Page 2214 - Politics
Rahul Gandhi should apologise on Rafale deal issue: Rajnath
Home Minister Rajnath Singh Friday demanded in the Lok Sabha that Congress President Rahul Gandhi should apologise on the floor of the House for "misleading" the country on the Rafale jet deal issue. Opposition parties led by the Congress have been attacking the Modi government over the deal, alleging that it was struck at an exorbitant price and benefited an Indian businessman at the cost of the government-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. The charges have been denied by the government. Amid protests by Congress members in the House, Singh said, "Rahul Gandhi should apologise on the floor of the House for misleading the country on the Rafale jet deal issue for political gains". The Supreme Court Friday gave the Narendra Modi government a clean chit on the procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets from France and dismissed all petitions seeking a direction to the CBI to register an FIR for alleged irregularities in the deal. The apex court said there was no occasion to ...
SC Rafale verdict: Petitioner Prashant Bhushan calls judgement 'incorrect'
"It is a totally incorrect judgement," stated petitioner Prashant Bhushan moments after the apex court dismissed batch of petitions that demanded a probe into the controversial Rafale fighter jets deal stating that it was satisfied that the process for procurement had been followed."We have just asked for an investigation constitute a Special Investigation Team under the supervision of the Supreme Court to investigate the reasons for cancellation of earlier deal for the purchase of 126 Rafale fighter jets. This decision is wrong in my opinion. The court has given this order citing scope of limited judicial review," Bhushan told reporters after the verdict.The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed all petitions pertaining to multi-million dollar Rafale fighter jets deal.The bench, headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi,stated that there is no need to conduct an investigation in to details of Rafale pricing."We are satisfied that there is no occasion to doubt the process.Joint exercise have ..
Anil Ambani welcomes SC order dismissing Rafale petitions
Reliance Group chairman, Anil D. Ambani on Friday welcomed the Supreme Court's order where it dismissed all PILs seeking probe into the Rafale fighter jet deal.The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed all petitions pertaining to multi-million dollar Rafale fighter jets deal.Ambani, who has faced relentless allegations from Congress president Rahul Gandhi, issued a statement saying, "I welcome the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court today summarily dismissing all PILs filed on the Rafale contracts, and conclusively establishing the complete falsity of the wild, baseless and politically motivated allegations levelled against Reliance Group and me personally.""We remain committed to India's national security and to making our humble contribution towards the Make in India and Skill India policies of the Government in the critical area of defence including our offset partnership agreement with our valued partner, Dassault Aviation of France," the statement further added.The judgement comes .
Rajya Sabha adjourned for the day after uproar over Rafale
The Rajya Sabha was adjourned on Friday as both the opposition Congress and ruling BJP staged noisy protests in the House on the Rafale jet deal issue. Amid huge uproar, Leader of the House and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was heard saying that the Opposition has been demanding a debate on the jet deal and so the question hour should be suspended to take up the issue. While the Congress trooped into the well of the House seeking constitution of a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) to probe the Rafale deal, most BJP members sought an apology from Congress chief Rahul Gandhi for alleged lies on the issue. As the uproar continued, Deputy Chairman Harivansh first adjourned the House till 11.30 am and then later for the day. The Supreme Court Friday gave a clean chit to the Narendra Modi government on the procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets from France.The apex court said there was no occasion to doubt the decision-making process in the multi- billion dollar Rafale ...
Anil Ambani welcomes SC order on Rafale
Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani Friday welcomed the Supreme Court order on the multi-billion dollar Rafale jet deal, saying it established the falsity of politically motivated allegations against his firm. In its ruling on a batch of petitions seeking a probe into the deal, the apex court said there was no occasion to doubt the decision-making process in the procurement of the 36 Rafale fighter aircraft from France. Dassault Aviation, the makers of Rafale, had entered into an agreement with Ambani's Reliance Defence Ltd (RDL) for fulfilling offset obligations. "I welcome the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court today summarily dismissing all PILs filed on the Rafale contracts, and conclusively establishing the complete falsity of the wild, baseless and politically motivated allegations levelled against Reliance Group and me personally," Ambani said in a statement. The Congress has been alleging that the government had put pressure on Dassault Aviation to select RDL as its offset .
Deciphering the state elections (Comment)
The results of the much-awaited state elections are finally out. By all accounts, it was unexpected that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would be voted out of power in all the three Hindi heartland states. What makes the outcome all the more surprising is that the party has held power for a decade-and-a-half in two of the three states.
Cong's Kamal Nath in Raj Bhavan to stake claim to form MP govt
Congress leader Kamal Nath will meet Governor Anandiben Patel Friday in Raj Bhavan here to stake claim to form a government in Madhya Pradesh. The party won 114 seats in the 230-member House, the poll result of which were declared on December 11. It has secured support of a total of 121 MLAs, including SP - 1 and BSP - 2 legislators as also of four independents, to cross the majority mark of 116 seats. The Congress Thursday night had named Nath as Madhya Pradesh's next chief minister after hours of hectic parleys held by the party chief Rahul Gandhi with senior party leaders. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which ruled the state for 15 years, got 109 seats in the elections.
Kamal Nath meets MP Governor, date of swearing-in to be fixed
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister-designate Kamal Nath is meeting Governor Anandiben Patel on Friday and a date for his swearing-in ceremony will be fixed after that, state party Media Head Shobha Ojha said.
EU backs modest eurozone reform despite French push
EU leaders will approve a modest list of euro single currency reforms on Friday that are a far cry from the vast overhaul to the European project sought by France. The EU's heads of state and government, minus Britain, are working off proposals thrashed out by ministers during marathon talks last week, capping 18 months of stop-start negotiations. The proposals are meant to strengthen the financial plumbing of the European economy, but ignore far grander visions such as designating a eurozone finance minister or setting up a European version of the International Monetary Fund. The centrepiece will be an agreement to pursue a very scaled-back version of a eurozone budget, now referred to as a budgetary "instrument" in order to soothe the anxieties of fiscal hardliners the Netherlands. French President Emmanuel Macron, weakened by anti-government protests back home, hailed the plans as a symbolic breakthrough towards a more closely-knit European Union. "Tomorrow our conclusions will ...
Chhattisgarh: Will do as party says, Bhupesh Baghel
Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel here on Friday said that he will accept whatever responsibility his party's leadership will accord him with. Baghel is a frontrunner in the race for chief ministership in Chhattisgarh.Baghel has been Chhattisgarh president of the Congress for the last five years and took Raman Singh-led BJP government head-on in the recently concluded elections.Speaking to ANI, Baghel said, "After the elections results, the observer came here (Chhattisgarh) and had a meeting with all MLAs (Member of Legislative Assembly). It was mutually decided that the final decision will be taken by Congress high command.""Whatever responsibility leadership will give, we will follow," Baghel added.Along with Baghel, other contenders for the post are Leader of the opposition in previous state Assembly TS Singh Deo, Congress OBC wing's chief Tamradhwaj Singh and former Union minister Chandras Mahant.On December 11, the Congress party rose to power in the state after thrashing BJP and ...
Rafale deal was crystal clear from beginning: Rajnath Singh on SC verdict
Rafale deal was crystal clear from the beginning and the allegations of corruption into the deal were politically motivated, said Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh soon after the Supreme Court dismissed all the petitions seeking a court-monitored probe into the deal."The matter was crystal clear from the beginning and we have been saying that the allegations leveled by Congress were baseless and to gain political mileage," Singh told reporters in one of the first reactions by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government after the verdict.In a major relief to the central government, the top court on Friday dismissed all petitions pertaining to multi-million dollar Rafale fighter jets deal.The bench, headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, stated that there is no need to conduct an investigation in to details of Rafale pricing."We are satisfied that there is no occasion to doubt the process. Joint exercise has taken place and there is no element of financial benefits," said CJI ...
Govt seeks apology from Rahul Gandhi on Rafale issue
The treasury benches Friday mounted a counter-offensive on the opposition on the Rafale issue in Lok Sabha after the Supreme Court gave a clean chit to the deal, with the government seeking an apology from Congress chief Rahul Gandhi. As soon as the Question Hour was taken up, opposition members trooped into the Well carrying placards on various issues, including alleged scam in Rafale deal. But BJP members stood up and started raising slogans against the Congress and Gandhi. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said following the SC verdict, Rahul Gandhi should apologise. Amid loud sloganeering, around 11.10 AM, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan adjourned the House till noon. The Supreme Court Friday gave a clean chit to the Narendra Modi government on the procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets from France. The apex court said there was no occasion to doubt the decision-making process in the multi-billion dollar Rafale deal.
'Indira Gandhi 2.0': RBI coup a sign of Modi's authoritarian ways
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - When Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Urjit Patel abruptly resigned on Monday, it stunned many people in government and business circles.
Supreme Court rejects call for probe into Rafale jet deal
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The Supreme Court rejected petitions on Friday seeking an investigation into a fighter jet deal worth an estimated $8.7 billion with France's Dassault Aviation, saying there was no evidence of wrongdoing.
KCR appoints son as TRS Working President
Telangana Chief Minister and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) President K. Chandrashekhar Rao on Friday appointed his son K.T. Rama Rao as the Working President of the party.
Trump's inaugural committee under criminal investigation over
President Donald Trump's 2017 inaugural committee is being investigated by federal prosecutors in New York over allegations that it misspent funds or accepted donations in exchange for access to his administration, according to a media report. The inauguration committee had raised a record USD 107 million for expenses for Trump's inauguration and events associated with it. The Wall Street Journal on Thursday reported that the US Attorney's office in Manhattan is also investigating whether the committee accepted donations from individuals looking to gain influence in or access to the new administration. "The criminal probe by the Manhattan US attorney's office, which is in its early stages, also is examining whether some of the committee's top donors gave money in exchange for access to the incoming Trump administration, policy concessions or to influence official administration positions, some of the people said, the financial daily reported. The daily said that "giving money in ...
Protests in Japan as work to relocate US base resumes
Japan on Friday resumed work to relocate a controversial US military airbase in Okinawa, prompting protests and "strong anger" from the local governor. Okinawa residents have for years called for the relocation of a US base in a populated part of the southern island, but they want it moved elsewhere in the country, rather than to the remote site on Okinawa favoured by the government. "I can't help but feel strong anger at the start of (land reclamation), which ignores the will of the Okinawan people," governor Denny Tamaki told reporters. The recently elected governor is strongly opposed to the base being relocated within Okinawa, and raised the issue earlier this year with both Japanese government officials and on a trip to the United States. Aerial television footage showed a mountain of soil piled up on the coast of Henoko in Okinawa's Nago city being ploughed into the sea as part of land reclamation work to build the new site. Local media said protestors demonstrated at the site, .
Kamal Nath to take oath as MP CM on Dec 17
Congress leader Kamal Nath will take oath as chief minister of Madhya Pradesh on December 17, here at Lal Parade ground.Madhya PradeshCongress Committee (MPCC) chief Nath was late on Thursday announced as the chief minister of the newly elected Congress government in the state.There will not be a deputy chief minister in Madhya Pradesh.The announcement was made after a prolonged delay following the nail-biting drama which saw the Congress dethroning the former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led three-term BJP government in the state.With 114 Congress candidates elected to power, the party fell two seats short of a total majority. However, after roping in elected legislators from the BSP (2), SP (1) and four independent candidates, the Congress inflicted one of the three major losses in the Hindi heartland of the country where the BJP registered resounding wins in 2013.72-year-old Kamal will take the office of chief minister for the first time in a distinguished career in ...
Parliament Winter session Day 4: Cong moves adjournment motion over Rafale, Demonetisation, RBI
The temperature in the national capital may have plummeted to few notches with an overnight downpour, but Day 4 of the Winter Session in Parliament will be a heated one. On Friday, the Opposition Congress again moved the adjournment motion in the house over the issues of Rafale fighter jets deal, the rift between the Central government and the Reserve Bank of India, and demonetisation.Congress MP Ranjeeta Ranjan today has given the adjournment motion notice in the Lower House of the Parliament over the RBI issue and demonetisation, while the party MP Sunil Kumar Jakhar has moved one over the Rafale deal.The Winter Session of Parliament, which will have 20 sittings, began on Tuesday but the first, day was adjourned without transacting any business as a tribute to some sitting members who passed away during the inter-session period, while the second day did not see any business owing to uproar over Rafale deal.The Central government has been at the receiving end of the Opposition's ...
In plea deal, Russian woman admits to being a secret agent
A Russian gun-rights activist admitted Thursday that she was a secret agent for the Kremlin who tried to infiltrate conservative US political groups as Donald Trump rose to power. Maria Butina, 30, agreed to plead guilty to a conspiracy charge as part of a deal with federal prosecutors. "Guilty," Butina said in a slight accent when asked how she wanted to plead. Dressed in a green jail uniform with her red hair pulled into a long ponytail, Butina spoke softly and mostly kept her eyes on the judge. The Butina case has provided a vivid glimpse into Russia's influence operations in the United States at a time when the US intelligence community has determined that Russia was trying to help elect Trump by releasing emails stolen from Democrats and conducting a social media campaign in an attempt to sow political discord. The case also lays bare how Russia tried to exploit one of the most sensitive social issues in the US gun control to gain access to the political sphere. Prosecutors say .