Month: February 2025

United States President Donald Trump has announced that Washington DC will stop minting pennies, citing their high production cost, which exceeds their face value and termed the practice “wasteful.”

President Trump said Sunday that he has instructed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to “stop producing new pennies.”

Trump made his announcement on a Truth Social post after attending the first half of the Super Bowl.

https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/113977224933701762

In his post on ‘Truth Social’, Trump wrote, “For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents. This is so wasteful!.”

“I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies. Let’s rip the waste out of our great nation’s budget, even if it’s a penny at a time,” he said.

On January 22, a post from the official Elon Musk led Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE) on social media platform X said, “the penny costs over 3 cents to make and cost US taxpayers over $179 million in FY2023. The Mint produced over 4.5 billion pennies in FY2023, around 40% of the 11.4 billion coins for circulation produced.”

Meanwhile, earlier in the day, Trump announced that new tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports into the country would be revealed on Monday.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One en route to the NFL Super Bowl on Sunday Trump said that the tariffs from Monday will impose a 25 per cent charge on all steel imports entering the United States, as well as a 25 per cent tariff on aluminium imports.

In his statement, Trump addressed the rationale for these tariffs, saying, “Very simply, if you charge us, we charge them.”

“On steel and aluminium tariffs, I’m also going to be announcing steel tariffs on Monday. Any steel coming into the United States is going to have a 25 per cent tariff. Aluminum, too… Twenty-five per cent.”

Previously, Trump had threatened to slap a 10 per cent or 20 per cent universal tariff and asked his administration to review that possibility as part of a broader trade review due by April 1.

Trump, who announced that the tariffs would be applicable to every nation, added that the announcement would likely be made on “Monday or Tuesday,” Politico reported. (ANI)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday departed from the national capital for a four-day trip to France and the United States, where he will engage in talks with President Emmanuel Macron and President Donald Trump.

At the invitation of President Macron, PM Narendra Modi will be in France from February 10-12, where he will be co-chairing the AI Action Summit.

President Macron and PM Narendra Modi will also travel to the historic French city of Marseille to inaugurate the first Indian Consulate in France and also visit the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor project, in which India is a member of the consortium of partner countries including France, to harness energy for the global good.

From France, he will proceed on a two-day visit to the United States at the invitation of President Donald Trump.

After his arrival in Paris on Monday evening, he will attend a dinner that is being hosted by President Macron at the Elysee Palace in honour of visiting heads of government and heads of State.

The dinner is also likely to be attended by a large number of CEOs from the tech domain and a number of other distinguished invitees to the summit.

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said recently at a special media briefing that PM Modi will co-chair the AI Action Summit along with President Macron on February 11.

After the AI summit, there will be a bilateral component to the visit and PM Modi and President Macron will address the India-France CEOs forum.

PM Modi will travel to Marseille on the evening of February 11. The French president will also host a dinner in honour of PM Modi.

On February 12, the two leaders will visit the war cemetery and there they will pay tribute to the sacrifices made by Indian Soldiers in World War 1.

The two leaders will jointly inaugurate the newest Consulate General of India in Marseille and will pay a visit to Kadash which is the site of the international thermal nuclear experimental reactor.

After concluding the France visit he will depart for the US to meet with President Donald Trump and interact with senior leaders of the US administration.

This will be the first meeting between the two leaders after President Trump assumed office for his second term.

Previously, PM Modi visited the USA in June 2017 and hosted President Trump for a state visit to India in February 2020.

The two leaders have also spoken on the phone twice since November 2024 (on November 6, 2024 and January 27, 2025). (ANI)

Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Monday said that the delay in the census has deprived 14 crore Indians of their rightful benefits under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), adding that food security is not a privilege but a fundamental right.

Speaking in the Rajya Sabha, Sonia Gandhi highlighted the four-year delay in conducting the census and expressed concerns that it is unlikely to be conducted this year as well.

“The National Food Security Act (NFSA) introduced by the UPA government in September 2013 was a landmark initiative aimed at ensuring food and nutritional security to the country’s 140 crore population. This legislation plays a crucial role in protecting millions of vulnerable households, particularly during the Covid 19 crisis. It is this act that provides the basis for the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana,” the CPP Chairperson said.

She said that under the NFSA, 75 per cent of the rural population and 50 per cent of the urban population are entitled to subsidized food grains, but the beneficiary quota is still determined based on the outdated 2011 Census.

“For the first time in independent history, the decennial census has been delayed by more than four years. Originally scheduled for 2021, there is still no clarity as to when the census will be conducted. The Budget allocations reveal that the updated census is unlikely to be conducted this year as well. Around 14 crore eligible Indians are thus being deprived of their rightful benefit under the NFSA,” she added.

She urged the Centre to prioritise the completion of the census to ensure that deserving individuals receive their rightful benefits.

“It is imperative that the government prioritises the completion of the census as soon as possible and ensures that all the deserving individuals receive the benefits guaranteed to them under the NFSA. Food security is not a privilege it’s a fundamental right,” she said.

The Budget Session of Parliament began on January 31, with President Droupadi Murmu delivering the inaugural address.

The first part of the session will continue till February 13. The second part will reconvene on March 10 and conclude on April 4. (ANI)

Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Sunday slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government at the Centre, accusing it of “weakening” the Constitution and democracy.

The Wayanad MP was speaking at the United Democratic Front booth-level leadership meeting at Sullamussalam Science College here.

Priyanka Gandhi won the by-polls from Wayanad held in November, after Congress leader and her brother, Rahul Gandhi vacated the seat as he had also won from Rae Bareli in the Lok Sabha elections.

“It is probably the first time in the history of our nation that we have a government which is working to weaken the Constitution and democracy,” Priyanka Gandhi said.

She told UDF workers that they are fighting to save Constitution and the “very essence of India.”

“The fight that we are fighting. The fight that all of you are fighting is not just a fight for our own politics or our own ideas. It is a fight for the Constitution of India, for the essence of India, for everything that makes our nation what it is to do,” she said.

“So you’re not just soldiers and warriors for the UDF. You are soldiers and warriors for the soul of India. It is through you that the people will understand the truth about what is going on in our country. Through you the people will understand we are fighting for their rights for them to be stronger and for our Constitution “she added.

Meanwhile, Priyanka Gandhi told reporters that she will continue to raise the man-animal conflict in her constituency Wayanad.

“I have already raised it once, I will continue to raise it and I think it’s something that we need to look into and it’s a complex issue. It doesn’t have easy solutions, but I will definitely put as much pressure and raise it as much as I can,” she said.

She highlighted that more funding is needed to resolve the man-animal conflict.

“We also need more funding here. During my last trip here I had a meeting with the District Magistrate and all the forest officials and essentially there is difficulty with the funding both from the centre and state,” she said.

“So I will go and request that these issues be resolved because, with more funding, there’s better monitoring, better safety measures, and better protection even for forest guards, watchmen and everything. So we will work on it,” she added. (ANI)

Atishi tendered her resignation as Delhi Chief Minister on Sunday, following her party’s loss in the assembly elections.

The Aam Aadmi Party leader submitted her resignation to Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena at the Raj Niwas on Sunday.

Atishi, 43, was serving as the Chief Minister of Delhi since September last year. Her elevation to the top post came after Kejriwal announced resignation from his post, days after resigning from the post. 

She became the third woman chief minister of Delhi after Sushma Swaraj and Sheila Dikshit.

AAP suffered a massive setback in the Delhi assembly elections, as it could secure only 22 seats, a huge drop from its previous tally of 62. 

The BJP won a historic mandate in Delhi polls on Saturday, returning to power in the national capital after 27 years by ousting AAP.

Atishi, however, retained the Kalkaji seat after a hard-fought contest and defeated BJP’s Ramesh Bidhuri by a margin of 3,521 votes.

Acknowledging her individual victory, Atishi conceded AAP’s defeat in the Delhi Assembly elections and vowed to continue fighting against the BJP.

Atishi’s win in Kalkaji constituency stands out for AAP, especially as several of its top leaders, including former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and ex-Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, lost their constituencies.

BJP’s Parvesh Verma emerged as a giant-killer in the assembly election with a decisive win of over 4,000 votes over former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in New Delhi seat.

The Congress, which was hoping for its revival in the national capital, again failed to win any seat. (ANI)