Page 244 - Politics
BJP will better Congress' governance record: Ram Madhav
The Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP government would better the Congress record of ruling at the Centre for 27 consecutive years (1950-77) and go on to celebrate the centenary of Indian independence, BJP leader Ram Madhav said on Friday.
Government approaches Sonia ahead of Parliament session, 10 ordinances on agenda
With heavy legislative agenda that includes 10 ordinances, the government on Friday reached out to UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi to seek her cooperation in smooth running of the Parliament session with three Union ministers visiting her 10 Janpath residence.
Cong-NCP should explain 'VBA is BJP's B-team' jibe: Ambedkar
Vachit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) leader Prakash Ambedkar said Friday that it won't discuss possibility of alliance with the Congress and NCP until the two parties came clear on their accusation that VBA was the BJP's "B- team". He also said that several of the candidates who had contested the 2014 Maharashtra Assembly polls were in touch with him ahead of the coming state elections. "They (Congress-NCP) had labeled us the 'B team' of the BJP. We had to contest the (Lok Sabha) polls (on our own) because you (Congress and NCP) were not ready to adjust," Ambedkar said at a press conference here. "They should then first explain what our actual status is. There cannot be any discussion (on alliance for assembly polls) till you explain that," he said. Ambedkar also said that his party, Bharip Bahujan Mahasangh (BBM), would contest the Assembly polls in alliance with the AIMIM, as in the Lok Sabha elections. The VBA, formed by Ambedkar and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, contested all
Theresa May formally resigns, to act as PM until new Conservative leader elected
British Prime Minister Theresa May Friday formally resigned as the leader of the ruling Conservative Party, paving the way for a keen contest to decide a new premier who will take charge of the UK's tough divorce negotiations with the European Union. May, who had stepped down amid mounting pressure over her repeatedly defeated Brexit deal, will continue as acting prime minister until the party has elected her successor, who will then take charge as the premier. May, 62, handed in her private resignation letter to the backbench 1922 Committee, two weeks after announcing her intention to leave, the BBC reported. The committee said it was now inviting nominations from those Conservative MPs "who wish to stand for election as the next party leader". There are so far 11 hopefuls, including frontrunner Boris Johnson, the former foreign secretary. The other key contenders are foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt and environment secretary Michael Gove. The winner of the contest is expected to be ...
IAF inks Rs 300 crore deal to procure Spice bombs from Israel
The Indian Air Force has signed a Rs 300 crore deal with a Israeli defence firm to procure a batch of SPICE 2000 guided bombs, official sources said Friday. The IAF had used SPICE bombs in its strikes on a terrorist training camp in Pakistan's Balakot on February 26. Sources said the order for the bombs has been placed under the special financial powers given to the armed forces by the government for emergency purchases. The deal was signed with Israel's Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and the bombs are expected to be supplied in the next three months, the sources said. IAF fighter jets bombed terror group JeM's training camp in Balakot deep inside Pakistan. The Indian strike on the JeM camp came 12 days after the terror group claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama in which 40 soldiers were killed. Following the Pulwama attack, the government granted emergency powers to the three services to procure weapons and military hardware to .
EC seeks report after SAD complains of transfer order violation
The Election Commission has sought a report from the Punjab government on a complaint filed by the SAD against an IPS officer for continuing as a member of an SIT despite the poll panel's transfer order. The Shiromani Akali Dal had approached the commission on Tuesday, seeking action against Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, claiming that he continued to work as a member of the special investigation team (SIT) probing the 2015 sacrilege and police-firing incidents. The poll body had in April ordered the Indian Police Service officer to be shifted to some other department during the Lok Sabha election. In a letter addressed to the Punjab chief secretary, the commission asked him to send a detailed report on the SAD's complaint of "non-compliance" of the panel's transfer order of Singh. The SAD delegation, led by Rajya Sabha MP Balwinder Singh Bhunder, had claimed that the inspector general-rank officer continued to be a member of the SIT despite the government submitting a compliance ...
MP bureaucrat gives office ACs to NRCs to help children
A senior government official in Madhya Pradesh removed four air-conditioners from his cabin and meeting hall and got them installed in four nutrition rehabilitation centres (NRCs) in order to help children there beat the heatwave. Umaria district collection Swarochish Somvanshi Friday installed the four ACs in NRCs at Umaria, Pali, Manpur and Chandia in the district. Somvanshi appealed to the people to come forward and help the children, adding that such acts bring "bountiful joy".
Naveen nominates Dy Speaker, appoints Dy chief whip for Odisha
Ruling BJD president Naveen Patnaik Friday nominated former minister and MLA Rajanikant Singh as the regional party's candidate for the post of Deputy Speaker in the Odisha Legislative Assembly. Similarly, Patnaik, who is also the Chief Minister of Odisha, appointed Dharmasala MLA, Pranab Balabantaray, as the Deputy Chief Whip in the Assembly, the General Secretary of BJD, Bijay Nayak, said. The ruling BJD has 111 MLAs in the 147-member Odisha Assembly, the BJP has 23 legislators and nine MLAs belong to Congress. The CPI(M) and the Independent have one MLA each, while two seats are vacant at present. Election is pending in Patkura Assembly segment, while the Bijepur seat has been vacated by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. Patnaik was elected from both Hinjili and Bijepur Assembly segments in the recently held Assembly elections in the state. Earlier, the ruling party has elected Digapahandi MLA and former minister Surjya Narayan Patro as the Speaker of the Assembly.
Mexico tariffs set to take effect Monday despite 'progress' in talks: White House
The US intends to apply punitive tariffs on imports from Mexico on Monday despite progress in talks for a crackdown on migrants, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said Friday. "Our position hasn't changed," Sanders told reporters abord Air Force One in Europe. "They've made a lot of progress," she said. "The meetings have gone well, but as of now we're still on track for tariffs on Monday.
Maha fixes 30-minute lunch slot for govt staff
The Maharashtra government has issued a circular fixing a 30-minute slot for lunch between 1 pm and 2 pm during working days for its employees across the state. The slot has been fixed in view of complaints that officers and staffers remained unavailable to people citing lunch time and, thereby, delaying work, a government circular dated June 4 stated. The government had, in September 2001, fixed half-an- hour slot between 1 pm and 2 pm for its officials and staffers at Mantralaya (state secretariat) here. However, there was no fixed lunch time for other government offices in the state. The timing will be applicable to employees across all government offices in the state. "Office heads should ensure that officers/staffers will not take more time (than the stipulated 30 minutes) for lunch and that all the officers/staffers in a branch do not go for lunch at the same time," the circular further said.
Qatar emir to visit White House amid Gulf tensions
Qatar Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani will meet President Donald Trump next month as the country continues to endure the two-year economic squeeze from its US-backed Gulf Arab rivals, the White House announced Friday. The emir will meet Trump in Washington on July 9 for talks on regional politics, security and counterterrorism cooperation, according to the announcement, amid a US effort to build pressure on Gulf power Iran. "The visit will build on the longstanding partnership between the United States and Qatar and further strengthen our already substantial economic and security ties," the White House said. Washington has sought to keep up relations with Qatar, an oil-and-gas rich state which has maintained cordial relations with Tehran even as other Gulf Arab states led by Saudi Arabia have cooperated with Trump's "maximum pressure" campaign against Iran. For two years Saudi Arabia and its allies the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt have barred Qatari flights from their airports and ...
First meeting of council of ministers on June 12
The first meeting of the new council of ministers will be held on June 12, sources said Friday. All the 57 Union Ministers have been invited to the meeting, which will be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. According to the sources, the meeting is likely to deliberate on the action plan of the government for the next five years. Modi is expected to brief the ministers on the matter, they said. On the same day, a meeting of the Union Cabinet will also be held, they said. The meeting of council of ministers was a regular feature in the previous government, where the prime minister used to brief the ministers about the government's various welfare schemes and how to make people aware about them. In its first cabinet, the Modi government had approved the extension of PM-KISAN scheme to cover all farmers. Under the scheme, a farmer household gets an income support of Rs 6,000 per year in three equal instalments.
Sidhu goes incommunicado, speculation over his next move
A day after he was divested of key portfolios in a cabinet rejig, Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu went incommunicado, fuelling speculation on whether he will take charge of his new assignment. The cricketer-turned-politician and his wife Navjot Kaur stayed away from the media on Friday. An aide refused to divulge any details about the minister amid speculation over Sidhu's next move. Amid a tussle with Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, Sidhu was stripped of his local government, tourism and cultural affairs portfolios in the Punjab cabinet reshuffle Thursday. He was given the Power and New and Renewable Energy Sources Department. The reshuffle, in which portfolios of most ministers were changed, took place hours after Sidhu skipped a cabinet meeting. Instead, he chose to address the media at his official residence on Thursday. Sidhu had said that his department was "singled out publicly" for the Lok Sabha loss, asserting that he could not be taken for granted as he had been a ...
Australian Broadcasting Corporation head concerned by police raid
The head of Australia's public broadcaster says she has "grave concern" about a police raid on the corporation's headquarters in connection with a 2017 story based on leaked documents that indicated the country's military forces were being investigated for possible war crimes in Afghanistan. Australian Broadcasting Corporation chairwoman Ita Buttrose said on Friday the raid in Sydney on Wednesday was "clearly designed to intimidate". Buttrose said she had a "frank conversation" with a government minister and that: "As ABC chair, I will fight any attempts to muzzle the national broadcaster." The Sydney raid came a day after federal police searched the Canberra home of a News Corp journalist over a 2018 story detailing an alleged government proposal to spy on Australians. ABC is a client of The Associated Press.
Pawar meets Fadnavis, discusses drought in Maharashtra
NCP chief Sharad Pawar met Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis here Friday and discussed the drought situation in the state, the party said. This was the second meeting between the two leaders within a month over the issue of drought. Apart from Pawar, his daughter and Baramati MP Supriya Sule, nephew and senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar and others attended the meeting at the Sahyadri government guest house here. Pawar had visited parts of Baramati tehsil in Pune district recently to take a stock of the drought situation and raised his concerns during Friday's meeting, the NCP said in a statement. "Fodder camps for cattle should not be closed. Not enough water is being supplied by tankers. We demanded that government take necessary steps," it quoted Ajit Pawar, former deputy chief minister, as saying. Issues related to the newly-set up government medical college in Baramati also figured in the discussion, the statement added.
AAP govt's outcome budget puts September 2020 deadline for free wi-fi project
The current Aam Aadmi Party government will not be able to fulfil the promise of providing free wi-fi facility to Delhiites as the Arvind Kejriwal dispensation's Outcome Budget has set September 2020 deadline for commissioning of the service across the city. Assembly elections in Delhi are expected to be held later this year or early next year. According to the Outcome Budget, released by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Friday, tender for the project will be awarded by December 31, 2019. According to the Outcome Budget for the Public Works Department, which is responsible for executing the project in the city, the expected date for issue of request for proposals (RFP) is September 30, 2019, which was earlier June 30, 2018. The PWD said in the outcome budgetary document that the expected date for commissioning of wi-fi hotspots at pilot stage has been set for March 31, 2020. "The expected date for commissioning of Wi-Fi hotspots at all places of Delhi is September 30, 2020," it
Moily wants coordination panel to consult Cong, JDS leaders
Amid the rumblings in the ruling coalition in Karnataka, senior Congress leader M Veerappa Moily Friday said the coordination committee members should take decisions in consultation with the JDS leaders to ensure smooth functioning of the government. He rued that even after a year of the JDS-Congress ministry formation, the committee headed by former chief minister Siddaramaiah could not prepare a common minimum programme (CMP) for the smooth functioning of the government. "The coordination committee should take decisions with the involvement of Congress leaders and JDS President. That kind of flexibility should be built at all levels including taluka, district, state... for smooth functioning of coalition government. Unfortunately, this is not happening," he told PTI in an interview here. He was responding to a question on the resignation of JDS state PresidentA H Vishwanath, who was locked in public spat in recent weeks with Siddaramaiah over his functioning as the ...
MoS Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy receives grand welcome in Hyderabad
Minister of State (MoS) for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy on Friday received a grand welcome at the Begumpet Airport on his first visit after taking charge as minister at the Centre.BJP workers gathered in huge numbers to welcome Reddy, who has been elected from Secunderabad constituency where he defeated Talasani Sai Kiran Yadav of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) by 62,114 votes.In Telangana, BJP won four Lok Sabha seats out 17 seats in the Lok Sabha polls.
BJD nominates Rajanikant Singh as deputy speaker
The ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Friday nominated Angul MLA Rajanikant Singh as deputy speaker of Odisha legislative assembly.
N Gopalaswami appointed BCCI's electoral officer
Supreme Court appointed CoA on Friday announced N Gopalaswami as the BCCI's electoral officer to supervise the elections of the cricketing board and the Indian Cricketers Association.Gopalaswami is a former Chief Election Commissioner of India and he will be operating from the BCCI headquarters from here.On May 21, the CoA had announced that BCCI elections would be held on October 22, 2019.It had been announced earlier that the electoral officer would be appointed by June 30.The electoral protocol for the BCCI elections will be prepared by the electoral officer in consultation with the CoA and will be communicated to all state associations.The appointment of the electoral officer will be done by the respective State Association on July 1.By August 14, the process of preparation of the list of members, protocol and electoral roll of the State Associations by the electoral officer will be completed.The elections of the state associations will be completed on September 14.The names of ...