Page 2509 - Politics
Chinese tourism minister to attend new Maldives president's inauguration
China has deputed its Tourism and Culture Minister Luo Shugang as the special envoy of President Xi Jinping to attend the swearing-in-ceremony of the Maldives' President-elect Ibrahim Mohamed Solih in Male on November 17. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also due to attend the ceremony which marks the end of the term of current President Abdulla Yameen whose pro-China policies, including promoting heavy Chinese investments in the strategically- located archipelago in the Indian Ocean, sparked concerns in India, the US and European countries. At the invitation of the Maldivian government, Luo will travel to the Maldivian capital Male from November 15-19 to attend the inauguration of President-elect Solih as special envoy of President Xi, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said here on Tuesday. Over 120,000 Chinese tourists, the most from any country, have visited the Maldivian archipelago composed of 26 ring-shaped atolls which are part of numerous islands. The fall of ..
To curb corruption, notes of higher denominations must be stopped: Rajbhar
Amid a debate over the effectiveness of the demonetisation exercise, Uttar Pradesh minister Om Prakash Rajbhar said Tuesday that circulation of higher-denomination currency notes must be stopped to effectively curb corruption. If corruption is to be curbed in the country, then notes of higher denominations such as Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 should be withdrawn from circulation, Rajbhar said in a tweet. The government should allow circulation of currency notes only from Re 1 to Rs 100, he tweeted, adding that it was the only way to curb corruption. Rajbhar heads the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, an ally of the BJP in UP. Recently, he had attacked the Union government over demonetisation. "What was the use of demonetisation, if all the money came back to the Reserve Bank of India?" he had said.
US-Japan trade pact will be model for Indo-Pacific: Pence
The trade agreement Washington and Tokyo plan to negotiate will be a model for the Indo-Pacific region, US Vice President Mike Pence said at the start of his Asia tour on Tuesday.
Body of Ananth Kumar consigned to flames; Union ministers, top BJP leaders pay homage
The mortal remains of Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister and senior BJP leader Ananth Kumar were consigned to flames with full state honours here on Tuesday after hundreds of mourners paid their last respect to the departed soul. The funeral pyre was lit by Kumar's younger brother Nanda Kumar, who performed the last rites according to Smartha Brahmin traditions, amidst chanting of Vedic hymns by a battery of priests at the Chamarajapete cremation ground. Kumar's tricolour-draped mortal remains were accorded a gun salute by military personnel in presence of his wife Tejaswini, daughters Aishwarya and Vijetha, other family members and, national and state leaders. Chants of "Bharat Mata Ki Jai" and "Ananth Kumar Amar Rahe" rent the air as leaders paid homage and the mortal remains were consigned to flames. Veteran BJP leader and former deputy prime minister L K Advani, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP president Amit Shah and state party chief B S Yeddyurappa and RSS general ...
Report of N. Korea's 'undisclosed' missile bases not new: Seoul
South Korea's presidential office on Tuesday played down a report on North Korea's "undisclosed" missile sites, saying the state intelligence communities of Seoul and Washington earlier acquired relevant information.
'We don't need their prize': Myanmar defiant as Amnesty pulls Suu Kyi award
Myanmar authorities and citizens leapt to the defence of Aung San Suu Kyi Tuesday after Amnesty International stripped her of its top award over indifference to atrocities committed against Rohingya Muslims, doubling down on support for the civilian leader in the face of global ire. Suu Kyi's international reputation as a rights icon is in pieces and Amnesty's move is the latest in a string of rescinded accolades. Canada revoked her honorary citizenship last month and the US Holocaust Museum in March took back an award named after concentration camp survivor Elie Wiesel. Institutions that once showered Suu Kyi with titles are rapidly distancing themselves from a leader they argue is doing little in the face of alleged genocide and ethnic cleansing against its Rohingya minority. Amnesty's "Ambassador of Conscience Award" was bestowed in 2009 and other recipients include Nelson Mandela, Malala Yousafzai and Ai Wei Wei. "Today, we are profoundly dismayed that you no longer represent a ...
Suu Kyi stance on Rohingya 'indefensible': Malaysia PM
Aung San Suu Kyi's response to the persecution of Myanmar's Rohingya Muslims is "indefensible", Malaysia's leader said Tuesday in a withering criticism of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate shortly before sharing a stage with her. Mahathir Mohamed, 93, said he was "very disappointed" by Suu Kyi's failure to defend the Rohingya, a stateless Muslim minority driven from Myanmar in their hundreds of thousands last year by an army campaign that UN investigators say amounted to genocide. Mahathir made his remarks less than an hour before standing alongside Suu Kyi for a stoney-faced photo shoot at the start of the ASEAN regional summit in Singapore, the kind of diplomatic gathering where she was once feted by contemporaries as a beacon of democracy. "Someone who has been detained before should know the sufferings and should not inflict it on the hapless," Mahathir told reporters in a reference to Suu Kyi's long years of house arrest under Myanmar's military junta. "But it would seem that Aung .
BJP fields kin of several leaders in Rajasthan assembly election
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has awarded tickets to close family members of several party leaders to contest the December 7 assembly election in Rajasthan, deviating from its stand against dynastic politics. Party leaders said the deviation was necessitated to avoid revolt within the party. The party was taking each step in ticket distribution cautiously to avoid revolt within the party, which otherwise could play spoilsport and affect its prospects in the crucial election. In the BJP's first list of 131 candidates released on Sunday night, the party has given ticket to its 85 sitting MLAs and has taken care of the family members of prominent leaders who were denied ticket. The first list comprises sons, grandsons and daughter-in-laws of several prominent leaders of the BJP. The saffron party has given due attention to family members of leaders who died owing to health issues. The BJP has given ticket to Ram Swaroop Lamba, the son of late MP Sanwar Lal Jat, to contest ...
Longowal re-elected as SGPC chief
Four time-legislator and former cabinet minister Gobind Singh Longowal was Tuesday unanimously re-elected as SGPC president. The announcement was made here during the annual general house meeting of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC)-- the apex gurdwara body. Longowal has become the 43rd president of the committee, having taken over the post for the first time in 2017. His name was proposed by former SGPC president Bibi Jagir Kaur and seconded by another former SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar, an official said. As he was re-elected unopposed, religious slogans rented the air at the Teja Singh Samudari Hall in the premises of the body which manages gurdwaras of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh. Gurbachan Singh Karmuwal was elected as the general secretary while Ragujit Singh Virk was appointed as senior vice president of the SGPC. Bikar Singh was made the junior vice president of the body. Meanwhile, 11 executive members of the SGPC too were elected on the
Hundreds bid adieu to Ananth Kumar at state funeral
Hundreds of people, including BJP patriarch L.K. Advani and the party's National President Amit Shah, on Tuesday bid farewell to Ananth Kumar, as his mortal remains were cremated at a state funeral with military honours here.
Jagan Reddy attack: Accused had access to check-in area only, says BCAS
The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) has clarified that the person accused of attacking Yuvajana Shramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) president Jagan Mohan Reddy did not have permission to enter beyond the premises of check-in area.BCAS Director General (DG) Kumar Rajesh Chandra in his written reply to the questions raised by YSRCP national general secretary and Member of Parliament (MP) Vijayasai Reddy, said that no permission was given to Fusion Foods owner Harshvardhan Prasad Chowdhary and accused J Srinivasan Rao to have access in the aerodrome entry point of Vishakhapatnam airport. Chowdhary belongs to the Telugu Desam Party (TDP).In the letter, Chandra also clarified that accused Rao had obtained a temporary one-month Aerodrome Entry Permit (AEP) for the period from October 1 to October 30, 2018 which gave him access only till check-in area of the departure terminal. The restaurant operator, Fusion Foods, was granted a license for catering in the departure area of the .
Cong dismisses Dassault CEO's claims on Rafale deal as 'manufactured lies'
The political row over the Rafale jet deal escalated on Tuesday with the Congress dismissing as "manufactured lies" claims by the Dassault CEO that there was no wrong-doing and party chief Rahul Gandhi firing a fresh salvo at Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Party leaders Randeep Surjewala and Anand Sharma joined Gandhi in accusing the government of a "cover-up". The nation needs a "fair investigation" and not "doctored explanations" on the fighter jet deal, Congress chief spokesperson Surjewala said. He was responding to Dassault Aviation CEO Eric Trappier's defence of the contract in a media interview. Trappier has claimed no wrong-doing in the Rs 58,000 crore deal asserting it was a clean deal. Trappier also claimed his company chose Reliance as an offset partner. "Dictated interviews and manufactured lies cannot cover up corruption in the Rafale deal. The first rule of law is mutual beneficiaries and the co-accused's statements holds no value. The second rule is beneficiaries and ...
Beijing wants S. China Sea code finished in three years
A rulebook to settle disputes in the hotly contested South China Sea should be finished in three years, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said on Tuesday, insisting his nation does not seek "hegemony or expansion". Li's comments appeared to be the first clear timeframe for finishing the code of conduct. Talks have dragged on for years, with China accused of delaying progress as it prefers to deal with less powerful countries on a one-on-one basis. Ownership of islands and waters in the South China Sea is disputed by several nations. China, which claims virtually all of the sea, has established military positions on disputed outcrops and intimidates fishermen and naval vessels from rival countries. Tensions have soared with fellow claimants such as Vietnam, the Philippines and Taiwan, as well as the United States, which has traditionally been the dominant military power in the area. Beijing and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have for years sought to hammer out a .
Russian opposition leader Navalny barred from leaving Russia
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was stopped at the border Tuesday and barred from leaving Russia as he was about to travel to a court hearing at the European Court for Human Rights in France. Navalny said in a blog post on Tuesday that he was due to attend a hearing at the ECHR which is expected to rule if his countless detentions have been politically motivated. He was stopped by border guards and told that a ruling by court bailiffs has barred him from leaving Russia. The hearing in Strasbourg on Thursday could prove a major embarrassment for the Kremlin which routinely dismisses Navalny, arguably Russia's most popular opposition figure, as a trouble-maker with no political backing. Navalny said on Twitter that the decision to bar him from traveling shows that the Kremlin thinks that his absence could have an influence on the ruling. Navalny's lawyer Ivan Zhdanov on Tuesday posted a picture of the ruling which barred him from traveling. It was undated and lacked any ...
Turkey 'patiently' waiting for Saudi insights into killing
Turkey is waiting for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to shed light on the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul last month, the country's president was quoted as saying Tuesday. Speaking to journalists on board his plane while returning from World War I commemorations in Paris, Recep Tayyip Erdogan also reportedly said audio recordings of the killing that Turkey shared with officials from Saudi Arabia and other nations were so "atrocious" that a Saudi intelligence official speculated that the killer may have been on heroin. "The recording is truly atrocious. In fact, when the Saudi intelligence officer listened to the recording he was so shocked that he said 'this one probably took heroin. Only someone who took heroin would do it,'" Erdogan was reported as saying in comments published in pro-government Yeni Safak. Turkey says The Washington Post columnist, who had criticized the crown prince, was killed by a 15-member assassination squad sent
Sirisena backers file counter petitions supporting dissolution of Parliament
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena's supporters including some Cabinet ministers Tuesday filed five petitions in the Supreme Court supporting his controversial move to dissolve Parliament even as the apex court began hearing a case filed by Opposition parties against the move. Sirisena dissolved Parliament on November 9 and announced snap polls to be held on January 5 next year after it became clear that he did not have enough support in the House to prove the premiership of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, whom he appointed prime minister after abruptly sacking Ranil Wickremesinghe on October 26. Rajapaksa needed the support of at least 113 parliamentarians in the 225-member House to prove his majority. Major political parties and an election commission member on Monday dragged Sirisena to the Supreme Court, challenging his move of dissolving Parliament, almost 20 months before its term was to end. Wickremesinghe's United National Party (UNP), the Tamil National Alliance ...
Upset over not getting ticket, BJP MLA resigns
Miffed over ticket allocation, a sitting Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) of Bharatiya Janata Party, has left the party.Habibur Rahaman Ashrafi Lamba, who represents Nagaur constituency in Rajasthan state assembly, parted ways with the BJP after Mohan Ram Chaudhary was announced as the party candidate from Nagaur.Lamba gave his resignation to Rajasthan cabinet minister Prabhu Lal Saini on Monday.The BJP on Sunday had released the first list of 131 candidates for the upcoming assembly polls in Rajasthan.The names were announced by Union Minister and party leader JP Nadda after a meeting of the BJP central election committee.The BJP has fielded 25 new faces and 85 sitting MLAs for the assembly polls.The assembly polls in the state are slated to take place on December 7 in a single phase for all 200 seats. The counting of votes will take place on December 11.In last assembly polls, the BJP had won 163 of the 200 assembly seats in the state.
Malaysia warns of 'domino effect' from U.S.-China trade tensions
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Trade tensions between the United States and China will trigger a "domino effect" of protectionist measures, Malaysia warned on Tuesday as Asian leaders gathered for a summit overshadowed by the tit-for-tat tariff war between Washington and Beijing.
Senior leaders, former MPs in Congress' first list for T'gana Assembly polls
The first list of 65 candidates announced by the Congress for the December 7 Telangana Assembly elections included several senior leaders, including former MPs and ministers. The list was released late on Monday night after a marathon meeting of the party's Central Election Committee (CEC) chaired by party president Rahul Gandhi. All state Congress leaders were present at the meeting. Telangana Congress chief N Uttam Kumar Reddy would fight the polls from Huzurnagar Assembly segment again, while his wife N Padmavati Reddy has been fielded again from Kodad. K Jana Reddy, who was the leader of opposition in the now-dissolved Assembly has been nominated for Nagarjunasagar constituency, while state Congress working committee president A Revanth Reddy is contesting again from Kodangal. The Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee's campaign committee chairman M Bhatti Vikramarka will trying his luck again from Madhira. The list includes several former MPs, including Sarvey Satyanarayana for ...
If 10 parties gang up against BJP, then it shows who is strong: Rajinikanth
Superstar Rajinikanth on Tuesday said it was for the people to decide whether the BJP is a "dangerous" party but said if 10 parties are ranged against one, then it shows who is strong.