Page 2753 - Politics
Former PDP MLC Vikramaditya Singh joins Congress
Former PDP MLC Vikramaditya Singh, the son of ex-Union minister Karan Singh, joined the Congress on Thursday in presence of senior party leaders. After joining the party, Vikramaditya Singh said he was disillusioned with the PDP in Jammu and Kashmir as it "failed" to fulfil its promises and "betrayed" the people of the state. Vikramaditya Singh had joined the Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party (JKPDP) at the instance of Mufti Mohammed Sayeed and was nominated as a member of the state Legislative Council in 2015. He resigned in October last year both as an MLC and from the party, following differences with the coalition government headed by then chief minister Mehbooba Mufti. Besides Jammu and Kashmir Congress chief Ghulam Ahmed Mir, AICC general secretaries Ambika Soni and Ghulam Nabi Azad were present at the joining event of Singh. Earlier, Vikramaditya Singh met Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, and formally joined the party in front of him.
Mayawati to hold election rally in C'garh on Saturday
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) which has forged an alliance with the Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) for the next month's Chhattisgarh Assembly elections, will launch its election campaign on October 13. BSP chief and former Uttar Pradesh CM Mayawati will address a mega rally in Bilaspur town on Saturday, BSP's Chhattisgarh unit president O P Bajpayee said Thursday. JCCJ chief Ajit Jogi will also be present during the rally, he added. As per the poll alliance agreement, the BSP will contest 35 seats, while the JCCJ will fight 55 seats for the 90-member Assembly. Ajit Jogi has been made the chief ministerial candidate of the coalition. "After her (Mayawati's) visit, names of the candidates, who will contest the 35 seats as per the poll alliance with JCCJ, will be finalised," Bajpayee said. As per the poll schedule, 18 naxal-affected constituencies in the state will go to polls in the first phase on November 12, while polling for the rest of the 72 constituencies will be ..
Sitharaman's France visit, a 'cover-up' by Modi govt: Rahul on Rafale
Congress president Rahul Gandhi said on Thursday said that Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's current visit to France was an attempt by the Narendra Modi-led government to "cover up" the alleged Rafale scam.Addressing a press briefing over the issue, the Congress chief alleged, "Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's trip to France is part of the government's "cover-up" on Rafale. Why has Defence Minister suddenly rushed to France to Rafale's plant? What is the emergency?"According to media reports, Sitharaman is likely to take stock of the progress in the supply process of Rafale fighter jets by Dassault to the Indian Air Force (IAF). There are also speculations that she is likely to visit the facility where the jets are being manufactured.Intensifying his attack on the ruling government, Gandhi reiterated that there is a clear cut case of corruption against the Prime Minister of India.The Congress chief reiterated his earlier statement about Reliance Defence being deliberately ...
Shah on two-day visit to poll-bound Chhattisgarh from Friday
BJP chief Amit Shah will be on a two-day visit to poll-bound Chhattisgarh from Friday, during which he will address the booth-level workers of the party at four places. This will be Shah's third visit to the state within a month. The Assembly polls in Chhattisgarh are scheduled to be held in two phases next month. "With an aim to re-energise the booth-level party workers, division-level conventions are being held on October 12 and 13, which will be addressed by Shah," BJP state general secretary Santosh Pandey told PTI Thursday. The ruling party had set a target of "Mission 65 plus" in the 90-member Chhattisgarh Assembly and therefore, it was focussing on strengthening its booth-level workers, he said. Shah will visit Ambikapur and Bilaspur towns on Friday to address the booth-level workers of Surguja and Bilaspur divisions respectively. "After the programme in Bilaspur, he is scheduled to interact with a group of lawyers," Pandey said. On October 13, the BJP chief will address party .
IMF chief, Pakistan FM meet as Islamabad seeks bailout
IMF chief Christine Lagarde met with Pakistani officials Thursday and said a team would visit Islamabad for talks on a possible bailout of its shaky economy. Pakistan Finance Minister Asad Umar, who is attending the Fund's annual meeting in Bali, announced earlier this week that the government would seek talks with the IMF on a "stabilisation recovery programme". Lagarde earlier Thursday said the IMF had yet to receive anything formal from Islamabad but that she would meet with the Pakistani delegation in Bali. "During the meeting, they requested financial assistance from the IMF to help address Pakistan's economic challenges," Lagarde said in a statement. "An IMF team will visit Islamabad in the coming weeks to initiate discussions for a possible IMF-supported economic programme." Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday vowed to steer the country out of a looming balance-of-payments crisis, saying it needs USD 10-12 billion. "We will get out of this. I will take (the country) out of ..
Lanka passes bill to compensate victims of civil war with LTTE
The Sri Lankan parliament has passed a law to pay compensation to the victims of the 30-year-long separatist war between the Sri Lankan Army and the LTTE, nearly a decade after the end of the conflict that claimed at least 100,000 lives. The Office for Reparations Bill was passed on Wednesday with a 59-43 vote and it will benefit survivors and victims of the kin in several armed uprisings in the country, officials said. The long-delayed legislation had been a key demand of the international observers urging reconciliation in the ethnically divided nation. Former president Mahinda Rajapakse's supporters voted against the bill arguing that the bill would benefit separatist Tamil rebels crushed in the military campaign. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which led the separatist war for a separate Tamil homeland for three decades in the island nation, was finally crushed by the Lankan military in 2009 with the death of its supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran. Since his election in ..
TRS hits back at BJP, asks why Modi went for early polls in Guj in 2002
The Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) Thursday hit back at BJP president Amit Shah for questioning its supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao's move to go in for early elections in the state, saying he has done exactly what the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi chose to do in 2002. Addressing a BJP rally at Karimnagar, some 160 km from here Wednesday, Shah had hit out at caretaker chief minister Rao, saying it has thrust additional election expenditure of hundreds of crores of rupees on people of the state, which in the normal course should have gone to the polls, along with that of Lok Sabha during April-May next year. Shah also claimed KCR's move stemmed from the fact that he is "scared" of Modi, suggesting that the Modi factor would have influenced the state polls, had it been held simultaneously with Lok Sabha. The Telangana assembly elections will be held on December 7. The assembly was dissolved on September 6 on the recommendation of Rao, cutting short the term of the House by nearly
Rahul lying to people at election rallies: Javadekar
Union minister Prakash Javadekar Thursday accused Congress president Rahul Gandhi of lying to people at his election rallies, asserting that an untruth does not become the truth even if it is spoken loudly. Javadekar's remarks came a day after Gandhi addressed a public rally in Bikaner city in the run-up to the assembly election in Rajasthan on December 7. Gandhi targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over "corruption" in the Rafale deal signed with France, repeating the charge that Anil Ambani's Reliance group benefited from a related offset contract. He levelled similar charges denied by the government and the Reliance Group at his public meetings in Dholpur, Bharatpur and Dausa districts on Tuesday. Javadekar, BJP's poll in-charge for Rajasthan, said Gandhi's "lies" will no longer work as the Congress president has not been "taught properly". "Rahul Gandhi has learnt a new mantra. He has been taught that tell a liein high voiceso that it appears true. But he has not been taught ...
European leaders: Morocco key partner for EU
Paris, Oct 11 (IANS/MAP) Morocco has all the assets to contribute effectively to the development and progress of the Euro-Mediterranean region, European leaders have said at a summit on terrorism and migration in France's Lyon city.
Swaraj arrives in Tajikistan to attend key SCO conclave
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj arrived in Tajik capital Dushanbe on Thursday to attend a two-day conclave of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, which is expected to focus on boosting cooperation in fighting terrorism, besides deliberating on pressing regional and global issues. "EAM @SushmaSwaraj arrives in Dushanbe, the beautiful capital of Tajikistan to attend the SCO Heads of Government Council Meeting," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted. Kumar said that over the next two days, the minister will participate in SCO-related meetings, hold bilateral talks and interact with the Indian community in Tajikistan. The meeting of the SCO's Council of Heads of Government (CHG) is also likely to review situation in Syria, Afghanistan and the Korean peninsula. It will be the second CHG meeting since India became a full member of SCO in June 2017. India was an observer at the SCO since 2005 and has generally participated in the ministerial-level ...
Tony Blair says there is a 50-50 chance of another Brexit referendum
LONDON (Reuters) - Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said there was a 50-50 chance of getting another Brexit referendum as Prime Minister Theresa May will be unlikely to secure a majority for any divorce deal in parliament.
Register your name in Electoral Roll: Arunachal Governor
Arunachal Pradesh Governor Brig (Retd) Dr B D Mishra Thursday appealed to the people to enrol their names in the voters' list of the state and become an active part of the electoral process. Interacting with electoral officials at Raj Bhawan here, the governor urged them to enrol every eligible citizen of the state to ensure maximum electoral participation of the people in the democratic process. The governor and wife Neelam Misra also registered their names in the state electoral roll, a Raj Bhawan communiqu said. A team of officers from Papum Pare district election office, led by district election officer Dr Joram Beda, facilitated the enrolment of the governor and his wife in the state electoral roll under special summary revision. On the occasion, Dr Beda briefed the governor about the Systematic Voters Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) activities, including educating the people about the importance of voting, the communiqu added.
Congress, BJP/RSS using Sabarimala issue to topple Kerala government: CPI-M
The ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) on Thursday accused the Congress, the BJP and the RSS of using the Supreme Court ruling allowing women in the 10-50 age group to enter the Sabarimala temple to try topple the Kerala government.
Lanka rejects US claims, says no Chinese military base at port
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has rejected US' claim that China might set up a "forward military base" at a strategic port it has leased to the communist nation, describing it as "imaginary". Last year, Colombo had leased the Hambantota port to Beijing for 99 years after it failed to repay a Chinese loan of USD 1.4 billion for the project. China gaining the control of the port has raised concerns that the country could use the harbour for military purposes. Addressing a programme at London's Oxford University on Monday, Wickremesinghe said some people are seeing "imaginary Chinese Naval bases in Sri Lanka. Whereas the Hambantota Port is a commercial joint venture between our Ports Authority and China Merchants - a company listed in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange." "There are no foreign naval bases in Sri Lanka," he emphasised. His comments came days after US Vice-President Mike Pence alleged China of using "debt diplomacy" to expand its global influence and said that ...
Sabarimala: Yuvamorcha activists block min's convoy; LDF says stir to 'destabilise' govt
As the Sabarimala issue hots up, a march by 'Yuvamorcha' activists Thursday to the house of Kerala Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran here turned violent, leading to police using water cannons and tear gas shells to disperse the crowd. The trouble started when the activists tried to break barricades put up by police a few meters away from the minister's house. Reacting to the incident, the ruling CPI(M) alleged that the ongoing stir over the Sabarimala issue by the opposition BJP and Congress along with other outfits was to destabilise the LDF-led state government. Addressing a press conference here after an LDF meeting, Front Convener A Vijayaraghavan said the nature of the stir, which included blocking the minister's convoy, "insulting" the chief minister and attacking Travancore Devaswom Board offices, indicated that the effort was to dislodge the LDF government. Alleging that the stir was to create trouble at a time when the LDF government was being praised for its ...
China says Maldives President-elect assured continuation of bilateral projects
China on Thursday said the Maldives' president-elect Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has assured the implementation of the previous bilateral agreements and continue with the ongoing projects in the Indian Ocean island nation. President Abdulla Yameen's shock defeat in the September 23 election was widely reported as a blow for China, which financed his administration's flagship infrastructure projects with loans in excess of a billion dollars, drawing accusations of a debt trap from the main opposition party's leader. After the defeat of Yameen, Chinese President Xi Jinping congratulated Solih. China's Ambassador to the Maldives Zhang Lizhong also called on Solih as mark of China's support to the power transition in Male. Commenting on Zhang's recent meeting with Solih, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told the media here on Thursday that the newly president elect had assured continuation of the projects. Zhang told Solih that China is willing to work with new government to cement ...
China says 'some people' can't stand its friendship with Maldives
China on Thursday said "some people" cannot stand its friendship with the Maldives even as its President-elect Ibrahim Solih has assured that his country will implement all the projects agreed between Beijing and Male.
CPI(M) demands resignation of Union minister M J Akbar over #MeToo charges
The CPI(M) on Thursday demanded the resignation of Union Minister M J Akbar after some women journalists accused him of sexually harassing them. The party in a statement said seven women journalists have come forward recounting their experience of sexual harassment and "unacceptable behavior" by Akbar. As the #MeToo campaign gathered momentum in India, some women journalists have come out and accused Akbar, a former editor and now the minister of state for external affairs, of sexually harassing them during his stint as a journalist. Akbar was an editor of many publications before he took to politics. The CPI(M) said, "Since these are serious charges, M J Akbar's continuance as a the Minister of State in the Central government is untenable. He should immediately resign from office.
HC tells Punjab government to give notice before acting against ex-DGP
The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday directed the Punjab government to issue a seven-day advance notice to the former state police chief before taking any action against him.
Erdogan expresses concern over Saudi journalist's fate
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday expressed concern about the fate of Jamal Khashoggi, the dissident Saudi journalist who disappeared from his country's consulate in Istanbul last week.