Page 2809 - Politics
Congress to contest Lok Sabha polls alone in Punjab
Punjab's ruling Congress will contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in the state on its own and will not go in for an alliance with any party, including the Aam Aadmi Party, sources said.
Arkady Dvorkovich elected as FIDE President
Arkady Dvorkovich, former Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, was on Wednesday crowned as the new King of FIDE, the world body governing chess.
Digvijaya's damage control after Mayawati's Congress snub
With Mayawati accusing him of "sabotaging" a BSP-Congress alliance, senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Wednesday attempted to do damage control, saying he respected the BSP supremo and will be happy if such an alliance materialised.
Cong needs no alliance in Punjab: Amarinder to party
The Punjab Congress on Wednesday told the party's top brass that it did not need any alliance in the state for next year's Lok Sabha elections and it would win all 13 seats on its own. Chief minister Amarinder Singh conveyed the view to the Congress' alliance committee. Party matters, particularly those related to the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, were discussed during the meeting, Singh told reporters. Senior Congress leaders including Ahmed Patel, A K Antony, Jairam Ramesh, Mallikarjuna Kharge and Ghulam Nabi Azad and Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Sunil Jhakar attended the meeting. Singh said he and Jhakar told the party leaders that the Punjab Congress will go solo and win all the 13 Lok Sabha seats in the state. As far as a national alliance is concerned, it was left to the party high command to decide, he added. The chief minister told reporters he had informally taken the views of his cabinet colleagues on the issue after a meeting earlier in the day and ...
TN govt gives nod for DMK public meetings in 102 places
The Madras High Court was Wednesday informed that permission had been granted for the DMK's proposed state-wide public meetings against alleged corruption by the AIADMK government at 102 locations. Making the submission before Justice R Mahadevan, Additional Advocate General P H Arvind Pandian said permission was denied in 20 places on various grounds and in five others it was not allowed as the locations were not earmarked for protests. The government submission was made in response to a petition by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam organising secretary R S Bharathi seeking the court's direction to police officials concerned to grant permission for the public meetings titled 'Commission, Collection, Corruption of the AIADMK Government' proposed by the party across the state on October 3-4. The petitioner had claimed that all the applications submitted by party functionaries for permission to hold the meetings had been rejected on unsustainable and untenable uniformed reasons. Justice ...
IAF chief hopes S-400 deal will sail through
With the punitive US law CAATSA looming large over the Indo-Russian S-400 missile deal, Air Force chief B.S. Dhanoa on Wednesday said that he expected the deal to sail through "as and when the government clears it".
Meghalaya CM attending first Indonesia-India interfaith dialogue
Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma warned on Wednesday that growing insularity could trigger social tensions and strife across the globe.
Ambedkar-Owaisi alliance is 'BJP's B-Team': Shiv Sena
The alliance between Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh and All India Majlis Ittehadul-e-Muslimeen (AIMIM), announced in Maharashtra on October 2, would prove to be the 'B-Team of the BJP', said Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Wednesday.
BJP ally MGP dismisses questions over stability of Parrikar
Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, a key ally in Goa's ruling BJP-led coalition, on Wednesday dismissed questions over the stability of Manohar Parrikar government but expressed readiness to face mid-term polls in case the Assembly is dissolved. MGP leader and PWD Minister Sudin Dhavalikar, whose party has three seats in the 40-member Assembly, said there won't be any change in leadership in the state. Questions over the stability of the government have been raised by the Opposition Congress because of Parrikar's illness. The CM is currently undergoing treatment at AIIMS in Delhi for a pancreatic ailment. The Congress has, in fact, demanded that the government should have vote of confidence in the Assembly to prove its majority. The BJP, which has 14 MLAs, is ruling the state with the help of MGP, the Goa Forward Party (GFP), NCP and three Independents. GFP has three seats and NCP has one. "There is nothing wrong in the current political situation of Goa. The CM is not here
MP govt helped sand miners, caused loss to treasury: Cong
The Congress alleged Wednesday that actions of the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh benefited sand mining contractors and caused a loss of over Rs 1,200 crore to the exchequer. State Congress spokesperson Shobha Oza said that contracts for sand mining were granted for a period of five years in 2016 through an e-auction. "The government allowed the contractors to pay the bid amount in 12 instalments. The instalment was not fixed. So contractor paid less in initial instalments," Oza alleged. The government suspended these contracts in May 2017 for no reason, and the contractors subsequently did not pay the final instalment, she claimed. The contracts were suspended 25 days before the annual ban on sand mining during the monsoon came into force on June 15, she said. As the contractors did not pay the final instalment of the bid amount, the government lost Rs 1,200 crore, she alleged. "The government should order an inquiry by the CBI into this scam. We also demand the ...
Cong to launch second phase of outreach campaign from Faizpur
The Congress in Maharashtra is launching Thursday the second phase of its 'Jan Sangharsh Yatra' from Jalgaon's Faizpur, which had hosted the national session of the party in 1936 that was attended by stalwarts including Mahatma Gandhi. Congress general secretary Mallikarjun Kharge, party's state unit chief Ashok Chavan, former Union minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, senior leader Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil and others would take part in the second phase of the yatra. The first phase of the mass outreach programme, aimed at "exposing" the BJP-Shiv Sena government, was launched in Kolhapur on August 31. It concluded on September 8 in Pune. "Instead of fulfilled its promises, the government has hoodwinked people by lying to them. The aim of the yatra is to inform the people about the government's anti-people policies and to dislodge the combine," said Ashok Chavan. The former Maharashtra chief minister claimed that farmers, Dalits, minorities, women and the youth are feeling ...
BJP appoints election in-charges for poll-bound states
BJP president Amit Shah on Wednesday appointed Union Ministers J P Nadda, Prakash Javadekar and Dharmendra Pradhan as the party's election in-charges for Telangana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh respectively, a party statement said. The Assembly elections are likely to be held in these three states, besides Chhattisgarh, in the next couple of months. Shah has also appointed Mukul Roy, who had quit the Trinamool Congress to join the BJP and seen as a capable organisational leader, as convener of the party's election management committee in West Bengal. In another appointment, the BJP made Arvind Menon, who has an RSS background and was once a powerful organisational leader in Madhya Pradesh, as the party's co-in-charge for West Bengal. Party General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya is the in-charge for the state. The appointments in West Bengal underlines Shah's focus on the state, which he sees as a potential region for the party's growth in the next Lok Sabha election.
US ends Iran treaty after court ruling
The United States said Wednesday it was terminating a 1955 treaty reached with then ally Iran after Tehran cited it in an international court ruling against Washington's sanctions policy. "I'm announcing that the US is terminating the 1955 Treaty of Amity with Iran. This is a decision, frankly, that is 39 years overdue," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters, referring to the date of the 1979 Islamic revolution. The UN's top court ordered the United States Wednesday to lift sanctions on humanitarian goods for Iran in a ruling widely seen as a rebuke to President Donald Trump -- but which Pompeo described as a "defeat for Iran.
Theresa May sways to 'Dancing Queen' to deliver upbeat Brexit message
British Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday turned to pop group ABBA's hit 'Dancing Queen' to deliver an upbeat Brexit message at the close of the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham. After an awkward dance episode during her visit to Kenya in August had made the wrong kind of headlines, May decided to dance up to the podium to the beats of one of the Swedish band's most enduring songs in an attempt to set a lighter tone to her much-anticipated speech. The Conservative party chief called for unity to deliver a Brexit that was in the "national interest", amid deepening divisions within the ruling party over the UK's exit strategy from the European Union (EU). "We have had disagreements in this party about Britain's membership of the EU for a long time. So, it is no surprise that we have had a range of different views expressed this week. But my job as Prime Minister is to do what I believe to be in the national interest," she said. Dismissing calls for a so-called "people's
Maharashtra BJP MLA quits, cites 'corruption' in Rafale deal as reason
A day after he met Congress president Rahul Gandhi in Wardha, BJP MLA Ashish Deshmukh Wednesday resigned from the Maharashtra Assembly, citing alleged corruption in the Rafale deal as the reason. Deshmukh had Tuesday announced his decision to quit as MLA and submitted his resignation to the Assembly Speaker Wednesday. Deshmukh, who represented the Katol constituency in the Vidrabha region, is likely to join the Congress which he had quit before the assembly polls four years ago, sources close to him said. In a statement issued Wednesday evening, Deshmukh said schemes such as Make in India, Magnetic Maharashtra (the BJP-led state government's investment summit) and Skill India "showed no results on the ground". "Also, there is mega corruption in the Rafale deal," he alleged. On his meeting with Rahul Gandhi Tuesday, Deshmukh said, "Youths have a lot of expectations from him." Deshmukh said BJP leaders had reneged on the promise of creating a separate state of Vidarbha. "When I ...
Thiruvadanai MLA in hospital
Comedian-turned-politician S. Karunas was admitted to a private hospital in Vadapalani on Tuesday night.Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) J Anbazhagan visited him on Wednesday.On Tuesday, the Thiruvadanai MLA Karunas sent a letter to Tamil Nadu assembly Secretary K Srinivasan, seeking to move a resolution for the removal of incumbent Speaker P Dhanapal from his post.The MLA stated that under Article 179 (C) of the Constitution, he intends to move the resolution by invoking Rule 68 of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly by giving a 14-day notice to Dhanapal."I invoke Rule 68 of Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Rules under Article 179 (C) of the Indian Constitution for the removal of P Dhanapal from the office of honourable Speaker of Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly," Karunas said in the two-page letter, dated October 2.He also requested Srinivasan to include the resolution on the list of business for the consent of the house to move the resolution.
ICJ to hear Kulbhushan Jadhav case from Feb 18
The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial branch of the United Nations, will hold a public hearing in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case from February 18 to 21, 2019, in The Hague, the seat of the Court.India will participate in the first round of oral argument on February 18 between 10 a.m and 1 p.m, while Pakistan will participate in the oral argument on February 19 in the same time slot.The second round of oral argument for India is scheduled for February 20 (3 p.m.-4.30 p.m), and February 21 for Pakistan (4.30 p.m.-6 p.m).On April 10 last year, a Pakistan military court pronounced a death sentence to the retired Indian naval officer. Subsequently, on May 8, India approached the ICJ for egregious violations of the provisions of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, 1963 by Pakistan in the matter.On May 18, the court passed an order obligating Islamabad not to carry out the death sentence that was awarded to Jadhav.On September 13 last year, India had filed ...
Office-of-profit case: HC seeks EC response to AAP lawmakers' plea
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday issued notice to the Election Commission (EC) on a plea by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs to call witnesses for examination in the office-of-profit case.
NEET: DMK accuses Centre of meting out 'step-motherly'
Raking up faulty translation of National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test question papers, DMK president M K Stalin Wednesday accused BJP-led NDA government of meting out "step-motherly" treatment to regional languages and demanded immediate exemption of Tamil Nadu from the NEET. In a statement, the leader of opposition in the Tamil Nadu assembly said though NEET could be written in regional languages, errors in translation discouraged students from taking up the test. "...it is also gradually undermining importance of regional languages," he said, adding that the "step-motherly" treatment meted out by BJP-government is taking a toll on dreams of students from Tamil Nadu," he said. Stalin reiterated that the ruling-AIADMK should pressure the Centre to get the President's assent for Bills that was passed in the state assembly. "Before the next NEET notification is announced, the state government and Centre must get President's assent to the legislations," he said. In ...
Left to resist attempts to disrupt harmony during BJP's rath yatra
CPI(M) state secretary Surya Kanta Mishra on Wednesday said the Left Front will resist any attempt to disrupt communal harmony in West Bengal during BJP's three 'rath yatras' in the state in December. The BJP has plans to organise three rath yartas in the state in the last month of this year. "If there is any attempt to instigate people, if there is an attempt to engineer riots during the 'rath yatras' organised by the BJP, the Left parties will not sit idle. "There will be fierce resistance from the secular and democratic people of the country. We have not forgotten the memory of the BJP Rath Yatra in 1990, led by the then BJP president L K Advani," Mishra said at a rally organised by the BPMO (Bengal Platform of Mass Organisation) floated by various Left organisations. Describing the BJP and the Trinamool Congress as the two sides of the same coin, he called upon all "democratic forces to fight the fascist TMC in West Bengal and the fascist BJP at the Centre". Mishra said the ruling