Page 293 - Politics
10 dead in suicide car bomb attack in Raqa, Syria: NGO
Ten people were killed and 20 wounded Saturday in a suicide car bomb attack in Raqa, a former stronghold of the Islamic State group (IS) in north Syria, a rights watchdog said. The explosion claimed the lives of five civilians and five soldiers of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-Arab alliance backed by Washington which wrested the city from IS in October 2017, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). The attack, for which no one has claimed responsibility, was preceded by a bomb explosion that left several people wounded in another part of the city frequently targeted by the Islamic State group, said the SOHR. "The car bomb attack was targeting an SDF position," SOHR director Rami Abdel Rahmane told AFP. The explosion took place at the al-Naim square where IS had carried out beheadings when it was in control of the city. On April 9, a double bombing claimed by IS killed 13 people, mostly civilians, in the jihadist group's former bastion. IS jihadists
PM Modi to visit Tirupati Balaji temple on June 9
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit the hill shrine of Tirupati on June 9.The information was shared by Andhra Pradesh BJP President, Kanna Lakshmi Narayana who told reporters on Saturday that the Prime Minister will be paying a visit to Tirumala Lord Balaji temple next week.Since the culmination of general elections, a slew of political leaders including Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Reddy and many newly elected parliamentarians have visited Tirumala to pay obeisance to Lord Balaji.On May 26, many politicians, including newly elected MPs and Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR), had visited the Tirupati Balaji temple to seek blessings.
Divya Spandana tweets deleted, has she left Congress social media?
Head of Congress social media wing Divya Spandana seems to have logged off Twitter.Her twitter account does not display any tweets and her Twitter bio does not mention her as head of social media. There is also ambiguity on whether she is still part of the social media team.There is no official confirmation from either the Indian National Congress party or Spandana herself.Word is out that Spandana has parted ways from the team, according to a source.When ANI reached out to her she refuted the claim. "Your source is wrong", said Spandana.The Congress media department declined any comment on Spandana's account being deleted.Spandana has been credited with a turnaround of the Congress party's social media presence. BJP has a robust media cell and a strong online presence.Congress was routed in the recent general elections with BJP-led NDA storming into power at the Centre.After the drubbing, the Congress had officially announced that their leaders or members will not participate in ...
Sonia praises Rahul for 'valiant' campaign, 'fearless leadership'
UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Saturday lavishly praised Rahul Gandhi for his "valiant and relentless" campaign in the Lok Sabha elections and his "fearless leadership" in taking on the Modi government, to send the message that the party backed him fully and its workers wanted him to stay on as Congress President.
No intention to impose any language, says Centre
The Central government said on Saturday that it has not taken a decision on the draft education policy and that there was no intention of imposing any language. The Centre's response came amid Tamil Nadu opposition parties' objection to the three-language formula for schools in the state as stated in the draft policy.
Three-language row: It is just draft policy, clarifies Union Education Secretary
After a controversy broke out over three-language norm in the draft of new Education Policy, Education Secretary R Subrahmanyam on Saturday clarified that no policy decision has been taken by the government yet and there would be no "imposition of any language in educational institutions.""This is a draft policy submitted by the committee and is placed for the views of the general public. It is not the policy announced by the government. After getting feedback from the general public, and after consulting State governments, the National Educational Policy will be finalised by the government," Subrahmanyam said in a tweet."The government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is committed for equal development and promotion of all Indian languages. There will be no imposition of any language in educational institutions, nor discriminations against any language," he added.Earlier, Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' had also said that no ...
Rescue operations in full swing to rescue missing mountaineers: DM Vijay Jogdande
Vijay Kumar Jogdande, District Magistrate Pithoragarh, on Saturday said that the administration is taking all the steps necessary to locate and help the mountaineers who are missing from the Nanda Devi trek."We received reports that few members of a mountaineering expedition for Nanda Devi East by Himalayan Run and Trekker organisation on May 31 were missing. A missing report for these mountaineers came to us yesterday. We immediately dispatched a team under SDM, Munshiari, which has team members from SDRF, medical team and locals for tracking," Jogdande told ANI here.An eight-member team of mountaineers, including seven foreign nationals, has gone missing on its way to Nanda Devi East peak in Pithoragarh district in Uttarakhand.The team which has seven mountaineers from the U.K., the U.S. and Australia left Munsiyari on May 13 to scale the 7,434-metre Nanda Devi peak.Jogdande added that the administration had contacted the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and help from the forces ...
Newly-elected MPs meet Rahul, want him to continue as party chief
Rahul Gandhi, who met partys newly-elected MPs on Saturday, did not appear to have given any indication that he has relented from his insistence on resigning from the post of party president, party sources said.
OIC backs legitimate rights of people of J&K
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has reiterated the grouping's support for the legitimate rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir in accordance with the United Nations resolutions, the Pakistan Foreign Office said here Saturday. The OIC is an international organisation consisting of 57 member states, with 53 countries being Muslim-majority nations. The 14th OIC summit was held in the holy city of Makkah on Friday and several leaders of Muslim countries attended. Prime Minister Imran Khan represented Pakistan at the Summit. Foreign Office said in a statement that the Summit in Makkah reiterated the Conference's principled support for the legitimate right to self-determination of the people of Jammu and Kashmir in accordance with UN resolutions. India has made it clear that there is no scope for any third party role or mediation in Kashmir. The Ministry of External Affairs said in March that the Jammu & Kashmir is an integral part of India and is a matter strictly ...
Andhra CM Reddy, Telangana CM Rao attend Iftar party hosted by Governor
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao attended the Iftar party hosted by the State Governor E S L Narasimhan here on Saturday evening at Raj Bhavan.The duo can be seen praying together, offering sweets to each other, and exchanging pleasantries.Succeeding the TDP government led by N Chandrababu Naidu, Jagan took oath as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh on Thursday.Mauling the ruling TDP whose tally dropped from 102 seats in 2014 elections to a mere 23, Jagan-led YSR Congress got an absolute majority in the 175-member Assembly by winning 151 seats.Likewise in the Lok Sabha elections, Jagan's party bagged 22 seats out of the state's 25 with the rest three going to the TDP.
Tumkur Congress chief seeks expulsion of several party leaders for LS poll defeat
Tumkur District Congress president R Ramakrishna on Saturday wrote to general secretary KC Venugopal blaming party leaders for the defeat of Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) coalition candidate HD Deve Gowda in the Lok Sabha constituency.He has also recommended expulsion of leaders like former MLA KN Rajanna, and state Youth Congress vice president Rajendra from the party."The person who is responsible for all this is KN Rajanna, Youth Congress president R Rajendra, Gram Panchayat member J J Rahana, Chudappa Shantla Rajanna, Manjula Narayana Reddy, Taluk panchayat president, vice-president, and members," Ramakrishna wrote in his letter.As a part of the seat-sharing deal between Congress and JD (S), Tumkur Lok Sabha seat was contested by JD(S) leader and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda. However, he lost to BJP's GS Basavraj.In his report to Venugopal, the district Congress president termed the lack of unity between JD (S) and Congress workers as one of the reasons for the ...
Will work with Congress MPs without inhibitions for betterment of Punjab: Hardeep Singh Puri
Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Saturday said he will work with the Congress MPs from Punjab for the betterment of the state."I have no inhibitions in working with the Congress MPs from Punjab. As a minister in the government I will do everything possible to provide all facilities under schemes such as Swacch Bharat, Hriday in the state," Puri told reporters here.Puri on Friday took oath as the Union Civil Aviation Minister. He has also been made a junior minister in the Commerce and Industry Ministry which is being headed by Piyush Goyal.Puri asserted that Congress' winning 8 out of the 13 seats in Punjab did not make a huge difference as the BJP had been able to do relatively well in the seats where it had contested."The elections are over now, we will do internal surveys and forward its results within the party. If Congress claims it has dramatically won seats here, let it be, there are no differences with the Akali Dal and we will not engage in playing blame ...
Kunal Ghosh meets Mamata after six years
After a gap of almost six years, suspended Trinamool Congress leader Kunal Ghosh on Saturday met party supremo Mamata Banerjee at her Kalighat residence here. Ghosh said it was a "very nice meeting" and that he had discussions on several subjects with Banerjee. The former TMC MP also met party leader and Banerjee's nephew Abhishek. "It was nice meeting the chief minister after six long years. It was an open meeting. We had talks on several subjects," Ghosh told PTI. Asked whether the meeting was a step towards him resuming party work, he said, "I do not want to get into all that... Though I had some differences with the party over certain issues, I have not changed my political affiliation." Ghosh, was arrested by a special investigation team headed by the then Bidhannagar Commissioner of Police Rajeev Kumar in November, 2013, when he was a Rajya Sabha MP of the TMC, in connection with the Saradha chit fund scam. He was granted bail in 2016.
Guv, KCR greet people on eve of Telangana state formation day
Governor ESL Narasimhan and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao greeted the people on the eve of the state formation day. Telangana came into existence as the 29th state of India on June 2, 2014. The main function, as part of formation day celebrations, would be held at the Public Gardens here in which Rao would participate. The government has illuminated government offices and others here as part of the celebrations.
Shyam Rajak, Ashok Chaudhary among four front runners to join Nitish government
With Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar set to expand his Council of Ministers on Sunday, Shyam Rajak, Neeraj Singh, Ashok Chaudhary, Ram Sevak Kushwaha, Narendra Narayan Yadav, and Sanjay Jha are said to be among front runners for the ministerial berths.Shyam Rajak used to be an RJD leader though he joined the JDU later and was even a member of Kumar's ministry earlier. Similarly, Ashok Chaudhary, former Bihar unit Congress chief, was a minister in JDU-RJD-Congress coalition government in 2015. He too joined the JDU later.It was earlier reported that Bihar's ministry will be expanded on Sunday with four new ministers set to take the oath of office.Chief Minister Kumar met Governor Lalji Tandon here earlier in the day.The JDU on Thursday decided to not be a part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new Cabinet, saying it would not accept the BJP's offer of only one ministerial berth."They (BJP) wanted only one person from JD(U) in the Cabinet. So, it would have been just symbolic ...
Naidu tells partymen not to lose heart over electoral failure
TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu Saturday asked leaders from Telangana to move ahead with courage regardless of the party's defeat in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections. Telugu Desam Party leaders from Telangana met the former Andhra Pradesh chief minister during the latter's visit to Hyderabad, TDP sources said. Naidu also told them that TDP has seen ups and downs in its journey and that party leaders should look ahead, taking care of workers, they said. The TDP suffered a rout in the recent Andhra Pradesh assembly elections at the hands of the YSR Congress. The party had earlier lost the Assembly polls in Telangana held in December last year.
DA increased for Tgana govt staff
The Telangana government Saturday increased the Dearness Allowance to its employees by more than three per cent. "Government hereby orders revision of the Dearness Allowance to the employees of Government of Telangana from 27.248 per cent of the basic pay to 30.392 per cent of basic pay from 1st July, 2018," a Government Order (GO) said. The DA at the revised rate shall be paid with the salary of June, 2019 payable on July 1, 2019, it said. The government increased the DA to pensioners also.
Several injured as violence continues in Bengal
Several persons were injured as clashes between workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the ruling Trinamool Congress continued in West Bengal, police said on Saturday.
Prepare for Assembly polls to dislodge Kejriwal govt: Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari to workers
Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari on Saturday called upon the party workers to work hard for a victory in the Assembly elections due early next year and "dislodge" the Arvind Kejriwal government. The newly elected BJP parliamentarians in Delhi, including Tiwari, on Saturday felicitated the party workers for an impressive win in the Lok Sabha polls. Tiwari, who defeated Delhi Congress chief Sheila Dikshit on the North East Delhi seat, felicitated the workers at Nilothi and Alipur, along with party MP from West Delhi Hans Raj Hans. Crediting the workers for victory of the BJP on all seven Lok Sabha seats in the national capital, Tiwari said, "The way we emerged victorious in the Lok Sabha elections, same way we have to work hard for dislodging the Kejriwal government." Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta said the BJP workers are the backbone of the party and it was due to their hardwork and efforts that a "historic" victory was achieved. The BJP, which was in power in ..
Amit Shah greeted with bouquets, shawls at BJP headquarters
Union Home Minister Amit Shah was greeted with slogans of 'Bharat Mata ki Jai', 'BJP Jindabad', and Vande Mataram as he reached the party head office at Pandit Deen Dayal Marg here on Saturday evening.Prominent BJP leaders like Sambit Patra and other leaders also presented bouquets and shawls to honour the 'Chanakya' of Indian politics upon his arrival at the party headquarters.Earlier on Saturday, the new entrant to the North Block, Shah took charge as Home Minister in the Modi government 2.0.Shortly after taking charge, Shah held a meeting with top officials of the ministry.