India, Maldives ink 6 pacts
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih held wide-ranging talks on Saturday as the two countries signed six agreements to strengthen bilateral cooperation in key areas like defence and maritime security.
Mr. Modi arrived in the Indian Ocean archipelago on Saturday on his first foreign visit after re-election as Prime Minister to strengthen the bilateral ties, reflecting the importance India attaches to its ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy.
The first Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was for cooperation in the fields of hydrography. Another was on health.
The other agreements included on the establishment of passenger and cargo services by sea, cooperation in customs capacity building between the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs of India and the Maldives Customs Service.
Mamata responsible for rise of BJP-RSS in Bengal: Somen Mitra
West Bengal Congress president Somen Mitra on Saturday blamed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for the rise of BJP and RSS in the state, saying had she not pusued policy of “blatant minority appeasement”, the saffron party would not have gained footing here.
WBPCC chief further said that Ms. Banerjee who had been poaching leaders of the opposition parties was now facing difficulty to protect own existence, hinting at exodus of Trinamool Congress leaders to the BJP.
Talking to reporters in Kolkata Mr. Mitra lambasted Ms. Banerjee for “weakening” the opposition unity which helped the BJP in the general election.
In the non-BJP camp, the TMC, CPI-M and Congress fought separately in Bengal.
The BJP bagged 18 Lok Sabha seats in Bengal out of a total of 42, only four less than TMC. Congress managed to win two seats, down from four in 2014. CPI-M which ruled Bengal for 34 years, drew a blank.
Buoyed by the massive victory, the saffron party’s leaders have been asserting that they will overthrow the Trinamool Congress government in the 2021 assembly polls.
“Mamata Banerjee is solely responsible for the rise of BJP and RSS in Bengal. Had she not pursued the policy of blatant minority appeasement, BJP wouldn’t have found a footing in Bengal.
“Her policy of removing all opposition, poaching on opposition leaders and representatives has only led to the rise of BJP. Now she has no right to complain about it,” Mitra told reporters.
Those who once strengthened the hands of BJP to weaken Congress will now find it difficult to protect their own existence, Mitra said apparently referring to flight of TMC leaders to BJP in Bengal.
“Even before elections, Mamata Banerjee was busy with her dreams of becoming Prime Minister. Time and again she had tried to undermine the Congress leadership,” Mr. Mitra, who replaced Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury as West Bengal Congress president in September last, said.
Mr. Mitra, however, lamented that had there been a CPI (M)-Congress alliance in the state, the march of BJP could have been halted in the state.
“The CPI(M) was not serious about alliance. They tried to impose their decisions on us. That’s the reason the alliance didn’t work out,” he said.
Modi arrives in Maldives on 1st foreign visit after re-election
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in the Maldives on Saturday on his first foreign visit after re-election, reflecting the importance India attaches to its ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy.
Mr. Modi was received at Male airport by Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid.
The visit is aimed at further cementing ties with the Indian Ocean archipelago.
Prime Minister Modi will be conferred with the Maldives’ highest honour “Rule of Nishan Izzuddeen” during his visit.
Kerala as dear to me as Varanasi, says Modi in Guruvayur
Having won a massive mandate, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said political parties and pundits failed to gauge the public mood ahead of the Lok Sabha election and thanked the electorate for reposing confidence in the saffron party.
In his first public engagement after leading the BJP to a grand victory in the general election, retaining power for a successive term, Mr. Modi said he made Kerala his first stop after the win despite having no MP from the state since it was as dear to him as his constituency Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.
Terming the just concluded Lok Sabha election to 542 seats as a “festival of democracy,” Mr. Modi lauded and thanked the electorate of Kerala for their contribution to it.
Rahul meets delegations, receives complaints at Wayanad Collectorate
Tea break: Congress president Rahul Gandhi taking a break at a tea shop in Chokkad town, Nilambur, on Friday. Special Arrangement
Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who is on a three-day visit to his parliamentary constituency-Wayanad, arrived at the MP facilitation centre in the district Collectorate here and accepted memorandums and complaints from the people.
Representatives of farmers, tribals and other marginalised sections of the high-range constituency were among those who visited and appraised him about their issues.
The Congress chief also held discussions with the local representatives, party leaders and officials of the district and collected information on various pressing issues of the Parliamentary constituency, which is spread across the north Kerala districts of Wayanad, Malappuram and Kozhihode.
25 Ministers in Jagan's Cabinet
Botcha Satyanarayana
Twenty-five YSRCP MLAs including Dharmana Krishna Das, Botcha Satyanarayana, Pamula Pushpa Srivani, and Muthamsetti Srinivasa Rao (Avanti Srinivas) were sworn in as Cabinet Ministers a week after Jagan Mohan Reddy was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.
Korasala Kannababu, Pilli Subhash Chandrabose, Alla Kali Krishna Sriniva, Cherukuwada Sri Ranganatha Raju, and Taneti Vanitha are among those who were sworn in on Saturday.
Sambangi China Appala Naidu sworn-in as pro-tem Speaker of AP Legislative Assembly
YSRCP MLA Sambangi China Appala Naidu was sworn in as pro-tem Speaker of Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly. Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan administered the oath.
As the pro-tem Speaker, Mr. Naidu will administer the oath of all the newly-elected MLAs, including Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy, and Leader of Opposition N. Chandrababu Naidu.
Jagan Mohan Reddy assumes charge as Andhra Pradesh CM
Jagan Mohan Reddy takes charge as AP CM
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy took charge at his designated chamber at the Secretariat at 8.39 a.m. Senior bureaucrats, Secretariat staff and other leaders welcomed him amid Vedic chants by pundits. He, along with Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan, is scheduled to take part in the oath-taking ceremony of Cabinet Ministers at the Secretariat later in the day.
The Chief Minister affixed his signature on orders related to Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA), Anantapur expressway and journalist health scheme. As promised earlier, Mr. Jagan hiked the salaries of ASHA workers from ₹3,000 to ₹10,000.
As he took charge, the BJP reminds him of the action to be taken on the 'sand mafia' in the State on Twitter. "In the name of free sand, benamis of Chandrababu Naidu amassed crores of rupees selling sand illegally. Everyone involved in this should be inquired and punished," tweeted BJP State president Kanna Lakshmi Narayana.
PM Modi reaches Guruvayur to offer prayers at Lord Krishna temple
Prime Minister Narendra Modi before leaving for Guruvayur temple in Kerala. He was seen off by Governor P. Sathasivam, Chief Secretary Tom Jose and Vice Admiral Anil Chawla, chief of the Southern Naval Command.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached Guruvayur in Thrissur, Kerala on Saturday morning to offer prayers at the famed Lord Krishna temple.
PM Modi left Kochi at 9.20 a.m and his helicopter landed at Sree Krishna College ground near here at 9.50 a.m.
The PM reached here in a special naval helicopter from the Kochi naval airport.
After an hour-long ‘darshan’ at the temple, the PM will address a party meeting — Abhinandan Sabha — being organised by the BJP Kerala State committee.
This will be Mr. Modi’s first public meeting after assuming the chair of the Prime Minister for a second consecutive term.
He arrived in Kochi late on Friday night and was received at the naval airport by Kerala Governor P. Sathasivam , Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan and State Devaswam Minister Kadakampally Surendran.
He stayed at the Government Guest House in Kochi.
- PTI
