Page 252 - Politics
Sidhu loses key portfolio in Punjab cabinet rejig, says he is being 'singled out'
Fissures in the Congress in Punjab deepened on Thursday with Chief Minister Amarinder Singh changing Navjot Singh Sidhu's portfolio within hours of the cricketer-turned-politician snubbing him by skipping a cabinet meeting. Today's fast-paced developments came amidst the simmering tension between Singh and Sidhu which was triggered by the chief minister's allegations that the minister's "inept handling" of the crucial Local Government department had resulted in the Congress' "poor performance" in urban areas in the Lok Sabha elections. Asserting that he cannot be taken for granted, Sidhu told reporters that his department "is being singled out publicly" and claimed that urban areas had played a pivotal role in the party's victory in Punjab. "I always regard him (Singh) as my elder I always listen to him. But it hurts and now where is the collective responsibility? He could have called me and said anything he wanted to say.But I was singled out in spite of collective responsibility," ..
Trump says 'fine' if Iran wants to open talks
US President Donald Trump on Thursday said it was "fine" for him if Iran wanted to hold talks, adding the Islamic Republic was currently "failing as a nation". The United States has had no diplomatic relations with Iran following the hostage seize of the American embassy in Tehran that followed the 1979 Islamic Revolution. US diplomats helped negotiate the landmark 2015 deal on Iran's nuclear programme with Europe under his predecessor Barack Obama but Trump unilaterally pulled out of the deal in May 2018. Speaking after talks in northern France with French President Emmanuel Macron, an ardent supporter of diplomacy with Iran, Trump indicated he could consider talking to Tehran. "I understand they want to talk and if they want to talk that's fine," said Trump, who is in northern France to mark the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings. "We'll talk but the one thing that they can't have is they can't have nuclear weapons," he added. Trump said when he came to power Iran was ...
Pelosi told Dems she'd like Trump 'in prison': Report
Donald Trump should be sent to "prison," US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told fellow Democrats in a closed-door meeting about whether to launch impeachment proceedings against the president, Politico reported Thursday. Pelosi, Trump's political nemesis in Congress, has long stated she is not ready to proceed with what would be a deeply divisive impeachment action, and that she would prefer to see the president defeated at the ballot box next year. But in a meeting late Tuesday with House committee chairmen, she clashed with House Judiciary Committee chairman Jerry Nadler over whether to kick off an impeachment inquiry, using language that ramped up the rhetoric surrounding top Democrats and Trump. "I don't want to see him impeached, I want to see him in prison," Pelosi said, according to Politico, which cited multiple Democratic sources familiar with the meeting. Pelosi prefers to see Trump lose the 2020 election and then face prosecution for his alleged crimes, the sources told the US .
Troubles mount for Cong; two-thirds of its MLAs in T'gana join TRS; Sidhu targets Amarinder
In mounting troubles for the Congress after the Lok Sabha debacle, two-thirds of its 18 MLAs in Telangana Thursday deserted the party and joined the ruling TRS while a defiant Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu fired a fresh salvo at Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and skipped a key Cabinet meeting. As many as 12 of the 18 Congress MLAs were recognised as members of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi(TRS) by Assembly Speaker P Srinivas Reddy on Thursday night, just hours after they moved him seeking merger of their group with the ruling party. The Congress termed the developments in Telangana as "daylight murder of democracy". In Punjab, Sidhu, who is at loggerheads with Amarinder Singh, was divested of the crucial Local Government department and was given the Power and New and Renewable Energy Sources portfolio in a cabinet reshuffle. Sidhu was also stripped of culture and tourism portfolios. Capping a day of fast paced political developments in Hyderabad, Speaker Reddy acceded to the ...
Chinese delegation meets Sonia, Rahul
A Chinese delegation headed by a Communist Party Politburo member on Thursday met Congress Presidnt Rahul Gandhi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
Putin says Russia hasn't meddled in US vote and never will
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday reaffirmed his staunch denial that his government meddled in the 2016 US presidential election, adding that Moscow has no intention of interfering in any future votes, either. Speaking in response to a question from The Associated Press during a meeting with chief executives of international news agencies in St Petersburg, the Russian leader said that "we didn't meddle, we aren't meddling and we will not meddle in any elections." Putin and other Russian officials have hotly denied any interference with the US vote to help Donald Trump win presidency, even though US special counsel Robert Mueller has uncovered evidence of a Kremlin operation to interfere with the 2016 vote. He charged 12 Russian military intelligence officers with breaking into Democratic Party emails, and also indicted other Russians who used phony social media accounts to spread divisive rhetoric and to undermine the US political system. Putin insisted that "we don't have .
CM scraps Naidu's 'Annadata Sukhibhava' scheme,unveils new one
The Andhra Pradesh Government headed by Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy Thursday announced scrapping of a scheme launched by former chief minister Chandrababu Naidu and introduced a new one in its place besides announcing crucial decisions related to the agriculture sector. Major decisions included introduction of the 'Rythu Bharosa' scheme and creation of a Rs 3,000 crore Market Stabilisation Fund, according to a YSR Congress party release. Also, Rs 7 lakh per head will be paid as ex-gratia under the new YSR Bima (insurance) scheme in case of death of a farmer. The decisions were taken at a high-level review meeting on agriculture, chaired by the Chief Minister here Thursday, a release from his office said. The ruling YSR Congress party decided to scrap the Annadata Sukhibhava scheme, launched just ahead of the general elections by the then Chandrababu Naidu government, and bring in the 'Rythu Bharosa' scheme in its place. Under the new scheme, which is one of the electoral ...
Mamata bans BJP's victory marches in Bengal
Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of inciting violence in West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Thursday that no victory march of the saffron party would be allowed in the state henceforth and asked the police to take strong action against the violators.
AP Ministers to be sworn in on June 8
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy will induct his council of ministers on Saturday, more than a week after he was sworn in alone. The swearing-in ceremony of the new ministers would take place at 11.49 am on Saturday at the Secretariat here, an official announcement said here Thursday. Ahead of the swearing-in, the Chief Minister would hold a meeting of the YSR Congress Legislature Party at his residence Friday, party sources said. Following his partys stupendous victory in the recent general elections, Jagan Mohan Reddy alone took oath as Chief Minister on May 30. After a series of confabulations with his party leaders, he was said to have given a shape to his Cabinet, picking up prospective ministers based on various factors, including representatives of different castes, the sources said. The state can have a 25-member Cabinet but the sheer volume of the YSRCs victory (151 out of 175 seats) has thrown up a lot of aspirants for the ministerial ...
SLFP requests Sirisena to contest for second term in Lanka prez polls
The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) on Thursday requested President Maithripala Sirisena to contest for the second term in the presidential polls scheduled to be held later this year. The development came days after Sirisena, during his visit to New Delhi to attend the swearing in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, told the Indian media that he has not decided on seeking another term in the upcoming presidential election, likely to take place on December 7. "I am not in a hurry to decide whether to stand," 57-year-old Sirisena had told a news conference in New Delhi. In a communique handed over to Sirisena in the afternoon, his party men requested him to contest the presidential election as the SLFP nominee, the president media division said here. A statement attributed to Sirisena's coalition partner UNP members saying that the SLFP leader has told the United National Party that he would not contest for the second term has prompted the SLFP workers to take the step, it ...
4th Saturdays to be government holiday in Karnataka; CL cut
Karnataka Cabinet Thursday decided to declare fourth Saturdays a holiday for state government employees in addition to second Saturdays. The in principle decision was taken based on a recommendation of the the state Pay Commission, Rural Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda said. The cabinet also decided to bring down the number of casual leaves from the existing 15 days to ten for the government employees, he told reporters here. He said that in 2011 the Pay Commission hadrecommended five-day week and the recent paypanel also stuck to it. Though the Cabinet discussed about reducing festival and other holidays such as on the occasion of 'jayantis', it felt such a move might hurt sentiments of certain sections. It was decided to reduce the number of days of casual leave, he added. He said whether the changes will be implemented immediately or from next year will be decided after discussions with the Chief Minister. The cabinet also decided to go for counsellingthrough
12 Cong MLAs break away in Telangana; party says 'daylight murder of democracy'
The Congress on Thursday termed as "daylight murder of democracy" the way 12 of its 18 MLAs in Telangana quit the party to join the ruling TRS. Party spokesperson Pawan Khera said this was not a healthy practice for the country and it amounted to butchering of people's mandate, which the people of the southern state would never forgive. "The way the people's mandate and democratic norms are being butchered, this is something which India should not get used to. Indians should not get used to this kind of daylight murder of democracy," Khera told reporters. He said just because somebody was in power, had access to resources and thought he could control agencies, "it does not mean he has got unbridled powers and that he should misuse those powers and kill democracy". Khera said these 12 MLAs were elected by the voters, who rejected the TRS and voted for the Congress. "This is a murder of their mandate. India may ignore it today, but it will never forget this daylight murder of ...
Doval chairs meeting on Kashmir
National Security Advisor Ajit Doval chaired a high-level meeting Thursday to discuss issues concerning Kashmir, including the forthcoming Amarnath Yatra and pending Assembly election, officials said. The meeting was attended by Vijay Kumar, Advisor to the Jammu and Kashmir Governor, State Chief Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat, Director General of CRPF R R Bhatnagar and Director General of Police Dilbag Singh, they said. This is the first meeting of Doval on Kashmir after assuming the charge of National Security Advisor for a second term on June 2. During the meeting, the prevailing security situation in Kashmir was reviewed, especially in view of the annual Amarnath Yatra which begins on July 1 this year, they said. The meeting comes days after the Election Commission made an announcement that polls to the state Assembly will be held after the Amarnath Yatra, they said. In a statement, the poll panel had said it unanimously decided that "holding of assembly
Vajpayee's residence 6-A Krishna Menon Marg is Shah's new address
Union Home Minister and BJP President Amit Shah is likely to be allotted a government accommodation which was earlier with former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee since 2004 till his death last year. Shah's new address 6-A Krishna Menon Marg in central Delhi comes under Special Protection Group (SPG) umbrella.
Rajiv Kumar re-appointed NITI Aayog Vice Chairman
Economist Rajiv Kumar was re-appointed as the Vice Chairman of the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog on Thursday. The development assumes significance as Kumar's current term ends this month.
Will complain to MP Guv about VIP treatment to Kamal Nath's relatives: BJP's Rahul Kothari
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rahul Kothari on Thursday said that his party will complain to Madhya Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel regarding VIP treatment provided to state Chief Minister Kamal Nath's relatives.According to reports, Kamal Nath's nephew was escorted as part of a convoy, including an ambulance and police officers, for his visit to Mahakaleshwar temple in Ujjain.When asked about the same, Kothari told ANI here, "Patients are not provided ambulance on time, but when Chief Minister's nephew goes to a temple, he is provided all facilities. We will complain about this to the Governor. The money for all this should be deducted from Kamal Nath's salary."BJP leader Alok Sanjar said, "This facility is provided to the Chief Minister for his own security. It is questionable why his relatives are being provided with such facilities. This is against the law. It is wrong.
In its first Par session, govt plans to convert 10 ordinances into law
In the first session of the 17th Lok Sabha, the new government plans to convert 10 ordinances, including the one to ban the practice of instant triple talaq, into law, official sources said Thursday. The ordinances were issued in February-March this year by the previous government as these could not be converted into Acts of Parliament in the last session of the 16th Lok Sabha. Since the Narendra Modi government returned to power in the just-held Lok Sabha elections, it has decided to give a fresh push to these proposed laws in the newly-constituted Lok Sabha. These ordinances will have to be converted into laws within 45 days of the beginning of the session, else they will lapse. Besides the ordinance on triple talaq, the other ordinances lined up are: the Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Ordinance, the Companies (Amendment) Ordinance, the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Ordinance, the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Ordinance, the Aadhaar and other laws ...
Theresa May gets set for resignation as British PM
Theresa May conducted her final public tour as British Prime Minister on Thursday with a visit to Normandy in France to mark the 75th anniversary of the World War II D-Day landings. May, 62, gave a moving speech to pay tribute to the brave soldiers who fought for freedom on the beaches of Normandy 75 years ago as part of the Allied Forces. She said it was "truly humbling" to be at the celebrations with the men who fought in the "greatest battle for freedom the world has ever known". "It is an honour for all of us to share this moment with you. If one day can be said to have determined the fate of generations to come in France, in Britain, in Europe and the world that day was June 6, 1944. These young men belonged to a very special generation, the greatest generation," she said. On Friday, May will formally step down as Prime Minister having set the timetable for her Downing Street exit last month. It will then trigger the official phase of the Conservative Party leadership contest ..
BJP set to launch membership drive ahead of organisational polls
The BJP is set to launch a nationwide membership drive, which will be followed by election of its heads in states and Union Territories, before it elects its new national president, party sources said. Organisational elections in the party were postponed last year due to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and are being set in motion now. The party had asked its president Amit Shah, whose three-year term ended earlier this year, to continue so as to allow him and the organisation to focus on the general election. The sources said the membership drive will be launched in most states, except those which are headed for assembly polls, and UTs, in the coming days. This will be followed by reconstitution of organisation from booth-level onwards in states, they said. New members of state councils will elect their respective state chiefs, and then members of national council will elect a new president, they said. Most of the senior functionaries, including state heads and national president, are ...
CM's arrogance, Sabarimala led to poll rout in Kerala: CPI
Taking a pragmatic view of the massive rout suffered by the Left in the recently-held Lok Sabha elections in Kerala, the Communist Party of India (CPI) said on Thursday that the arrogance of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the Sabarimala issue were the primary reasons for the Left's debacle.