Lebanese PM Hariri says he's free in Saudi Arabia

Agencies
November 13, 2017

Nov 13: Lebanese Prime Minister Sa’ad Hariri, in his first public comments since his surprise November 4 resignation, dismissed speculation that he was held against his will in Saudi Arabia and said he plans to return home within days.

“I am free in the kingdom,” the Lebanese leader said in an interview from his home in Riyadh, aired by his Future TV. Speaking with a Lebanese flag in the background, he again blamed Iran and Hezbollah for destabilizing his country and defended Saudi Arabia’s war of words against the Islamic Republic.

Speculation has been rife that Saudi Arabia summoned Hariri to Riyadh and broadsided him with a demand to resign because he wouldn’t confront Lebanon’s powerful Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group — a charge the kingdom has denied. The political turmoil has thrust Lebanon to the fore of the Saudi-Iranian rivalry after it managed to avoid the worst of the Syrian civil war next door, creating a potential new centre of conflict in the tumultuous Middle East.

In his resignation announcement, Hariri blamed Iran for meddling in Lebanon’s affairs through Hezbollah.

Hariri, a dual Lebanese and Saudi national whose family made a fortune in the kingdom, has made several official appearances since he stepped down, possibly in an attempt to dispel rumours his movements are restricted. Last week he received ambassadors accredited to the kingdom at his residence in Riyadh and made a brief trip to the UAE. He also met with King Salman shortly after his resignation and days later participated in a ceremony at the Riyadh international airport to welcome home the king from a trip.

NBN TV, owned by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, said it wouldn’t broadcast the Hariri interview, adopting President Michel Aoun’s position that given Hariri’s circumstances, “his words will not reflect the truth.” Both Berri and Aoun are allied with Hezbollah, whose forces are fighting alongside Iranian-backed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Hariri was propelled into politics by the assassination of his father, former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, in 2005. A UN-backed tribunal has charged Hezbollah members with the killing, which took place shortly before Syria’s military pull-out from Lebanon, but the group denies involvement.

Sa’ad Hariri was appointed prime minister in 2016 in a power-sharing deal that saw the election of Aoun as president and the end of a two-year political vacuum in Lebanon.

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Agencies
January 26,2020

Jaipur, Jan 26: Rajasthan on Saturday on Saturday became the third state in the country to pass a resolution urging the Centre to repeal the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

he resolution was passed in the state Assembly amid opposition by the BJP which accused the ruling Congress of pursuing appeasement politics.

It is the second Congress-ruled state to pass such a resolution after Punjab. The Kerala Assembly too had passed such a resolution against the CAA moved jointly by the ruling Left Front alliance and the opposition Congress-led UDF.

The Rajasthan Assembly resolution, passed by voice vote, also asked the Centre to withdraw the new fields of information that have been sought for updation of the National Population Register (NPR) 2020.

"It is evident that the CAA violates the provisions of the Constitution. Therefore, the House resolves to urge upon the government of India to repeal the CAA to avoid any discrimination on the basis of religion in granting citizenship and to ensure equality before law for all religious groups of India," the state's parliamentary affairs minister Shanti Dhariwal said, moving the resolution.

Leader of the opposition Gulab Chand Kataria of the BJP questioned the state's right to challenge the Act.

"Granting citizenship is a matter for the Centre. In such a situation do we have the right to challenge the CAA? The Congress should stop doing appeasement and vote bank politics," he said.

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abdullah
 - 
Sunday, 26 Jan 2020

Salute to Rajasthan Govt for rejecting communal and black CAA bill.   This bill is agaisnt the teach of our Constitution and bjp has never done anything as per our constitutin.   Its trying its best to scrap the constitution and restore it with RSS agenda.    We should oppose any move by bjp against the value of constitution.   As bjp has no respect to our constitution, it has no right to be in power.    Many of bjp leaders are giving statemetns against the value of constitution and such leaders should be treated as anti indians and action be taken on them.   

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News Network
June 9,2020

New Delhi, Jun 9: Petrol price on Tuesday was hiked by 54 paise per litre and diesel by 58 paise a litre - the third straight daily increase in rates after oil PSUs ended an 82-day hiatus in rate revision.

Petrol price in Delhi was hiked to Rs 73.00 per litre from 72.46, while diesel rates were increased to Rs 71.17 a litre from Rs 70.59, according to a price notification of state oil marketing companies.

This is the third daily increase in rates in a row. Oil companies had on Sunday restarted revising prices in line with costs, after ending an 82-day hiatus.

Prices were raised by 60 paise per litre each on both petrol and diesel on Sunday as well as on Monday. In all, petrol price has gone up by Rs 1.74 per litre and diesel by Rs 1.78 a litre in three days.

Oil PSUs - Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) - had put daily price revisions on hold soon after the government on March 14, hiked excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 3 per litre each.

Oil companies did not pass on that excise duty hike, as well as the May 6 increase in tax on petrol by Rs 10 per litre and Rs 13 a litre hike on diesel by setting them off against the decline in retail prices that should have effected to reflect international oil rates falling to two-decade low.

International rates have since rebounded and oil companies having exhausted all the margin are now passing on the increase to customers, an industry official said.

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News Network
July 20,2020

The International Cricket Council (ICC) today confirmed the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia 2020 has been postponed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic

At today’s meeting of the IBC Board (the commercial subsidiary of the ICC), windows for the next three ICC men’s events were also agreed to bring clarity to the calendar and give the sport the best possible opportunity over the next three years to recover from the disruption caused by COVID-19.

The windows for the Men’s events are:

1. ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 will be held October – November 2021 with the final on 14 November 2021

2. ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 will be held October – November 2022 with the final on 13 November 2022

3. ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 will be held in India October – November 2023 with the final on 26 November 2023

The IBC Board agreed to continue to monitor the rapidly changing situation and assess all the information available in order to make a considered decision on future hosts to ensure the sport is able to stage safe and successful global events in 2021 and 2022.

The IBC Board will also continue to evaluate the situation in relation to being able to stage the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2021 in New Zealand in February next year. In the meantime, planning for this event continues as scheduled.

The Board will also continue to evaluate the situation in relation to being able to stage the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2021.

ICC Chief Executive Manu Sawhney said: “We have undertaken a comprehensive and complex contingency planning exercise and through this process, our number one priority has been to protect the health and safety of everyone involved in the sport.

“The decision to postpone the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup was taken after careful consideration of all of the options available to us and gives us the best possible opportunity of delivering two safe and successful T20 World Cups for fans around the world.

“Our Members now have the clarity they need around event windows to enable them to reschedule lost bilateral and domestic cricket. Moving the Men’s Cricket World Cup to a later window is a critical element of this and gives us a better chance of maintaining the integrity of the qualification process. This additional time will be used to reschedule games that might be lost because of the pandemic ensuring qualification can be decided on the field of play.

“Throughout this process we have worked closely with our key stakeholders including governments, Members, broadcasters, partners and medical experts to enable us to reach a collective decision for the good of the game and our fans. I would like to thank everyone involved for their commitment to a safe return to cricket.”

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