Page 335 - Politics
Modi meets Shah, gives final touches to govt formation
On the eve of his swearing-in for a second term, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday held a marathon meeting with BJP president Amit Shah as he gave final touches to the shape of his government, which is likely to have representation from most allies and showcase the party's newfound strength in different regions. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's decision to opt out on health grounds has fuelled speculation about who will get the coveted portfolio with Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, who filled in for Jaitley and presented the populist pre-election budget, being seen as a key contender. There is also a buzz about Shah, who has been elected to Lok Sabha from Gandhinagar and is a key architect of his party's landslide win, joining the government. If Shah joins the Modi cabinet, he is likely to get one of the four major portfolios; finance, home, defence or external affairs. The BJP has refrained from making any official comment about the likely members of the government, with its ..
Ukraine ex-president accused of taking key servers with him
Less than two weeks after Ukraine's new president assumed office, his staff discovered that his predecessor had apparently gutted out key computer equipment in a meeting room when he left office. Oleksandr Danylyuk, who was appointed chairman of the National Security and Defence Council on Tuesday, said all the equipment from the so-called "situation room," where the head of the state is supposed to be discussing urgent national security matters, is gone. Danylyuk posted a video on Facebook, showing an empty room with power cables sticking out of the walls and marks showing where computer monitors used to be. He also claimed that former President Petro Poroshenko's staff had removed servers with confidential information. "This is the situation room at the presidential administration, this is what it looks like now," he said in the video. "Everything was taken away during the handover of power. This is a civilised handover for you." Danylyuk served as finance minister under Poroshenko .
PM Modi to address Maldivian parliament: Report
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the Maldivian Parliament during his likely visit to the key Indian Ocean country next month, according to a media report here on Wednesday. People's Majlis (the Maldive's Parliament) on Wednesday passed a unanimous resolution to allow Modi to address the House. The motion was passed with 80 votes with no lawmaker voting against it. According to Raajje TV, Modi had requested that he should be allowed to address parliamentarians. Since his landslide re-election victory in the polls last week, Modi is set to travel to the Maldives on his first bilateral visit, media reports said. Bhutan was the first country Modi had visited in 2014 after becoming prime minister. Diplomatic sources said the prime minister is expected to travel to Male in the first half of June, while the Maldivian media reported that the visit will take place between June 7-8. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj visited the Maldives in March, the first full-fledged bilateral .
Gujarat: EWS quota in admissions this year; seats added
The Gujarat government Wednesday approved implementation of 10 per cent EWS quota in admissions to professional and medical courses from this academic year, and addition of seats to accomodate the new reservation. Gujarat thus became the first state in the country to implement the quota, said Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel. The government approved creation of new seats for various professional courses during a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, Patel told reporters in Gandhinagar. There will be 6,800 new seats in various medical and allied courses, and around 44,000 new seats in engineering, pharmacy, architecture and other professional courses from this year, he said. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi introduced a separate 10 per cent quota for economically weaker sections (EWS) in the general category. Now, Gujarat has become the first state to implement this quota for admissions to medical and professional courses," said Patel, who handles Health .
KCR to attend PM Modi's swearing-in-ceremony tomorrow
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Wednesday said he will attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi's oath-taking ceremony scheduled to be held tomorrow at 7 pm in Rashtrapati Bhawan, New Delhi.President of India Ram Nath Kovind will administer the oath of office and secrecy to the Prime Minister and other members of the Union Council.Several high-profile leaders and guests have been invited from across the nation and around the world to attend the oath-taking ceremony of the Prime Minister.On Thursday, Rao will first attend swearing-in-ceremony of YSRCP president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy as the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh at Vijayawada's Indira Gandhi Municipal Stadium and then he will fly to the national capital to attend Prime Minister's oath-taking ceremony.Riding on muscular nationalism and a strident anti-Congress plank spearheaded by Modi, the BJP on May 23 got an overwhelming majority in the Lok Sabha, crossing on its own the 300 seat mark while storming back to power .
Thackeray, family to attend Modi's swearing-in
Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray will attend the swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister for a second consecutive time, accompanied by his wife Rashmi and son Aditya, party sources indicated here on Wedneday.
Toss between Shah, Goyal for finance portfolio in Modi 2.0
Arun Jaitley's exit from the race for a cabinet berth due to health issues has made appointment to the finance portfolio one of the most keenly observed events of new Modi government.
CM insulted Goan freedom fighters by unveiling Savarkar's portrait: Congress
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has belittled the contribution of Goan freedom fighters by installing a portrait of late Vinayak alias Veer Savarkar in the state Secretariat, Leader of Opposition Chandrakant Kavlekar said on Wednesday.
Nitish chairs meet of JD-U's national office-bearers
Janata Dal-United President and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday chaired a meeting of the national office-bearers of his party here.
Fresh strikes on Syria jihadist enclave kill 15
The latest strikes in the fiercest wave of regime bombardment on a jihadist enclave in northwestern Syria killed at least 15 civilians on Wednesday, a war monitor said, despite calls to halt the attacks. Air strikes by Russian and government warplanes, some using barrel bombs, and shelling have claimed a mounting civilian death toll over the past few weeks. The violence, which comes despite a truce deal brokered by Moscow and Ankara in September, has caused mass displacement and heightened fears of the worst humanitarian catastrophe in Syria's eight-year conflict. The United States and the United Nations demanded an end to the bombardment on Tuesday, as strikes by Damascus killed 27 people -- the single highest civilian death toll in the region since the regime increased its attacks in late April. But the aerial bombardment on Wednesday did not relent against Idlib province, most of which is controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a group dominated by former members of Al-Qaeda's Syria ...
BJP MLA conducts poll on Kejriwal's popularity, move backfires
BJP MLA Manjinder S Sirsa conducted a poll on Twitter over what people felt about Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, but the move backfired when most of the participants voted in favour of the AAP supremo. Taking a jibe at Sirsa, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj on Wednesday said it was a good thing that the BJP MLA conducted the poll as it showed that even the supporters of the saffron party wanted to vote for the AAP in next year's Delhi Assembly election. Sirsa, in the Twitter poll, gave options for or against Kejriwal. As many as 70 per cent favoured the Delhi chief minister in his survey, while 30 per cent voted against him. Sirsa, however, claimed that the poll was rigged by AAP volunteers. "Congratulations to AAP IT cell for voting in favour of Kejriwal. If the ground reality was same then the AAP would have won in the Lok Sabha polls," he said in a tweet on Wednesday. The AAP suffered a crushing defeat in the just-concluded Lok Sabha polls. The party won .
Robert Mueller to make first statement on Russia probe
Long-silent Special Counsel Robert Mueller will deliver his first public statement on the Russia meddling investigation on Wednesday, as he faces pressure to testify in Congress on his explosive findings. Mueller, whose probe implicated President Donald Trump in acts of obstruction of justice, will make the statement at the Justice Department at 11 am (1500 GMT) but take no questions, the department said. Democrats in Congress have been pressing Mueller for weeks to testify on the findings of his report, completed in late March following a high-stakes investigation that loomed large throughout the first two years of Trump's presidency. The report described extensive contacts and possible attempted collusion, but no criminal conspiracy between Trump's 2016 election campaign and Russia. It also mapped out 10 instances of possible obstruction of justice by Trump, but refused to rule whether it was enough for criminal prosecution. Democrats considering impeaching the president have ...
Naveen Patnaik not to attend Modi's swearing-in ceremony
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will not attend the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi on Thursday, officials said. The newly elected members of the 16th Vidhan Sabha (Assembly) will take oath tomorrow. As leader of the House, the chief minister will be present during the occasion. So, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will not be able to visit Delhi tomorrow to attend the swearing-in ceremony of the prime minister and his council of ministers, an official communication issued by the Chief Minister's Office said Wednesday. "The Chief Minister has conveyed his good wishes to the Prime Minister and his council of ministers," it added. Patnaik, who is also the president of the ruling BJD, took oath of office as the chief minister of Odisha for the fifth time in a row Wednesday. His party has been elected to power with massive majority of 112 seats in the 147-member Odisha Assembly. Though Patnaik's swearing-in was attended by many Congress leaders, former ...
All safe after bodyguard fires gun on Czech PM's plane
A bodyguard accidentally fired his gun aboard a government plane carrying billionaire Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis from an EU dinner but no one was hurt, police and media said Wednesday. "We can confirm an accidental shot during a gun check aboard a government plane," late on Tuesday, Czech national police spokeswoman Lenka Sikorova told AFP. "The incident occurred in a detached area. No one else was in danger." Babis's spokeswoman Jana Adamcova told AFP that "something like that happened" but declined to elaborate. Czech media said the bodyguard was trying to unload his gun shortly after Babis had boarded in Brussels and the plane was preparing for take-off. Carrying a total of 22 people, the flight left about an hour later, said the Aktualne.cz news site, adding that the bullet hit a meal cart. Babis -- a food, chemicals and media tycoon currently facing EU subsidy fraud charges -- leads a minority centre-left cabinet of his populist ANO party and the leftwing Social ...
Bhartiya Kisan Mazdoor Mahasangh calls off protests in MP
The Bhartiya Kisan Mazdoor Mahasangh (BKMM) Wednesday called off its scheduled protests in Madhya Pradesh on assurance of Chief Minister Kamal Nath to resolve the issues faced by cultivators. The BKMM had announced to hold statewide protests from June 1 to June 5. The union is mainly seeking remunerative price for farm produce. "We have called off our scheduled strike," BKMM national president Shiv Kumar Sharma told PTI. "The chief minister briefed us about the pro-farmer initiatives being taken by his government. Right now, we are satisfied with the government's stand towards the farm sector," said Sharma, a former ideologue of the RSS. At the meeting, Nath announced that a state-level committee will be set up to resolve the issues of farmers, a government official said. He said the CM told the farmer leaders that the state's economy cannot be strengthened without ensuring prosperity for farmers. Nath told them that his government was implementing a farm loan waiver ...
Maryam again targets Khan, says Pak PM "cannot tolerate a small protest"
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Maryam Nawaz Wednesday took a jibe at Prime Minister Imran Khan, saying the "man who paralysed" Islamabad for four months "cannot tolerate a small protest". Her comments came as hundreds of Pakistan People Party (PPP) workers and police clashed in Islamabad as party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari appeared before the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in relation to a fake accounts case. Police used water cannons to disperse the PPP workers and stop them from moving towards the NAB headquarters. There was a scuffle between PPP workers at police at Islamabad's D-Chowk. Police baton-charged workers at several places and made some arrests, media reports said. Responding to the incident, Maryam, now a Vice President of the PML-N, condemned the attack on the PPP workers. "The person who attacked Parliament, PM House, PTV and paralysed Islamabad for four months could not tolerate a small protest because he is scared," Maryam tweeted in an ...
Mamata declines Modi's swearing-in invite, BJP hits out (4th Lead)
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday announced that she will not attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi's swearing-in on Thursday, alleging the BJP was using the ceremony "to score political points".
Goa Congress urges Rahul Gandhi to withdraw resignation
The Goa Congress and its legislative wing Wednesday jointly urged Rahul Gandhi to withdraw his resignation from the post of party president and appealed to him to work for strengthening the organisation. The Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) and the Congress Legislature Party (CLP), at a joint meeting here, passed an unanimous resolution urging Gandhi to withdraw his resignation from the top post, senior party leader Chandrakant Kavlekar told reporters. Gandhi offered to resign during the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting in Delhi last week after the partys poor performance in the general elections. However, the highest decision-making body of the party unanimously rejected his resignation. Kavlekar said Gandhi's act of tendering his resignation after the opposition party's dismal show in the just held polls shows his "large-heartedness". Gandhi quit despite the fact that his contribution to get the Congress in power in the Lok Sabha polls was beyond any ...
NC didn't field candidates in Jammu, Ladakh regions fearing defeat: BJP
The BJP Wednesday took a dig at the National Conference, saying it did not filed candidates in Jammu and Ladakh regions fearing a rout at the hands of the saffron party. J&K BJP spokesperson Brig Anil Gupta (retd) told reporters here that the NC got just seven per cent vote in the Lok Sabha polls and is "rattled and unnerved" as the BJP secured a massive 46 per cent. According to Election Commission data, the BJP, which won three Lok Sabha seats in Jammu and Kashmir, secured 46.4 per cent votes, its highest-ever vote share of in the state. The National Conference, which bagged three seats in the Kashmir region, got just 7.89 per cent votes. "Sensing that they are in danger, the NC is trying to lure people through lollipop politics by promising regional councils, which it strongly opposed in the past," Gupta added. "The NC leadership has begun its ugly campaign of lies and falsehood to mislead the people, as a prelude to its campaign for the assembly elections," he said. Reacting ..
Sudan central bankers lead strike as pressure mounts on generals
Hundreds of workers at Sudan's banks and government offices, including the key oil ministry, went on strike for a second day Wednesday to demand the country's ruling generals step down. The two-day strike aims to pressure the military council that took power after ousting longtime president Omar al-Bashir in April to hand over to civilian rule. The Alliance for Freedom and Change protest movement called the strike after the suspension of talks over the shape of a transitional authority. Thousands of employees of government offices, banks, private sector firms and the docks of Port Sudan observed the strike on Tuesday, saying only civilian rule can lift Sudan out of its political crisis. On Wednesday, the capital's airport began to return to normal after scores of staff stopped work on Tuesday, although the flights of Sudanese airlines Badr, Tarco and Nova remained suspended. But outside central bank headquarters in downtown Khartoum, hundreds of employees along with workers from other