Page 2650 - Politics
Give preference to local goods in public procurement: Prabhu to CMs
Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu has asked all chief ministers to formulate guidelines for giving preference to locally-made goods in public procurement with a view to promoting the manufacturing sector. In his letter to chief ministers of all states, Prabhu said that giving preference to domestic manufactured goods will not only give a big boost to domestic manufacturing of goods and provision of supplies, but also lead to growth in employment and income. "I would like to once again stress upon the need for undertaking similar policy measures at state level and formulate appropriate guidelines for providing preference to locally manufactured goods in public procurement to provide impetus to local manufacturing," the letter said. All the central government departments and agencies have been mandated to align their procurement procedures with the policy, it said. As states, union territories, public sector units, and autonomous bodies spend a significant amount on ...
Argentine lawmakers approve austerity budget
The lower house of Argentina's Congress approved Thursday an unpopular austerity budget designed to meet the requirements of a $57-billion IMF bailout. The vote came in the early morning after 14 hours of debate and a day of unrest that saw police fire tear gas at people throwing rocks outside the legislature building to protest the 2019 blueprint's bitter cocktail of tax increases and spending cuts. The vote tally was 138 in favor to 103 against, with eight abstentions. The draft now goes to the Senate for final approval. Unions and the leftist opposition have criticized center-right President Mauricio Macri's economic program of sweeping spending cuts to meet the deficit-reduction requirements of the IMF loan. The bailout is supposed to help Argentina recover from an economic crisis in which the peso has lost half its value this year, inflation is forecast to finish the year at 40 percent and the economy is expected to shrink by 2.6 percent. "We are in a crisis and the government ...
Want 50 per cent women CMs in Cong ruled states: Rahul
Pushing for the participation of more women across various levels in the Congress, Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said he would like half his party's chief ministers in the country to be women in the next five to seven years. The BJP and the RSS think women should not go out of their houses while the Congress promotes women, the Congress president said at the state level convention of Mahila Congress here. "This is the difference between BJP and Congress. BJP and RSS say that women should not be progressive and should not go out of the houses. You will not find a single woman in RSS meetings. They (BJP) have an organisation of women but that organisation does not take decisions and the decision is taken there by the men, Gandhi said. He said that chief minister in the BJP ruled Rajasthan is a woman but her thoughts are not for women. Gandhi said his aim is to give women a suitable representation in the party's organization . "I have taken the decision that I will promote the participation ..
Telangana oppn parties allege phone tapping, selective searches
Opposition parties in Telangana Thursday alleged that their phones were being tapped and selective searches of their vehicles were being carried out. However, caretaker minister K T Rama Rao denied the allegations. "We have information that they are tapping our phones. We came to know that they (government) acquired equipment to tap and listen to WhatsApp calls also," Telangana Jana Samithi president M Kodandaram claimed. "Intelligence officials are saying this. Earlier they used to tap selectively. After the announcement of elections, all the phones are being tapped. We condemn such activities," he told reporters. Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee President Uttam Kumar Reddy had also alleged Wednesday that officials close to caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao were tapping their phones illegally and the issue had been brought to the notice of the Election Commission. Reacting to the allegations, caretaker Minister for IT and Industries K T Rama Rao tweeted: "For your ...
RLD launches 'selfie with gaddha' drive to expose UP roads' condition
Chaudhary Ajit Singh-led Rashtriya Lok Dal has launched a curious online campaign of 'selfie with gaddha (potholes)' to lay bare the state of the roads in Uttar Pradesh and question Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's "promises" to improve it. The RLD's campaign, launched on October 11, seeks social media users to share their selfies with 'potholed roads' on party-designated Twitter handle (@swgaddha) and email id (swgaddha@gmail.com). The campaign is also aimed at exposing "rampant corruption" in awarding tenders for building roads and maintaining them, said RLD vice president Jayant Chaudhary in a statement. The movement has been initiated to lay bare the false promises and subsequent claims made by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath over repairs of all the potholed roads in UP by September 15, 2017, said Chaudhary. He said despite the "lapse of one full year", hardly any work has been done to rid the state's roads of potholes and improve their condition. Potholes on UP roads indicate a ...
Centre's use of disproportionate force contributing to violence in Kashmir: Tarigami
CPI(M) MLA from Jammu and Kashmir M Y Tarigami on Thursday accused the Centre of contributing to the cycle of violence in the state with its use of disproportionate force to quell unrest. He said the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre is making the situation in the state worse by subduing people's political aspirations instead of holding a credible dialogue. "While violence has engulfed Kashmir, the response of Government of India has only been the use of disproportionate force which contributes to the vicious cycle of violence," the Kulgam MLA told reporters here. Tarigami said the killing of seven civilians in his constituency in a blast on Sunday shook entire Kashmir. The civilians were killed when unused explosives of three Jaish-e-Mohammed militants, gunned down in an encounter, went off. "The standard operating procedure of 2012 makes it mandatory for the security forces to sanitise the encounter site before leaving. Why was it not done in Larro, Kulgam?" he asked. "Strong ...
Ram Madhav calls on J-K governor
BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav Thursday called on Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik and discussed issues faced by the state, an official spokesperson said. "Ram Madhav met Governor Malik at the Raj Bhavan here and discussed issues relating to the challenges on varied fronts, including equitable development and bringing peace and normalcy in the state," he said. The spokesperson said Madhav congratulated the governor for ensuring peaceful polls to the urban local bodies and hoped that the upcoming panchayat elections will witness a massive participation of the people.
Over Rs 1 lakh crore projects to be launched in UP in Nov, opposition terms it a 'political gimmick'
Uttar Pradesh is all set to organise the second ground-breaking ceremony next week to launch 158 projects entailing investment of around Rs 1 lakh crore as part of efforts to bring proposals on the ground, according to an official. The state government in July had conducted a similar ceremony for the launch of investment projects worth Rs 60,000 crore for which initial MoUs were signed during the investor summit held in February. "158 projects worth over Rs one lakh crore have been identified that are to be launched in the second ground breaking ceremony to be organised on November 2-3 in Lucknow. Directives have been issued to officers to meet investors and resolve their problems, if any," an official spokesman told PTI. According to Chief Secretary Anup Chandra Pandey, officials have been asked to investors should be issued 'letter of comfort' and other departmental clearances timely so that they did not have to face and problems. "We have asked officials for spot inspection of ...
Japan reporter freed from captivity in Syria returns home
A Japanese journalist returned to Tokyo on Thursday after being freed from more than three years of captivity in Syria. Jumpei Yasuda was released on Tuesday and taken to neighbouring Turkey. Yasuda, wearing a black T-shirt, was escorted from his plane at Tokyo's airport by Japanese officials and ushered into a black van. He left without talking to a large group of reporters who had waited for his arrival. On an earlier flight from the southern Turkish town of Antakya to Istanbul, Yasuda said he was happy to be going home after living in "hell" for more than three years, but was worried about how he will catch up with a changed world. "I'm so happy to be free," he told Japan's NHK television on a flight from Antakya in southern Turkey to Istanbul. "But I'm a bit worried about what will happen to me or what I should do from now on." Yasuda, 44, who was kidnapped in 2015 by al-Qaida's branch in Syria, said he felt as if he'd fallen behind the rest of the world and was uncertain how to ..
Ruling Polish nationalists win regional elections
Poland's ruling nationalist party on Thursday secured most of the regional seats in the rural areas but failed to take the main cities' town halls, according to the official poll results.
Abe arrives in Beijing
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe arrived in Beijing on Thursday on a three-day official trip, the first state visit to China by a Japanese leader in seven years.
Japan's Abe in China as 2 nations try to mend ties
It's taken nearly seven years, but a Japanese leader is making an official visit to China for bilateral talks for the first time since late 2011. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe arrived in Beijing on Thursday as both countries try to repair ties that have been riven by disputes over territory, military expansion in the Pacific and World War II history. Abe was meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang ahead of a Friday summit with China's top leader, President Xi Jinping. He is scheduled to return to Japan on Saturday. Before departing Tokyo, Abe said he would stress the importance of strengthening a free and fair trading system. Japan has been targeted by U.S. tariffs under President Donald Trump, though less so than China.
With 20 TN seats vacant, it will be mini-assembly poll
A total of 20 assembly seats are vacant in Tamil Nadu as of Thursday following the Madras High Court judgment in the AIADMK MLAs case and it will be a sort of mini-assembly elections if bypolls are to held simultaneously.
N Korea warns US against 'confidence-destroying measures'
A North Korean official urged the United States on Thursday to immediately lift sanctions against his country, warning that the country's "confidence-destroying measures" would undermine denuclearisation talks. The US has insisted on maintaining stringent international sanctions on North Korea until it gives up its nuclear weapons, even as the two countries' leaders are expected to hold a second summit soon. "We think that sanctions and pressure do more harm than good," Song Il Hyok, deputy director general of the North Korean foreign ministry's Institute for Disarmament and Peace, said at a defence forum in Beijing. The sanctions, Song said, "are not at all" confidence-building measures "but confidence-destroying measures". At their first summit in Singapore in June, US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a vaguely-worded pledge on denuclearisation, but little progress has been made since then as both sides spar over how to interpret the text. Song said .
AAP welcomes Prez Ram Nath Kovind dismissing plea to disqualify its 27 MLAs
The ruling AAP Thursday welcomed President Ram Nath Kovind's decision to dismiss a plea to disqualify its 27 MLAs in an office of profit case, saying the move has defeated the BJP's attempt at undermining constitutional institutions in the country. The President dismissed the plea to disqualify 27 AAP MLAs for allegedly holding office of profit by being appointed as chairpersons of Rogi Kalyan Samitis attached to various city hospitals. The Aam Aadmi Party expresses its gratitude towards the President of India for upholding the constitutional dignity by dismissing the plea for disqualification of party MLAs, said AAP spokesperson Dilip Pandey. He said the move has "failed" the attempt of the BJP to "destabilise" the Kejriwal government in Delhi and tinker with constitutional norms. "What's happening with the CBI today is an example of BJP's attempts to undermine the constitutional institutions. It had all started with targeting of the AAP government in Delhi, raids on Chief Minister .
Installation of Russian S-400 systems to begin October 2019: Turkey
The installation of Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile systems in Turkey will begin in October 2019, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar has said.
Office of profit: Prez dismisses plea to disqualify 27 AAP MLAs
In a relief to Aam Admi Party (AAP), President Ram Nath Kovind has rejected a petition to disqualify 27 of its Delhi MLAs for allegedly holding office of profit by being appointed as chairpersons of Rogi Kalyan Samitis attached to various city government hospitals. The President signed the order on October 15 dismissing the plea based on an opinion given by the Election Commission (EC) on July 10. The EC had found no merit in the plea, moved on June 21, 2016 by Vibhor Anand, which had claimed that the 27 AAP MLAs were in a position to "interfere" in a day-to-day administration of these hospitals and hence held office of profit. The petition had also claimed that in May, 2015 the Delhi health minister had issued directions to all government hospitals to provide office space to chairperson of the committee, which also attracted provision of the office of profit law. "It is observed that the office of chairperson in Rogi Kalyan Samitis (Patient Welfare Committees) in hospitals of ...
Jagan Mohan Reddy stabbed on arms at Vizag airport
A canteen boy working at Visakhapatnam airport attacked Jagan Mohan Reddy, chief of the Yuvajana Shramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP), with a sharp object at Visakhapatnam Airport here on Thursday.Initial reports suggested that YSRCP chief was stabbed on his arm with a metal object which looked like a knife. The assailant came close to Reddy and then attacked him. Reddy received a minor cut on his left arm and was given first aid at the airport lounge. He was later taken to hospital for medical examination to ascertain whether the knife was laced with some poison.The police has identified the attacker as Srinu who is from east Godavari district and working as waiter in a food court of the airport lounge. The police said the assailant went near Jagan Reddy with coffee and subsequently attacked him in the wash room of the waiting room. Police has taken Srinu in custody.Eye witnesses said that attacker, while being taken by the police, was shouting that it did not matter to him if ...
Sardesai assures to take up Goa mining issue with Prabhu
Goa minister Vijai Sardesai Thursday said he would soon meet Union minister Suresh Prabhu to seek his intervention in resolving the mining crisis in the state. Sardesai, who is state Agriculture Minister and president of the Goa Forward Party (GFP), gave this assurance to a delegation of Goa Mining People's Front led by Puti Gaonkar. "I will be going to Delhi. That time I will meet Union Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu, who is member of group of ministers (GoM). I will ask him where the file is stuck. If required, I will call the mining dependents to Delhi," he said. The Supreme Court in its verdict on February 7 this year had quashed 88 mining leases, due to which the industry operations in the state came to a standstill affecting around three lakh people dependent on it. The Goa government has urged the Centre to pass an ordinance in the Parliament to amend the existing central legislation governing the mining sector, allowing the state to bypass the SC ...
Hold assembly elections in TN: Chidambaram
Senior Congress leader and former Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Thursday said it would be proper to hold assembly elections in Tamil Nadu instead of bypolls for 20 assembly seats.