Page 289 - Politics
Barring a few exceptions, UP proved harsh for many parties' chiefs
The 2019 Lok Sabha elections proved specially unkind to chiefs of various political parties, barring the BJP and the SP, in Uttar Pradesh. The losers in the state in the 2019 poll included not merely Congress president Rahul Gandhi from Amethi, but also the party's state unit chief Raj Babbar, who lost to BJP's Rajkumar Chahar in Moradabad. Babbar was fielded from Moradabad instead of Fatehpur Sikri in an apparent bid to make his fight easier. Yet he lost to Chahar by a huge margin of 4,95,065 votes. The sole seat that the Congress was able to retain was that of its former president Sonia Gandhi's Rae Bareli. Amongst the high-profile party chiefs who got a drubbing included Rashtriya Lok Dal president Ajit Singh, who lost to BJP's Sanjeev Balyan in Muzaffarnagar. Balyan has since been inducted in Union ministry. Ajit Singh's son Jayant Chaudhary too was humbled in Baghpat by BJP's Satya Pal Singh. Another loser among various parties' chiefs included Bahujan Samaj Party's state unit ...
IAF Chief BS Dhanoa to embark on four-day visit to Sweden from June 3
IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa will begin a four-day visit to Sweden, beginning June 3."Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa is embarking on a four-day official visit to Sweden from June 3 to June 6. The bilateral goodwill visit is on the invitation by the Chief of the Swedish Air Force," the IAF said in a statement on Sunday.Dhanoa is scheduled to visit various operational and training units and interact with senior functionaries of the Swedish Air Force among others.The visit is expected to provide an impetus towards defence cooperation and pave the way for greater interaction and cooperation between the Air Forces as well as strengthen relationships and enable engagement in productive exchanges between the two Air Forces, read the statement.Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had visited Sweden in February this year. During her visit, India and Sweden signed defence cooperation and security protection agreements.Interestingly, Swedish Company SAAB is a ...
Transfer racket flourishing under Congress govt in MP: BJP leader
Launching a scathing attack on the Madhya Pradesh government, BJP leader Vishwas Sarang on Sunday said a "transfer racket" is flourishing under Chief Minister Kamal Nath."A transfer racket is flourishing in the Congress government under Kamal Nath and officials are at the centre of it. They are engaged in seat sale. Officials bid for seats. Congress is not running a government but a 'hawala udyog'," the BJP MLA from Narela in Bhopal told ANI.He made the remarks after fifteen district magistrates and a dozen district police chiefs were transferred on Saturday.Asked about the "Right to Water" Bill the state government is planning to introduce in the Assembly, Sarang, a former minister, said, "Kamal Nath is not giving the right to people but wants to control water. He does not want to help people."The state government had on Saturday announced that it is planning to introduce the Bill with the aim of providing drinking water to all."We have decided to prepare a draft on the water issue ..
French national held with satphone at IGI airport
A French national was Sunday apprehended by the CISF at the Delhi airport for allegedly carrying a satellite phone, which is banned under the law, in his luggage, a senior official said. Pierre L Bouihol was intercepted during frisking at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) at about 3 am as he was about to take a flight to Leh in Jammu and Kashmir, he said. The man was handed over to the Delhi Police by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) as carrying a satellite phone is banned under law, the official said. The communication gadget is allowed only for defence and other authorised category of people, he added.
J-K: Mother-daughter duo injured in cylinder blast succumb to injuries
A mother-daughter duo, injured in a gas cylinder blast in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir last month, succumbed to their injuries here Sunday, officials said. Parveena Akhter (35) and her daughter Shaista Bano (14) were undergoing treatment at the SKIMS hospital, they said. The duo was among the seven family members injured in the explosion at their residence in Uri in the north Kashmir on May 27.
Cong social media in-charge Divya Spandana's Twitter handle deleted
Congress's social media in-charge Divya Spandana has deleted her Twitter handle, along with the tweet history, triggering speculation over her future plans. Twitter was abuzz with speculation over her political future as none of her controversial tweets were available on the microblogging website. While her official Twitter handle disappeared, all the tweets from her verified Twitter handle showed as deleted. Spandana had led the Congress's social media campaign during the just-concluded Lok Sabha election, in which the grand old party managed to bag only 52 seats, eight more than what it had secured in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. The Congress did not say anything officially on Spandana's action, but sources close to the former MP and actress said she was taking a break from politics for some time. Spandana was not available for comments.
Algeria cancels July 4 presidential elections
Algeria on Sunday cancelled the presidential polls, which was to be held on July 4, as both the candidates failed to meet requirements to contest elections.
India denounces Pakistani sabotage of iftar, lodges protest
India on Sunday denounced the sabotage of the traditional iftar hosted by India's envoy to Pakistan, saying it violated "all notions of civilized behaviour", and lodged a strong protest with Islamabad.
Air Chief Marshal Dhanoa begins Sweden visit Monday
Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa will begin a four-day visit to Sweden on Monday to broaden defence cooperation with the European country. He will visit various operational and training units of the Swedish Air Force and interact with top military brass of the country, officials said. It will be the first visit abroad by Air Chief Marshal Dhanoa after he became chairman of the powerful chiefs of staff committee (CoSC) last week. The CoSC comprises the Army, Navy and the IAF chiefs. "The visit would provide an impetus towards defence cooperation and pave the way for greater interaction and cooperation between the Air Forces," IAF spokesperson Group Capt. Anupam Banerjee said. "This would also strengthen relationships and enable engagement in productive exchanges between the two Air Forces," he said.
New govt in AP raises hopes of resolution of post-bifurcation issues with Telangana
The new government in Andhra Pradesh has raised hopes of an amicable settlement of all contentious issues between the state and the neighbouring Telangana, which celebrated its sixth formation day on June 2, 2019. In the last five years, there was more hostility than cordiality between the TRS government in Telangana, carved out of Andhra Pradesh, and the Telugu Desam Party dispensation in AP essentially due to political reasons. Consequently, none of the issues sharing of river waters and division of assets and liabilities among others could be settled between the two Telugu-speaking states. Last year, the TDP had even gone on a collision course with the central government. The governor, common to both the states, arranged a couple of meetings with the chief ministers and subsequently a three-member ministers group was formed on each side to resolve the issues but no headway was made. In the four years that it remained part of the NDA government at the Centre, the TDP failed to ...
Regional languages will die if three-language policy is adopted: Senior Cong leader Peter Alphonse
Senior Congress leader Peter Alphonse on Sunday said that the regional languages in most of the non-Hindi speaking states will "die" if the three-language formula is implemented by the Central government.Talking to ANI, Alphonse said: "The new draft for national education policy recommends mandatory education of Hindi in all schools. The people of Tamil Nadu view it as an attempt to impose Hindi on those who are non-Hindi speaking. We have been fighting this since 1930s. We think that this three-language formula will virtually kill the Tamil language at one point of time."Referring to Union Minister Prakash Javadekar's statement that there is no attempt to impose Hindi as this is only the draft policy, Alphonse said: "But he has conveniently forgotten one aspect that already in most of Central government departments and PSUs, they prescribe working knowledge of Hindi as a basic fundamental qualification for jobs, which is an indirect imposition of Hindi.""At one point of time, only ...
AINRC opposes Centre's move to bring in 3-language formula in
AINRC leader R Radhakrishnan Sunday flayed the Centre over its move to "impose" Hindi on non-Hindi speaking states through implementation of three language formula. Referring to the draft New Education policy submitted to the Centre on May 31 by the K Kasturirangan Committee seeking "to impose Hindi" on non Hindi speaking states, Radhakrishnan said, "this would be a serious threat to the rights of states." In so far as Puducherry and its outlying regions of Mahe and Yanam were concerned, schools were teaching English and the regional language, so any move to bring in Hindi would hit students as the regions are situated in different linguistic States, he claimed in a release. The AINRC leader also said the territorial government should be firm in saying 'No' to the Centre and ensure continuation of the two language formula. The Centre should also give up any move to bring in three language formula in non Hindi speaking States, he added.
China less aggressive than Pakistan: MoS Defence
China's aggression is of a lesser degree compared to that of Pakistan, newly-appointed Minister of State for Defence Shripad Naik said on Sunday.
Finance Commission team to visit Meghalaya
The Fifteenth Finance Commission will visit Meghalaya on Monday and will hold meeting with state government officials and representatives of urban and rural local bodies, officials said Sunday. Commission's chairman N K Singh and members A N Jha, Ashok Lahiri, Anoop Singh, Ramesh Chand besides senior officers will also meet Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangm and his cabinet during the course of their three-day stay here, they said. The Commission will also separately meet representatives of rural local bodies, representatives of urban local bodies, representatives of trade and industry bodies of Meghalaya, according to an official statement. The Commission will also meet the representatives of the political parties of the state besides separate meeting with the Women Self Help Groups and the Aqua Entrepreneurs supported by the Meghalaya State Aquaculture Mission (MSAM), it said. The Commission will also inspect MNREGS works in the state and interact with members of
Pak-origin London Mayor brands Donald Trump a fascist
Pakistani-origin London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who has been a vocal critic of Donald Trump, on Sunday branded the US President as one of the "fascists of the 20th century" and said Britain should not be rolling out a red carpet to a leader like him for a state visit to the UK. Trump, along with his wife Melania and his adult children, will be a guest of Queen Elizabeth II during his three-day official visit to the UK starting Monday. The visit is expected to provoke massive protests in London on Tuesday. "President Donald Trump is just one of the most egregious examples of a growing global threat. The far right is on the rise around the world, threatening our hard-won rights and freedoms and the values that have defined our liberal, democratic societies for more than 70 years," Khan writes in the 'Observer'. "Viktor Orban in Hungary, Matteo Salvini in Italy, Marine Le Pen in France and Nigel Farage here in the UK are using the same divisive tropes of the fascists of the 20th century to ...
BJP, Sena to fight Maha Assembly polls in 135 seats each: Chandrakant Patil
Saffron allies BJP and Shiv Sena will share equal number of seats in the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections, a senior BJP leader has said. Talking to reporters here Saturday, Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil also said Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was the "natural choice" of the people, the BJP and the Sena for the top post again. He said the two parties would contest 135 seats each in the 288-member House, and leave 18 seats for other allies. "Both Amit Shah and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had given a word that BJP and Shiv Sena will fight the assembly polls together. Our party doesn't go back on its word," Patil said. "We have 122 sitting MLAs and eight independents are supporting the BJP, whereas the Shiv Sena has 63 sitting MLAs. We will get only five additional seats," he said. Fadnavis is the natural choice of the people, of the BJP as well as that of the Shiv Sena, he said, adding, the chief minister has balanced relations with Shiv Sena very well. "He has good ..
Ministers would be made available to hear for party workers: Chhattisgarh Congress
Following the Lok Sabha polls debacle, the Chhattisgarh Congress on Sunday decided that a minister, by rotation, would be made available at the Pradesh Congress office for hearing the grievances and suggestions of party workers.In the State Congress Working Committee meeting, it was also opined that Rahul Gandhi should continue as party president and take back his resignation."In today's meeting, we all had the same thinking that Rahul Gandhi should not resign from his post. Also, we reviewed our debacle in the election and felt that we appeared to be weaker in terms of the election campaign and the BJP presented all our good work in negative forms," said TS Singh Deo, Minister Chhattisgarh."We have decided to put our thoughts correctly before the cadre and the public. We have decided that every week between Monday and Saturday, one of our ministers will be present in the office for at least 3 hours and on every week rotation of ministers will be done so that party workers can have ...
Kashmiri man pleads for bringing back ISIS-cadre son, in custody in Syria
The Jammu and Kashmir Police has forwarded to the Centre a Kashmiri man's application for bringing back his business graduate son, who had joined terror outfit ISIS and is now in the custody of the US-allied forces in Syria, to India, officials said Sunday. Adil Ahmed, a Kashmir-resident who had completed his MBA from Queensland in Australia, was captured by the US allied forces in Syria after he had surrendered along with many ISIS activists earlier this year, the officials. Ahmed had moved to Syria in 2013 and informed his family that he was working with an NGO there. His father Fayaz Ahmed, who works as a contractor and runs a departmental store, still cannot believe that his son had joined the deadly terror group and has been moving from pillar to post for the return of his son. "I am hopeful that since the new government has taken over in New Delhi, things will move on (in bringing back his son)," he said. The officials said the application filed by Fayaz Ahmed has been forwarded
IAS officer's tweet on Mahatma sparks row, Oppn seeks her
Opposition Congress and NCP have demanded suspension of an IAS officer for her controversial tweet in which she has called for removal of Mahatma Gandhi's statues and "thanked" his assassin Nathuram Godse. In the tweet, which has since been deleted, BMC Deputy Municipal Commissioner Nidhi Choudhari had called for removal of Mahatma Gandhi's statues from across the world and his images from the Indian currency notes. She also "thanked" Godse. After a row erupted, the officer clarified that the tweet was "sarcastic" and that it was "misinterpreted". Maharashtra Congress president Ashok Chavan and Nationalist Congress Party leader Jitendra Awhad have separately demanded suspension of the IAS officer. "The tweet is condemnable. It only shows her low thinking. The need of the hour is to stop such a thought," the former chief minister said Sunday. Chavan said the state government should make its stand clear on the issue, which would be seen into what action it takes against ...
US prepared to talk to Iran 'with no preconditions': Pompeo
Washington is willing to speak with Iran "with no preconditions", US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday, but stressed his country would continue working to rein in Iran's "malign activity". "We are prepared to engage in a conversation with no preconditions. We are ready to sit down with them," Pompeo told a joint news conference in Switzerland with Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis, adding however that "the American effort to fundamentally reverse the malign activity of this Islamic Republic, this revolutionary force, is going to continue.