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Category: Politics

  • PM panel to oversee Bose’s birth anniversary celebrations

    PM panel to oversee Bose’s birth anniversary celebrations

    A notification to this effect was issued on Friday by the Ministry of Culture in which 85 members, including the Prime Minister, have been named….reports Asian Lite News

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFk2P0DOUlc

    A high-level committee, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been constituted to commemorate the 125th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in a befitting manner.

    A notification to this effect was issued on Friday by the Ministry of Culture in which 85 members, including the Prime Minister, have been named.

    The committee will decide on the activities for a one-year long commemoration, beginning January 23.

    The members of the committee include eminent citizens, historians, authors, experts, family members of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, as well as persons associated with the Azad Hind Fauj.

    The committee will guide the commemoration activities in Delhi, Kolkata and other places associated with Netaji and the Azad Hind Fauj, both in India as well as overseas.

    Other members of the committee include Union Ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nirmala Sitharaman, Narendra Singh Tomar, Smriti Irani, Prakash Javadekar, Jitendra Singh and Prahlad Singh Patel.

    Minister of State for Environment Babul Supriyo and Minister of State for Women and Child Development Debasree Chaudhuri are also among the members.

    Former Prime Ministers H.D. Deve Gowda and Manmohan Singh have also been named as the members of the committee which also has Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Deputy Chairman Rajya Sabha Harivansh and former Lok Sabha Speakers Manohar Joshi, Shivraj Patil, Meira Kumar and Sumitra Mahajan.

    Besides, West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar and Manipur Governor Najma Heptullah as well as the Chief Ministers of West Bengal, Odisha, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and Meghalaya have also been included in the committee.

    The committee will approve policies, plans, programmes and supervise and guide the commemoration of the 125th birth anniversary of Netaji including preparatory activities. The members will also decide on the broad dates for the detailed programme of celebration.

    The recommendations of the committee will be considered by the Centre for implementation, subject to extant rules, instructions and practices.

    Also read:Modi: India all set with two ‘Made in India’ vaccines

  • Trump to skip Biden inauguration

    Trump to skip Biden inauguration

    U.S. President-Elect Joe Biden (L) and U.S. President Donald Trump. (Xinhua/IANS)

     In a widely expected move and breaking an over century-and-a-half old tradition, US President Donald Trump on Friday announced that he will not attend his successor Joe Biden’s swearing-in ceremony.

    “To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th,” tweeted Trump, who faces uncertainty as calls for his removal gain ground ahead of his term in the wake of the violence at the Capitol on Wednesday.

    His comments came less than 24 hours after he promised a “smooth, orderly and seamless transition of power” to his successor.

    Also Read – Twitter bans Trump account

    If Trump follows through as promised, he will be the first incumbent President since Andrew Johnson (in 1869) to skip his successor’s swearing-in ceremony.

    Trump, who had on Thursday grudgingly admitted that he would not be serving for a second term after claiming for long that fraud had deprived him of victory in the November 3 presidential elections, had not, however, even referred to Biden by name in it.

    He has been under a cloud after a mob stormed the Capitol where a joint session of Congress to certify the electoral college votes was underway, forcing its delay for few hours and drawing widespread outrage from the country and the world. Four people were killed in the violence, while a police officer, who was severely injured, has now succumbed to his injuries.

    In the wake of this, there have been calls for him to be impeached again or removed from office for inability. Long-time allies have deserted him, but Trump seems to remain determined to showcase his potential.

    Earlier on Friday, he had tweeted: “The 75,000,000 great American Patriots who voted for me, AMERICA FIRST, and MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, will have a GIANT VOICE long into the future. They will not be disrespected or treated unfairly in any way, shape or form!!!”

  • Congress rejects GOP objection to Biden’s Arizona win

    Congress rejects GOP objection to Biden’s Arizona win

    The objection was overturned by the Senate in an overwhelming vote of 93 to 6 late Wednesday night..reports Asian Lite News

    Following the violent protests at the Capitol building, the US Congress has voted to reject Republican lawmakers’ objection to President-elect Joe Biden’s victory over sitting President Donald Trump in the state of Arizona.

    The objection was overturned by the Senate in an overwhelming vote of 93 to 6 late Wednesday night, reports Xinhua news agency.

    Six Republican Senators voted for the objection.

    The House blocked the objection in a subsequent vote of 303 to 121.

    The US Congress convened in a joint session earlier in the day to certify Biden’s victory, but both the House and the Senate, which were separately debating an objection to the counting of Arizona’s electoral votes, had to recess and evacuate after thousands of Trump supporters breached the Capitol.

    Confrontations between law enforcement officers and protesters have caused injuries on both sides.

    Police of Washington D.C. said that four people have died in the chaos, while 52 others were arrested.

    Trump has refused to acknowledge defeat in the 2020 presidential race with Biden and has been pushing claims of a “fraudulent” election, which have been dismissed by US courts at different levels due to a profound lack of evidence.

    Also read:Biden may pick Vanita Gupta as Associate AG

  • Pelosi re-elected as US House Speaker

    Pelosi re-elected as US House Speaker

    On Sunday, Pelosi, 80, received support from 216 Democrats, with two of her colleagues voting for someone else and three others voting present…reports Asian Lite News

    Veteran Democratic Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi has been re-elected as Speaker of the US House of Representatives for a fourth time, but she has vowed that this will be her last term.

    On Sunday, Pelosi, 80, received support from 216 Democrats, with two of her colleagues voting for someone else and three others voting present, reports Xinhua news agency.

    Senator Kevin McCarthy, also from California, received all votes from the 209 Republicans present, allowing him to continue serving as Minority Leader.

    A veteran legislator who has served in the US Congress since 1987, Pelosi was elected the first woman to serve as House Speaker in 2007.

    She returned to the role in 2019 after the Democratic Party regained control of the chamber.

    The Sspeaker is the political and parliamentary leader of the US House.

    During the last two years, the White House and the Pelosi-led House had a strained relationship.

    The chamber impeached President Donald Trump in late 2019 after an inquiry triggered by a whistleblower complaint that raised concerns about the White House’s interactions with Ukraine.

    The Republican-led Senate later acquitted the President.

    Pelosi’s election as House speaker came as the 117th US Congress was sworn in on Sunday.

    In a letter to her colleagues on Sunday morning, Pelosi said the new Congress convenes “during a time of extraordinary difficulty”.

    “Each of our communities has been drastically affected by the pandemic and economic crisis: 350,000 tragic deaths, over 20 million infections, millions without jobs — a toll almost beyond comprehension,” she said.

    The balance of power in the 100-seat Senate will not be clear until after next week’s runoffs in the south-eastern state of Georgia.

    The new Congress will convene in a joint session on Wednesday to formally count the votes cast by the Electoral College in the 2020 presidential race – 306 for President-elect Joe Biden and 232 for Trump.

    Over the weekend, a group of Republicans have announced that they will contest the Electoral College results but their planned moves were unlikely to overturn Biden’s victory over Trump, who hasn’t conceded and is still pushing for claims of massive election fraud.

    Also read:Pelosi Wins reelection as House speaker

  • Trump pardons more former aides

    Trump pardons more former aides

    The three were among the 29 people to benefit from Trump’s latest pardons, an expression of the President’s forgiveness that confers extra privileges such as restoring the right to vote, before he leaves office on January 20…reports Asian Lite News

    Just less than a month before he leaves the White House, US President Donald Trump pardoned two of his former aides, Paul Manafort and Roger Stone, as well as his son-in-law Jared Kushner’s father, Charles, the media reported.

    The three were among the 29 people to benefit from Trump’s latest pardons, an expression of the President’s forgiveness that confers extra privileges such as restoring the right to vote, before he leaves office on January 20, the BBC reported.

    While 26 of them received full pardons on Wednesday night, three others got commutations, which usually is a form of reduced prison term, but does not erase the conviction or imply innocence.

    Reacting to the news, former campaign manager Manafort, who was spared from serving the majority of his seven-year-term for financial fraud and conspiracy, said: “Mr President, my family and I humbly thank you for the Presidential Pardon you bestowed on me. Words cannot fully convey how grateful we are.”

    Since May, he had been serving his sentence from home amid Covid-19 fears.

    Meanwhile, Stone, who was found guilty of lying to Congress about his attempts to contact Wikileaks, welcomed the pardon, saying he had been the victim of a “Soviet-style show trial on politically motivated charges”.

    Real estate magnate Charles Kushner was sentenced to two years in prison in 2004 for charges including tax evasion, campaign finance offences and witness tampering, the BBC report said.

    Wednesday’s clemecy came a day after 15 others were pardoned, which included four former Blackwater military contractors who were involved in a 2007 massacre in Iraq.

    Also read:Iraq urges Trump to reconsider ‘Blackwater pardons’

  • Romanian PM steps down

    Romanian PM steps down

    President Klaus Iohannis accepted Orban’s resignation late Monday night and appointed Defence Minister Nicolae Ciuca as interim Prime Minister..reports Asian Lite News

    Romanian Prime Minister Ludovic Orban has announced his resignation after his ruling National Liberal Party (PNL) leads failed to secure majority of the votes in the recently-held parliamentary elections.

    President Klaus Iohannis accepted Orban’s resignation late Monday night and appointed Defence Minister Nicolae Ciuca as interim Prime Minister, reports Xinhua news agency.

    Orban’s resignation is generally seen as clearing the way for his party to negotiate a future ruling alliance with other political parties.

    “The decision I took has a very precise objective…the negotiations to follow must lead to a government formed by the center-right political formations to clearly support Romania’s Euro-Atlantic orientation,” Orban said in a televised statement after announcing his resignation.

    With over 96 per cent votes counted, the Social Democrat Party leads the National Liberals by a decisive 5 percentage points, according to the latest partial results announced by Romania’s Central Electoral Office on Monday evening.

    The results of Sunday’s elections show that the National Liberals have around 25 per cent of votes, only next to the Soical Democrats, who have secured about 30 per cent.

    The USR-PLUS Alliance was placed the third with some 15 per cent of votes.

    For the time being, it is too early for either of the top rivals to call a victory.

    Orban has decided to talk about forming a new coalition with other future parliamentary parties in the post-election period to secure the ruling, while the USR-PLUS Alliance has repeatedly emphasized that it is impossible to participate in a cabinet he leads.

    Soon after Orban announced his resignation, the USR-PLUS Alliance said that it would pick Dacian Ciolos, one of the two co-chairs of the alliance, as its premier for a future coalition government.

    Romania held the parliamentary election on Sunday, with a total of 7,136 candidates competing for about 329 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 136 seats in the Senate.

    According to the latest partial results released by the Central Electoral Bureau, the Social Democratic Party has won the parliamentary election with 30.13 per cent of the votes cast for the Senate and 29.69 per cent for the Chamber of Deputies.

    The PNL came second by garnering 25.58 per cent and 25.18 per cent, respectively, for the two chambers of Parliament.

    Other parties to enter the new Parliament include the USR-PLUS Alliance with 15.24 and 14.75 percent, the Alliance for Unity of Romanians with 8.77 and 8.69 per cent, as well as the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania, with 6.13 and 5.98 per cent.

    The partial results show that no party is likely to win more than 50 per cent of the votes to hold the majority in the future Parliament.

    Thus, the future government will almost certainly be a coalition.

    Under Romania’s law, Orban’s cabinet will remain in office for at most 45 days as a caretaker administration led by Ciuca, before it is replaced by a new government.

    Also read:Germany extends Covid curbs till January

  • AL WEEKEND – Dec 5-6, 2020 – Can the Tories bring down Johnson?

    AL WEEKEND – Dec 5-6, 2020 – Can the Tories bring down Johnson?

    Asian Lite Daily Digital WEEKEND – Dec 5-6, 2020 – Can the Tories bring down Johnson? – please click here to read the full edition – https://bit.ly/36G9rhJ

  • White House Communications Director Alyssa Farah steps down

    White House Communications Director Alyssa Farah steps down

    Her last day at the White House is on Friday, and she reportedly plans to start a consulting firm focusing on the corporate, political and defence realms..reports Asian Lite News

    White House Communications Director Alyssa Farah has announced her resignation “to pursue new opportunities” outside the US administration.

    In a resignation letter obtained Thursday by CNBC, Farah called her tenure in the administration “the honor of a lifetime”.

    “I’m honoured to have worked with the entire team on Operation Warp (Speed) who helped usher in a safe and effective Covid-19 vaccine in record time that will save countless thousands of lives.

    “I’m forever grateful to have had the opportunity to serve my country,” she added in the letter.

    Her last day at the White House is on Friday, and she reportedly plans to start a consulting firm focusing on the corporate, political and defence realms, reports Xinhua news agency.

    Farah previously served as press secretary for US Vice President Mike Pence and spokesperson for the Pentagon.

    White House Communications Director is a senior member of the presidential staff, responsible for crafting and promoting the message and agenda of the administration.

    Also read:Kamala Harris picks senior White House aides

  • Can the Tories bring down Johnson?

    Can the Tories bring down Johnson?

    Never in British politics has a leader’s authority and power vanished so quickly after such a historic triumph. This sort of backbench revolt takes place in the fourth or fifth year or more often in the second term…writes Mihir Bose

    UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson

    It is hard to imagine that it is a year since Boris Johnson carved out his great election triumph, turning the red wall blue and wining an 80 seat majority in Parliament. Then it seemed he really was King, something he has wanted to be since he was a child, and he could do what he wanted. For as long as he wanted. Now suddenly if the noises from the Tory back benches are to be believed Johnson is treading water. His plans for the new tiers faced opposition from his own MPs, some of whom voted against him and there are signs that future measures which curtail what we can do will face even greater opposition. Indeed, if the revolt grows he could be toppled. Never in British politics has a leader’s authority and power vanished so quickly after such a historic triumph. This sort of backbench revolt takes place in the fourth or fifth year or more often in the second term.

    So why has this happened?

    There are several reasons for it. First Johnson was never really liked by the party in Westminster. They saw that he could win elections and backed him. Then there is the Dom Cummings factor. A man who really did not like the Tories and is in some ways a revolutionary, albeit from the right, was allowed to seize power and dictate to elected MPs. Even a Prime Minister who has won a fantastic majority needs to cultivate his backbench MPs and having Cummings in charge did the exact opposite.

    Boris Johnson during a visit to Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading, with Great British Bake Off judge Prue Leith, to mark the publication of a new review into hospital food. Picture by Andrew Parsons No 10 Downing Street

    Also, what is now emerging even more is that Johnson can win elections but he is really not a man who knows how to govern. To lead a team you need someone who can work to a plan and take decisions. Johnson clearly has no such ability.  He often comes out with ideas that make headlines but no sense. Remember as London Mayor his idea of building d a Thames Estuary  airport, which became known as Boris Island, so as to avoid expanding Heathrow. He surrounds himself with people he gets on with and his team can often be a collection of individuals who have very conflicting aims and objectives. That it required the latest woman with whom he has had a child to intervene and make Cummings leave shows how chaotic his style of working is. At the end of the day he is a newspaper columnist. He has an idea in his head which he works into a fine, very readable piece of work but they are often sentiments he might repudiate in his next column. There is not one Boris Johnson but many Boris Johnsons and his Prime Ministership is showing you never know which one is going to turn up.

    Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the Chancellor Rishi Sunak join Gemma Connell from the Royal Squadron at RAF Northolt in her 24 hour cycle Challenge to raise money for Great Ormond Street 10 Downing Street. Picture by Andrew Parsons / No 10 Downing Street

    Add to this the essential contradiction of his appeal. Tory grass roots love him because they like his style and they feel he is just the sort of Tory leader they have always aspired to have. The one they imagined used to lead the party and has now returned in the shape of Johnson. But in reality his basic political inclinations are far removed from them. He is in many ways a Tory liberal when most of them are well to the right of politics. They would like to halt immigration, certainly people of colour, while Johnson is not fundamentally opposed to immigration. They are also instinctively much more ‘small state’: no spending, fond of austerity Tories than he is.

    Prime Minister Boris Johnson chairs the weekly Cabinet Meeting in the Foreign & Commonwealth Office. Picture by Pippa Fowles / No 10 Downing Street.

    And this is where his electoral triumph has produced an extra problem. This has come with the takeover of the Labour heartland in the north and the midlands which has added a fair number of working class voters to the Conservative ranks. Now working classes voting Conservative is not a historic first. They did so in the 30s. But since the end of the second world war they have not done so in such large numbers. But as Labour has become more middle class and also now attracts a large slice of  the university educated vote, what has been called the Islington class, Johnson has managed to move in and take over some of their former working class supporters. His promise to them has been that he will level up. In other words reduce the gap that exists between metropolitan London and the north.

    The pandemic has meant all that has been put on hold. However once things return to what approaches normality again Johnson will need to cater to them and if he does not he may find that his dream of a long reign as King may indeed prove just that a dream. And, as in all kingdoms, it is the people nearest the monarch who will put the knife in.

    Also Read – Modi Invites Boris As Chief Guest At Republic Day

  • Senate to block Trump’s UAE arms sale

    Senate to block Trump’s UAE arms sale

    “It’s ready, it has privilege on the floor. We are gathering support for it and I would think sometime next week,” the Senator was quoted as saying in the statement…reports Asian Lite News

    The US Senate will vote next week on whether to block President Donald Trump’s arms sale to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a top official announced.

    In a statement on Thursday, New Jersey Democrat Senator Bob Menendez said that he expctes to bring up the votes next week, which he will be able to do without backing from the Republicans because of the rules governing arms sale resolutions, reports The Hill news website.

    “It’s ready, it has privilege on the floor. We are gathering support for it and I would think sometime next week,” the Senator was quoted as saying in the statement.

    The announcement comes after Menendez, along with Senators Rand Paul (Republican) and Chris Murphy (Democrat) introduced four resolutions of disapproval to block the $23 billion sale to the UAE of F-35 fighter jets, armed drones, missiles and bombs.

    Last month, the administration notified that it approved selling the UAE up to 50 F-35s worth $10.4 billion, up to 18 MQ-9B drones worth $2.97 billion and a package of air-to-air and air-to-ground munitions worth $10 billion.

    If every Democrat backs the resolutions, the party would need three Republican senators to get to 51 votes.

    Since Paul is a co-sponsor that means they would only need an additional two Republican senators, The Hill news website report said.

    Last year, Congress voted to block arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the UAE amid outrage over the killing of journalist and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

    Also read:US Commission Report Reveals China Planned Galwan Clashes