Page 1865 - Politics
SC to take 'in-chambers' decisions on hearing pleas challenging Article 35 A
The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that it will decide "in-chambers" the next date to hear petitions challenging the constitutional validity of Article 35 A of the Constitution. This comes after Advocate Bimal Roy Jad sought urgent hearing of the petition, filed by 'We The Citizens', stating the court had earlier ordered listing of the matter on January 19.After hearing Roy's plea, a bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi stated that it would take an "in-chamber" decision on listing of a petition challenging the constitutional validity of Article 35-A.In December last year, the central government and the state administration had urged the court to hear the matter only after the state local body elections scheduled in December are conducted. After this, the apex court had announced that it would hear pleas regarding Art 35 A on January 19.Article 35 A disallows people from residing in Jammu and Kashmir, buying or owning immovable property in the state, settle permanently, or get ...
The rise and rise of Mallikarjun Kharge
New Delhi [India], Jan 22 (ANI) Could Mallikarjun Kharge be Sonia's pick for MMS -2? Seems like it. Two months before the 17th Lok Sabha election is to take place there is immense speculation as to who could be the Opposition's pick for Prime Minister if the BJP or NDA is not able to form government. In other words, Modi versus who?Quite obviously the claimant for that post would be the leader of the largest unit of coalition that forms, after the results are declared. But as past instances have shown that is not necessarily who becomes Prime Minister. We have seen I.K. Gujral, Deve Gowda and Chandrashekar become Prime Ministers even though they were not the choices of the largest political unit. The catch here is that they need 'outside support' from either the Congress party or one or more parties who are not ready to be part of a coalition government but do not mind propping up a government so as to keep the BJP out of office.While the BJP has made it clear that the allies who ...
Around Rs 5.78 lakh crore given directly to people in last 4.5 years: PM Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday claimed that the BJP-led central government has curbed the leakage of money in government policies and given around Rs 5.78 lakh crore directly to people via different schemes."One former Prime Minister of India said that only 15 per cent of Indian money reaches to people and rest is vanished. He said if one rupee is given by the central government, then people get only 15 paise out of it. The party, which ruled the nation for so many years, had accepted management they had given to the people. However, it's regretful that they didn't even make efforts to stop this leakage in their next 10-15 years of governance," Prime Minister Modi said at the Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas here."The country's middle class continued to pay taxes honestly, and the party which had been in power for so many years kept ignoring this 85 per cent loot. But, we have used technology to eliminate this 85 per cent loot by 100 per cent. In the past 4.5 years, our government has
AP Congress leader joins ruling TDP
Dodda Reddy Prasanna Kumar, a local Congress leader Tuesday quit the party and joined the ruling Telugu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh. Ending his 33-year association with the Congress, the former Vice-Chairman of Tirupati Municipal Council, who belongs to the Reddy community, called on Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu in Amaravati and joined the TDP along with his followers, party sources told PTI. Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation Chairman V Jayarami Reddy and Tirupati M Suguna (TDP) were present on the occasion. The 55-year old Prasanna Kumar said he was attracted by the all-round development taken up by Naidu in the bifurcated Andhra Pradesh. He expressed confidence that Naidu would become the chief minister again with a landslide majority in the assembly elections to be held later this year.
Road to 2019 polls: Rahul to hold rallies in Bhubaneswar, Patna, Raipur
Congress president Rahul Gandhi is all set to hold massive rallies in Bhubaneswar, Raipur and Patna on January 25, January 28 and February 3, respectively.Ahead of the Bhubaneswar rally, the Gandhi scion is slated to hold engagements for two days in his parliamentary constituency Amethi.Along with Rahul, UPA Chairman Sonia Gandhi will also arrive at the Fursatganj airport on January 23, from where both the leaders will leave for their respective constituencies (Amethi and Rae Bareli).Apart from holding rallies in Amethi and Rae Bareli, Rahul is also expected to visit Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj for holy bath.With Lok Sabha polls inching closer, the Congress chief is holding multiple rallies to up the ante against the ruling NDA government.A total of 13 rallies have been planned in the coming weeks in Uttar Pradesh alone, where the Congress was excluded from a pre-poll alliance by the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).In Uttar Pradesh 2017 elections, six out of 10 ...
Secret missile site uncovered in N.Korea
Experts have revealed an undeclared site that reportedly serves as the headquarters of one of North Koreas ballistic missile programmes, the media reported on Tuesday.
British opposition calls for vote on holding second referendum
Britain's opposition Labour Party said the House of Commons should be able to vote on whether to hold a second referendum in an amendment it submitted to Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit update.
Raje targets Raj govt over swine flu menace
Former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje attacked the Congress government over its "failure" to tackle swine flu menace in the state. A total of 49 people have died of the H1N1 flu in the state this year and 1,233 people have been found positive. "Had the Congress-led state government been alert, swine flu would not have claimed so many lives in the state," Raje said on Monday. She was addressing party workers at her constituency Jhalawar. "The state is in the grip of swine flu which is spreading at a fast rate, while the Congress government is on a 'resting' mode," the BJP leader said. Raje alleged that around 2,000 case of swine flu have surfaced across the country and 1,175 of them were from Rajasthan. She also hit out at the state government over its farm loan waiver scheme. People of the state have come to realise that the Congress government was supplying electricity to farmers at night instead of day, she said, adding claims of farmers' loan waiver within 10 days of ...
Maha Cabinet approves Rs 100 crore for Thackeray memorial
The Maharashtra Cabinet on Tuesday approved Rs 100 crore for the construction of a memorial for late Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray. After the Cabinet meeting, state Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar told reporters here that relations between the BJP and its ally Shiv Sena "were and will remain sweet". There are "high chances" of a tie-up between both the parties (for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections) because the BJP has always been in favour of an alliance, he said. "Late Balasaheb Thackeray was not just leader of the Sena but a leader of this alliance. Balasaheb will remain a person of high importance for all political parties. Therefore, in today's Cabinet, Rs 100 crore has been approved for his memorial, which will inspire the youth," the senior BJP leader said. He said funds for the memorial will be provided by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and the BJP-led state government will ensure its availability. The Sena, an ally of the BJP
Madhya Pradesh farmers hopeful of being 'debt-free' as loan waiver scheme kicks-off (IANS Special)
A week after the launch of the loan waiver scheme in Madhya Pradesh, the Congress government claims 19.54 lakh farmers have filed their applications in the six days till Sunday.
India to issue chip-based e-passport: Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said work is on to issue chip-based e-passports to Indian citizens under a centralized passport system.
Oppn parties know they will lose elections so looking for excuses: Javadekar on EVM row
Taking a swipe at the opposition for forming a committee on the voting machine issue, Union minister Prakash Javadekar Tuesday said the parties were going to face defeat in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls and therefore they have started to look for excuses. Exuding confidence that the BJP-led NDA will again form the government at the Centre, the human resource development minister said his party will get more votes and more seats as compared to the previous Lok Sabha elections. "In Kolkata rally, they did not form manifesto committee, they also did not set up any committee to look into that what will be their common minimum programme but they formed only one committee and it was about EVM (electronic voting machine). They know they are going to lose elections so they want to make EVMs the excuse of their defeat," Javadekar said at a press conference here. "The opposition has no leader and no vision while we have the vision of an India without casteism, communalism, terrorism, appeasement
Trump made over 8,000 false or misleading claims since taking office: Report
US President Donald Trump has made 8,158 false or misleading claims since taking office, a media report said on Monday, a day after he completed two years of his presidency. The president averaged nearly 5.9 false or misleading claims a day in his first year in office. But he hit nearly 16.5 a day in his second year, almost triple the pace, The Washington Post reported. The paper quoted The Fact Checker's database -- that analyses, categorises and tracks every suspect statement uttered by the president -- for its report. According to the Fact Checker's database, Trump has made 8,158 "false or misleading claims" since taking office. That includes an astonishing 6000-plus such claims in the president's second year, the paper said. The president completed two years in office on Sunday. In the first 100 days, the president made 492 unsupported claims. He managed to top that number just in the first three weeks of 2019. In October, as he was barnstorming the country in advance of the ...
NRIs are India's brand ambassadors, symbolise country's capabilities: PM
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday described NRIs as India's brand ambassadors and said they were the symbols of the country's capabilities. The prime minister was inaugurating the 15th Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas convention in his parliamentary constituency Varanasi. "I consider NRIs India's brand ambassadors. They are the symbols of our capacities and capabilities," he told the gathering. "People of Indian origin are in leadership roles in countries such as Mauritius, Portugal and Ireland," he said. Modi also alluded to former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's comment that only 15 paise of Re 1 reaches masses and said the Congress government had done nothing to stop the leakage. The prime minister added that his government had stepped in to rectify the situation. The "85 per cent loot" taking place during the Congress regime had been plugged "100 per cent" through technology, he said. "We have given about Rs 5,80,000 crore to people, transferred to their bank accounts through various ..
Cong organised EVM hackathon in London: Ravi Shankar Prasad
Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad Tuesday alleged that the Congress had organised the EVM hackathon in London in which a cyber expert claimed that the 2014 general elections were rigged. The event was sponsored by the Congress, the minister of Electronics and IT said at a press conference here. An Indian cyber expert, seeking political asylum in the US, Monday claimed the 2014 general election was "rigged" through the electronic voting machines, which, he said can be hacked. "We will expose this claim," Prasad said, adding that the Congress was insulting the 2014 mandate. Addressing a press conference in London via Skype, the man, identified as Syed Shuja, said he fled India in 2014 because he felt threatened in the country after the killing of some of his team members.
NRIs are India's brand ambassadors: PM
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday described NRIs as India's brand ambassadors and said they were the symbols of the country's capabilities. The prime minister was inaugurating the 15th Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas convention in his parliamentary constituency of Varanasi. "I consider NRIs India's brand ambassadors. They are the symbols of our capacities and capabilities," he told the gathering. "People of Indian origin are in leadership roles in countries such as Mauritius, Portugal and Ireland," he said. Modi also alluded to Rajiv Gandhi's comment that only 15 paise of Re 1 reaches masses and said the Congress government had done nothing to stop the leakage. For the first time, the three-day convention is being organised from January 21 to 23 instead of January 9 to allow participants to visit the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad and attend the Republic Day parade in the national capital.. The theme of this year's convention is 'Role of Indian diaspora in building new India', a statement from
Mamata's opposition rally not enough to elevate her as face of opposition (News Analysis)
Even as West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee went all out to bring leaders of 23 opposition parties on one stage and launched a stinging attack against the Narendra Modi regime at her 'United India Rally', political analysts said it might not be enough to catapult her as the prime face of anti-BJP politics as her party lacks a national presence.
Cambodian leader, in Beijing, says China pledges nearly $600 million in aid
PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - China has pledged 4 billion yuan ($588 million) in aid to Cambodia from 2019 to 2021, Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Tuesday, highlighting strong ties between Beijing and Phnom Penh amid a European Union threat of trade sanctions.
2 file nominations for JMC mayoral by-elections
Two councilors Tuesday filed their nomination for the by-election to the post of mayor in Jaipur Municipal Corporation. BJP candidate Manoj Bharadwaj and independent candidate Vishnudutt Sharma filed their nominations papers, Returning Officer Arvind Saraswat said. Both Bharadwaj and Sharma are BJP councilors, but Sharma turned rebel and filed his nomination papers as an independent candidate. "The nominations can be withdrawn by 2 pm and if necessary, voting will take place from 2.30 pm to 5 pm. The counting will also take place today," Saraswat said. The by-election was necessitated after Ashok Lahoti resigned as mayor following his election to the legislative assembly last month. At present, there are 90 councilors in the Jaipur Municipal Corporation (JMC), including 63 from BJP and 19 belonging to the Congress. This will be the third time in a single tenure (of five years) of the Corporation that the same board will elect the mayor. BJP councilor Nirmal Nahta was elected by the ..
US think tank report detects 'secret' N Korean missile base
Despite North Korea repeatedly committing to achieve denuclearisation, a report by a US-based think tank said that there is an 'undeclared' missile base in the communist country, which is yet to be acknowledged by Pyongyang.The Sino-ri missile operating base, situated 212 km north of the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), the military demarcation line diving the Korean Peninsula, is one of as many as 20 undisclosed sites in North Korea, said a report from Beyond Parallel, a project sponsored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), quoting Yonhap News Agency.The report, published on Monday, claimed that the base houses a regiment-sized unit equipped with Nodong-1 medium-range ballistic missiles.The unit could have also played a key role in developing the Pukkuksong-2 ballistic missile that was first tested in February 2017.The base and the Nodong missiles deployed in the missile base "fit into North Korea's presumed nuclear military strategy by providing an ...