Page 2282 - Politics
Surgical strike had a positive impact on India: Lt Gen Ranbir Singh
GOC-in-Chief Northern Command Lieutenant General Ranbir Singh on Saturday asserted that the 2016 surgical strike across the Line of Control (LoC) had a "positive impact" on the country, contradicting Lieutenant General (retired) DS Hooda who was then the Northern Army Commander."Surgical strike is one of the options available to the Army. It had a positive impact on the country and we have been able to curb terrorism to a great extent with its help," Lieutenant General Singh told ANI here.His statement is in contrast to what Lt Gen (retired) Hooda emphasised on Friday saying that the hype associated with the surgical strike was not needed. Hooda was the Northern Army Commander when India carried out the surgical strike in the wake of the Uri attack.He told ANI, "I do think there was too much hype over it. The military operation was important and we had to do it. Now how much should it have been politicised, whether it is right or wrong is something that should be asked to ...
Union Minister Kushwaha sits on fast for alloting land for KV in Bihar
Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha sat on a day-long fast here in Bihar's Aurangabad district on Saturday to protest against the state government's delay in alloting land for a Kendriya Vidyalaya.
Yemen government says rebels 'not serious' at UN talks
A Yemeni government official said Saturday that Huthi rebels were "not serious" on finding common ground to end the devastating war, three days into UN-brokered talks in Sweden. Nearly four years into a war that has pushed 14 million Yemenis to the brink of starvation, the Saudi-backed government of Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi and Huthi rebels, linked to Riyadh's archrival Iran, are in the rural town of Rimbo for what UN officials expect will be a week of negotiations. "Expectations stem from experience, and from experience I would say no, they are not serious," said Rana Ghanem, a member of the government delegation to the talks. "But our hope ... is that this will help alleviate the tension, and alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people," said Ghanem, the only woman in either delegation. The last round of talks in 2016 broke down in Kuwait after more than three months of negotiations. A plan to host the warring parties in Geneva collapsed in September after the rebels refused to leave
New head of Merkel party seeks to build bridges with rivals
Chancellor Angela Merkel's successor at the helm of Germany's main center-right party sought to consolidate her power on Saturday after a narrow victory, installing a young conservative in a key leadership post in an effort to build bridges with her rivals. Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, a Merkel ally close to her centrist stance, was elected as chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union on Friday. She narrowly defeated Friedrich Merz, a one-time Merkel rival representing a more traditionally conservative approach and a clearer break from the longtime chancellor's era. Another sometime Merkel critic, Health Minister Jens Spahn, was eliminated in earlier voting. Kramp-Karrenbauer, 56, showed Saturday that she is keen to prevent lasting divisions and give conservatives and younger members a strong voice. She nominated Paul Ziemiak, the 33-year-old leader of the party's youth wing, to serve as her general secretary the official in charge of day-to-day political strategy and the job she ..
AAP, BJP locks horns over deletion of Bania votes
The Aam Aadmi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party locked horns over alleged mass deletion of Bania votes in Delhi, with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal saying the traders community would not vote for ruling party at the Centre. With the AAP alleging deletion of four lakh Bania votes in Delhi, Union minister Vijay Goel tweeted, saying AAP was fooling them. "The Banias in Delhi are angry that Arvind Kejriwal and his party considers them as fools. If the Vaishya community will believe this that the BJP is singling them out and getting their votes deleted, when reality is that two Vaishya leaders from Delhi are ministers in the Central government," Goel tweeted. Replying to this, Kejriwal alleged that the BJP got deleted four lakh out of eight-lakh Bania votes in Delhi. "The wrong policies of the BJP like notebandi and GST devastated business of traders. Banias are not voting for the BJP. So you will get their votes deleted. Will you win like this?" Kejriwal tweeted in reply to Goel. Many
Cong leader among several political activists join BJP in J-K
Several political activists from Kishtwar, including a Congress leader, Saturday joined the BJP here and pledged to work for strengthening the party at gross-roots level, a party spokesperson said. Congress leader Pardeep Singh Parihar, former trade union leader Suresh Sharma and eight NC and PDP activists, including former sarpanches Noor Hussain and Joginder Dhar, were welcomed into the party fold by senior leaders. "Today every nationalist person is joining the BJP influenced by the strong policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led central government," said Union Minister Jitendra Singh. He said the Centre is working on every loophole that has been "left in the system since Independence" and all efforts are being made to uplift the status of neglected and rejected sections of society. "Under the strong leadership of Modi, India has witnessed phenomenal increase in its graph on global platform," he said. Welcoming the new entrants into the party fold, Jammu and Kashmir BJP ...
Modi has no shame in using military as personal asset: Rahul
Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of using the 2016 surgical strike on terrorist camps for "political capital" and said he has "absolutely no shame in using the military as a personal asset".
BJP will definitely win in Chattisgarh, MP and Rajasthan: TN
The BJP would definitely win the state assembly elections in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, the party's Tamil Nadu president Tamilisai Soundarajan said Saturday. "The party has given good corruption-free governance in these states and it will definitely win," she told reporters at the airport here when asked about the exit polls for assembly elections in five states predicting a tight finish between the BJP and the Congress in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, and a win for the opposition party in Rajasthan. The exit polls also predicted that the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) in Telangana will retain power, but forecast a hung assembly in Mizoram, where the Congress is in power. It would also win in Mizoram despite the outcome of exit polls, she claimed. On the comments by CPI leader Mutharasan that Lotus (BJP Symbol) would not bloom in Tamil Nadu, she said he should not be bothered about the BJP as it is ruling in 19 states as against one by Left ..
Surgical strikes were a successful tactical operation: Army's Northern Command chief
The 2016 surgical strikes were a successful tactical operation which conveyed a clear message to Pakistan to stop any misadventure along the Line of Control (LoC), Army's Northern Command Chief Lt Gen Ranbir Singh said on Saturday. His comments came a day after Lt Gen (retd) D S Hooda, who was associated with the operation, said it was natural to have initial euphoria over the success but the constant hype around the surgical strikes was unwarranted. In hindsight, it would have been better had we had kept it a secret, he had said on Friday at an event in Chandigarh. On September 29, 2016, Indian Army commandos had carried out surgical strikes against terror launch pads across the LoC in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. "From military point of view, these were successful tactical operations, which conveyed a very strategic message and the Indian Army was able to convey a very clear message to Pakistan that should they not stop any kind of misadventure along the LoC, they shall be given ...
Glad key people shedding fear, breaking silence on govt decisions: Chidambaram
Congress leader P Chidambaram on Saturday said it was heartening that persons who were in key posts in the government were "shedding their fear and breaking silence" on important policies and decisions. His reaction came a day after Lieutenant General (Retd) D S Hooda, who was the Northern Army commander when the surgical strikes were carried out on September 29, 2016 across the Line of Control, said that there was "too much hype" over the operation and it was politicised. In a series of tweets, Chidambaram said it was former Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) Arvind Subramanian, who first broke his silence by terming demonetisation a "massive monetary shock". The former finance minister said that after Subramanian, the recently-retired Chief Election Commissioner O P Rawat said demonetisation had no impact on the use of black money in elections. Now, it is Hooda, who has "decried the hype over the so-called 'surgical strike' and its politicisation by government", Chidambaram said, adding,
Peaceful polling in J&K panchayat polls 8th phase
Peaceful polling was recorded on Saturday in the 8th phase of the panchayat elections in Jammu and Kashmir, a poll official said.
BJP in state of extreme panic, sensing defeats in Assembly polls: Cong
The Congress hit out at the government Saturday over ED raids against Robert Vadra's associates, alleging that the Modi dispensation was using "high-handed tactics" to threaten people as it was in a "state of panic of the highest degree" sensing poll defeats. At a press conference at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters here, party spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi also alleged that there was never such a "terror raj" in the "constitutional rule" of India. "We fought the British Raj and the BJP would do well to know that the day of judgement will come for it," he said. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) carried out searches against three persons linked to Congress leader Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra Friday. "They are afraid of the Congress and its values, so they are threatening people and using high-handed tactics against those who are relatives of our leaders or are associated with them," Singhvi said. "This is called character assassination by innuendos and
Rouhani warns weakened Iran less able to fight trafficking
President Hassan Rouhani on Saturday warned Western countries that they will face a massive influx of drugs if Iran becomes weakened by US sanctions. Rouhani spoke in Tehran at a six-nation conference on fighting terrorism attended by parliament speakers of Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, Turkey, China and Russia. In remarks broadcast on state TV, Rouhani said a weakened Iran would be less able to fight drug trafficking. "Weakening Iran by sanctions, many will not be safe," he said. "Those who do not believe us, it is good to look at the map." Iran lies on a major drug route between Afghanistan and Europe and the Persian Gulf states. Afghanistan is the world's largest producer of opium with its Helmand Province being the biggest opium-producing region. Opium is the raw material for heroin and Afghan farmers harvest about 80 per cent of the world's supply, according to UN reports. Iran's economy is reeling after the US re-imposed sanctions lifted under Tehran's nuclear deal with world ...
India, US partners in defence, says commander as Sitharaman tours Hawaii military facilities
India and the US are global partners in defence and regional security, a top American commander has said, as Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman toured the headquarters of the strategic Indo-Pacific command in Hawaii before concluding her maiden visit to America. Sitharaman described her US visit as part of her endeavour to "take forward the bilateral defence cooperation". Noting that the India-US relationship in defence has acquired the dimensions of a strategic partnership over the last decade, she said that the two countries have made considerable progress. Sitharaman capped off her trip with a visit to Hawaii the headquarters of what early this year was rechristened as US Indo-Pacific Command. The US calls Asia Pacific as Indo-Pacific. It has renamed Pacific Command as Indo-Pacific Command or INDOPACOM. "Our two democratic nations are committed to upholding a rules-based international order which has brought decades of peace, stability and prosperity. We are global partners on ...
MP CM Chouhan calls himself 'biggest pollster', predicts BJP win
As the exit polls predicted a tight race with the Congress, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday expressed confidence that the BJP would win a comfortable majority in the Assembly election to form a government for the fourth consecutive time "I am the biggest surveyor (pollster) as I remain in the midst of public all day long. The BJP is set to romp home," Chouhan told reporters after visiting the famous Shree Pitambara Peeth temple here. He was asked about exit polls predicting a close fight between the BJP and the Congress. "We have got the blessings of every section of society in the elections and we are on the way to win the polls," he claimed. The state went to polls on November 28 and results for the 230-member House will be declared on December 11. "Abki baar, 200 par (this time, over 200 seats)," Chouhan said repeating the BJP's slogan for the MP polls. "I have come to seek the blessing of goddess Pitambara for the well being of Madhya Pradesh," the
Indian-origin MP under fire over Brexit remarks
A prominent Indian-origin Brexiteer MP has come under pressure over her suggestion that potential food shortages between borders could be used as leverage to secure a better deal from the EU, ahead of a crucial vote in the UK Parliament next week over Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal. Priti Patel, one of the most vocal Conservative Party MPs opposed to May's deal, was reacting to a leaked UK government report indicating that there could be food shortages in Ireland in the event of a no-deal Brexit. It said the economic impact on Ireland would be worse than in the UK. "This paper appears to show the government were well aware Ireland will face significant issues in a no-deal scenario. Why hasn't this point been pressed home during negotiations," she told 'The Times' in reference to the report. "There is still time to go back to Brussels and get a better deal," she said. However, some Opposition party MPs reacted to it as a veiled threat to the UK's neighbouring country of ...
NCP slams Maha over Rs 500 cr loan from Shirdi temple trust
The NCP has accused the BJP-led Maharashtra government of "meddling" into the affairs of temples, days after the state administration inked an MoU seeking a Rs 500 crore "interest free" loan from Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust (SSST) for constructing a dam canal network. The Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Council Dhananjay Munde also alleged that seeking loan from temples is indicative of "fiscal bankruptcy" of the state government. "The government's move to seek Rs 500 crore loan from the SSST is unfortunate because the government claims to have ample of funds for the Sammruddhi corridor and Bullet Train projects," the Nationalist Congress Party leader told PTI Friday. Recently, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the SSST and the Godawari-Marathwada Irrigation Development Corporation (GMIDC) for the Rs 500 crore credit. Nilwande dam is located on the Pravara River and is expected to benefit 182 villages in Sangamner, Akole, Rahata,
Injunction order extended against dissolution of Sri Lankan Parliament
Sri Lanka's Supreme Court has extended the injunction order against the dissolution of Sri Lankan Parliament while suspending the Gazette notification by President Maithripala Sirisena until the judgment is deliveredThe apex court heard arguments on Friday on petitions filed by political parties against the dissolution for four consecutive days.According to Colombo Page, Chief Justice Nalin Perera headed seven-Judge bench of the Supreme Court which previously passed an interim order to December 8, further extended the order until the pronouncement of the verdict on December 10.During the court hearing, President Counsel Kanag Ishwaran appearing for R Sampanthan presented submissions to the bench.He pointed out that the President had immunity from civil and criminal cases under Article 35 of the Constitution which was, however, restricted under the 19th Amendment to the Constitution.He further added that the 19th Amendment provided the right under the Fundamental Rights to prosecute ...
Revealing Parrikar's health condition in public will breach privacy law: Goa Chief Secy
Goa Chief Secretary Dharmendra Sharma on Saturday filed an affidavit stating that disclosing the health status of Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar would tantamount to breaching his privacy as an individual. The affidavit was filed in response to the Congress party's petition claiming that Goa is facing a leadership crisis due to Parrikar's ill health."There cannot be any larger public interest in disclosing the personal details of any person. I say that the health problems of a person cannot be subjected to scrutiny as the same amounts to unwarranted invasion on the privacy of a person. I say that if the contentions of the Petitioner are accepted, the same will set a very dangerous precedent where everybody\anybody will start asking for all medical records of persons occupying high offices using the masquerade of public interest. I say that it will be impossible to draw a line on what health problem, howsoever minor or major, should be disclosed to the public", the Chief Secretary's ...
Nearly 300 detained as Paris braces for 'yellow vest' protests
Paris police detained nearly 300 people Saturday ahead of fresh anti-government "yellow vest" protests which authorities fear could turn violent for a third weekend in a row. Clad in their luminous road safety jackets, dozens of demonstrators -- who accuse President Emmanuel Macron of only looking out for the rich -- gathered at dawn on the Champs-Elysees, the scene last Saturday of the worst rioting in Paris for decades. "We had to come to Paris to be heard," said protester Herve Benoit, arriving with three friends from the Dordogne in western France. He called on the government to boost people's spending power and increase taxes on the wealthiest. By 8.40 am (0740 GMT) police had already detained 278 people. Some 8,000 police were deployed, carrying out checks on people arriving at train stations and at protest hotspots such as the Champs-Elysees and Bastille monument. A source close to the operation told AFP that at least 34 people were arrested for carrying masks, hammers, ...