Page 2165 - Politics
Maratha reservation: Matter adjourned till Jan 23
The Bombay High Court on Wednesday adjourned the Maratha reservation matter till January 23, 2019.Furthermore, the counsel of the Maharashtra government told the court that no appointments will be made till the prescribed date of hearing.Advocate General of Maharashtra Ashutosh Kumbhkoni informed the court that the government had some reservations about making the State Backward Classes Commission's report public as it contains material which is not directly related to the recommendations of the Commission for reservation, but delves in the history of the Maratha community which the government felt, may cause unrest in the state. However, Kumbhkoni said the government can share the complete copy of that report with the court, if necessary."Government can share the relevant portions of the report connected to the issue of reservation, but not the whole report. The government has to truncate some parts of it while sharing it with the petitioners challenging Maratha reservation," he ...
Ex bureaucrats demand Yogi's resignation over Bulandshahr violence
A group of former civil servants has written an open letter criticising the Centre and the Uttar Pradesh government for failing to take action on the killing of a policeman in Bulandshahr and demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. The letter, signed by 83 former bureaucrats on Tuesday, asked citizens to unite in a "crusade against the politics of hate and division a politics which aims to destroy the fundamental principles on which our Republic is founded". "It is a measure of the rapid erosion of constitutional values that we, as a group, have felt a compelling need to speak out as many as nine times in the last eighteen months," the letter read. The latest letter follows the December 3 killing of Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh and another man in Bulandshahr following mob violence over alleged cow slaughter. The main accused in the case is a leader of right-wing group Bajrang Dal. PTI had earlier reported that local BJP leaders had demanded his transfer after ...
Parliament proceedings disrupted again; Surrogacy bill passed
The proceedings in Parliament were disrupted for the sixth consecutive day on Wednesday with treasury and opposition benches sparring again over the Rafale deal issue. The TDP, the AIADMK and DMK continued to raise the issue of the dam over the River Cauvery and special status for Andhra Pradesh in both the Houses. While the Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day soon after it met at 11.00 AM, the Lok Sabha saw repeated adjournments, but managed to pass the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill amid the din. Efforts to pass another legislation, The Consumer Protection Bill, failed as Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said there was too much of din, and the bill would be taken up on Thursday. Wednesday was the sixth working day of the Winter session which saw disruptions and adjournments over Rafale jet seal, special status for Andhra Pradesh and protests over construction of a dam over Cauvery river. Both Houses were adjourned for the day on day one of the session on December 11 after ...
Congress high command to decide on alliance with AAP: Dikshit
Amid speculation of a possible alliance between the Congress and the AAP in Delhi for the 2019 elections, former chief minister Sheila Dikshit said Wednesday her party high command will decide whether or not such an arrangement takes place with the Arvind Kejriwal-led party. Dikshit, the senior Congress leader who was the chief minister of Delhi for 15 years (1998-2013) and a one-time bitter critic of Kejriwal, said she will not question any decision her party takes on an alliance with the AAP. Both the parties are understood to be in touch to explore possibility of an alliance for the seven Lok Sabha seats in the national capital. "I have nothing to do with it. It's the high command which has to take a decision. Whatever its decision, I am not going to question it," Dikshit told PTI on being asked about possibility of an alliance with the AAP. Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken has repeatedly rejected possibility of any alliance with the AAP in Delhi. In June this year, addressing a
People will "slowly" get Rs 15 lakh: Union minister Athawale
Union minister Ramdas Athawale has said people will get Rs 15 lakh "slowly" into their bank accounts and not in one go. Athawale said assurances were made earlier but there were "technical difficulties". The government does not have so much money and it has sought funds from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), but it is not obliging, he told reporters at Islampur in Sangli district on Monday. "Rs 15 lakh will not come at a time...it will come slowly... government does not have so much money and it has sought money from the Reserve Bank but it is not giving...yes, an assurance was made but there are still technical difficulties," he said. The Minister of State for Social Justice was replying to a question on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's promise to bring back black money stashed in foreign banks. Modi, during the 2014 Lok Sabha election campaign, had prominently highlighted the issue of black money and promised to bring it back. Termed Modi as an "active" prime minister, ..
Official says US reviewing travel ban on North Korea
The Trump administration's special envoy for North Korea says Washington is reviewing easing its travel restrictions to North Korea to facilitate humanitarian shipments as part of efforts to resolve an impasse in nuclear diplomacy. Stephen Biegun made the comments upon arrival in South Korea on Wednesday for talks on the nuclear negotiations, which have reportedly seen little headway since a summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in June. Beigun says his discussions with South Korean officials will be about how to work together to engage North Korea "in a manner that will help us move forward and move beyond the 70 years of hostility.
Military satellite GSLV-7A will enhance communication: Air Chief Marshal
Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa said Wednesday the launch of satellite GSLV-7A would enhance the networking and communication capabilities of the Air Force. "We have several platforms (aircrafts) which have capabilities of communication through satellite. The communication to the platform (aircrafts) through the satellite will be made possible with this launch," he told reporters here. ISRO will launch the military satellite GSLV-7A at 4.10 pm from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. Dhanoa was at the Jodhpur air base to interact with the contingents of the Indian Air Force and the Russian Aerospace Forces, who are participating in the joint exercise, 'Aviaindra-18', from December 10-21.
No appointments under new Maratha quota legislation till Jan 23: Maha govt tells HC
The Maharashtra government Wednesday told the Bombay High Court it would not make appointments in any of its departments under the new legislation providing quota to the Maratha community till January 23, when the court will hear petitions against the reservation. The high court had earlier this month chided the government for issuing an advertisement for job recruitment even as petitions challenging the legislation are pending. Government counsel V A Thorat on Wednesday assured a division bench of Chief Justice N H Patil and Justice M S Karnik that the state will not make any appointments till the next date of hearing (January 23). "The state's General Administration Department shall issue necessary directions to all local bodies and institutions under its control asking them not to make any appointments under the new legislation till then," he said. The court had on December 10 asked the government if it was willing to make public the report submitted by the State Backward Class ...
Farooq Abdullah pitches for early polls in J&K
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and National Conference (NC) chief Farooq Abdullah on Wednesday pitched for early elections to the state Assembly.
Assembly polls, Dalit unrest kept Madhya Pradesh in news
The Congress stormed to powerin Madhya Pradeshafter 15 years, while violent protests over dilution of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act kept the Hindi heartland state on tenterhooks during 2018. The state witnessed hectic political activity before the Assembly polls which concluded with a nail-biting finish when Congress, after a see-saw battle with the BJP, emerged as the single largest party, with five seats more than the BJP. Nine-time Lok Sabha member Kamal Nath became the chief minister and hours after taking charge, announced a farm loan waiver, a poll promise of Congress president Rahul Gandhi, expected to cost Rs 50,000 crore to the state exchequer. Nath faces the challenge of putting the state economy, having borrowings of around Rs 1.60 lakh crore, back on track. The year saw a setback for the BJP as its longest serving chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan was unseated. In pre-poll surveys, Chouhan emerged more popular than Nath and Congress leader ...
Cong-led alliance intact in T'gana, to fight LS polls together
The Congress-led alliance forged for the Assembly elections in Telangana is intact and plans to work out an "appropriate and careful" strategy for the next Lok Sabha polls, its convener M Kodandaram said Wednesday. "...we have not disbanded 'Prajakutami' (the people's alliance)," Prof Kodandaram, also Telangana Jana Samiti (TJS) chief, told PTI. "We have to think about the strategy for the next Parliamentary elections." Besides the Congress and TJS, the grouping has the Telugu Desam Party, led by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, and the Communist Party of India. The Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) was swept back to power in the December 7 polls, bagging 88 seats in the 119-member House. The 'Prajakutami' came a cropper at the hustings with the Congress finishing a distant second with 19 seats, and TDP bagging just two seats. The TJS and CPI drew a blank. The BJP, which went alone in the poll, won just one seat as the TRS juggernaut rolled on in the ...
Modi on two-day Guj visit from Dec 21, to attend DGPs' meet
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a two-day visit to Gujarat on December 21 and 22 to take part in an annual conference of state police chiefs and to address BJP women's wing workers, officials said Wednesday. The all-India conference of Directors General/ Inspectors General of Police is scheduled to be held near the Statue of Unity located in Narmada district from December 20, an official said. The three-day event would begin on December 20 in the presence of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh. Modi would to attend the meet on December 21, according to a release issued by the state government. The venue for the meet is a 'tent-city' set up near the 182-metre tall Statue of Unity, a government official said. The grand monument, dedicated to India's first Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, was inaugurated by Modi on October 31. A Union Home Ministry official had earlier said that militancy in Jammu and Kashmir, cross-border terrorism and attempts to radicalise ..
BJP to fight 2019 polls under Modi's leadership: Amit Shah
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah on Wednesday categorically said that the ruling NDA will fight the 2019 Lok Sabha elections under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
2 expelled PDP leaders join NC
A day after being expelled from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), former ministers Basharat Bukhari and Peer Mohammad Hussain joined the National Conference here on Wednesday. The two leaders were expelled by PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday on the recommendation of a disciplinary committee headed by party vice-president Abdul Rehman Veeri. Bukhari and Hussain joined the National Conference at the simple function at party president Farooq Abdullah's residence, where vice-president Omar Abdullah was also present. Bukhari, a two-time MLA from Sangrama, is the elder brother of slain journalist Shujaat Bukhari, who was shot dead along with two security officers by Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists in June. He was the law minister in the PDP-BJP coalition government, headed by the late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. He was made the revenue, relief and rehabilitation minister when the government was led by Mehbooba Mufti. Hussain, a former MLA from Shangus constituency, was a minister ...
Yemeni mom wins fight to fly to US to give dying son kiss
All Shaima Swileh wants is to give her son one more kiss before he dies. The Yemeni woman is about to get her wish after winning her fight for a waiver from the Trump administration's travel ban so she can fly to California where her 2-year-old son is on life support. The State Department granted Swileh the waiver on Tuesday after lawyers with the Council on American-Islamic Relations sued this week, ending a year-long battle for the family. Swileh is planning to fly to San Francisco on Wednesday to see Abdullah at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital in Oakland. "This will allow us to mourn with dignity," the boy's father, Ali Hassan, said in a statement provided by the Sacramento chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Hassan, who is a US citizen and lives in Stockton, brought Abdullah to California in the fall to get treatment for a genetic brain disorder. "My wife is calling me every day wanting to kiss and hold her son for the one last time," Hassan said, choking up as
NOTA will have no consequences on poll verdict: Former CEC
Former Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi Wednesday said NOTA (none of the above) would have no consequences on election verdict but batted for continuation of the option to curb impersonation and exert pressure on political parties to put up better candidates. He said more than one per cent votes have been cast consistently for NOTA in different elections, and the option has fourth largest vote share at many places. "But personally, I don't think it's (NOTA) taking us anywhere. I don't think it will become a big factor (in Indian elections) nor it's having any consequence," Quraishi told PTI. In the recent Assembly elections, NOTA votes reportedly declined in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram but increased in Telangana, compared to previous elections. In the Madhya Pradesh elections, for example, NOTA got more votes than victory margin in 22 seats, while it was the case in 15 segments in Rajasthan. Quraishi said NOTA option needs to be continued
China, US authorities discuss trade negotiations
Authorities from China and the US on Wednesday discussed the 90-day truce aimed at putting an end to the trade war between the two countries, China's Commerce Ministry said.
Tripura's tremor: Year the Left bastion crumbled against saffron onslaught (2018 in Retrospect)
History was created when the first straight poll battle between the country's dominant Left party, the CPI-M, and the BJP saw the Narxist stronghold of Tripura crumble in the February 2018 assembly elections, after 25 years in power.
Killings of journalists in reprisal for work doubled in 2018: Report
The number of journalists killed on duty rose in 2018 and the number murdered in reprisal for their work doubled, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported on Wednesday.
No questions taken up in UP Council as oppn create din
The Question Hour in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council could not be taken up on Wednesday due to the din created by the opposition over the poor law-and-order situation in the state and the problems being faced by farmers. Samajwadi Party MLCs protested in the Well of the House, while leaders of the Congress and the Bahujan Samaj Party stood at their seats and shouted slogans. As soon as the House commenced at 11.00 am, SP members stormed into the Well and started raising slogans. Chairperson Ramesh Yadav adjourned the House for 20 minutes. The situation was no better when the House reassembled and it was adjourned first till 12 noon and then again till 12.20 pm. Leader of the Opposition Ahmed Hasan (SP) said that the law-and-order situation in the state is very bad and charged the government with not paying any attention to it. Amidst the din, Leader of the House Dinesh Sharma (BJP) presented the second supplementary budget for 2018-19. The House was later adjourned for the day.