Page 220 - Politics
Influential former China news publisher caught in anti-graft net
The former publisher of a prominent Chinese newspaper known for its investigative reporting has been caught in China's widening anti-graft net. Dai Zigeng, 56, is being investigated for "serious violations of discipline and law" -- a euphemism for corruption - the Beijing municipal corruption watchdog announced in a statement Monday. The statement didn't offer any details of alleged wrongdoings. Dai was publisher of the Beijing News from 2006 to 2017. During his stint, the state-owned newspaper won a reputation for investigations exposing vaccine scandals, ill-treatment of the disabled and other social woes that are rarely highlighted by other Chinese media. Dai, a communist party cadre, made headlines in 2013 after threatening to resign from his position at Beijing News in support of another critical publication, The Southern Weekly, that was protesting government censorship. Dai previously worked at the party-owned Guangming Daily for nearly two decades, reporting from the restive ..
India hands over NPR 1.6 billion to Nepal for post-quake reconstruction
India on Monday handed over NPR 1.6 billion as reimbursement of part payment of the first and second tranches of housing reconstruction in Nuwakot and Gorkha, among the areas affected in the devastating 2015 earthquake."The amount has been released towards reimbursement of part payment of first and second tranches of housing reconstruction extended by Government of India to 50,000 housing beneficiaries in Nuwakot and Gorkha districts," according to an official statement.Until now, India has reimbursed a total of NPR 4.5 billion to Nepal, the statement added.The Ambassador of India to Nepal, Manjeev Singh Puri, handed over the cheque to the Finance Secretary of the country, Rajan Khanal, in Kathmandu. Nepal's Finance Minister, Yuba Raj Khatiwada, was also present on the occasion.India is partnering with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) for providing socio-technical facilitation to the affected house owners to ensure .
Iran denies plans to buy Russia's S-400 missile system
Iran's Foreign Ministry on Monday denied that the country is planning to purchase the Russian S-400 air defence missile system.
BJP observes 'Black Day', holds rallies against WB violence
The BJP took out rallies in Kolkata and elsewhere, and held a shutdown in Basirhat on Monday, as they observed a "Black Day" to protest against the killing of its workers and the "deteriorating" law-and-order situation in West Bengal. The situation remained tense in the Basirhat subdivision of North 24 Parganas district following the clashes in Sandeshkhali on Saturday, which claimed three lives -- two from the BJP and one of the Trinamool Congress. Both the parties claimed that some of their workers were still missing, though the administration denied any such claim. Shutters were down in most of the shops and establishments during the 12-hour shutdown in Basirhat, around 70 km from Kolkata. The Bharaitya Janata Party (BJP) took out protest rallies in the subdivision and demanded immediate arrest of the culprits. BJP workers disrupted the movement of vehicles and trains by squatting on roads and railways tracks at many places in Basirhat, which was won by the TMC's Nusrat Jahan in ...
Telangana: Congress' Bhatti Vikramarka calls off his indefinite strike
Congress leader Bhatti Vikramarka called off his indefinite strike here in protest against the crossover of the party's 12 legislators to Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).Bhatti Vikramarka broke his fast after 48 hours in the presence of senior leaders of Congress party.Vikramarka started a hunger strike on Saturday stating that it will last for only 36 hours. However, later it was changed to an indefinite strike to ensure that his message reached out to everyone in the state.After being requested by police officials to stop the protest over health issues, Vikramarka was shifted to NIMS hospital, said Congress leader V Hanumantha Rao."Owing to health issues of Bhatti Vikramarka, all senior leaders of the party requested him to call off the hunger strike. We are going to the court tomorrow for hearing on the issue on how the Speaker could merge the Congress party with Telangana Rashtra Samithi without the consent of Party president," added Rao.On June 6, as many as 12 out of 18 MLAs of .
Situation bad in Bengal but Prez rule shouldn't be imposed: CPI(M)
CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said on Monday that the law and order situation in West Bengal is bad but President's rule should not be imposed in the state. Talking to reporters, Yechury said the ground report should be known to get an understanding of what is happening there. "In principle, we have always been against the President's rule. The law and order situation in Bengal is bad but it does not mean that President's rule is imposed in the state," he said. Three people have been killed in clashes between the workers of the Trinamool Congress and the BJP in the state's North 24 Parganas district on Saturday. West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday amid the incident of violence over which the Home Ministry has also issued an advisory to the state government. The TMC termed the Centre's advisory a conspiracy against its dispensation. The state government has also shot back a letter to the Home Ministry saying the situation ...
Nazarbayev's successor wins Kazakh Presidential elections with nearly 71 pc votes
Interim President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, also the chosen successor of former leader Nursultan Nazarbayev, has won the snap Presidential elections with nearly 71 per cent of the votes, according to preliminary results shared by the country's election commission.Tokayev's nearest rival Amirzhan Kosanov of the United National Patriotic Movement "Ult Tagdyry" has received around 16 per cent of the votes, reported Xinhua on Sunday.The 2019 Kazakh presidential elections hold significance, as it paves the way for the first time in almost thirty years for a new candidate coming to power.Nursultan Nazarbayev had served as the President from the country's independence in 1992 until his resignation in March this year.After Nazarbayev's resignation, the Presidentship was transferred to the then Speaker of the Senate (Upper House), Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.In his address to the nation shortly after assuming Presidency, Tokayev had announced that the elections would be conducted earlier than ...
Centre using social media to create communal tension in Bengal, alleges Mamata
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday accused the central government of using social media to create communal tension in the state."Using social media as a platform, the central government is spending crores of rupees to incite communal violence. I warn them to not to play with fire...," she told reporters here."We will not go to Delhi to listen to speeches but will strengthen our institutions. I have asked the police to be strong", Banerjee said.She attacked BJP for taking Anju Ghosh, a Bangladeshi film actor, in its fold and contended, "They say infiltration has happened from Bangladesh but do only minorities come from Bangladesh? If someone comes from Bangladesh and joins BJP, then all sins are washed away?"Banerjee thanked her Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar for stating that he will not be forming an alliance with NDA outside Bihar. "I would like to congratulate him. A thank you to him", she said.Targeting the Centre, the chief minister said, "We are suffering in the
Nitish advocates for "court ruling or dialogue" on BJP's polls promise of scrapping Article 370
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar Monday refrained from making a direct comment on what his party would do if the BJP-led central government goes ahead with its poll promise of scrapping Article 370, which gives special autonomous status to Jammu and Kashmir. The Janata Dal (United) president reiterated his stand that the proposals to remove Article 370, impose Uniform Civil Code and construct Ram temple at Ayodhya either be settled through dialogue or court ruling. "It has been our view that Article 370 should not be removed. Similarly, Uniform Civil Code should not be imposed on anyone and the issue of Ram temple at Ayodhya be either resolved through dialogue or court order," said Kumar. Kumar clarified that there was no "bitterness" in his party's relation with the BJP over the JD(U) not joining the Union Cabinet with "symbolic representation". Kumar was replying to questions of mediapersons after his weekly public interaction programme "Lok Samvad" here. National chief general ...
Shah to meet BJP national office bearers, state unit chiefs on June 13
BJP president Amit Shah will hold a meeting with the chiefs and general secretaries (organisations) of the party's all state and Union Territory units, besides its national office bearers on June 13, setting in motion the process for organisational polls which may culminate in the election of his successor. After the party chief, general secretary in charge of organisation is the second most crucial position in the BJP, be it at the state or the national level. The organisational meeting may continue on June 14 as well, a party leader said. Shah, whose three-year term as BJP chief had ended earlier this year, was asked to continue in the position as the party had put on hold organisational elections to focus on Lok Sabha polls. With the party notching up an unprecedented victory in the general election, bagging 303 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha, Shah has moved on to preparing the organisation for assembly polls in three states and laying the groundwork for its internal ...
BJP should answer why its then ministers in J-K supported
AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi Monday said the BJP should answer why its ministers in the previous Jammu and Kashmir government attended a rally in support of the accused in the Kathua case. "BJP needs to answer as to why their ministers came out in support of those accused," he told reporters here. He claimed ministers belonging to the BJP (in the erstwhile BJP-PDP coalition) attended a rally in support of the accused. Replying to queries on the verdict in the case, he said "justice should be done whichever religion the accused belongs to." He cited incidents of offences against girls and women at Indore, Gaya in Bihar and Gorakhpur and said justice should be done. According to him, his party had condemned such incidents whichever religion the accused belonged to. Six of the seven accused in the rape and murder of an eight-year-old nomadic girl in Kathua were convicted by a court at Pathankot on Monday. Talking about arrest of journalists in Uttar Pradesh, he claimed .
CPI(M) to mobilise Opposition for EC reforms: Yechury
CPI(M) general-secretary Sitaram Yechury said the party will mobilise the Opposition to ensure that election commissioners are appointed by a collegium-led by the President rather than by the government. He said the recent Lok Sabha elections underlined the need for far reaching electoral reforms, adding the Election Commission could not implement its assurance to conduct "free and fair polls". "When the Right goes strong, the Left has to go strong and that will be the new polarisation in the country. Soft Hindutva is not the answer to hardcore Hindutva and that is why Left is the only option," Yechury argued. The CPI(M) will mobilise all willing sections of the political spectrum to ensure that election commissioners are appointed by a collegium-led by the President, he said. "We will mobilise the opposition parties and seek to urgently reform the Election Commission so that it can play an impartial role," he said. The decision was taken in the preliminary review of the Lok Sabha ...
Modi is our Supreme Court: Sena leader on Ram temple
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said on Monday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the Supreme Court for his party on the Ram temple issue because the country had elected him with an overwhelming majority.
PM expected to raise issue of terrorism at SCO summit in Bishkek
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to articulate India's position on dealing with major challenges facing the region including rising threat of terrorism at the annual summit of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Bishkek on June 13-14. It will be the first multilateral meeting in which Modi will participate after retaining power for the second consecutive term. The Prime Minister will have bilateral meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the SCO summit, Secretary(West) in the External Affairs Ministry, A Gitesh Sarma, said. The leaders participating at the summit in Kyrgyzstan are expected to focus on the global security situation, multilateral economic cooperation, people-to-people exchanges and also on topical issues of international and regional importance, he said at a media briefing. Sarma said India is expected to raise the issue of terrorism at the summit but will not talk about any specific country. India has
SCO meeting agenda on counter terrorism not aimed at "targeting" any country: China
The SCO summit in Bishkek this week would discuss economy-related issues and security cooperation with a focus on counter terrorism, but it is not aimed at "targeting" any country, China said on Monday as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan are attending the meeting amidst frosty Indo-Pak relations. The 19th summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) will be held the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek on June 13-14. Prime Minister Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping would also attend the summit. Pakistan Prime Minister Khan will also take part in the meeting. The SCO is a China-led eight-member economic and security bloc. Its founding members include China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. India and Pakistan were admitted to the Beijing-based regional security grouping in 2017. This week's SCO summit will be the first major international event being attended by Modi after his re-election. He would meet President Xi and ...
Not demanding Prez rule in Bengal, but will defy bar on our programmes: BJP
On a day West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi met Prime Minister Narendra Modi amid political violence in the state, the BJP said it is not demanding President's rule there but asserted that it will "defy" the Mamata Banerjee government's bar on its political programmes, including victory processions. BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya said on Monday the ruling Trinamool Congress took out victory marches in seats where it won in the Lok Sabha polls, but the state government prohibited the saffron party from doing so by imposing Section 144 of CrPC, which bars an assembly of five or more people on the ground that it may lead to violence. Asked if the BJP demanded President's rule in the state, he answered in the negative. "We want to exercise out democratic rights but the state government has used its powers to target our leaders and workers. We will defy its clampdown on us. It is our right," Vijayvargiya said. The BJP has announced a protest in the state on June 12 ...
Modi to meet Xi, Putin at SCO but not Imran Khan: MEA
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar on Monday said no meeting has been organised between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit to be held later in June.
Pawar questions EVM veracity, says Oppn will meet in Delhi
NCP chief Sharad Pawar Monday once again questionned veracity of EVMs and said the issue would be discussed by Opposition parties in Delhi in the presence of experts and technocrats, days after the BJP swept the Lok Sabha polls. Addressing a convention of NCP workers marking the 20th anniversary of the party, Pawar said it needed to be figured out what exactly transpired after a voter pressed the button against the name of a party candidate of his choice and it got reflected on the VVPAT. His nephew Ajit Pawar, however, appeared to be on the different page on the issue and questionned the criticism of the EVMs. Ajit asked NCP workers not to waste their time in thinking much over the outcome of the general elections, but instead focus on winning more seats for the party in the Maharashtra assembly elections, due in September-October this year. Pawar told the party workers that he had spoken to several experts after the poll outcome. In Maharashtra, the NDA combine won 41
HK chief to go forward with extradition bill
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Monday reaffirmed her backing for a new bill allowing extradition to mainland China that has prompted massive protests, although she said the region's government would ensure the protection of suspects' human rights.
Lankan MP calls on DMK chief
Sri Lankan MP and leader of Sri Lanka Muslim Congress Rauff Hakeem Monday met DMK chief M K Stalin at his residence here and discussed a wide range of issues. During the brief meeting, Hakeem congratulated Stalin for his party's fine performance in the recently held Lok Sabha election and assembly bypolls in Tamil Nadu. The DMK-led coalition decimated the ruling AIADMK by netting 37 of the 38 Lok Sabha seats. While AIADMK won nine of the byelections to 22 seats, theDMK secured 13. "Had the pleasure of calling over for a bilateral meeting with President, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Leader of Opposition, Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, Kolathur Constituency @mkstalin at his residence in Chennai today," Hakeem tweeted. He also shared a picture of him along with Stalin on the microblogging site. Later talking to reporters, Hakeem said they discussed several issues including the political scenario in Colombo and the terror attack in April which claimed the lives of more than