Page 2783 - Politics
Opposition's alliance a political nonstarter: Smriti Irani
Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani on Saturday took a jibe at the Opposition's alliance and said that it is a "political nonstarter.""What results Congress will see in the upcoming state elections can be seen through the dream of 'Mahagathbandhan' (alliance) that (Congress president) Rahul Gandhi has been watching - both cycle (Samajwadi Party) and elephant (Bahujan Samaj Party) have ran away," Irani told ANI soon after the Election Commission of India announced the dates for upcoming assembly elections in Rajasthan, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram and Chhattisgarh."It (Opposition's alliance) is a political nonstarter, the dream of which only Rahul Gandhi is seeing. It's a big cue for the people of the country that Rahul Gandhi is not acceptable to the Opposition," she added.Irani also took a jibe at Congress president for performing aarti and participating in Narmada Puja in Morena in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, saying, "For Gandhi to say that he is afraid of Hindu terror, for ...
BJP govt has given Rs 2.11 lakh crore to farmers since 2014: Shah
BJP president Amit Shah Saturday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has given Rs 2,11,000 crore to farmers since 2014 and it was working with a resolve to double farmers' income. He was addressing a gathering in Jaora, which despite being in Ratlam district, is close to Mandsaur town where six farmers were killed in police firing in June last year. "In his address after forming the government in 2014, the prime minister had said that the poor and farmers are close to his heart. With this theme in mind, his government has done many works for them. It has also constituted a chief ministers committee for the purpose and Madhya Pradesh chief minister is its chairman," Shah said while addressing a farmers meet here. Shah said, "The Modi government has allocated Rs 2,11,000 crore for farmers' welfare during 2014- 2019 (including the 2018-19 Budget)." Taking a jibe at Congress chief Rahul Gandhi for raising farmers' issues, Shah asked, "What did the UPA government do when it was .
Shah dares Rahul to debate BJYM leaders over development in MP
BJP chief Amit Shah on Saturday challenged Congress president Rahul Gandhi to a debate with any leader of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) on the development track record of the two parties in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh. "I challenge Rahul baba (Rahul Gandhi): decide the city, forum, date and time, and I will send the chief of my Yuva Morcha (youth wing) of that city and let there be a debate on development... (during) your 55 years of rule and (chief minister) Shivraj Singh Chouhan's 14 year-rule," Shah said, addressing a gathering here. However, he said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had much more to achieve. "There is a lot to be done. (West) Bengal, Odisha, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Kerala have to be won. Until the saffron flag of the BJP flutters from the south to the eastern coast, no BJP worker has the right to rest," he said. Shah stressed the victory in November 28 polls in Madhya Pradesh will boost the enthusiasm of party workers in West Bengal and provide some ...
Pompeo, Abe to coordinate on policies towards N Korea
United States Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo, who is in Japan as a part of his South Asian visit has announced that he will be coordinating with Japan on policies towards North Korea.Talking about Pompeo's upcoming trip to North Korea, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said, "Taking this opportunity, I would like to have thorough coordination with you on our respective policies toward North Korea as well as our efforts to address the abductions, nuclear and missile issues."Pompeo also assured that he will raise the issues mentioned by Abe to North Korea during his visit to Pyongyang."It's important for us to hear from you as we - as I travel to Pyongyang to make sure that we're fully in sync with respect to missile programs, the CBW program. We will bring up the issue of the abductees as well. And then we'll share with you how we hope to proceed when we're in Pyongyang tomorrow so we'll have a full coordinated, unified view of how to proceed, which will be what is needed if ...
Turkey's Erdogan tells ministers to stop using U.S. firm McKinsey
ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday he had ordered his ministers to stop receiving consulting services from U.S. firm McKinsey, after a government deal with it came under fire from the main opposition.
President Kovind to visit Tajikistan
President Ram Nath Kovind will visit Tajikistan from October 7 to 9 in what will be his first visit to Central Asia, it was announced on Saturday.
Chhattisgarh Assembly polls: BJP, Cong say they will win
The BJP, Congress and the Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) Saturday claimed that they would emerge victorious in the Assembly polls slated for November 12 and 20. Votes will be counted on December 11. State BJP Chief Dharamlal Kaushik welcomed the Election Commission's announcement claiming that the BJP would form a government for the fourth consecutive time with over 65 seats in the 90-member Assembly. He said that a "directionless" and "issueless" Congress would be uprooted from Chhattisgarh. Meanwhile, Chhattisgarh Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel said that, with the announcement of polls, the "reverse countdown" had begun for the Raman Singh government. While the EC announced that 18 seats would go to polls in the first phase on November 12, the Congress demanded that four more seats be added to this phase. In the first phase, polling will be held in naxal affected constituencies of Bastar division and Rajnandgaon district. Four more Maoist-hit constituencies- Kawardha ..
AAP only alternative in Delhi, every vote to Cong means strengthening BJP: Kejriwal
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Saturday said the Aam Aadmi Party was the only alternative in Delhi and claimed that every vote given to the Congress will "strengthen the BJP". Addressing a public rally in north west Delhi's Rohini, Kejriwal, whose Aam Aadmi Party is gearing up for the general elections next year, appealed to people to not vote for the Congress. Referring to the last Lok Sabha elections, when the BJP had won all the seven seats in Delhi, Kejriwal asked gathering not to repeat the "mistake of 2014" and instead, "strengthen your (people's) own party (AAP)", "The BJP and the RSS are tacitly supporting the Congress to cut into the AAP votes in order to win the Lok Sabha polls. Don't fall for RSS murmur campaign in support of Congress," he said. "People are fed up of the BJP but at the same time do not want to vote for Rahul Gandhi and the corrupt Congress party. The AAP is the only alternative in Delhi," a statement quoted Kejriwal as saying at the public rally. He alleged
Bye-polls for 3 Lok Sabha, 2 assembly seats in Karnataka on November 3
By-elections to three Lok Sabha and two legislative assembly constituencies will be held in Karnataka on November 3 to fill vacancies, Election Commission said on Saturday. The counting of votes is on November 6.
584 polling stations to be set up in Jammu for local body polls
As many as 584 polling stations will be set up in Jammu where the first phase of the four-phased local body elections will take place on October 8, officials said on Saturday. A total of 4,42,159 electorate will vote to elect their representatives among 743 candidates at 584 polling stations including 505 polling stations for municipal corporation Jammu and 79 for municipal committees, district election officer, Ramesh Kumar told reporters here. While 447 candidates are in the fray for the 75 wards of municipal corporation Jammu, 296 candidates are trying their luck in the 79 wards of seven municipal committees. A total of 422 wards spread over various districts of Jammu and Kashmir are going to polls in the first phase. Kumar said the district administration Jammu has made foolproof security arrangements for the smooth conduct of the polls. Adequate security would be deployed at the identified hypersensitive and sensitive polling stations, he said, adding that micro observers have ...
Meeting to discuss process of appointment of Lokayukta
A meeting was held here Saturday to discuss the process of appointment of chairperson and members of the Lokayukta, officials said. The meeting held under chairmanship of the Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik was attended by Orissa High Court Chief Justice K S Javeri, Assembly Speaker Speaker P K Amat and Leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra. "During the meeting, we have unanimously selected the fifth member for expediting the process of Lokayukta appointment. The fifth name has been sent to Governor for final appointment," said Mishra after the meeting. Asked about the fifth member, Mishra said: "The fifth member hail from legal fraternity." After the Governor appoints the fifth member, it will act as the selection committee which will select the Lokayukta and other members, an official said. The Lokayukta Bill was passed by the state Assembly on February 14, 2014 but the state government has no far not been able to appoint a Lokayukta.
National-level alliance needed to counter BJP in 2019 polls: Andhra CM
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N. Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday said that a national-level alliance is the need of the hour to counter Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the 2019 general elections.Talking to TDP Member of Parliaments (MPs), Naidu said, "The Lok Sabha election is just five to six months away. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has utterly failed in controlling the fuel prices, and we are seeing, how the value of the currency is depleting. A national level alliance should be built."Stepping up his attack on the BJP, he said, "BJP's image has fallen down drastically across the country. The demonetisation has been an utter flop and has led to negative growth. The Centre also hampered confidnce on the banking sectors. The Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) have grown six, seven times more than what it was before. The BJP leaders have no basic knowledge on the economy and the finance."The TDS supremo ..
Rise of extremism in Bangladesh may affect NE Indian states: B'deshi journalist
The rise of Islamist extremism in Bangladesh poses a serious threat not only to the religious minorities, secularists, intellectuals and other sects within the Muslim community, but also to India's northeastern states, says prominent Bangladesh-based journalist, Saleem Samad.
China warns against foreign interference as Hong Kong bans journalist
China on Saturday warned foreign countries not to "interfere" over Hong Kong's decision to effectively blacklist a senior Financial Times journalist, after the UK and other governments expressed alarm over eroding freedoms in the former British colony. Victor Mallet, the FT's Asia news editor and a British national, earned the ire of authorities for hosting a speech in August by Andy Chan, the leader of a tiny pro-independence political party. The FT said Friday that immigration authorities in Hong Kong had declined to renew Mallet's visa, prompting the UK to request an "urgent explanation" for a decision described as unprecedented by rights groups and media organisations. "The Central Government firmly supports the SAR (Hong Kong) Government in handling the related matters in accordance with law," a spokesperson at China's foreign ministry in Hong Kong said. "No foreign country has any right to interfere." In a strident speech at the city's Foreign Correspondents' Club (FCC), where ..
Great strategic sense in improving Indo-China ties: Jaishankar
There is great strategic sense in improving the relationship between India and China, former Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar said on Saturday.
Rahul Gandhi takes another dig at Ambani over Rafale deal
In a fresh attack on industrialist Anil Ambani, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said one can land Rafale deal contracts worth "Rs 1.3 lakh crore" if he is the prime minister's "BFF" (best friend forever). Gandhi's comments referred to the offset deal between French aerospace giant Dassault Aviation and Ambani's Reliance Defence after the BJP-led NDA government entered into an agreement with France to buy 36 Rafale fighter jets. "When your BFF is the PM, you can get the 1,30,000 Cr. Rafale deal, even without relevant experience. But wait. There's more! Apparently, 400,000 JK Govt staff will also be arm twisted into buying health insurance ONLY from your company!" he said in a tweet, citing a media report. The report claimed that the Jammu and Kashmir government has chosen Reliance General Insurance, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ambani's Reliance Capital, to provide health insurance for its employees, pensioners and accredited journalists. Ambani has earlier rejected ...
V K Singh visits Colombia to deepen bilateral ties
Minister of State for External Affairs General V K Singh has visited Colombia during which he held talks with the country's top leadership and underlined the need to further deepen the political and economic ties. The three-day visit, which began from October 3, was the first Ministerial-level visit from India to Colombia following the formation of the new government under President Ivan Duque in August. General Singh met the top leadership, including Foreign Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo, who recalled his meeting with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on September 24, an official statement said Friday. The Ministers comprehensively reviewed bilateral relations and exchanged views on issues of mutual interest. They stressed the need for further deepening of political ties, expansion of bilateral trade and investment in areas such as IT, pharmaceuticals, automobiles, agriculture, urban planning & development, renewable energy, ...
Successful night trial of Prithvi-II missile
India's Strategic Force Command Saturday successfully test-fired its indigenously developed nuclear capable Prithvi-II missile during night time as part of a user trial by the Army from a test range in Odisha, defence sources said. The surface-to-surface missile, which has a strike range of 350 km, was launched from a mobile launcher from launch complex-3 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur near Balasore around 8.30 pm, they said. Prithvi-II was previously successfully test-fired during night time on February 21 this year from the ITR at Chandipur. The missile is capable of carrying 500 to 1,000 kilogramme of warheads and is thrusted by liquid propulsion twin engines. The state-of-the-art missile uses advanced inertial guidance system with manoeuvring trajectory to hit its target, they said. The missile was randomly chosen from the production stock and the entire launch activities were carried out by the specially-formed Strategic Force Command of the Army and monitored by
We don't make fake promises, will create employment: Rahul Gandhi
Congress chief Rahul Gandhi Saturday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over unemployment and assured youths that his party alone can create jobs for them. He was addressing a gathering at Raddi Chowk at the end of his 8-kilometre roadshow in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur district. "We brought green revolution, white revolution, computer revolution. But Prime Minister Narendra Modi and MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan have made false promises," Gandhi said. "I can assure (you) with full confidence that the Congress alone will generate employment for the youth. We don't lie. If we come to power, we are going to provide employment," he added. "We don't make fake promises. If we make promises, we stick to them," the Congress chief asserted. Gandhi alleged Prime Minister Modi wants to create "two Hindustans" one of wealthy businessmen like Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi and another for the poor and weaker sections. "We say no to this as we want one Hindustan .
Pompeo, Abe pledge unified approach on North Korea
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday said that he would raise the issue of abductions as well as nuclear and missile concerns on behalf of Japan when he meets North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang on Sunday.