Page 2482 - Politics
Amit Shah to hold roadshow in Bikaner on Nov 21
BJP president Amit Shah will hold a roadshow here on November 21 in support of candidates fielded by the party in the upcoming Rajasthan Assembly polls, a party functionary said Friday. BJP district president Dr Satyaprakash Acharya said route of the roadshow will be decided in consultation with the candidates and party workers. The ruling party has released two lists so far of 162 candidates for the polls to be held on December 7 for 200 assembly constituencies. Names of more candidates are expected to be announced soon. The BJP had released its first list of 131 candidates on November 11, while the second list of 31 candidates was announced on November 14.
Winter session of Odisha Assembly begins
The winter session of the Odisha Assembly began on a stormy note on Friday as members of the opposition Congress created a ruckus over farmers' issue.
Odisha Assembly crippled on first day of winter session
Odisha Assembly was crippled on the opening day of its winter session on Friday amid ruckus by opposition Congress demanding immediate discussion on issues pertaining to farmers, leading to its adjournment for the day. Soon after the House made obiturary reference for former MLAs and others who died in the recent past, Leader of Opposition and Congress lawmaker Narasingha Mishra urged the Speaker, Pradip Kumar Amat, to initiate discussion on farmers' issues by doing away with the question hour. The Congress MLAs wanted cancellation of the question hour to enable discussion on the problems being faced by farmers, in view of its importance. The party legislators said that a notice for an adjournment motion on the matter had already been accepted. BJP MLAs were also keen on a discussion on the issue. However, the Speaker turned down their plea and announced commencement of the question hour. Annoyed with the rejection of their demand, irate Congress members trooped into the
AP govt withdraws 'general' consent to CBI to exercise authority in state
The Chandrababu Naidu government in Andhra Pradesh has withdrawn the 'general consent' accorded to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to exercise its authority in the state. A 'confidential' government order to this effect, issued by Principal Secretary (Home) A R Anuradha on November 8, was "leaked" late Thursday night. "In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946, Government hereby withdraw the general consent accorded (in GO Ms 109) to all the members of the Delhi Special Police Establishment to exercise the powers and jurisdiction under the said Act in the state of Andhra Pradesh," the latest GO said. On August 3 this year, the AP government issued the GO Ms No. 109 according "general consent" to all members of the Delhi Special Police Establishment to exercise the powers and jurisdiction in AP against officials of the central government, central government undertakings and private persons for investigating offences ..
Raja Bhaiyya announces new political party
Raghraj Pratap Singh aka Raja Bhaiyya, an Independent legislator from Kunda, on Friday announced the formation of a new political party in Uttar Pradesh which will contest the next Lok Sabha polls.
Drama drags on: Florida Senate race heads to manual recount
Florida authorities on Thursday ordered a hand recount of the state's chaotic and closely-watched US Senate race after counties filed retabulated vote totals that show the Donald Trump-endorsed Republican candidate narrowly leading the Democratic incumbent. Results from the November 6 election were too close to call, and a machine recount was conducted in the race between Democratic Senator Bill Nelson and his Republican challenger Rick Scott, who is Florida's outgoing governor. Results from that recount, which was beset by technical problems in at least one large county, were due at 3:00 pm (2000 GMT) Thursday. They showed Nelson trailing Scott by about 12,600 votes out of more than 8.2 million ballots cast, or 0.15 percentage points. With the difference falling within the 0.25 parameter that triggers a manual recount, Florida's Secretary of State Ken Detzner ordered that one be carried out, which will focus on problematic ballots such as those where a voter designated more choices ..
Turkey detains academics linked to jailed activist: Report
Turkish police on Friday detained several academics from two Istanbul universities linked with an association led by imprisoned human rights activist Osman Kavala, local media reported. Professor Betul Tanbay of the prestigious Bogazici University and Professor Turgut Tarhanli of the private Bilgi University were among the detainees, the private NTV television reported. The academics were members of Anadolu Kultur (Anatolian Culture) whose chairman Kavala has been jailed for more than a year but who has not yet been formally charged. It was not immediately clear what charges the detained academics faced. Opposition CHP party MP Sezgin Tanrikulu criticised the detentions on Twitter. "Again a Friday, again detentions... Those who expect normalisation from this regime should continue to dream." Kavala, a philanthropist and co-founder of the Iletisim publishing house and who is well-known in intellectual circles in Turkey and abroad, is suspected of "attempting to remove the ...
NDA destroying key institutions, TMC to save country: Mamata
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Friday slammed the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre for allegedly destroying key Indian institutions such as the CBI and the RBI. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) could play a vital role in saving the country from such destructions, the party supremo said. "They (the NDA government) are destroying institutions. They are trying to change the way the RBI and the CBI function. The party that has made 'building statues' its poll agenda will itself become a statue after the coming Lok Sabha election," she told a party meeting here. Banerjee, who gave a call for a mega rally at the Brigade Parade Ground here in January, said the saffron party is only interested in creating communal divisions by updating National Register of Citizens (NRC). "The TMC will not tolerate such exercises. The party will play a bigger role in the coming days to save the country from the BJP," she asserted. The CM also said that she would invite all opposition leaders to ...
Modi stops briefly at Varanasi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday briefly stopped at his parliamentary constituency here in Uttar Pradesh on his way to poll-bound Chhattisgarh, an official said.
Security beefed up for secretariat gherao programme in Assam
Prohibitory orders were clamped in three police districts of the city and security beefed up in view of the Assam secretariat gherao programme called by several organisations on Friday against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016. Barricades were placed around the secretariat and Assam Police and CRPF forces were deployed in large numbers to prevent the protestors from staging their Sankalpa Shikha Jatra against the Bill. The 'Janata Bhawan Gherao' called by the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS), a peasant organisation, and Assam Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chhatra Parishad (AJYCP), a student organisation, was likely to see the participation of 68 other organisations from other parts of the state during the day, the organisors said. KMSS leader Akhil Gogoi along with members of 70 organisations staged a protest meeting on the premises of the Dispur Press Club, adjacent to the secretariat, accusing the Sarbananda Sonowal-led BJP Assam government of working against the interests of ...
Andhra govt withdraws consent for CBI jurisdiction in state
In what can be seen as a confrontation with the Centre, the Chandrababu Naidu-led Andhra Pradesh government has withdrawn the 'general consent' to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to conduct raids and carry out investigations on central establishments in Andhra Pradesh.As per rules under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act of 1946, in accordance with which the CBI was formed, the investigating agency has complete jurisdiction over Delhi. But it can also enter the other states with the 'General Consent' of that state's government.In the absence of the permission now, the CBI cannot interfere with any case that takes place within the limits of Andhra Pradesh.The Chandrababu Naidu-led Andhra Pradesh government has also vested the state investigation agency with the responsibility of CBI duties in the state.The Andhra government Order was passed on November 8, three months after it gave the general consent to the CBI to exercise its powers and jurisdiction in the state.The ...
Demonetisation biggest scam in independent India: Rahul Gandhi
Congress president Rahul Gandhi Friday termed demonetisation as the biggest scam in the history of independent India, adding it would be proved that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had "robbed the poor of their hard-earned money and given it away to a few rich". Addressing a campaign rally for the November 28 Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls, Gandhi said Modi does not talk about being a "chowkidar (watchman) of the country and of tackling corruption. "If Modi says he is a chowkidar, people will respond that chowkidar chor hai," he said, addressing a rally at Deori in Sagar district of Madhya Pradesh. Gandhi claimed that Modi "cancelled the Rafale deal of 126 fighter aircraft with Dassault Aviation and HAL at a price of Rs 526 crore per plane" without informing the Indian Air Force and the then defence minister Manohar Parrikar. "The then French president Francois Hollande has said the Indian government had asked for Anil Ambani to be taken on board for the deal," the Congress .
Japan PM visits Australia's Darwin, 75 years after WWII bombing
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made a historic visit to Darwin on Friday, some 75 years after Japan bombed the northern Australian city, as the two countries cement ties in the face of an emergent China. Trade and closer defence relations are the centrepieces of Abe's two-day visit and meetings with Prime Minister Scott Morrison, before the pair travel to Papua New Guinea for a weekend APEC summit. Abe is the first Japanese leader to visit the port city where more than 250 people were killed during multiple bombing raids in 1942-43 during World War II -- the worst-ever foreign attacks on the country. Abe and Morrison paid their respects at memorials to the war dead in an act reminiscent of the Japanese leader's visit to Pearl Harbor in 2016. "Prime Minister Abe's visit is deeply symbolic and significant and it will build on our two countries' strong and enduring friendship as well as our economic, security, community and historical ties," Morrison said in a statement. Veterans ...
Pence warns against Chinese aggression in Indo-Pacific
In an apparent reference to China, US Vice President Mike Pence on Friday called for an open Indo-Pacific region free of "imperial aggression".
Cong VS BJP: PM Modi, Rahul Gandhi to hold public rallies in MP
Madhya Pradesh is set to witness a high-octane campaign on Friday as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi will address several public rallies in the poll-bound state.The Prime Minister will kick off the campaign trail with a public meeting at Shahdol district. He will then hold a rally in Gwalior.Besides, Prime Minister Modi, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah is also scheduled to hold public rallies in several districts including Tikamgarh, Sagar and Damoh in the state today.The Congress president will also be addressing various rallies across the state in Devri, Barghat and Mandala.With the elections in the state inching closer, the political battle is intensifying by the day and political parties are leaving no stones unturned to woo the voters.The 230-member Madhya Pradesh assembly will go to polls on November 28 and the counting will be held on December 11.
Akhilesh Yadav launches scathing attack at Congress
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav launched a scathing attack at his former alliance partner- the Congress, as he held the party responsible for siphoning off public money, adding that their acts have been similar to the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP).The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister was addressing a public rally at Korba in the poll plunged Chhattisgarh on Thursday. The young leader targeted both BJP and the Congress at one go as he raked up the issue of Demonetisation."Money was deposited in banks during demonetization. Who ran away with it after it was deposited in banks? So many people fled outside India. Both BJP and Congress are involved. There is no difference between the two," said Yadav. He alleged that Congress, during their rule, had also provided money to bank loan defaulters who later fled India.Yadav's remarks cast a shadow on the Congress's plans to form a grand-alliance in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Recently, Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati
S Korean diplomat to visit US next week for denuclearisation talks
Lee Do-hoon, the special representative for peace and security affairs of Korean Peninsula, is scheduled to embark on a three-day visit to the United States on November 19.According to South Korean foreign ministry, Lee will meet his American counterpart Stephen Biegun. The two diplomats are expected to discuss bolstering cooperation on North Korea's denuclearisation exercise and a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula, apart from deliberating on the current inter-Korean relations, Yonhap News Agency reported.A proposal to establish a working group between the US and South Korea for "regular and systemic" communication on denuclearisation, sanctions and inter-Korean exchanges is also on the agenda.The proposed talks between Lee and Biegun would mark their second meeting in less than three weeks. It would also be the first deliberations between them after North Korea and the US scrapped proposed high-level talks in New York last week.Moreover, the upcoming talks between the two special .
Beehive near Rajasthan polling station irks poll officers, villager asked to take it down
A beehive dangling from a house in Rajasthan's Jalore district has caught the attention of polling officers busy making preparations for the smooth conduct of the December 7 Assembly elections. Leaving nothing to chance, polling officers want the owner of the house next to the Bhalni polling station to remove the beehive lest it attacks voters on polling day. In a notice issued to the house owner, the assistant polling officer has said, When the inspection of the Bhalni polling station was carried out, it was noticed that there was a beehive in your house. As you know there is polling on December 7 and there will be a large crowed of voters. If bees attack them, the polling could be interrupted. House owner Malaram Mali has been asked to remove the beehive in 3 days of receipt of the order at his own expense and report to the office. The owner has been warned that if he did not comply with the order, all responsibility in case of a mishap would rest on the house owner and he will be .
US Senator seeks political asylum for Asia Bibi
A top Republican Senator has urged US President Donald Trump to grant asylum and refugee status to Pakistani national Asia Bibi, a Christian woman recently freed from prison after her blasphemy conviction was overturned. Bibi, a 47-year-old mother of four, was release from Multan jail earlier this month after the Supreme Court in its landmark decision acquitted her of blasphemy charges. Senator Rand Paul said that he was worried that Bibi won't survive and he personally took up the matter with President Trump last week. "I've been fighting for them to free Asia Bibi. I've talked to the President about granting her asylum and refugee status here," Paul told CNN in an interview. A senior member from an American think-tank has also suggested that Bibi should request asylum. "President Trump should invite Ms Bibi to come to America and request asylum. To do so would be just, moral and wise," Clifford D May, president of the Foundation for Defence of Democracies, said in an op-ed in The ...
Florida's Senate race heads to a hand recount
The Florida Senate race in the US midterm elections was headed to a hand recount after a machine review of the initial vote kept Democratic Senator Bill Nelson narrowly behind his challenger, Republican Governor Rick Scott.