NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Kumar Vishwas said on Saturday that a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA had offered him the Delhi Chief Minister’s post after the April-May General Election this year.

“A BJP MLA who is also an old friend had come to my house after elections. I thought he had come to either congratulate or sympathise as I had lost the (General) election. But he told me that his party wanted me to accept the post of Chief Minister. He also told me he was meeting me at the behest of the BJP leadership,”  Vishwas told a news channel.

AAP leader Vishwas is not a Delhi MLA but had fought the Lok Sabha election from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh and lost.

Vishwas said he refused to accept the offer and immediately informed his party colleague. However, he said he would not divulge the BJP legislator’s name.

Delhi has been under President’s rule since AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal resigned as chief minister in February after spending just 49 days in power. — IANS

SRINAGAR: One jawan was killed and another injured on Saturday in an ongoing operation against separatist guerrillas by the security forces near the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir, an officer said.

“One Army jawan was killed and another injured in the ongoing operation near the Line of Control (LoC) in Keran area of the Kupwara district,” a senior police officer said here.

So far, six militants and three Army jawans have been killed in this operation which has been going on for the last 20 days near the LoC.

the police said a large group of heavily armed guerrillas have infiltrated into the Indian side of the LoC in this area, following which a massive operation was started against them by the security forces. —  IANS

NEW DELHI: With GDP numbers showing an uptick, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday said the economy is turning around, investor confidence is improving and inflation is moderating as a result of the recent government decisions to relax FDI norms and push manufacturing.

The manufacturing curve has turned, services sector is looking up and inflation has by and large moderated, he said, while addressing his first press conference to mark 100 days of the NDA Government in office.

“In the first quarter (April-June), a 5.7 per cent growth rate is encouraging. With the long-term impact of all the new initiatives setting in, I am sure the impact in the coming quarters will be much larger,” he said.

The GDP growth at 5.7 per cent in the first quarter of the current fiscal is highest in nearly two-and-half years.

Listing decisions taken in first three months in office, Jaitley said FDI restrictions in defence and Railways have been eased, decision making hastened, special mechanism created to resolve tax dispute and steps taken to increase investment in manufacturing and infrastructure.

“The new government was clear about the direction in which it was to move. We wanted to expand economic activity, hasten decision making, easing doing business in country, open up significant sectors, expedite decision making, while maintaining the social sector expenditures in most areas,” he added.

On future agenda, the Minister said the government would soon roll out disinvestment plan, push Goods and Services Tax (GST) and try to get the Insurance Bill through in the ensuing Winter Session of Parliament. — PTI

Pak cleric Qadri issues 24-hour deadline for Sharif to resign

ISLAMABAD: Amid Pakistan army's mediation efforts, protesters have stepped up pressure on the embattled government, with cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri setting yet another deadline of 24 hours for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to quit.

In a late night development, Qadri's camp was visited by a delegation of Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PAT) led by vice chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who convinced the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief to delay his next move.

Following the meeting, the first direct contact between the two groups since they together started the march on August 14, Qadri set a 24-hour deadline for the prime minister to step down.

Qadri has set a number of deadlines since camping outside the Parliament about two weeks ago.

After their meeting, Qureshi also addressed the PAT crowd and reiterated his party's request to postpone further action, which the protesters did not agree to. At this, Qadri asked his followers to give their assent to the proposal.

He said PAT and had a number of views in common and shared the same struggle, cautioning supporters that the government intended to create a split between the two.

Meanwhile, in his late night address, Khan announced that his party would expand their sit-in to rallies in Lahore, Karachi, Faisalabad and Multan. Qadri asked his supporters to join Khan's protests.

Speaking to his supporters from atop his container outside the Parliament, Khan said he would announce his next step on Sunday.

Khan reiterated that the proposed judicial commission to investigate electoral rigging in the 2013 polls would be unable to probe the matter fully if Sharif remained the prime minister.

The developments came after direct talks between the government and protesters failed to break the deadlock yesterday.

The army has been active behind the scenes to broker a deal after Qadri and Khan met army chief General Raheel Sharif on Thursday night, sources said.

The Sharif-led government has announced to accept all electoral reform-related demands but has rejected the demand asking for the prime minister's resignation.

Hours after Gen Raheel Sharif's mediation, the protesters and the government were trading charges on Friday on who was responsible for army's mediation.

Prime Minister Sharif told the National Assembly on Friday that "neither had I asked army nor the armed forces sought a role in the present political crisis."

Sharif sought to scotch media reports that it was he who had "requested" the army to come to his rescue, saying that he approved the military chief's meeting with the two opposition leaders after they had requested it. Both Qadri and Khan contested Sharif's statement.

Contradicting Sharif's statement, military spokesman Major General Asim Bajwa tweeted, "COAS (Chief of Army Staff) was asked by the Govt to play facilitative role for resolution of current impasse, in yesterday's meeting, at #PM House."

In a bid to save face, interior minister Chaudhry Nisar claimed that it was the Prime Minister who had approved army's role.

Responding to Sharif's statement on protest leaders requesting the army to intervene, an angry PAT chief Qadri shot back, "I say this categorically that the Prime Minister asked the army to intervene. I am saying, on the record, that we did not make any request asking the army to intervene."

"I had not even spoken to the army chief before our meeting yesterday," Qadri said, adding that Sharif made the statement after he saw his government was losing strength. The fiery cleric claimed that Sharif was lying.

Khan also slammed the premier for saying Qadri and he asked for the army to intervene.

The army had earlier asked all stakeholders in the crisis to hold "meaningful" talks to end the crisis.

In its 67-year history, Pakistan has witnessed three coups, including one against Sharif in 1999 by the then army chief General Parvez Musharraf.

The army, which has so far been passive in the confrontation between the government and protesters, has a history of capturing power from democratically elected governments. — PTI

WASHINGTON: The US has called for a global coalition to address the challenge being posed by terror group ISIS that has gained control over large parts of Iraq and Syria, threatening to spread to other parts of the world.

Asserting that there is evidence that these extremists if left unchecked will not be satisfied at stopping with Syria and Iraq, US Secretary of State John Kerry in an Op-ed in The New York Times wrote that air strikes alone will not defeat Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

“A much fuller response is demanded from the world. We need to support Iraqi forces and the moderate Syrian opposition, who are facing ISIS on the front lines. We need to disrupt and degrade ISIS’ capabilities and counter its extremist message in the media. And we need to strengthen our own defences and cooperation in protecting our people,” Kerry wrote.

Next week, Kerry and Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel are accompanying US President Barack Obama to the NATO summit meeting in Wales where they intend to talk to European counterparts on this issue.

“The goal is to enlist the broadest possible assistance.

Following the meeting, Hagel and I plan to travel to the Middle East to develop more support for the coalition among the countries that are most directly threatened,” he said.

In September, when the US will hold the presidency of United Nations Security Council, Kerry said the Obama Administration will use that opportunity to continue to build a broad coalition and highlight the danger posed by foreign terrorist fighters, including those who have joined ISIS.

“During the General Assembly session, President Obama will lead a summit meeting of the Security Council to put forward a plan to deal with this collective threat,” he said.

“In this battle, there is a role for almost every country. Some will provide military assistance, direct and indirect. Some will provide desperately needed humanitarian assistance for the millions who have been displaced and victimized across the region,” Kerry wrote.

“Others will help restore not just shattered economies but broken trust among neighbours. This effort is underway in Iraq, where other countries have joined us in providing humanitarian aid, military assistance and support for an inclusive government,” he said.

But no decent country, he argued, can support the horrors perpetrated by ISIS and no civilised country should shirk its responsibility to help stamp out “this disease”.

“ISIS’ abhorrent tactics are uniting and rallying neighbours with traditionally conflicting interests to support Iraq’s new government. And over time, this coalition can begin to address the underlying factors that fuel ISIS and other terrorist organisations with like-minded agendas,” Kerry said. — PTI