Page 2507 - Politics
33rd Asean summit begins with call for multilateralism, international cooperation
The 33rd summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) opened here on Tuesday with a call for upholding multilateralism and international cooperation to address economic, environmental and terrorism-related challenges.
RLSP MP says he wants party to remain in NDA
Amid speculation that BJP ally and RLSP president Upendra Kushwaha may join the opposition, his party MP Ram Kumar Sharma said Tuesday he wanted the party to remain in the ruling alliance and hoped that Kushwaha would not break ranks. "I am in the NDA and would like to remain in the alliance. I am hopeful that our party will continue to be a part of it," he told PTI. Sharma, who is one of the two MPs of Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) besides Kushwaha, when asked if the RLSP would split if its president left the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), parried the question. He merely expressed the hope that it would not happen. RLSP sources said besides Sharma, one of the two MLAs of the party, was also of the view that it should remain in the NDA, indicating that it might be staring at a split in case Kushwaha switches allegiance. They, however, added that many party leaders, some of whom were keen on contesting elections, were urging Kushwaha to not agree to the RLSP contesting .
The Girl in the Spider's Web' gets India release date
Claire Foy's "The Girl in the Spider's Web" will release in India on November 23.
Let Tirupur be headquarters of territorial division: Exporters
Tirupur Exporters Association Tuesday appealed to the Tamil Nadu government to consider Tirupur as the headquarters of the proposed territorial division of commercial taxes considering the current and future business potential of the knitwear hub. In a statement here, president of the association Raja M Shanmugham said the government has planned to form a new division by including areas of Tirupur, Erode and Karur with Erode as the headquarters. At present, the turnover of the knitwear sector in Tirupur was Rs 42,000 crore and it was likely to reach Rs one lakh crore by 2022, he said. Over 80 per cent of the turnover comes from micro, small and medium enterprises comprising 8,350 units, he said. Besides, the estimated number of registered dealers was more in Tirupur than in Erode. Considering the number of knitwear units and their future growth, Shanmugham has sent to Minister for Commercial Taxes and Registration K C Veeramani to announce Tirupur as the headquarters for
Vice Chief of Army Staff lays wreath on body of solider killed in J-K
Vice Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen Devraj Anbu on Tuesday laid wreath on the body of a soldier, who was killed by a Pakistani sniper along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir, an Army official said. Lance Naik Antony Sebastian, 34, died on Monday in Poonch district. Sebastian's mortal remains were brought to the Palam Technical Area where the wreath laying took place. At about 5.15 PM on Monday, Pakistan Army resorted to an unprovoked ceasefire violation in Krishna Ghati Sector (Mendhar) on the Line of Control (LoC), resulting in the death of a soldier and injuring another. Sebastian was critically injured and succumbed to injuries. "General Bipin Rawat #COAS & all ranks salute supreme sacrifice of Lance Naik Antony Sebastian KM & offer sincere condolences to the family. #BraveSonsOfIndia," the Additional Directorate General of Public Information, IHQ of MoD (Army) tweeted.
Scribe arrested in Karna over speech against Tipu Jayanti
A journalist with a Kannada daily has been arrested in Tumakuru in Karnataka for his alleged inflammatory speech against the recent Tipu Jayanti celebrations, following which the BJP condemned the police action and demanded his release. Santosh Thammaiah employed with the daily, "Hosa Digantha", was arrested Monday night under Indian Penal Code section 295(A) (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings), police said Tuesday. The Tipu Jayanti celebrations marking the birth anniversary of the controversial 18th century Mysore kingdom ruler Tipu Sultan were held across the state on November 10 amid protests by the BJP and right-wing organisations. Calling Tipu a "religious bigot", the state BJP unit had urged the state government to drop its decision to celebrate the Jayanti. Thammaiah was arrested from his in-laws' residence in Madhugiri in Tumakuru, Editor of the daily Vinayak Bhat told PTI. A local newspaper had published a report quoting his speech made at .
China dismisses 'hearsay' on Muslim internment
China defended its internment of Muslims in the country's northwest as a terror prevention measure on Tuesday, calling on the international community to reject "hearsay" and believe its official line. Up to a million Uighurs and other Chinese Turkic-speaking minority groups have been placed in political re-education camps in the Xinjiang region, according to a group of experts cited by the United Nations. After originally denying the existence of the centres, Beijing has repeatedly described the camps as vocational "training centres" that were built to help people drawn to extremism to stay away from terrorism and allow them to be reintegrated into society. But the programme has faced rising criticism outside the country -- notably from the United States and human rights groups. "We hope our journalist friends and our other foreign friends will take into consideration the information and briefings on the situation given by the Chinese authorities," said China's Foreign Minister Wang ..
Central govt employees already banned from attending RSS
Amid the row over the Congress's election promise to ban government servants from attending RSS shakhas in Madhya Pradesh, the party's senior leader Digvijay Singh said Tuesday that such a prohibition already exists for Central government employees. The opposition party's manifesto for November 28 Assembly polls in the state vows to ban shakhas of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on government premises and stop government employees from attending RSS shakhas. "Ninety-five per cent of the promises made by the Congress, about farmers, women, youth, poor, tribals, Dalits, etc., are being ignored, and an issue which is already in practise under the Narendra Modi government at the Centre is being discussed," Singh told reporters here. "There is an order, still in force, which says no Central government employee and official can attend RSS shakhas. Holding shakhas in government buildings or premises is also not allowed," he said. Such orders are in force in many states too, he
Court discharges Sisodia, Vishwas, Bhushan in 2012 case related to protest over coal block issue
A Delhi court on Tuesday discharged Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Kumar Vishwas and their former party colleague Prashant Bhushan in a 2012 case of allegedly provoking protesters during a demonstration here on the coal block allocation issue. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal granted the relief to the accused who had staged the protest at the then Congress President Sonia Gandhi's 10-Janpath residence, Sisodia's lawyer Mohd Irshad said. In its order, the court noted that the protest was peaceful and the police lacked evidence to prosecute the accused in the case. The police had charged Bhushan, Sisodia and Vishwas with provoking people during the protest. "Bhushan, Sisodia and Vishwas provoked their supporters and marched towards 10-Janpath. Despite warnings and use of water cannons, the crowd became more agitated and marched forward. Seven teargas shells were lobbed and as it did not help, mild force was used to contain them," .
Sri Lanka Supreme Court overturns sacking of Parliament by Prez Sirisena
In a major setback to Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena, the Supreme Court Tuesday overturned his controversial decision to dissolve Parliament and ordered a halt to preparations for snap elections on January 5. A three-member bench, including country's chief justice Nalin Perera, delivered its ruling after two days of deliberations on as many as 13 petitions against and five for Sirisena's November 9 decision to dissolve Parliament, nearly two years before the its term was to end. Sirisena dissolved Parliament after it became clear that he lacked support from lawmakers to instal former strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa as the new prime Minister following his October 26 sacking of Ranil Wickremesinghe as premier. All petitions filed against Sirisena's decision will be heard on December 4, 5 and 6, the apex court ruled, according to the opposition party officials attending the hearing held under tight security. Major political parties and an election commission member Ratnajeevan ...
Plan to disrupt panchayat polls foiled as Army kills Pak intruder in J&K
The Army Tuesday said a heavily-armed Pakistani intruder was shot dead along the border in Akhnoor sector here, foiling the "nefarious plan" of terrorists to disrupt the forthcoming panchayat elections in the state. The recoveries made from the slain terrorist included two assault rifles along with two magazines and 234 rounds of bullets, five pistols with 10 magazines and 60 rounds, 15 hand grenades and 12 fuses for Improvised Explosive Devices, Jammu-based Army PRO Devender Anand said. "This huge cache has scuttled the nefarious plans of the terrorist outfits to derail peace and harmony in the region and disrupt the forthcoming panchayat elections in the state," he said. The nine-phased panchayat elections will get underway on November 17. Anand said an ambush party of the army killed the terrorist on this side of the international boundary at about 1.50 pm. "The entire area near the scene of the gunfight has been cordoned off and search and destroy operation is still in progress,"
UK says Saudi-led coalition to allow Huthi medical evacuations from Yemen
The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen has agreed to allow some wounded Huthi rebels to be evacuated, following a visit to the region by British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, his office said Tuesday. The issue has proved a sticking point in previous peace talks and the move could now pave the way for fresh negotiations, Britain's foreign ministry said in a statement. "The Saudi-led coalition (has) agreed to the evacuation of wounded Huthis from Yemen, one of the key stumbling blocks to the UN Geneva talks in September," it added. "Coalition forces will now permit the UN to oversee a Huthi medical evacuation, including up to fifty wounded fighters, to Oman ahead of another proposed round of peace talks in Sweden later this month." During a visit to Riyadh and Abu Dhabi on Monday, Hunt met Saudi Arabia's King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as well as leaders from the United Arab Emirates and Yemen. He was in the region to boost support for UN efforts to end the nearly .
Kathpalia removed as Air India's director of operations after failing pre-flight alchohol test
The government on Tuesday removed Capt Arvind Kathpalia from the post of Air India's Director of Operations, a day after aviation regulator DGCA suspended his flying licence for three years for failure to clear pre-flight alcohol test. Capt Amitabh Singh, currently executive director for training, has been given additional charge of the post, a Civil Aviation ministry order stated, while noting that the action was taken against Kathpalia due to "failure to course correct" even after earlier suspension of flying licence for three months in February 2017 for skipping breath analyser test. Kathpalia, who is also an AI board member, was grounded by the airline on Sunday after he tested positive for alcohol twice in as many breath analyser (BA) tests before he was to operate Air India's New Delhi-London flight. "Taking (in consideration) serious nature of the transgression and failure to course correct even after earlier suspension of flying licence for three months, the minister of civil .
Unsuccessful ticket aspirants come out against Congress' first
The first list of Congress candidates for the coming Telangana assembly elections has evoked criticism from aspirants who failed to get a berth. The party announced the list of 65 nominees late on Monday for the December 7 election to the 119-member assembly. Even as AICC incharge of party affairs in the state R C Khuntia Tuesday said the nominees for the remaining segments would be declared by November 15, some aspirants who failed to get the ticket aired their disappointment publicly. Bikshapati Yadav, former MLA from Serilingampalli seat Hyderabad, was disappointed as his constituency had been alloted to the TDP, a partner in the Congress-led alliance. Saying that he has already conducted a 'padayatra' in the constituency and wondered whether this was the recognition one gets for having worked for the party. "Is this the result the party gives for having served it?" he asked talking to reporters here. Congress president Rahul Gandhi had earlier talked about not giving .
Shivpal to celebrate Mualayam's B'day as 'Dharm Nirpekshta Diwas'
Shivpal Yadav's Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party Lohia has decided to celebrate Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav's birthday on November 22 as "Dharm Nirpekshta Diwas" The objective of the day would be to strengthen social amity and ideology of secularism, PSPL general secretary Aditya Yadav, who is Shivpal's son, said. "We will celebrate his birthday as 'Dharm Nirpekshta Diwas' (Secular Day)," he said. District presidents of the party have been asked to reach out to the poor on this day and pray for the long life of 'Netaji' (Mulayam), the PSPL leader said. They have been asked to organise programmes like blood donation, seminars and cultural programmes to propagate message of humanity, Aditya Yadav said. In Lucknow, the main programme will be held at party office at 6, Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg, and in Etawah it will take place in Saifai, the native place of the Yadav clan.
Elect AAP for better schools, hospitals: Kejriwal in recorded phone call message for Haryana people
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, whose proposal for a mutual inspection of schools and government dispensaries has been cold shouldered by his Haryana counterpart Manohar Lal Khattar, sought to connect with the people of the neighbouring state though recorded phone call messages asking them to vote for the AAP for better education and healthcare services. Kejriwal had earlier this month invited Khattar to visit mohalla clinics and schools of Delhi government while proposing a similar visit of Haryana by him. As his attempts failed to elicit any response from Khattar, the Delhi chief minister has come up with a recorded message in Haryanvi dialect in which he invited people to visit Mohalla clinics and schools in Delhi. "We have improved government schools in Delhi very much. Take time to visit it. The condition of government schools and hospitals in Haryana is very poor. Why did not Khattar Sahab do it when we accomplished so much," Kejriwal is heard asking in the 58-second-long .
Sri Lanka Supreme Court overturns sacking of parliament by President Sirisena
Sri Lanka' Supreme Court Tuesday overturned President Maithripala Sirisena's dissolution of Parliament and ordered a halt to preparations for snap elections on January 5, party officials present at the hearing said. A three-member bench including the country's chief justice Nalin Perera delivered its ruling after two days of deliberations on as many as 13 petitions against and five for Sirisena's November 9 decision to dissolve Parliament. All petitions filed against Sirisena's decision will be heard on December 4, 5 and 6, the apex court ruled. The petitioners included a member of the independent election commission Ratnajeevan Hoole. Sirisena dissolved Parliament and ordered snap election on January 5, plunging the country's into an unprecedented political and constitutional crises since October 26 when he sacked prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and replaced him with Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Centre's affidavit on Rafale more concealing than revealing: Congress
The Congress on Tuesday said that Centre's affidavit to the Supreme Court on the controversial Rafale deal was more concealing than revealing and sought clarification from the government on five contentious points about the fighter plane deal, which the government was justifying.Addressing a press conference here, Congress leader and former Union Minister Manish Tiwari said, "The affidavit actually conceals more than it reveals. We would like to ask the NDA government five fundamental questions, which underscore the fact that the government is trying to conceal more than it reveals."Tiwari stated that paragraphs 18 and 21 of the government's affidavit confirms that the UPA government's Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) deal and the NDA's Rafale deal were two separate defense procurement agreements."Then how is it that on April 10, 2015, when the Prime Minister went to France, did the government arrive at the conclusion that India will purchase 36 aircraft, when the formal ...
Guj Cong stages protest against demonetisation
The Gujarat unit of Congress Tuesday staged a protest outside the regional office of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) here to mark the second anniversary of demonetisation. The opposition party also held similar protests in other parts of the state. The demonstrations were part of the Congress's nation-wide protest held on November 9 against the note ban. Congress state party spokesman Manish Doshi said the Gujarat unit held the protest on Tuesday as it could not organise it on November 9 due to the 'bhai dooj' festival. "Two years after demonetisation was inflicted on the people of this country, we want to know who really benefited from this decision?" state unit president of the party Amit Chavda asked. He said demonetisation caused a setback to the Indian economy and affected small and medium businesses. "As against the claims made while justifying the decision, demonetisation neither weeded out black money nor removed fake currency," he said. Contrary to it, the move led ..
Mahathir calls for mutually beneficial trade deals
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Tuesday urged members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to engage in fair and mutually beneficial trade and investment cooperation.