Bengaluru, May 31 : Opposition leader in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly B S Yeddyurappa, who is also BJP State President, today said that the party Central leaders have instructed the State unit not to indulge in any activity, including ‘Operation Lotus’ to pull down the Congress-JDS Coalition government.
“We have been directed by the Central leaders not to initiate any step that leads to fall of this government. We will try in any way and as Opposition party we will point out mistakes. Let them undertake welfare measures including waive off farmers loan as announced,” he added.
Yeddyurappa alleged that CLP Chairman Siddaramaiah, who is also Coalition Government Coordination Committee Chairman, is playing tricks by making some of his party MLAs to be in contact with BJP and blame the party as indulged in ‘Operation Lotus’. “BJP senior leaders, after learning about his tacticks, has instructed to indulge in such step which brings bad name to the party at the national level,” he added.
“We are not power hungry. Now our government has come in the Centre and it is not upmost important to capture power in Karnataka. Let them function well,” he added.
Karnataka Cabinet: No reshuffle, only expansion says sources
Bengaluru, May 31 : The Coalition partners in Karnataka–Congress and JDS, who had an intensive parleys in the last couple of days over working out strategies to save the one-year-old government, have decided not to reshuffle the Cabinet but to fill the three existing vacancies in the cabinet, by inducting two Independent MLAs.
According to highly placed sources in the Congress, after two days of interaction by both the party leaders, it was decided not to disturb the present set up in the Cabinet, and go for filling up of the vacancies by inducting two independent MLAs, to the cabinet.
“The cabinet is likely to be expanded by inducting two Independent MLAs, in a day or two”, sources said.
Following severe drubbing in the just concluded Lok Sabha elections, in which the coalition partners had won only one seat each out of 28 Lok Sabha seats, series of meeting between the JD(S) and the Congress leaders were held in their bid to save the government.
Both the parties had also convened Legislature party meeting and pursued the respective party MLAs, not to rock the boat, as the Opposition BJP is allegedly making all its efforts to topple the state government.
The Senior party leaders, had come to the conclusion not to go for dropping any existing Ministers but to induct those who are sitting on the fence, to save the Government, after the incumbent ministers are not keen to make way for others, sources said.
The decision not to go for reshuffle of the cabinet, was taken up following lack of enthusiasm shown from the ministers to opt out from the cabinet, sources added.
PM Modi pays homage to Gandhiji, Sardar Patel; presides over first Cabinet meet
New Delhi, May 31 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi and country’s first Home Minister Sardar Vallabhai Patel.
“Remembering India’s greats. At the Prime Minister’s Office in South Block, Narendra Modi pays tributes to Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel,” a PMO tweet said.
Mr Modi also presided over the first meeting of his Cabinet in the South Block office here.
Flanked by new Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on his right and new Home Minister Amit Shah on his left, Mr Modi was in a jovial mood while interacting with his ministerial colleagues.
The Cabinet meeting was attended among others by Ram Vilas Paswan, Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Arvind Sawant – all from NDA constituents.
Before the meeting began, on their arrival at the South Block, several Ministers posed for snaps before the awaiting camerapersons.
The new Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani, who humbled Congress president Rahul Gandhi in his family bastion Amethi, grinned more than once and also shook hands with the photo journalists.
In a first decision of the BJP-led NDA government since it took charge, Prime Minister himself announced that changes were approved in ‘PM’s Scholarship Scheme under the National Defence Fund’.
According to an official release, the major changes includes enhanced scholarships for wards of police personnel martyred in terror or Maoist attacks.
Woman power of Modi 2.0
New Delhi, May 31 : Ms Nirmala Sitharaman will be the new Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs in the Narendra Modi Government 2.0.
In all, six women got berths in the Modi Government.
In the previous government, Ms Sitharaman ? a Rajya Sabha member — has been serving as the Defence Minister since 2017. She also held the portfolio of Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs in the past.
Earlier, there were speculations that BJP president Amit Shah might get the Finance portfolio after Arun Jaitley chose to stay out of the new government citing health reasons.
Besides, Smriti Irani will be the new Women and Child Development and Textiles Minister. She made the news after defeating Congress president Rahul Gandhi from his stronghold seat Amethi. Prior to this, she was a member of Rajya Sabha twice.
Ms Harsimrat Kaur Badal gets the same Ministry of Food Processing Industries, she was holding in the previous government. She is a member of BJP ally Shromani Akali Dal from Bathinda seat in Punjab.
Another woman who gets a berth in the Modi Government is Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti. She is Minister of State in the Ministry of Rural Development. Earlier, she was given the charge of Minister of State for Food Processing Industries in November 2014.
Ms Renuka Singh Saruta will be Minister of State in the Ministry of Tribal Affairs while Ms Debasree Chaudhuri will assist Ms Irani. She is junior minister for the the Women and Child Development.
First decision of Modi Govt; changes approved in PM’s Scholarship Scheme under National Defence Fund
New Delhi, May 31 : In a first decision of the BJP led NDA government on Friday after it took charge, changes were approved in PM’s Scholarship Scheme under the National Defence Fund.
According to an official release, the major changes includes enhanced scholarships for wards of police personnel martyred in terror or Maoist attacks.
In line with the Prime Minister’s vision for India’s safety, security and the well-being of those who protect the nation, the very first decision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on assuming his office is approval to a major change in the ‘Prime Minister’s Scholarship Scheme’ under the National Defence Fund.
The Prime Minister has approved the changes under which the rates of scholarship have been increased from Rs 2000 per month to Rs 2500 per month for boys and from Rs 2250 per month to Rs 3000 per month for girls.
The ambit of the Scholarship Scheme is extended to the wards of State Police officials who are/were martyred during terror/naxal attacks.
The quota of new scholarships for wards of state police officials will be 500 in a year.
The Ministry of Home Affairs will be the nodal Ministry in this regard
We unintentionally killed 1,300 civilians in air strikes on Islamic State: US-led coalition
The US-led coalition said Friday it had unintentionally killed more than 1,300 civilians in air strikes during its fight against the Islamic State groupin Iraq and Syria since 2014.
The figure is far lower than the death tolls given by groups which have monitored the conflicts in the two countries.
“The coalition conducted 34,502 strikes between August 2014 and the end of April 2019,” it said in a statement.
During this period, it “assesses at least 1,302 civilians have been unintentionally killed by coalition strikes”.
The coalition said it was still assessing 111 additional claims of civilians deaths and was ready to receive new allegations or fresh evidence to review.
The coalition has repeatedly said it does all it can to avoid civilian deaths.
Watch: Wounded and alone, children emerge from last Islamic State enclave in Baghouz
Airwars, an NGO which monitors civilian casualties from air strikes worldwide, estimates more than 7,900 civilians have been killed in coalition raids — well in excess of the total acknowledged by the coalition.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, says coalition strikes have taken the lives of 3,800 civilians in Syria alone.
IS jihadists seized large swathes of Iraq and Syria in 2014, declaring a “caliphate” in areas they controlled.
But several offensives with coalition backing chipped away at the “caliphate” until it was declared eliminated on March 23.
Ambushes and hit-and-run attacks have continued in both countries.
The coalition is continuing to work “to deny Daesh any physical space and influence in the region as well as deny Daesh the resources they need to resurge”, it said, using an Arabic acronym for IS.
Agencies
“Hat And Sunglasses” In Advisory For Media Covering PM Modi’s Swearing-In
The swearing-in ceremony will begin at 7 pm, with nearly 8,000 guests attending the grand event at Rashtrapati Bhavan, including leaders from Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan
Congress president Rahul Gandhi and his mother, Sonia Gandhi, will also be present at the oath ceremony
NEW DELHI:
Hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s oath ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, for which 8,000 people have been invited, the government’s media department put out an advisory urging journalists to wear hats and sunglasses to prepare for “a long summer evening”.
A communication sent from the PM’s Publicity and Reference Unit said: “We are preparing ourselves for a long summer evening. So, it will be better if you carry hat and sunglasses.”
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), temperatures today will touch a maximum of 44 degrees Celsius and weather conditions have been described as “heat wave”.
The swearing-in ceremony will begin at 7 pm, with nearly 8,000 guests attending the grand event at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Leaders of BIMSTEC countries, Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan, have been invited in line with the government’s “Neighbourhood First” policy.
PM Modi began the day with a series of visits. He first visited the memorials of Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat and then paid tribute to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee at his memorial Sadaiv Atal Samadhi.
He also visited the National War Memorial near India Gate.
The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance returned to power with a massive haul of 352 seats in the Lok Sabha elections. The BJP won 303 seats on its own.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi and his mother, Sonia Gandhi, will also be present at the oath ceremony.
Chief Ministers of non-BJP ruled states will also attend the event, except for Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee, who pulled out accusing the BJP of trying to politicise the occasion. She accused the BJP of falsely alleging that 54 of its workers were killed in political violence in Bengal and then inviting their families to the oath.
Farooq calls for collective efforts against ‘rise of communalism’ in India
Srinagar, May 29 : Asserting that the secular visage of the country was reeling under the threat from the surge of communalism in the country, National Conference (NC) President Farooq Abdullah on Wednesday said that need of the hour calls for making collective efforts for the protection of religious freedom and rule of law in the country.
Addressing various delegations, individuals, Dr Abdullah, who recently won Lok Sabha election from Srinagar parliamentary constituency, said, “The spur in the targeted attacks on the Muslims at various places across north India is just painful. The rise of the communalism in India has to be countered by all the right-thinking secular parties of the country. The fascist syndrome of communal strife if allowed to grow unchecked will eventually munch the very secular fabric of our society, which otherwise has been known for tolerance.”
“The strife of communal hatred is one of the biggest challenges for our society. It is for the new government to decide if they want to let the mammoth of communalism grow unhindered. The idea of development is impossible if 25 Cr Muslims are not a part of that story of that development,” he said.
“Government cannot think of taking the country forward without taking along the Muslims. Now we get to see Muslims men and women being attacked by unruly mobs across the country. The other day we saw how a Muslim boy was thrashed for wearing a skull cap, is this idea of India that was envisaged by the makers of our constitution. The biggest challenge ahead of the central government would be to stop such incidents from recurring again,” he added.
Addressing a delegation of women workers and functionaries led by party’s Women wing president Shameema Firdous, Dr Abdullah said, “The plight of girls remained an utmost concern. However, education is the key to reducing discrimination against girls. Gender inequality is a multifaceted issue. The need of the hour is to do away with the gender assumptions by educating society. It was National Conference that started the idea of co-schooling in the state of Jammu and Kashmir besides giving gender neutral voting rights to the people. Under the dynamic leadership of Omar sahib the forthcoming state government will work on numerous issues affecting girl child including Nutrition, Security, Lawful rights, and education.”
Former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu elected as TDLP leader
TDP president and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu was unanimously elected as the leader of the Telugu Desam Legislature Party (TDLP) here on Wednesday.
A meeting of the TDLP, attended by the newly-elected MLAs and MPs of the party, was held at Naidu’s residence.
The TDP, which ruled the state from June 2014, faced a rout at the hands of the YSR Congress Party in the just-concluded election to the state Assembly, winning just 23 of the 175 seats.
In the Lok Sabha polls too, the Naidu-led party suffered a drubbing, bagging only three of the state’s 28 seats.
The TDP chief held a meeting with the 23 newly-elected MLAs and the three MPs, besides senior leaders of the party.
Since the election results were declared on May 23, there was speculation in party circles that Naidu would make way for another leader to lead the TDLP.
At the TDLP meeting, however, the lawmakers elected him unanimously,
according to party sources.
“Only Chandrababu should be the TDLP leader. It gives us a lot of confidence and strength,” senior legislator Gorantla Butchaiah Chowdary said.
Another legislator, N China Rajappa, said they had unanimously elected Naidu as their leader once again.
He said they had entrusted the choice of selecting the TDLP deputy leaders and the party whip with Naidu.
Later, Naidu appointed Galla Jayadev, who was re-elected as the MP from Guntur, as the leader of the Telugu Desam Parliamentary Party.
Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu, who was also re-elected from Srikakulam, would be the party’s leader in the Lok Sabha, while former Union minister Y Satyanarayana Chowdary would be the party leader in the Rajya Sabha.
The TDP’s strength in the Lok Sabha has fallen from 15 to three, while in the Rajya Sabha, the party has six members (five from Andhra Pradesh and one from Telangana).
Naidu has said his party will play the role of a constructive opposition and extend co-operation to the new YSRCP government in Andhra Pradesh.
“Divider-In-Chief” To “Modi Has United India”: TIME Magazine’s Do-Over
Weeks after a controversial cover story that labelled Prime Minister Narendra Modi “divider-in-chief”, TIME magazine, after the BJP’s massive election victory and return to power, has done a turnabout with a new headline: “Modi Has United India Like No Prime Minister in Decades”.
The latest article, published on the TIME website on Tuesday, asks how a “supposedly divisive figure not only managed to keep power, but increase his levels of support?” Its answer – “A key factor is that Modi has managed to transcend India’s greatest fault line: the class divide”.
The author, Manoj Ladwa, describes PM Modi’s second term as “a victory for meritocracy, and for opportunity, thanks to a slate of welfare policies for the country’s extreme poor”. He also highlights the Prime Minister’s rise from “one of India’s most disadvantaged social groups” as aspirational.
Mr Ladwa goes on to describe the demonetisation of 2016 as “short-term pain” that led to “long-term gain” and praises PM Modi and his government for “digitization that has empowered the poor”, increased tax revenue (as a result of demonetisation) and schemes like the Jan Dhan Yojana.
“Through socially progressive policies, he has brought many Indians, both Hindus and religious minorities, out of poverty at a faster rate than in any previous generation,” writes Mr Ladwa, the founder and CEO of Britain-based media company India Inc., which publishes India Global Business.
The previous article by British-born writer Aatish Taseer had criticised the Modi government as one in which “minorities of every stripe-from liberals and lower castes to Muslims and Christians-have come under assault” and which has lead” India down the road to a profound anti-intellectualism”.
The article was seized by opposition parties for attacks on PM Modi and the BJP during their campaign.
The BJP had termed the TIME article as an attempt to malign PM Modi’s image and had accused author Aatish Taseer, the son of journalist Tavleen Singh and late Pakistani politician and businessman Salmaan Taseer, of pursuing Pakistan’s agenda.
“Time magazine is foreign, the writer has also said he comes from a Pakistani political family. That is enough for his credibility,” the Prime Minister said on May 18, the day before polling for the final phase of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections were to take place.
The Prime Minister and his council of ministers will take oath on Thursday. PM Modi, in his speech to his party and the NDA, described his new government as being “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas (With everybody, for everybody and with everybody’s trust)” and also called on NDA leaders to earn the trust of minority communities in India.
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