Page 2818 - Politics
Nepal will pursue Gandhi's principles of peace, non-violence: Minister
Nepal will pursue Mahatma Gandhi's principles of peace and non-violence for economic prosperity and well-being, the country's Defence Minister Ishwor Pokharel said here Tuesday at an event to mark the 150th birth anniversary of the towering leader. Pokharel said Gandhi was not only the father of the nation for India, but also the figure of inspiration for peace and non-violence for the whole world. Gandhi showed the path of peaceful coexistence by implementing his ideology in his life, said Pokharel, who is also the Acting Prime Minister. Nepal has just completed the decade-long peace process and now it will move towards the path of economic prosperity and wellbeing by pursing Gandhi's principles of non-violence and peace, he said. Though Gandhi was born in India, he became the leader for those who championed peace, non-violence and universal brotherhood, Pokharel said. India's ambassador to Nepal Manjeev Singh Puri said that the 150th birth anniversary of Gandhi will be celebrated ...
Gandhiji united people, Modi divides people: Rahul
Congress president Rahul Gandhi launched a fresh tirade against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the run-up to 2019 Lok Sabha elections while addressing a rally here on Tuesday.Rahul accused Prime Minister Modi of following the policy of dividing the people of the country on religion and caste lines, whereas Mahatma Gandhi emphasised on unity. "Wherever Modi goes, he spreads hate," Rahul said.The Gandhi scion further accused Prime Minister Modi of not only insulting Mahatma Gandhi but the entire nation when he made the remark in his speech on August 15 that India had remained 'virtually dormant' before 2014.Alleging crony capitalism in the Rafale deal, the Congress president said, "Modi snatched the Rafale contract from the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and gave the contract to his friend Anil Ambani."According to him, Ambani took loans to the tune of Rs 45,000 crore from public sector banks yet the Rafale deal was bagged by his company. He also alleged that Ambani's company was .
Pakistan army kills seven militants near Afghan border
Pakistani security forces have killed seven terrorists in an exchange of fire with them in Pakistan's restive tribal region bordering Afghanistan. The terrorists from across the Afghan border engaged in a 'fire raid' at the check-post in North Waziristan on Monday, prompting army officials to retaliate, the military said in a statement on Tuesday. "During the exchange of fire seven terrorists were killed while three others injured," it said. Attacks on security forces and targeted killings have witnessed a surge in the volatile North Waziristan since the army launched the Zarb-i-Azb military operation against terrorists in June 2014, which also resulted in the displacement of over one million civilians.
HP CM pays floral tributes to Gandhi, Shastri
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur and several other state leaders and people from different walks of life paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Shastri on the birth anniversary of the two leaders. The chief minister led the people in offering floral tributes to the memorial of Gandhi at the historic Ridge here. Thakur also offered floral tributes to the memorial of former prime minister Shastri. Education Minister Suresh Bhardwaj and other leaders including councillors also paid their rich tributes to Gandhi and Shastri. The chief minister also administered the 'Swachhatta Oath' to the people present on the occasion, to keep the state clean to achieve the dream of 'Swachh Bharat'. He also flagged off School Children Rally-Run Against Drug Abuse and Awareness. Earlier, Thakur, along with Shimla Mayor Kusum Sadrate, Deputy Mayor Rakesh Sharma and Councillors, participated in Swachhatta Abhiyan at Sanjauli. The chief minister released a special edition of ...
Cong collects Rs 2.35 lakh through crowdfunding in Jaipur
The Congress launched a door-to-door election and crowdfunding campaign in Jaipur on Tuesday and collected more than Rs 2 lakh from citizens. Rajasthan Congress spokesperson and Jaipur Congress president Pratap Khachariyawas launched the campaign at the party office. Khachariyawas said the party workers would also seek financial support from the citizens for elections. On the first day of the campaign, the party has collected Rs 2.35 lakh. He said the party workers would contact the people door-to-door at the booth level and apprise them of the "anti-people" policies of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party government.
BJP dubs Rahul a 'tape recorder of lies'
The BJP on Tuesday dubbed Congress president Rahul Gandhi a "tape recorder of lies" and said his party's fortunes will go down as swiftly as he resorts to "falsehoods" to target the Narendra Modi government. The Bharatiya Janata Party's media head and Rajya Sabha member Anil Baluni accused Gandhi of starting "bad conventions" of targeting his rivals with lies on a daily basis. "His lies are exposed all the time. His charge against the government over the financial support to IL&FS was exposed within a few hours yesterday. But he believes in speaking from the same script everyday and uttering one lie or another but people in India are wise and can see through it," he said. The BJP's attack on the Congress president came after he accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of working to divide the country and criticised him at a rally in Wardha in Maharashtra over the alleged corruption in the Rafale aircraft deal. Hitting back, Baluni said Gandhi's claim on the Rafale deal during his ...
Boris Johnson challenges May's Brexit plan
British former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson on Tuesday called on Prime Minister Theresa May to abandon her Brexit plan for a future trading deal with the EU.
Hardik launches fresh round of agitation with dharna in Morbi
Launching a fresh round of agitation against the BJP government in Gujarat, Hardik Patel staged a day-long sit-in for Patidar quota in Morbi district Tuesday. The 25-year-old leader and his associates in the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) sat on 'dharna' from 11 AM to 5 PM at Bagathala village, demanding loan waiver for farmers and reservation for the Patidar community. He also demanded immediate release of PAAS member Alpesh Kathiria, who was arrested last month in a sedition case registered by police against Hardik Patel and others. Hardik had sat on a hunger strike for demands of loan waiver and Patidar quota from August 25 to September 12 this year. With today's protest, organised on the 149th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, he seemed to have started another round of agitation. He said he would stage sit-ins across Gujarat and hold a huge gathering of farmers in Morbi district in the next two to three months. Farmers should cease to be slaves of the ...
Terror funding: NIA conducts search at Kashmiri businessman's residence
The NIA Tuesday conducted a search at the residence of a businessman here in connection with a case related to busting of a terror-funding module linked to Pakistan-based terrorist Hafiz Muhammad Saeed in New Delhi last week, officials said. The raid, which was scheduled last week but postponed due to law and order situation, was carried out at the residence of Ajaz Ahmad Hakak, who deals in medical items, in downtown Srinagar early Tuesday. Local police and paramilitary personnel accompanied National Investigation Agency officials during the raid. The officials said Ajaz has been served with a summons to appear before the agency and as a routine matter, his brother was being questioned. On September 25, the NIA conducted searches at the premises of Mohammad Salman in Nizamuddin, Daryaganj-resident Mohd Salim (hawala operator) and Rajaram in Kucha Ghasiram in New Delhi and seized Rs 1.56 crore in cash, Rs 43,000 in Nepali currency, 14 mobiles phones, five pen drives and several ...
ICC hearing: Khurshid cross-examined, BCCI says testimony lends weight to its case
Former external affairs minister Salman Khurshid Tuesday justified India's refusal to play bilateral cricket with Pakistan during the ICC's Disputes Resolution Committee hearing into a compensation claim against the BCCI, a Board official said. The hearing, which began Monday, will decide whether BCCI is to pay the Rs 447 crore damages sought by the PCB for not honouring a so-called Memorandum of Understanding to play six bilateral series between 2015 and 2023. The BCCI has maintained that the MOU is not legally binding. "Khurshid's presence definitely took the PCB by surprise. They were not expecting a former MEA to come in for cross-examination. Also a legal expert. He gave UPA II's stand on why India didn't tour Pakistan post the Mumbai terror attacks in 2008," the BCCI official told PTI, quoting from Khurshid's statement in the court, on condition of anonymity. Khurshid, who was the external affairs minister during the UPA-II government which finished its term in 2014, was ...
Left parties demand JPC probe into Rafale 'scam'
Three Left parties Tuesday demanded a joint parliamentary committee probe into the Rafale "scam", alleging that the "needle of suspicion points directly" towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India and the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)-Liberation, in a joint statement, also extended their support to the week-long protests called by the Jan Ekta Jan Adhikar Andolan from October 22 to 27 against "corruption" in the Modi government. "The mega scam in the purchase of the Rafale fighter jet planes must be probed by a Joint Parliamentary Committee. The needle of suspicion points directly towards the prime minister," the statement said. In consultation with other Left Parties, a nationwide protest call will be given to expose this "mega scam" and demand punishment of the guilty, the three Left parties said. The opposition led by the Congress has been accusing the government of benefitting Anil Ambani's Reliance Defence .
14 killed in Afghan poll rally suicide bombing
At least 14 people were killed and 47 were wounded in a suicide bomb attack at an election rally in Afghanistan's Nangarhar province on Tuesday, officials said.
PM to unveil 64-ft tall statue of Sir Chhotu Ram in Rohtak on Oct 9
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will unveil a 64-foot-tall statue of peasant leader late Sir Chhotu Ram at his native village Garhi Sampla in Haryana's Rohtak district on October 9, Union Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh said Tuesday. The prime minister will also visit a museum where belongings of Sir Chhotu Ram are kept and see a documentary on his life, Singh told reporters. After the event, Modi will address a public rally there, the minister informed and indicated that the prime minister may also make some major announcements. Replying to a question that whether Modi is expected to make any major announcements at the rally, in which farmers from adjoining states are also taking part, Singh said, "He (PM) may do so." Singh, who is grandson of Sir Chhotu Ram, further said the statute has been designed by renowned sculptor Ram V Suthar and his son Anil Suthar. "He (Sir Chhotu Ram) was farmers' voice during the undivided India. Farmers across the country and even in Pakistan ...
Iran denies French accusations over alleged bomb plot
Iran on Tuesday denied French accusations that one of its diplomats was involved in an alleged bomb plot targeting an exiled opposition group near Paris in June. "We deny the accusations and forcefully condemn the Iranian diplomat's arrest and call for his immediate release," the foreign affairs ministry said in a statement. It described the allegations as a conspiracy to "sabotage Iran's ancient and long-standing relations with France and other significant European countries." The statement was released minutes before a French diplomatic source told AFP that security services believed the Iranian intelligence ministry was behind the foiled plot. In retaliation, France announced it had frozen assets belonging to two suspected Iranian intelligence operatives as well as Iran's ministry of security and intelligence. "This extremely serious act envisaged on our territory could not go without a response," France's interior, foreign and economy ministers said in a rare joint statement. The
Political slugfest continues over Dum Dum blast
Hours after West Bengal Technical Education Minister Purnendu Basu claimed that the Dum Dum blast was similar to the ones orchestrated by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Mukul Roy on Tuesday suggested the minister to get a National Investigation Agency (NIA) inquiry done into the matter.Basu, earlier in the day, had compared the attack to "the ones carried out previously by the RSS."In response to the same, Roy told ANI "This is a false allegation. If they're sure of it, they can get an NIA inquiry done. They have the habit of leveling false allegations. It is their political game."An explosion had occurred in West Bengal's Dum Dum area in a fruit stall stationed in the market, leaving one dead and over ten injured.The cause of the explosion has not been ascertained yet.
Need new freedom struggle against PM Modi govt: Congress
The Congress Working Committee (CWC), on the occasion of the 149th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, said that there is an urgent need for a new freedom struggle to confront Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government."Today, a new freedom struggle is the urgent need of the hour - a massive movement to combat the forces of divisiveness and prejudice, to confront the Modi government whose politics is the politics of threat and intimidation, the politics of polarization and divisiveness, the politics of crushing debate and dissent, the politics of imposing an artificial uniformity in a nation of extraordinary diversity, the politics of hate and vendetta, the politics of subverting all Constitutional values, principles and practices, the politics of lies, deceit, fraud and subterfuge," the CWC said.Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party of misusing Mahatma Gandhi for electoral gain, the CWC further noted, "Appropriating Mahatma's legacy may be politically expedient for some, but imbibing
Congress vows 'new freedom struggle' against Modi govt, attacks RSS
Launching a scathing attack on the BJP and the RSS, the Congress on Tuesday called for a "new freedom struggle" against what it called the Modi government's politics of "polarisation and intimidation", as it held a meeting of its apex decision-making body CWC at a venue where 'Quit India' resolution was adopted in 1942 under Mahatma Gandhi's leadership. Holding its meeting at Sewagram Ashram's Mahadev Bhavan in Wardha district of Maharashtra on Mahatma Gandhi's 149th birth anniversary, the Congress Working Committee, headed by the party chief Rahul Gandhi, also condemned the use of force against protesting farmers on their way to the national capital. The CWC had last met in Sevagram in March 1948 and before that under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi in 1942 to adopt the 'Quit India' resolution. In a resolution adopted at the meeting, the Congress alleged the RSS had a "blatant hypocrisy" that vilified and rejected Mahatma Gandhi during his lifetime and it was now brazenly ...
Police action on farmers 'barbaric', Centre's acceptance of demands 'hoax': AIKS
The police action on Gandhi Jayanti to stop the peaceful protest march of farmers at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border was "barbaric" and the Centre's assurance to look into their demands a "hoax", the All India Kisan Sabha said Tuesday. Chaos prevailed at the border Tuesday as thousands of protesting farmers attempted to enter the national capital, prompting the police to resort to water cannons and tear-gas shells to disperse them, drawing sharp criticism from various quarters. The AIKS said the farmers of the country are under attack from the Centre and various BJP-led state governments. The so-called commitment to Mahatma Gandhi's ideals by the Modi government is "mere lip service and unnecessary breast beating, and shedding of crocodile tears," AIKS general secretary and Left leader Atul Kumar Anjaan said. "Once again the farmers, who were coming to Delhi on Gandhi Jayanti in a peaceful manner to put-forth their demands were subjected to barbaric police attack," he said condemning ..
Shame that India's capital is most unsafe city in world: AAP leader
Delhi is the most unsafe city in the world and it is a shame that it is the national capital of India and yet so unsafe, AAP leader Atishi said on Tuesday.
Anti-quota group SAPAKS to contest Assembly polls in MP
SAPAKS, an anti-reservation organisation in Madhya Pradesh, announced Tuesday that it is entering electoral politics and would contest all 230 Assembly seats in the year-end elections in the state. Former IAS officer and patron of SAPAKS, Hiralal Trivedi, has been made president of the new party, it said. "On Tuesday, we have formally announced formation of a political party -- SAPAKS Party. It will contest all 230 seats in the state. We will soon announce our candidates," Trivedi told reporters. The party's 'organisation general secretary' Suresh Tiwari said that former IPS officer Vijay Wate, former IAS officer Veena Ghanekar, former state health department director K L Sahu and Betul-based industrialist Rajiv Khandelwal have been appointed as vice presidents. "Our main plank in assembly elections would be opposition to recent amendments in the SC/ST Act which are against the Supreme Court's verdict. We are also against reservation in promotion of government employees.