Team Anna spreading canards about me: PM

June 5, 2012

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New Delhi, June 5: First, Congress president Sonia Gandhi lit into the Opposition; then a combative Prime Minister Manmohan Singh took on Team Anna, without naming it, for the second time in a week, sharply attacking its members for spreading “canards and falsehoods” about him and his senior Ministers. On Monday, as the extended Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party's apex decision-making body, met at the Parliament House Annexe here, the two top leaders concentrated their firepower not just on their political rivals, but on all those holding them responsible for a range of ills, from corruption to policy paralysis.

But if the duo's sights were set on the government's critics, most of the 42 speakers at the day-long meeting, CWC sources told The Hindu, stressed that charges of corruption and high prices — including the recent hike in the petrol price — were together devastating the government and the party. This even though the Prime Minister spoke of his government taking “action on multiple fronts” to tackle “the menace of corruption” and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee explained how the prices of petroleum products could be rationalised with the cooperation of State governments, while giving the CWC members an overview of the grim economic situation and the steps planned to reverse it. Member after member said it was getting difficult to justify to their constituents the massive hike in petrol price.

Though there was no dissent, there was a great deal of candour, reflecting the desire in the party for changes that could dramatically lift the Congress' sagging fortunes.

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, CWC sources said, suggested another “Kamaraj Plan” (in 1963, senior Congress leader K. Kamaraj had suggested that all senior party leaders quit their ministerial posts to devote their energies to re-vitalise the Congress). Offering his own resignation as a start, Mr. Hooda urged Ms. Sonia Gandhi to take tough decisions like Indira Gandhi.

Several speakers, including special invitee Mohinder Singh Kaypee, also underscored the need for younger leaders to come forward, with CWC permanent invitee and former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi saying Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi must play a larger role in the party. Asked whether the subject of greater responsibilities for younger people was raised, Mr. Mukherjee told journalists: “The discussion was informative; members were candid. Younger leaders will have to come forward — the older chaps cannot continue for ever.”

Coalition blues

The problems of dealing with coalition partners also surfaced, with Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president Manikrao Thakre and his West Bengal counterpart Pradip Bhattacharya complaining about the Nationalist Congress Party and the Trinamool Congress — parties with which the Congress shares power in the two States: the two men, separately, the CWC sources said, expressed the view that the Congress should go it alone and build up its own organisations.

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News Network
November 15,2024

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Union minister Amit Shah on Friday, November 15, said PM Narendra Modi will amend the Waqf Act despite opposition from leaders like Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar.

"Modi ji wants to change the Waqf Board law, but Uddhav ji, Sharad Pawar and Supriya Sule are opposing it," Shah said, addressing a rally at Umarkhed in Maharashtra's Yavatmal district.

"Uddhav ji, listen carefully, you all can protest as much as you want, but Modi ji will amend the Waqf Act," he said. Shah said there are two camps in the November 20 Maharashtra assembly polls, one of 'Pandavas' represented by the BJP-led Mahayuti and the other of 'Kauravas' represented by Maha Vikas Aghadi.

"Uddhav Thackeray claims that his Shiv Sena is the real one. Can the real Shiv Sena go against renaming Aurangabad to Sambhajinagar? Can the real Shiv Sena go against renaming Ahmednagar to Ahilyanagar? The real Shiv Sena stands with the BJP," Shah said.

"Rahul Baba used to say that his government would credit money in the accounts of the people instantly. You were unable to fulfil your promises in Himachal, Karnataka, and Telangana," he said.

Shah said the Mahayuti alliance has promised that women will get Rs 2,100 per month under the Ladki Bahin Yojana. "Kashmir is an integral part of India and no power in the world can snatch it away from us," Shah said.

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News Network
November 12,2024

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The Taliban regime has appointed Ikramuddin Kamil as the acting consul in the Afghan mission in Mumbai, Afghan media has reported.

It is the first such appointment made by the Taliban set up to any Afghan mission in India.

There was no immediate comment from the Indian side on the appointment that came.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan has announced the appointment of Kamil as the acting consul in Mumbai, the Taliban-controlled Bakhtar News Agency reported on Monday, citing unnamed sources.

"He is currently in Mumbai, where he is fulfilling his duties as a diplomat representing the Islamic Emirate," it said.

The appointment is part of Kabul's efforts to strengthen diplomatic ties with India and enhance its presence abroad, the media outlet said

Kamil holds a PhD degree in international law and previously served as the deputy director in the department of security cooperation and border affairs in the foreign ministry, it said.

He is expected to facilitate consular services and represent the interests of Afghanistan in India, the report added.

Kamil's appointment comes days after the external affairs ministry's point-person for Afghanistan held talks with the Taliban's acting defence minister, Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, in Kabul.

Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, the Taliban's deputy foreign minister for political affairs, also posted on X about Kamil's appointment.

The appointment of Kamil is seen as part of efforts to facilitate consular services to the Afghan population in Mumbai.

There has been almost negligible presence of diplomatic staff at the Afghan missions in India.

Most of the diplomats appointed by the Ashraf Ghani government have already left India.

In May, Zakia Wardak, the seniormost Afghan diplomat in India, resigned from her position after reports emerged that she was caught at the Mumbai airport for allegedly trying to smuggle 25 kg of gold worth Rs 18.6 crore from Dubai.

Wardak had taken charge as the acting ambassador of Afghanistan to New Delhi late last year, after working as the Afghan consul general in Mumbai for more than two years.

She took charge of the Afghan embassy in New Delhi last November, after the mission helmed by then ambassador Farid Mamundzay announced its closure.

Mamundzay, who was an appointee of the Ghani government, had moved to the United Kingdom.

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News Network
November 21,2024

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Shares of Adani Group companies lost about $28 billion in market value in morning trade on Thursday after US prosecutors charged the billionaire chairman of the Indian conglomerate in an alleged bribery and fraud scheme.

Gautam Adani's flagship company Adani Enterprises tumbled 23 per cent, while Adani Ports, Adani Total Gas, Adani Green, Adani Power, Adani Wilmar and Adani Energy Solutions, ACC , Ambuja Cements and NDTV fell between 20 per cent and 90 per cent.

Adani group's 10 listed stocks had a total market capitalisation of about $141 billion at 0534 GMT, compared to $169.08 billion on Tuesday.

US authorities said Adani and seven other defendants, including his nephew Sagar Adani, agreed to pay about $265 million in bribes to Indian government officials to obtain contracts expected to yield $2 billion of profit over 20 years, and develop India's largest solar power plant project.

Adani Green in a statement on Thursday said the US Justice Department had issued a criminal indictment against board members Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani and the Securities and Exchange Commission had issued a civil complaint against them.

The US Justice Department also included Adani Green board member Vneet Jaain in the criminal indictment, it said.

Adani Green's units had decided not to proceed with the proposed US dollar denominated bond offerings due to developments, it added.

"Investors will shy away from Adani Group stocks ... and that's what this sharp selling is signifying," said Saurabh Jain, assistant vice president of retail equities research at SMC Global Securities.

"This could hurt the credibility of the group and maybe borrowing costs will rise," he said.

The indictment comes nearly two years after US shortseller Hindenburg Research alleged that Adani had improperly used tax havens and was involved in stock manipulation, allegations the conglomerate denied.

Also in early Asian trading on Thursday, Adani dollar bonds slumped, with prices down 3c-5c on bonds for Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone. The falls were the largest since the Adani Group came under a short-seller attack in February 2023.

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