Page 231 - Politics
Huge Hong Kong protest against China extradition law
Huge protest crowds thronged Hong Kong on Sunday as anger swells over plans to allow extradition to China, a proposal that has sparked the biggest public backlash against the city's pro-Beijing leadership in years. Tens of thousands of people marched in blazing summer heat through the cramped streets of the financial hub's main island in a noisy, colourful demonstration calling on the government to scrap its planned extradition law. The city's pro-Beijing leaders are pushing a bill through the legislature that would allow extraditions to any jurisdiction with which it does not already have a treaty -- including mainland China for the first time. Coffee shop owner Marco Ng said he was closing his store to join the march. "Our city matters more than our business," the 26-year-old told AFP. "If we don't speak out, then there's no way that the government will listen to our concerns." "The people's voices are not being heard," added 18-year-old student Ivan Wong. "This bill will not just ..
Rahul picks holes in PM's 'Kerala dear to me' remark, accuses him of bias
Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday sought to dismiss Prime Minister Naredra Modi's assertion that Kerala was as dear to him as Varanasi, alleging that the PM was meting out stepmotherly treatment to non-BJP-ruled states and he did not expect any cooperation from him. In his speech, thanking the voters of the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency for electing him, Gandhi claimed that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was blinded by "hatred and anger" and viewed those not following the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) ideology as not Indians, while vowing to fight it. He was addressing a gathering at Engapuzha near here, a tiny town in Kozhikode district and part of his Lok Sabha constituency, after a roadshow on the third and final day of his thanksgiving visit to Wayanad. "The prime minister considers BJP-ruled states and non-BJP ruled states differently. I know, he will never consider Kerala the way he considers Uttar Pradesh because the CPI(M) is ruling here," he said, ...
Want to know information under the RTI? MP govt asks applicant to tell file number first
The Madhya Pradesh government has asked an RTI applicant to provide details like file number and date to get information on appointments of non-government officials in the chief minister's office. The unusual response from the state government has been sent to anti-corruption activist Ajay Dubey who had filed an application seeking details of appointments to non-government posts in the office of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath. You have not mentioned any specific person or file number, (or) date (of it) while seeking the information. Therefore, there is difficulty in providing the information,the response of the state general administration department, which was in Hindi, read. Rajendra Miglani has been appointed as adviser to the Chief Minister Kamal Nath and Sanjay Kumar Shrivastava as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) on contractual basis. They are considered to be close aides of the chief minister and are private persons. Some officers are reportedly miffed over private ...
17 IAS officers transferred, reshuffled in UP
The Uttar Pradesh government has transferred and reshuffled 17 administrative officials across the state.
PM gives priority to BJP-ruled states: Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad
Lauding Kerala for accommodating diverse political ideologies, Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi gives priority to BJP-ruled states over those governed by opposition parties."I know that the Prime Minister will not treat Kerala as he treats Uttar Pradesh. He came here and said that Kerala is alike Varanasi. But I know (it is not) because CPM is ruling here. He will not treat it as a normal state. The PM gives priority to BJP ruled states over states ruled by other parties," Gandhi said during a roadshow here.Addressing a gathering in Kerala's Guruvayur, Modi had on Saturday sai, "Ones who voted to victory are ours and those who missed an opportunity to make us winner are also ours. Kerala is as ours as Varanasi."The Congress president also added that his party will put a fight against Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and not let the BJP's ideological mentor remote-control the CPM-ruled state."For Modi, either you follow the ideology of RSS or you are not Indian. We ..
PM Modi plants Ashoka sapling at Lankan President's House
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday planted a sapling of an evergreen Ashoka tree at the President's House here along with Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena. Prime Minister Modi arrived in Sri Lanka on the second leg of his first foreign visit after re-election last month, reflecting the importance India attaches to its 'Neighbourhood First' policy. Modi was welcomed by Sirisena at the Presidential Secretariat, where the prime minister planted a sapling of the Ashoka tree. A plaque was also put aside the sapling that read 'Asoka Saraca asoca', planted by Prime Minister Modi in Colombo on June 9, 2019. President Sirisena also introduced his cabinet ministers to Prime Minister Modi. Earlier, Prime Minister Modi was accorded a ceremonial reception at the President's House. He arrived in Colombo from Maldives where he held wide-ranging talks with Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih on Saturday. Modi's visit to Maldives and Sri Lanka demonstrates the priority that India ...
Para commando killed in accidental firing in J&K
An Army para commando was killed in accidental firing on Sunday in Jammu and Kashmir's Ganderbal district, police sources said.
Integration of Brahmos missiles on Sukhoi jets to be fast-tracked
Weeks after the Balakot air strikes, the government decided to fast-track integration of the Brahmos supersonic cruise missile on over 40 Sukhoi fighter jets, a closely guarded strategic project aimed at bolstering combat capability of the Indian Air Force, official sources said Sunday. They said the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) and the BrahMos Aerospace Ltd were told to expedite implementation of the project so that it can be completed much before the scheduled deadline of December 2020. In 2016, the government had decided to integrate the air-launched variant of the Brahmos, the world's fastest supersonic cruise missile, into over 40 Sukhoi fighter jets. Though actual work on the project started by end of 2017, its implementation has been very slow, the sources said. A review on ways to strengthen the IAF was carried out in the backdrop of the Balakot air strikes and subsequent Pakistani retaliation and it was felt that the early integration of Brahmos on Sukhoi jet should be a ..
BJP-Trinamool clash: Bengal MP Nusrat appeals for peace
A day after violent clashes erupted between the Trinamool Congress and BJP workers in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas in which at least eight people from both parties were feared dead, Basirhat Lok Sabha MP Nusrat Jahan on Sunday appealed for peace.
Amit Shah meets Haryana, Jharkhand and Maharashtra leaders in view of assembly elections
After registering a massive victory in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, Union Home Minister and BJP president Amit Shah on Sunday called on a meeting of core groups of Haryana, Maharashtra and Jharkhand to strategise for the assembly polls scheduled to take place in the said states later this year.The meeting is taking place in the BJP head office in the national capital.Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar, National General Secretary Ramlal along with other BJP leaders are present in the meeting.Further details are awaited.
In BJP, tea seller is PM, newspaper hawker party chief and
The BJP is a party where a tea seller can become the prime minister, a newspaper hawker is made the president and a man living in a hut can get an opportunity to serve the people as their representative, Union minister Pratap Sarangi has said. "This is the speciality about BJP," Sarangi said on Saturday while speaking at a function here where he and Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan were felicitated by the party on their first visit to Odisha after taking over as Union ministers. Stressing that he has been given a big responsibility by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sarangi said the prime minister has shown his trust in him. "It is my duty to justify his trust," the Lok Sabha member from Balasore, who stands apart from a typical politician due to his simplicity and austere living. Asserting that he never craved for a ministerial berth, the Union minister said that the post has given him a new responsibility to serve the people and it is not simply a status to ...
Anti-Corruption Bureau sleuths raid J&K Bank headquarters again
Anti-corruption bureau sleuths, who are looking into allegations of fraudulent appointments in the Jammu and Kashmir Bank, Sunday again raided the financial institution's corporate headquarters here, officials said. On Saturday, searches were carried out at the bank's headquarters at M A Road, soon after Parvez Ahmad was removed as its chairman by the state government. The bureau is looking for records of nearly 1200 appointments made allegedly at the behest of political masters of the previous PDP-BJP dispensation in the state during Ahmad's tenure as chairman, the officials said. They said the bureau has registered a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act on the basis of a complaint on illegal and fraudulent appointments made in the bank. The bureau's sleuths conducted searches at the J&K Bank's headquarters along with police personnel this morning, the officials said. They said the ACB officials were checking files and documents related to the appointments. The government .
Amit Shah seeks report on West Bengal violence
The Union Home Minister Amit Shah sought a report from the West Bengal government on the incident of violence between the BJP and TMC workers at North 24 Parganas district on Saturday in which reportedly 5 BJP and 1 TMC worker lost their lives."Union Home Minister has asked for a report from the state government and I am sure Centre will take this up seriously. There is a lot of anger among the people over the incident," said Kailash Vijayvargiya, BJP National General Secretary.Four workers of the BJP were shot dead by members of the TMC in Basirhat's Sandeshkhali, BJP leader Mukul Roy has alleged. The deaths took place on Saturday during a clash between workers of the two parties in the city of North 24 Parganas. The removal of party flags had triggered the fight."TMC goons attacked BJP workers and 4 of our workers were shot dead in Sandeshkhali, Basirhat. Their leader and Chief Minister is indulging in a reign of terror, we have sent a message to Home Minister Amit Shah ji, Kailash .
Will continue to serve NE people, expand NPP's base in other
A day after the EC granted the NPP the status of a national party, its president and Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma has asserted that his party would never compromise on the aspirations of northeast people, while trying to expand its base beyond the region. Addressing the party's first northeast co-ordination committee meeting here on Saturday, Sangma said the National People's Party (NPP) aims to take part in the country's policy-making decisions and work for the voiceless and the marginalized sections. "Our motto and mission to serve the people of northeast will always be of supreme importance, as we begin a fresh chapter to expand our footprint in new regions and strengthen our organization in the states where we already have a presence," he said. An ally of the BJP in Meghalaya, the Sangma-led party on Friday became the first political outfit in the northeast to have earned the tag of a national party. It has been recognised as a state party by Election ...
Rahul meets Kerala nurse who held him in her hands as a baby
It was a special moment for 72-year-old Rajamma Vavathil, a retired nurse, when Congress president Rahul Gandhi hugged and held her hand here on Sunday, 49 years after she took him in her hands as a newborn at a Delhi hospital. Vavathil could not contain her happiness and excitement at meeting Gandhi, whose birth she had witnessed, as a grown-up man and the Member of Parliament from her Wayanad constituency in Kerala. The Gandhi scion hugged her and held her hand when Vavathil and her family came to meet him at a guest house here in the morning. Amidst his busy schedule, Gandhi, on a thanksgiving visit to Wayanad, which has sent him to Parliament this time with a massive victory margin of 4.31 lakh votes, spent some time with Vavathil's family. Besides, the Congress chief obliged some party workers and their kin by posing for photographs with them. As a trainee nurse, Vavathil had taken care of Gandhi at Delhi's Holy Family Hospital after his birth on June 19, 1970. The Congress chief
Nirmala to hold first pre-budget meet with farm groups Tuesday
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will hold her first pre-budget consultation meeting with farm bodies and agricultural experts on Tuesday amid delayed monsoon and drought in some states like Maharasthra. This would be the first interaction of Sitharaman, who took over as India's first full-time woman finance minister last month, after the BJP-led NDA government won the second term. Sitharaman will be presenting the Modi 2.0 government's first full budget on July 5. According to sources, the Finance Minister in the meeting would seek the views of different agriculture organisations and farm economists on ways to boost the farm sector growth and double farmers' income. The special focus will be on giving a boost to allied farm activities such as fishery, poultry and animal husbandry. It may be noted that the government has created a separate fishery department and appointed a cabinet rank minister to promote the allied farm sector. Most of the farm bodies have already submitted their
Rare reunion: Rahul meets Rajamma, his delivery nurse
It was a reunion after a gap of almost 49 years when Congress President Rahul Gandhi hugged Rajamma, who was his delivery nurse at a hospital in Delhi way back in 1970.
Polling for Presidential elections underway in Kazakhstan
Astana [Kazakhstan], Jun 9 (ANI): Kicking-off the high stakes presidential elections, polling opened at 7 am across Kazakhstan on Sunday.Former President Nursultan Nazarbayev cast his vote in the morning and interacted with the locals present at the polling station. He has been the President of the nation since Kazakhstan's independence in 1992 to March 2019. He is not running for the post this time.After Nazarbayev resigned from the post earlier this year, the Presidentship was transferred to the Speaker of the Senate (Upper house), Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who announced early presidential elections.While Kazakhstan has seen many elections after independence, this is the first time in almost thirty years that the country will see a new candidate coming to power.In his address to the nation as interim President, Tokayev announced that the presidential elections would be conducted earlier than anticipated. Seven candidates from different political parties and public associations -- ...
WB: After killing of workers, BJP delegation to visit Sandeshkhali
In the wake of the killing of four party workers, a BJP delegation on Sunday will fly to Sandeshkhali later in the day to take stock of the situation and brief Home Minister Amit Shah on the matter.Members of the delegation include - Mukul Roy, Sayantan Basu (General Secretary), Locket Chatterjee (MP), Jagannath Sarkar (MP), Shantanu Thakur (MP), Arjun Singh (MP), Dulal Bar (MLA).The BJP has alleged that TMC workers were behind the killing. Reportedly, a member of the TMC has also died.The deaths took place on Saturday during a clash between workers of the two parties in the Basirhat city of North 24 Parganas district. Removal of party flags had triggered the fight.BJP's Mukul Roy alleged that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has unleashed a "reign of terror" in West Bengal."TMC goons attacked BJP workers and 4 of our workers were shot dead in Sandeshkhali, Basirhat. Their leader and Chief Minister is indulging in a reign of terror, we have sent a message to Home Minister Amit Shah ji, .
BJP workers, supporters want Giriraj as next Bihar CM
BJP workers and supporters of Union Minister and party leader Giriraj Singh want him to be next Bihar Chief Minister.