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Trump talks about Brexit, trade, Twitter habit with UK media

Trump talks about Brexit, trade, Twitter habit with UK media

LONDON, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump talked about Britain's exit (Brexit) from the European Union (EU), trade and his Twitter habit among other topics in a wide-ranging interview with a British media outlet aired on Sunday.

   TIES WITH UK AFTER BREXIT

   On negotiations over Brexit from EU, Trump said he would have taken a "tougher" approach than the one currently adopted by British Prime Minister Theresa May, in the interview with British ITV channel's program Good Morning Britain.

   Acknowledging he had a lot of respect for May, the president said "I would have said that the European Union is not cracked up to what it's supposed to be."

   London has dragged itself into painstaking negotiations with Brussels chaffering over favorable terms about its exit from the 28-country bloc. Formal Brexit is expected in March 2019, but progress of the talks has been slow given the complexity of the issue.

   Noting that London will be banned for two years from signing bilateral trade pacts with other economies before leaving the EU, Trump said: "When that restriction is up, we're going to be your great trading partner."

   The president also expressed his willingness to visit Britain, though he has recently canceled a trip to London, the reason for which he said was that he didn't like the relocation of the U.S. embassy there.

   Media reports, however, have attributed the decision to the cool reception the president would likely receive. The British public, outraged by Trump's retweet of an anti-Muslim video originally posted by a far-right British nationalist group known as "Britain First," signed a petition urging the government not to give Trump a state visit.

   UNFAIR US-EU TRADE

   On trade, Trump complained about what he said was very unfair trade relationship between the United States and the EU, warning that trade disputes could become a big problem.

   "The European Union has treated the United States very unfairly when it came to trade ... and it may morph into something very big," he said.

   The president has always complained about other economies taking advantage of Washington by means of "unfair" trade practices.

   As regards the EU market, Trump said "We cannot get our product in. It's very very tough," adding that products from the EU are sold to the United States with "no taxes -- very little taxes."

   Trump's "America First" slogan was snubbed by international politicians and business leaders as they gathered in the Swiss ski resort of Davos for the annual World Economic Forum last week.

   In an interview with Swiss national television RTS, French President Emmanuel Macron called on Trump "to be on board with us on multilateralism."

   Trump, for his part, gave Macron a high praise during the interview Sunday, saying the young French leader is "a great guy." 

   "He's a great guy ... His wife is fantastic. I like them a lot. You know, we had dinner at the top of the Eiffel Tower, and everything was closed," Trump said.

   TWITTER HABIT

   For the first time, Trump admitted that he sometimes posts on Twitter while in bed, a habit previously revealed by the New York Times.

   "Well, perhaps sometimes in bed, perhaps sometimes at breakfast or lunch or whatever," Trump said in Sunday's interview. "I can do whatever, but I am very busy during the day, very long hours."

   The contents of his frequent tweets range from serious policy decisions to hostile war of words against nations or leaders he denigrates.

   The outspoken president's frivolousness in both topic choices and wording styles has raised concern over his personal integrity as well as fitness for presidency.

   Trump, in response, defended his use of the social networking tool as necessary amid "a lot of fake news" about him, saying "If I don't have that form of communication I can't defend myself."

   Trump said he usually tweets himself, but sometimes lets other people write down what he says as well on his personal account, which now has some 47.2 million followers.

   Concerning one example of controversies caused by his tweets, Trump apologized for his retweet of an anti-Muslim video posted by far-right group "Britain First."

   In the build-up to his apology, Trump emphasized that he had only recently become aware of the nature of the group, and that stories about the group in the United States are less as popular than in Britain.

   "I am, as I say often, the least racist person that anybody is going to meet ... If you are telling me they're horrible people, horrible, racist people, I would certainly apologize if you'd like me to do that," he said.  Enditem

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Budget Session 2018 to begin with President Kovind's address today

Budget Session 2018 to begin with President Kovind's address today

New Delhi [India], Jan. 29 (ANI): The Budget session of the Parliament will begin on Monday at 11 am with the speech of President Ram Nath Kovind.

President Kovind's address to a joint sitting of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will mark the beginning of the Budget Session 2018.

The Muslim Women's (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017 related to triple talaq, the Codes of Wages Bill, 2017, Rights of Children to Free and Compulsory Education, 2017 are among the important bills that will be tabled for discussion and passage.

As many as 28 bills will be tabled in the Lok Sabha, while 39 bills are listed for the Rajya Sabha for the upcoming session.

Long pending issues including the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016 and the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016, will be discussed in the Lower House.

Meanwhile, the Triple Talaq Bill passed in the Lok Sabha in the last winter session of the Parliament will be in focus in the Upper House of the Parliament.

Following is the list of issues that will be taken up in the Parliament -

Lok Sabha:

Bills referred to Joint Committee:

• The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Second Bill, 2015

• The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016

• The Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance Bill, 2017

Bill returned to Lok Sabha:

• The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Third Amendment) Bill, 2017(as passed by Lok Sabha, as reported by Select Committee of Rajya Sabha and returned with amendments to Lok Sabha)

Bills referred to Standing Committees:

• The Codes of Wages, 2017

• The Rights of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Second Amendment) Bill, 2017

• The National Medical Commission Bill, 2017

Bills not referred to Standing Committee:

• The High Court's (Alteration of Names) Bill, 2016

• The Constitution (Schedule Castes and Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2016

• The Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Amendment Bill, 2017

• The Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) Bill, 2017

• The Dentists (Amendment) Bill, 2017

• The Representation of People (Amendment) Bill, 2017

• The Specific Relief (Amendment) Bill, 2017

• The National Council for Teacher Education (Amendment) Bill, 2017

• The Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Bill, 2017

• The Consumer Protection Bill, 2018

• The New Delhi International Arbitration Centre Bill, 2018

Bills on which reports presented by Standing Committee:

• The Factories (Amendment) Bill, 2014

• The Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2014

• The Lokpal and Lokayuktas and Other Related Law (Amendment) Bill, 2014

• The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development (Amendment) Bill, 2015

• The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016

• The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016

• The Merchant Shipping Bill, 2016

• The Major Port Authorities Bill, 2016

• The Inter-State River Water Disputes (Amendment) Bill, 2017

• The National Sports University Bill, 2017

Rajys Sabha:

Bill, as reported by Joint Committee:

• The Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Bill, 1987

Bills as passed by the Lok Sabha:

• The Whistle Blowers Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2015

• The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Bill, 2015

• The Factories (Amendment) Bill, 2016

• The National Commission for Backward Classes (Repeal) Bill, 2017

• The State Bank (Repeal and Amendment) Bill, 2017

• The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (Amendment) Bill, 2017

• The Central Road Fund (Amendment) Bill, 2017

• The Requisition Acquisition of Immovable Property (Amendment) Bill, 2017

• The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017

Bills not referred to Standing Committee:

• The Tamil Nadu Legislative Council (Repeal) Bill, 2012

• The Readjustment of Representation of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies (Third) Bill, 2013

• The Delhi Rent (Repeal) Bill, 2013

Bill, as passed by the Lok Sabha and as reported by Select Committee:

• The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2017

Bill referred to Select Committee and report presented:

• The Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill, 2013

Bills on which report presented by Standing Committee:

• The Constitution (79th Amendment) Bill, 1992 (small family norms for legislators)

• The Delhi Rent (Amendment) Bill, 1997

• The Provisions of the Municipalities (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Bill, 2001

• The Seeds Bill, 2004

• The Homoeopathy Central Council (Amendment) Bill, 2005

• The Indian Medicine Central Council (Amendment) Bill, 2005

• The Indian Medicine and Homoeopathy Pharmacy Bill, 2005

• The Private Detective Agencies (Regulation) Bill, 2007

• The Pesticides Management Bill, 2008

• The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Amendment) Bill, 2008

• The Mines (Amendment) Bill, 2011

• The Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Amendment Bill, 2011

• The National Commission for Human Resources for Health Bill, 2011

• The Armed Forces Tribunal (Amendment) Bill, 2012

• The Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Amendment Bill, 2012

• The Building and Other Construction Workers Related Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2013

• The Employment Exchanges (Compulsory Notification of Vacancies) Bill, 2013

• The Rajasthan Legislative Council Bill, 2013

• The Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Bill, 2013

• The Nalanda University (Amendment) Bill,2013

• The Assam Legislative Council Bill, 2013

• The Registration (Amendment) Bill, 2013

• The Waqf Properties (Eviction of Un-authorized Occupants) Bill, 2014

• The Homoeopathy Central Council (Amendment) Bill, 2015

The Budget session of the Parliament will be conducted from January 29 to April 6, with the first phase to be held from January 29 to February 9 and the second phase from March 5 to April 6.

The Finance Minister will present the Union Budget 2018 for the fiscal year 2018-19 on February 1.

This will be the first Budget in the post- GST (Goods and Services Tax) era and the last full budget from Jaitley before the general election in 2019. (ANI)

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Pakistan must remove ambiguities about terror groups

Pakistan must remove ambiguities about terror groups

Islamabad [Pakistan], Jan 29 (ANI): Pakistan should remove all ambiguities and confusion regarding banned militant groups while making its national security policy, a security analyst has said.

In an opinion piece published by the Dawn, titled as "Mother of all Confusions", Muhammad Amir Rana states that "The architects of our security policies have to come up with a comprehensive, workable mechanism to deal with the challenge."

"One cannot ignore the role of parliament, which should have a frank debate on banned militant groups," he added.

Rana said Pakistan has drawn criticism from the international community for not taking enough action against the terror-groups and banned outfits operating from its soil because the government has failed diplomatically to defend its case.

"International politics is the art of constructing narratives, which in turn cultivate public opinion. This requires diplomacy and opinion-making, yet the arguments embedded in a narrative are themselves the most important part. When a narrative loses appeal it simply requires a review. Harping on lost arguments creates only confusion and distraction," he stated.

"Pakistan is annoyed at the international community's repeated concerns about the alleged presence and status of non-state actors on its soil. Pakistan tries to convince the world by describing multiple anti-militant actions it has taken and the sacrifices it has rendered," he added.

Referring to recent drone strikes carried out by the United States, which killed two Haqqani Network militants in northwestern Pakistan, Rana said, "However, a drone strike and a subsequent press conference, or public demonstration by the leaders of banned organisations and their other public activities, offset the impression."

"The blame lies largely with the civilian governments that have failed to diplomatically defend Pakistan's case," he added.

He mentioned that just before the recent visit of the United Nations Security Council's sanctions monitoring team, Hafiz Saeed had approached the Lahore High Court to prevent his arrest.

"He suspected that the government would put him under house arrest during the team's visit. He got temporary relief from the court, but the media coverage of one of his news conferences resulted in his views being known abroad. Who now would believe that Pakistan recently took serious measures against banned groups?" he said.

"The UNSC monitoring team's visit was part of its regular inspections but the Financial Action Task Force, an international body that combats money laundering and terror financing, shares concerns with many other international actors about the activities of banned groups in Pakistan," he added.

Rana emphasised that banned militant groups in the country are persistently Pakistan's diplomatic stress.

"It has been discussed at various high-level national forums that these groups have become a strategic burden for the country. And that they are also causing internal security problems. These groups provide recruitment bases to anti-Pakistan and global terrorist networks and also have an impact on relations within law-enforcement departments," he stated.

He further mentioned that the counter-strategy by building a soft image through expanding their outreach in political spaces and avoiding confrontation with the government of banned militant groups has proved effective.

"Federal Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal sees the workers of JuD and other conventional militant groups as 'ex-militants' who are engaged in welfare work. He has cautioned that if disturbed, they may join terrorist outfits. Interestingly, he was expressing these views after attending the graduation ceremony of the Counterterrorism Force at the Police Lines Headquarters in Islamabad," he said.

"He also claimed that about 4,000 to 5,000 militants had quit militancy and were raising funds for welfare activities. It is not certain where he got these statistics from as the JuD claims it has more than 50,000 registered workers across the country," he added.

Rana concluded by saying that for a coherent policy to deal with this, the government and military establishment will have to be on the same page. (ANI)

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Martyrs day being observed today

Martyrs day being observed today

Kathmandu, Jan 30: Martyrs Day is being observed across the country today by paying tributes and respects to those who sacrificed their lives for the sake of the country and people.

Magh 16 in the Nepali lunar calendar every year is marked as the National Martyrs Day, commemorating those who were executed by the autocratic Rana rulers for voicing for people's rights and those who lost their lives in various movements launched for democracy and people's sovereignty. 

Freedom fighters Shukra Raj Shastri, Dharma Bhakta Mathema, Dashrath Chand and Gangalal Shrestha who were sentenced to death for their battle for people's rights are remembered and respected as the four leading martyrs in country's political history.

Nepal celebrates a martyr week from Magh 10-16 in the Nepali calendar every year. The four heroes of the country had established an organisation Nepal Prajaparishad to motivate the people for fighting for their rights. Shukraraj was hanged from a tree near Pachali of Teku on Magh 10, 1997 BS.

Dharma Bhakta was hanged in Sifal on Magh 13 and Dashrath Chand and Gangalal were gunned down at Shobha Bhagawati on Magh 15 by the then autocratic Rana rulers. The government has announced a public holiday on the occasion of Martyrs' Day.

True tribute to martyrs if prosperous nation built: President

Meanwhile, President Bidya Devi Bhandari has said that all should work to make an economically prosperous nation based on justice and equality.

In a message today on the occasion of the Martyrs Day, President Bhandari said that we should always keep in mind that those sacrificing their priceless life are eligible to be martyrs for the country and people.

The President has also expressed best wishes to all for getting inspirations to materialize the dreams of those known and unknown martyrs to get motivated for joining in the great campaign of nation building.

Stating that federal democratic republic was established in the country due to the contributions of martyrs who got martyrdom after getting involved in different movements of the history, Bhandari said that making a prosperous nation by institutionalizing the achievements made so far would be a true tribute to the martyrs.

Likewise, Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun has urged all to unite to materialize the dreams of martyrs for making a prosperous nation along with the sustainable economic development.

Vice President Pun has also expressed due respects to the families of martyrs for the sacrifices of their invaluable lives for the establishment of democracy, loktantra and republic.

The Vice President has said that the dreams of martyrs are gradually being fulfilled after the country heads towards political stability following the recent polls.

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