Page 2450 - Politics
Airbnb to remove listings in Israel's West Bank settlements
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Home-renting company Airbnb Inc said on Monday it would remove listings in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, a move Israel called a "wretched capitulation" to boycotters and Palestinians hailed as a step towards peace.
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan focus at World Toilet Summit in Mumbai
The government's Swachh Bharat Abhiyan cleanliness campaign was the focus at the World Toilet Summit held here Monday. The event was held by the World Toilet Organization, a global non-profit body, which aims to provide sustainable and affordable sanitation solutions to eradicate open defecation practises in the world. The summit theme was "Can the world be open defecation free by 2030", a release said. In a video message to the gathering, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the state has become 100 per cent open defecation free, 55 per cent of which was covered after his government came to power in 2014. The World Health Organization estimates that about 2.3 billion people in the world do not have access to clean, safe and reliable toilets, the release said. This number is 732 million in India, it added. Jack Sim, founder of World Toilet Organization, said, "We believe in the necessity of a comprehensive behavioural change strategy to focus on bringing the
Qatar escalates WTO dispute over alleged Saudi IP violation
GENEVA (Reuters) - Qatar has escalated a dispute against Saudi Arabia at the World Trade Organisation, a WTO filing showed on Monday, with a request for adjudication of its complaint that Saudi Arabia had violated its intellectual property rights.
Smriti Irani announces sops for Amethi, targets Rahul
Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani on Monday announced sops for Amethi, the parliamentary constituency of Congress President Rahul Gandhi.
Ola, Uber drivers have called off strike: Dhananjay Munde
The drivers of cab aggregators Ola and Uber have called off their strike on the assurance of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnvais, NCP leader Dhananjay Munde said here Monday. Munde called on the chief minister demanding the latter's intervention into the matter. "The driver partners, who went on a strike from Sunday, called it off after a positive response from the Chief Minister," Munde told PTI after meeting the CM tonight. The leader of opposition in the Legislative Council also said the CM has constituted a committee under Transport secretary, to look into the demands of the drivers. "The Chief Minister has assured that the committee will submit its report in the second week after the winter session of the state Legislature ends," Munde said. The drivers of cab aggregators Ola and Uber had gone on a 12-day strike last month over lower earnings due to fuel price hike. The strike was called off on November 3, following assurances from the aggregators and the state ...
Madhya Pradesh: Shah accuses Congress of belittling 'Bharat Mata'
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah on Monday made a reference to a video viral on social media to attack the Congress. He said that the Congress party should be ashamed of interrupting 'Bharat Mata' slogans to raise slogans praising the party leadership.Shah said, "A video is doing rounds and if it is true, then a Congress candidate who was chanting 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' was asked to chant 'Sonia Gandhi Ki Jai' instead. Congress people should be ashamed."In the reported video, a person raising 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' can be seen being interrupted by a Congress leader who further asks them to raise slogans praising former party president Sonia Gandhi instead.Shah also attacked the previous government of Manmohan Singh and blamed it for compromising with the national security."One of the biggest works the Narendra Modi government has done is to make the country safe. When for 10 years there was the government of 'silent' Manmohan Singh, anyone from Pakistan would enter the ...
Rafale controversy won't dent IAF image: Raghunath Nambiar
The image of Indian Air Force (IAF) will not be dented due to the controversy regarding the Rafale fighter jets deal, said Air Marshal Raghunath Nambiar, the deputy chief of IAF.
US paid Pakistan billions, they never said bin Laden was living there: Trump
Continuing his tirade against Pakistan, President Donald Trump on Monday said the US has paid Islamabad billions of dollars but it never told the Americans that the Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was living in that country. In an interview to a television news channel on Sunday, Trump had defended his administration's decision to stop hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid to Pakistan for not doing enough to curb terrorism and criticised Islamabad for offering a hideout to Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in the garrison city of Abbottabad. "We paid Pakistan Billions of Dollars and they never told us he was living there. Fools!..," Trump said in a tweet, a day after he told Fox News in an interview that Laden should have been captured long before. "We no longer pay Pakistan the $Billions because they would take our money and do nothing for us, Bin Laden being a prime example, Afghanistan being another," Trump said. "They were just one of many countries that take from the ...
Qatar keen on CISF training for its industrial security force
Oil-rich Qatar is keen to know about India's expertise in providing security to oil and gas installations and wants its industrial security force personnel to be trained at CISF facilities in India.
Goa: Cong wants guv to call spl session for mining resumption
Amid rising worry amongst mining dependents in Goa, the opposition Congress Monday requested Governor Mridula Sinha to convene a one-day session of the Legislative Assembly to discuss the issue of resumption of mining activity. Leader of Opposition Chandrakant Kavlekar has written a letter to the governor to this effect. The Congress' demand came close on the heels of reports that Union Law Ministry has asked Central government to decline the Goa government's request for an amendment to the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act to resume mining. Over three lakh people dependent on mining were affected by the Supreme Court order dated February 7 which quashed 88 mining leases in the coastal state. "I request you to convey the special session to discuss and direct the administration and convey to the Union government the demand of Goans for early resumption of mining business," stated Kavlekar in his letter. Goa Legislative Assembly had passed a unanimous ...
Gaikwad death: Maha apologises for 'delay' in reaching out to
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Monday alleged that the BJP-led Maharashtra government delayed its nod by "30 hours" for the state funeral of CPI veteran and first leader of opposition in legislative council Madhavrao Gaikwad who died in Nashik on November 12. After the issue was raised in the Legislative Council by Leader of Opposition Dhananjay Munde on the first day of the winter session of the state legislator, the House leader and Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil (BJP) expressed "regret" on behalf of the government. Munde alleged that the state government adopted apathetic attitude towards Gaikwad who died last Monday. He said the government took "30 hours" to reach out to the kin of Gaikwad who had requested his state funeral. "Even after getting in contact with his kin, officials asked them to wait another 2-3 hours before he could be cremated, to complete formalities," Munde claimed while raising the issue before commencement of condolence motions. He ...
Maldives to rejoin Commonwealth of former British colonies
The new president of the Maldives has decided that the country will rejoin the Commonwealth group of former British colonies following a two-year absence. President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's office says that the decision was made Monday after his Cabinet recommended the move. Former strongman Yameen Abdul Gayoom pulled the Maldives out of Commonwealth in 2016. He had accused the group of interfering with the country's internal affairs after it raised concerns over democracy and human rights. Solih's office in a statement says ministers believe being part of the Commonwealth provides young Maldivians with opportunities to get educational scholarships and for the country's atheletes to play internationally. Solih defeated Gayoom in September's presidential election.
US hits Libyan militia leader with sanctions
Libyan militia leader Salah Badi was placed on the US sanctions blacklist Monday, days after the United Nations Security Council placed global restrictions on doing business with the Islamist commander. In the wake of fractious international talks last week aimed at stabilizing the violence-torn country, the US State Department said Badi was being sanctioned because he had worked to undermine Libya's government and stability since 2014. Badi is a senior commander of the armed Al-Sumud front and the Fajr Libya brigade, both of which have challenged the shaky UN-backed coalition Government of National Accord. "In August 2018, Badi ordered action against rival militias aligned with the Government of National Accord, exacerbating instability in Tripoli," the State Department said in a statement. "In addition, forces under Badi's command have used Grad rockets in highly populated areas, causing indiscriminate destruction and casualties, including emergency responders and ambulance ...
Wrong list of deleted voters used for inspection: AAP to EC
Delhi's ruling AAP on Monday moved the Election Commission protesting "fraudulent" deletion of voter names, alleging that some of its officers used "an inaccurate list of deleted voters" for inspection.
PM Modi, Rahul, other leaders pay tribute to Indira Gandhi on birth anniversary
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi and other political leaders paid tributes to former prime minister Indira Gandhi on her 101st birth anniversary Monday. "Tributes to India's former prime minister, Mrs Indira Gandhi Ji on her birth anniversary," Modi tweeted. Former president Pranab Mukherjee, former vice president Hamid Ansari and former prime minister Manmohan Singh, along with UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, paid floral tributes to her at Shakti Sthal in the national capital. Rahul Gandhi tweeted a picture of Indira Gandhi and quoted her, saying, "Forgiveness is a virtue of the brave. Indira Gandhi". Rich tributes were paid to the former prime minister at a function in the central hall of Parliament, where leaders cutting across party lines were present. Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Manmohan Singh, former deputy prime minister L K Advani, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Minister of State for Parliamentary ..
Pakistan PM's defence of the political U-turn sparks mirth
Margaret Thatcher was famously not for turning, but Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan has declared U-turns to be a "hallmark of great leadership", in comments provoking criticism from opponents and a slew of jokes from Pakistanis. Khan, the cricketer-turned-premier, has come under fire since he took office in August for a string of apparent about-faces. They include backtracking from his claim that as prime minister he would only fly by commercial airliner, caving to Islamist pressure over his decision to appoint a member of a persecuted religious minority as an economic advisor, and allying himself with politicians he has previously declared corrupt. With the opposition branding him 'U-turn Khan', he has defended himself to journalists. "Both Hitler and Napoleon faced defeat as they did not change their strategies according to the situation... Leaders should always be ready to take U-turns," he was quoted as saying by the English-language daily Dawn newspaper on Saturday. Some ...
Glad govt acknowledged independence of RBI: Chidambaram
Former Union finance minister P Chidambaram Monday expressed happiness after the government "grudgingly acknowledged" the independence of the Reserve Bank of India. "Glad that the Government has stepped back and grudgingly acknowledged the independence of the RBI," he said on Twitter. "My guess is that the independent directors (at least most of them) realized that the government was on a perilous course and refused to go beyond giving advice to the RBI. "There is no harm in a technical committee examining the issue of Reserves. At least the Reserves are safe until May 2019!," Chidambaram tweeted. Signalling a temporary truce, the Reserve Bank and the government Monday agreed to refer to an expert committee the contentious issue of appropriate size of reserves that the RBI must hold, while restructuring of stressed loans of small businesses would be considered by the central bank. The setting up of the committee, whose members will be decided by the government and the RBI, followed a .
Russian arms exporter is lowest bidder for India's $3 billion air defence tender
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Russia's state-owned arms exporter, Rosoboronexport, has emerged as the lowest bidder for India's $3 billion tender to source short-range air defence missile systems, the Indian army said on Monday.
Polling for second phase of J-K panchayat election to be held Tuesday
Polling for the second phase of panchayat election will be held Tuesday at 2,179 polling stations across Jammu and Kashmir, state chief electoral officer Shaleen Kabra said. Voting will begin at 8 am and end at 2 pm in 828 polling stations in Kashmir and 1,351 in Jammu division, Kabra said. He said 601 polling stations have been categorised as 'hypersensitive', including 490 in Kashmir division and 196 in Jammu division. He said 4,014 candidates are in the fray for 281 sarpanch and 1,286 panch seats in the second phase of the election. Ninety sarpanchs and 1,069 panchs have already been elected unopposed. The first phase of the election was conducted on November 17 in which 71.4 per cent of electorate voted. Separatists who asked people to boycott the polls had called for a strike on the polling day. Major regional parties -- the National Conference and the Peoples Democratic Party -- had decided not to participate in the local bodies polls. Defying militant threats and boycott calls .
Airbnb says removing listings in West Bank settlements
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Home-renting company Airbnb Inc said on Monday that it would remove listings in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, enclaves that most world powers consider illegal for taking up land where Palestinians seek statehood.