Page 1874 - Politics

Raj govt launches special screening drive for swine flu

The Rajasthan government Monday launched a special screening drive for swine flu in the state where 49 people have died and 1,233 found positive this year. Responding to BJP MLA Kalicharan Saraf during the Zero Hour in the Assembly, Health Minister Raghu Sharma said that an intense campaign is being launched in the state between January 21 and 23 for the screening of the flu. "Of the total 5,367 samples collected this year, 1,233 were found positive and 49 deaths recorded so far," he informed the House. He said it was a seasonal disease and the government was taking all measures to contain the spread of the flu. Sharma said that regular meetings of the task force were being held and the department was monitoring the situation day-to-day.

Germany bans Iranian airline on suspicion of spying, terror

BERLIN (Reuters) - Berlin has revoked Iranian airline Mahan's right to operate in Germany, a senior government source told Reuters on Monday, giving both safety concerns and the suspicion that the airline was being used for military purposes as reasons.

Germany plans to sanction Iran airline: report

Germany plans to ban Iranian airline Mahan Air from its airports, media reported Monday, in an escalation of sanctions adopted by the European Union against Iran over attacks on opponents in the bloc. "The Federal Aviation Office (LBA) will this week suspend the operating license of Iranian airline Mahan," reported Munich-based daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung. A spokesman for the foreign ministry in Berlin told the paper it "does not inform about internal political decision-making processes". Mahan, Iran's second-largest carrier after Iran Air, flies four services a week between Tehran and the German cities Duesseldorf and Munich. The EU earlier this month targeted sanctions at Iran's security services and two of their leaders, accused of involvement in a series of murders and planned attacks against Tehran critics in the Netherlands, Denmark and France. Brussels' measures included freezing funds and financial assets belonging to Iran's intelligence ministry and individual officials, but ..

Karnataka Congress MLAs return home

Karnataka Congress legislators on Monday left a resort here where they have been residing since Friday and set out for their home constituencies, a party leader said.

Colombia's ELN rebels claim police academy attack

Colombia's leftist ELN rebels claimed responsibility on Monday for the bombing of a police academy in Bogota that killed 20 people as well as the attacker, and derailed peace talks being held in Havana. The National Liberation Army said Thursday's car bombing, which sparked nationwide protests, was a reprisal attack after the government of President Ivan Duque failed to respect a unilateral ceasefire declared by the rebels over Christmas. "The operation carried out against these installations and troops is lawful within the law of war, there were no non-combatant victims," the ELN said in a statement on its website. It added the academy was a military installation where cadets received training to become intelligence operatives and conduct military operations. "The president did not respect the gesture of peace" and "his response was to carry out military attacks against us," it said. Specifically, the ELN said Colombian troops bombed a camp on December 25, affecting a family of ...

Lady Gaga calls out Trump for government shutdown

Singer Lady Gaga has slammed US President Donald Trump for the ongoing government shutdown.

Opposition fears Modi, so ganging up: Jaitley

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday hit out at opposition parties, saying the fear of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity and his return to power has brought them together but said this won't work in the Lok Sabha polls as Modi remains the most popular leader.

Tulsi Gabbard doesn't regret 2017 meeting with Assad

Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu Congresswoman, has said that she does not regret her 2017 meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who has been accused of using chemical weapons to attack civilians in his country's years-long civil war.

CJI Gogoi recuses from hearing plea against Nageshwar Rao's appointment

CJI Gogoi, while recusing himself from hearing the matter, said that he was a member of the Selection Committee, which on January 24, is expected to decide who the new CBI director will be. The apex court then posted the matter for hearing on January 24 before court number 2, presided by Justice AK Sikri.The Selection Committee, comprising of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Leader of the Congress party in the Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, is scheduled to meet on January 24 to look for the replacement of ousted CBI chief Alok Verma. The petition filed by the NGO, called Common Cause, and social activist Anjali Bhardwaj, to secure "independence and autonomy" of CBI, sought quashing of the order dated January 10 by which the charge and duties of the CBI Director Alok Verma have been handed over to Nageshwar Rao as an interim measure.The petitioners claim that the lack of transparency in the appointment of the CBI Director allows the government to exercise "undue influence in the ...

SC declines PIL demanding ban on politicians with serious offences in polls

The Supreme Court on Monday declined to entertain a PIL filed by advocate Ashwini Upadhyay seeking direction for the Election Commission of India to ask political parties not to field candidates charged with serious offences.The plea also sought direction to withdraw symbol of a political party if it fields a candidate despite serious offences charged against him.A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said Upadhyay may approach the Election Commission for the same.Upadhyay's PIL comes months before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Israeli bombardment in Syria kills 11: monitor

Israeli strikes that hit several targets in Syria overnight to Monday killed at least 11 pro-regime fighters including two Syrians, a war monitor said. Israel's military said it had targeted a number of Iranian installations in the country early on Monday, hours after intercepting a rocket fired from Syrian territory. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said they were the deadliest Israeli strikes in Syria since May last year. "Israeli strikes targeting Iranian and Syrian military positions near and south of Damascus killed at least 11 fighters including two Syrians," Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said. The targets included weapons depots belonging to Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah and Iranian fighters, he said. Air strikes and ground-to-ground missiles hit several targets around the capital including near the Damascus airport, as well as near the Thaala military airport to the south of the capital, the Observatory said. Israel has pledged to ...

'Operation Shakti' in the vanguard of Congress march to LS polls (IANS Special - Part II)

To understand what was at the core of Operation Shakti, IANS caught up with its centrifuge Praveen Chakravarty to understand what the Congress was attempting for the BJP had them on the run till recently.

There is no challenge for govt in LS polls: Rajnath

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh Monday said there was no "challenge" for his government in the forthcoming general elections as the common man had faith in the present dispensation. Singh said he was confident about his party's chances at the hustings as there has been no allegation of any "serious corruption" in the last 4.5 years of the present National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. "You know the situation of the past Congress governments (on the corruption issue)," he said, pointing to previous cases of graft during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime. Asked if the forthcoming general elections in the country were a big challenge for his government, Singh replied in the negative. "There is no challenge for the government," he said, speaking to reporters on the sidelines of laying the foundation stone for a Kendriya Vidyalaya (KV) at a Central Industrial Security Force camp here. Asked about the opposition's show of strength as part of the 'mahagathbandhan', Singh

Mayawati should think about joining hands with BJP for Dalits: Athawale

Pointing out that Mayawati had been victorious in previous elections with support of BJP, Union Minister Ramdas Athawale on Monday suggested BSP should ally with the BJP for the upcoming Assembly polls instead of partnering with the Samajwadi Party, if she really wanted to work for the Dalits.The Samajwadi Party (SP) and BSP had formed an alliance earlier this month to jointly contest 38 seats each in Uttar Pradesh in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections while leaving the other two seats to other parties."Mayawati became Chief Minister three times after receiving support from BJP. She did not see humanism and casteism then. When she wanted to be in power, she took help from BJP... If Mayawati really wants to work for Dalits, then she should think about joining hands with the BJP and Prime Minister Modi," Athawale told ANI.The Union Minister termed the SP-BSP alliance as opportunistic."BSP is forming an alliance because they did not win any seat in 2014. In Uttar Pradesh elections also, ...

Army plans to buy over 3,000 anti-tank guided missiles from France

New Delhi [India], Jan 21 (ANI): In a bid to provide more firepower to its infantry units against enemy tank regiments, the Indian Army is planning to buy more than 3,000 Milan 2T anti-tank guided missiles from France in a deal likely to be worth over Rs 1,000 crore."An Army proposal in this regard would come up for discussion at a high-level meeting of the Defence Ministry for buying more than 3,000 of the second-generation Milan 2T ATGMs which are license-produced by the Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) in partnership with a French firm," sources in the Defence Ministry told ANI.Indian Army has a requirement of around 70,000 anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM) of various types and around 850 launchers of different types even as it is looking for third-generation ATGMs with a longer range than that of its existing Milan-2T and Konkurs ATGMs.Sources said the procurement of Milan 2T ATGMs is likely to be the stopgap arrangement before the Army gets its homegrown third-generation ATGM which ..

Chandrababu Naidu alleges Centre threatening to impose Prez rule in Andhra

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu Monday alleged that the Centre was threatening to impose President's Rule in the state but, he said, nobody would be cowed down by such threats. He claimed Prime Minister Narendra Modi was a "negative leader" under whose leadership the country was regressing. Addressing a teleconference with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leaders, he attacked the prime minister and the BJP, saying they did nothing special for Andhra. "They say one Union minister will come to the state every week. What good have they done for the state? On top of it, they are issuing threats that President's Rule will be imposed in Andhra Pradesh. There is nobody here to be cowed down by their threats," Naidu said. Referring to the opposition parties' rally in Kolkata two days ago, the TDP chief said it marked the beginning of the end of dictatorial rule and gave confidence to the people of the country. "We will hold a similar rally in Amaravati in which leaders of 22 ...

Mamata has all capabilities to lead country: Kumaraswamy

Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy has said that people of the country were totally "disappointed" with the administration of Narendra Modi and heaped praise on his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee, saying she is a "good administrator" and has all capabilities of leading the country. The Janata Dal (Secular) leader, however, maintained that leadership was not the pressing issue at hand and the opposition needs to focus on ways and ideas to win the polls. In an interview to PTI, the Karnataka chief minister said, "According to me, deciding on the leadership is not a criterion to win the polls. People of the country are totally disappointed with the administration of Narendra Modi. Several states have their own problems. It is not necessary to select a leader before the elections. "There are effective leaders, who can move in a big way for the development of the country. They can make headway in areas where the previous governments have failed. But we can sit and select our

Two kinds of alliances to remove Modi government - total unity, possible unity: Sharad Yadav (IANS Interview)

There will be two kinds of alliances -- "total unity" and "possible unity" -- across states to reach the opposition goal of removing the Narendra Modi government, said Janata Dal leader Sharad Yadav.

Political parties in J&K promise heaven to remain relevant on earth (News Analysis)

As elections to the Lok Sabha and the state assembly are likely to be held by March this year in Jammu and Kashmir, political parties are engaged in hectic efforts to attract voters -- like making promises of employment, development, regional autonomy, corruption free governance and accountability.

CJI recuses himself from hearing plea challenging Rao's appointment as interim CBI chief

Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi on Monday recused himself from hearing a plea challenging the appointment of M Nageswara Rao as interim CBI director, saying he would be part of the selection committee to choose the agency's new chief. The high-powered committee to select the Central Bureau of Investigation director comprises the prime minister, the leader of the largest opposition party and the CJI or his nominee judge of the apex court. A bench comprising CJI and Justice Sanjiv Khanna was hearing a PIL filed by NGO Common Cause challenging the appointment of Rao as interim CBI director. On January 10, Rao, additional director in the CBI, was made interim chief till the appointment of a new director. This was after a high-powered committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi removed Alok Kumar Verma as chief of the probe agency on charges of corruption and dereliction of duty. The petition has sought specific mechanisms to ensure transparency in the process of appointing the ...