Page 540 - Politics

Vijayvargiya urges EC to round up 'anti-social elements' backed by Mamata govt

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya on Wednesday lauded the Election Commission's decision to cut short the poll campaigning in West Bengal. He further urged the electoral body to round up all "anti-social elements working under the state government"."The Election Commission has taken this matter seriously. I want to thank EC for this, but I would also like to say if EC will round up the anti-social elements working under the state government, then the elections can take place peacefully across the state. It is very important to do this because these anti-social elements go to villages and scare the people there and take away their voter IDs," Vijayvargiya told ANI here.The Election Commission earlier today cut short the campaign period in West Bengal by a day for the final phase of Lok Sabha elections in view of the violence during BJP president Amit Shah's roadshow on Tuesday."No election campaigning to be held in nine parliamentary constituencies of .

EC asks Twitter to remove all tweets on exit polls

Election Commission of India has ordered Twitter India to remove all the tweets related to 2019 Lok Sabha elections exit polls.This comes a day after it was reported that the ECI has received complaints against three media houses with respect to displaying poll surveys, predicting results of Lok Sabha elections.ECI had sought an explanation from these media houses as to why action should not be taken against them for the violation of the provision of Section 126A of Representation of People Act.The Commission had also sought response within 48 hours from these media houses.Section 126 of the Representation of the People, 1951, prohibits displaying any election matter by means, inter alia, of television or similar apparatus, during a period of 48 hours before the hour fixed for conclusion of poll in a constituency.It also says that no person shall conduct any exit poll and publish or publicise by means of the print or electronic media or disseminate in any other manner, whatsoever, the

Be cautious before signing any deal with Pak: Altaf Hussain to IMF

Altaf Hussain, leader of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) on Wednesday appealed to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to be "cautious" before signing any agreement with unreliable countries like Pakistan.Hussain, in his latest tweet, pointed out to the "respected" IMF authorities that Pakistan will "start breaking all of its promises" as soon as the IMF signs the bailout package with the debt-ridden country.The MQM leader added that Pakistan has been assuring the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the IMF that it will take action against all banned religious outfits and extremist organisations.Ahead of reaching an agreement with the IMF, Pakistan on Tuesday released clerics Khadim Hussain Rizvi and Peer Afzal Qadri on bail for orchestrating violent protests against the acquittal of Asiya Bibi, a Pakistani Christian earlier accused of blasphemy.Rizvi and Qadri have been aligned to Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) a renowned religious outfit operating in the country.Hussain said it

Democrats criticise Alabama abortion measure, Gillibrand says it's 'war on women'

Democrats on Wednesday criticised a bill passed by the Alabama Senate that outlaws abortions in the state, calling it an outrageous, appalling and unconstitutional attack on women.The measure was mostly criticised by Democrat women candidates, including Senator Kamala Harris of California, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, who has made fighting for women central to her campaign, The New York Times reported."Alabama just passed a near-total ban on abortion. No exceptions for rape or incest. Doctors could face 99 years in prison for providing abortions. This is a war on women, and it is time to fight like hell," Gillibrand tweeted.The legislation bans abortions at every stage of pregnancy and criminalises the procedure for doctors, who could be charged with felonies and face up to 99 years in prison.The measure also includes an exception for cases when the mother's life is at serious risk, but not ..

Mixed reaction to EC's decision in Bengal

There were mixed political reactions in West Bengal on Wednesday over Election Commission's decision to curtail campaigning for the remaining nine Lok Sabha seats of the state where polling is due for the last phase of general election on May 19.

Rajasthan mulls removing DeMo from school textbooks

The Rajasthan government is reportedly planning to remove all references about demonetisation, as well as editing the profile of RSS icon Vinayak Savarkar, from textbooks of the state board to be published for the academic session 2019-2020.

Cong seeks probe in 'underweight' fertilizer bags sold by GSFC

Mounting its pressure on the Gujarat government over the issue of underweight fertilizer bags of the GSFC sold to farmers, state Congress leaders called on Governor O P Kohli over the issue and demanded a judicial inquiry under sitting high court judge. While the Congress termed the sale of underweight DAP fertilizer as a "huge scam", state Agriculture minister R C Faldu claimed that farmers lost only Rs 16 lakh for purchasing fertilizer produced by the state PSU- Gujarat State Fertilizers and Chemicals (GSFC). The Congress delegation was led by the leader of opposition in the Assembly, Paresh Dhanani, and senior party leader Arjun Modhwadia. Dhanani claimed that the government is trying to cover up the "scam", which he alleged, has been going on since the last many years. "This government is trying to cover up the scam in the name of investigation. The SFC is producing around 2 lakh bags of DAP fertilizer everyday and farmers are being given 500 grams less since the ...

Wing Commander Abhinandan's unit comes out with 'Falcon Slayers' shoulder patches

Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman's MiG-21 Bison squadron has come out with new shoulder patches with titles 'Falcon Slayers' and 'AMRAAM Dodgers' in a tribute to his bravery in shooting down an F-16 jet of Pakistan during an aerial combat on February 27, officials said. The new patches brought out by the 51 Squadron of IAF depict a MiG21 in the foreground along with a red-coloured F-16 with 'Falcon Slayers' written on top and 'AMRAAM Dodgers' written at the bottom of it. Any squadron can come out with such shoulder patches to mark its achievements and success stories, the officials said, adding that the Indian Air Force officially does not issue such markings. A fleet of Pakistani fighter jets had unsuccessfully targeted various military installations in Jammu and Kashmir on February 27, a day after India carried out air strikes on a terrorist training camp deep inside Pakistan's Balakot. The IAF foiled the Pakistani retaliation, and in the dogfight, Varthaman downed an F-16 ...

C'garh BJP holds 'peace march' against Mamata Banerjee, TMC

A day after the violence on the streets of Kolkata during a roadshow by BJP president Amit Shah, the BJP's Chhattisgarh unit Wednesday took out a 'peace march' here to protest against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Large number of BJP leaders and workers, wearing black bands, took part in the peace rally commenced from the party's capital office 'Ekatma Parisar' and culminated at the Town Hall. The state BJP, in a memorandum to Raipur Collector, sought the Election Commission (EC) ban on all political activities of Mamata Banerjee till the ongoing Lok Sabha election gets over. "It is very unfortunate that during this festival of democracy, the Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal led by Mamata Banerjee, openly attacked the road-show of BJP chief Amit Shah in Kolkata," BJP national general secretary Saroj Pandey said. "The Mamata Benerjee government has made a mockery of democracy. Police and the EC are silent there. She has tried to prove that she .

Mamata slams EC's 'unfair', 'politically biased' decision

Hours after the Election Commission curtailed election campaign period in West Bengal for the final phase of Lok Sabha elections, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday accused the poll body of acting at the behest of BJP and termed the decision as "unfair" and "politically biased".Further, the Trinamool chief demanded action against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah."This is not EC's direction, it is BJP's direction. This is the direction of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. The EC's decision is unfair, unethical and politically biased. Are you waiting for Prime Minister Modi to finish his two rallies tomorrow? You could have stopped campaigning from today evening?" Banerjee told reporters here.In an unprecedented action, the EC cut short the campaigning period in West Bengal by a day for the final phase of the ongoing Sabha elections in view of the violence during Shah's roadshow on Tuesday. The Commission also directed that the controversial police official Rajiv

Classic case of breakdown of constitutional machinery: Jaitley on Kolkata violence

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday lauded the Election Commission's decision to cut short the poll campaigning in West Bengal and called violence at BJP president Amit Shah's roadshow a "classical case of breakdown of the constitutional machinery.""A constitutional authority, the Election Commission of India, has effectively held Bengal to be a state in Anarchy. Repeatedly escalating violence, state supported Vandals, a partisan police and home department are the illustrations the ECI has given," Jaitley tweeted."A free campaign is not possible and therefore the campaign has to be cut short. This is a classical case of breakdown of the Constitutional Machinery," he added.The EC had earlier today cut short the campaign period in West Bengal by a day for the final phase of Lok Sabha elections in view of the violence during Shah's roadshow on Tuesday."No election campaigning to be held in nine parliamentary constituencies of West Bengal, namely Dum Dum, Barasat, Basirhat, ..

Delhi HC dismisses PIL against Kamal Haasan

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday dismissed a PIL filed by a BJP leader seeking directions to the Election Commission to take action and restrict the misuse of religion for electoral gains.

Seventh report on black money to be submitted in July

A new report on black money would be submitted in July and the next government will have action points ready for curbing the menace.

Sudan: Military, protestors agree on power sharing deal

Sudan's military leaders on Wednesday announced a power-sharing agreement with the opposition alliance for a three-year transition period to a civilian administration.Lieutenant-General Yasser al-Atta said a final agreement on the sharing of power, including the formation of the next ruling body, would be signed with the protesters within 24 hours, Al Jazeera reported."We agreed on a transitional period of three years," he added."We vow to our people that the agreement will be completed fully within 24 hours in a way that it meets the people's aspirations," Atta was quoted as saying.Khalid Omar Yousef, a leader from the protest movement the Alliance for Freedom and Change, told reporters that Wednesday's crucial negotiations are due to start at 9 pm (19:00 GMT) in the capital of Khartoum.Thousands of protesters have been holding a sit-in outside the army headquarters in the capital, Khartoum, for weeks, demanding the stepping down of Sudan's military leaders who seized power last ...

Meme makers make light of political bickering

If you thought the political discourse this election season hit new lows due to the foul-mouthed words spitted out by the candidates contesting the Lok Sabha elections, you must have missed out on the hilarious memes doing the rounds on social media platforms.

Amarinder hits out at Modi over nationalism

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh Wednesday attacked Narendra Modi over his nationalism narrative, wondering how could the prime minister "boast about" this when he and the BJP were "hell bent" upon "dividing the country on religious lines". "He (Modi) is raising the issue of nationalism. How could you brag about it when you are trying to divide the country on religious and caste lines and destroy its strength of secularism and diversity," Singh said while addressing a poll rally here in favour of his wife and Congress nominee from Patiala Lok Sabha seat Preneet Kaur. Targeting Modi, the chief minister said a nation cannot be run with a mindset of "nothing is possible without me". Singh asked voters to choose between Modi and the Congress in the polls, saying they have to decide who can protect the country and the future of their children. The CM accused Modi government of "fostering tensions" with Pakistan and China which could lead to serious problems for the border state of ...

Rajasthan govt denies 'Gayatri Mantra' being played in labour rooms

Rajasthan Health Minister Raghu Sharma on Wednesday denied reports which said that 'Gayatri Mantra' is mandatory to be played in labour rooms of medical centres."These are just rumours. I was informed about the issue earlier too. This was just to create a good environment in the labour room and to give relief to mothers delivering a child. This is not mandatory. Some people are relating it with religion and trying to make it an unnecessary issue," Sharma told ANI.He also said the state's health department will not recommend playing 'Gayatri Mantra' as an official policy."This was not the government's decision. It was cleared before that government will not take any action that hurts someone's religious sentiments," he affirmed.Reports said that a group of Muslims in the state objected to the playing of 'Gayatri Mantra' in labour rooms. They reportedly claimed that it was against Islam as a Muslim newborn should hear Azaan, not 'Gayatri Mantra'.

Russia intends to rebuild relations with US, Putin lauds 'objective' Mueller report

President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday said he intends to rebuild and improve the 'fully-fledged' diplomatic relations between Russia and the United States in order to solve the issues of mutual interest.Putin, who met US Secretary of State Michael R Pompeo here on Wednesday said, "We would like to rebuild fully-fledged relations, and I hope that right now a conducive environment is being built for that."The Russian leader's comments come as the United States announced its intent to withdraw from the Cold War-era Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, citing breaches by Russia as the reason behind the decision.The US is slated to withdraw from the accord by August this year, warning that the treaty will terminate if "Russia does not return to full and verifiable compliance" with it, according to an official statement.During the meeting with Pompeo, Putin outlined his recent phone conversation with his US counterpart, Donald Trump, left the impression that the US wanted to ...

Merkel says she and Macron 'wrestle' on policy issues

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday that she and French President Emmanuel Macron "wrestle" on policy and have different outlooks, but tended to cooperate and find compromises in the end. "Of course, we wrestle with each other," Merkel said about relations between the core EU leaders who have disagreed recently on issues from how the bloc should handle Brexit to arms exports and climate policy. "There are differences in mentality between us and differences in our understanding of our roles," she added, speaking to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung. Asked whether her relationship with Macron had deteriorated in recent months, Merkel replied: "No. Not at all." Instead Merkel insisted that Berlin and Paris agreed "naturally on the big issues", adding that "this is how we accomplish much for Europe, even today". As an example, she cited "enormous progress" in defence policy, saying that "we decided to develop a fighter plane and a tank together". She did, however, point to different ...

Sidhu calls Modi 'biggest liar', says didn't fulfil promises

Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu Wednesday called Prime Minister Narendra Modi the biggest liar, accusing him of not fulfilling his election promises. The cricketer-turned-politician, who was briefly banned by the Election Commission from campaigning earlier, also called Modi Feku No. 1, suggesting that the prime minister makes empty boasts. Modi talks of Hindutva but does not adhere to its principles, he said at an election rally at Bilaspur in Hamirpur Lok Sabha constituency. My mother was a Kshatriya. She used to say Raghukul reet sada chali aayi, pran jaye par vachan na jaye (one should keep promises even at the cost of death). But he has not fulfilled most of the 342 promises he made during the last elections," he said. Meanwhile, Union minister Smriti Irani attacked Congress chief Rahul Gandhi during a rally at Palampur in Kangra constituency, saying, "Will Rahul Gandhi apologise to the nation for his guru Sam Pitroda's remarks on the anti-Sikh riots." Smriti Irani also flayed