Page 260 - Politics
HC relief for MP professor who predicted NDA's win
The Indore Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court on Wednesday stayed the suspension of Professor Rajeshwar Shastri or Raju Musalgaonkar, head of the jyotirvigyan (astrological science) department at Ujjain's Vikram University, till the next hearing.
Sudan protesters reject talks after 101 killed in crackdown
Sudanese protest leaders on Wednesday turned down an offer by the ruling military council for talks and demanded justice for a crackdown that doctors said has left 101 people dead. Security forces believed to include former members of the Janjaweed, a government-backed militia which shocked the world over atrocities in Darfur, moved in to brutally disperse a protest sit-in on Monday. The Central Committee for Sudanese Doctors close to the protest movement said on Wednesday that at least 101 people had been killed in the crackdown, including 40 bodies that were recovered from the Nile river. Sudan has been controlled by a military council since it ousted veteran president Omar al-Bashir in April after protesters demanded an end to his authoritarian rule before agreeing a three-year transition period to a civilian administration. But army ruler General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said following the crackdown that the agreement had been ditched and an election would take place within nine ...
Under embargo Qatar takes delivery of first Rafale jets
Five Rafale fighter jets arrived in Qatar on Wednesday, a diplomatic source in Doha told AFP, a symbolic delivery as Doha marked two years under a Saudi-led embargo. Qatar inked a number of major arms deals after Riyadh and its allies the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain announced a total economic boycott of Doha in June 2017. The alliance severed diplomatic, trade and economic ties over Doha's alleged support for Iran and Islamist movements -- charges Qatar strenuously denies. "I confirm the arrival of the first five Rafales today at 4:45 pm (1345 GMT). They came directly from France," the source told AFP. Qatar ordered 24 of the fighters from France in 2015, adding 12 more last year. It also has an option to buy 36 more. France formally handed the first of the aircraft over to Qatar in a ceremony in Merignac, southwestern France, where the planes are built, in February. They have remained in France until now as Qatari pilots have been trained on the platform. Qatar's defence .
Uighur leader urges pressure on China as he receives US award
An exiled Uighur leader called for more concerted international pressure on China to end its mass detention of the ethnic group as he received a US award. The National Endowment for Democracy, which is funded by the US Congress to promote democracy worldwide, gave its annual award to the World Uyghur Congress as well as the Tibet Action Institute and ChinaAid, a Christian human rights group headed by pastor Bob Fu. The Democracy Award -- whose statuette resembles the Goddess of Democracy erected by students in Tiananmen Square -- was presented Tuesday night on the 30th anniversary of China's crushing of the student protests, which left hundreds if not more dead. Dolkun Isa, president of the World Uyghur Congress, which says it represents the interests of Uighurs both under Chinese rule and overseas, said the award offered a morale boost to the group which Beijing has branded a terrorist organization. "Maybe this award will bring more support for the Uighur cause from the international
Sudan protesters reject talks, demand justice over crackdown
Sudanese protest leaders on Wednesday turned down a call by the country's military leader for talks and demanded justice for a crackdown on that demonstrators said left nearly 60 people dead. "The Sudanese people are not open for talks, the Sudanese people are not open to this TMC (Transitional Military Council) that kills people and we need justice and accountability before talks about any political process," Amjad Farid, a spokesman for the Sudanese Professionals Association, which spearheaded protests that led to the ouster of president Omar al-Bashir, told AFP. Farid said the SPA and umbrella protest group the Alliance for Freedom and Change would "continue using all non-violent tools and civil disobedience in resisting the TMC".
US agrees to expand defence trade cooperation with India
The United States on Tuesday agreed to increase the defence trade relationship with India and batted for a broader security partnership in the Indo-Pacific region.The Political-Military Bureau of the US State Department, in a statement, said, "India plays a vital role in the US vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific. Working alongside interagency partners, the Political-Military Affairs (PM) Bureau advances the defence trade relationship and broader security partnership between the United States and India.""The PM Bureau has supported the increase in total defence trade with India from near zero in 2008 to USD 15 billion this year. The PM Bureau is committed to further streamlining US-India defence sales, which we facilitate through both the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) and Direct Commercial Sales (DCS) processes. These sales support thousands of jobs in both countries and help to ensure the health of both countries' defence industrial bases," the statement added.The Bureau also said
TMC leader shot dead, BJP refutes allegations
West Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh on Wednesday hit out at Trinamool Congress for alleging that his party was behind the killing of a TMC leader Nirmal Kundu."It is nothing new. Wherever such incident took place, they blame BJP for it," Ghosh said. Kundu was a TMC president of Ward 6 of North Dum Dum municipality area under Nimta Police station. He was shot dead on Tuesday.Claiming that the West Bengal government has failed, the BJP leader said that there is no control over law and order situation in the state."There is no relation with BJP (of this killing). They should give punishment to the culprits," he said.Terming West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's condition as "unstable", Ghosh said, "She talks about religion instead of politics on a political platform and talks politics from a religious platform."When asked to comment about TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee's comment of "Jai Maha Kali" getting higher TRPs than "Jai Shri Ram", the West Bengal BJP chief said, "That is ...
Tamil should be made compulsory in Central Govt offices: Stalin
DMK leader MK Stalin, on Wednesday demanded for Tamil to be made compulsory in all central government offices in Tamil Nadu."Now central government is trying to impose Hindi in the name of triple language system. Tamil should be a governing language. Tamil Language should be compulsory in central government offices," Stalin said.The DMK leader said this at Quaid-e-Millath's 124th birth anniversary which was celebrated by various political party leaders in Chennai. Quaid-e-Millath was former member of parliament and President of Indian Union Muslim League (IUML).Stalin said, "Milleth used to say that Constitution should remain as it was formed."A controversy had earlier broken out in Tamil Nadu on June 1 over the new Draft Education Policy of the government at the Centre that has recommended a three-language formula with political parties opposing "imposition" of Hindi in the state."The BJP government should not even think about the three-language policy in Tamil Nadu. In Tamil Nadu, ..
TRS scores thumping win in rural local body polls in T'gana
The ruling TRS in Telangana, which swept the rural local body elections, has won 449 of the total 538 Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituencies (ZPTCs), according to the final tally announced by the state Election Commission Wednesday. Congress bagged 75 ZPTCs, while the BJP secured eight. In the elections to 5,817 Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituencies, the TRS won 3,548, while Congress and BJP managed to win 1,392 and 208 mandal parishads respectively. Votes polled in the three-phased elections held to the rural local bodis were counted Tuesday. As the early results indicated a sweep for his party, TRS working president K T Rama Rao had Tuesday said responsibility on the party grew following the massive victory in the rural local body polls. "The verdict given by people in zilla parishad elections today is better than the unilateral verdict given by them in December (in Assembly elections), casting 50 per cent votes....," he had told reporters. The indirect ...
Thai lawmakers elect junta chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha as PM
Thailand's junta chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha was elected late Wednesday as the kingdom's first civilian prime minister since the 2014 coup he led, in a vote by a parliament stacked with appointed allies of the conservative, arch-royalist army. Prayut swept aside his sole challenger, the charismatic 40-year-old billionaire Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit who led the anti-military bloc, comfortably passing the 375-vote threshold to win a majority, with scores of votes still to be counted. His victory was all but guaranteed by the support of the handpicked 250-member senate and the late swing of key secondary parties into an army-affiliated coalition after frantic behind-the-scenes talks. The senate, which was appointed by the junta, includes scores of military officers and loyalists -- many identifiable as they read out Prayut's name by their short serviceman's haircuts. His election completes a journey for the 65-year-old Prayut from gruff army chief who toppled the last civilian government .
Malta navy rescues 370 migrants from Mediterranean
Malta's navy said on Wednesday that it had rescued a total of 370 migrants from the Mediterranean in four separate operations. The navy rescued 63 migrants in distress after their dinghy started to take in water overnight, a statement said, and 99 in a similar incident on Wednesday. A patrol boat rescued another 61 migrants after they made a distress call, and then 147 more in a third rescue, the navy said. The rescued migrants, including many women and children, were taken to Malta for health checks. Malta has appealed to the EU for help in dealing with the flow of migrants, which its much larger neighbour Italy has begun to turn away. Italy's hardline stance has increased pressure on the island nation of 450,000 people, which was already a common destination for migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean from North Africa.
Plagiarism charges hit Biden, campaign blames error
With several 2020 presidential hopefuls unveiling their climate plans this week, Democrat Joe Biden released his own ambitious proposal, but it made headlines for the wrong reasons. The former vice president's USD 1.7 trillion plan, which seeks net-zero emissions by 2050, quickly faced criticism for including unattributed passages lifted from other organizations' previously published documents, drawing fire from President Donald Trump. Biden's campaign called the incident an error that was swiftly corrected. "Several citations were inadvertently left out of the final version of the 22-page document," Biden's campaign said in response to the accusations. "As soon as we were made aware of it, we updated to include the proper citations." Biden, who holds a commanding lead in the crowded 2020 Democratic field, is no stranger to plagiarism accusations. The latest incident recalled his unattributed use of passages from a speech by British politician Neil Kinnock that helped drive Biden from
AP govt transfers 23 IPS officers
The Andhra Pradesh government Wednesday night transferred 23 IPS officers and gave posting to two others in continued shake-up of the administrative set up since Y S Jaganmohan Reddy took over as Chief Minister last week. Chief Secretary L V Subrahmanyam issued the orders after the Chief Minister discussed the exercise with Director General of Police (in charge) Gautam Sawang during the day. DIG rank IPS officers D Nagendra Kumar, P Venkatarami Reddy, A S Khan, C M Trivikrama Varma and G Srinivas were shifted from their respective positions and given new postings, an official notification said. Superintendents of Police of eight districts were also transferred while some other SPs have been posted to different police wings. Rahul Dev Sharma, whom the Election Commission had removed as Kadapa district SP on the eve of the elections, has now been posted as Group Commander of the elite anti-Naxal force Greyhounds. Koya Praveen, who also faced the EC action, has been posted
T'gana Cong chief Uttam Reddy quits as MLA on election to LS
Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president N Uttam Kumar Reddy Wednesday resigned as MLA in view of his election to the Lok Sabha in the recent polls. The resignation was accepted by Assembly Speaker Pocharam Srinivasa Reddy, official sources said. A notification had been issued declaring Huzurnagar assembly constituency, represented by Reddy, as vacant, they said. Reddy was elected to Lok Sabha from Nalgonda. The PCC president was elected to the assembly for the fifth term in thepolls held in December last year. Reddy, formerly a fighter pilot with the IAF, had served as minister during the Congress regime prior to formation of Telangana in 2014.
Uttarakhand Finance Minister Prakash Pant passes away in US
Uttarakhand Finance Minister Prakash Pant, who was battling with cancer for some time, passed away in Texas in the US on Wednesday. He was 59. He had recently gone to the US for treatment.
Siddarmaiah slams BJP for not making Karnataka Dalit MP minister
Terming the BJP's concern for the downtrodden and deprived a lip sympathy, Karnataka Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Wednesday slammed the party for not making any of its 5 newly-elected Lok Sabha members from the state a minister in the NDA government.
LG seized of Delhi govt's parking policy, new fare rates
The enforcement of Delhi government's new parking policy and the revised auto fares is likely to be delayed as the office of Lt Governor is now seized of the two matters, said sources Wednesday. The AAP government wanted to notify both the parking policy and revised auto fares but the Transport Department referred them to Lt Governor Anil Baijal office, insisting upon the need of his approval, said a senior government functionary. "The principal secretary (transport) has written to Lt Governor Anil Baijal citing disagreement over the parking policy and the new auto fares between the department officials and the ruling dispensation," he said. The principal secretary(transport) referred the twin issues to the LG office citing Rule 57 of the Transaction of Business Rules on functioning of the government, said sources. Rule 57 stipulates that in case of any disagreement over an issue, the same has to be brought to the notice of the Lt Governor, Chief Minister and the minister ...
Jharkhand govt committed to development of 3.25cr people, Das
Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das on Wednesday said the state government is working to provide better health facility, education and infrastructure. The state government is committed to the development of 3.25 crore people, he said at a meeting here with NITI Aayog officials. Jharkhand has made significant progress in education and the state is continuously developing its health sector as well, an official release quoting Das said. "Our goal is to take the state at the forefront in these sectors," the chief minister said. Das said that the state government and the NITI Aayog are doing good work together and the partnership would continue. The NITI Aayog understands our expectations and cooperating in reforming our shortcomings, he said. According to the release, the Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog, Rajiv Kumar, said that reviews were carried out on important issues during the meeting with the state government on Wednesday. Kumar praised the state for progress in ...
Pakistan Foreign Secretary prays at Jama Masjid
Amid tension between New Delhi and Islamabad after Pulwama terror attack and the subsequent air strike in Balakot, Pakistan Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood on Wednesday offered Eid prayers at the 17th century Jama Masjid here, diplomatic sources said.
Thai lawmakers elect junta chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha as PM: TV count
Thailand's new parliament elected junta chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha as the country's civilian prime minister late Wednesday, according to a televised vote count. He comfortably reached the 375-vote threshold, with the vote ongoing, to give him the majority needed to fend off his sole challenger, a charismatic billionaire heading up the anti-junta coalition.