Page 2519 - Politics
No threat but need to be alert in Punjab: Army chief
While maintaining that there was no immediate threat of militancy in Punjab, the Indian Army Chief, General Bipin Rawat, said on Monday that there was a need to be alert about it.
T'gana caretaker CM, political leaders condole Ananth Kumar's death
Telangana Caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and leaders of various political parties Monday condoled the death of Union Minister Ananth Kumar. Rao remembered Kumar's services as a parliamentarian and political leader and conveyed condolences to the bereaved family, a release from Rao's office said. Recalling his long association with Kumar, both in the party and in Parliament, BJP MP Bandaru Dattatreya said Kumar had rendered yeoman's services as a Union Minister in the NDA governments led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Narendra Modi. Dattatreya also hailed the services of Kumar to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Expressing shock over the demise of Kumar, BJP state unit president K Laxman recalled the departed leader's services, including as the 'pramukh' for veteran leader L K Advani's 'yatra' in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Ananth Kumar, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister and long-time BJP leader, died at a private hospital in Bengaluru in the early hours of Monday ...
Cong politics centred around a family; BJP for development: PM
In a no-holds-barred attack on the Congress, its president Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday said the party's "politics begins and ends with one family". Addressing a poll rally here ahead of the second phase polling in the state on November 20, Modi also made a strong pitch for development, saying its pace under the Congress' watch was "far slow" than that during the BJP's rule. Singling out the Gandhis, Modi said the "mother-son duo were out on bail" and hit out at them for questioning the government's demonetisation move. Without naming the Gandhis, he said "they should not forget" that it was due to the note ban move that they "had to seek bail". Attacking the Congress on the issue of corruption, Modi also referred to then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's remark in 1985 that only 15 paise of every rupee meant for the welfare of the downtrodden reached them. Which "hand" (election symbol of the Congress) had siphoned off the remaining
Ananth Kumar had deep attachment with the public: Adityanath
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Monday condoled the death of Union Minister Ananth Kumar, saying he was a "popular leader" who had a "deep attachment" with the masses. In a statement issued here, Adityanath said, "Ananth Kumar was a popular leader, and had deep attachment with the public. He had effectively discharged his responsibilities pertaining to the organisation and government." The Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Chemicals and Fertilizers, Kumar passed away early Monday morning in Bengaluru. He was a BJP MP from south Bengaluru constituency. Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya in a tweet condoled the senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader's demise, terming it as an "irreparable loss" for the saffron party. UP Legislative Assembly Speaker Hriday Narayan Dixit too condoled the death of the Union minister. In a tweet, Dixit said, "The demise of Ananth Kumar has left a deep void in the political arena. May God give strength to the
Bangladesh election day pushed back to Dec 30
Bangladesh poll authority on Monday deferred the date for next month's general elections by a week to December 30, a day after the country's main opposition alliance demanded delaying the polls by a month, an official said. Last week, Bangladesh Election Commission said that the general election will be held on December 23. Bangladesh's main opposition BNP, led by imprisoned ex-premier Khaleda Zia, on Sunday said it would participate in the general election next month, after it boycotted the 2014 polls that returned Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League to power due to fears of rigging. "The 11th general election will be held across Bangladesh on December 30," Chief Election Commissioner Nurul Huda announced responding to the newly formed National Unity Front (NUF) with jailed former prime minister Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) being its key partner. He said the five-member commission decided to reschedule the polls as the NUF proposal "is reassuring to the ...
Bangladesh EC defers polling date to December 30
The Bangladesh Election Commission on Monday postponed the polling date for the country's general election from December 23 to December 30 amid calls for a deferral from the new opposition alliance Jatiya Oikya Front and other parties.
Notification issued for Telangana Assembly election
The Election Commission Monday issued notification for the December 7 election to the Telangana Legislative Assembly. According to the notification, nominations would be accepted from November 12 to 19 while the date for scrutiny of papers has been fixed on November 20. The last date for withdrawing nominations is November 22. Polls are scheduled to be held on December 7 and counting would be held on December 11. According to an earlier communication from the Chief Electoral officers office, the total number of voters in Telangana have gone down by nearly nine lakh to 2.73 crore for the Assembly polls. There would be more than 32,574 polling stations in the state and few more may be set up depending on the number of voters. The 119-member Assembly was dissolved on September 6 on the recommendation of the K Chandrasekhar Rao-led government, more than eight months ahead of the expiry of its term. The Election Commission on Friday imposed a near month-long ban on holding exit polls ...
Nepal names former law minister as ambassador to India
The Nepal government on Monday nominated former law minister and senior politician Nilambar Acharya as ambassador to India. The position of Nepalese ambassador to India was vacant for about a year after Deep Kumar Upadhyay resigned October last year to join politics. A cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli proposed Acharya's name for the diplomatic post, officials said. Achayra, a former envoy to Sri Lanka, currently coordinates the Nepal side of the Eminent Persons Group on Nepal-India relations. A Moscow University graduate, Acharya was initially left-leaning but later joined the Nepali Congress party. He was minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs and Labour and Social Welfare in the interim government of 1990. Acharya's name will now be sent to a parliamentary committee for approval, which then will forward it to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). The Nepal's MFA will then send it to its Indian counterpart Ministry of External Affairs for an ...
National Herald case: Subramanian Swamy moves Patiala House court to seek new date
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy moved an application in Delhi's Patiala House Court seeking a new date in the National Herald case on Monday. The court has set November 17 as the date for recording Swamy's statement and is also likely to pass an order on alleged misuse of twitter by him for defaming senior Congress leaders in the case.BJP leader had approached the court to seek another date of hearing for statement recording, as he has to visit Maldives for an event.A Delhi court on October 20 reserved its order on an application moved by Congress leader Motilal Vora, seeking directions to restrain Swamy from posting derogatory tweets regarding the National Herald case.Vora who is one of the accused in the case moved the application in the court on July 21.In his petition, Vora said freedom of speech was not absolute, adding that Swamy should be restrained from posting anything on social media, in the interest of the administration of justice.Swamy had also recorded a .
Modi attacks Rahul, Sonia over demonetisation
Hitting back at Rahul Gandhi who questioned him on demonetisation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that the Congress President and his mother Sonia Gandhi were out on bail but issuing "honesty certificates" to others.
BJP names 131 candidates in Rajasthan
The BJP on Monday released its first list of 131 candidates for the December 7 Rajasthan Assembly polls. Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje will contest from her traditional Jhalrapatan seat.
Key Lankan parties, EC member move Supreme Court against President Sirisena
Sri Lanka's major political parties and an election commission member on Monday dragged President Maithripala Sirisena to the Supreme Court, challenging his controversial move of dissolving Parliament, almost 20 months before its term was to end. Sirisena dissolved Parliament on October 9 and announced snap polls on January 5 next year after it became evident that he did not have enough support in the House to prove the premiership of 72-year-old Mahinda Rajapaksa, whom he has appointed prime minister after abruptly sacking Ranil Wickremesinghe on October 26. Rajapaksa needed the support of minimum 113 parliamentarians in the 225-member House to prove his majority Ousted premier Wickremesinghe's United National Party (UNP), the main opposition Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and the leftist JVP or the People's Liberation Front (PLF) were among the 10 groups that filed petitions in the apex court, seeking declaration of the president's action as illegal, officials said. The petitioners ..
Congress' politics begins and ends with one family: Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday attacked the Congress, targeting its president Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia, saying the party's "politics begins and ends with one family". Addressing a poll rally here ahead of the second phase polling in the state on November 20, Modi also made a strong pitch for development, saying the pace of development under the Congress regime in the state was "far slow" than the one under the BJP-led government. Singling out the Gandhis, Modi said the "mother-son duo" were out on bail and hit out at them for questioning the government's demonetisation move. "They forget it was due to demonetisation that they had to seek bail," Modi said, adding "those seeking bail are giving certificate to Modi". Modi asserted the BJP was for development and that it was due to this commitment that the opposition was unable to understand how to compete with ruling party in elections. He also targeted the Congress president, saying when Congress released its
Asean signs first regional e-commerce agreement
Finance Ministers of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) on Monday signed the bloc's first agreement to facilitate e-commerce transactions in the region.
Kharge condoles Ananth Kumar's death
Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge condoled the death of Union Minister Ananth Kumar, who passed away Monday in Bengaluru, saying the country had lost a "valuable politician". "As union minister of parliamentary affairs, he was always focused on his job and managed the debates with a smile," Kharge, who is the leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, said in a statement. The people of Karnataka are grief stricken with Kumar's death, who was a member of Parliament for six terms and a Union Minister in three governments, he added. Kharge expressed his "deepest sympathies" for the family and supporters of the senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader. After battling lung cancer for several months, Kumar passed away early Monday morning.
Army soldier martyred in J&K to be cremated in Maharashtra
The mortal remains of Naik Keshav Somgir Gosavi, who was killed by a Pakistani sniper in Jammu and Kashmir, are expected to arrive at his native place in Maharashtra's Nashik district for last rites on Monday, an official said. Gosavi, 29, was manning a forward post in Kalal area of Noushera sector in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district when he was shot by a Pakistani sniper on Sunday, resulting in his death. He is survived by wife Yashoda Gosavi. The body is expected to arrive at the Indian Air Force's Ojhar airbase here around 4 pm and will then be taken to his native Shrirampur village in Sinnar tehsil for the last rites, the official at the district collectorate said. "Gosavi's relatives told the district administration that he was looking forward to return home as his wife is expecting their first child soon," he added.
Nearly 20% polling in Chhattisgarh first phase
Defying Maoist threats, lakhs of people voted on Monday in 18 constituencies in the first phase of the Chhattisgarh Assembly election, with officials putting the voting percentage at nearly 20 per cent in the first four hours.
Trump discusses situation in Syria, Saudi, Afghan with world leaders
US President Donald Trump discussed a host of issues -- including Syria, trade, the situation in Saudi Arabia, sanctions, Afghanistan, China and North Korea -- during his meetings with the world leaders in France, the White House said. Around 70 world leaders, including US President Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, gathered in Paris on Sunday to mark the centenary of the 1918 Armistice in the French capital. Trump returned to Washington late Sunday night. "Today (Sunday) at lunch, the President sat with (French) President (Emanuel) Macron, (German) Chancellor (Angela) Merkel, and (Russian) President (Vladimir) Putin, and many other world leaders," White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said. "The leaders discussed a variety of issues, including the INF (Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty), Syria, trade, the situation in Saudi Arabia, sanctions, Afghanistan, China, and North Korea. They had very good and productive discussions during the two-hour lunch," she ..
Former legislator Madhavrao Gaikwad dies
Former legislator Madhavrao Gaikwad died here in Maharashtra on Monday morning due to old age-related illnesses, family sources said. He was 95. Gaikwad, who was also a freedom fighter, contested the state Assembly elections from the Manmad constituency in 1985 and remained an MLA till 1990. He was the leader of opposition in the state Legislative Council from 1960 to 1962. He also headed the Manmad Municipal Council here in 1974 and fought for many years for the welfare of farmers. He is survived by wife and a daughter.
Union minister Ananth Kumar dies of lung cancer in Bengaluru hospital
Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister and long-time BJP leader Ananth Kumar died at a private hospital here in the early hours of Monday after battling lung cancer for several months. He was 59. The Bangalore South MP, who returned home in October after undergoing treatment in the US and Britain, breathed his last around 2 am with his wife Tejaswini and two daughters by his side, B R Nagaraj, chairperson of the board of trustees of Sri Shankara Cancer Foundation, told PTI. The Union minister, who passed away from complications following cancer and infection, had been on the ventilator in the Intensive Care Unit for the last few days, his office said in a statement. His mortal remains will be kept at his residence here the entire day Monday and the last rites will be performed Tuesday, the Karnataka unit of the BJP said. The body will be taken to the state BJP office and the National College ground, which falls in his constituency, before the funeral at Chamarajapete crematorium, it ...