Page 257 - Politics
Cabinet committees constitution highlights Shah's importance
Home Minister Amit Shah figures in all the Cabinet committees constituted by the government, a development that highlights his importance in the second Modi dispensation. While Shah is a member of all the eight committees, details of which were released by the government on Thursday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's name figured in all but one of them. The government has reconstituted six committees to reflect the changes in the new dispensation and formed two new Cabinet panels to deal with issues like investment, growth, employment and skill development, amid concerns over economic slowdown. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who was home minister in the preceding government and member of six committees, is now a member of only two panels -- economic affairs and security.He is not a member of the cabinet committee on political affairs. The induction of Shah, who is also the BJP president, in the government has led many political observers to believe that he will be the second most
Not got proposal on free metro ride for women: Puri
Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep S. Puri on Thursday said that he has not received any proposal from the Delhi government to provide free rides to women on buses and metro.
World leaders mark 75 years since D-Day on Normandy's beaches
US President Donald Trump landed in France Thursday to join other world leaders on the beaches of Normandy in a tribute to the veterans and dead heroes of the D-Day landings that shaped the outcome of World War II. Despite being largely blamed for growing international discord, Trump headed to join in the attempted show of transatlantic harmony on the 75th anniversary of the assault. "Heading over to Normandy to celebrate some of the bravest that ever lived," the US leader tweeted on arrival in France. "We are eternally grateful!" French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Theresa May earlier paid tribute to D-Day veterans at the start of Thursday's commemorations for the soldiers who surged onto the Normandy beaches on June 6, 1944. On an occasion mixing high politics with poignant historical remembrance, Macron met first with May at Ver-sur-Mer, where they laid the first stone for a new British memorial to fallen soldiers. "Standing here as the waves wash quietly ...
Most Indians recognise country's global stature has risen in last 5 yrs: EAM Jaishankar
Most Indians recognise that India's global stature has risen in the last five years and this played a role in the NDA government retaining power for a second consecutive term, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Thursday. A "global rebalancing" is taking place and its "sharpest manifestation" is the rise of China and, to an extent, the rise of India as well, Jaishankar said during an interaction at a seminar. "A large majority of people in India recognised that India's stature in the world has risen in the last five years," the minister said, adding that the government has kept alive and perhaps even strengthened expectations of change in India. The government looks different from outside than from inside, Jaishankar, who served as foreign secretary from 2015-18, said without elaborating. In his first public event after becoming the external affairs minister, he also said the elections were a vote of confidence in the management of national security and foreign policy was
Pope to receive Putin on July 4
Pope Francis will receive Russian President Vladimir Putin on July 4 in what will become their third meeting, the Holy See announced here on Thursday.
Voluntary cut in Pakistan's defence budget will not impact 'response potential': Gen. Bajwa
The Pakistan Army's move to slash its defence budget for one year will not impact the military's "response potential" to all types of threat, army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa has asserted as he celebrated Eid-ul-Fitr with soldiers posted along the LoC with India. Pakistan's military, in a rare move, decided to voluntarily cut the defence budget for the next fiscal year amid an austerity drive launched by the government to solve the cash-strapped nation's financial woes. Commenting for the first time on the unprecedented move by the powerful military, Chief of Army Staff Gen. Bajwa on Wednesday assured the nation that there would be no impact to the military's "response potential" due to the voluntary cut in the defence budget. Bajwa who spent Eid-ul-Fitr with troops along the Line of Control (LoC) said the best Eid for a soldier is to have pride for being on duty of defending the motherland even on such festive days away from the family. "For defenders of Pakistan, our first ...
Sudan protesters to keep up campaign until military's ouster
Sudan's pro-democracy leaders are vowing to press their campaign of civil disobedience until the ruling military council is ousted and killers of protesters are brought to justice. The pledge comes after new clashes brought the death toll in three days of the military's crackdown to 108. In one of the most shocking moments, troops pulled 40 bodies of the victims from the Nile in Khartoum on Wednesday. The Sudanese Professionals Association, which was behind months of rallies that drove longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir from power, asked people to block main roads and bridges on Thursday to "paralyze public life" across the country in retaliation for the military's crackdown. The crackdown began with a violent dispersal of the protest movement's main sit-in camp, outside the military headquarters in Khartoum on Monday.
Abe to visit Iran amid tensions over Persian Gulf
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will make a two-day visit to Iran from June 12, amid rising tensions in the Persian Gulf between the US and Tehran over an international nuclear agreement, the government said here on Thursday.
12 Cong MLAs join TRS, seek merger of CLP
In a huge setback for the Congress in Telangana, 12 of its MLAs Thursday met Assembly Speaker P Srinivas Reddy and gave him a representation to merge the Congress Legislature Party with the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi. The Congress's strength in the 119-member House came down to 18 after the party's Telangana state unit chief Uttam Kumar Reddy tendered his resignation from the Assembly Thursday after being elected to Lok Sabha from Nalgonda. In a dramatic turn of events, Tandoor Congress MLA Rohith Reddy met TRS Working President and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's son KT Rama Rao and pledged his loyalty to the ruling outfit. In March, 11 Congress MLAs had announced that they would join the TRS. Senior Congress legislator Gandra Venkata Ramana Reddy said the 12 MLAs decided to work with the chief minister for the development of the state. He further confirmed that they gave a representation to the Speaker requesting him to merge them with the TRS. "We held a special meeting .
Jagan Reddy announces 'Rytu Bharosa', discards TDP's farmer scheme
Scrapping the previous TDP government's "Annadata Sukhibhava" scheme which promised to provide Rs 10,000 to farmers, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy on Thursday announced a new scheme "Rytu Bharosa" under which the cultivators will be given Rs 12,500.Rytu Bharosa scheme was one of the major promises Reddy made during his poll campaign.The scheme will be implemented from October 15.In the review meeting with the agricultural department officials, Jagan said that steps should be taken to provide quality seeds, pesticides and insecticides to farmers.The Chief Minister also said that he will introduce Market Stabilization Fund of Rs. 3000 crores in the budget, which will be used by farmers to cover up any losses.Jagan further said that his government will take full responsibility of providing insurance to farmers. The government will pay the premiums, he informed..
Telangana: Congress MLA Rohith Reddy likely to join ruling TRS
Desertions from Congress in Telangana appear to be continuing unabated with Tandur MLA Rohith Reddy likely to join the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).Sources said the Congress MLA will soon resign from the party and meet the Telangana Chief Minister, who heads the TRS, to join the ruling party.After the Assembly elections in December, as many as 12 Congress MLAs have joined the TRS.Reddy was suspended from TRS last year after which he joined the Congress. He won the election from Tandur.
Don't use Eid meeting to lobby for party ticket for Assembly polls: Omar to NC leaders
National Conference leader Omar Abdullah Thursday asked his party leaders to desist from lobbying for party ticket for the forthcoming Assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir by using the open access to him on the occasion of Eid. "When you use the open access of Eid to bring a delegation to my home to lobby for your assembly mandate you aren't doing yourself any favours," Abdullah, a former chief minister, tweeted. He asked his party leaders to keep politics out of Eid celebrations. "Please leave the politics out of my celebrations for a couple of days," he added. Jammu and Kashmir is under President's rule as the last elected government of the PDP-BJP coalition fell in June last year after the ruling party at the Centre pulled out. Election to the Assembly is expected in autumn this year.
Jaganmohan Reddy to accompany PM Modi to the Tirumala Temple
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jaganmohan Reddy, who missed the swering in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week, will receive him in Tirupati on June 9 and will accompany him to the Tirumala temple.He has already met Modi after the recent elections before both of them had taken the oath of office and secrecy.Sources said Reddy is also slated to attend the NITI Aayog meeting to be chaired by Modi on June 15 in the national capital during which a number of issues related to social, education, health, and agriculture are likely to be discussed.This would be the first meeting after the formation of the Modi government at the Centre for the second time. Chief Ministers of all states, Governors, Lieutenant-Governors, Union Ministers, and senior officials are slated to participate in the meeting.After his electoral victory, Reddy had also met BJP President Amit Shah and General Secretary Ram Madhav in New Delhi.Reddy, who won 151 seats in the 175-member Assembly and 22 out of ...
Deendayal's name won't be dropped from talent search exam: Rajasthan Min
Rajasthan Education Minister GS Dotasra on Thursday said that RSS ideologue Deendayal Upadhyay's name will not be dropped from the school scholarship test"Earlier, we asked the concerned officers why the test was named after Upadhyaya but they failed to give us a logical reason. Now, the government has ordered that the name of the exam will not be changed and it will continue to be known by the same name in future," he said while speaking to media persons here.Dotasra's response comes a day after it was reported that Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's government has decided to drop the name of Upadhyay from a school scholarship test known as Pandit Deen Dayal Talent Search Exam.It was said that the state government dropping the name of Upadhyay as the previous BJP government had named the test after RSS ideologue without giving any substantiate reason.The decision triggered a fresh controversy and the BJP claimed that Congress is scared of Upadhyay.
Shah part of all 8 Cabinet Committees, Rajnath in two
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reconstituted the Cabinet Committees, in an exercise which reflects the special stature granted to Home Minister Amit Shah, who has been made part of all the eight panels while BJP veteran and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is a member of only two.
Sudan health ministry says 'no more than 46' dead in crackdown
Sudan's health ministry has said "no more than 46" people died in a crackdown on Khartoum protesters, far fewer than the 108 dead reported by doctors close to the demonstrators. "Doctor Suleiman Abdul Jabbar, undersecretary for the health ministry, denied in a press statement what some media had reported about the number of dead in the recent events reaching 100 individuals, confirming that the number was no more than 46," state news agency SUNA reported late Wednesday. The Central Committee for Sudanese Doctors, which is close to the protesters, said Wednesday that at least 108 people had been killed since paramilitaries moved in on a long-running sit-in outside army headquarters on Monday. The military ousted president Omar al-Bashir in April following months of protests against his authoritarian rule, but thousands of protesters had remained camped out in front of army headquarters calling for the generals to cede power to a civilian government. The crackdown on their sit-in was ...
Trump arrives in northern France for D-Day ceremonies
US President Donald Trump arrived in northern France on Thursday for a second day of ceremonies to mark the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings by Allied troops. "Heading over to Normandy to celebrate some of the bravest that ever lived. We are eternally grateful!" he tweeted before taking his flight to the airport of Caen in the Normandy region. Along with his wife Melania, the US leader boarded a helicopter to fly to Colleville-sur-Mer where he and French leader Emmanuel Macron will commemorate fallen US servicemen in the invasion. Earlier in the morning, Trump had tweeted reported comments from Fox News host Sean Hannity which referred to "glowing reviews from the British media" of his trip to the UK for a three-day state visit. He contrasted this with "hateful coverage" by TV network MSNBC which is regularly critical of the US leader. Trump had joined Queen Elizabeth II and other leaders on Wednesday for a first day of commemorations in Portsmouth, southern England. The ...
Sudanese protestors 'totally' reject military demand to resume talks
Sudanese protestors on Thursday "totally" rejected the military offer to resume talks after more than 100 demonstrators were killed in the raids."We in the military council extend our hand for negotiations without shackles except for the interests of the homeland," Aljazeera quoted General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan as saying.But a Sudanese alliance of protesters and opposition groups rejected the offer, saying the military could not be trusted."Today the council invited us to dialogue and at the same time it is imposing fear on citizens in the streets," Madani Abbas Madani, a leader of the Freedom and Change alliance.The talks between the military and the demonstrators have collapsed after the armed forces fired upon the peaceful protestors on Monday.Earlier the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors said that the 46 people have been killed in Monday raids.However, at least 40 bodies were further recovered from the Nile rivers.This comes as a setback to ongoing talks to achieve peace in ..
Late Uttarakhand Minister promised CM he will be back
Before leaving for the US where he died after losing a prolonged battle with cancer on Wednesday, Uttarakhand Cabinet Minister Prakash Pant (58) had told Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat that he would definitely come back.
BJD MLA forces engineer do sit-ups for poor road work
Newly-elected Biju Janata Dal (BJD) legislator from Patnagarh in Odisha has courted controversy by forcing a government official to do sit-ups as punishment for alleged poor quality of road construction in his constituency.