Page 776 - Politics
Congress government cried in face of Pakistan's terrorism: Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday accused the erstwhile Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government of "crying" in the face of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, and claimed that his government was the first to show the might of killing terrorists by entering their homes.
Battle of legacies: Three influential Haryana families slug it out in Hisar
Three most influential political dynasties of Haryana are slugging it out in Hisar this election season, making it a battle for asserting supremacy of their respective clans in the state politics. Dushyant Chautala, the great grandson of former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal, and sitting MP from Hisar, is pitted against next-generation leaders of two other powerful political families -- BJP's Bijendra Singh, son of Union Minister Birender Singh and great grandson of peasant leader Sir Chhotu Ram, and the Congress nominee Bhavya Bishnoi, grandson of former state Chief Minister Bhajan Lal. Dushyant, who contested on Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) ticket last time, is fighting under the banner of its off-shoot Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) this time. Bijendra and Bhavya are making their electoral debut. Before jumping into politics, Bijendra was an IAS officer while Bhavya was trying his luck in cricket. However, both Birender Singh (as a Congress leader in 1984) and Bhajan Lal (in 2009 as
Speculation over Cong LP merging with TRS in Telangana
With 11 Congress MLAs having announced their decision to join the TRS in Telangana, speculation is rife that they could seek merger of the Congress legislature party with the ruling party. Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader M Bhatti Vikramarka, who is the Leader of Opposition, has met Assembly Speaker Pocharam Srinivasa Reddy and urged him to issue a notice to the Congress before taking any action on the merger issue, party sources said. The Congress had won 19 seats in the 119-member house in the Assembly polls held in December last, but 11 of them MLAs have since announced their decision to join the TRS. The MLAs would not attract the provisions of anti-defection law only if their number is two-third of the total number. It is being speculated in the event of two more Congress MLAs deserting the party, the rebel group would seek a formal merger of Congress Legislature Party with the TRS. However, Vikramarka firmly rejected the suggestion. "How can Congress be merged with TRS ...
S. Korea, Russia to hold talks coinciding with Kim-Putin summit
South Korea announced on Wednesday that it would hold high-level security consultations with Russia on the same day when North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is scheduled to hold a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Amit Shah accuses Cong of tacitly approving Kashmir secession
BJP president Amit Shah on Wednesday tore into the Rahul Gandhi-led Congress and its allies accusing them of being soft on terror and of tacitly approving Kashmirs secession from India. Shah also lambasted the Congress for coming up with promises of scrapping the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and abolition of sedition law in its poll manifesto and declared that such moves would be stoutly opposed by the BJP even if it was no longer in power. The BJP chief was on a whirlwind election tour of Bihar where he spoke at three back-to-back rallies at Munger, Begusarai and Ujiyarpur in as many Lok Sabha constituencies. In Munger, BJP's ally JD(U) candidate Rajiv Ranjan Singh Lallan, a close associate of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is in the fray. Union minister Giriraj Singh is trying his luck from Begusarai while at Ujiyarpur in Samastipur district state BJP president Nityanand Rai is the NDA nominee. When elections were being held in Jammu and Kashmir, leaders of ...
Everybody wants Narendra Modi to continue as PM: Yogi Adityanath
Everybody in the country wants Narendra Modi to continue as our Prime Minister, said Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath while addressing an election rally here on Wednesday."Three phases of elections are over. Everywhere there is one voice and one desire - Narendra Modi should continue as the Prime Minister of India," he said."Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat should be the ideal dream and Prime Minister Narendra Modi led government will help realise this dream," he said.Highlighting the importance Chandauli for the state, Adityanath said: "Chandauli in reality is a very important place with a spiritual heritage besides being in the lap of the holy river of Ganga.""It is also the food bowl of the state. Chandauli is also the workplace of late Jan Sangh thinker Deendayal Upadhyaya. Sufficient minimum support price (MSP) has been ensured by the Central government," he said."In the first year of our government, we bought 37 lakh metric tonnes of wheat. In the second year, we bought 52 lakh metric .
Duterte threatens 'war' against Canada over trash
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to "go to war" with Canada if the latter fails to remove tonnes of garbage from the country that was shipped here by a Canada-based company in 2013 and has since remained in a landfill in the city of Tarlac.
Governments need to regulate technology: Tim Cook
Apple CEO Tim Cook believes that governments need to regulate technology in order to ensure data privacy for common people.
10 J-K militants based in Pak involved in LoC trade: officials
At least 10 militants, who had crossed over to Pakistan, set up businesses across the border with active aid of the ISI and were involved in funnelling weapons, narcotics, fake currency to terrorists and funds to separatists in Jammu and Kashmir through the recently suspended cross-LoC trade, officials said Wednesday. These Jammu and Kashmir natives are either based in Islamabad and Rawalpindi in Pakistan or Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), they said. They operate businesses ranging from almonds, dry dates, dry fruits to mangoes as part of the modus operandi to send money to fuel unrest in Jammu and Kashmir on behalf of the Pakistani intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the officials said. "The 10 Pakistan-based militants were involved in funnelling illegal weapons, narcotics and fake currency into the Valley misusing the recently suspended cross LoC trade routes," a senior security official said. Enquiries conducted and record checks have ...
Australia political leaders use Chinese app to chase votes
Australia's prime minister and his political rival said on Wednesday they were not tailoring their political messages to suit Chinese censors as the politicians increasingly use Chinese social media to woo Chinese-speaking voters. Prime Minister Scott Morrison and opposition leader Bill Shorten each have accounts with China's largest social media platform, WeChat, which they use to target the Chinese diaspora ahead of federal elections on May 18. Critics argue that the Australian political leaders risk being kicked off the platform if they don't comply with Chinese censorship rules. Morrison said his account has not been subjected to Chinese censorship used on social media. "We haven't experienced any such censorship," Morrison told reporters. Bill Shorten, who leads the center-left Labor Party, was similarly unconcerned by the type of censorship that the Chinese Communist Party routinely exercises on Chinese social media. "I'm not fussed at all," Shorten told reporters. "I do not ...
China charges former Interpol chief with bribery
China has formally arrested former Interpol President Meng Hongwei on suspicion of accepting bribes. The Supreme People's Procuratorate announced the indictment on Wednesday. Meng was elected president of the international police organization in 2016, but his four-year term was cut short when he was detained by Chinese authorities last October. At the time, he was also one of China's vice ministers of public security. The ruling Communist Party's disciplinary committee said last month that an investigation found Meng was guilty of serious legal violations. He was expelled from the party and from public office. A party statement accused Meng of abusing his power to satisfy his family's "extravagant lifestyle.
BJP banks on Modi factor as Kanhaiya perks up fight in Begusarai
An energetic campaign boosted by his image of being a trenchant critic of the Modi government has propelled CPI's Kanhaiya Kumar into the centre stage of electoral contest in Begusarai seat but many see his rising graph posing a bigger threat to the opposition RJD than the ruling BJP. The BJP supporters in Begusarai and other Lok Sabha seats in the region, which will vote on April 29, assert that the appeal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi remains a big draw for voters, while the opposition's alliance is hoping to counter it with its social arithmetic at several places. If the Modi factor is powering the BJP's campaign, the alliance of the Lalu Prasad's RJD, Upendra Kushwaha's RLSP and the Congress is betting on a formidable social equation in these seats, including Ujiarpur, where Kushwaha is taking on Bihar BJP chief Nityanand Rai to make the going difficult for the saffron party. Both Ujiarpur and Begusarai were won by the BJP in 2014. In the 2014 polls, BJP's Bhola Singh, who died .
Yogi Adityanath will waste two days if I give him a laptop: Akhilesh Yadav
If I give a laptop to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, he would waste two days, said former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday."Yogi Adityanath has stated that if there were no Constitution in India, Akhilesh would have been grazing buffalo. If I give him a laptop, he will waste two days on that. If he can have such thoughts about me, then his thoughts about the poor will be incomparable," said Yadav, while addressing an election rally here.Hardoi goes to poll on April 29."What would Yogi Adiyanath be doing, if there were no Constitution? I will not say anything as you all know," he said and accused the BJP of "following divide and rule policy of the Britishers.""Our country is going through a tough time. What Britishers did in our country is being done by the BJP. They are following the divide and rule policy. They make people fight with each other on the basis of their caste and religion. The party has not done enough for the poor," he said.He also slammed BJP leaders for ...
PM to hold road show, 'puja' before filing nominations
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will perform an elaborate 'puja at the Dashashwamedh Ghat in Varanasi on Thursday evening before he sets out to file his nomination papers on Friday
Neither BJP nor Cong will get majority but a Cong-led alternative may emerge: A Raja
Neither the BJP nor the Congress is likely to get majority in the Lok Sabha polls, said DMK leader Andimuthu Raja, but added a Congress-led "secular alliance" that will include regional parties may emerge to form the next government at the Centre. Raja--a four-time MP who is contesting for the third time from Nilgiris, a seat reserved for the Scheduled Caste(SC) category--said regional parties are keeping their cards close to the chest and their strategy will largely depend on the numerical strength of rival alliances post-elections. A former union minister, Raja, who was accused in the 2G spectrum allocation case but acquitted in 2017, predicted that the BJP may not cross 200 seats out of 543, while the Congress stands a good chance of getting more than 150 seats and the remaining for the regional parties. "Congress and BJP may not get an absolute majority. But chances are that Congress may lead a secular alliance after the elections," Raja told PTI in an interview over the weekend. .
North Korea's Kim in Russia for first talks with Putin
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he was looking forward to his first talks with President Vladimir Putin as he arrived in Russia on Wednesday seeking support in Pyongyang's nuclear deadlock with the United States. Kim's armoured train rolled in to the Tsarist-era station in Russia's Pacific port city of Vladivostok, where the summit will take place on Thursday. Wearing a long black coat and fedora, Kim stepped out onto a red carpet on the station platform before making his way outside to be received by an honour guard and military band. His limousine drove off after the welcoming ceremony, bodyguards in suits running alongside. The talks, only confirmed at the last minute, will be Kim's first face-to-face meeting with another head of state since negotiations with US President Donald Trump in Hanoi collapsed in February. "I hope this visit will be successful and useful," Kim told Russian television in the border town of Khasan, where women in folk costumes welcomed him with bread ..
US won't send officials to China's Belt and Road forum
Washington will not send officials to a Beijing summit on Chinese President Xi Jinping's signature global infrastructure project, the US embassy said Wednesday amid a raft of disputes between the two powers. Leaders from 37 countries and officials from dozens more are expected to attend the Belt and Road Forum from Thursday to Saturday, but Washington has dismissed the initiative as a "vanity project". "The United States has no plans to send officials from Washington to the Belt and Road Forum," a US embassy spokesperson told AFP in an email. "We call upon all countries to ensure that their economic diplomacy initiatives adhere to internationally-accepted norms and standards, promote sustainable, inclusive development, and advance good governance and strong economic institutions," the spokesperson said. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told journalists at a briefing last week that American diplomats, state government representatives and members of the business community will be ...
Sudan protesters pledge 'million march' for civil rule
Sudanese protest leaders Wednesday mounted pressure on the country's military council by calling for a million people to march to demand power be handed over to a civilian administration. "We are calling for a million (people to) march on Thursday," said Ahmed al-Rabia, a senior leader of the Sudanese Professionals Association, the umbrella group that launched protests against deposed president Omar al-Bashir in December. In a separate statement the SPA said the march calls for "civilian rule" in Sudan, the central demand of protesters since the army ousted Bashir on April 11. The demonstrations began in the central town of Atbara on December 19 against a decision by Bashir's government to triple bread prices. The protests swiftly turned into nationwide demonstrations against his rule, and the seizure of power by a new military council. But that council -- led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, after his predecessor lasted barely 24 hours in the post -- says it has assumed power for a
Cong afraid of Modi, resorting to 'tantra-mantra': BJP
The Uttarakhand unit of BJP Wednesday said the Congress was resorting to "tantra-mantra" as the party has failed to "corner Prime Minister Narendra Modi in every other way". The remark came a day after former chief minister Harish Rawat reportedly claimed in Haldwani that Modi would lose if Priyanka Gandhi contested against him as his horoscope had "kalsarpa yog", which meant he would ultimately face defeat at the hands of a woman. "Having failed to corner Modi in every other way, the Congress is now resorting to tantra-mantra (superstition)," Uttarakahand BJP media chief Devendra Bhasin said Wednesday. Bhasin said Rawat's statements reflect the Congress' deep-seated fear of Modi and the party's desperation to grab power. "It only shows Congress' desperation in the face of certain defeat," he added. Bhasin claimed that people were with Modi and he is all set to helm the country's affairs for the next five years.
India faces security concerns daily, but coordination between govt wings has improved: Jaishankar
India faces security concerns on a daily basis but in the last five years the coordination between different government wings has improved, former foreign secretary S Jaishankar said. Speaking at the launch of a book 'Indian Foreign Policy: The Modi Era' by Professor Harsh V Pant on Wednesday, Jaishankar said India's security preparedness has been tested on multiple occasions in the last five years. "As a nation India faces security concerns on daily basis but the working of different wings of the government to coordinate has improved, it has been tested on multiple occasions," Jaishankar said. He also noted the time has come to realise the existing world order has run its course and the rise of China and redefining of America's terms of engagement will have profound consequences. "The US is not the US of the past, so repeating mantras of the past is not helping. There is a need to realise the current architecture is much more complex than before," he said. He said the challenge for ..