Relay hunger strike to continue
Veterans protesting the delay in the implementation of the One Rank One Pension scheme called off their indefinite hunger strike after Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday ssued a clarification on the programme. Modi said that those seeking early retirement from the armed forces would also be eligible to receive the benefits of the pension programme. However, some ex-servicemen said that they would continue to hold a relay hunger strike until all their demands were met. They added that they would hold a “mega rally” in New Delhi on September 12. Veteran's associations have listed four points of disagreement with the government's plan, including the time period set for the equalisation of pensions and the base year for the calculation of salaries.
VHP calls on Muslims to control population
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Sunday called on Muslims to control their community’s population by following family planning procedures just “like other communities in India” do. The VHP’s central committee passed a resolution on the matter after discussions on the recently-released Census data, which showed an overall growth in the Muslim population between 2001 and 2011 (though the organisation failed to note that the rate of increased had slowed significantly). VHP central-secretary RS Pankaj said that Muslims needed to “distance themselves from the practice of having several wives and producing more children” so that they could focus on controlling their population. Other VHP leaders said that the Hindu community would be affected by this “population imbalance”.
India open to covert operations to target enemies
Union Minister RS Rathore on Sunday said that India was open to carrying out a covert operation to target its enemies, including underworld gangster Dawood Ibrahim and Jama’at-ud-Da’wah leader Hafeez Saeed. In an interview, Rathore said that while the Narendra Modi-led Central government had prepared a dossier to handover to Pakistan, it was ready to use “other means” to achieve its objectives. “We are always ready to neutralise our enemies,” Rathore said.
Modi’s first-year foreign trips cost Rs 37 crore
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s trips abroad during his first year in office cost the exchequer over Rs 37 crore. Documents accessed under the Right to Information Act showed that Modi visited 20 countries between June 2014 and June 2015. His trip to Australia was the most expensive. At least Rs 8 crore was spent on hotels and cars for the Prime Minister and his delegation. Modi has been criticised by opposition parties for his visits abroad, with some parties calling him an “absentee Prime Minister”.
Rahul, AICC to form action plan against government
Congress officials on Sunday said that party vice president Rahul Gandhi would meet with All India Congress Committee representatives to form an action plan to “highlight the failures” of the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance government. The officials said that Gandhi would meet with Congress chief ministers and opposition leaders in state assemblies to review their performance. The central leadership of the Congress is expected to brief state officials about the party’s proposed amendments to the Goods and Services Tax Bill. The meeting comes a day ahead of a session of the Congress Working Committee, which is expected to extend the tenure of party President Sonia Gandhi till the next session of the AICC.
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Veterans protesting the delay in the implementation of the One Rank One Pension scheme called off their indefinite hunger strike after Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday ssued a clarification on the programme. Modi said that those seeking early retirement from the armed forces would also be eligible to receive the benefits of the pension programme. However, some ex-servicemen said that they would continue to hold a relay hunger strike until all their demands were met. They added that they would hold a “mega rally” in New Delhi on September 12. Veteran's associations have listed four points of disagreement with the government's plan, including the time period set for the equalisation of pensions and the base year for the calculation of salaries.
VHP calls on Muslims to control population
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Sunday called on Muslims to control their community’s population by following family planning procedures just “like other communities in India” do. The VHP’s central committee passed a resolution on the matter after discussions on the recently-released Census data, which showed an overall growth in the Muslim population between 2001 and 2011 (though the organisation failed to note that the rate of increased had slowed significantly). VHP central-secretary RS Pankaj said that Muslims needed to “distance themselves from the practice of having several wives and producing more children” so that they could focus on controlling their population. Other VHP leaders said that the Hindu community would be affected by this “population imbalance”.
India open to covert operations to target enemies
Union Minister RS Rathore on Sunday said that India was open to carrying out a covert operation to target its enemies, including underworld gangster Dawood Ibrahim and Jama’at-ud-Da’wah leader Hafeez Saeed. In an interview, Rathore said that while the Narendra Modi-led Central government had prepared a dossier to handover to Pakistan, it was ready to use “other means” to achieve its objectives. “We are always ready to neutralise our enemies,” Rathore said.
Modi’s first-year foreign trips cost Rs 37 crore
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s trips abroad during his first year in office cost the exchequer over Rs 37 crore. Documents accessed under the Right to Information Act showed that Modi visited 20 countries between June 2014 and June 2015. His trip to Australia was the most expensive. At least Rs 8 crore was spent on hotels and cars for the Prime Minister and his delegation. Modi has been criticised by opposition parties for his visits abroad, with some parties calling him an “absentee Prime Minister”.
Rahul, AICC to form action plan against government
Congress officials on Sunday said that party vice president Rahul Gandhi would meet with All India Congress Committee representatives to form an action plan to “highlight the failures” of the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance government. The officials said that Gandhi would meet with Congress chief ministers and opposition leaders in state assemblies to review their performance. The central leadership of the Congress is expected to brief state officials about the party’s proposed amendments to the Goods and Services Tax Bill. The meeting comes a day ahead of a session of the Congress Working Committee, which is expected to extend the tenure of party President Sonia Gandhi till the next session of the AICC.
