Page 2210 - Politics
RBI governance structure need further examination, says board
The central board of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which met under new Governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday, said the governance structure of the central bank needs further examination before deciding on whether it can be board-driven.
Gehlot to pilot Rajasthan again
Ending the intense jockeying for power in Rajasthan, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday picked party veteran Ashok Gehlot as the new Chief Minister of the state and Sachin Pilot, who had put up a strong claim, as his deputy.
Another arms, ammunition haul by INS Sunayna off Somalia coast
Indian Naval Ship Sunayna, an offshore patrol vessel (OPV) of the Kochi-headquartered Southern Naval Command, has seized arms and ammunition from a fishing vessel about 20 nautical miles off the Somalia coast. The seizure was made on Thursday while carrying out a Visit, Board, Search and Seizure (VBSS) operation launched on sighting a suspicious vessel, a Defence press release said. The operation led to the confiscation of illegal arms, five rifles, including AK-47s, and 471 rounds of ammunition, it said. The vessel was allowed to proceed after the arms and ammunition were seized, the release said. INS Sunayna has been deployed on anti-piracy patrol in the Gulf of Aden since October 6. The ship had seized six AK-47s and one Light Machine Gun in previous search operations conducted on November 9 and December 7. The vigilance exercised by the Indian Navy ships reiterates the commitment of India towards ensuring safe seas for Indian as well as international seafarers in the Indian Ocean .
Israel in West Bank manhunt at Netanyahu under pressure
Israeli forces kept up a manhunt Friday for a Palestinian who shot dead two soldiers in the occupied West Bank, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced rightwing pressure for a strong response. Thursday's shooting was the latest incident shattering months of relative calm in the West Bank, where 400,000 Israelis live in settlements alongside more than 2.5 million Palestinians. It was the third deadly attack by Palestinian gunmen in the West Bank in two months and set off demonstrations by settler groups against Netanyahu, whose rightwing government depends on their support. Israeli media speculated Friday about the possibility of a new Palestinian "intifada," or uprising, against Israel's occupation of the West Bank. In Thursday's attack, a gunman got out of his car and opened fire on soldiers and others outside a settlement in the central West Bank, killing two and seriously injuring another two Israelis before fleeing. In response the army locked down the city of Ramallah, home ..
Modi set to storm Cong stronghold of Rae Bareli
Notwithstanding the setbacks BJP suffered in assembly polls in three major Hindi heartland states this week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to visit Rae Bareli, the traditional seat of the Gandhi family, on Sunday. This will be the first visit by the prime minister to the constituency represented by United Progressive Alliance chairperson and former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, and before her by other members of her family. Modi's visit is being seen as a strategy of the BJP to pin the Congress leadership in their respective constituencies in the 2019 general election. His visit was planned before the counting of votes polled in the five states was taken up on December 11, following which the Congress party threw out BJP governments in three states Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Union Textile Minister Smriti Irani, who contested the 2014 Lok Sabha election from the neighbouring Amethi against Congress president Rahul Gandhi, often visits Rae Bareli as part of a .
Adani-Elbit inaugurates UAV facility in Hyderabad
Adani-Elbit UAV Complex, a joint venture by Adani Defence and Aerospace and Israel's Elbit Systems Friday inaugurated India's first private Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) manufacturing facility here. The 50,000 sq ft facility, which was inaugurated by Telangana Minister for Home Mohammad Mahmood Ali, would start operations with the manufacturing of complete carbon composite aero-structures for hermes 900, followed by Hermes 450 UAVs catering to the global markets, Head of Adani Defence and Aerospace, Ashish Rajvanshi told reporters here. It would further be ramped up for the assembly and integration of complete UAVs, he said. The facility located in the 20 acre-Adani Aerospace Park would initially cater to the global markets and also supply to India defence agencies once the once provision is open, he added. "We did not want to wait till India finalises its order for (procuring) 150 UAVs. We will start with the export orders from this facility. This joint venture is going .
Dhinakaran loyalist Senthil Balaji joins DMK
Former Tamil Nadu transport minister and a senior member of the T.T.V.Dhinakaran-led Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) V. Senthil Balaji joined the DMK on Friday, the DMK said in a statement.
SC/ST seats: BJP retains only 21 against 50 in 2013 Rajasthan polls
The BJP has won only 21 of the 59 seats reserved for SC/ST candidates in Rajasthan against 50 it had bagged in the previous assembly elections, as per the election commission data. Bharatiya Janata Party won just 12 seats reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC) candidates this time, as against 32 in 2013 polls. Similarly, the party won only nine seats reserved for Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidates against 18 in last polls. The party failed to win a single SC/ST seat in Alwar, Bharatpur, Dausa, Dholpur, Karauli, Swai Madhopur and Tonk districts this time. These districts saw violent protests during a nationwide April 2 Bharat Bandh called by Dalit outfits in protest against the Supreme Court order on the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Political observers have blamed the BJP's loss on the SC/ST seats on the 'Bharat Bandh' and the anti-incumbency factor against the party. Dalit groups had blocked rail and road traffic and vandalised property, including a train, in several parts of the ...
Cong rubbing salt into wounds of 1984 riots' victims:Akali Dal on Kamal Nath in Punjab Assembly
The opposition Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) Friday protested in the Punjab Assembly the Congress' decision to appoint Kamal Nath as Madhya Pradesh chief minister, saying the Rahul Gandhi-led party was rubbing salt into the wounds of victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. SAD MLA Bikram Singh Majithia raised the issue in the state Assembly a day after his party colleague Manjinder Singh Sirsa alleged in Delhi that Nath had a hand in the anti-Sikh riots that broke out in the national capital following the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi in 1984. Majithia said the Congress was rubbing salt into the wounds of victims of the riots by naming Nath as Madhya Pradesh chief minister. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Brahm Mohindra claimed that Nath had no role in the 1984 riots. He also showed a picture in his mobile phone purportedly of former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal felicitating Kamal Nath at an event in the past. Chief Minister Amarinder Singh alleged the opposition ...
Supreme Court rejects challenge to Dassault jet deal; win for Modi
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's top court rejected petitions on Friday seeking an investigation of fighter jet deal worth about $8.7 billion with France's Dassault Aviation, handing a political victory to the ruling party months before a general election.
Supreme Court rejects challenge to Rafale jet deal; win for Modi
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's top court rejected petitions on Friday seeking an investigation of fighter jet deal worth about $8.7 billion with France's Dassault Aviation, handing a political victory to the ruling party months before a general election.
Allegations on Rafale 'fiction writing'; disrupters have lost on all counts: Jaitley
Finance Minster Arun Jaitley Friday dubbed allegations on the Rafale jet deal as "fiction writing" that compromised national security, after the Supreme Court dismissed the pleas challenging the deal between India and France for procurement of 36 Rafale jets. In an apparent attack on Congress President Rahul Gandhi, who has been alleging corruption in the purchase of the fighter jets, Jaitley said "disrupters" have lost on all counts and those who manufactured falsehood compromised the security of the country. Falsehood is bound to fall apart and it has, Jaitley said, adding that if honest deals are questioned, then civil servants and armed forces will think twice before undertaking such a process in future. Buoyed by the verdict, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who addressed a press conference along with Jaitley said the matter of Rafale deal has been put to rest through the apex court's order. Jaitley said every figure cited by Gandhi in his allegations has been false. He said .
Abracadabra? Magician's son will be CM again
It was anything but abracadabra. The Congress decision Friday to pick the magician's son as the Rajasthan chief minister was neither quick nor easy. Deliberations dragged on in Delhi before the party, which defeated the BJP 99-73 in the assembly elections, chose 67-year-old Ashok Gehlot over the youthful Pradesh Congress Committee president Sachin Pilot for the post that both felt they had earned. Gehlot is an old hand at this job. He first became the state's chief minister in 1998, the second time in 2008 and is now set to be sworn in for a third stint. The politician has said magic is in his soul. At a conjurors' convention in 2015 which he inaugurated by performing a little trick of his own Gehlot said he would have followed in his father Lachman Singh's footsteps had he not joined politics. This he did thanks to Indira Gandhi, according to some accounts. She is said to have noticed his work with East Bengal refugees, and was impressed. He headed the Rajasthan unit of the ...
China lodges 'stern' protest with US over Senate bill on Tibet
China has lodged a "stern" diplomatic protest with the US over the Senate passing a bipartisan legislation that seeks to impose a visa ban on Chinese officials who deny American citizens, officials and journalists access to Tibet, even as Bejing asked Washington not to make it a law. Reacting to the US move, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said here that the American action disregarded facts and amounted to interfering in China's internal affairs and was a violation of international rules. "China is firmly opposed to it and lodged stern representations to the US. I have to point out that Tibet affairs come under China's internal affairs and it allows no foreign interference," he said. 'The Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act', seeking unhindered access to Tibetan areas for Americans, something which is routinely denied by the Chinese government, was passed by the US House of Representatives in September. The US Senate on Tuesday passed the crucial bipartisan legislation that ...
Sachin Pilot's hard work pays off
New Delhi [India] Dec 14 (ANI): Following Congress' crushing defeat in 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Sachin Pilot vowed not to wear a turban until the party returned to power. It is now time for the 41-year-old leader to grace the headgear again as he has been made the Deputy Chief Minister of Rajasthan.His hard work in Rajasthan has paid off and the Congress has once again bloomed in the state after the awful defeat in 2013 when the party was reduced to 21 seats, even lesser than 1977, post Emergency, when the Congress won 41 seats. The party failed to bag a single seat from the state in 2014 Lok Sabha polls.Rahul Gandhi had given Pilot the task of rebuilding the party in the state. He shifted his base to Rajasthan and he worked hard for past five years to fulfil the responsibility with satisfaction.In the past, Pilot was always seen through the prism of his father Rajesh Pilot's achievements despite him being a union minister during the Congress-led government.That perception hopefully .
Ashok Gehlot, the man who pulled rabbit out of a hat
New Delhi [India] Dec 13 (ANI): Ashok Gehlot, a seasoned politician and a Congress loyalist, is in the driver's seat once again in Rajasthan as he became the Chief Minister of the state for the third time on December 14. It is a reward for his organisational skills and swift balancing act through which he got all factions on board.His acumen in setting the chess board within the organisation in a win-win style was witnessed not only in Rajasthan Assembly elections but also gave a tough fight to the Bharatiya Janata Party in Gujarat in 2017.This was no magic wand that the 67-year-old waved this time, something which he otherwise enjoys, being the son of a magician. It is learnt that he has staged performances earlier also as a magician and has shown some tricks to Rahul Gandhi when the Congress president was a child.With Sachin Pilot's hard work on the ground during last four years, Gehlot only needed to put his deep political insight to use which led the party to perform better in ...
AIADMK rebel and Dhinakaran loyalist Senthil Balaji joins DMK
V Senthil Balaji, has quit TTV Dhinakaran-led Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) and joined Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) on Friday in the presence of party president MK Stalin on Friday at Headquarter in Anna Arivalayam in Chennai.He was amongst the 18 Tamil Nadu MLAs who were disqualified last year for siding with Dhinakaran, the rebel leader of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.Balaji was a close aide to Dhinakaran, who founded the AMMK in March this year. His defection is thus seen as a setback to Dhinakaran.Interestingly, Balaji started his political career with DMK but later joined Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) and then the AIADMK. He was a minister in the AIADMK government headed by then Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa between 2011 and 2016.
Opp must apologise for misleading propaganda: Ram Madhav on Rafale verdict
Hours after the Supreme Court dismissed all petitions seeking a court-monitored probe into the Rafale fighter jet deal, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national general secretary Ram Madhav on Friday said that some opposition parties, including the Congress, must apologise publicly for the misleading propaganda and lies that they pedalled past few months."Congress, its president Rahul Gandhi and some opposition parties have been making false allegations against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and our government over the Rafale deal. Today the Supreme Court has categorically rejected all those allegations and upheld the transparent manner in which the entire deal has been worked out," Madhav told ANI."It is time the opposition parties, including Rahul Gandhi, go before the people and apologise for the misleading propaganda and lies that they pedalled all these months and they should go to Parliament and say sorry," he added.Meanwhile, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that ...
Ashok Gehlot announced as Rajasthan CM, Sachin Pilot to be his deputy
Ashok Gehlot will be the Chief Minister of Rajasthan, the Congress party announced on Friday, ending the suspense that had built up over the chief ministership of the state. Sachin Pilot will be the Deputy Chief Minister and will also continue his role as the Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee (RPCC) president, the Congress today announced, after Rahul Gandhi tweeted his picture with Gehlot and Pilot and wrote, "The united colours of Rajasthan!"The race for Rajasthan Chief Minister heated up as supporters of Pilot and Gehlot entered sloganeering match outside the party office in Jaipur on Wednesday.After the meeting of the newly elected legislators in the state on Thursday, the decision of choosing the leader for the top post was left to Congress party president Rahul Gandhi. It took several meetings over the last two days to announce the new leadership of Rajasthan.Pilot was elected as the Member of Parliament from his late father Rajesh Pilot's constituency Dausa in 2004 and ...
Twice before, Gehlot faced challenges in CM race
Ashok Gehlot who emerged Friday as his party's choice for the chief minister's post in Rajasthan faced serious opposition in the race to the CM's post in 1998 and 2008 as well, with Jat leaders in the Congress opposing him. On both occasions, he overcame the opposition to be named by the Congress as the chief minister. This time, however, the challenge from Pradesh Congress Committee president Sachin Pilot has been tougher. After the jockeying for power since the results of the December 7 assembly polls came in on Tuesday, the Congress picked him over Pilot on Friday afternoon to head the state government. In December 2008, Jat leaders like the then Union minister Sis Ram Ola, former Rajasthan Speaker Parasram Maderna and newly elected MLA Sonaram had openly raised the demand for a Jat chief minister. Gehlot is from the Mali community. The then Pradesh Congress Committee president C P Joshi, who later became Union minister after winning the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, also had chief ...