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Page 408 - Politics

India stopped purchasing Iranian oil after US waivers expired: Envoy

India has stopped importing oil from Iran after American waivers granted to eight buyers expired early this month, New Delhi's envoy here has said, becoming the latest country to comply with the US sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear programme. The US reimposed sanctions on Iran in November after pulling out of a 2015 nuclear accord between Tehran and six world powers. To reduce Iran's crude oil export to zero, the US ended on May 2 waivers that had allowed the top buyers of Iranian oil, including India, to continue their imports for six months. Indian Ambassador to the US Harsh Vardhan Shringla said India has stopped importing oil from Iran after the United States refused to extend exemption from sanctions earlier this month. As of late April, India had dropped its dependency on Iranian oil from about 2.5 billion tonnes a month to 1 million tonnes a month, he said. "We do understand that this has been a priority for the US administration, although it comes at a cost to us because we

Updated On : 24 May 2019 | 10:21 AM IST

AIMIM beats Shiv Sena in Aurangabad

After nearly 18 hours of nail-biting suspense, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) finally wrested the Aurangabad seat from the Shiv Sena, while the Congress managed to bag Chandrapur defeating Union Minister of State for Home Hansraj Ahir, an official said here on Friday.

Updated On : 24 May 2019 | 10:16 AM IST

Trudeau, Pence congratulate PM Modi for thumping victory in LS polls

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and US Vice President Mike Pence have extended their best wishes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the BJP-led NDA recorded a resounding victory in the Lok Sabha elections.In a statement, Trudeau highlighted the bilateral ties between Canada and India and said that he would continue to work with Modi on cooperation in key areas including innovation, climate change and trade and investment."On behalf of the Government of Canada, I congratulate Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his re-election. Canada and India share tremendous people-to-people ties, with over one million people of Indian descent calling Canada home. Our longstanding friendship, together with our shared values, will continue to bring our two countries closer and help create new opportunities for our people," he said on Thursday."I look forward to continuing to work with Prime Minister Modi to improve the lives of Canadians and Indians alike through education and innovation, ...

Updated On : 24 May 2019 | 10:06 AM IST

BJP's Sanjeev Balyan defeats RLD president Ajit Singh in Muzaffarnagar

BJP candidate Sanjeev Kumar Balyan on Thursday won from the Muzaffarnagar Lok Sabha seat with a slim margin of 6,500 votes. He contested against Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Ajit Singh.Speaking to media, Ajay Shanker Pandey, District Election Officer said that Balyan has got a total of 5, 73 780 votes while his rival Singh got 5, 67, 254 votes."Sanjeev Kumar Balyan has been declared as the winner. I have issued the letter for the same. Ajit Singh has got 5, 67, 254 votes, Sanjeev Balyan has got 5, 73 780 votes and NOTA got 5,110," he said.Minutes after being declared as the winner, Balyan also addressed the media and thanked people for casting their ballot in favour of him."Despite in tough conditions where all the Opposition parties were united, people voted for me. Thank you all for supporting me. I promise to fulfil the incomplete task in the next five years. Construction of National Highway and a medical college is on top of my list...This is people's victory," said Balyan.It ...

Updated On : 24 May 2019 | 9:55 AM IST

Musa eliminated: Clamp down in Kashmir

Hours after Kashmir's most wanted militant commander Zakir Musa, who headed the Al Qaeda affiliate Ansar Gazwatul Hind, was killed, nocturnal protests broke out in parts of Srinagar, Pulwama and Shopian forcing authorities on Friday to impose restrictions in parts of the valley.

Updated On : 24 May 2019 | 9:41 AM IST

UK watchdog finds students unfairly' deported over English test scam

The UK's spending watchdog on Friday issued a damning rebuke of the British government's handling of a visa row involving compulsory English tests given by thousands of overseas students, many of them from India. The country's National Audit Office (NAO), which had launched its investigation last month into widespread claims that many students were wrongly accused of cheating, in its findings said that the UK Home Office had not taken enough care to ensure innocent applicants were not caught up in a crackdown launched following evidence of fraud in the system. Clearly widespread cheating did take place but some people may have been wrongly accused and in some cases, unfairly removed from the UK, the NAO report concluded. In February 2014, BBC's Panorama' investigation uncovered evidence of organised cheating in two English language test centres run on behalf of the Educational Testing Service (ETS). This included providing English-speakers to take speaking tests instead of the real ...

Updated On : 24 May 2019 | 9:41 AM IST

Modi wave takes wind out of 'mahagathbandhan' sail in UP, counting in two seats underway

The BJP and its ally Apna Dal(S) are set to win 64 of Uttar Pradesh's 80 Lok Sabha seats, demolishing the challenge posed by the SP-BSP alliance, which is expected to get 15 seats between them. The BJP has won 61 seats and its ally two seats in the politically crucial state, which sends the highest number of MPs to the Lower House. The Samajwadi Party (SP) has won five seats and its alliance partner Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) nine.The Mayawati-led BSP and the BJP are leading in one seat each. Congress won the lone Raebareli seat of Sonia Gandhi. The counting of votes is still underway in Uttar Pradesh and the Election Commission has declared results of 78 seats as of 9:00 AM Friday. In 2014 polls, the BJP had won 71 seats and its ally Apna Dal (S) two, while the SP had bagged five seats and the Congress two. In three bypolls, the opposition had wrested Gorakhpur, Phulpur and Kairana from the BJP. This time, the Modi wave not only smashed the SP-BSP alliance, but also uprooted Congress .

Updated On : 24 May 2019 | 9:40 AM IST

Musa eliminated: Restrictions imposed in Kashmir

Updated On : 24 May 2019 | 9:21 AM IST

Negative campaign against PM Modi boomeranged: Anil Shastri

Congress leader and son of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, Anil Shastri, said that the "negative campaign" against Prime Minister Narendra Modi has boomeranged."Excessive negative campaign against the Prime Minister has not gone down well with the public," he told ANI.He also acknowledged that the "chowkidar chor hai" slogan, frequently used by Congress president Rahul Gandhi, was not accepted by the public."Congress failed to address public issues," he said talking about Congress Chief Ministers who "failed" to gauge the public mind."A better performance in Congress-ruled states would have yielded better results," he said.The Congress president on Thursday congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi for BJP's bumper win in the general elections.Calling the results "people's mandate", Gandhi had said, "I had said during the campaign that 'janata maalik hai' (public is the decision maker) and today people have clearly given their decision. I congratulate the PM and BJP.""What

Updated On : 24 May 2019 | 8:55 AM IST

It's a new morning for Amethi: Smriti Irani

Buoyed by her win against Congress President Rahul Gandhi in his home turf, Union Minister Smriti Irani said that it's a 'new morning' for Amethi."It's a new morning for Amethi, a new determination. Thanks, Amethi, my obeisance. You put your trust in development and let the lotus bloom. Thankful to Amethi #PhirEkBaarModiSarkaar #VijayiBharat," tweeted Irani.Talking to ANI, she said, on one hand there was a family while on the other there was an organisation which works as a family."On one hand there was a family and on the other an organisation which works like a family. The credit goes to the organisation and its workers and to the workers who died in Kerala and Bengal. I dedicate my victory to their families," she said.The BJP leader on Friday won the Amethi parliamentary seat with a margin of 55,120 votes. Irani polled a total of 4,67,598 votes.Amethi is considered a stronghold of the Congress party since years. Gandhi has been winning on the seat since 2004. Despite the poor ...

Updated On : 24 May 2019 | 8:35 AM IST

India against escalation of tension in the Middle East: Envoy

India depends heavily on the Middle East for its energy needs and is against any further escalation of tension in the region, a top Indian diplomat said here as experts apprehended a confrontation between the United States and Iran. "We would not like to see any move towards any escalation in that area," Indian Ambassador to the US Harsh Vardhan Shringla told reporters at a news conference here Thursday when asked about the increased tension between the United States and Iran as a result of which the Trump Administration has deployed military assets in the region. "For the simple reason that we depend very heavily on stability in that part of the world. Their supplies are a major part of our energy requirements. A very large number of Indians also work in the Gulf. So obviously peace and stability in that area is very very critical," Shringla said. Shringla's quest for de-escalation of tension came on a day when US President Donald Trump did not rule out sending troops to the Middle ..

Updated On : 24 May 2019 | 8:25 AM IST

EU elections shift to Ireland as populist forces gather elsewhere

Phased EU-wide elections take place in Ireland on Friday after a campaign dominated by concerns over neighbouring Britain's messy bid to leave the bloc, and as eurosceptic forces elsewhere in Europe hope to create a political earthquake. Citizens in Ireland, where support for the European Union has risen because of Brexit, start voting at 7:00 am (0600 GMT). Also on Friday the Czech Republic will kick off its two-day voting process, a day after residents cast their votes in Britain and also in the Netherlands where the Labour party scored a surprise victory to win most seats in the elections. In Britain, Prime Minister Theresa May is on the brink of resigning having not fulfilled her promise to lead the country out of the EU by March 29. The Brexit Party, which was only set up this year by veteran eurosceptic Nigel Farage, is expected to score a resounding victory in Britain's vote. The anticipated success of the Brexit Party, polling at around 35 per cent, is emblematic of rising ...