Page 2585 - Politics

RSS says will launch agitation, if needed, for Ram temple in Ayodhya; Vijay Goel for a law

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh(RSS) said Friday it will not hesitate to launch an agitation for Ram temple at Ayodhya, if needed, a remark that came amidst a growing clamour for a law to clear the way for its construction at the disputed site in Uttar Pradesh. RSS general secretary Bhaiyyaji Joshi while outlining the organisation's stand on the Ram temple issue at a news conference also said Hindus were feeling "insulted" by the Supreme Court's declaration that it had priorities other than the Ayodhya issue, as he insisted for an ordinance if all options run out. "We will not hesitate to launch an agitation for Ram temple, if needed, but since the matter is in the Supreme Court, there are restrictions," Joshi said when asked by a newsman whether the Sangh will launch an agitation for Ram temple construction like in the 1990s. Joshi was interacting with the media after the conclusion of the National Executive meeting of the RSS in Uttan town in Thane district on the outskirts of ...

'Will shelve previous govt's move to enable online sale, home

: Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy Friday said he would shelve the proposal mooted during the tenure of the previous government to enable online sale and home delivery of liquor. "After seeing media reports on the issue this morning, I spoke to officials over phone. It (proposal) wasmooted during the tenure of the previous government before I became Chief Minister," he told reporters here. Kumaraswamy said there were discussions about implementing it at the officials' level . The chief minister said that as soon as he got to know about the issue, he directed the officials concerned to stop it immediately. "I have asked for a file on decisions taken in this regard during the tenure of the previous government... we will not allow things so that certain people make money,"he added. There were reports in a section of the media that the state government was mulling over the proposal on lines with what neighbouring Maharashtra had attempted recently, with an aim to ...

BJP launches 'Booth Mahasampark' campaign in Rajasthan

The BJP Friday launched its "Booth Mahasampark" campaign with the slogan "har booth, BJP majboot" ahead of the Assembly election in Rajasthan due on December 7. During the three-day campaign, party leaders and workers will establish door-to-door contact with the people, a party statement said. As a part of the drive, Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje met people in Jhalawar, Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal in Bikaner and state Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria in Udaipur, it added. In Jaipur, BJP state election in-charge Prakash Javadekar spoke to people on the public welfare schemes of the Centre and the state in the Hawa Mahal Assembly area and urged the people to vote for the party. On the other hand, BJP spokesperson Satish Punia slammed the Congress for copying BJP for seeking online suggestion for its election manifesto.

Non-bailable warrants issued against Hafiz Saeed, Salahuddin

A special court here issued non-bailable warrants against Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed and Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin in a Jammu and Kashmir terror funding case being probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), an official said on Friday.

SC seeks response from Centre, EC on curbing black money in polls

The Supreme Court on Friday sought response from the Centre, Election Commission and others on a public interest plea seeking "expeditious and stringent" steps to curb bribery and black money in the election process.

INLD chief Chautala expels grandsons from party

A simmering family feud sent the Indian National Lok Dal into crisis Friday with party president Om Prakash Chautala expelling his two grandsons from its primary membership after finding them guilty of indiscipline". The action comes days after Hisar MP Dushyant Chautala and youth leader Digvijay Chautala, both sons of Chautala's elder son Ajay Chautala, were suspended from the party. "INLD MP Dushyant Chautala and Digvijay Chautala have been expelled from the primary membership of the party with immediate effect," a statement quoting Om Prakash Chautala said. Dushyant Chautala is now no longer leader of the party's parliamentary board, it clarified. Chautala said it was not an easy decision as both are members of his immediate family. But all his life he has followed the ideals of former deputy prime minister Devi Lal for whom the party was always bigger than any family member, the INLD chief said added. Making a choice between the party and members of his family, Chautala said he ...

Assam killings: Congress to observe 'Black Day' in Bengal

Strongly condemning the killing of five Bengalis in Assam's Tinsukia district, West Bengal Congress leadership on Friday announced that the party will observe "Black Day" across the state on November 3 and urged the Centre to dismiss the BJP-run Assam government.

Prominent Pak cleric assassinated in Rawalpindi

Prominent Pakistani cleric Maulana Samiul Haq, who was also known as the godfather of Taliban, was killed in a gun attack in the garrison city of Rawalpindi on Friday, according to media reports. Haq, 82, was the head of the Islamic religious seminary Darul Uloom Haqqania in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Akora Khattak town and also the chief of the hardline political party Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Sami (JUI-S), the Geo News reported. He was killed by unidentified attackers in a house where he was staying, his son was quoted as saying by the report. JUI-S's Peshawar president also confirmed Haq's death following an assassination attempt in Rawalpindi.

Ajit Jogi's wife to contest Chhattisgarh election as nominee of his party

Renu Jogi, wife of former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi, on Friday announced that she will contest the upcoming state assembly election from Kota as a candidate of her husband's party. The announcement comes after the Congress released its final list of candidates Thursday and her name was missing from it. Former police officer Vibhor Singh has been fielded from Kota in Bilaspur district by the Congress. Miffed over the party's decision, Renu filed her nomination papers from Kota as the candidate of the Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J), a political party launched by her husband Ajit Jogi in 2016. "I had full faith in the Congress and (UPA chairperson) Sonia Gandhi ji. I have been a committed and dedicated worker of the Congress party," she said. "But for the last two-and-a-half years, I was pained to see the treatment (by party leaders) towards me," Renu told reporters after filing her papers at Bilaspur collectorate. Asked whether it was painful for her to quit the Congress, .

US to allow 8 countries to continue buying Iran oil after sanctions on Nov 5: Pompeo

The US has agreed to temporarily allow eight countries to continue buying Iranian oil after it reimposes crippling sanctions on Tehran on November 5, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday, citing significant reduction in imports of oil from the Persian Gulf nation. Earlier in the day, Bloomberg quoted a US official as saying that the eight countries being exempted from sanctions include India, Japan and South Korea. While the US had previously wanted countries including India to completely halt oil purchases from Iran by November 4 when its full sanctions against Tehran come into force, it seems to have relented considering the havoc the move to completely take out Iranian supplies from the market would have had on prices. India, which is the second biggest purchaser of Iranian oil after China, is willing to restrict its monthly purchase to 1.25 million tonnes or 15 million tonnes in a year (300,000 barrels per day), down from 22.6 million tonnes (452,000 barrels per day) ...

Congress to corner Maha govt on drought, price rise in winter

The upcoming winter session of the Maharashtra legislature would see the Congress highlight the BJP-led government's "failure" in dealing with issues like drought, price rise, law and order, a party leader said Friday. A strategy in this regard was worked out at the meeting of the party's core committee here, Congress MLA and former state minister Naseem Khan said after the meeting. Khan said the opposition party was also upset with the short span for which the session has been convened as it would be difficult for the legislators to raise concerns of the people of the entire state during the period. The session, beginning here in November 19, is set to be a two-week-long affair. "We will aggressively take up issues relating to farmers, drought, price rise, law and order, corruption in Mumbai's development plan and others during the session," he added.

Cong to bring out Raje's "report card"

Rajasthan Congress on Friday said it will soon bring out a "report card" of chief minister Vasundhara Raje-led state government's performance, highlighting its "unfulfilled promises". Addressing a press conference here, Rajasthan Congress president Sachin Pilot said the "report card" would be an analysis of the promises made by the government and those fulfilled in the last five years. Speaking about the Congress' list of candidates for next month's assembly elections, he said the first will be released after Diwali. Pilot said the party's manifesto will incorporate suggestions and demands of all sections of society. The Congress had earlier said the manifesto would be announced by the second week of this month. Party manifesto committee in-charge Harish Chaudhary said people can give their suggestions by calling a toll-free helpline number, messaging or through short videos. He said the suggestions can also be given through Facebook within a week's time. Polling will be held in ...

U.S. allows eight jurisdictions to keep buying Iran oil for now

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said on Friday it will temporarily spare eight jurisdictions from U.S. Iran-related sanctions, allowing them to keep importing Iranian oil after U.S. economic penalties come back into effect on Monday.

Moscow ready to maintain strategic stability with US: Lavrov

Moscow is ready to cooperate with Washington to maintain global stability, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday.

Tinsukia killings: BJP makes oblique attack on Congress

The ruling BJP in Assam Friday indirectly blamed the Congress for the killing of five people in Tinsukia district, saying the incident was a result of the opposition party continuously making provocative statements on sensitive issues such as the NRC and the Citizenship Bill. Assam BJP president Ranjeet Kumar Dass also criticised a section of media for broadcasting provocative statements uninterruptedly, thereby vitiating the atmosphere. Dass asked the Assam government to set up a judicial probe into incident on Thursday night, when five people, including three of a family, from a linguistic minority community were killed by gunmen. Police suspect the gunmen belonged to the ULFA (Independent) faction as they were dressed in battle fatigue, but the outfit has denied its involvement in the attack. Asked about his own party MLA Shiladitya Dev making provocative statements on communally and linguistically sensitive matters, Dass said he has been asked twice to refrain from making such ...

Dhinakaran dubs arrest of partymen over banner row 'sadism'

Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam chief T T V Dhinakaran Friday dubbed as "sadism" the arrest of his party cadres on charges of destroying some banners during the death anniversary of freedom fighter Muthuramalinga Thevar days ago. He also denied that his partymen were involved in tearing the banners. Dhinakaran, who continues his political battle with the ruling AIADMK over the legacy of late Jayalalithaa, said some people had torn the banners out of sheer anger against the government. "We have nothing to do with it..our functionaries and cadres were not involved in it," he told reporters here. On Thevar's 111th birth anniversary and 56th 'guru puja' (death anniversary) Tuesday at Pasumpon near Ramanathapuram some people had torn up flex banners that featured the images of chief minister K Palaniswami and deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam. Against this background, Dhinakaran said rather than taking action against those who tore up the banners, slapping cases against ...

Mizoram parties asked not to use insurgents in poll process

A Church sponsored election watchdog in Mizoram on Friday appealed to all political parties not to use insurgents in the poll process as per the agreement reached between the two sides. The Mizoram People's Forum (MPF), a conglomerate of major churches and civil societies for political and electoral reforms, asked the parties to adhere to the agreement reached between the MPF and political parties. The Mizoram People's Forum (MPF), a conglomerate of major churches and civil societies for political and electoral reforms, has signed the agreement in September. According to the agreement, political parties cannot use insurgents during campaigning or the hustings, MPF official Rev B Sangthanga told mediapersons. The MPF also prohibited organising community feasts for campaigning and use of minors in the canvassing. No church or association can force a candidate to make promises to benefit any organisation or individual in exchange of its support, said Sangthanga, who is also .

Narendra Modi unveils aid for small businesses as elections near

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday unveiled a dozen measures to support small- and medium-sized businesses, as he aims to woo a large voting bloc ahead of a national election next year.

Odisha people annoyed over BJD misgovernance: Niranjan

Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) Friday alleged that people are annoyed due to misgovernance of BJD government which has deprived them of basic facilities and encouraged corruption. "People of Odisha are annoyed and suffocated due to misgovernance of BJD for more than 18 years. They are deprived of basic facilities, while the party in power is looting thousands of crores in the name of development schemes," OPCC President Niranjan Patnaik said in a statement. Hitting out at the ruling BJD, he said people are aware of the manner in which the state government handled the situation during and after of cyclone TITLI. Though crores of rupees are spent for food security, many in the rural areas have no ration card yet and those who have do not get foodgrains regularly, Patnaik claimed. Huge amount is spent for healthcare schemes, but many people are suffering from various diseases and have no money for better treatment, he said. A recent survey carried by C-voter showed

Reliance Group calls Congress charges against it on Rafale "lies"

Congress has been alleging that the government had put pressure on Dassault Aviation to make Reliance its offset partner for the deal