BSP, TDP, JD(S) OPPOSE BOYCOTT OF PARLIAMENT BUILDING INAUGURATION

A day after 19 Opposition parties announced their decision to skip the inauguration of the new Parliament building by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 28, the political war of words over the issue intensified on Thursday as more non-NDA parties — including the BSP, TDP and JD(S) — opposed the boycott.

In a series of tweets in Hindi, BSP chief Mayawati said: “Whether it was a Congress govt at the Centre in the past or the BJP at present, our party has always supported them on issues related to the country and public interest, rising above party lines. We welcome the inauguration of the new Parliament building in the same context.”

“The boycott call over not getting the new Parliament inaugurated by President Droupadi Murmu is inappropriate. The govt got it built and therefore it has the right to unveil it. It is also unfair to link this with tribal women’s dignity and respect. They should have thought of this while fielding a candidate against her (Murmu),” she said.

In Bengaluru, JD(S) supremo and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda said: “I am attending the inauguration… It is the property of the country. It is not anyone’s personal matter… That magnificent building was built with the taxpayers’ money… It is not a BJP or RSS office.” “I have worked to protect the values of the Constitution. Therefore, I cannot bring politics into the matter of the Constitution,” he said.

The TDP said party leader N Chandrababu Naidu has instructed Rajya Sabha MP Kanakamedala Ravindra Kumar to represent the party during the inauguration of the new Parliament building.

As many as 25 parties are expected to attend the inauguration.

Meanwhile, raising the issue during a public meeting in Assam, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said: “The Congress and its partners are indulging in petty politics by boycotting….They are giving the excuse that the President should inaugurate… In Chhattisgarh, it was Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and the chief minister who laid the foundation stone of the new Assembly building. Where was the Governor then? She was a tribal, you didn’t invite her. The foundation stone of the Jharkhand Assembly was laid by Chief Minister Hemant Soren. He also didn’t invite the Governor. In Assam, Tarun Gogoi did it. That time too, the Governor was not invited. It was Dr Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi who inaugurated the Assembly complex in Manipur. The Governor was not there. In Andhra Pradesh, Chandrababu Naidu did it. And in Tamil Nadu, Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh and the Chief Minister did it,” he said.

In Chennai, Finance Minister Nirmala appealed to Opposition parties to reconsider their decision. “I am surprised by their allegation. These parties saw the President coming from a tribal background and took up a bitter campaign against her. Opposition leaders spoke ill of her and said she will be a rubber stamp,” said Sitharaman. “But the PM gave her due respect. Those who ran a bitter campaign then are now suddenly speaking for her,” she said.

PM MODI SLAMS PAST GOVTS: REAL WORK TO CHANGE RLYS STARTED AFTER 2014

Criticising earlier govts at the Centre of being preoccupied with “corruption and dynastic politics” and ignoring work on infrastructure development, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the “all-around work to transform the Railways began after 2014”.

Flagging off the inaugural run of the Vande Bharat Express from Dehradun to Delhi, Modi said, “Even though huge promises were made by previous govts regarding high-speed trains in India, they failed to even get rid of unmanned gates from the railway network. The state of electrification of tracks was worse.”

He said: “India of the 21st century can prosper even faster by modernising its infrastructure. Parties in power for a long time earlier did not realise this. Their focus was on indulging in scams and corruption. They could not get out of the constraints of dynastic politics. They also made tall claims about high-speed trains but years went by and nothing happened.”

Modi also recalled his three-nation tour and said the world is now looking at India with high hopes. “India has become a ray of hope for the world when it comes to strengthening the economy and fighting poverty,” he said and spoke about India’s tackling of the Covid-19 pandemic and the world’s largest vaccination campaign carried out in the country.

Claiming that only one-third of Indian Railways’ network had been electrified by 2014, making it impossible to “even think of” a fast-running train, he said work began on the country’s first high-speed train in full swing only after 2014. He said only about 600 km of tracks were electrified on average annually before 2014, which has now increased to nearly 6,000 km annually.

RAJNATH PUSHES FOR HI-TECH MILITARY; CALLS FOR MORE R&D, URGES INDUSTRY TO STEP UP

A technologically advanced military is crucial to protect national interests, more so for a country like India, which faces a double threat on borders and has one of the largest armed forces in the world, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Thursday.

Singh said it is important that the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the country’s premier defence R&D agency, and the academia work in partnership to find solutions to the challenges faced by India.

He noted that the path to acquire advanced technologies goes through R&D, which plays a key role in any country’s development.

In the last financial year, the Centre, for the first time, earmarked 25% of India’s defence R&D budget for the industry, start-ups and academia in order to encourage the private industry to invest in defence R&D.

In a separate event on Thursday, the Defence Minister called upon industry leaders to come up with innovative solutions to help India turn from an ‘imitator’ to a ‘leader’ in futuristic technologies and stay prepared to deal with challenges emanating from the current global security scenario. He said this while addressing the annual session of Confederation of Indian Industry, the theme for which was ‘Future Frontiers: Competitiveness, Technology, Sustainability and Internationalisation’.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

======================

MOSCOW SIGNS DEAL WITH BELARUS TO DEPLOY TACTICAL N-WEAPONS

Russia moved ahead on Thursday with a plan to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, signing a deal with its ally about the storage of the warheads at a special facility that should be finished in just over a month’s time.

“The collective West is essentially waging an undeclared war against our countries,” defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, said at a meeting with his Belarusian counterpart in Minsk, according to Russia’s defence ministry. The West, Shoigu said, was doing all it could “to prolong and escalate the armed conflict in Ukraine. ” He said the documents they were signing concerned the process for storing tactical nuclear weapons in a special facility in Belarus. Shoigu said that Iskander-M missiles, which can carry conventional or nuclear warheads, had been handed to the Belarusian armed forces, and some Su-25 aircraft had been converted for the possible use of nuclear weapons

Putin has repeatedly warned that Russia, which has more nuclear weapons than any other country, will use all means to defend itself, and he has cast the Ukraine war as a battle for the survival of Russia against an aggressive West. It is still unclear exactly when the Russian tactical nuclear weapons will be deployed in Belarus, which has borders with three Nato members —Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.

Tactical nuclear weapons are nuclear weapons used for specific tactical gains on the battlefield, and so are usually smaller in yield than the strategic nuclear weapons designed to destroy the biggest cities.

US WARNS DHAKA OF VISA CURBS IF POLLS UNFAIR

The US has further tightened the screws on Bangladesh in an effort to conduct what it calls “free and fair” elections in the country early next year.

The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, has announced a new visa policy ostensibly to support “Bangladesh’s goal of holding free, fair, and peaceful national elections”.

Under this policy, the US will restrict visas for any Bangladeshi individual, believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, undermining the democratic election process. This includes current and former Bangladeshi officials, members of pro-govt and opposition political parties, and members of law enforcement, the judiciary, and security services, said Blinken in a statement, adding that the US had notified the Bangladeshi govt of this decision on May 3.

Dhaka and Washington have been at loggerheads since December 14 last year. Peter Haas, US Ambassador to Bangladesh, had to cut short a visit to the home of a missing opposition leader Sajedul Islam Sumon after activists of the ruling Awami League heckled him.

“America can change power in any country it wants. They want to bring such a govt here which will not have any democratic existence,” said Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina.

IMRAN KHAN, WIFE BARRED FROM LEAVING THE COUNTRY: PAKISTAN MEDIA

Pakistan's govt has barred former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife along with at least 80 people from leaving the country, a media report said on Thursday.

Khan and several top leaders of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party are facing cases following the violence after he was arrested on May 9 in a corruption case.

These lists had been used in the past by the govts to muzzle the opposition.

When Khan was the prime minister, names of several high-profile personalities, including PML-N leader and current prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, were put on the no-fly list.

THE REST

=========

MANIPUR CLASHES DUE TO HC ORDER… ALL WILL GET JUSTICE: AMIT SHAH IN ASSAM

In his first public statement on the violent clashes that broke out in Manipur earlier this month, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday pinned responsibility on the Manipur High Court (HC) order which asked the state govt to submit a recommendation to grant Scheduled Tribe (ST) status for the Meitei community.

“My appeal to all brothers and sisters in Manipur, for six years we have all moved forward together peacefully. There was not a single bandh, not a single blockade. Today, we will solve the schism (vikhvaawad) which happened because of one order by a court, through dialogue, conversation and peace. It is the policy of the Narendra Modi govt that injustice does not happen to anyone,” he said.

Shah was speaking during a visit to Guwahati.

PAWAR TO BACK AAP IN RS: WILL SPEAK TO LIKE-MINDED PARTIES

NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday said not only that his party will support Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Rajya Sabha by opposing the National Capital Territory of Delhi Amendment Bill 2023 but he will personally take initiative and speak to the like minded parties for the same as the issue was about the attack on parliamentary democracy.

“Bringing such ordinances is an attempt to limit parliamentary democracy in the country. NCP MPs will oppose the bill in the Parliament. In my 56 years of parliamentary life I have never seen such brazen attack against an elected govt. It is the need of the hour for all to come together to save democracy,” he said, addressing a press conference along with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann. Both Kejriwal and Mann held a meeting with the NCP leadership along with the delegation of the AAP.

CM STALIN RESENTS AMUL POACHING AAVIN CATCHMENT AREA IN TAMIL NADU

After Karnataka, it is Tamil Nadu that seems set to emerge as a political theatre for cooperative milk wars. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin has written to Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah to “direct” Amul (the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation) to “desist from procuring milk from Aavin’s (Tamil Nadu Cooperative Milk Producers’ Federation) milk shed area” nurtured in true cooperative spirit over decades.

Stating it has been a norm to let cooperatives thrive without infringing on each other’s milk sheds, Stalin said the move by Amul “will create unhealthy competition between cooperatives engaged in procuring and marketing milk and milk products”. Such cross-procurement also goes against the spirit of the ‘Operation Flood’ programme that made India self-sufficient in milk through cooperative sector dairies, he said. Until recently, Amul had only been vending its products via its outlets in the state, he said.

SOURAV GANGULY CAUGHT IN POWER PLAY OVER BID TO BAT FOR TRIPURA TOURISM

Tripura has announced the appointment of former Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly, as the brand ambassador of its tourism department.

Earlier, Ganguly’s removal from the BCCI had led to a political slugfest between the TMC and the BJP. Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee hadsaid: “Sourav Ganguly is not only the pride of Bengal, but also of the entire nation. He has led the cricket team and the BCCI with utmost dedication and responsibility. The Supreme Court had given a three-year extension to both Sourav and Amit Shah’s son Jay, but for reasons not yet known, Jay Shah is continuing as BCCI secretary, while Sourav has been removed from his position…..We believe injustice has been done to Ganguly.”

The BJP, at the time, had lashed out at the CM, with state party spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya saying, “One should not do politics over a personality like Sourav Ganguly. If he is so deeply loved, why was Shah Rukh Khan chosen as the state’s brand ambassador?”

With Ganguly appointed brand ambassador of Tripura Tourism, the BJP is back reviving those allegations. BJP state president Sukanta Majumder accused the TMC of never giving Ganguly “due respect”.

Hitting back, TMC MP Sougata Roy said, “Tripura has done nothing out of the box. It is the BJP that is trying to politicise the issue. We all know how they had humiliated Sourav Ganguly during the BCCI episode last year.”

GROUP OF 82 EX-BUREAUCRATS WRITE TO PRESIDENT MURMU, RAISE CONCERNS OVER ‘ATTEMPTS’ TO CHANGE CHARACTER OF CIVIL SERVICES

Highlighting lateral recruitment and proposed changes in civil services deputation rules, a group of 82 former civil servants on Thursday wrote to President Droupadi Murmu raising concern over “systematic attempts” being made to change the character of civil services.

In an open letter, they appealed to her to convey their concerns to the Union govt and caution them that the attempt to change the character of the civil services is fraught with extreme danger and will “spell the death of the constitutional govt in India”.

A systematic attempt is being made to change the character of the civil services, particularly the IAS and the IPS, which, in our constitutional scheme, were uniquely intended to be a protective ring around the Constitution, unaffected by political changes, having an all-India perspective rather than a regional, parochial one and being secure enough to maintain an independent, nonpartisan outlook, without fear or favour, the letter said.

“It is in this context that we seek to approach you on a matter which, of late, is causing much concern to us and which we are duty bound to bring to your notice,” it said.

Former foreign secretary Sujatha Singh, ex-UPSC member Parveen Talha, former IPS officer Maxwell Pereira and ex- social justice empowerment secretary Anita Agnihotri are among the 82 signatories to the letter.

SBI CARDS PENALISED FOR SENDING BILLS TO MAN DESPITE CREDIT CARD’S CANCELLATION

A district consumer forum in Delhi has ordered SBI Cards and Payment Services to pay Rs 2 lakh as punitive damages to a man who was issued bills despite cancellation of his credit card.

The consumer, MJ Antony, a resident of Saket, filed a complaint with the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in South Delhi saying he continued to receive bills pertaining to his card despite cancellation and even after having sent multiple protest emails. He said he was blacklisted by CIBIL, a credit information company, and was unable to apply for loans or credit cards.

As per the order dated May 20, SBI Cards and Payment Services has to pay Rs 2 lakh to Antony within two months, failing which the amount will be increased to Rs 3 lakh.

Antony, in his complaint, said he had requested the company to cancel his card in April 2016 before it expired and that he had not used it after April 9, 2016. He also said he had destroyed the card and that there were no outstanding dues at the time of cancellation.

TRIPLE TREAT FOR SHUTTLERS, IN MALAYSIA MASTERS SUPER 500

Star Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu, HS Prannoy and Kidambi Srikanth booked their places in the quarterfinals of the Malaysia Masters Super 500 with contrasting wins over their respective rivals here today.

While double Olympics medallist and sixth seed Sindhu ousted Aya Ohori of Japan in straight games in the women’s singles, Prannoy had to dig deep to get the better of Shi Feng Li of China in a tough three-game men’s singles contest. Later, Srikanth prevailed over eighth seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand.

Taking the court first, world No. 13 Sindhu extended her domination over the 28th-ranked Ohori, taking just 40 minutes to beat the Japanese 21-16 21-11 in a Round of 16 clash. Sindhu will now face China’s Yi Man Zhang in the quarterfinals.

World No. 9 Prannoy then overcame a one-game deficit to beat world No. 11 and reigning All England champion Li 13-21 21-16 21-11 in one hour and 10 minutes to book his berth in the last-eight stage. Prannoy will next meet Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto, who won the Spain Masters last month.

Coming into the match with a 0-3 head-to-head record against Vitidsarn, Srikanth notched up a 21-19 21-19 win to make it to the quarterfinals. He will meet Indonesian qualifier Christian Adinata.

Lakshya Sen, however, lost 14-21 19-21 to Angus Ng Ka Long of Hong Kong.

INDICATORS

Sensex 61,873 (+99), Nifty 18,321 (+36)

Nasdaq 12,698 (+214) Dow 32,765 (-35), S&P 4,151 (+36)

US$-Rs. 82.73, GBP-Rs. 102.10, Euro-Rs. 88.76, UAE Dhm-Rs. 22.52, Can$-Rs. 60.75, Aus$- Rs. 53.93

GBP 0.81 /US$, Euro 0.93 /US$, Jap.Yen 139.69 /US$, Aus$ 1.53 /US$, Sing 1.35 /US$, Bang Taka 106.02 /US$, Can$ 1.36 /US$, Mal Ring 4.61 /US$, Pak Re 285.46 /US$, Phil Peso 55.98 /US$, Russian Rouble 80.00 /US$, NZ$ 1.64 /US$, Thai Baht 34.66 /US$, Ukraine Hryvnia 36.65 /US$

Bitcoin - USD 26,469, Dollar Index 104.13, Brent Crude 76.16, BDI 1,215.00

Gold world Spot Price USD/aoz 1,943 India (Rs. pera gm 24k/22k) 6,087 / 5,580, Silver (Rs. Per KG) 73,050

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Yesterday I dared to struggle. Today I dare to win. – Anonymous

OFF TRACK

A woman was having trouble with the idea of turning 40 and was oversensitive to any signs of advancing age. When she found a prominent gray hair in her bangs, she pointed to her forehead and indignantly asked her husband: "Have you seen this?"

"What?" he asked. "The wrinkles?"