Page 274 - Politics
BJP's Rajesh Patnekar elected as Speaker of Goa Legislative Assembly
BJP's Bicholim MLA Rajesh Patnekar was on Tuesday elected as the Speaker of Goa Legislative Assembly.Patnekar was up against Congress' candidate and former Goa chief minister Pratapsingh Rane.While Patnekar polled 22 votes, Rane polled 16.On Monday, Secretary of Goa Legislative Assembly received nominations from Patnekar and Rane to contest the elections for the post of the Speaker.Earlier in the day, State Governor Mridula Sinha called a one-day Assembly session to elect the Speaker.The BJP-led ruling coalition has a strength of 24 in the 40-member State Legislative Assembly, comprising of 17 BJP MLAs, three MLAs of the Goa Forward Party, three independents and one Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party MLA.The Opposition has 15 Congress MLAs and one legislator of the Nationalist Congress Party.The election for the post of Speaker of the Assembly took place as former Speaker Pramod Sawant was appointed as Chief Minister on March 18, following the demise of chief minister Manohar Parrikar.
SP will also contest bypolls alone: Akhilesh
Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday said he will now prepare for Assembly bye-elections and his party will contest on all 11 seats where polls are to be held.
Karnataka JDS chief Vishwanath resigns from post
Karnataka JDS chief H Vishwanath resigned from his post Tuesday, accepting "moral" responsibility for the party's dismal show in the recent Lok Sabha polls. Vishwanath, an MLA, told reporters here, "I take moral responsibility for the (party's) defeat." The JDS chief was reportedly unhappy over being sidelined and not being taken into confidence by the party on key issues. Vishwanath was also locked in a public spat in recent weeks with senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah over his functioning as the ruling coalition coordination committee chief and for not preparing the common agenda for the two partners. The BJP had swept the Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka, winning 25 of the 28 seats, leaving the ruling coalition partners Congress and JDS with one seat each. Independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh had won the Mandya seat.
BJP's Patnekar elected as Goa Assembly Speaker
BJP MLA Rajesh Patnekar was on Tuesday elected as Speaker of the Goa Legislative Assembly, defeating Pratapsingh Rane of the Congress by 22-16 votes.
Nitish can join Grand Alliance again: Rabri
After a senior RJD leader asked Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to join the Grand Alliance again, jailed party chief Lalu Prasad's wife Rabri Devi has said she has no objection if he does so.
Iftar parties missing from Uttar Pradesh's political spectrum
Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], June 04 (ANI): Contrary to their earlier practice, Congress and Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh have not hosted the traditional Iftar party this Ramzan apparently because of the severe drubbing in the Lok Sabha elections.Though nobody from the two parties came on record on the issue, sources said the mood in the parties was despondent in the wake of electoral defeat and was thus forced to give up the practice this year with the holy month coming to a close shortly.The ruling BJP has always kept a distance from hosting any such gathering. Earlier, chief ministers from the BJP hosted Iftar parties in the state. However, when Yogi Adityanath came to power, he discontinued the tradition.Known for its lavish Iftars, the Samajwadi Party organised the event at its headquarters in Lucknow every year irrespective of whether being in power or out of it.As chief minister, BSP supremo Mayawati also used to host Iftar parties every year in luxurious five-star ...
Uttar Pradesh busts 'myth' of transferable votes
Uttar Pradesh has just busted the myth of transferable votes and it is this that has led to cracks in the Samajwadi Party (SP)-Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) alliance.
BJP MLA Rajesh Patnekar new Speaker of Goa Assembly
BJP MLA Rajesh Patnekar was Tuesday elected as Speaker of the Goa Legislative Assembly in a special session of the House. He defeated his Congress rival Pratapsinh Rane. The post of Speaker was lying vacant since Pramod Sawant resigned to take over as chief minister of the state in the wake of the death of his predecessor Manohar Parrikar in March this year. The special session has been called by Goa Governor Mridula Sinha to elect the new Speaker. Patnekar, who was a candidate of the NDA, polled 22 votes while Rane only 16 votes in the 40-member House.
Sitaram Kesari's name disappears and then reappears on list of ex-Cong chiefs on party website
The name of Congress veteran Sitaram Kesari, who helmed the party from 1996 to 1998, disappeared and was later added to the list of former party presidents on its website on Tuesday.His name was added to the list, which features Congress leaders who served as president starting from 1885, after the matter was reported in sections of the media.The amended list showed names of Sonia Gandhi, P V Narasimha Rao and Kesari in the group of party chiefs during the period 1990-2018 on the website. Earlier, the name of Gandhi and Rao appeared twice while Kesari's name was omitted.Kesari was elevated to the party chief's post after Narasimha Rao stepped down as party president in September 1996.Kesari's term witnessed several controversies, the most important being Congress' sudden withdrawal of support from H D Deva Gowda's United Front government, which led to the fall of the government in April 1997.He was succeeded by Sonia Gandhi after he was stripped of the post at a Congress Working ...
Mayawati confirms break-up, terms it temporary
Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati said that her party would contest the upcoming Assembly bye-elections alone.
SC issues notice to Puducherry CM in power tussle matter
The Supreme Court Tuesday issued notice to Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy in the power tussle matter in the Union Territory. The Madras High Court had recently held that Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi "cannot interfere" in the day-to-day affairs of the elected government there. A vacation bench comprising Justices Indu Malhotra and M R Shah also directed that any decision having financial implication, which could be taken in the cabinet meeting of June 7 in Puducherry, shall not be implemented till June 21. The apex court was hearing applications filed by the Centre and Bedi seeking that the situation prevailing before the high court's April 30 verdict be restored in the Union Territory since the administration there has come to a standstill. The bench sought response from Narayanasamy on the plea, which said the chief minister should be impleaded as a party in the matter.
Will contest by-polls alone, but not permanent break from SP: Mayawati
Claiming that the Samajwadi Party's vote base did not support the alliance in the Lok Sabha elections, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Tuesday announced that she will fight the by-polls to 11 assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh alone, but said this is not a "permanent break" from her alliance with the Samajwadi Party."Its not a permanent break. If we feel in future that SP Chief succeeds in his political work, we'll again work together. But if he doesn't succeed, it'll be good for us to work separately. So we've decided to fight the by-elections alone," the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister told ANI."We can't ignore political compulsions. In the results of Lok Sabha elections in UP, base vote of Samajwadi Party, the Yadav community, didn't support the party. Even strong contenders of SP were defeated," she asserted.The statement from the BSP supremo came after reports surfaced that she had asked her party cadre to get ready to contest the upcoming assembly by-polls on their own ...
Iftar row: People like Masood Azhar not invited could be reason behind Pak's anger, says Shiv Sena
Targeting Pakistan over the Iftar party row, Shiv Sena on Tuesday said that "Pakistan is not a worthy country to discuss anything".In its editorial mouthpiece Saamna, Shiv Sena condemned the "unprecedented harassment" of guests in Iftar party hosted by Indian High Commission in Islamabad, saying that it was a "ruckus" created by "Pakistani drunken monkeys".Questioning whether mistreatment with the invitees should be considered as a step taken by Pakistan for the peace process with India, Shiv Sena said, "...But what was done during Iftar party in Islamabad on Saturday, should that be considered as the step taken for the peace process? Pakistan's reality has once again surfaced. Pakistan is not a worthy country to discuss anything."The Shiv Sena pointed out that "well known" personalities, who were invited to the party were all Pakistani citizens.It further said that no invitation to people like Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) Chief Masood Azhar on the occasion could be a possible reason behind
Aussie police raid journalist's home over secret spying report
Australian police on Tuesday raided the home of a prominent journalist who reported on a secret government plan to spy on Australian citizens. The Australian Federal Police said the raid was carried out early Tuesday in a suburb of the federal capital, Canberra, as part of an "investigation into the alleged unauthorised disclosure of national security information." "Police will allege the unauthorised disclosure of these specific documents undermines Australia's national security," it said in a statement, adding that no one had been arrested during the operation. News Corp, the Rupert Murdoch-controlled news organisation, confirmed the raid targeted Annika Smethurst, political editor of the group's Sunday newspapers, calling the police action "outrageous and heavy-handed". In April 2018, Smethurst reported that the home affairs and defence ministries in the conservative federal government had drawn up a plan granting new powers to the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) to secretly ..
Government toys with Delimitation Commission in J&K (IANS Exclusive)
Home Minister Amit Shah has hit the ground running, as expected. With a catalogue of review meetings, Shah has many crucial things on his agenda including redrawing the long pending delimitation of constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir. With Presidents Rule operational in the strife-torn state, Shah has already had a closed door meeting with Governor Satyapal Malik. He also met Director Intelligence Bureau Rajiv Jain and Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba. Almost in parallel, it is believed that the Jammu and Kashmir Division in the vast swathe of Ministry of Home Affairs may be restructured.
Kim's sister back in public eye at North Korea's mass games
The powerful younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attended a public event in Pyongyang for the first time in more than 50 days, casting further doubt on media speculation he had ordered her to lay low over the failed nuclear summit with Washington. North Korea's state media on Tuesday showed Kim Yo Jong clapping aside her brother, his wife and other top officials at the 150,000-seat May Day Stadium where thousands of gymnasts, dancers and flip-card-wielding spectators worked in precise unison to perform "The Land of the People." The official Korean Central News Agency said Kim Jong Un was unhappy about Monday's performance and had seriously criticized the creators for their "wrong spirit of creation and irresponsible work attitude" and set forth "important tasks" to correctly implement the country's revolutionary policy on literature and art. State media often reports on Kim scolding factory officials, educators and others perceived as not performing to his standards. The
North Korea's Mass Games return but Kim unhappy
Tens of thousands of performers in Pyongyang took part in the first of North Korea's spectacular "Mass Games" propaganda displays for 2019, but the show left leader Kim Jong Un unimpressed. The "Grand Mass Gymnastics and Artistic Performance" features enormous numbers of people -- mostly students and schoolchildren -- in precision synchronised moves. Behind them, thousands of children turn the coloured pages of books in sequence to create an ever-changing backdrop of giant images rippling across one side of the stadium. But Kim was underwhelmed by the production, titled "The Land of the People". After the show "he called creators of the performance and seriously criticised them for their wrong spirit of creation and irresponsible work attitude," the North's official KCNA news agency reported Tuesday. Noting that artists "have a very important duty in socialist cultural construction," Kim "set forth important tasks for correctly implementing the revolutionary policy of our Party on ...
Top Australian university reports vast, 'sophisticated' hack
A top Australian university with close ties to the country's government and security services on Tuesday said it had been the victim of a vast hack by a "sophisticated operator" who gained access to 19 years of sensitive data. In a message to staff and students, the Australian National University did not say who was believed to be behind the cyber intrusion, which is thought to have started in late 2018. But vice-chancellor Brian Schmidt said the data accessed included "names, addresses, dates of birth, phone numbers, personal email addresses and emergency contact details, tax file numbers, payroll information, bank account details, and passport details." The hack also breached student academic records. "In late 2018, a sophisticated operator accessed our systems illegally. We detected the breach two weeks ago," Schmidt said. "We're working closely with Australian government security agencies and industry security partners to investigate further." "The University has taken immediate ..
Trump turns to trade talks on UK state visit
US President Donald Trump meets outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday for trade-centred talks during his state visit to Britain, with protesters set to gather outside the gates. After a glittering banquet thrown by Queen Elizabeth II on Monday, the second day of Trump's trip turns from pomp and ceremony to politics and business. The president's three-day visit -- centred around Wednesday's D-Day 75th-anniversary commemorations -- comes at a tricky time for Britain, with May stepping down within weeks over her handling of Brexit. The UK-US "special relationship" has been under strain over different approaches to Iran, the use of Chinese technology in 5G networks, climate change, and Trump's personal politics. May is due to step down as leader of the governing Conservative Party on Friday, her Brexit strategy having imploded after nearly three years in the job. Some 13 candidates so far are jostling to replace her as prime minister by late July. Trump has weighed in on Brexit,
Sudan: TMC to hold elections in next nine months
A day after 35 people were killed in an attack by the army on peaceful protestors, Sudan's Transitional Military Council (TMC) on Tuesday announced that it is scrapping all agreements with the opposition coalition and called for a fresh election in next nine months."The military council decides to stop negotiating with the Alliance for Freedom and Change [group represented protesters in negotiations] and cancel what had been agreed on and to hold general elections within nine months," Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said in a televised statement.In an effort to disperse demonstrators sitting outside the military camp in the capital of Khartoum, Sudan Army opened fire and killed 35 people, reported Al Jazeera.Last month, after the series of talks, Sudan's military has reached a power-sharing agreement with the opposition alliance for a three-year transition period before a civilian government is elected.The army generals had initially insisted on a two-year transition period,