Page 1844 - Politics

Mauritius PM visits Sangam

Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth was among the Pravasi Bhartiya delegation which on Thursday visited the Triveni Sangam at Prayagraj that is hosting the mega Kumbh Mela.Minister of State of External Affairs V K Singh along with other union and state ministers received the Mauritius Prime Minister at Bamrauli Airport.Jugnauth addressing the media, thanked the Indian Government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for inviting him. "The excellent arrangement has been made to welcome me and my wife. It is a unique experience for us," he said"I wish my visit will further consolidate the already strong bond that exists between India and Mauritius," he added.Besides visiting the Sangam, Jugnauth will also visit the Saraswati Kup, Hanuman Temple, Akshaya Vat. Speaking to ANI, Uttar Pradesh Tourism Minister Rita Bhauguna Joshi said, "Pravasi Bhartiya Divas (PBD) provides people living outside India an opportunity to come and feel the essence of India. Their visit gives us ...

Former minister Abdul Gani Vakil joins People's Conference

Former Congress leader Abdul Gani Vakil joined People's Conference led by Sajad Gani Lone here Thursday. Vakil, who was a minister in the Ghulam Nabi Azad-led PDP-Congress coalition government, joined the People's Conference at Lone's residence here. "I welcome Abdul Gani Vakil sahib in the caravan of change. His mass base and experience will be a game changer," Lone said in a tweet after the former Congress leader joined his party. Vakil, who has unsuccessfully contested assembly elections from Rafiabad constituency of Baramulla district several times including in 2014, had resigned from Congress in 2015.

India, China review progress of ties post Wuhan summit

Indian envoy to China, Vikram Misri, called on Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou and they took stock of "positive developments" since the 2018 Wuhan summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping, the Indian Embassy said here Thursday. Misri, who took charge early this month, called on Kong on Tuesday. The meeting between Misri and Kong was termed as a "courtesy call" by the Indian officials here. "They took stock of positive developments since Wuhan Informal Summit and also exchanged views on further strengthening of India-China relations," the Embassy tweeted. Modi and Xi met at Wuhan in April last year in the first informal summit between the two leaders. It was conceived by both sides following the 2017 military standoff at Doklam which ratchet up tensions between the two countries. Since the summit, the two countries steadily normalised relations with intensified dialogue on various fronts including the military and trade. India's Commerce Secretary

Former Congress leader joins Sajad Lone's party

Former Congress leader Abdul Gani Vakil on Thursday joined the Sajad Lone-headed Peoples Conference (PC) here.

Turkey: time for world probe into Saudi writer's death

Turkey's foreign minister says the time has come for an international investigation into the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Mevlut Cavusoglu told A Haber television on Thursday that the issue would be taken up with U.N. Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Execution, Agnes Callamard, during her visit next week. The minister also suggested that many countries were trying to "efface" the killing to shield Saudi Arabia. The Washington Post columnist, who wrote critically about the Saudi crown prince, was killed inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in October. Riyadh has indicted 11 people over the killing and is seeking the death penalty against five of them. Critics see the move as an effort to distance the crown prince from the killing.

Modi gave more money to Bengal than Congress: Smriti Irani

Union minister Smriti Irani Thursday said the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre gave more funds to West Bengal than the previous Congress regime. Speaking at a rally in South 24 Paraganas district, Irani said the UPA government gave Rs 1 lakh crore to the state, while the Modi government gave Rs 2.80 lakh crore under the 14th Finance Commission. The senior BJP leader also hit out at Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for spurning the Centre's heathcare scheme Ayushman Bharat. "Ask Mamata Banerjee why she is averse to Ayushman Bharat health scheme under which poor people of the state can avail of Rs 5 lakh per family for treatment purposes," she said. Stating that 2.26 lakh people in the state have benefitted from the Jan Dhan Yojana apart from other Central schemes, Irani slammed Banerjee for being "most ungrateful" to the Centre. She also took a dig at the Trinamool Congress chief for trying to form alliance parties, which she said did not cooperate with her for coming to ...

PM Modi is the symbol of hatred: Rahul

Escalating his attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday described him as the "symbol of hatred" and said nobody can stop us from removing him in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.On a visit to Rae Bareli, the Lok Sabha constituency of his mother Sonia Gandhi, he again raked up the issues of Rafale, demonetisation, GST, unemployment and farmer loan waivers while targetting Modi."I want to tell you nothing can be achieved from hatred, it only causes destruction. The meaning of Narendra Modi is hatred. He is the symbol of hatred. We are going to remove him and nobody can stop us," he said while addressing a gathering here.Referring to the removal of Alok Verma as CBI director, Rahul said: "He (Modi) travels around the county and claims to fight against corruption. But when the CBI wanted to investigate, the Director (Alok Verma) was removed from his post at 1:30 am. The Supreme Court reinstated the director but again he was removed from the ...

No going back to ballot paper era and we won't be intimidated: CEC

At the same time, Arora said the Election Commission is open to criticism and feedback from any stakeholder including political parties.He rubbished the contention that EVMs can be tampered with."I would like to make it very clear that the country is not going back to the era of ballot papers," the CEC said at an event here.His assertion came in the wake of demands by some Opposition parties, including the Samajwadi Party and the BSP, the use of EVMs should be done away with and voting should be held only using the ballot papers.Recently, Trinamool Congress leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said a four-member committee, comprising representatives from four parties, has been formed to decide the stand of the Opposition parties on EVMs. "We will continue to use EVMs and VVPATs (EVMs with paper trail)," the CEC asserted on Thursday."We had one result in 2014 Lok Sabha elections, we had a completely different result four months later in the state elections held in ...

Judgement on control over services in Delhi soon: SC

Supreme Court on Thursday said that it will soon deliver judgement on various issues including delegation of power to regulate services in Delhi.Senior advocate Indira Jaising, representing the Delhi government asked when the bench headed by Justice Sikri will pass the judgement on the matter to which Sikri replied it will be done soon.The Arvind-Kejriwal led government had stated earlier that since its functioning is "completely paralysed" it cannot order transfer or posting of officers despite the recent Constitution bench verdict on the Delhi's administration.Earlier, the Centre had told the court that the Lieutenant Governor (LG) has the power to regulate services in Delhi and unless the President of India expressly directs, the LG, who is the administrator of Delhi, cannot consult the Chief Minister or the Council of Ministers.The bench was looking into the different aspects of the power struggle between the AAP-led Delhi government and the Centre.Apart from control over services

Rahul attacks Modi for favouring industrialists

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing him of favouring industrialists over farmers even though they have been facing an unprecedented crisis.

Ex-Scottish First Minister arrested

Alex Salmond, the former First Minister of Scotland, was arrested on Thursday over allegations that he sexually harassed two women.

Feel pained, even if a terrorist dies: J&K Guv

Stressing that he was "pained" by the death of "even a terrorist", Jammu and KashmirGovernor Satya Pal Malik Thursday urged the valley's militants to shun violence and return to the mainstream. The Governor also lauded the security forces including the state police for their success in curbing terror activities. Malik highlighted that his administration was in the process of formulating a fresh package for the rehabilitation of terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir. "The Police is performing its duty in the best possible way. But even if a terrorist loses his life, I feel pained... They all should come back (to the mainstream)," Malik told reporters here on the sidelines of an event. "When I took over as the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, I tried to give them (security forces) the best possible facilities. I have seen they conduct their operations in tough situations and heavy snow. It's a difficult task," Malik said. While we are sleeping in our homes at night, they are conducting ...

Priyanka's induction will be game changer: Pilot

The appointment of Priyanka Gandhi as the Congress General Secretary for UP East will prove a game changer in the run up to the Lok Sabha elections, Rajasthan Congress President Sachin Pilot said on Thursday.

UN chief urges dialogue in Venezuela to avert 'disaster'

UN chief Antonio Guterres on Thursday appealed for dialogue to stop Venezuela's political crisis spiralling out of control, after opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president. "What we hope is that dialogue can be possible, and that we avoid an escalation that would lead to the kind of conflict that would be a disaster for the people of Venezuela and for the region," he said at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The United States, Brazil and other countries on Wednesday endorsed Guaido's declaration in repudiation of President Nicolas Maduro, as more protests rocked the economically strapped country. "Sovereign governments have the possibility to decide whatever they want," the UN secretary-general said on a Facebook Live broadcast from Davos. "What we are worried (about) with the situation in Venezuela is the suffering of the people of Venezuela," he said. In a statement, Guterres's office said he was also "concerned over reports of casualties in the context of ..

Missed paychecks are 'sacrifices', Trump's daughter-in-law tells federal workers

US President Donald Trump's daughter-in-law told federal workers who remain unpaid due to the ongoing government shutdown, that their missed paychecks were "sacrifices" for the "future of the country".

Bill Clinton writes book about post-presidential life

Former US President Bill Clinton is writing a new book about his post-presidential life, according to people familiar with the project.

Pro-farmer decisions won't hit dev projects in C'garh: Baghel

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, whose government last week completed a month in power, has said the pro-farmer decisions taken by his dispensation would neither lead to financial problems, nor impact other development projects in the state. In an interview to PTI on Tuesday, Baghel assured that development of infrastructure would be the focus of his government. The Congress government led by Baghel completed one month in office on January 17. Within a span of one month, the government took several key decisions, including farm loan waiver, hiking of paddy MSP and formation of an SIT to probe alleged civil supplies scam during the previous BJP rule. "The steps taken for the welfare of farmers in the first month of our government were not taken during the entire 15-year rule of the BJP," Baghel claimed. Keeping our poll promises, loans to the tune of Rs 6,100 crore of around 16.50 lakh farmers were writen off, MSP for paddy was fixed at Rs 2,500 per quintal and

Modi lies, I don't: Rahul

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday targeted Narendra Modi and said that the Prime Minister lies through his teeth even after reciting God's name; Gandhi, on the other hand, fulfils his promises.

Doors open for alliance, will choose partners based on certain guidelines: AIADMK

The ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu Thursday said its doors for alliance were open but insisted it will choose its partners based on certain "guidelines" including the prospective ally's record on pro-Tamil Nadu efforts. Senior AIADMK leader and state Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar said the party will consult its various stakeholders and arrive at a consensus before firming up a poll pact. "We have not closed our doors regarding alliance... (others) can come. But there are certain guidelines like what public welfare measures they have done for the state (Tamil Nadu), whether they support the government in its efforts to uphold the state's rights," he told reporters here. Besides these guidelines, the party will also brainstorm with its rank and file, even as there are various decision-making committees that will deliberate upon the issue, he said. After consulting all these stakeholders, the party will arrive at a consensus on its electoral alliance, the Minister said.

US, regional powers recognise Maduro opponent as Venezuela leader

The United States and major South American nations recognised Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim leader Wednesday while the UN urged dialogue in Caracas to avoid "disaster", leaving President Nicolas Maduro increasingly isolated. Major regional players Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Peru and Argentina all gave their backing to Guaido's self-proclamation as acting president, which he made in front of crowd of tens of thousands of supporters in the capital Caracas. The European Union called for free elections to restore democracy. Russia however lashed out at Western countries and Cuba and Turkey expressed "solidarity" with Maduro while Mexico extended lukewarm support to him. In Moscow, foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova criticised the international community saying events in Venezuela "show clearly the attitude of the progressive international community towards international law, sovereignty and non-interference in the internal affairs of a country where it seeks .