Page 98 - Politics
Trump warns of 'overwhelming' retaliation to any Iranian attack
President Donald Trump warned Iran that an attack on US interests would trigger an "overwhelming" response and could bring "obliteration." Amid rising tensions between Washington and Tehran, Trump tweeted that "any attack by Iran on anything American will be met with great and overwhelming force. In some areas, overwhelming will mean obliteration." Iran's leaders only understand "Strength and Power, and the USA is by far the most powerful Military Force in the world," Trump said in the tweet.
Cong missed many opportunities to empower Muslim women: PM
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday asked the Congress to "not miss" another opportunity to empower Muslim women and sought the opposition party's support for the bill on triple talaq. Replying to the Motion of Thanks to the President's address, Modi quoted a former minister in the Rajiv Gandhi-led Congress government as saying in an interview that its leaders claimed that it was not the duty of their party to uplift Muslims and "if they want to lie in gutter let them be". He made these remarks while referring to a law brought by the then Congress government to overrule the Supreme Court judgement on the Shah Bano case to placate Muslims. When his remarks drew a sharp reaction from the Congress, the Prime Minister said he could share the YouTube link of the interview. He said the Congress has missed many chances to empower Muslim women and has got one more oppurtunity. Modi said this in reference to the triple talaq bill introduced in the Lok Sabha by the government. The
Iran says 'idiotic' new US sanctions shut doors of diplomacy
Iran warned Tuesday that new US sanctions targeting its supreme leader and other top officials meant "closing the doors of diplomacy" between Tehran and Washington amid heightened tensions, even as the country's president derided the White House as being "afflicted by mental retardation." President Hassan Rouhani went on to call the sanctions against Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei "outrageous and idiotic," especially since the 80-year-old Shiite cleric has no plans to travel to the United States. Yet the sharp response from Tehran shows the pressure that the nation's Shiite theocracy and its 80 million people feel over the maximalist campaign of sanctions by the Trump administration. From Israel, President Donald Trump's National Security Adviser John Bolton said Iran could walk through an "open door" to talks with America, though he also warned that "all options remain on the table" if Tehran makes good on its promise to begin breaking one limit from its 2015 nuclear deal with
Cut money row rocks WB House, Mamata govt for life term for
Elected public representatives and government officials in West Bengal who accept "cut money" from beneficiaries of welfare schemes will now be charged under a tough law that provides for life imprisonment in the event of conviction, CMO sources said Tuesday. The state assembly, meanwhile, witnessed noisy protests over the issue for the second day running, with the opposition demanding a statement by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and setting up an inquiry commission to go into the matter. The "errant" public representatives and government functionaries will be charged under section 409 of the IPC which relates to criminal breach of trust by a public servant, or by banker, merchant or agent, officials in the chief minister's office said speaking on condition of anonymity. A person convicted under the law is liable to be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, besides fine. The decision was
PM Modi seeks opposition support for passage of Triple Talaq Bill
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday sought the support of Congress and other opposition parties for the passage of the Triple Talaq Bill in Parliament.Replying to the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President for his address to the joint session of Parliament, Modi also said that the Bill should not be linked to any community."Congress had many opportunities. But they did not utilise it. It failed to bring Uniform Civil Code or protect Muslim women when the Supreme Court gave an opportunity through the Shah Bano case. They failed to utilise it," he said in Lok Sabha.Modi said the government has brought the Triple Talaq Bill and Congress has another opportunity to correct its mistakes."We do not need to link it to any community," Modi said while seeking the support of Congress and other opposition parties on the Bill.He also read out a quote purportedly by a Congress leader that "if they (Muslims) want to live in the gutter, let them be".Congress leaders objected to the Prime
People jailed during Emergency observe its 44th anniversary in UP
'Loktantra Senanis' of Uttar Pradesh, who were jailed during Emergency imposed this day in June 1975 Tuesday observed 44th anniversary of the "draconian" day. "Independent India was once again chained with internal slavery on June 25, 1975. The then dictatorial government worked on the principle of 'na appeal, na vakeel, na daleel (neither appeal, nor advocate or argument). "Leaders and students opposing the Emergency were sent behind bars," said president Brij Kishore Mishra of the UP unit of Aapatkal Loktantra Senani Samiti Loktantra Senanis are the people who were imprisoned during the 1975-77 Emergency under preventive detention laws, the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) and Defence of India Act (DIR) for indefinite period. At present, there are nearly 5,700 Loktantra Senanis in Uttar Pradesh, said Mishra said. The Samiti held a meeting at GPO Park at the state capital. State minister Archana Pandey, who was also present on the occasion, recalled the torture suffered
Congress alleges 'irregularities' in appointments at Delhi Waqf Board, demands CBI probe
The Delhi Congress Monday alleged "irregularities and nepotism" in contractual appointments to various posts of the Delhi Waqf Board and demanded a CBI probe into it. Seven "close relatives" of Waqf Board chairman Amanatullah Khan were among the candidates appointed to the 33 posts advertised in February, alleged Delhi Congress spokespersons Jitender Kochar and Harnam Singh, and party leader Parvez Alam. Khan, an AAP MLA from Okhla, rejected the charge, saying he was filling the vacancies which had been pending for a long time and hampering the functioning of the Waqf Board. "Such people who are involved in corruption are being removed from the Waqf Board and recruitment is being done as per rule," he said. In a joint statement, the Congress leaders alleged, "There were irregularities, corruption and nepotism in appointments on the posts of the Delhi Waqf Board by its chairman Amanatullah Khan." The 33 vacancies were advertised in newspapers on February 26 in the Delhi Waqf Board and .
Maha polls likely during October 15-20: Chandrakant Patil
Maharashtra Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil Tuesday said the assembly elections in the state might be held between October 15 and October 20. Speaking at a function in Pimpri-Chinchwad township, the senior BJP leader said the model code of conduct might come into force by September 15. "The assembly elections may be held between October 15 and October 20. I am not a fortune teller but I am predicting it so because the last assembly polls had been held on October 15 (in 2014)," he said, adding that the term of the incumbent state government will end on November 8. Talking about a seat-sharing formula with ally Shiv Sena, Patil said a 50-50 per cent partnership in seats and sharing power has been decided. "This is the core aspect (of the alliance), however, while doing the detailing there is the possibility of some plus-minuses here and there," he added. In 2014, the BJP and the Sena had contested the assembly elections separately, but later joined hands to share ...
Delhi Assembly Speaker gives one week to rebel AAP MLAs to file replies on defection charge
Two rebel AAP legislators, facing disqualification under the anti-defection law, were given a week's time by the Delhi Assembly speaker on Tuesday to submit their replies over joining the BJP. The two MLAs -- Devender Sehrawat and Anil Bajpai -- joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, although they maintained that they did not fill the primary membership form of the party. On Tuesday, the two lawmakers were represented by their counsels at a personal hearing before Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel. "I have been given a week's time by the speaker to submit my reply," Gandhinagar MLA Bajpai told PTI. Sources said the speaker also gave a week's time to Sehrawat for filing his reply. Both the MLAs had sought more time to reply to the charge of joining the BJP on Monday, saying that the newspaper reports furnished by complainant Saurabh Bhardwaj along with his petition were not legible. They have demanded typed and translated copies of the documents. Aam .
Back-to-back India Days in Britain to boost bilateral investments
The UK government and City of London Corporation Tuesday announced plans to host an India Day next month to focus on boosting bilateral investment flows between Britain and India in the field of financial services. The India Day on July 16 - a day-long programme of speeches, panels and discussions at Mansion House in the heart of London - will follow the first-ever India Day in the Houses of Parliament on Monday to mark the launch of the ongoing UK-India Week 2019. "I am delighted to be hosting India Day next month. It will be this year's flagship UK-India financial services event organised by the UK government's Department for International Trade," said Peter Estlin, the Lord Mayor of the City of London. "The day aims to celebrate the strength of UK-India ties, discussing how we can work together to take our near 20 billion pounds bilateral relationship to the next level, and where we can work together more closely in areas like fintech, green finance, insurance and infrastructure," .
India can't wish away defence ties with Russia, say sources ahead of Jaishankar-Pompeo talks
Ahead of strategically-important India-US talks, diplomatic sources on Tuesday said India meets the US waiver criteria for procuring the S-400 missile defence system from sanctions-hit Moscow, and asserted that New Delhi cannot "wish away" its defence ties with Moscow. Besides India's missile defence systems deal with Russia, terrorism, H1B visas, trade and the situation arising out of US sanctions on buying oil from Iran, are likely to be discussed on Wednesday during the talks between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his American counterpart Mike Pompeo, the first high-level interaction between the two countries after return of the Modi government to power last month. Pompeo's visit comes ahead of a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan later this week. During his visit, Pompeo will also call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Talking about Pompeo's visit, Jaishankar in Gandhinagar said ..
Galla comes down heavily on BJP, says it is breaking TDP
A Telugu Desam Party member in the Lok Sabha Tuesday came down heavily on the BJP, saying it was "breaking" the TDP by resorting to "coercive politics" and "weaponising" institutions. Four of the six TDP members in the Rajya Sabha recently joined the BJP and sought merger of the TDP Legislature Party with the saffron party. "The BJP is breaking our party and driving out four of our Rajya Sabha MPs by resorting to coercive politics and weaponising institutions," Jayadev Galla said participating in the Motion of Thanks to the President's address. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said, was using the slogan 'Sabka Sath' but on the ground and in Parliament and in state Assemblies the reality was different. "What is the meaning of 'Sabka Sath'...The real meaning is you should take us along with you to build this great country. It does not mean that you should gobble MPs from other parties....No party, however, powerful it may be... should be able to dictate terms to smaller ...
Resolving problems of farmers, tribals top priority: Gehlot
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot Tuesday said resolving problems of farmers and tribals was their top priority, claiming that they had given relief to farmers by implementing a loan-waiver scheme. Addressing farmers in Dungarpur here, Gehlot said the works announced by the previous Congress regime (2009-13), which remained incomplete, would be completed soon. He said no development work would be left incomplete by the state government. Gehlot added that the state government was committed to provide basic needs such as water, electricity, medicines, roads and irrigation facilities to the common man. The chief minister also listened to problems of people, directing officials to redress their grievances. The meeting was attended by state Health and Medical Education Minister Raghu Sharma, Cooperatives Minister Udai Lal Anjana, Education Minister Govind Singh Dotasara and Tribal Area Development Minister Arjun Bamania.
Mortal remains of BJP's Rajasthan chief Madan Lal Saini consigned to flames
Mortal remains of Rajasthan BJP president and Rajya Sabha MP Madan Lal Saini were consigned to flames in Sikar district on Tuesday. Saini (75) died on Monday while undergoing treatment at AIIMS in Delhi. He was diagnosed with infection in lungs and was admitted at a private hospital in Jaipur. On Saturday, he was shifted to Delhi owing to his deteriorating health and was being treated under the Hematology Department at AIIMS. His family members, accompanied by BJP leaders, brought his mortal remains to Sikar by road. The MP's son lit the funeral pyre. Earlier in the day, his body was kept at the BJP headquarters in Jaipur, where political leaders from across party lines paid floral tributes to him. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Congress' state president and Deputy Chief minister Sachin Pilot, Transport Minister Pratap Singh Khachariawas and other Congress leaders reached the BJP headquarters and paid tributes to Saini. "The demise is unfortunate. I spoke to him when he was shifted to ..
Rahul to meet Cong leaders from poll-bound states
Notwithstanding his decision to resign as Congress president after the party's Lok Sabha election debacle, Rahul Gandhi will meet leaders from various poll-bound states to discuss the party's preparedness. According to sources, Gandhi, who has not been meeting the leaders of various parties ever since he offered to resign as the party chief at the May 25 meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), is slated to meet party leaders from Maharashtra, Haryana and Delhi. While the CWC had rejected his resignation and asked him to restructure the party at all levels, Gandhi had refrained from meeting people and asked his sister and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to do the talking on his behalf. Sources said the Congress chief met Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and party leaders from the state on Monday and would be meeting leaders from Maharashtra on Wednesday. Congress general secretary in-charge of Maharashtra Mallikarjun Kharge and AICC secretaries for ..
Nirmala Sitharaman among 100 most influential in UK power list
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is among the 100 most influential women driving the UK-India relationship forward alongside one of Britain's senior-most Cabinet ministers Penny Mordaunt. The '100 Most Influential in UK-India Relations: Celebrating Women' list was launched by UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid to mark India Day in the Houses of Parliament in London on Monday. It credited Sitharaman, also the Minister of Corporate Affairs, as one of India's most "powerful women" who plays a "pivotal" role in the bilateral relationship as India's former defence minister and now finance minister. "Having studied at the London School of Economics (LSE) and worked in the UK in her previous career, Nirmala is familiar with the UK more so than probably all her other colleagues," notes the power list, released by UK-based media house India Inc. Penny Mordaunt, Britain's Secretary of State for Defence, is the other senior politician in the list who is credited as the first woman to be assigned .
Centre urged to bring three more R'sthan cities under Smart City project
The Rajasthan government has asked the Centre to bring three more cities from the state under the Smart City project, an official said on Tuesday. The Secretary of the Local Self Government Department, Siddharth Mahajan, said the Rajasthan chief minister had written to the Centre to include Jodhpur, Bharatpur and Bikaner under the Smart City project, which if approved, would be implemented at all seven divisional headquarters in the state. Currently, Jaipur stands at the ninth position in the country in terms of the execution of Smart City works, whereas Rajasthan has been ranked sixth under the Amrut Mission. Apart from Jaipur, the project is running in Rajasthan's Kota, Udaipur and Ajmer. This year, works to the tune of Rs 400 crore would be carried in Jaipur, of which Rs 250 crore would be spent on the solid waste management, Mahajan said at a press conference here. Mahajan briefed about the department's work following a press conference held by Union Minister of Housing and Urban .
Will try to find common ground on trade issues: Jaishankar
India will try to find common ground on trade issues during discussions with visiting US secretary of state Mike Pompeo, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said here Tuesday. Terrorism, Afghanistan, the Indo-Pacific, Iran, trade issues, and growing bilateral defence ties will be the focus of discussions between the Indian government and Pompeo on Wednesday. "We will be meeeting with a positive attitude," Jaishankar told reporters after filing his nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha poll from Gujarat. "The meeting with Mike Pompeo will be an important one. A minister from the US is visiting India for the first time after the general elections. We will definitely discuss issues related to trade between the two countries," Jaishankar said, addressing a press conference at the Gujarat BJP office. "Both the countries have their interests. And it is natural to have some conflicts because of that. We will find a common ground using diplomacy. We will hold discussions with
Due process will be followed in targeting corruption: Modi
Launching a scathing attack on the Congress and its leaders in the Lok Sabha, he made sarcastic and veiled references to the Gandhis saying "those who get bail should enjoy it".Replying to the debate on the motion of thanks to the President's Address, Modi said his government will continue to take action against corruption.Referring to speech of Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury who had accused Modi government of making allegations against top leaders to defame them and challenged it to arrest UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Modi said his government was being criticised for "not putting (people) to jail".He said the country was not under Emergency and due process of law will be followed."If you get bail, enjoy it," he said in a veiled reference to Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi.Modi also accused the Congress leadership of not thinking "beyond family" and that only a few contributed to the national progress.Challenging the Congress, he asked if it
EC announces RS polls dates for six TN seats
The Election Commission Tuesday fixed July 18 for elections to Tamil Nadu's six Rajya Sabha seats, falling vacant next month. The poll panel said the notification for the election would be issued on July 1, while fixing July 18 as the day for voting. The counting of votes will be undertaken the same day soon after the voting, it added. The terms of six Rajya Sabha members are to end on July 24. The outgoing members include DMK leader Kanimozhi, who was recently elected to the Lok Sabha. The five other outgoing members are D Raja of CPI and R Lakshmanan, K R Arjunan, V Maitreyan and T Rathinavel, all of AIADMK.