Breaking his silence over reports about his possible appointment as Defence Minister, Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Thursday said Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah had asked him to take up an assignment at the Centre, if offered, and that he was willing to shoulder the responsibility.
The headmistress of the Panaji school, who has been booked for destruction of evidence in the rape of a seven-year-old girl on the school premises, had directed the teacher to clean up the victim post the offence, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar told the state Legislative Assembly on Thursday.
Concerned over nearly 450 suicide cases reported in the armed forces in the last 3 years, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said reasons for this are being investigated and that welfare measures for personnel will be fast-tracked.
"Our armed forces have shown utmost restraint in tackling terrorists in Kashmir Valley despite grave provocations," he said in his address on the All India Radio on the eve of Independence Day.
Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Monday alleged that officials of Union Ministry of Environment and Forests took bribes from the state's mine-owners before Jairam Ramesh took over the ministry.
Goa Leader of Opposition Manohar Parrikar on Wednesday told the state legislative assembly that it can be 'inferred' that Chief Minister Digambar Kamat might have been involved in illegal mining activities.
Parrikar also took a dig at Congress president Sonia Gandhi, saying translation from Italian was not easy 'at least for the ruling side. May not be a difficult task for the Opposition'.
Prime Minister will undertake the third expansion of his Union Council of Ministers, the third such exercise since he came to power in May 2014, on Sunday morning.
The proposals will help in the modernisation of the armed forces.
"Over the next six months, I hope to sign another Rs 50,000-60,000 crore worth of contracts, taking the total to Rs 3 trillion," the minister told reporters on the sidelines of an industry exhibition on technology and material sciences in Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra.
It is a record that the saffron party has created, where the majority of its legislators belonged to the minority community.
The swearing-in ceremony of Pramod Sawant as Goa's chief minister will be held on March 28 and prominent Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will attend the event.
Ecuador had put the Indian choppers on "restricted" ops following a spate of accidents
Parrikar said he did not take anyone's name. "What is quoted is not what I have said. I never took the name of anyone, nor threatened anyone," the defence minister said.
'There are certain issues and mistakes from which we all have to learn and I am sure that our party too will do so. These problems are short-lived,' says former Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar.
Parrikar has been admitted to the AIIMS for follow-up treatment reportedly for a pancreatic ailment.
In an embarrassment, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Aksai Chin were not shown as India's territory in a map by the Pentagon website ahead of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar's press conference jointly with his American counterpart.
After a minor rape victim tried to commit suicide in Panaji on Tuesday, the Goa government moved the high court seeking to cancel the bail granted to the girl's teacher, who had allegedly raped her.
'Deeply pained by your allegations against army,' Parrikar wrote in the letter.
'We will fight for removing the de-classification of coconut trees.' 'We are going to have our own Sound Act so that Goan people are not hounded by the police when they get married.' '80 per cent jobs for locals in the private sector, 100 per cent in government.'
In a shift from Goa government's earlier stand, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Tuesday said he would not allow the controversial right wing outfit Sri Ram Sene to work in the state.
'Parrikar should never have bracketed himself with Modi.' 'That was an act of blasphemy that could invite divine retribution,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has not only refused the Z-plus cover recommended to him at a state security review meeting here, but has also decided to either scale down or strip all other ministers of the elite blanket, officials said on Friday.
Congress MP Shantaram Naik has also given a privilege notice against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar in the Rajya Sabha in the AgustaWestland issue.
A simple action against insurgents has changed the mindset of the full security scenario in the country," he said addressing a seminar.
While the Congress currently has 14 MLAs, down from 16 after Sopte and Shirodkar left it to join the BJP, the latter has 13 MLAs.
Earlier, BJP leader Ram Lal said the Goa government is stable and no demand has been made for a change in the leadership.
Rafale deal will bring relief to IAF: Parrikar
New Delhi has reached out to Moscow while waiting for a new president in Washington. New Delhi knows well that in international relations, there are no permanent friends or foes, only permanent national interests, points out Dr Rup Narayan Das.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has managed to contain dissent in most areas in the run-up to the Goa assembly polls scheduled for February 14, but four seats, including the prestigious Panaji constituency, continue to be a cause for worry.
Parrikar spoke about Goa's descent into lawlessness, its unruly assembly and the slow death of a project close to his heart -- the International Film Festival.
In 28 months, Manohar Parrikar as defence minister developed easy relationships with the top brass of the three Services as was rarely ever witnessed before. He threw caution to the winds and managed to pull the forces out of a downward spiral in operational capabilities.
The talks between ex-servicemen and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar over the One Rank One Pension scheme failed on Saturday after which the retired defence personnel decided to go ahead with their planned rally on June 14 followed by a relay hunger strike to protest the long delay in implementation of the scheme.
The comments came a day after Indian Air Force Chief Arup Raha said the air force has moved a proposal for inducting women as fighter aircraft pilots.
His background as an Indian Institute of Technology graduate and as a chief minister with an excellent track record as an administrator equipped him to initiate defence industry and policy reforms that are only now beginning to bear fruit.
Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar visits the site for former President Kalam's memorial.
Just what exactly is wrong with our lawmakers these days?
Vishwajit Rane, who had unsuccessfully lobbied for the CM's post, has been given crucial Health and Town and Country Planning Portfolios along with Urban Development, Women and Child, and Forest departments.
'It is just that we have our standards so low that anybody looks good now.' 'His sort of extremely terminological exactitude is a serious problem. He doesn't seem to understand the difference between exclusive economic zones, territorial waters...' 'I am expecting a lot of confusion because of this... Unless Parrikar starts going into the depth of the problems, he is only going to compound the problem rather than resolve it.'
In the event of a war with China, AMCA deep strikes would target China's rail and road links with Tibet, isolating PLA divisions there.
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