Page 1907 - Politics
'I never said there was no collusion,' Trump lawyer says
President Donald Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani says he has "never said there was no collusion" between Russia and members of Trump's 2016 White House campaign. Giuliani's comments night directly contradicted the position of his client, who has repeatedly insisted there was no collusion during his successful White House run. Giuliani himself had previously called the idea of Russian collusion "total fake news." But as court filings in the last year have detailed ties between Trump aides and Russia, he now appears to have left open the possibility of improper contacts. "I never said there was no collusion between the campaign or between people in the campaign," Giuliani said Wednesday night on CNN. It was not clear whether Giuliani was reflecting a new position or talking point from the Trump legal team or was making a strategic attempt to get ahead of potentially damaging findings from special counsel Robert Mueller, who has been investigating potential coordination between Russia and ..
R'than cabinet decides to extend RAS exam dates
The Rajasthan cabinet on Thursday decided to ask the state public service commission to extend the date of the RAS main examination. In a meeting held at the chief minister's residence, it was also decided that the examinations should be conducted in time and in an organised manner in future. All hurdles should be removed in a systematic manner to ensure aspirants are not affected, a government statement said. The decision came in wake of the agitation by the Rajasthan Administrative Service (RAS) aspirants, demanding the government to extend the exam. State cabinet minister Parsadi Lal Meena told reporters that many issues, including key legislations like farm-loan waiver and removing educational norms in local body and panchayat elections, were discussed in the meeting. Party leaders said the cabinet also discussed issues related to water, electricity and schemes for the unemployed youths. However, the issue of 10-per cent reservation for "economically weaker" section in the general
Kovind offers prayers at Sangam, becomes 1st prez after Rajendra Prasad to visit Kumbh
Ram Nath Kovind Thursday offered prayers along with his wife at the Sangam here, becoming the first president after Rajendra Prasad to visit a Kumbh Mela. The president also inaugurated the three-day 'Gandhian Resurgence Summit' at the Parmarth Niketan camp, where he said he was lucky to make the trip. "This is the first visit by a president to the Kumbh since the visit of then president Rajendra Prasad in 1953," Rashtrapati Bhavan's Twitter account posted later. The Kumbh is an important part of India's spiritual and cultural heritage, it quoted Kovind as saying. Kovind and his wife Savita Kovind reached the Bamrauli airport on a special plane of the Indian Air Force around 9:30 am. They were welcomed by Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and several cabinet ministers, officials said. Kovind said it was a happy coincidence that along with the Kumbh, the 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Mahatma Gandhi also falls this year. The president and his wife
Congress suspends Odisha MLA Jogesh Singh for anti-party activities
The Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) on Thursday suspended its Sundargarh MLA Jogesh Singh for anti-party activities.
Tenure of CBI Special Director Rakesh Asthana, 3 other officials 'curtailed'
The government on Thursday "curtailed" the tenure of Special Director of CBI Rakesh Asthana, who is facing a probe in a bribery case, and three other officers of the investigative agency with immediate effect.According to a government order, the Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) also "curtailed" the tenure of CBI Joint Director Arun Kumar Sharma, a 1987-batch IPS officer of Gujarat cadre, CBI DIG Manish Kumar Sinha, a 2000-batch IPS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre, and SP Jayant J Naiknavare, a 2004-batch IPS officer of Maharashtra cadreAsthana, who was sent on leave by the government on October 23 along with his warring CBI Director Alok Verma, has an FIR registered against him for bribery charges.The 1984-batch IPS officer of Gujarat cadre had approached the Delhi High Court, seeking quashing of the FIR but his plea was rejected on January 11.A single judge bench of the High Court had refused to grant interim protection to him but asked the CBI to maintain the status quo for ..
BJP startled since announcement of SP-BSP alliance in UP: Samajwadi Party
After the announcement of SP-BSP alliance in Uttar Pradesh, BJP leadership is unable to decide about its standing and status in the state claimed Samajwadi Party national chief and former UP ex-chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday."These days the condition of the BJP leadership has been disturbed. Since the alliance has been announced, the BJP's top leadership has not been able to decide where their status will be in Uttar Pradesh. Even before the elections, BJP has started fearing defeat. In this nervousness and frustration, the BJP leadership is now making excuses instead of accepting the truth in vain charity," claimed Samajwadi Party in a press statement.Intensifying its attack on the BJP, SP further claimed that the party leadership is well-aware of their failure on every front and hence do not expect to win."When BJP has not done any work in the interest of the farmers, why would the farmers choose them again? When young people hadn't found employment, why would they waste .
Talks on possible 2nd Trump-Kim summit set for Washington
High-level talks aimed at finalizing a second summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are planned for this week in Washington, two US officials said Thursday. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is expected to meet former North Korean spy chief Kim Yong Chol at a Washington hotel on Friday, the officials said. The meeting will likely be followed by a Kim visit to the White House, where he could meet with Trump, according to the officials, who were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. Neither the US nor North Korea has announced any meetings, although earlier Thursday, Kim Yong Chol arrived in Beijing, where he was booked on a flight to the US, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported. A motorcade that included the North Korean ambassador's car and a Chinese car with a sign reading "state guest" could be seen departing from a VIP area at the airport. Trump has spoken several times of having a second summit with
TMC to organise a tea party meet for opposition leaders
The Trinamool Congress leadership has decided to organise a tea party meet for the opposition leaders who will be attending the January 19 rally. "After the meeting there will be a tea party for opposition leaders. We will have tea and will talk to opposition leaders," TMC supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said Thursday. In a show of strength ahead of the national polls, Banerjee has called for a massive rally in Kolkata on January 19, which is likely to see participation of lakhs of her supporters. Leaders of all major opposition parties have been invited to the rally to be held at the Brigade Parade ground in the heart of the city. Chief Ministers Arvind Kejriwal, H Kumaraswamy, N Chandra Babu Naidu, former prime minister H D Devegowda, former chief ministers Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, DMK's M K Stalin, besides dissident BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha are among those billed to attend the mega rally. Samajwadi Party ..
Modi'll defeat arithmetic of 'Nawabs of Negativity': Jaitley
Calling chieftains of rival political parties as "Nawabs of Negativity", Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday said the grand alliance of opposition parties has multiple claimants and that NDA's chemistry will succeed over their arithmetic.
LDF to take out Kerala march ahead of LS polls
The ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front Thursday held their leadership meetings ahead of the Lok Sabha elections due early this year. The LDF, which had added four more parties, including the Kerala Congress (B) led by R Balakrishna Pillai, to its fold last year, decided to organise a "Kerala March" covering all the 140 assembly constituencies in the state. The UDF meet witnessed demands for more seats by the alliance partners, including Kerala Congress (M) and Kerala Congress (Jacob). Of the 20 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala, 12 were won by the UDF and the remaining 8 by the LDF in the 2014 polls. LDF convenor Vijayaraghavan said the front would organise two marches -- one each from the northern and southern parts. "CPI(M) state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan will lead the march from Thiruvananthapuram and CPI state secretary Kanam Rajendran will head the march from north. Both the rallies will culminate at Thrissur on .
After Americans killed, Trump's Syria plan prompts questions
A suicide bombing claimed by Islamic State militants killed at least 16 people, including two US service members and two American civilians, in northern Syria on Wednesday, just a month after President Donald Trump declared that IS had been defeated and he was pulling out US forces. The attack in the strategic northeastern town of Manbij highlighted the threat posed by the Islamic State group despite Trump's claims. It could also complicate what had already become a messy withdrawal plan, with the president's senior advisers disagreeing with the decision and then offering an evolving timetable for the removal of the approximately 2,000 US troops. The attack, which also wounded three U.S. troops, was the deadliest assault on US troops in Syria since American forces went into the country in 2015. The dead included a number of fighters with the Syrian Democratic Forces, who have fought alongside the Americans against the Islamic State group, according to officials and the UK-based Syrian
Gangsters Act invoked against 5 land mafias, says Noida admin
The Gautam Buddh Nagar administration on Thursday booked five land mafias, who illegally sold land plots to gullible buyers along the flood-prone banks of Yamuna river, under the stringent Uttar Pradesh Gangsters Act. Those booked have been identified as Vijay Pal, Satya Kumar Singh and Sushil Dubey, all three of Delhi, besides Harveer Singh of Gautam Buddh Nagar and Pratosh Kumar Bhati of Dibai, Bulandshahr, the administration said. District Magistrate Brajesh Narain Singh, based on a report by Senior Superintendent of Police Vaibhav Krishna, pressed the charges under the UP Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986 against them, an official statement said. "These land mafias had illegally alloted plots along the bank of the Yamuna river in flood-prone regions to the poor people luring them with cheap property rates," it said. "Their actions have been deemed dangerous for life and property of the common man, and led to a situation of panic and fear among locals ...
Grand Alliance of opposition parties a non starter: Ram Madhav
BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav Thursday termed the proposed 'Grand Alliance' of the opposition parties as a "non-starter". "The maha gat bandhan (grand alliance) has fallen flat. It is a non-starter. Delhi and Odisha chief Ministers said they have nothing to do with Congress. The two big political parties in Uttar Pradesh said Congress no entry," he told a press conference here. "There is utter chaos and confusion in the name of grand alliance, Yet efforts are on by them to create an illusion in the minds of the people that through a kind of a grand alliance they can defeat Prime Minister Narendra Modi," he said. The BJP general secretary said "We have vision, have the capacity to give a stable government. On the other hand the opposition has no vision, or the capacity and commitment to give a stable government." Madhav claimed that the BJP will come back with a greater majority together with NDA allies will form another strong and stable government to take ..
New 10% quota will create social equity, says PM
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said here on Thursday that the 10 per cent reservation for the economically weak sections among the general categories would usher in social equality and remove mutual distrust among various communities.
Trump to roll out long-awaited missile defense review
President Donald Trump will unveil a review of US missile defense capabilities Thursday that aims to counter threats from North Korea and Iran while adapting to ever more sophisticated weapon systems being developed by Russia and China. Top among the concerns highlighted by the Missile Defense Review is the speed at which rivals, particularly Beijing and Moscow, are pushing ahead with new technologies such as hypersonic missiles that can thwart traditional defense systems. Flying at low altitude, many times the speed of sound, and able to change direction, these weapons don't follow a ballistic arc so are much harder to track and cannot be intercepted. As a result, the Pentagon is urgently looking at ways to enhance its ability to track hypersonic missiles, primarily by using existing sensors that are deployed in space. "Enhancing our ability to track these emerging threats will make defending against cruise missile and (hypersonic) threats possible," the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) .
UK PM May holds Brexit talks; opposition dubs them a 'stunt'
British Prime Minister Theresa May was consulting opposition parties and other lawmakers Thursday in a battle to get Brexit back on track after surviving a no-confidence vote, talks that were branded a "stunt" by the main opposition leader. Across the Channel, European Union countries were stepping up preparations for a disorderly British exit on March 29 after the U.K. Parliament rejected May's Brexit withdrawal deal. EU nations were spending millions, hiring thousands of workers and issuing emergency decrees to cope with the possibility that Britain will leave the bloc without an agreement to smooth the way. British lawmakers threw out May's Brexit deal Tuesday, handing the prime minister the worst parliamentary defeat in modern British history. The drubbing was followed by a no-confidence vote demanded by the opposition. May's minority Conservative government survived it on Wednesday night with backing from its Northern Irish ally, the Democratic Unionist Party. The government ...
As AAP eyes Haryana, Kejriwal's mantra for volunteers to script 'history'
AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal Thursday shared tips for door-to-door campaign with a select group of 1,100 volunteers from Harayana and asked them to help the party create history in the state. The Haryana unit of the party during its intensive campaign over the past two weeks met thousands of people, out of which 1,100 were selected as active campaigners for door-to-door contact programme for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, said an AAP leader. "The campaigners are being trained to nudge people in Haryana to think about government services in the state under BJP rule and compare it with achievements of the AAP government in Delhi in the fields of health, education, supply of water and electricity, among others," said the party leader. "The people of Delhi had created history by giving 67 seats out of 70 Assembly constituencies to the AAP in 2015. Its now turn of Haryana to repeat the history," Kejriwal told the volunteers at his residence. Attending the meeting, AAP's Haryana convener ...
Ex Trump lawyer Cohen paid man to rig online polls
President Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen admitted Thursday that he paid a man in 2015 to rig online opinion polls to favour Trump as he began running for the presidency. Cohen confirmed a Wall Street Journal report that in early 2015 he paid the head of a small technology firm, John Gauger, to write computer script that would place multiple votes for Trump in an online poll of news broadcaster CNBC. They repeated the effort in an online poll of website Drudge Report, which is popular with conservatives. Cohen, who also paid Gauger to create a social media account to promote himself, confirmed the main elements of the Journal story. "What I did was at the direction of and for the sole benefit of @realDonaldTrump @POTUS. I truly regret my blind loyalty to a man who doesn't deserve it," he wrote on Twitter. Cohen, who was the real estate billionaire's right-hand-man and fixer at the Trump Organization in New York at the time, pleaded guilty last year to charges that he ...
Left's Kerala March to highlight Modi govt's 'failures'
The ruling CPI(M)-led LDF Thursday decided to organise a Kerala March which would pass through the 140 constituencies of the state to highlight 'failures' of the BJP-led government at the Centre. Speaking to reporters after a meeting of the front partners ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the Left Democratic Front convener Vijayaraghavan said they would organise a march from both north and southern ends of the state. CPI(M) state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan would lead the march from Thiruvananthapuram and CPI state secretary Kanam Rajendran from the north. Both the rallies would culminate at Thrissur on March 2, he said. Vijayaraghavan said the aim of the march is to bring down the Narendra Modi-led BJP government at the Centre. The date of the march is yet to be finalised. Opposition United Democratic Front spearheaded by the Congress party Thursday also held a meeting of their front partners. The UDF meet witnessed demands of more seats by the alliance partners ...
UK PM May to miss Davos to focus on Brexit: Downing St
British Prime Minister Theresa May will miss next week's annual World Economic Forum meeting in Davos to focus on Brexit negotiations, sending ministers in her place, Downing Street said on Thursday. "She will not be going to Davos. She will be focussed on matters here," May's spokeswoman said, adding that "there will be government ministers attending.