Page 2465 - Politics
Koreas to celebrate 20th anniversary of suspended joint tour programme
North Korea and South Korea will commemorate the 20th anniversary of their joint tour programme at Mount Kumgang, which was suspended earlier due to tensions between the two countries.The event, which will be held for two days at the North Korean mountain resort starting from Sunday, is slated to be attended by about 100 South Koreans and 80 North Koreans respectively. The programme is co-organised by Hyundai Group, which operated the joint tour event and the Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee of North Korea, Yonhap News Agency reported.From the South Korean side, about 30 Hyundai officials, including the company's chairperson Hyun Jeong-eun are expected to participate in the celebrations. Around six incumbent lawmakers, former government officials, private experts, business executives and journalists are also slated to grace the event.The joint tourism programme was suspended in 2008 by the South Korean government after its national was shot dead at Mount Kumgang. Hyun's late ...
Congress more of a family enterprise than political party: Shah
BJP president Amit Shah Sunday said the Congress had become more of a family enterprise aimed at dynastic service than a political party aimed at public service, taking aims at the opposition party after Prime Minister Narendra Modi dared it to appoint a head from outside the Gandhi family. In a dig at Congress leaders, including P Chidambaram who had named several party presidents hailing from outside the Gandhi family, Shah said in tweets that Modi's challenge had ruffled several feathers with "many courtiers going out of the way to prove their loyalty". Evidently, the prime minister's point had struck a raw nerve, he added. At a poll rally in Chhattisgarh Friday, Modi had said if the the Congress appointed someone who was not from the (Gandhi) family as its president for at least five years, then he would believe that Jawaharlal Nehru had indeed put in place a truly democratic system in the opposition party. "The Prime Minister is right. The Congress (Indira) since its inception in
Kerala govt destroying Ayyappa Temple's uniqueness: Pillai
Spearheading a campaign against the Kerala government over the Sabarimala issue, BJP state unit chief P S Sreedharan Pillai Sunday alleged that the CPI(M)-led dispensation was making the Lord Ayyappa shrine "a centre of dispute to destroy its uniqueness". Condemning the police action against "peacefully agitating" devotees, he said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will extend all possible assistance to the protesters to protect the hill shrine from the "hidden agenda of atheists". Pillai said the BJP and Sangh Parivar will expand the ongoing agitation against the state government's "hasty move" to implement the Supreme Court verdict, permitting entry of women of all age groups into the temple, to other parts of the country. "What is going in Kerala (over Sabarimala) is a fight between devotees and atheists," he told PTI. "BJP workers will continue to join the devotees' protest if any woman in the menstrual age group tries to enter the temple. The devotees have so far succeeded in ...
PM Modi to inaugurate Western Peripheral Expressway on Monday
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Western Peripheral Expressway on Monday in Gurugram district.The project, which was originally expected to complete in 2009, has missed multiple deadlines. It has taken 15 years to complete this project.The project was proposed in 2003 and was awarded to KMP Expressways Ltd, a special purpose vehicle (SPV) of DS Constructions, Madhucon Projects and Apollo Enterprises in 2005. The initial total cost of the project was Rs 1,915 crore.In June 2012, in a multi-party meeting between Haryana government, Delhi government and the developer in which a revised deadline of May 2013 was fixed. However, due to delay in construction, Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) decided to penalize the company in April 2012 after which the dispute went to the courts and the project was stalled.Later on, the lenders led by IDBI Bank served the concessionaire KMP Expressways with a substitution notice due to its continued
Taliban are 'not losing' says top U.S. military officer
In what could be perceived as a major setback to U.S military intervention in Afghanistan to contain Taliban, a high ranking official in the United States military has said that Taliban is "not losing" in Afghanistan and the stalemate reached a year ago has not changed much.General Joseph Dunford, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff asserted on Saturday that peace can only be reached in Afghanistan through means of negotiations."They are not losing right now; I think that is fair to say. We used the term stalemate a year ago and, relatively speaking, it has not changed much," CNN quoted General Dunford, as saying. Dunford made these comments during a discussion at a security forum in Halifax, Nova Scotia.Dunford said that "military solution" on its own cannot bring peace to Afghanistan and the United States and its NATO partners are working to leverage military, the political and economic pressure to convince the Taliban that it is in their interest to negotiate a political solution
Bainimarama narrowly retains power in Fiji
Former Fiji military strongman Voreqe Bainimarama survived declining support for his FijiFirst party to remain in power Sunday, fending off a strong challenge from rival coup leader Sitiveni Rabuka. The Fiji election result, confirmed four days after the island nation went to the polls for only the second time since "Frank" Bainimarama seized power in 2006, gave FijiFirst a three-seat majority in parliament. Bainimarama was not in Fiji to hear the final result but told Fiji Broadcasting Corporation from New Zealand, where he has been attending his brother's funeral, that he was "proud to become your prime minister once again". FijiFirst took 50.02 per cent of the vote, enough to claim 27 seats, while Rabuka's SODELPA party with 39.85 per cent and the National Federation Party with 7.38 per cent got 24 seats between them in the 51-seat parliament. Support for FijiFirst had dived from 59.17 per cent in 2014 when Bainimarama first went to the polls following eight years of political ...
UP BJP ally dares the saffron party to dump it
Hitting back at the BJP's Uttar Pradesh chief, a disgruntled Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party Sunday challenged its NDA ally to dump it for daring "to call a spade a spade". "Why are you unnecessarily carrying us? If you have the courage, dump us. The government has no time for welfare activities for backward people, SBSP chief and senior UP minister Om Praskash Rajbhar said. Peeved over non-allotment of an accommodation to run the party office despite BJP chief Amit Shah's assurance, he told PTI here that it was clear that the BJP was not keen on carrying us along. We were also promised posts of chairman and two vice-chairmen in different corporations equivalent to the rank of minister and minister of state, but this too did not happen, he rued. Hence, it is clear that they (BJP) are unnecessarily carrying us," Rajbhar said in an interview. If that is the case, let the BJP dump us, dared Rajbhar, who is known for attacking the BJP quite often despite sharing power with the saffron ...
Netanyahu says 'unnecessary and wrong' to call snap Israeli polls
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday it would be "unnecessary and wrong" to call snap polls, as he sought to hold his governing coalition together following the resignation of his defence minister. "In a period of security sensitivity, it's unnecessary and wrong to go to elections," Netanyahu said at the start of a cabinet meeting. He noted past instances when right-wing governments had called elections that did not turn out as they had hoped. "We need to do whatever we can to avoid such mistakes," he said. Netanyahu's coalition was thrown into crisis Wednesday when Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman resigned over a controversial Gaza ceasefire deal, sparking speculation over whether early elections were now inevitable. After Lieberman's withdrawal, Netanyahu's government was left clinging to a one-seat majority in the 120-seat parliament. The veteran premier was to meet Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, whose centre-right Kulanu party has 10 seats, later Sunday to ...
Cong releases third list of 18 candidates for Rajasthan polls
The Congress party on Sunday released its third list of 18 candidates for the ensuing Rajasthan Assembly elections.The party has fielded among others Amit Chachan from Lohar, BD Kalla from Bikaner West in place of Yashpal Gehlot, who will be contesting from Bikaner East in place of Kanhaiyalal Jhawar, Subhash Meel from Khandela and Dr Karan Singh Yadav from Kishangarh Bas.Out of these 18 seats, Loktantrik Janata Dal (LJD) and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) will contest on two seats each, while the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) will contest on one seat.On Saturday, the Congress party had released its second list of 32 candidates. According to the second list, Congress has fielded former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Jaswant Singh's son Manvendra Singh against Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje from Jhalrapatan Assembly seat. Raje is a three-time MLA from Jhalrapatan constituency. Singh was in BJP before joining the Congress party in September.The Congress had released its first
Officials restricting supply of domestic goods for public procurement to face action
To promote made in India goods in public procurement, the government will take action against officials who would be held responsible for including restrictive or discriminatory norms against domestic suppliers in bid documents, an official said. Amending the Public Procurement (Preference of Make in India) Order 2017, the commerce and industry ministry has stated that inquiry would be conducted by the administrative department undertaking the procurement to fix responsibility in case restrictive or discriminatory conditions against domestic suppliers are included in bid documents. After the inquiry, "appropriate action, administrative or otherwise, shall be taken against erring officials of procurement entities under relevant provisions," according to the amended rules. Earlier, tenders worth about Rs 13,000 crore were either cancelled or withdrawn and re-issued after the ministry stepped in to change their conditions for promoting 'made in India' goods. Under the Public Procurement .
Coalition hits back over reported civilian deaths in east Syria
The US-led anti-jihadist coalition hit back Sunday at reports its air strikes on an Islamic State group holdout in eastern Syria had killed civilians, appearing to blame their deaths on regime forces. More than seven years into the country's civil war, multiple offensives have whittled down the swathes of Syrian territory IS once controlled to a small pocket in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor on the Iraqi border. A Kurdish-led alliance backed by the coalition is battling to expel IS from that holdout, on the eastern bank of the Euphrates. Russian-backed regime forces have been fighting the jihadists west of the river. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said coalition strikes on Saturday killed 43 people, including 36 family members of IS fighters in the village of Abu al-Husn. But the coalition denied that its air raids there had killed any non-combatants. The US envoy for the coalition, Brett McGurk on Sunday appeared to blame regime forces stationed "across the river" for ...
Grenade attack kills three near Amritsar; terror angle not ruled out
Three people were killed and at least 15 others injured when two motorcycle-borne masked youths threw a grenade at a religious congregation in Rajasansi area in Punjab's Amritsar district on Sunday, police said.
Amritsar Blast: Punjab CM announces Rs 5 lakh to kin of deceased, free treatment for injured
Punjab's Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Sunday announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh for the kin of the deceased and free treatment for those injured who got injured in the blast at the Nirankari Bhawan in Amritsar's Rajasansi village on Sunday.The Chief Minister also reviewed law and order situation and has directed Home Secretary, Director General of Police, Director General, Law and Order, and Director General, Intelligence, to rush to Rajasansi for supervising investigations.After the incident took place security outside the Nirankari Bhawan has been beefed up as per Singh's orders.Elaborating upon the incident, IG (Border) Surinder Pal Singh Parmar said, "Out of 250 people who were present in the religious congregation, three have lost their lives and 15-20 people have got injured. As per initial reports, two people had come over here who lobbed a grenade here."Expressing his grief, Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar told ANI, "My condolences are with the families of ..
PM Modi lauds Raman, bemoans Cong's 'remote-controlled' regime
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday lauded the efforts of Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh for giving a new dimension to development in the state, while bemoaned the fact that earlier "remotely controlled" Congress regime in the state had failed on all counts."Although the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been in power for the past 15 years in the state, Chief Minister Raman Singh was able to serve the people in a better manner only when we came to power at the Centre too. Earlier, there was a "remote-controlled" government in Delhi," he said, while addressing an election rally.The Prime Minister said, "I am quite familiar with Chhattisgarh, its people, their desires and issues. It helps me a lot in formulating welfare schemes for the state. But in reality, Dr Raman Singh only got the opportunity to serve the people properly for the last four and a half years as there was a 'remote-controlled' government in Delhi before that."He further stated that during his time as the ...
Modi stacks RBI board with allies to turn heat up on governor
NEW DELHI/MUMBAI (Reuters) - As Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government turns up the heat on the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor to do its bidding ahead of next year's general election it is getting the central bank's board to take on a much more powerful role, according to government officials and board members.
Cong in driving seats in state polls, BJP's bid to return to power in 2019 will fail: Sharad Yadav
Opposition leader Sharad Yadav said on Sunday the BJP's hope to return to power at the Centre will be buried in the same states -- Uttar Pradesh and Bihar -- which had propelled it to a big win in 2014, and asserted that the Congress will trump the saffron party in all the five poll-bound states. The results of the assembly polls, including BJP-ruled Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, will lay the foundation for the Lok Sabha elections next year, he told PTI in an interview. People want to get rid of the Narendra Modi-led government as it has not fulfilled a single promise made to them 2014, Yadav claimed. Accusing Prime Minister Modi of resorting to "sentimental" ploys like raking up his tea-seller background while his party colleagues talk of building Ram temple in Ayodhya, the Loktantrik Janta Dal leader said this shows the BJP has nothing to talk about its government's achievements. "The Congress is in the driving seats in all the five states. People are under distress ...
Tickets for assembly polls should not be distributed on basis of religion: Rathore
Union minister Rajyavardhan Rathore Sunday said tickets for assembly polls should not be distributed on the basis of religion, amid questions in some quarters on why the BJP has not given ticket to any Muslim candidate in Rajasthan. "There should be no quota for ticket distribution for any religion. If the work done by our government has not reached to any religion then only we can be under question," he said. The ruling party has released three lists so far of 170 candidates for the elections to be held on December 7 for 200 assembly constituencies. The saffron party has not given ticket to any Muslim candidate in Rajasthan so far. "Triple talaq is something on which (the Congress) party, which gives ticket on quota system (to Muslims and others), could not do anything and we (the BJP government) worked on that," the MoS for Information and Broadcasting said at a press conference here.
State cabinet expansion at the earliest, says Siddaramaiah
Congress leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah Sunday said the much awaited expansion of the H D Kumaraswamy-led coalition cabinet in Karnataka would take place "at the earliest". "We will have to do it (cabinet expansion); we will do it as soon as possible," he said. Speaking to reporters in Hubballi, he referred to the ongoing elections in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan and said the party's state leadership would soon seek Congress President Rahul Gandhi's time to discuss about the expansion. "It (expansion) will happen at the earliest...elections are about to end there (in MP and Rajasthan). In between we will seek time to discuss and do it," the head of the Congress-JD(S) coalition coordination committee said. State Congress Chief Dinesh Gundu Rao and Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara had recently said the cabinet expansion would take place within this month. The cabinet expansion and appointment of MLAs as heads of boards and corporations that was to take place in ...
S.Africa president to pay back USD 35,000 campaign funds
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will pay back 500,000 rand (USD 35,000) donated to his campaign fund by a firm with links to his son after admitting he misled parliament, an official said. Ramaphosa has staked his reputation on fighting corruption after his predecessor Jacob Zuma was mired in graft scandals that finally led to his ousting earlier this year. Ramaphosa had told parliament that the payment in October 2017 was to his son Andile for consultancy work for Bosasa, a company that has contracts with government institutions. But Ramaphosa later admitted it was a donation towards his own campaign last year to become leader of the ruling ANC party, a hard-fought battle in which he beat Zuma's chosen candidate. "The donation was made without his knowledge," ANC official Zizi Kodwa told the SABC state broadcaster on Saturday. "He has decided voluntarily that he will pay back the said amount and he will call for further investigation on all donations that were made to the ...
Interpol meets to select new president after China's arrest
Police chiefs from around the world gathered in Dubai on Sunday for Interpol's general assembly to select a new president after the agency's former leader was detained in China. Meng Hongwei who was China's vice minister of public security while also leading Interpol went missing while on a trip to China in September. It later emerged that the long-time Communist Party insider with decades of experience in China's security apparatus was detained as part of a sweeping purge against allegedly corrupt or disloyal officials under President Xi Jinping's authoritarian administration. Interpol member-states will also be deciding whether to accept Kosovo as a full member, which would allow officials there to file red notices for Serbian officials that Kosovo considers war criminals. The red notices are alerts circulated by Interpol to all member countries that identify a person wanted for arrest by another country. Interpol says there are 57,289 active red notices around the world. Interpol .