Trump signs $717bn annual defence policy bill into law
Washington, Aug 14: US President Donald Trump signed into law the $717 billion annual defence policy bill, the earliest in the year the bill has become law in more than four decades.
"The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is the most significant investment in our military and our warfighters in modern history, and I am very proud to be a big, big part of it," Trump said before signing the bill on Monday.
"It was not very hard. You know, I went to Congress, I said let's do it, we got to do it. We're going to strengthen our military like never, ever before, and that's what we did," he said.
Trump signed the bill during a visit to Fort Drum, New York, where he was joined by Vice President Mike Pence, Deputy Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan and the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford, reports The Hill.
This year's NDAA authorizes about $639 billion for the base budget of the Pentagon and defence programmes of the Energy Department.
It also allows for another $69 billion for a war fund known as the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) account.
It fulfils several of the administration's priorities to bulk up the military, including adding 15,600 troops across the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps.
The bill also follows the administration's request for 77 F-35 fighter jets and goes beyond the its request for Navy ships, authorizing a total of 13 new vessels.
"We will replace aging tanks, aging planes and ships with the most advanced and lethal technology ever developed, and hopefully we'll be so strong we'll never have to use them," Trump said.
The bill also gives troops a 2.6 per cent pay raise, the highest in nine years, The Hill reported.
On Monday, Trump made no mention of the bill's namesake.
With the NDAA signed into law, Congress now turns its attention to passing a defence spending bill to make the dollar amounts authorized by the NDAA a reality.
The House passed a Pentagon spending bill in June, while the Senate is expected to start considering its version as soon as this week.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
