Page 256 - Politics
No meeting scheduled between Modi and Imran Khan on sidelines of SCO summit
India on Thursday appeared to rule out any meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on the sidelines of the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit scheduled to be held in Kyrgyzstan later this month.It also downplayed the visit of Pakistan Foreign Secretary Sohail Ahmed to India currently as "personal" and no official meetings were scheduled with him."To the best of my knowledge no meeting has been planned between PM Modi and Pakistan PM Imran Khan at the SCO Summit in Bishkek," MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said at his weekly briefing.When asked if he is "completely" ruling out any possibility of a meeting between the two Prime Ministers, Kumar repeated the same line.The MEA spokesperson also said that no meeting is planned between Pakistan Foreign Secretary Sohail Mehmood and Indian officials. Pakistani Foreign Secretary is in New Delhi on a personal visit, he added.Talking about the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor, Kumar said, "We ...
Akali Dal demands return of Sikh treasure 'taken away' by Army during Op Bluestar
The Shiromani Akali Dal Thursday demanded immediate handing over of precious treasure of Sikhs allegedly seized by the Army during the 1984 Operation Bluestar as well as regular pension to those who left the forces after the armed intervention to flush out terrorists from the Golden Temple. The demand was placed before Union Home Minister Amit Shah by a SAD delegation led by party chief Sukhbir Singh Badal. "The Sikh community is eagerly waiting for the precious treasure which the attacking army seized and was taken away during the attack," Badal told reporters after the meeting. "It includes important holy scriptures, artefacts, thousands of historical books and collection part of the Sikh Reference Library and relics belonging to Sri Guru Sahib and other Sikh personalities. These should be located and returned to the community with due honour," he said. Badal said 309 serving Sikh personnel had left the Army after the security forces attacked their most revered religious place under
Modi, Xi to meet next week at SCO summit
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Summit (SCO) meet in Bishkek, India's envoy to China Vikram Misri said on Thursday.
Andhra CM to expand cabinet on June 8
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy will expand his cabinet on Saturday, officials said.
Arunachal govt taking steps to check crime, violence: Minister
A road map has been drawn to initiate measures to regain Arunachal Pradesh's lost glory as the "island of peace", with involvement of all stakeholders, including community-based organisations and students, state Home Minister Bamang Felix said Thursday. The new project -'Hamara Arunachal Abhiyan'-is aimed at reducing crime and violence in the state by taking "strict action against those trying to destabilise peace", he said. "We will involve people from all walks of life to effectively deal with the deteriorating law and order condition in Arunachal. The 'abhiyan' will be soon kicked off by Chief Minister Pema Khandu," Felix told reporters after convening a review meeting of the state police department. Arunachal has witnessed widespread violence over the past few months, the recent one being the May 21 militant ambush, which claimed the life of Khonsa West legislator Tirong Aboh and ten others. In February, three people were killed and several injured in clashes over ...
Prashant Kishor to work for Mamata Banerjee: Sources
Political strategist Prashant Kishor, who is credited with successfully strategising Narendra Modi's prime ministerial campaign in 2014 and some others later, on Thursday met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and is believed to have agreed to work with her in the state.Kishor, who last joined JD(U) in Bihar but was feeling sidelined due to internal power struggle, is likely to start working with Banerjee after a month.Assembly elections are due in West Bengal in 2020 and the ruling Trinamool Congress has suffered severe reverses in the recent Lok Sabha elections in which BJP has made rapid strides. The BJP has won 18 seats in West Bengal against Trinamool Congress which won only 23 seats.Kishore was recently credited with scripting Y S Jaganmohan Reddy's spectacular victory in Andhra Pradesh where his party YSRCP bagged 151 out of 175 Assembly seats. In 2015, Kishore was also said to have played a role in bringing Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and JD(U) under the banner of ...
PM to offer prayers at Lord Venkateswara shrine on June 9
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will offer prayers at the famous hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala on June 9, a temple official said Thursday. The prime minister after visiting the Maldives and Sri Lanka this weekend will arrive at the Renigunta airport, near Tirupati, from Colombo on Sunday evening, the official told PTI. Modi after offering prayers at the shrine, will immediately fly to New Delhi on the same day, the official said, adding that this was the prime minister's tentative schedule as per a communique. Security arrangements are being made at the airport, the route leading to the shrine and on the Tirumala Hills for Modi's visit. The official said Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jaganmohan Reddy and Governor ESL Narasimhan are expected to accompany Modi to the hill shrine. This is Modi's maiden visit to the temple after becoming prime minister for the second time. An ardent devotee of Lord Venkateswara, Modi had visited the shrine in his capacity as the prime ...
Sidhu skips Cabinet meet, says can't be taken for granted
Punjab Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, who is at loggerheads with Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, skipped a Cabinet meeting on Thursday and declared later that he cannot be taken for granted.
Shah holds meeting on internal security, Maoist issues
Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday held a high-level meeting to discuss internal security and Maoist issues. It was attended by National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval, Intelligence Bureau chief Rajiv Jain, Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba, Joint Secretary (Naxals) and other senior Home Ministry officials.
Thai Parliament votes for coup leader to stay on as PM
Thailand's Parliament has elected 2014 coup leader Prayuth Chan-ocha as prime minister in a vote that helps ensure the military's sustained dominance of politics since the country became a constitutional monarchy nearly nine decades ago. The military-backed party that nominated Prayuth won the second-highest number of seats in the House of Representatives in a general election in March. But his selection was virtually assured on Wednesday because the prime minister is chosen in a joint vote of the 500-seat House and the 250-seat Senate, whose members were appointed by the junta Prayuth leads. Two House seats were vacant due to a suspension and resignation. Prayuth was elected to serve a second term by a vote of 500 to 244 for his opponent, Future Forward party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit. Prayuth, a former army commander, was the candidate of the military-backed Palang Pracharath party, which holds 116 House seats, as well as lawmakers from smaller parties. Prayuth's ...
Congress calls party MLAs seeking merger with TRS 'murder of democracy'
The Congress on Thursday described 12 party MLAs in Telangana urging the state Assembly Speaker to merge the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) with the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) as "murder of democracy".
Taiwan's request for US tanks and missiles sparks China anger
Taiwan on Thursday confirmed it is hoping to buy state-of-the-art tanks and portable missiles from the United States in a proposed deal that drew an angry rebuke from China. Taipei's defence ministry has formally asked for 108 M1A2 Abrams main battle tanks, more than 1,500 Javelin and TOW anti-tank missiles, and 250 shoulder-fired Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, it said in a statement. The request was proceeding "as normal", the ministry added. The US government has given Congress informal notification of its plan to sell the equipment in a deal worth USD 2 billion, Bloomberg News reported. Beijing said it had "serious concerns" about the sale. "We have repeatedly emphasised to the US to fully understand the extremely sensitive and damaging nature of their decision to sell arms to Taiwan, and abide by the One China principle," foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a regular press briefing on Thursday. Taiwan has been ruled separately since the end of a civil war in 1949 but ..
Twelve Congress MLAs meet Telangana Assembly Speaker to join TRS
In more trouble for Congress in Telangana, 12 of its MLAs on Thursday met Assembly Speaker Pocharam Srinivas Reddy asought merger of the group with the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).The MLAs met the Speaker at his residence and submitted a memorandum claiming that the decision to merge with the TRS was taken at a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP), a claim the state Congress President N Uttam Kumar Reddy rejected.Reddy said the defector MLAs cannot claim to have convened a Legislature Party meeting without his permission. "The Congress will fight it democratically, we are looking for the Assembly Speaker since morning, he is missing. You people help us in finding him," he said.He also said the MLAs have been announcing their decision to join the TRS periodically and they should have been disqualified by the Speaker when the Congress filed a disqualification petition against them. The disqualification petititons have been kept pending, he said.Meanwhile, ...
15 parties got fewer votes than NOTA in 2019 polls
Of the 36 political parties, whose representatives were elected to the 17th Lok Sabha, 15 got fewer votes than NOTA. Many of these parties contested only a handful of seats.
Jagan reverses Naidu govt order, allows CBI to conduct probe in AP
The Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government Thursday cancelled a controversial government order issued by the previous Chandrababu Naidu-led dispensation, paving the way for the CBI to probe various cases in Andhra Pradesh. On November 8, 2018, the ruling Telugu Desam Party had issued a government order (GO) withdrawing the "general consent" accorded to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to carry out investigations and raids in the state. "In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946, the government hereby withdraws 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 GO had said. The then Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister (Home) N China Rajappa had said the reason to withdraw the consent was allegations against the top officials of the country's premier investigation agency. The ..
US' planned $2 bn arms to Taiwan worries China
China on Thursday said it was seriously concerned about the US' reported plans to sell arms to Taiwan, an issue that has long plagued Washington-Beijing ties.
12 Telangana Congress MLAs seek merger with TRS
Twelve Congress MLAs in Telangana on Thursday urged the state Assembly Speaker to merge Congress Legislature Party (CLP) with the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).
No Indo-Pak bilateral meeting at SCO summit: MEA
India on Thursday said that no bilateral meeting has been planned between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistan counterpart Imran Khan on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit to be held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on June 13-14.
No Modi-Imran meeting on sidelines of SCO: MEA
No bilateral meeting has been planned between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan on the sidelines of the SCO Summit, the External Affairs Ministry said on Thursday. Modi would be attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Kyrgyzstan's capital Bishkek on June 13-14. MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar told reporters that "to the best of my knowledge, there is no bilateral meeting being planned between our Prime Minister and the Pakistan Prime Minister".
Modi government to remain junior ally of US: CPI-M
The new Modi government will remain a junior ally of the US and Indias national interests will be subordinated to that of Washington, the CPI-M has said.