Page 263 - Politics
Uzbek envoy congratulates PM Modi, bats for united fight against terrorism
New Delhi [India], Jun 5 (ANI): Farhod Arziev, the ambassador of Uzbekistan to India, on Wednesday congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi for forming the new government and batted for a united fight against terrorism."First of all, I would like to say that Prime Minister Narendra Modi garnered a landslide victory in the recently held general elections in the country. President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, also sent his greetings and congratulatory message soon after the Prime Minister was reappointed for the second term," the ambassador told ANI."The election results show the big trust that the people of India have on the government and leadership of Narendra Modi, and a clear testimony of the fact that he has been undertaking efforts to make India more prosperous," he added.The ambassador further said that both India and Uzbekistan should stand together to establish peace and prosperity in the region.Speaking on the global issue of terrorism, Arziev said, "The SCO (Shanghai
Shah, Jaishankar enter CCS
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman are the other two members of the CCS. They were earlier in the CCS in their capacities as Home and Defence Ministers respectively.Shah and Jaishankar, who have made their entry into the Union Cabinet, take the place of Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj, who are no longer in the government after they chose not to contest elections on health grounds.The CCS, which is headed by the prime minister, comprises the "elite four" ministers of the North and South Blocks on the Raisina Hill, consisting of Home, Defence, Finance and External Affairs.
Gwalior Mayor resigns after getting elected as MP
City Mayor Vivek Shejwalkar Wednesday resigned following his election to Lok Sabha from Gwalior constituency on BJP ticket in recently-held polls. Shejwalkar said he submitted his resignation to Divisional Commissioner BM Sharma after consulting the party leadership. Shejwalkar said he believes in "one person one post" principle. Responding to a query that he could have retained the Mayoral post, Shejwalkar said senior BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya served as Indore mayor and MLA simultaneously. "Incumbent Indore Mayor Malini Gaud was also elected as MLA and is holding both the posts together," he said. Shejwalkar had defeated his nearest rival Ashok Singh of the Congress by a margin of over 1.46 lakh votes.
Sharad Pawar was invited to VVIP section, not fifth row, clarifies Rashtrapati Bhavan
Days after controversy over NCP chief Sharad Pawar skipping Prime Minister Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony due to seat allotment in the fifth row, the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Wednesday clarified that the senior politician was invited to the VVIP section where most senior guests were seated.In a tweet, Ashok Malik, Press Secretary to President Ram Nath Kovind stated that Pawar's seat was designated in the first row of the VVIP section."At the swearing-in ceremony on May 30, Mr Sharad Pawar was invited to the "V section", where the most senior guests sat. Even within "V", he had a labelled first row seat. Somebody in his office may have confused V (for VVIP) for the Roman V (five)," Malik said in a tweet.The clarification was issued after contrary media reports and media queries received by the President's office, Malik explain in another tweet.As per various media reports, Pawar's party was miffed over seat allotment being contrary to protocol.Prime Minister Modi and his council of .
Protest held in PoK on World Environment Day to save rivers
People here on the occasion of World Environment Day on Wednesday held a protest against Pakistan government's decision to divert the water of river Jhelum and build hydro-power projects on the river Neelum.The people, who have been protesting for the past 72 days, shouted slogans against the Water and Power Development Authority (WAFDA), a government-owned public utility."When the government diverted the water of Neelum, the promise made during that time has not been fulfilled. Those promises were to be fulfilled by the WAPDA and the government of Pakistan occupied Kashmir. Now, if the water of river Jhelum is diverted, Muzaffarabad city will be ruined," said a protester.The residents of Muzaffarabad now want that river water levels should be restored to internationally set standards.They also alleged that the government which has been extensively involved in the damage of ecology along the river must work expeditiously to protect the environment.This movement against the government,
Declare 'Praja Vedika' as residence annexe of the Leader of Opposition: Chandrababu Naidu to Jagan Reddy
TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday wrote a letter to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy asking him to declare the 'Praja Vedika' as residence annexe of the leader of the opposition."Post Assembly elections 2019, following the demitting of CM office, I have decided to retain the same private house, as per the agreed terms and conditions of the private owner of the property. Since Praja Vedika is located beside my existing residence, I am planning it to retain it for official use," he said in the letter.Naidu apprised Reddy that he was chosen as leader of the Telugu Desam Party to discharge his responsibilities as the leader of the opposition."I wish to continue the same arrangement that Praja Vedika be declared as resident annexe of the leader of opposition in order to facilitate me to meet legislators, visitors and common public," he said.Naidu's TDP faced a severe drubbing at the hands of Reddy's YSRCP which got an absolute majority in the 175-member Assembly .
BJP wins in Bengal border areas with high Muslim population
Reaping the fruits of a communal polarization, a sustained campaign against cattle smuggling and a promise to come up with an NRC in the state, the BJP coasted to victory in a number of West Bengal Lok Sabha seats close to the Bangladesh border with a substantial minority vote.
Trump joins world leaders at 75th D-Day anniversary
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday arrived at Portsmouth port city of the UK to join Queen Elizabeth II, outgoing British Prime Minister Theresa May and other world leaders to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings.
K'nataka coalition crisis: Cabinet expansion to fill vacant posts, says Siddaramaiah
Amid speculation that a Cabinet rejig may defuse the crisis within the ruling Congress-JD(S) combine in Karnataka, coalition coordination committee chief Siddaramaiah Wednesday said the vacant ministerial berths will be filled first. The former chief minister, who is also the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader, said miffed party MLA Ramalinga Reddy would get an opportunity to serve as a minister during the next reshuffle. Reddy had on Tuesday had hit out at the Congress leadership for neglecting senior leaders of the party. "I will speak to Ramalinga Reddy... I had told him that he will be made minister during the reshuffle. Now we are not doing reshuffle," Siddaramaiah told reporters. "We have decided to fill one post that is vacant (from Congress' share of ministerial berths) due to Shivalli's death. When reshuffle happens Ramalinga Reddy will also get opportunity," he added. Siddaramaiah and Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy have held several rounds of meetings on whether to go ..
Replace Gehlot with Pilot as CM: R'sthan Cong MLA
Amid the rift in the Rajasthan Congress over the Lok Sabha debacle, a party MLA Wednesday said Ashok Gehlot should be replaced with his deputy Sachin Pilot as the state chief minister. Todabhim MLA Prithviraj Meena said the chief minister should bear the responsibility for the election drubbing after the party failed to bag any of the 25 Lok Sabha seats in the state. "A chief minister is responsible for an election defeat when the party is in power and when it is in the opposition, the responsibility lies with the party president," Meena told reporters at the party office here. The MLA, however, said it was his individual opinion that Sachin Pilot should be made the CM. On Tuesday, Meena had expressed displeasure over Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's remarks in a TV interview that his deputy and state Congress chief Sachin Pilot should take responsibility for his son Vaibhav Gehlot's defeat from Jodhpur, suggesting that it was against the interest of the party. Of the 25 in the state, ...
China's Xi in Russia to usher 'new era' of cooperation
Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Russia Wednesday for talks he said would boost strategic cooperation, as Beijing and Moscow continue to spar with the US. The leader was received with full honours at Moscow's Vnukovo airport in the early afternoon ahead of a planned meeting with Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin. Xi said the visit would "serve as an incentive for the development of Chinese-Russian relations, comprehensive partnership and strategic interaction in a new era," according to Russian news agencies. "I am certain this visit will yield fruitful results," he said. The trip comes five years after Moscow's annexation of Crimea led to a serious rift with its Western partners and subsequent turn toward its neighbour to the east. After watching a performance at the Bolshoi Theatre on Wednesday evening, Xi is set to travel to Russia's former imperial capital Saint Petersburg. There he will attend an economic forum hosted by Putin on Thursday and Friday. China and Russia "have ...
Amid trade war, China's Xi talks up economy, heads to Moscow
Chinese President Xi Jinping is talking up the Chinese economy's resilience as he heads to Moscow for a state visit affirming increasingly close ties between the former Cold War rivals. In interviews published Wednesday, Xi told Russian journalists Chinese consumer demand is driving growth despite the trade war with the United States. "Looking into the future, a number of factors will support the steady, healthy and sustainable growth of China's economy, including abundant human resources, strong internal driving forces, growing development dynamism and mobilization capability," Xi said. "Therefore, China has all the necessary conditions, capability and confidence to deal with any risks and challenges," he said without referring directly to the United States and the dispute with Washington over Chinese trade and technology policies. The trip to Moscow highlights Beijing's efforts to drum up support both at home and abroad as the President Donald Trump's administration pushes China to .
Assad joins Eid prayers in Damascus
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad attended a mosque in the capital Damascus on Wednesday for prayers marking the end of Ramadan, pictures posted by state media showed. Assad joined dignitaries including the country's top Muslim cleric Ahmad Badredine Hassoun for the prayers in the Hafez al-Assad Mosque named after his father and predecessor as president. In previous years, Assad has marked the start of the Eid al-Fitr holiday with rare visits outside the capital. Last year, he visited the city of Tartus, in the heartland of his Alawaite sect on the Mediterranean coast, where key ally Russia maintains a naval base. In 2017, he visited the central city of Hama. Support from Russia, and from Iran and its allies, has enabled Assad's forces to claw back most of the territory they lost in the early years of the devastating civil war which erupted in 2011.
South Korea approves USD 8 million in aid for hungry North
South Korea approved $8 million in humanitarian aid for the impoverished North on Wednesday, authorities said, with negotiations over Pyongyang's nuclear arsenal deadlocked and inter-Korean relations at a standstill. It will be the first such aid Seoul has provided Pyongyang since 2015 and follows the North's lowest recorded harvest for a decade, according to the United Nations. The donation -- to be made through the UN -- comes as President Moon Jae-in seeks to salvage diplomacy between Pyongyang and Washington following the breakdown of the Hanoi summit, when Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump failed to reach a deal on the North's nuclear programme and sanctions relief. Pyongyang has since largely cut off contact with both Seoul and Washington, with the South's unification minister saying this week he had last spoken to a North Korean official at the beginning of May. Seoul's Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean relations, said the government had approved a plan to provide the
Joe Biden's USD 5T climate plan: Net zero emissions by 2050
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is pitching a USD 5 trillion-plus climate proposal that he says would lead the US to net zero emission of carbon pollution by 2050. The former vice president calls for USD 1.7 trillion in federal spending over 10 years, with the rest of the investments coming from the private sector. Biden proposes covering the taxpayer costs by repealing the corporate tax cuts that President Donald Trump signed in 2017, while eliminating existing subsidies to the fossil fuel companies. Biden's plan a mix of tax incentives, federal spending, new regulation and more aggressive foreign policy on climate issues comes as he pushes back on rivals' assertions that his environmental agenda isn't bold enough. Climate activists largely praised his pitch Tuesday, although some said the Democrats' 2020 front-runner still hasn't gone far enough to challenge the fossil fuel industry. His proposal calls the Green New Deal pushed by some Democrats on Capitol Hill "a ...
EC issues notice to Mizo political party
The Election Commission has again issued a showcause notice to a political party in Mizoram asking it to explain its poll plank to introduce a right to secede bill in Parliament, PRISM president Vanlalruata said. Vanlalruata said that the poll panel had issued a notice to the People's Representation for Identity and Status (PRISM) in March, to which the party had given a clarification. The second notice was served to the PRISM on Tuesday. The PRISM had stated that it would move a right to secede bill in Parliament, if the party was elected to the Lok Sabha. The party candidate, however, lost the recent Lok Sabha poll from the lone parliamentary seat in Mizoram. "If the Centre continues with its intention to legislate the Citizenship Amendment Bill and if the PRISM candidate for the Parliamentary polls is elected, the party would introduce the Right to Secession Bill in the Lok Sabha," party nominee TBC Lalvenchhunga had said during electioneering. A party press statement
Tamil must be optional language in other states: TN CM
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami on Wednesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to include Tamil as an optional language for study in other states.
Masked men carrying ISIS flags mark post Eid prayers on J&K streets
Scores of masked men displaying Islamic State, and Pakistan national flags appeared on Wednesday on the streets of the old city's Nowhatta area here in Jammu and Kashmir and raised pro-Pakistan slogans.
Pramila Jayapal becomes first South Asian American woman to preside over US House
Indian-American Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal held the Speaker's gavel on Tuesday, becoming the first South Asian American woman to preside over the US House of Representatives. Jayapal, 53, a Democrat from Washington DC, took to Twitter to share a clip of Tuesday's session where she was seen presiding over the House as a temporary speaker. In the text that accompanied the clip, Jayapal, who was first elected in 2016, wrote, "Today, I became the first South Asian American woman to preside over the US House of Representatives. Beyond proud to serve in the most diverse Congress in our nation's history and to hold the gavel today." The 116th Congress broke records with women and lawmakers crossing racial and religious barriers, including an all time high for Asian American lawmakers. A record number of 17 Asian Americans serve in Congress, with 14 in the House and three in the Senate. Although Nancy Pelosi has been serving as the Speaker of the House of Representatives since January ...
Siddaramaiah slams BJP for not inducting any Dalit MP from K'taka in Union Cabinet
Senior Congress leader and former chief minister Siddaramaiah has hit out at the BJP for not inducting a Dalit MP from Karnataka in the Union cabinet, saying "upliftment" of the community will not happen just by "big talk". Five Dalit candidates of the BJP had won from Karnataka in the recent Lok Sabha elections. "Upliftment of Dalits won't happen just by big talk. In the recent elections several BJP candidates have won from reserved constituencies. Best wishes to them. "Despite this not even one Dalit MP from the state has got representation in the Union cabinet. Is there a bigger injustice or betrayal than this?" Siddaramaiah, who is also the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader, tweeted in Kannada. Calling Siddaramaiah "Twitter Ramaiah," the Karnataka BJP hit back at the Congress leader and asked him to make veteran party leader Mallikarjun Kharge, who lost in the Lok Sabha polls, the chief minister, if he really cared for Dalits. People are also aware that it was Siddaramaiah ..