Month: February 2020

Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for ‘triggering economic slowdown’, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said that the former should put all blame on ‘clueless’ Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and sack her for the slowdown.

Cornering government over Budget 2020, Gandhi suggested the Prime Minister to use the “useless budget” presented by Sitharaman and “sack her and dump the entire blame on her”.

“Dear PM, the economy has imploded and you must be racking your brains on how to avoid the blame. Use the useless budget presented by clueless Nirmala Ji. Sack her and dump the entire blame on her. Problem solved,” the Wayanad lawmaker tweeted.

On February 2, Gandhi had shared a video of the Prime Minister doing yoga and wrote: “Please try your magical exercise routine a few more times. You never know, it might just start the economy”.

Gandhi has been criticising the Central government over the 90th Union budget, which was presented by Finance Minister Sitharaman last week and called it a ‘hollow’ budget.

(ANI)

In a blistering attack at Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray for favouring the CAA, Congress leader Nitin Raut on Wednesday said the support extended to the amended Citizenship act by Maha Vikas Aghadi leader was a ‘matter of survival’ for Shiv Sena in the tripartite alliance.

“Supporting CAA is a matter of survival for Shiv Sena. In Maharashtra, we are the government formed by three parties. Congress differs from Uddhav’s statement. No such decision was taken by the MVA,” said Raut maintaining that it was his personal view on Thackeray.

Being asked how it can be his personal view, the Maharashtra cabinet minister took a jibe at Thackeray and said: “He may be the Chief Minister but he is also the leader of the party, which he has to take care of.”

On February 2, Sena supremo extended support to the CAA but said that he will not implement the proposed NRC in his state as it would cause inconvenience to not just Muslims but to Hindus as well.”The CAA is not a law which throws anyone out of the country,” he said in an interview with Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana.

The CAA grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists and Christians fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh and who came to India on or before December 31, 2014.Protests have erupted in various parts of the country against the newly amended citizenship law and the proposed NRC.

(ANI)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that his government’s goal is to increase India’s defence exports to $5 billion in the next five years.

Speaking at the Defence Expo 2020, here, he said: “Artillery Guns, Aircraft Carrier, Frigates, Submarines, Light Combat Aircrafts, Combat Helicopters are being manufactured in India. Now our goal is to increase defence exports to $ 5 billion i.e. about Rs 35 thousand crores in the coming 5 years.”

“The world’s second-largest population, the world’s second-largest army and the world’s largest democracy, how long could it depend only on imports,” Modi said.

He said that there are two major requirements for the development of modern weapons – the high potential of research; and development and the production of those weapons.

“Our government has made it a major part of our national policy in the last 5-6 years. I understand that national security can be made more powerful by the partnership between the user and the producer,” the Prime Minister said.

“Earlier, defence manufacturing had a lot of problems with the private sector testing infrastructure. Avenues have now been opened for this and DRDO has a policy of Transfer of Technology without charge for Indian industries,” he added.

The Prime Minister said that Uttar Pradesh will emerge as one of the biggest hubs of defence manufacturing in the coming time.

“Uttar Pradesh is the largest state of the country. In the coming time, the state will be one of the biggest hubs of defence manufacturing. It is a matter of happiness that Defence Expo is being held here in the new decade. More than 1,000 defence manufacturers and 150 companies across the world are present,” he said.

Modi said that it is a big opportunity for India’s youth along with those who care about the country’s safety and security.

“India’s security will increase with Make in India and new employment opportunities will be generated in the defence sector. When the 21st century is discussed in the world, attention is naturally drawn towards India. Today’s Defense Expo is a testimony to India’s vastness, its diversity and its wide participation in the world,” he said.

“Those who are aware of subjects like defence and economy surely know that India is not just a market. India is an immense opportunity for the whole world. Wrong use of technology and terrorism or Cyber Threat, these are a big challenge for the whole world. In view of the new Security Challenges, all the Defense Forces of the world are developing new technology. India is also not untouched by this,” the Prime Minister said.

He further said that seeing new security challenges, the security forces are developing new technologies. “Our aim is to develop 25 products based on artificial intelligence in the next 5 years,” Modi said.

The main theme of this year’s event is ‘India: The Emerging Defence Manufacturing Hub’ and the focus will be on ‘Digital Transformation of Defence’.

As many as 1028 companies have registered for participating in this year’s event, as against 702 in the DefExpo 2018. The number of participating foreign companies have also increased to 172 from the previous figure of 160.

At the event, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) will display models of Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas, Light Combat Helicopter (LCH), Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH), Do-228 and Hawk at its indoor stall.Apart from these, some of the avionics, accessories, assemblies, products such as Indigenous Digital Map Generator (i-DMG), Engine and Flight Display Unit, Gas Turbine Electrical Generator (GTEG)-60, Air Producer Engine, Glass Cockpit for Do-228, Automatic Target Recognition (ATR), Digital Sand Rapid Prototyping Technology, etc., will also be displayed.

(ANI)

The Crime Branch of Delhi Police on Tuesday revealed that Kapil Gurjar, the man detained for opening fire on February 1 at Shaheen Bagh is associated with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) based on photographs recovered from his phone in which Gurjar and his father are seen along with prominent leaders of the party.

The photos recovered from phone of the Kapil show him and his father Gaje Singh with AAP leaders such as Atishi and Sanjay Singh and are allegedly from 2019 on the day when the father-son duo joined AAP.

Confirming that the photos were recovered from Kapil’s phone, DCP Crime Branch, Delhi Police, Rajesh Deo said today, “We recovered the pictures from his phone during the course of the investigation. Kapil has confessed that he and his father joined AAP somewhere between January-February 2019.”

“During the course of the investigation, we identified the route taken by the accused, the motorcycle used by him and also the person who accompanied him to the spot. We also seized the phone, after conducting a raid,” Deo told reporters here.

“Upon analyzing the phone we got to know that all the photos in Whatsapp on the phone were erased. These were then recovered with the help of a technical team, and these photos establish that a year ago Kapil and his father Gaje Singh had joined AAP. These photos were recovered from his phone,” he added.

The DCP further said that Kapil, at the beginning of the investigation, had disclosed the fact that he had joined AAP in 2019, but added that the influence of any politicians on Kapil would become clear only after further investigations.

Kapil, according to the official, had told the Crime Branch that he had brought the pistol almost seven years ago for celebratory firing during his brother’s wedding.

Earlier on Tuesday, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Gurmohina Kaur sent Kapil, who is a resident of Dallupura village near Delhi-Noida border, to two-day police custody.

Kapil was detained by police on Saturday following the firing incident and an FIR was registered against him. He had, on February 1, opened fire in the air at Shaheen Bagh, where protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) are going on for over 50 days.

(ANI)

Following the announcement of disinvestment of LIC by Union Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman during the budget session, the employees of LIC are staging protests in different states of the country.

LIC’s northern zone insurance employee’s association divisional committee on Tuesday staged a protest while raising slogans such as ‘don’t sell public sector.’

Speaking to ANI, an employee said, “Congress had nationalised the LIC to provide employment but centre is working against it.”

“The LIC has given 2,400 crore revenue. it has never been in loss,” he added.

All India LIC employees Federation and other organisations also hold protests against Centre’s budget announcement regarding disinvestment plan of LIC at their head office in Nariman Point, Mumbai.

“If the government wants funds then think of anything else, bringing Initial public offering (IPO) everywhere is not a solution. I request the government to revoke this decision of IPO,” an employee said.

Another protest was witnessed in Thiruvananthapuram by LIC employees where the decided to walk for one hour to mark their protest.

“Finance minister has announced the listing of LIC in the budget. Three major unit LIC Officers Association, Insurance Employee Association and National Federation of Insurance have decided to hold one hour walk to protest against the policy of the government,” S Rajkumar, General Secretary of All India Federation of LIC class one association said.

(ANI)

Taking a jibe at the Central government over Budget 2020-21, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday claimed Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had not even mentioned once the issue of unemployment during her three-hour-long budget speech.

“During those three hours when the Budget was announced, the Finance Minister did not once mention about unemployment,” said Gandhi at a rally here in Jangpura ahead of Assembly polls in Delhi.

Referring to Sithraman’s recent interview, he said: “In an interview, Finance Minister was asked how many jobs were created? She said, “If I give you any number, Rahul Gandhi would go after me and say that I am lying”.”

“She said so as she is not ready to speak about job creation. However, Center is of Adani and Ambani thus, they cleared loans of 15 people worth crores,” Gandhi said.

Earlier, the Congress lawmaker from Wayanad called budget presentation by Sitharaman”hollow” and “tactical stuff without any central idea”.

“Maybe this was the longest Budget speech in history but it had nothing, it was hollow,” Gandhi had told media while leaving the Parliament after attending the Budget session in Lok Sabha.

“The main issue facing [the country] is unemployment. I didn’t see any strategic idea that would help our youth get jobs. I saw tactical stuff but no central idea. It describes government well, a lot of repetition, rambling- it is the mindset of the government, all talk, but nothing happening,” he had added.

On February 1, Sitharaman had presented her second Union Budget on behalf of the NDA-2 government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In the longest Union Budget speech in history, Sitharaman talked about tax regime, finance, agriculture, irrigation, water, sanitation, healthcare, education, infrastructure, women, digital connectivity among others.

(ANI)

Amid the agitations against Citizenship Amendment Act, National register of Citizens and National Population Registration across the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that there is a “political design” behind all these protests including in Delhi’s Jamia and Shaheen Bagh to ruin the harmony of the nation.

“Be it Seelampur, Jamia or Shaheen Bagh, protests held over the past several days regarding the Citizenship Amendment Bill. Is this just a coincidence? No. This is an experiment,” said Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his first election rally for Delhi polls at Karkardooma.

“There is a political design behind all these protests including Jamia and Shaheen Bagh. These protests are a conspiracy to divide India. These protests are going to ruin the harmony of the nation,” he asserted.

Lambasting the opposition parties including Congress and Aam Aadmi Party for supporting the ongoing protests, he said: “But AAP and Congress are provoking people. Constitution and tricolor are being kept in front and attention is being diverted from the real conspiracy.”

“These people were doubting the ability of our forces during surgical strikes. Do citizens of Delhi want such people in power? These people are saving those who want to break India into pieces,” he added.

People have been protesting at Jamia and Shaheen Bagh against CAA, NRC and NPR. Members of the Opposition have deemed CAA “discriminatory and anti-Constitution” while the Centre has maintained that the new law has no effect on Indian citizens.

Recently, two firing incidents took place near Jamia Millia Islamia University.On Sunday night, the firing incident was reported near gate number five at the university following which people including some students of the varsity gathered outside the Jamia Nagar police station. They returned from the Jamia Nagar police station after their complaint was registered.

Earlier, a student sustained injuries after a young man fired at the protestors near Jamia. (ANI)

People including some students of Jamia Millia Islamia University gathered outside the Jamia Nagar police station following a firing incident near gate number five of the university on Sunday night.

The students returned from the Jamia Nagar police station after their complaint was registered.

People also gathered in protest outside the university following the firing by two scooty-borne unidentified people. The protestors chanted slogans against Delhi Police.

The Station House Officer (SHO) is present at the spot. An investigation is underway.

According to Jamia Coordination Committee, the firing was done by two unidentified persons. One of them was wearing a red-coloured jacket and driving a red colour scooty.

No injuries were reported in the incident.

This is the third firing incident in the national capital in the last few days.

On January 30, a juvenile brandished a country-made pistol and fired at and injured a Jamia student, Shadab Farooq, who was part of the group that was protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) near the university.

The juvenile has been sent to 14-day protective custody by the Juvenile Justice Board.

On February 1, a man, identified as Kapil Gujjar, fired aerial shots at an anti-CAA protest site in Shaheen Bagh. Gujjar’s weapon has been seized and sent on police remand for two days by a Delhi court.

No injuries were reported in that incident.

(ANI)