisions in favour of land mafias and could jeopardise Sanatan Hindu culture and tradition. Around 10,000 people from Newar community rallied in the major parts of the city Saturday morning raising slogans against the Oli government demanding that the government withdraw the Guthi bill from the Parliament. The K P Sharma Oli-led Communist Party government has tabled the bill in Parliament to amend the Guthi Act and nationalise both public and private guthis and regulate all religious sites under a powerful commission. Guthis are socio-economic institutions (trusts), both public and private, that fund their obligations from incomes from cultivated or leased land assets. Depending on their obligations, guthis fulfil religious, public service or social roles and could either involve members from a common lineage, or ...
Thackeray, Sena MPs to visit Ayodhya on Sunday
Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray will visit Ayodhya on Sunday along with his 18 party MPs. His wife Rashmi and son Aditya are also expected to join him.
Niti Aayog's 5th Governing Council meet begins
The fifth meeting of Niti Aayog's Governing Council began here Saturday with the main agenda of deliberating upon drought situation, farm distress and security concerns over Naxal-affected districts. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is chairing the meeting, which is being held at Rashtrapati Bhavan. This will be the first governing council meeting under the new Modi government. Among others attending the meet are Union ministers Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Nirmala Sitharaman and Rajnath Singh. The agenda for the meeting also includes rain-water harvesting, aspirational districts programme and structural reforms in the agriculture sector. The council, the apex body of Niti Aayog, includes all chief ministers, lieutenant governors of union territories, several union ministers and senior government officials. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, Karnataka CM H D Kumaraswamy, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot and Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Aditya Nath are among the heads of states attending ..
Govt needs to draft new policy to deal with Naxalism: Cong
The government needs to draft a new policy to deal with Naxalism in the country in the wake of the recent attack on a police team in Jharkhand, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said Saturday. Referring to the attack in the Seraikela-Kharsawan area near the Jharkhand-Bengal border on Friday in which five police personnel were killed in an ambush by Maoists, Surjewala said the act was highly condemnable. "The cowardly face of naxalism has been spreading in Jharkhand. The government of this country needs to draft afresh its policy to deal with naxalism," he tweeted. Two assistant sub-inspectors and three constables came under attack while patrolling the Tiruldih police station area of the district.
FIR against Srinagar Deputy Mayor, J&K Bank, officials
The Jammu and Kashmir Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Saturday registered an FIR against Deputy Mayor Sheikh Imran, officers of J&K Bank and government officials for misappropriation of subsidy worth crores of rupees to illegally benefit Sheikh's firm, Kehwa group.
Sena appoints Vinayak Raut as leader of party in Lok Sabha
The Shiv Sena Saturday appointed Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg MP Vinayak Raut as the leader of the party in the Lok Sabha. A Sena spokesperson said party chief Uddhav Thackeray has written to the Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs informing it about Raut's appointment. Raut (65) is a second-time MP from Ratnagiri- Sindhudurg in Maharashtra's Konkan region and has previously been MLA between 1999-2004 from Vile Parle in Mumbai and was MLC since 2012 before being elected to the Lok Sabha in the 2014 polls.
Terrorism 'gravest threat' people face in Asia: EAM Jaishankar at CICA Summit
Terrorism poses the "gravest threat" to the people in Asia and terrorists and their victims must never be equated, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said here on Saturday. Addressing the fifth Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) Summit in the Tajik capital, Jaishankar said that the CICA members are the victims of terrorism. "Terrorism is the gravest threat we face in Asia. CICA members are its victims and so it should be clear that terrorists and their victims must never be equated," he tweeted. His statement came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, addressing the SCO Summit in Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan, lashed out at countries "sponsoring, aiding and funding" terrorism and said that such states must be held accountable, in a veiled reference to Pakistan. The CICA is a pan-Asia forum for enhancing cooperation and promoting peace, security and stability in Asia. Ahead of the Summit, Jaishankar was welcomed by President of Tajikistan
Speaker convenes all party meeting ahead of Assembly session
Odisha Assembly Speaker S N Patro has convened an all-party meeting on June 24, a day before the commencement of the first session of the 16th state Legislative Assembly. The first session of the Assembly will start from June 25 and continue till August first week during which Finance minister Iranian Polari will present to annual budget on June 28. This is for the first time that an all-party meeting will be held before the Assembly session in Odessa. The meeting is being held for smooth conduct of the House, Patrol said. The speaker said the meeting will also discuss how to devote more time for debates on issues concerning the interest of the state. The all-party meeting ahead of the assembly session is significant in view of the fact that number of sitting days are washed out in earlier sessions due to noisy scenes created by the opposition members over different issues. Apart from other matters, the meeting will deliberate on issues to be taken up for discussion ...
Mamata, KCR and Amarinder to skip Niti Aayog meet
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her counterparts from Telangana K. Chandrashekhar Rao and Punjab Amarinder Singh will not attend the first meeting of the Niti Aayog governing council, to be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Banerjee and Rao had also skipped the MOdi's swearing-ceremony on May 23.
Syria flare-up kills 35 fighters, including 26 pro-regime forces: monitor
At least 35 combattants including 26 pro-regime forces were killed Saturday in clashes and air strikes that erupted at dawn in northwestern Syria, a war monitor said. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Syrian regime and Russian air strikes killed nine jihadists and rebel fighters and clashes left 26 pro-regime forces dead in the north of Hama province.