Page 2756 - Politics

Sri Lanka enacts law to compensate war victims

Sri Lanka's parliament Wednesday passed legislation to pay compensation to victims of the island's brutal civil war, nearly a decade after the end of the conflict which claimed 100,000 lives. The legislature voted 59 -- 43 to approve a broad reparations bill which seeks to establish an independent office that will compensate survivors as well as victims' next of kin. Former strongman president Mahinda Rajapakse's followers voted against the bill, arguing that it amounted to compensating separatist Tamil rebels who were crushed in a no-holds-barred military campaign in May 2009. The long-delayed legislation had been a key demand of international observers urging reconciliation in the island nation where divisions between minority Tamils and majority Sinhalese persist. The office will decide on potentially tens of thousands of compensation claims from those afflicted by fighting that ended in 2009 with the defeat of the Tamil Tiger rebels. President Maithripala Sirisena has faced ...

AAP declares tribal leader as its CM face in Chhattisgarh

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Wednesday declared tribal leader Komal Hupendi as its chief ministerial candidate in Chhattisgarh where elections are scheduled to be held next month. The Arvind Kejriwal-led party is making its maiden dash at the hustings in Chhattisgarh, where the electoral contest has always been two-dimensional--between the BJP and the Congress. The move is seen as an attempt to woo tribal communities in the state. "The party has projected its Bhanupratappur assembly seat nominee Hupendi as its CM face after consulting top leaders of the party and local leadership," AAP state in-charge Gopal Rai told a press conference here. Hupendi, 37, had joined the AAP in 2016 after quitting as Cooperative Extension Officer with the state government, he said. He is a native of Mungwal village in Bhanupratappur area. Hupendi is contesting his maiden election from Bhanupratappur assembly seat. AAP state convener Sanket Thakur said farmers and tribals are looking at his ...

Sitharaman leaves for France, to visit Dassault plant

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday evening left for France on a three-day visit that would see her visiting the Dassault Aviation production plant that manufactures Rafale fighter jets besides other engagements.

'Mahagathbandhan' a failed idea: Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday termed opposition parties' plan to form a 'mahagathbandhan' (grand alliance) as a "failed idea," saying they want a weaker government at the Centre.

Rahul to address HAL employees on Rafale deal

Seeking to step up his attack over the Rafale fighter jet deal, Congress President Rahul Gandhi is slated to meet on October 13 employees of the HAL, which the party has alleged was overlooked in the offsets contract with French aerospace company Dassault Aviation. Karnataka unit Congress president Dinesh Gundu Rao said Gandhi will talk to the employees of the city-based Hindustan Aeronautics Limited about the controversial deal and also address a rally here. Shri Rahul Gandhi will meet employees of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in Bengaluru on October 13. He will be talking about the controversial "#RafaleDeal, and will also address a party workers rally in the city, Karnataka Pradesh Congress tweeted quoting Rao as saying. The Congress, which has been accusing the government of benefiting the Reliance Defence Ltd of Anil Ambani from the deal, has also been demanding answers on why the state-run aerospace major HAL was not involved in the deal as finalised during

Usha Punia, Pratibha Singh resign from BJP

BJP members Usha Punia and Pratibha Singh resigned from the saffron party on Wednesday, alleging party workers were being neglected. "I had joined BJP's primary membership after being influenced by its policies and ideals, but in the last few years party workers were being neglected and there is no one to hear their issues," said Punia, a former minister in the Rajasthan government, after tendering her resignation to state BJP president Madan Lal Saini. Without taking any names, Punia said the government's work was restricted to the chief minister's residence -- Bungalow Number 13. Former independent legislator from Nawalgarh Pratibha Singh, who had joined the party in 2015, resigned from her primary membership in the party, citing neglect. She tendered her resignation to BJP national chief Amit Shah and the state president. Earlier, senior BJP leaders Ghanshyam Tiwari and Manvendra Singh had resigned from the party.

KCR afraid of Modi's popularity: Amit Shah

BJP President Amit Shah on Wednesday alleged that Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao advanced the Telangana Assembly polls as he was afraid of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity.

EU: Brexit means new controls on trade to N Ireland

Britain will have to accept limited new administrative controls on trade with Northern Ireland in any negotiated Brexit deal, Europe's chief negotiator warned on Wednesday. Prime Minister Theresa May has insisted that she will not agree to any Brexit that would encroach on British sovereignty, and her Northern Irish allies in parliament have rejected such procedures. "Both the EU and the UK exclude having a physical border on the island of Ireland, therefore what will arrive into Northern Ireland will also be arriving in our single market," Michel Barnier said. The negotiator said the measures would only be a stop-gap while a new trading relationship is agreed with Britain, and would be minimised if London agrees to join a full customs union under EU rules. "We are still open having a customs union with the UK. Such a customs union would eliminate an important part of custom checks," he said. But in the meantime, under the EU vision of a Brexit deal, companies on the British mainland .

Pondy CM calls on Mauritius Prez

Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy Wednesday paid a courtesy call to the President of Mauritius, Parasivum Pillay Vyapoory, who is on a visit to the Union territory. Chief Secretary to Puducherry government Ashwani Kumar accompanied the Chief Minister during the meeting at a hotel here. Sources in Chief Minister's office said it was a 'courtesy meeting.

Spl teams formed to investigate froth in Thirumanimutharu

With froth forming in the Thirumanimutharu river in the last few days, the district administration has formed special teams to investigate the reasons for its formation. A video showing huge amount of froth covering the river has gone viral, prompting authorities to swing into action. District Collector Rohini R Bhajibhakare said she has directed the pollution control board chief, who is the district environment engineer, to look into the matter. "I have instructed him to take samples and get it checked with the laboratory so that we get to know the reason behind that froth," she told PTI. She said Salem city alone received 72 mm rainfall on Monday. "So that can be one of the reasons as to why some kind of chemicals or sewage water got mixed with the Thirumanimutharu river. But, we will get to know after the laboratory results come out," the collector said. On the initiative taken by the administration, she said, "special teams comprising officials of revenue, local ...

India, Australia discuss Indo-Pacific cooperation

India and Australia on Wednesday discussed cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region at the second 2+2 Dialogue between the two countries here.

Pakistan to approach IMF and 'friendly countries' for loans: PM

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan will go to the International Monetary Fund and friendly countries for financial help to avert a looming balance of payments crisis, Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Wednesday.

Nirmala Sitharaman begins 3-day visit to France Thursday

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will begin a three-day visit to France on Thursday during which both sides are expected to deliberate on further boosting their already close defence and security ties. Sitharaman's visit comes in the backdrop of a huge controversy over the procurement of 36 Rafale jets from French aerospace major Dassault Aviation. Officials sources said Sitharaman will hold wide-ranging talks with her French counterpart Florence Parly on ways to deepen strategic cooperation between the two countries and also deliberate on major regional and global issues of mutual interests. They said Sitharaman will also take stock of progress in the supply of 36 Rafale jets by Dassault to the Indian Air Force under a Rs 58,000 crore deal. There was indication that she may even visit the facility where the jets are being manufactured. In their talks, Sitharaman and Parly are expected to deliberate on joint production of military platforms and weapons by the two countries. Earlier

Congress won't make false promises, says Rahul

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday promised to poll-bound Rajasthan that if elected, the Congress chief minister would go to all sections of society to know their 'mann ki baat' and not make "false promises."

After Rahul jibe, Gadkari says Cong chief should learn Marathi to understand comments

Union minister Nitin Gadkari Wednesday suggested that Rahul Gandhi should learn Marathi to understand the comments he made after the Congress president posted a video of the senior BJP leader purportedly saying that his party had made "tall promises". Gadkari said that in an interaction with a Marathi channel last week, he was asked about the promises made during the polls. "The report is 100 per cent baseless," he said. The senior BJP leader said he did not name the prime minister, the BJP nor did he speak of giving Rs 15 lakh. "From when did Rahul Gandhi start understanding Marathi? He should have understood Marathi from someone. He had done this before. Without understanding it, he commented on what I did not say," Gadkari said. Gandhi had Tuesday shared the purported video on Twitter in which Gadkari says in Marathi his party had made "tall promises" to the people. Its English transcript quotes him as saying that they (BJP leaders) never thought they would come to power and were ..

Senior SP leader Veerpal Singh Yadav resigns from party

Senior Samajwadi Party leader and former Rajya Sabha MP Veerpal Singh Yadav resigned from the party along with his supporters Wednesday, saying the party has "deviated" from the principles. The leader, considered close to SP patriarch and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, alleged lack of support from the party to him in his "fight against communal forces". "The party has deviated from the principles for which it was founded by Mulayam Singh Yadav and I am resigning from it," Yadav told newspersons here. "We used to oppose communal forces and the wrong policies of the government and were not afraid of going to the jail for this ... We used to stand solidly, specially with those belonging to the weaker sections and minorities but for the past 20 months, the SP has not been able to oppose the damaging policies of the BJP," he said. He claimed that none of the party's office-bearers contacted him when he was booked for allegedly "exposing the reality of some BJP ...

Rahul Gandhi likely to visit HAL on Oct 13

Congress president Rahul Gandhi is likely to visit Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in Bengaluru on October 13 and he may address the employees of the state-owned aviation company. According to sources, Gandhi has been invited by the HAL employees' union. However, the Congress party or Gandhi's office did not divulge any details of the visit. Asked about the meeting at an AICC briefing, party spokesperson Jaipal Reddy said Gandhi is visiting as HAL has been the victim of the Rafale deal signed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government. "It has become the biggest victim because 10,000 employees of HAL are about to lose their jobs as it did not get the Rafale contract," he claimed. "If they (Modi government) had followed our contract and bought 18 aircraft in fly-away condition and built the rest in HAL, then the technology would have been absorbed in India and would have enhanced its (HAL's) manufacturing capacity. That is why Rahulji is rightly going to HAL," he told ...

Jammu registers 78.6 per cent voter turnout, Kashmir 3.4 per cent in J&K municipal polls: Officials

A total of 78.6 per cent of over 1.28 lakh voters exercised their franchise in Jammu while there was a low voter turnout yet again in Kashmir with 3.4 per cent of 2.20 lakh electorate casting their votes Wednesday in the second phase of municipal polls in the state, according to poll officials. The second phase witnessed overall voter turnout of 31.3 percent out of total electorate of 3.47 lakh in the state, they said. The election commission officials said the overall turnout in two phases was 47.2 percent in the state with the Jammu region registering 67.7 per cent and Kashmir 8.3 per cent. The low voter turnout in Kashmir was in line with a meagre 8.3 per cent turnout in the valley during the first phase of polling, when the Jammu and Ladakh divisions had witnessed over 65 per cent of voting, they said. Nineteen wards of Srinagar Municipal Corporation, having an electorate of 1.78 lakh, witnessed a turnout of just 2.3 per cent, officials said. Bandipora district, however, witnessed

Germany gives WFP $218m to feed Syrian families

Rome, Oct 10 (IANS/AKI) Key partner Germany has made a major $218 million contribution that will allow the UN World Food Programme (WFP) to keep feeding three million vulnerable people in conflict-wracked Syria through November, WFP said on Wednesday.

Jammu registers 80 per cent voter turnout, Kashmir 3.4 per cent in J&K municipal polls: Officials

Nearly 80 per cent of over 1.26 lakh voters exercised their franchise in Jammu while there was a low voter turnout yet again in Kashmir with 3.4 per cent of 2.20 lakh electorate casting their votes Wednesday in the second phase of municipal polls in the state, officials said. The second phase witnessed overall voter turnout of 31.3 percent out of total electorate of 3.47 lakh in the state, they said. The low voter turnout in Kashmir was in line with a meagre 8.3 per cent turnout in the valley during the first phase of polling, when the Jammu and Ladakh divisions had witnessed over 65 per cent of voting, they said. Nineteen wards of Srinagar Municipal Corporation, having an electorate of 1.78 lakh, witnessed a turnout of just 2.3 per cent, officials said. Bandipora district, however, witnessed brisk polling as 34.2 per cent of the 8,300 voters exercised their franchise, the officials said. They said Sopore in north Kashmir and Anantnag in south Kashmir registered turnouts of 6.1 per ..