BJP panel meets Gandhi, Yechury, Advani, but takes no names

New Delhi, Jun 16 (PTI) A BJP panel today met top leaders of the Congress and the Left and consulted party veteran L K Advani on the upcoming presidential election, but its reluctance to name candidates prompted the opposition to question the exercise aimed at evolving a broad consensus on the issue.

Union ministers Rajnath Singh and M Venkaiah Naidu, two members of the panel formed by BJP chief Amit Shah, met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury and BJP veterans Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi.

A source said the two ministers informed Advani the panel had started talks with other leaders as directed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah, but did not refer to any likely candidates.

Criticising the BJP for not naming possible candidates, Yechury called the talks "more of a PR exercise" and reiterated the person occupying the president's post had to be an individual with "impeccable" secular credentials.

The BJP leaders did not propose a name but instead asked Congress leaders about their choices, party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said after the ministers met Gandhi and other party leaders.

"We expected the BJP leaders to come up with some name, one or more, for the post of the president of India, so that the Congress could take a call on that. But nothing of that kind happened," he said.

Sources said Singh and Naidu -- the panel's third member, Arun Jaitley, is abroad -- told the opposition leaders that the party would like to finalise the name of the candidate for the post before Modi left on a foreign tour on June 24.

The BJP may finalise its nominee two or three days before the PM's departure.

A BJP leader played down the opposition criticism, saying the idea behind the consultation was to seek the views of leaders from different political parties. It also aimed at garnering support for a common candidate, he said.

The ministers also asked Yechury and other Left leaders at the meeting if they needed to put up an opposition candidate "just for the sake of it", the sources said.

The BJP ministers first met Gandhi at her 10 Janpath residence in the morning. Azad and Mallikarjun Kharge were also present during the 30-minute meeting.

This was the first meeting between the government and the opposition under the BJP's outreach to stitch a consensus on the official nominee for the post.

The ministers also declined to name possible candidate at their meeting with Yechury and other Left leaders.

"They told us they want our support. We said fine, tell us the basis for the support, who is the candidate. But that they did not convey; they will take some time to do that," Yechury said after their 30-minute meeting.

He said the opposition parties would wait till the BJP completed its discussions with them before they took a call on their candidate for the July 17 election.

Naidu explained the objectives of the consultation process to the opposition leaders, saying that the prime minister and the BJP chief wished for such discussions before the candidate was finalised and were keen to seek the views of the parties and their support.

Naidu also had a conversation on this with NCP Chief Sharad Pawar over the phone and met AIADMK leader Thambidurai.

The minister met SP veteran Mulayam Singh Yadav and the BSP's Satish Misra, who put him through to his leader, Mayawati, on the phone.

A top BJP leader said the party was ready with the formalities of filing nomination papers. It had identified the names of proposers and seconders in different sets of nominations to be filed in favour of their candidate.

The BJP has also called a meeting of those MPs and MLAs who would propose and second the official candidate in Delhi on June 20.

Asked if it meant the party would decide on its nominee by then, a senior leader said the two issues were not linked.

BJP allies -- Ramvilas Paswan's LJP, Upendra Kushwaha's RLSP and Chandrababu Naidu's TDP -- have already authorised Modi to take a decision on the presidential candidate, saying they would support it.

Opposition leaders have said they will put up their own candidate if the BJP opted for a person with "strong Hindutva leanings".

Congress senior spokesperson Ajay Maken told reporters that it would be "good" if there was a consensus on the issue.

He, however, said the ruling party should first come out with its candidate to help bring about a consensus.

Speaking to reporters after his meeting with Singh and Naidu, CPI general secretary S Sudhakar Reddy said he appreciated the government's initiative to reach out to the opposition parties, but insisted that contenders for the post have "secular and democratic" credentials.

"We said if they can think of a democratic, secular candidate, we can consider it (the candidature)," Reddy said after the meeting that last almost 30 minutes.

CPI national secretary D Raja, who was with Reddy at the meet, said the Left party too did not propose any names during the talks.

"They (the government) wanted our suggestion. We said, please tell us your suggestions as the ruling party. Then we will see," Raja said.

Jadhav case: ICJ asks India to make submission by Sept 13, Pak by Dec 13

New Delhi/Islamabad, Jun 16 (PTI) The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has asked India to make its submission in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case by September 13, the Ministry of External Affairs said today and debunked Pakistan's claim that its request seeking more time in case had been rejected.

Pakistan has been asked by the court to complete its submission by December 13 this year, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay said.

Asked about Pakistan's claim that India's request for more time in the case has been rejected by the ICJ, Baglay said it was not true as India had sought four months and had got that with the court fixing the deadline in September.

Earlier, Pakistan's Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf Ali was quoted by Dawn News as saying that, India had asked the ICJ to offer it time till December to file pleadings in the Jadhav case, however, "the court has dismissed their request".

"India had adopted the stance that the matter was one of life and death, but Pakistan had stated that the ICJ is not a court of appeals. The ICJ is supposed to conclude whether or not Jadhav can receive consular access, for which a time period of two to three months is more than enough to file a response," he said.

Baglay said the timelines had been decided in the June 8 meeting ICJ President Ronny Abraham had with agents of the two countries.

Asked if the hearing in the case would begin after the submissions of the two countries, Baglay said the court will decide if it needs more submissions and then take a call on the future course of action.

In a hearing of the case on May 18, a 10-member bench of the ICJ restrained Pakistan from executing 46-year-old Jadhav, a retired Indian Navy officer who has been awarded death sentence by a Pakistan army court for alleged "involvement in espionage and terrorist activities in Pakistan".

India moved the ICJ against the death sentence on May 8, describing the charges against Jadhav as "concocted" and his trial as "farcical".

Israel's prime minister: Med pipeline would be 'revolution'

Thessaloniki (Greece), Jun 15 (AP) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised today to promote plans for an ambitious Mediterranean undersea natural gas pipeline project, in a bid by his country to become a key European energy supplier.

Israel is hoping to export much of its newly discovered natural gas to Europe by a proposed 2,200-kilometer (1,350- mile) undersea pipeline to Cyprus and Greece.

"It's something we're very excited about," Netanyahu said in Thessaloniki, Greece's second-largest city.

"Of course the idea of the East Med pipeline would be a revolution. We've had preliminary studies of it. It seems promising and we're going to look further."

Netanyahu met with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades, after the three countries signed a joint declaration in Tel Aviv in April to promote construction of the pipeline.

Greece and Israel are also planning an undersea electricity cable link and are also considering a Mediterranean data cable.

Once frosty, Israel's ties with Greece and Cyprus have markedly improved in recent years, coinciding with a spat between Israel and regional rival Turkey.

"There's a simple fact with Cyprus, Greece and Israel that brings us very close together. We are all democracies real democracies," Netanyahu said.

"And when you look at our region ... that's not a common commodity."

The three countries now hold frequent joint military and civil protection exercises, including the recent "Kinyras- Saul" exercises that involved special forces from Cyprus and Israel.

More than 3,500 police officers were deployed around the city, which historically had a large Jewish community that was almost wiped out during the Nazi occupation in World War II.

While in Thessaloniki, Netanyahu was also visiting several Jewish sites, including the grounds of a planned Holocaust museum.

Later Thursday, two pro-Palestinian rallies are planned.

A group of demonstrators held a separate protest inside the offices of state-run ET3 television, and a videotaped message was broadcast by the station.

"We would swap our prime minister for a Palestinian activist," protest organizer Petros Gotsis said. "(Tsipras) is no longer on our side.

Sensex closes higher, Nifty advances as inflation cools

Mumbai, Jun 14 (PTI) Stocks were restrained in their movement today ahead of the US Fed policy decision as the Sensex saw deep fluctuations, but managed to close with an upward bias taking cues from a falling inflation.

Banking stocks were in the spotlight as the RBI identified 12 major NPA accounts for insolvency proceedings, which will be referred to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code for quicker resolution.

Inflation based on the wholesale price index fell to a five-month low of 2.17 per cent in May, which boosted investors' expectations that the RBI may finally snip rates.

But they decided not to go the whole hog as they waited for the US Federal Reserve's policy move later in the day.

The 30-share Sensex resumed higher before settling at 31,155.91, a gain of 52.42 points, or 0.17 per cent. The gauge had gained 7.79 points in the previous session.

The 50-share Nifty also ended higher by 11.25 points, or 0.12 per cent, at 9,618.15.

In the meantime, the Cabinet paved the way for a proposal to introduce a Bill in Parliament for setting up a Resolution Corporation to deal with bankruptcy in banks, giving the stocks more good news. The Nifty PSU Bank index jumped by 0.92 per cent.

"PSU banks exhibited a sharp surge taking cues from NPA resolution policies being formulated by RBI and bank consolidation plans from the central government," said Anand James, Chief Market Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

RIL, L&T, Dr Reddy's and ICICI Bank ended higher.

In 30-share Sensex, RIL gained the most by 3.30 per cent on reports that its subsidiary Reliance Jio added 4 million new users to reach a consumer base of 112.55 million.

Sector-wise, the BSE realty rose by 1.50 per cent.

Capital goods, oil and gas and PSU counters provided support.

The broader market outperformed the key indices, with the small-cap index rising 0.46 per cent and the mid-cap 0.01 per cent.

Asia offered a mixed picture at the close. Key indices in Europe climbed.

Foreign funds sold shares net Rs 312.40 crore while domestic investors bought Rs 304.58 crore yesterday, as per provisional figures.

India successfully test fired ATGM Nag

Successful Flight Test of ATGM Nag

The Anti-Tank Guided Missile Nag was successfully flight tested today in the desert ranges of Rajasthan. The Fire and Forget 3rd generation ATGM Nag is incorporated with many advanced technologies including the Imaging Infrared Radar (IIR) Seeker with integrated avionics, a capability which is possessed by few nations in the world.

The capabilities of the top attack ATGM Nag is unique in nature and in today’s mission it successfully destroyed the target. The test has been carried out by DRDO Scientists of the Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Missile Complex at Hyderabad, DL Jodhpur, HEMRL and ARDE at Pune. Also the ground systems were developed by the Ordnance Factory, BEL and L&T. Senior officials from the Armed Forces participated in the tests.

SA to RM & Director General (Missiles and Strategic Systems) Dr. G. Satheesh Reddy witnessed the launch and said “The successful flight test of 3rd generation ATGM Nag further strengthens the country’s defence capabilities.”

Secretary, Department of Defence R&D and Chairman, DRDO Dr. S. Christopher congratulated all the team members and armed forces who have been part of the mission.

Sharif summoned to appear before Panama Papers probe panel on June 15

Islamabad, Jun 12 (PTI) Embattled Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will become Pakistan's first sitting premier to depose before a Joint Investigation Team probing the high-profile Panamagate graft case when he appears before it on Thursday.

The unprecedented development will make Sharif the first incumbent to appear before such a panel, let alone one probing allegations of financial irregularities or fraud against nearly his entire family, going back three generations, Dawn newspaper reported.

Joint Investigation Team (JIT) chief Wajid Zia, in a letter dated Saturday, asked the prime minister to appear before the six-member probe team at 11:00 AM (11:30 IST) on June 15 with all documents relevant to the case.

The summon was issued to Sharif, 67, after he returned from his Kazakhstan visit where he attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit.

The JIT s summons also reminded Sharif to "kindly bring along relevant record/documents/material" related to the Panama Papers case. This will entail nearly all the documents and evidence submitted before the Supreme Court by the Prime Minister's counsel, Makhdoom Ali Khan.

The report also said that Finance Minister Ishaq Dar may also be questioned by the team before Sharif's appearance.

In its judgement of April 20 in the Panama Papers case, the Supreme Court had constituted a JIT and empowered it to summon the prime minister, his sons and any other person necessary, to investigate allegations of money-laundering, through which the four apartments in London's posh Park Lane area were purchased.

Sharif had met with his close aides yesterday in Lahore to discuss the issue. After consulting with them, the prime minister has decided to honour the summons and appear before the JIT on Thursday.

Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Heritage Marriyum Aurangzeb, talking to some TV channels, said that the prime minister had received the JIT summons and in pursuance of the Supreme Court's order of April 20, he would ensure his presence accordingly.

The Joint Investigation Team had questioned Sharif's sons -- Hussain and Hasan -- last month over the family's alleged improper business dealings.

His eldest son Hussain was questioned five times while Hasan, the younger son, was summoned twice.

The court last year took up the case and issued a split decision over allegations of money laundering when Sharif was prime minister in 1990s.

On May 5, the Supreme Court set up a high-level six- member JIT to probe Sharif and his sons' alleged corruption in the Panama Papers case.

The JIT is bound to complete the probe in 60 days unless it is granted additional time.

It is for the first time that a sitting prime minister would appear before a high-level probe team traditionally constituted to investigate high-profile criminal cases.

It is not yet clear that Sharif will be questioned for once or would be called again like his two sons.

Trump intervenes in Gulf rift, pointing at Qatar over militant funding

U.S. President Donald Trump sits down to a meeting with of Gulf Cooperation Council leaders, including Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (R), during their summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia May 21, 2017. 

U.S. President Donald Trump, wading into the worst split between powerful Arab states in decades, said on Tuesday his trip to the Middle East was "already paying off" with leaders there taking a hard new line in accusing Qatar of funding of militant groups.

His blunt remarks cast the anti-Islamist speech he gave at a Riyadh summit in May as the inspiration for a decision by leading Arab powers to sever ties and transport links to Qatar in protest at what they say is its support for terrorism.

In fact, U.S. officials were blindsided by Saudi Arabia's decision to sever diplomatic ties with Qatar in a coordinated move with Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, current and former officials in Washington told Reuters.

"So good to see the Saudi Arabia visit with the King and 50 countries already paying off. They said they would take a hard line on funding extremism, and all reference was pointing to Qatar. Perhaps this will be the beginning of the end to the horror of terrorism!" Trump on Twitter.

The comments -- Trump's first about the rift between Qatar and major Arab nations over its alleged support of Iran and Islamist groups -- emerged at a delicate moment in the crisis as the leader of Kuwait was to meet in Saudi Arabia to try to mediate the dispute.

Qatar vehemently denies the accusations against it, calling them baseless. Ordinary Qataris, however, were to be found crowding into supermarkets to stock up on goods against the crisis.

Trump said, in apparent reference to top Gulf Arab powers Saudi Arabia and the UAE, that leaders he met on his trip had warned him Qatar was funding "radical ideology" after he had demanded they take action to stop financing militants.

It was not immediately clear what effect Trump's high profile intervention in the crisis would have.

U.S. officials had said on Monday that the United States would quietly try to calm the waters between Saudi Arabia and Qatar, arguing that the small Gulf state was too important to U.S. military and diplomatic interests to be isolated.

Qatar hosts 8,000 U.S. military personnel at al Udeid, the largest U.S. air base in the Middle East and a staging ground for U.S.-led strikes on the Islamic State militant group that has seized parts of Syria and Iraq.



There are also deep financial and business links between the two based on Qatar's leading world role in gas.

Deuba elected Nepal PM

Kathmandu, Jun 6 (PTI) Sher Bahadur Deuba, a veteran politician known for his close ties with India, was today overwhelmingly elected the prime minister of Nepal for the fourth time, taking over the reigns of the country at a time the Himalayan nation navigates through a political turmoil.

Deuba, the president of Nepal's oldest party, the Nepali Congress, was elected the 40th prime minister of the country's young democracy, following a voting in the parliament, during which he secured 388 votes out of a total of 558 votes cast.

He was the only contender in the election.

The 70-year-old succeeds Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda', who last month resigned to honour a power-sharing deal.

Deuba is likely to form a small Cabinet tomorrow which will be expanded in a few days and some of the Madhesi parties are also likely to join the coalition.

He takes over at a crucial time in the politics of Nepal, which is holding the first local-level polls in 20 years, but one that is being resisted by Madhesi people. The inhabitants of the southern Terai region who share cultural ties with Indians have been demanding more political representation.

Deuba, who was awarded an honorary doctorate degree from New Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University in 2016, is said to enjoy the confidence of prominent Indian leaders, and that could potentially aid him in arresting the growing disenchantment among the Madhesi community.

He played a key role in amending Nepal's new Constitution promulgated in September 2015 to address the demands of Madhes-based political parties. Deuba also played a key role in bringing the parties on board for the second phase of local-level elections, now scheduled for June 28.

Deuba, who has been elected to the parliament from far- western Dadeldhura district, has promised to amend the new Constitution to fulfil the demands of the Madhesi people.

During Deuba's previous term as prime minister in 1996, Nepal and India signed the historic Mahakali Treaty for shared utilisation of the waters of the river by the same name.

Deuba served as the prime minister from 1995 to 1997, from 2001 to 2002, and from 2004 to 2005.

Nepal's then king Gyanendra Shah took power through a coup detat in October 2002 and removed Deuba from the post.

But he had to restore him in 2004 after weeks of street protests. Deuba was again removed from power by the king in 2005, when he was also imprisoned on charges of corruption.

Addressing the parliament before the voting today, Deuba said he would accord priority to complete the local polls and conduct provincial and parliamentary elections by March next year.

He said he would also prioritise the amendment of the Constitution to address the demands of Madhesi people. "My other priorities will be economic reforms and rapid development of the country and for that I would focus on developing infrastructure such as electricity, transportation and irrigation," he said.

First Developmental Flight of India's GSLV Mk III Successfully launches GSAT-19 Satellite

Sriharikota - June 5, 2017 : The first developmental flight (GSLV MkIII-D1) of India's heavy lift launch vehicle GSLV Mk-III was successfully conducted today (June 05, 2017) evening from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota with the launch of GSAT-19 satellite. This was the first orbital mission of GSLV MkIII which was mainly intended to evaluate the vehicle performance including that of its fully indigenous cryogenic upper stage during the flight. Weighing 3136 kg at lift-off, GSAT-19 is the heaviest satellite launched from the Indian soil. 

After a twenty five and a half hour smooth countdown, the mission began with the launch of the 640 ton GSLV Mk-III at 5:28 pm IST from the Second Launch Pad as scheduled with the ignition of its two S200 solid strap-on boosters. Following this, the major phases of the flight occurred as scheduled. The upper stage of GSLV MkIII vehicle is a new cryogenic stage (C25) indigenously configured, designed and realised by ISRO. The cryogenic stage used liquid Hydrogen and liquid Oxygen as propellants with a total loading of 28 tons. The stage is powered by a 20 ton thrust cryogenic engine (CE20) operating on ‘gas generator cycle’. The performance of the engine and stage during the mission was as predicted. About sixteen minutes after lift-off, GSAT-19 satellite was successfully placed in orbit. 

Soon after its separation from GSLV, the Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan in Karnataka assumed control of the satellite. GSAT-19 is a high throughput communication satellite. 

In the coming days, GSAT-19 orbit will be raised from its present Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) to the final circular Geostationary Orbit (GSO) by firing the satellite's Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) in stages. During the final phase of this operation, the solar panels and antenna reflectors of the satellite will be deployed. The satellite will be commissioned into service after its positioning in the designated slot in the GSO following in-orbit testing of its payloads. 

PM congratulates ISRO for the successful launch of GSLV – MKIII D1/GSAT-19 mission

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has congratulated ISRO for the successful launch of GSLV – MKIII D1/GSAT-19 mission.

“Congratulations to the dedicated scientists of ISRO for the successful launch of GSLV – MKIII D1/GSAT-19 mission.

The GSLV – MKIII D1/GSAT-19 mission takes India closer to the next generation launch vehicle and satellite capability. The nation is proud,” the Prime Minister said.

US recognises India as major defence partner: Mattis

Washington, Jun 4 (PTI) The US recognises India as a major defence partner partly out of respect for New Delhi's indispensable role in maintaining stability in the Indian Ocean region, Defence Secretary James Mattis has said.

The US is exploring new ways to address new challenges as well from maritime security to the growing threat posed by the spread of terrorism in Southeast Asia, Mattis said in his remarks at the Shangri-La Dialogue.

"For example, we recognise India, the most populous democracy in the world, as a major defence partner. We did so in part out of respect for India's indispensable role in maintaining stability in the Indian Ocean region," he said according to a Defense Department transcripts.

Mattis called upon all countries to contribute sufficiently to their own security.

"At the same time, we encourage them to actively seek out opportunities and partnerships with other like-minded nations as we do the same to sustain and maintain the peace. We will continue to engage closely with our partners, building on recent progress," he said.

Mattis said one of the top priorities of the Defense Department is to empower countries in the region so they can be even stronger contributors to their own peace and stability.

"The Pacific region countries represented here are obviously critical to strengthening and transforming the underlying security structure that has enabled tremendous regional prosperity. For we don't take that peace or prosperity for granted," he said.