Page 2184 - Politics
India, Maldives agree for cooperation in areas of visa, agri-business, culture
India and Maldives have agreed for enhanced bilateral cooperation in the field of visa arrangements, agri-business, and culture.The two countries exchanged the documents of agreement here on Monday in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.Making his first visit to a foreign country after elected as President on November 17, the Maldivian President along with First Lady Fazna Ahmed met Prime Minister Modi at Hyderabad House in the afternoon.The official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs Ibrahim Solih took to Twitter saying, "PM @narendramodi warmly received President @ibusolih ahead of delegation level talks. During his visit to the Maldives for the President's inauguration in November, PM had extended an invitation to President Solih to make a State Visit to India.""It is a matter of great pride and honour for us that you have selected India as your first visit to any foreign country. Your visit would further help in ..
Exports worth Rs 3.33 lakh crore from SEZs
Exports from special economic zones (SEZs) were of Rs 3,33,661 crore, while employment generation was of about 19.96 lakh persons as on September 30, 2018, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry C R Chaudhary informed the Lok Sabha on Monday in a written reply."The investment of Rs 4,92,312 crore has been made," added Chaudhary, adding that SEZs policy was launched in April 2000, and the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005, was passed by the Parliament in May 2005 which received Presidential assent on the 23rd of June, 2005."In addition to seven Central government SEZs and 11 state and private sector SEZs set-up prior to the enactment of the SEZs Act, approvals have been accorded to 420 proposals for setting up of SEZs in the country. Of 355 notified SEZs, 230 SEZs are operational," further informed the minister.Chaudhary further said the Central government had constituted a group of eminent persons under the chairmanship of Baba Kalyani, chairman of Bharat Forge to study the SEZ ...
Chhattisgarh Advocate General resigns with change of govt
Advocate General of Chhattisgarh Jugal Kishore Gilda has resigned from the post with the change of government in the state. Gilda said he has submitted his resignation letter to Governor Anandiben Patel on Sunday in which he mentioned that he was quitting from the post as a new government is being formed in the state. "As a healthy convention followed by many illustrious Advocate Generals of various States after independence, which ripened into a custom, I am tendering the resignation from the post so as to pave the way for the new Chief Minister to make an appointment to the post of Advocate General," he said in the letter. Gilda, who has been regularly appearing for the state in the Supreme Court, acknowledged the cooperation he received from Raman Singh and his Cabinet colleagues. While sharing his experience of appearing in the Chhattisgarh High Court and the apex court, the advocate in his letter said the prestige of the Office of the Advocate General and its independence has ...
BJP will be wiped out if SP, BSP combine: Minister
Uttar Pradesh's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will be wiped out in the state in Lok Sabha elections if the BSP and Samajwadi Party join hands, state cabinet Minister Om Prakash Rajbhar said on Monday.
Anil Khanna, Janardan Gehlot to become IOA Sr VP and VP
Top tennis official Anil Khanna and former president of kabaddi's national federation Janardan Singh Gehlot will be elected unopposed as a senior vice president and a vice president of the Indian Olympic Association in its Annual General Body Meeting on December 22. Returning Officer Devender Kumar Nailwal, a retired District Judge, has issued an order, stating that no elections will be held for the post of the senior vice president and vice president as only one nomination has been received for each of the two posts. Khanna, a former All India Tennis Association president and currently the chief of the Asian Tennis Federation, is the only candidate left in the fray for the post of one senior vice president. He also currently holds key posts in the International Tennis Federation. He served as a treasurer in the previous regime headed by N Ramachandran and was also initially a presidential candidate in the polls held in December last but withdrew later to pave the way for Narinder ...
Kamal Nath takes oath as MP CM, ends 15-year-old BJP rule
Senior Congress leader Kamal Nath, who steered his party to victory in Madhya Pradesh, was on Monday sworn in as its 18th Chief Minister, bringing to an end 15 years of BJP rule in the state which had become the saffron party's stronghold.
LS adjourns after passing Transgender bill, RS without
Parliament proceedings were disrupted for the fourth consecutive day Monday over the Rafale jet deal and Cauvery issues, leading to adjournment of Rajya Sabha for the day soon after it met, and Lok Sabha after passing a bill on transgender rights amid adjournments. In Rajya Sabha, Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu adjourned the House within minutes of assembling as Members of Tamil Nadu parties - DMK and AIADMK -- stormed into the well and Congress and treasury benches raised slogans. Leader of the Opposition and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said he has given a notice for taking up of a discussion over the government allegedly misguiding the Supreme Court over the purchase of Rafale jets from France. He was countered by slogan-shouting from members of treasury benches who demanded an apology from the Congress after the Supreme Court gave a clean chit to the deal. AIADMK and DMK members were in the well seeking a permanent solution to the Cauvery water dispute between ..
Zodintluanga elected CLP leader Mizoran
The five-member Congress legislature party (CLP) in Mizoram Monday elected Zodintluanga, a former minister and treasurer of the recently dissolved CLP as its leader, party sources said. Zodintluanga has been CLP treasurer for three consecutive terms (15 years) and is the seniormost Congress legislator who made it to the state legislative assembly in the election to the 40-member state assembly on November 28. Former ministers C Ngunlianchunga and Nihar Kanti Chakma were elected as treasurer and secretary respectively of the CLP, while first-timer Lalrindika Ralte was elected as the Whip. The CLP election was conducted in the presence of AICC Observer Ms Ampareen Lyngdoh.
New Brexit vote would 'break faith' with British people - PM May
LONDON (Reuters) - A second Brexit referendum would do "irreparable damage" to politics and "break faith" with the British people, Prime Minister Theresa May will say on Monday, rejecting what some see as the only way to break an impasse.
Pakistan welcomes new round of talks between US and Taliban
Pakistan on Monday welcomed a new round of talks sponsored by it between the Taliban and US officials, in the United Arab Emirates, in an attempt to end the bloodshed in neighbouring war-torn Afghanistan. Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal said on Twitter that the latest round of talks were being held in the UAE. He also said Pakistan along-with the international community and other stake-holders was committed to peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan to end the 17-year war. "Along with international community and other stake-holders, Pakistan is committed to peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan. Talks are being held in the UAE. We hope this will end bloodshed in Afghanistan and bring peace to the region," Faisal tweeted. The Taliban on Monday said that they were holding "another" meeting with US officials in the UAE, which also include representatives of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the UAE. According to diplomatic sources, Pakistan had helped in arranging the ...
China, Pak and Afghan sign MoU to cooperate on counter-terrorism
China, Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed to cooperate on counter-terrorism and coordinate to call on the Taliban to return to the negotiating table and to move ahead the Afghan-led and Afghan-owned reconciliation process, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Monday. On December 15, State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi attended the second China, Afghanistan and Pakistan trilateral foreign ministers' dialogue in Kabul where a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on counter-terrorism was signed between the three countries, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying said here. Wang met Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Salahuddin Rabbani, his Pakistani and Afghan counterparts respectively as the three sides agreed to use the existing dialogue mechanism to enhance coordination and promote cooperation, Hua said. "It is important for the three parties to enhance counter-terrorism cooperation and to enhance communication to move forward the trilateral cooperation," she said. The three sides will
Indian, Maldives to deepen Indian Ocean security cooperation, increase trade (Roundup)
India and the Maldives on Monday agreed to deepen cooperation to maintain peace and security in the Indian Ocean region as New Delhi extended lines of credit worth $1.4 billion to to the archipelago nation following delegation-level talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih here.
No need for debate on oppn's prime ministerial candidate: NCP
The NCP Monday said the Congress has declared that opposition parties would pick their prime ministerial candidate post the general polls if they were to form government, so there was no need to debate the issue. The Sharad Pawar-led party's remark came a day after DMK president M K Stalin pitched to make Congress chief Rahul Gandhi as the next prime minister of the country in case the opposition parties form an alliance government in 2019. "The Congress itself has declared it (the prime minister) will be decided after the (Lok Sabha poll) results," NCP national spokesperson Nawab Malik said. He said it was good to see that Stalin supported Gandhi. "But when the Congress and other like-minded parties themselves have talked about it, there is no point in debating the issue now. All parties will take the decision after polls," Malik added. In a dramatic assertion, Stalin had on Sunday vowed to make Gandhi the country's next prime minister and lauded the latter for having ..
BJD to demonstrate before Parliament on Jan 8 for hike in
The ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) will stage a demonstration in front of Parliament on January 8, demanding a hike in the minimum support price (MSP) of paddy. BJD's vice-president Prasanna Acharya, who is also president of the party's farmers' wing, told reporters that the Centre had betrayed the farmers of Odisha with the false assurance to increase the MSP of paddy. Holding the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre responsible for the miseries of farmers across the country, he alleged that the prime minister had no time to discuss the issue with the members of the all-party House Committee of the State Assembly. "We will urge the Centre to hike the paddy MSP in accordance with the recommendation of the MS Swaminathan Committee," Acharya said. The BJD members will leave for New Delhi from Bhubaneswar in a special train on January 6 to participate in the demonstration, he said.
BJP moves HC with fresh prayer to hold 'rath yatra'
The BJP moved the Calcutta High Court on Monday with a fresh plea, challenging the West Bengal government's denial of permission to the party's proposed 'rath yatra' in the state. The state government had held a meeting on the 'rath yatra' with a three-member BJP team as per the HC's direction, following which it informed the party on Saturday that permission could be granted for the 'yatra'. Representing the saffron party, lawyer Saptangshu Basu mentioned the matter before the court of Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty and sought permission to file a fresh petition. Justice Chakraborty allowed the BJP to file the petition and asked its lawyer to serve copies of it to the state government and other respondents in the matter. The petition is likely to be taken up for hearing on Tuesday before Justice Chakraborty's court, Basu said. The party had proposed to take out three 'rath yatras' in different parts of the state ahead of the Lok Sabha election in 2019. The BJP moved a division bench ..
Permanent peace eludes J&K, as it has for last 30 years (2018 In Retrospect)
It's been a fairly turbulent year in the state, both security-wise and politically. It saw more violence compared to last year, even though the security forces killed many militants, including some top commanders of militant outfits.
BJP cadre protest against Rahul, Cong for 'maligning' PM over
Around 100 BJP workers, including three nominated Puducherry MLAs, were detained here Monday when they attempted to stage a "siege protest" against the Congress and its chief Rahul Gandhi for 'maligning' Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Rafale issue. RAFALE Raising slogans against Gandhi, the workers attempted to take out a procession to the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) office for laying siege to it when they were taken into custody, police said. The BJP members were protesting against the Congress, accusing it of "plotting a conspiracy" against Modi and his government over the Rafale fighter jet deal with France despite the Supreme Court giving a clean chit. Among those detained were the three MLAs V Saminathan, also the president of the BJP's Puducherry unit, K G Shankar and S.Selvaganapathy. Saminathan said though the apex court had ruled unequivocally that there was nothing wrong in the deal, the "frustrated Congress has been maligning" the Prime Minister ..
Israel army destroys Palestinian attacker's West Bank home
Israeli forces destroyed the home of a Palestinian accused of killing two Israelis, in an army raid that triggered clashes overnight Monday, an AFP journalist said. Three people were injured by rubber bullets, official Palestinian news agency Wafa said. Hundreds of soldiers surrounded the house in a suburb of Tulkarm in the north of the West Bank, the AFP journalist said. The army destroyed the walls of Ashraf Naalwa's home on the ground and first floors of the house, before withdrawing on Monday morning. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the operation. Naalwa, 23, was killed by the Israeli army last Thursday after a two-month manhunt. He was accused of killing two Israeli colleagues in an industrial zone near the northern West Bank Jewish settlement of Barkan. The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas claimed Naalwa as one of its fighters. Speaking at a cabinet meeting on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered "the acceleration of the ...
Sachin Pilot, a suave leader with easy connect (Profile)
Sachin Pilot, who played a crucial role in the Congress returning to power in Rajasthan, is a suave, urbane and charismatic leader who is equally at ease with rural masses as in TV debates.
Cong moves privilege motion on Rafale deal in LS; Speaker says matter under consideration
The Congress on Monday moved a privilege motion in the Lok Sabha against Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Rafale deal issue. The party has given a notice of breach of privilege in the Rajya Sabha as well, demanding an explanation from the government on why it provided the Supreme Court "wrong" information on the Rafale deal. During the Zero Hour, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said she has received a notice for privilege motion and the matter is "under my consideration". In the notice, Congress leader Sunil Jakhar said it is being moved against the Prime Minister for allegedly misleading the Supreme Court and Parliament in connection with the recent judgement on the Rafale deal. On Sunday, the Congress urged the Supreme Court to recall its Rafale judgment and issue notices to the central government for contempt of court and perjury, alleging the Centre provided false information to the apex court.