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Sharad Pawar will not contest LS polls
Dense fog envelops North India as cold wave intensifies
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Premarital sex immoral: Court
Charges against HP CM: Jaitley seeks CBI probe
Nagaland murders: SIT begins probe
Ganguly mulls quitting as Bengal rights
panel chief
Ganguly a victim of conspiracy: PIL
CBI probing corruption in Railways’ VIP quota tickets
Bengal gang rape: Oppn spreading misinformation, says Trinamool
Army comes to rescue of martyr’s ailing wife
Riot victims refuse to vacate Shamli camp
AAP minister Rakhi’s car attacked, refuses security again
‘AAP’s emergence a warning for parties’
Study says hypothyroidism more common in women
Sikkim readies 1,500 quake-resistant houses
Revisit policies on alcohol, court tells Delhi govt
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Sharad Pawar will not contest LS polls
The Nationalist Congress Party which met here to plan its strategy for the Lok Sabha elections reiterated that it wanted to contest 22 of the 48 seats in Maharashtra leaving the rest to the Congress. Senior party leaders also felt that the NCP may have to swap some seats with the Congress part in interest of the coalition. At the meeting, Sharad Pawar told senior NCP leaders that the party must look for new faces to contest the Lok Sabha elections. Pawar felt that the party should look for younger candidates from among women and professionals. Acknowledging that the Aam Aadmi Party could spoil the prospects of the NCP, Pawar called upon his party workers to adopt social media in a big way to counter the new outfit. The AAP has already announced that it would go to the people highlighting the various scams involving senior leaders of the NCP in Maharashtra. Pawar went on to say that the NCP should highlight its developmental works across Maharashtra ahead of the elections. The NCP won just eight of the 22 seats it contested in the 2009 elections.
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Dense fog envelops North India as cold wave intensifies
New Delhi, January 5 Dense fog enveloped the IGI Airport, disrupting the schedule of more than 50 domestic and international flights today. Kashmir Valley and Ladakh region experienced sub-zero temperatures as cold intensified and mercury plummeted several notches below the freezing point. Srinagar recorded a minimum temperature of minus 4.2 degrees Celsius, a MeT official said. Intense cold wave continued unabated in most parts of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh with mercury plummeting up to three degrees below normal, adversely affecting normal life. The minimum temperatures hovered between one and three degrees Celsius below normal in the plains of Punjab and Haryana, the MeT office said. Several parts of Punjab and Haryana, including Hisar, Amritsar, Patiala, Bathinda, Narnaul, Ludhiana and Rohtak, remained engulfed in a thick blanket of fog due to which several trains ran hours behind schedule due to low visibility. Dense fog accompanied with biting cold wave conditions disrupted normal life in Rajasthan due to which eight trains of North Western Railways were running late by 50 minutes to about four hours in different parts of the state, a PRO of the North Western Railway said. Fog also caused traffic jams on the Delhi-Jaipur, Kota-Jaipur and Jodhpur-Ajmer highways in the morning. — PTI
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Goa building collapse toll rises to 16; search on for builder
Panaji, January 5 A search was, meanwhile, on for the missing builder and contractor of the under-construction five-storey residential building that caved in yesterday. “The death toll in the building collapse has risen to 16,” Goa acting Chief Secretary RK Srivastava said. Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said he would announce compensation for the victims tomorrow. Fire personnel fear some people could still be trapped under the rubble, but the possibility of finding more survivors appears bleak as a huge pile of debris is affecting the pace of rescue operations. Goa fire and emergency services personnel and Army men carried out rescue operations overnight to look for more survivors, but due to huge pile of debris, chances of finding anybody alive were getting slimmer with the passage of time. “Earlier there were some sounds coming from the debris that helped rescuers to locate and rescue two persons,” said an eyewitness. However, no such voices could be heard now, he added. The state police have launched a search for builder Vishwas Desai and contractor Jaideep Saigal against whom an FIR was filed yesterday for endangering human life, causing death due to negligence. “Both the builder and the contractor have been missing while attempts are on to trace them,” said Inspector Harish
Madkaikar. Deputy Inspector General of Police OP Mishra said the police would investigate with all seriousness into the offence registered against the builder-contractor duo. But, the priority right now was to rescue people from the debris, he said.
— PTI
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Premarital sex immoral: Court
New Delhi, January 5 Additional sessions judge Virender Bhat also held that a woman, especially grown up, educated and office-going, who has sexual intercourse on the assurance of marriage does so "at her own peril". "In my opinion, every act of sexual intercourse between two adults on the assurance of promise of marriage does not become rape, if the assurance
or promise is not fulfilled later on by the boy," the judge said. "When a grown up, educated and office-going woman subjects herself to sexual intercourse with a friend or colleague on the latter's promise that he would marry her, she does so at her own peril. She must be taken to understand the consequences of her act and must know that there is no guarantee that the boy would fulfil his promise. "He may or may not do so. She must understand that she is engaging in
an act which not only is immoral but also against the tenets of every religion. No religion in
the world allows premarital sex," the court said while acquitting an employee of a multinational company of the charges of rape. The 29-year-old man,
a resident of Punjab, was arrested when a woman, doing a secretarial and administrative job at a private company in Delhi, lodged a complaint of rape against him in May 2011. In her complaint, the woman had alleged that the man, whom she had met through a chatting website in July 2006,
used to have physical relations with her on several occasions by promising to marry her.
— PTI
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Charges against HP CM: Jaitley seeks CBI probe
“The Congress and Virbhadra Singh have decided to brazen out the allegations of corruption. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul will hide behind silence,” Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley posted on the party’s website today. Noting that Virbhadra had dared anyone to either lodge an FIR against him or prove the allegations, Jaitley said his letter to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Director on December 29 in this regard constituted an FIR. “To investigate the same, the consent of the state government under Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police (Establishment) Act is required. I dare the Himachal Pradesh Government to give its consent so that an investigation into these allegations begins,” he said. The BJP’s attack on the Congress leadership came amid indications that the latter had decided to back Virbhadra by dubbing the allegations as part of the Opposition's conspiracy against him. Today, Virbhadra’s wife Pratibha Singh also dismissed suggestions that the former should resign till the time his innocence was proved. Jaitley said as per his understanding, two allegations against Virbhadra were already being investigated by the CBI. “The allegation relates to the initials ‘VBS’ which were found in the diary of a steel manufacturing company. The second relates to Rs 5.5 crore deposited in a Shimla bank account and the transfer of that money by one Shri Anand Chauhan for the benefit of Virbhadra and his family’s LIC policies. This allegation, I understand, is also being investigated by the CBI,” Jaitley said. “The third allegation related to Virbhadra’s dealings with a power company now needs to be investigated. Virbhadra, his family and their company have received interest-free loans from the promoter of a power company. That power company had transactions with the Himachal Pradesh Government, which had passed orders to favour the company. The facts prima facie establish that the loaned monies are used to buy shares in other group companies of the lender. Certain facts show that round tripping of money have also surfaced,” he added.
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Nagaland murders: SIT begins probe
Kohima, January 5 In its first meeting during the day, the SIT discussed among other issues, the process of investigation and motive for the murder, Additional SP of Dimapur and SIT member Watichuchang Jamir said. The bodies were found stacked atop each other at Pachaspura on Friday. One of the nine victims had been identified as the secretary of Karbi Students’ Association, Bokajan branch, Harlongbi Ingti, he said. Jamir said he was hopeful that the identities of the other victims would be established by this evening. Dimapur SP VZ Angami yesterday said the corpses were covered with a polythene sheet over which some boulders were placed and it was suspected that the victims might have been killed over a week ago as the bodies were decomposed beyond recognition. Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio ordered the constitution of an SIT and a high power enquiry committee to inquire into the murder last night, Chief Minister’s secretary L Kire said in a release. Rio also appealed to the people to remain calm and maintain peace and extend assistance to the investigating agencies. The Chief Secretary, Alemtemshi Jamir, said in a notification that a high power inquiry committee headed by Secretary to Justice and Law Department KN Chishi with Joint Secretary (Home) T Roy and DC, Commissioner’s Office Vikiye Kenye as members was constituted to probe the matter. He said the government had directed the HPEC
to inquire into the incident and suggest remedial measures to ensure that such incidents did not recur.
— PTI
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Ganguly mulls quitting as Bengal rights panel chief
New Delhi/Kolkata, January 5 "Ganguly spoke to me over telephone and said that he is thinking of resigning (as WBHRC chief)," former Attorney General Soli Sorabjee told PTI on being asked about reports that the judge has written to him on the issue. During the telephonic conversation, Ganguly said so many things were being said about him and wanted Sorabjee's view. Sorabjee said he had told Ganguly that it would be a "wise decision" to resign. Ganguly's talk with Sorabjee came close on the heels of the Union Cabinet on Thursday approving a proposal to send a Presidential reference to the Supreme Court on the issue, which was seen as a step towards his removal as the WBHRC chairman. A three-judge Supreme Court panel had indicted Ganguly by holding that the statement of the intern, both written and oral, had prima facie disclosed "an act of unwelcome behaviour (unwelcome verbal/non-verbal conduct of sexual nature)" by the judge with her in the Le Meridien hotel room on December 24 last year. Ganguly has denied the allegations of the law intern and blamed "powerful interests" of trying to tarnish his image due to certain judgments delivered by him. In a letter to Chief Justice P Sathasivam last month, Ganguly said he had never harassed the law intern or made any unwelcome advances towards her or any other female intern. When contacted in Kolkata earlier in the day, Ganguly was non-committal. "Lets see," was his answer when asked by PTI about his future course of action in the case. The former Supreme Court judge refused to elaborate anything further. — PTI
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Ganguly a victim of conspiracy: PIL
Kolkata, January 5 The petition, filed by Delhi-based medical practitioner M Padma Narayan Singh, will be heard by Chief Justice P Sadashivam’s Bench in the Supreme Court tomorrow. In the affidavit, Dr Singh alleged that the intern, a student of the National University of Juridical Science near Salt Lake, where Ganguly was also an honorary professor, was ‘planted’ by Mohan Bagan Club secretary Anjan Mitra and others after Justice Ganguly’s submission of a report against the club on the last year’s Calcutta Derby match controversy. The intern was engaged for copying Justice Ganguly commission’s report on the derby football between Mohan Bagan and East Bengal Club which was abandoned in the half way following withdrawing of the team from the field by the Club.
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CBI probing corruption in Railways’ VIP quota tickets
New Delhi, January 5 On an average day, as many as 35,000 tickets in various classes of all trains that originate from Delhi or cross the city are reserved under the emergency quota which is also known as VIP or headquarters quota. The agency suspects that certain vested interests within various unions of Railways and in alleged conspiracy with private travel operators confirm these tickets against a premium, official sources said here. The sources said the agency had some requests which had forged signatures and in some cases even the letter heads were fake. Initially, the probe may be limited to the national capital but, if required, it may cover other states, they said. The CBI has already registered a preliminary enquiry (PE) last week against unknown persons to carry out a thorough probe for misuse of the railway tickets issued under quota to various railway unions. The quota is meant for emergencies which includes medical necessity but the agency has alleged that the process was abused by certain vested interests. It had found some related documents while looking into the functioning of Railways as part of its probe into the alleged bribery case involving the nephew of former Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal. In May last year, the CBI had also searched the office of an RPF inspector who had allegedly helped the sacked Railway Board member, Mahesh Kumar, besides shifting some movable assets from his Mumbai residence. Many documents which pointed to a scam in railway ticketing were recovered from there. The CBI had, during a discreet probe, claimed to have found that the emergency quota tickets to unions were being handed over to some travel agents who used to charge a huge price for confirming a wait-listed ticket. A senior CBI official claimed it was a full-fledged racket. The official said the travel agents had been identified and would be called for examination soon besides some of the office bearers of a few railway unions who had allowed confirmation of wait listed tickets.
— PTI
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Bengal gang rape: Oppn spreading misinformation, says Trinamool
Kolkata, January 5 In
Kolkata, the Trinamool Yuva organised a rally from Golpark to Hazra in the southern part of the city. Senior party leaders like Partha
Chattopadhyay, Subrata Bakshi and Sovandeb Chattopadhayay took part in the 3.1-km rally. Several thousand Trinamool workers joined the rally, carrying posters and banners denouncing the opposition parties for "trying to halt development of the state" by highlighting such incidents. "Leaders of opposition parties know they'll disappear from the scene if the Trinamool can continue with its agenda of progress and development for some more time. So they are hatching conspiracies to give the government a bad name," said
Sovandeb, Trinamool chief whip in the legislative assembly. "When small incidents happen, they can be tackled well. But doing politics over dead body is not the politics the state needs," he
said. Trinamool Yuva president Abhishek Banerjee said those indulging in "dirty politics" on the incident were "shameless people". Referring to the 34-year rule of the Left Front in the state, Banerjee said: "Then they used to do politics with people who are alive. But now, they find people are not supporting them. So they are resorting to politics of dead
bodies." Trinamool All India general secretary Mukul Roy said the party took out rallies in every rural block and all municipal wards of the state. The girl, 16, whose father is a taxi driver hailing from Bihar, was raped twice by a gang in October in Madhyamgram of North 24-Parganas district. Shockingly, the second assault took place when she was returning home after filing the police complaint. She breathed her last December 31 at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital here where she was admitted with severe burn injuries December 23. Police have slapped murder charges against two accused, now under custody, based on the girl's dying declaration that the duo set her ablaze. The police have drawn flak for their alleged attempt to forcibly perform the last rites of the girl to prevent any demonstration with the body. In the wake of the incident, the civil society and the opposition parties have hit the streets, denouncing the administrative and the police apathy towards the girl's family.
— IANS
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Army comes to rescue of martyr’s ailing wife
Dehradun, January 5 Taking cognisance of the report, Col CJS Khera (retd), General Secretary of the Ex-Servicemen Joint Action Front (Sanjha Morcha), approached the Army headquarters and authorities of the Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS), a central organisation. The Army headquarters has directed the ECHS to provide all possible help to Devi, who is suffering from chronic kidney ailment and has been advised kidney transplant. Meanwhile, Devi has been shifted to Himalayan Hospital, Jolly Grant, from Indresh Hospital on the recommendations of Dehradun Military Hospital. “Officers from the army headquarters have contacted me and now my sister has been shifted to Himalayan Hospital in Jolly Grant on the recommendations of doctors at the Dehradun military hospital. Devi’s treatment was started on Saturday,” Singh told The Tribune.
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Riot victims refuse to vacate Shamli camp
Muzaffarnagar, January 5 "We have appealed them to shift to safer places due to biting cold," Shamli District Magistrate PK Singh said. PK Singh denied that authorities were trying to forcefully vacate the camp.About 250 displaced families were residing in the camp. District authorities have assured the security to the victims if they returned to their native village Wajidpur, SP Baghpat J K Shahi told reporters. But, they refused to leave the camp. The team has returned, Shahi said.
— PTI
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AAP minister Rakhi’s car attacked, refuses security again
New Delhi, January 5 As part of his party's promise to follow austerity, Kejriwal has been refusing to take any security and all his six ministers have also said that they will follow in their leader's footsteps and not take personal security. "I am safe. I am undeterred (by the incident) and I don't need any security," 26-year-old Birla said after the incident that occurred around 6pm. "I will not take any security. This is a decision based on our principle. I am not scared and I will keep working for people's welfare," she said. Her car was in a crowded area when suddenly some people threw a heavy object that cracked the windscreen of the vehicle, an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) spokesperson said. He said Birla was sitting in the front seat of her personal car and the incident took place at R Block Mangolpuri while she was returning from Santoshi Mata Mandir in the area. She is the local MLA. The minister later went to the Mangolpuri police station in north-west Delhi and filed a complaint. "We are registering an FIR against unknown persons and are trying to nab the culprits," a senior police official. — PTI
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‘AAP’s emergence a warning for parties’
Nadiad, January 5 "Aam Aadmi Party has redefined the political scenario. It has also altered the political discourse. It was limited to Delhi till now. But, if Congress, BJP and regional parties do not listen to people's voice, they will soon become history," Ramesh said here. "AAP's performance in the assembly elections in Delhi is a victory of the voice of people. The party's emergence is a warning for all the parties," he said. Ramesh was in this central Gujarat city to inaugurate a cancer hospital. On Gujarat government's allegations that the state was being discriminated against in allocation of funds, Ramesh said the Centre studied the demands and representations made by Gujarat and allocated funds accordingly. "Modi alleges in his public rallies across the country that the Centre does not help Gujarat and that it is discriminating against the state," Ramesh said. "The representations made by Gujarat government are studied thoroughly before being passed and funds are allocated depending on the project," he said.
— PTI
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Study says hypothyroidism more common in women
New Delhi, January 5 The Abbott study, done to assess the prevalence of thyroid dysfunction in adults in India, found that while over 11 per cent were diagnosed with hypothyroidism, another 22 per cent of the people surveyed had positivity to anti-thyroid peroxidase antibodies [TPO], an established autoimmune marker pointing towards a steady risk of developing thyroid disorders. “Iodine deficiency used to be a cause of hypothyroidism across the world earlier, but among the people we studied who were urban population and consumed iodised salt, we found that one in 10 persons has hypothyroidism. We found that 22 per cent of the population has high anti-thyroid peroxidase antibodies suggesting that this population is at risk of hypothyroidism and that this auto-immune disease or auto- immune thyroid disease is the cause of hypothyroidism,” explained Dr AG Unnikrishnan, CEO and endocrinologist of Pune-based Chellaram Diabetes Institute and principal investigator of the study whose findings were published in the July 2013 issue of the Indian Journal of Endocrinology Metabolism. According to investigator Dr Raj Kumar Lalwani, consultant physician at PG Medical Centre, of those diagnosed with hypothyroidism, one-third of hypothyroid cases were not aware of their status. “Undetected cases are significantly higher in Delhi (3.97 per cent) as compared to other major cities like Mumbai (2.86 per cent) and Chennai (2.09 per cent). About 9.61 per cent of the population from Delhi had mild thyroid failure; these cases may progress to hypothyroidism in future,” he said. In the study, conducted on 5,360 people in New Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Goa, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad, 88 per cent of the entire population studied were already consuming iodised salt. Another important finding was that hypothyroidism was three times common in women than men as indicated by the study and fatigue, weight gain, hair loss, menstrual irregularities, reduced fertility, constipation and depression are symptoms that are observed in women with hypothyroidism. “Women are three times more likely to be affected by hypothyroidism than men - 15.86 per cent versus 5.02 per cent- especially those in the age group of 46-54,” the study found. Further, Dr Unnikrishnan noted that in 1970s and 80s, iodine deficiency stood as the most common cause of hypothyroidism, but here why this autoimmunity occurs may be a hereditary component or there may be an environmental factor this all is open to further conjecture and calls for further research. The study also had many patients who were diagnosed with hypothyroidism for the first time while the older people - above the age of 35 years -- seemed to be more prone to hypothyroidism than the younger population (13.11 per cent compared to 7.53 per cent). Hypertension (20.4 per cent) and diabetes mellitus (16.2 per cent) were the other common diseases observed in the study population. Hypothyroidism was found to be the common form of thyroid dysfunction affecting 10.95 per cent of the study population in India.
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Sikkim readies 1,500 quake-resistant houses
Guwahati, January 5 The scenic North-Eastern state, which is a favourite tourist destination in the Himalayas, is prone to a high degree of risk in case of a high-intensity temblor. The state has faced several devastating earthquakes in the past on account of a unique geo-physical setting resulting in a large number of deaths and severe property damage. During the past 115 years, four great quakes with a magnitude of 8.0 or greater on the Richter Scale have occurred in Sikkim. The September 18, 2011 earthquake struck Sikkim with a magnitude of 6.9 with the epicentre located near the Indian-Nepal border, about 68km north west of Gangtok. Three aftershocks of magnitude 5.7, 5.1 and 4.6 followed within 30 minutes. About 100 deaths were reported from the Himalayan region in India that included 70 in Sikkim. “The Rs 391 crore Reconstruction of Earthquake Damaged Rural Houses (REDRH) project has been launched in 2012 for seismically strengthening 7,972 houses which were badly damaged during the September 2011 earthquake,” said Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Chamling. This project is funded under the Prime Minister’s Special Relief Package. It is being implemented by the Rural Management and Development Department, Government of Sikkim. So far, 1,500 earthquake-resistant houses have been constructed and the remainder are in an advanced stage of construction. An amount of Rs 227 crore out of the total of Rs 389.83 crore outlay has been utilised so far. Each quake-resistant house is being constructed on a plinth area of 605 sq ft. Out of the construction cost of Rs 6 lakh per house, Rs 4.89 lakh will be provided by the government as grant in four instalments after achieving pre-determined milestones namely -- beneficiary finalised, plinth level complete, roof complete and house fully completed. All the beneficiaries were selected by gram sabhas in a transparent manner by the public display of selected beneficiaries list. All funds were released directly to the beneficiaries after achieving the pre-fixed milestones.
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Revisit policies on alcohol, court tells Delhi govt
New Delhi, January 5 The court noted that areas around liquor vends, being opened in large numbers in the national capital, have been
identified as spots high on criminal activities like snatching, robberies, quarrels, molestations and eve-teasing being done by habitual and compulsive alcoholics. "Undoubtedly, the alcohol industry is an enormous global industry providing employment to thousands and large revenue to the government and any prohibition or ban to alcohol (either partial or total) would adversely affect major source of funding for public services and tax revenues. "However, this cannot happen at the cost of public health, security, safety and morality. "With a large number of liquor vends mushrooming all over the city, it is necessary and so am I hopeful that the GNCT of Delhi and Administration would take a serious note of this alarming situation concerning health, safety and security issues and perhaps to revisit the existing governmental policies in this regard," Additional Sessions Judge Kamini Lau said. The court's order came while convicting two men, Rajeev and Jitender, of the charges of robbing Amar of Rs 500 and hurting him in committing the offence. It said the government is required to take all decisions which are necessary to bring prohibition of beverages, drinks and drugs which are harmful for the health, security and safety of the citizens. The court also highlighted that in India, contrary to the Constitutional Mandate (under Article 47 of Constitution) which provides that the endeavour of the State is to bring about prohibition of consumption, only four states Gujarat, Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland -- and Union Territory of Lakshadweep prohibit manufacture, sale and consumption of alcohol. All other Indian states permit manufacture, sale and consumption of alcohol, it said.
— PTI
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Ties with China ‘very close’, says Maldives Prez
New Delhi, January 5 Yameen, who was elected President less than two months ago, told a news agency that he had assured Indian leaders during his just-concluded visit that ties with India were based on “sentiments”. “It is a heartfelt relationship,” he said. Answering a question on the perception that his country was getting close to China, he replied, “I would like to tell you that the relationship we have with China is very close.” But ties with India “will precede any other relationship”, he said. India has been concerned over the growing proximity between Maldives and China in a number of strategic areas, including security issues. The security agencies here have repeatedly been saying that the “Marao Island” which was leased by Maldives to China in 1999 for maritime traffic management was also being used by the Chinese to monitor Indian and US warships in the Indian Ocean, and in future could be developed into a submarine base. Talking about his discussions with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Yameen said, “India’s primary concern has been security in the region, particularly in the Indian Ocean, and our views on the issues are exactly similar to that of India.” “So, it was not a difficult proposition at all. We have agreed and we have exchanged views on areas of concern such as security, terrorism and fighting against piracy in the Indian Ocean. We are largely to gain from these matters that are a concern to India while we share the Indian sentiments and we have totally endorsed them,” he said.
— PTI
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Mumbai, January 5
New Delhi, January 5