Kalam is RSS choice for Prez - Daily Pioneer
Even as after reaching Haridwar Bhagwat did express his willingness to have some ‘important talks’ with the saints in Haridwar, the agenda of these talks remained undisclosed and the RSS officer bearers were shrugging off the question saying only Bhagwat can reply to this question.
However, the present issue of Presidential poll did come up during the casual talks that the RSS chief held with local reporters. “The election of President in India has got a special process and only some selected people can cast their vote. However, according to me, former President APJ Abdul Kalam should contest election again. He is the best Presidential candidate,” Bhagwat said.
“Kalamji is a person with no political linkages and has got a mass support in the form of people who want him back as their President,” Bhagwat said, while answering a question about whether he supports the candidature of Pranab Mukherjee, as the Presidential candidate. “Former President APJ Adbul Kalam is my nominee for the Presidential poll,” Bhagwat said.
About the controversial issue of hydro-electric power projects on river Ganga, Bhagwat said the Central and the State Governments should formulate policies keeping in mind that Ganga is a holy river and needs to be preserved. “Crores of Indian consider Ganga as a goddess and also worship the river. The issue should not be politicised for personal benefits. The RSS wants the Governments to make policies keeping the importance of Ganga in mind,” Bhagwat added.
Meanwhile, Swami Ramanandacharya Rambha-dracharya, whom Bhagwat had come to meet in the former’s ashram said, “I also feel that Kalamji is the best candidate for the post of President. People have seen his tenure as a President once and want him back. He is definitely a far better candidate than Pranab Mukherjee, who is known as a Congressman.”
About the proposed Ganga Raksha programme to be organised in Delhi by Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati soon, Rambhadracharya said that the saint fraternity will support the programme only if Swami Swaroopanand keeps political parties and politicians away from the function.
RSS favours Kalam but NDA divided over its Presidential candidate, Sangma insists he is in the race - indiatoday.intoday.in
Rashtriya Seva Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Sunday came out in support of the candidature of A P J Abdul Kalam in the Presidential poll, saying he is apolitical and that it will be good if he is elected.
"It will be good if he (Kalam) is elected as President.
The comman man thinks that he is a nice man. While rest of the people have a political background, he does not. We can only give our opinion. But only lawmakers can elect the president," Bhagwat told reporters in Haridwar.
Bhagwat's remarks came on a day the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) deferred its decision on whether or not to contest the Presidential election as it was divided over opposing United Progressive Alliance (UPA) nominee Pranab Mukherjee.
While Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee has rooted for Kalam, the former Indian President is yet to announce whether he will contest.
The NDA failed to firm up a position on the Presidential poll as it was divided over opposing UPA nominee Pranab Mukherjee and there was lack of clarity on extending support to P A Sangma.
With an intention of using the Presidential poll to rope in parties like AIADMK and BJD and possibly Trinamool Congress, the main opposition BJP-led alliance decided at a meeting in New Delhi that talks would be held with these parties to have a common candidate against Mukherjee.
At a two-hour meeting of the NDA which was skipped by Shiv Sena, JD-U leader Shivanand Tiwari is believed to have disfavoured a contest against Mukherjee because of his stature, reflecting a divide in the coalition.
BJP leaders L K Advani and Sushma Swaraj were said to be of the opinion that there should be a contest but there was no consensus as to whether to support Sangma, who has been propped up by AIADMK and BJD, or Kalam, who is being pushed into the race by Trinamool Congress.
There was a strong view that supporting Sangma would help NDA win back AIADMK and BJD. However, to finetune this, talks should be held with leaders of these parties before any decision is reached, sources said.
UK to order reactor for nuclear-armed submarine - source - Reuters UK
LONDON |
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will order the first reactor for a new generation of nuclear-armed submarines next week as part of a 1 billion pound ($1.6 billion) contract with Rolls-Royce, a defence ministry source said on Sunday, in a move that could strain the coalition government.
The deal will include an 11-year refit of Britain's sole submarine propulsion reactor factory at Derby in central England, said Defence Secretary Philip Hammond, who will formally announce the plans to parliament on Monday.
"This is sustaining a sovereign capability in the UK and some very high end technical skills in the UK for the next 40 or 50 years," he told BBC television, without giving further details of the contract.
The investment will protect 300 jobs at the Rolls-Royce factory and many others at suppliers elsewhere, the source said.
The 1 billion pound value of the deal will be shared between Rolls-Royce and its other industrial partners, a source close to the company said.
The two-party coalition government is split over plans to replace Britain's four Vanguard submarines at an estimated cost of 25 billion pounds when they retire from service in the 2020s.
Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative Party - to which Hammond belongs - wants a new fleet of submarines that will continue to carry the Vanguard's Trident missiles, maintaining Britain's independent nuclear capability.
Their smaller Liberal Democrat partners are pushing for cheaper and less potent alternatives, arguing that the current capability - the ability to obliterate Moscow - is an outdated hangover from the Cold War.
The two parties have postponed a final decision till 2016, after the next parliamentary election, while agreeing in the meantime to fund the advance work needed to allow the submarines to be built on schedule should they be commissioned.
The Liberal Democrats insist that the advance contracts do not represent a commitment to a like-for-like renewal, but some analysts say it is unlikely that cash-strapped Britain would lay out huge sums on design and equipment that it would later ditch.
Hammond insisted the government had not yet made up its mind about Britain's future nuclear deterrent.
"The government's policy is very clear. We are committed to maintaining a credible nuclear deterrent and we are placing orders now for the long-lead items that will be necessary to deliver a successor to the Vanguard class submarines in the late 2020s," Hammond said.
"But the actual decision to go ahead and build them won't have to be taken until 2016 and what we are doing at the moment is ordering the things that have to be ordered now to give us that option."
The government said last year it expected to spend 3 billion pounds by 2015 on preparatory work for the new submarine fleet.
The Rolls-Royce deal also includes a contract to build the reactor for the last of seven Astute class nuclear-powered attack submarines that Britain already has on order.
The nuclear propulsion plant for the Vanguard's successor will be the more advanced Pressurised Water Reactor 3 (PWR3) system, the government said last year.
Last month Hammond announced 350 million pounds of contracts, mainly with defence contractor BAE Systems, to design the Vanguard's successor submarines.
(Additional reporting by Rhys Jones; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
RSS chief favours Kalam for president - Hindustan Times
"It will be good if he (Kalam) is elected as President. The comman man thinks that he is a nice man. While rest of the people have a political background, he does not. We can only give our opinion. But only lawmakers can elect the president,” Bhagwat told reporters in Haridwar.
Bhagwat's remarks came on a day the NDA deferred its decision on whether or not to contest the Presidential election as it was divided over opposing UPA nominee Pranab Mukherjee.
While Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee has rooted for Kalam, the former President is yet to announce whether he will contest.
Modi needs to review style of working: RSS mouthpiece - in.news.yahoo.com
New Delhi, June 2 (IANS) In an apparent disapproval by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's style of working, an article in the organisation's mouthpiece has indicated that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has several prime ministerial candidates.
It also disapproved of Modi's reported insistence on resignation of Sanjay Joshi from the BJP's national executive last week.
The article, which figures in the latest issue of Panchjanaya, said it was being felt that Modi needed to do a rethink about organisational capabilities.
"It seems Narendra Modi needs to review his style of working and organisational ability," it said.
The article assumes significance because its author Devendra Swaroop is a former editor of Panchjanaya and has access to views of the RSS insiders.
"The role of Narendra Modi in the Sanjay Joshi episode at BJP's national executive meeting in Mumbai is worth considering...why despite having faith in the Sangh, Modi could not control his unhappiness towards a fellow RSS functionary is a mystery. He made Joshi's presence a prestige issue and allowed the media to attack the BJP and the Sangh," the article said.
It also attacked Modi over media reports about Joshi changing his travel plans and boarding a plane instead of going by train after the Mumbai meeting as the train would have touched places in Gujarat.
"It allowed opponents of the BJP to speak against Modi," it said.
Modi apparently insisted that he would attend the conclave only if his bete noire Joshi resigned from the party's national executive and the party bowed to his demand.
In a dig at Modi's prime ministerial ambitions, it said that the BJP had several chief ministers and central leaders who were capable of being its prime ministerial candidates. But it said that the decision should be taken by the the parliamentary party after the party won the Lok Sabha election.
The article in the RSS mouthpiece slamming Modi's action at the BJP executive close to veteran BJP leader L.K. Advani launching an attack on party president Nitin Gadkari, saying "the mood within the party is not upbeat".
Advani said in his blog that people were angry with the Congress-led government but they were upset with the BJP too.
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