TMC suspends MLA Humayun Kabir over his plan to build 'Babri Masjid' in Murshidabad
Kolkata/ Baharampur (PTI): West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress on Thursday suspended its Bharatpur MLA Humayun Kabir, who had triggered a storm with the proposal to build 'Babri Masjid' in Murshidabad district.
Kabir, who has hogged the limelight over the last few years with his controversial statements on various matters, including the party's internal affairs, had announced that the foundation stone of the proposed mosque would be laid at Beldanga on December 6.
Announcing his suspension, senior TMC leader Firhad Hakim said Kabir's conduct amounted to gross indiscipline at a time when the party was working to maintain peace and communal harmony in the state.
"Kabir was involved in communal politics, which the TMC is strictly against. TMC does not believe in communal politics. He will have no relation with the party from this moment. He is being suspended on the instructions of our top leadership," said Hakim, a senior minister in the Mamata Banerjee government.
When the suspension was announced, Kabir was present at the ground in Baharampur, where the CM is scheduled to address a rally later in the day.
Asked about his reaction, Kabir told reporters that the suspension was a "deliberate humiliation".
He said he would resign as an MLA and launch a new political outfit on December 22 in Murshidabad.
Kabir said his new outfit will contest 135 of the 294 seats in the assembly in next year's state elections.
"I will expose the chief minister and the TMC over their double standards on secular politics. TMC has been fooling minorities and has a tacit understanding with the RSS-BJP," he alleged.
"The December 6 programme will go ahead as planned. I will not cancel it. If the administration doesn't allow me to lay the foundation stone, then I will sit on a dharna and get arrested. I have full faith in the judiciary," he said.
Kabir, who keeps switching political parties and had been in the Congress and BJP earlier, claimed that lakhs of people would join the December 6 programme, which may block the all-important NH-12 that connects Kolkata in the south to Siliguri in the north.
State BJP president Samik Bhattacharya termed Kabir's suspension a "drama".
"Humayun Kabir has been making controversial remarks for a long time, yet the TMC never took any concrete action. They want to establish the rule of Babur in Bengal," he alleged.
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Russian military hardware, spare parts for Indian military to be manufactured in India
New Delhi (PTI): Russia agreed to encourage joint manufacturing in India of military hardware and spare parts for maintenance of Russian-origin arms and defence equipment.
Ways to bolster overall bilateral defence cooperation figured prominently during summit talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday.
It has been a long-standing grievance of armed forces that the supply of critical spares and equipment from Russia takes a long time, affecting the maintenance of military systems procured from that country.
"Both sides agreed to encourage joint manufacturing in India of spare parts, components, aggregates and other products for maintenance of Russian origin arms and defence equipment under Make-in-India programme through transfer of technology," a joint statement said.
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It said both sides also agreed to set up joint ventures for meeting the needs of the Indian armed forces as well as subsequent export to mutually friendly third countries.
The joint statement said the India-Russia defence partnership is being reoriented to take up joint co-development and co-production of advanced defence technology and systems.
In their meeting on Thursday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Russian counterpart Andrey Belousov resolved to expand bilateral defence cooperation.
In the meeting, the Indian side showed keen interest in procurement of additional batches of S-400 missile systems from Moscow to bolster its combat prowess.
In October 2018, India signed a USD 5 billion deal with Russia to buy five units of the S-400 air defence missile systems, notwithstanding a warning by the US that going ahead with the contract may invite US sanctions under the provisions of Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
Three squadrons have already been delivered.
The S-400 systems played a crucial role during Operation Sindoor. India may also look at procuring the S-500 missile systems from Russia.
In the Modi-Putin talks, the two sides also agreed to continue jointly developing systems of bilateral trade settlements through the use of national currencies.
Additionally, the two sides agreed to continue their consultations on enabling the interoperability of the national payment systems, financial messaging systems, as well as central bank digital currency platforms.
Modi and Putin appreciated the ongoing intensification of the joint work on a free trade agreement on goods between India and the Eurasian Economic Union, covering sectors of mutual interest, the joint statement said.
They also directed both sides to intensify efforts in negotiations on a mutually beneficial agreement on the promotion and protection of investment, it said.
India and Russia also welcomed steps to ensure long-term supply of fertilisers to India and discussed the potential establishment of joint ventures in this area.
