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SAARC leaders start arriving, focus on Modi-Sharif talks
Pakistan, Sri Lanka release Indian
fishermen
Sharif’s visit to India could give peace a chance: Pak media
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VVIP guests to have the taste of India at President’s dinner
TN aflutter; Jaya may stay away
Modi’s wife Jashodaben may get SPG security
Manjhi asks Modi for special status to Bihar
Chandrababu meets Modi
Charminar photo in Telangana logo triggers controversy
Setback for Jagan as 2 MPs back TDP
Airport security checks, frisking time to be halved
Naval mishaps
13-year-old Andhra girl youngest to scale Everest
2G case: Raja, Kani, Dayalu to appear in special
court
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SAARC leaders start arriving, focus on Modi-Sharif talks
New Delhi, May 25 Bhutan Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay and Bangladesh Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury have already arrived in Delhi while Pakistan Premier Nawaz Sharif and other SAARC leaders will reach here tomorrow for the ceremony to be held at the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhawan. After the oath-taking ceremony, President Pranab Mukherjee will host a banquet in honour of the visiting dignitaries, which may well turn into a SAARC Summit of sorts. Modi is scheduled to hold separate bilateral talks with each of the visiting leaders on Tuesday. However, other SAARC leaders may again feel marginalised now that a meeting between Modi and Sharif is on the cards. The Pakistan Premier, who arrives at 10.45 am tomorrow, will be in India for about 24 hours. Top officials of India and Pakistan started working on the agenda for the ‘short-duration’ meeting between the two leaders soon after Sharif confirmed his participation at the ceremony. However, sources maintained that one should not expect breakthrough, given the fact that the two leaders would have very little time at their disposal. “Of course, when leaders meet, they can discuss anything under the sun. But considering the occasion, they will not be able to go into the nitty gritty of various issues,’’ they said. Modi is likely to convey to Sharif India’s commitment to establish good neighbourly relations with Pakistan while expressing concern over cross-border infiltration and terrorism. The two leaders may also discuss ways to revive the composite dialogue that has been in limbo for almost one-and-a-half years. Since both Modi and Sharif have been strong votaries of increasing commercial links, they might discuss how more trade and transit routes could be opened between their two countries. New Delhi is also expected to inquire when Pakistan proposes to grant the Non-Discriminatory Market Access (NDMA) to India. Sharif will also hold talks with President Mukherjee. On the eve of Sharif’s visit, Pakistan, in a goodwill gesture, released about 150 Indian fishermen. Pakistan expects India also to release its prisoners lodged in Indian jails. Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa also ordered the release of Indian fishermen in Colombo’s custody ahead of his visit. This is the second instance when Lanka is releasing Indian fishermen arrested by its Navy for poaching. In March, Rajapaksa had ordered the release of arrested fishermen after India abstained from voting on an anti-Lanka motion at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. The Lankan delegation will comprise External Affairs Minister GL Peiris, Minister of Livestock and Rural Development Arumugam Thondaman and Mayoress of Jaffna Yogeshwar Pathkunarajah. Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Maldives President Maumoon Abdulla Abdul Gayoom, Nepal Prime Minister Sushil Koirala and Mauritius Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam are the other leaders who will attend the swearing-in. The visiting leaders will be staying in four different hotels: Taj Palace, Taj Mansingh, Leela and
Oberoi.
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Pakistan, Sri Lanka release Indian
fishermen
Karachi/Colombo, May 25 Pak authorities released 59 Indian fishermen from Malir jail in Karachi and another 92 from Nara jail in Hyderabad in Sindh province. The release comes ahead of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's visit to India to attend the swearing-in of Modi. Syed Nazir Hussain, the superintendent of the Malir jail in Karachi, said the Indian prisoners were released on written directives of the interior and foreign ministries. Meanwhile,
a Sri Lankan presidential spokesman said Rajapaksa has ordered the
release of all Indian fishermen ahead of his visit to India on Monday.
— PTI
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Sharif’s visit to India could give peace a chance: Pak media
Islamabad, May 25 By agreeing to accept India’s invitation, Sharif and all those who matter have thankfully taken a huge step in what appears to be a marathon strewn with multiple, possibly perilous pitfalls. The take-off, however, appears to be in the right direction, The Express Tribune said in
an article. A final decision from Sharif came five days after India sent an official invitation on May 21, giving the Prime Minister here enough time to consult his aides, cabinet members and the Foreign Office, The News International said in its report. The decision was taken after a meeting between Sharif’s troubleshooter Shahbaz Sharif and Army chief General Raheel Sharif in Lahore so that all stakeholders were on board. “Luckily, hawks like Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar were kept at arm’s length,” it said. Sharif was keen that instead of just crossing over the eastern border for a photo-op, an opportunity should be there for a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister-elect to make a fresh beginning, the newspaper said. Sharif is scheduled to have his maiden bilateral meeting with Modi on Tuesday. The Prime Minister will also call on President Pranab Mukherjee before returning home. Sharif’s aides have been cautioning that no big announcements are expected after the meeting. — PTI
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VVIP guests to have the taste of India at President’s dinner
New Delhi, May 25 The visiting VVIPs include Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, Prime Ministers of Bhutan and Nepal Tshering Tobgay and Sushil Koirala and Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom. Speaker Shirin Chaudhury will represent Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as she will be travelling to Japan. Besides the SAARC nations, Mauritian Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam will also attend the swearing-in ceremony. The dinner, being hosted at 'Grey Drawing Room', will be attended by the new Prime Minister and his ministerial team. The dishes will be from various parts of the country, including 'kela methi nu shaak' from Gujarat in the main course with a 'paan' at the end. The dishes to be served in the main course to the foreign dignitaries include 'prawns sukka' or 'chicken chettinad' from Tamil Nadu, Birbali kofta curry (Mughlai), Jaipuri Bhindi (Rajasthan), dal makhani (Punjab) and potol dorma (a dish from West Bengal). In the Gujarati dish, 'kela methi nu shaak', the bitterness of the methi is complemented by the sweetness of bananas. After the swearing-in, refreshments will be provided to visitors where six snacks, including "dhokla" - a Gujarati vegetarian food, will be served. Asked whether "dhokla" was being served keeping in mind the fact that the new Prime Minister is from Gujarat, Omita Paul, secretary to President Pranab Mukherjee, said in a lighter vein, "No, no, it is a voluntary action." Paul said foreign VVIPs will be using the 'guest wing' for an hour or so but none of them will stay overnight at the President's House. The newly refurbished 'guest wing' of the Rashtrapati Bhavan was thrown open earlier this year after two decades and Bhutanese King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and his Queen were the first guests to stay there. The VVIPs will be staying in these brightly decked up refurbished suites tomorrow in the sprawling Presidential Estate to get a taste of the country's fabled 'Atithi Devo Bhava' (Guest is God) culture. At Mukherjee's special initiative, the old glory of Rashtrapati Bhavan, which was formally inaugurated in 1931, was restored. The VVIP suites are adorned with heavy panelling of exquisite wood, beautiful drapes and classic wall paintings, all brought out from the stores of the Presidential mansion. The then Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, who visited Delhi in 1986, was among the last of foreign dignitaries to stay in the 'guest wing'. Names drawn from rivers such as Brahmaputra and Kaveri and mountain ranges like Vindhya and Shivalik have been used to identify the 14-room wing, housing VVIP and VIP suites, deluxe rooms, rooms for ADCs and standard rooms. The two most elite suites have been named 'Nalanda' and 'Dwarka'. The officials said the President himself chose the names for the rooms. — PTI
Who is staying where?
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TN aflutter; Jaya may stay away
Chennai, May 25 Besides the AIADMK, DMK President M Karunanidhi also opposed the invite to Rajapaksa. BJP's allies MDMK, led by Vaiko, PMK and DMDK led by actor-politician Vijaykant have also opposed the invitation to Rajapaksa. Vaiko has announced a black-flag demonstration in New Delhi and here against Rajapaksa tomorrow. — PTI
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Tea vendor to attend ceremony
Ahmedabad, May 25 "I am grateful to Modi. He has made me famous overnight by giving me an honour of proposing his name my humble background," Mahida, who is eager not to miss his life-time opportunity to be in the Rashtrapati Bhavan to attend the prime minister's installation in the office. Modi, after entering the district collector and the returning officer's office not only gave a warm hug to Mahida, but had also made him to sit next to him while he was signing his nomination papers, giving priority over some of the BJP leaders who had accompanied him. Mahida was informed well in advance to prepare for attending the ceremony. Sources, however, said former CM Keshbhuai Patel, would not be able to attend the ceremony due to his ill-health.
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Modi’s wife Jashodaben may get SPG security
Bhopal, May 25 According to SPG rules, 62-year-old Jashodaben is 100 per cent entitled to elite Special Protection Group (SPG) cover and the force will have to provide security to her as Modi is set to take over as the Prime Minister, said a former senior IPS officer. Former Secretary (Security) and ex-Director General of Police of Madhya Pradesh, Subhash Chandra Tripathi, said the SPG Act clearly states it will have to provide security to the immediate family members of the Prime Minister. — PTI
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Manjhi asks Modi for special status to Bihar
Patna, May 25 Manjhi raised the issue of special category status for Bihar when Modi telephoned him after he was sworn-in as the Chief Minister succeeding Nitish Kumar. The new Chief Minister was addressing a section of media during an interaction late last evening. “I raised the demand for special status to Bihar when Modi called to congratulate me after my swearing-in as the Chief Minister. The grant of special category to our state will go a long way in sending a good message among the poor,” said
Manjhi. Carrying forward the agenda of his predecessor, Manjhi said if it was not fulfilled, a long agitation will be launched in the state. Special category status had been prominently raised by Nitish Kumar. The issue also topped the agenda of
JD(U) during the general elections. Kumar had organised two rallies in Patna and New Delhi in support of special status for Bihar. He had given the call for a day-long ‘Bihar
Bandh’ when the UPA government had announced the special category status and special package for Seemandhra in the wake of the division of Andhra
Pradesh. Modi, while campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections, had announced that if he came to power, he would provide “special status”, “special package” and “special attention” to Bihar and other northeastern states for their better
development. Manjhi said he had been invited to the swearing-in ceremony of Modi as the Prime Minister on May 26 at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi. “I have got the invite sent by the Prime Minister’s Office
(PMO) for Modi’s swearing-in function,” Manjhi told reporters. — PTI
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Chandrababu meets Modi
New Delhi, May 25 Amid reports that Naidu is seeking Cabinet berths for his MPs, the TDP met Modi in Gujarat Bhawan and the meeting lasted over 30 minutes after which Chief Minister-designate of Andhra Pradesh left without talking to
media. Naidu had yesterday met BJP President Rajnath Singh at his residence. "We are joining the government. TDP was part of four non-Congress governments at the Centre. We would be part of NDA as well," he had stated but did not say how many cabinet berths his party would get in the central government to be headed by
Modi. Leaders of NDA allies such as TDP, Akali Dal and LJP, are also likely to be included in the Council of Ministers. The
TDP, which faced the elections in alliance with BJP, won 16 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh. The party is also forming the government in residual Andhra Pradesh. — PTI
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Charminar photo in Telangana logo triggers controversy
Hyderabad, May 25 The idea was mooted by the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi when he met the Chief Minister-designate and Telangana Rashtra Samithi founder-president K Chandrasekhar Rao recently. The TRS chief is believed to have readily agreed to the suggestion to incorporate
Charminar, an iconic symbol of the city, in the insignia of Telangana state which will come into existence on June 2. However, the BJP leaders argued that the
MIM, a party confined to some parts of Hyderabad, had no role either in the formation of Telangana state or in the statehood movement. Therefore, it had no right to dictate what should be the official logo of the new state. "We demand that an all-party meeting be convened to discuss the issue and finalise the logo after taking the views of all parties," the Telangana BJP unit president G Kishan Reddy said. "Where was the MIM when the people of Telangana were fighting for a separate Telangana state?" he wondered. The BJP leader pointed out that the MIM was, in fact, steadfastly opposed to the formation of Telangana state and pitched for keeping Andhra Pradesh united. Though the TRS has made it clear that a final decision on the official logo had not been taken, media reports suggested that
KCR, as TRS chief is known in political circles, had agreed to the MIM supremo’s proposal to incorporate
Charminar, the 16th century monument in the city, as the official
logo. TRS leader N Narasimha Reddy said nothing had been finalised on the issue. "Our party president will decide after taking views from all sections of people," he said. Built in 1591 by the city’s founder Quli Qutab Shah, Charminar has, over years, become the cultural symbol of the cosmopolitan city.
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Setback for Jagan as 2 MPs back TDP
New Delhi, May 25 While three-time Nandyal MP S P Y Reddy joined
TDP, his colleague Butta Renuka from Kurnool constituency claimed that she has not joined TDP but will extend issue-based support to N Chandrababu
Naidu-led party. "I have joined TDP because BJP is ruling at the Centre and TDP is the ruling party in
Seemandhra. I could better serve my constituency if I am with TDP," Reddy told
PTI. He claimed that he had not communicated to YSR Congress about his sudden decision to join
TDP. He also dismissed allegation that he defected to TDP because of his strained relationship with YSR
supremo, saying there was no difference of opinion between them. — PTI
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Airport security checks, frisking time to be halved
New Delhi, May 25 The force has prepared a four-point new standard operating procedure for its security personnel who are deployed at the country’s 59 civil airports to frisk and identify genuine travelling passengers and scan suspect baggage. “We have decided to cut the security check time for fliers at airports by half. At present, our officials take 7-8 minutes to complete the frisking and identification of passengers, but now we plan to cut it down by half to about 4 minutes,” chief of the CISF airport security unit OP Singh told PTI. Singh said new modules and SOPs had been developed to enable the CISF security men achieve this target. “We have initiated a new profiling mechanism by which the security person intelligently identifies between a genuine and a fake or suspect passenger. Once that is done, the security personnel are being trained to quickly go through three details in the air ticket which is checking the correct flight number, date, time and the valid I-card of the passenger,” Additional Director General (CISF) Singh said. Singh said the new security protocols had been put to test at the domestic and international terminals of the Indira Gandhi International Airport here with success and from the coming week, the new training module would be imparted to all force security personnel.
—PTI
New mechanism
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Widows allowed to join as officers
New Delhi, May 25 The Navy lost 21 of its personnel in mishaps involving two submarine accidents and 17 families had sought help from the Navy to get jobs. “Based on the educational qualifications, five of the widows of officers and sailors have been given relaxations in several categories to appear for the selection procedure to become officers in the force,” a senior Navy officer told PTI. “The wife of Commander Kuntal Wadhwa, who lost his life in a mishap on the under-construction warship INS Kolkata in Mumbai, has cleared the Service Selection Board (SSB) and medical examination and would soon be joining the force,” he said. Navy Chief Admiral Robin Dhowan has directed officials in the Naval Headquarters and the respective commands to help out the families in fast-track mode to give them their dues. The officer said the ladies would be allowed to become officers only after they clear the mandatory tests and the SSB selection process for selecting officers in the armed forces. The families of the officers and sailors, who were not eligible to become officers, are being given jobs as civilian employees in Group B and Group C posts, the officer said. The Navy took the requisite permissions from the Defence Ministry to give relaxation to these women in several categories including age and marital status. After the Kargil war in 1999, the Defence Ministry started allowing widows of officers and jawans to join the services if they met the educational and other requirements for joining the forces. The Navy had earlier given this relaxation to the families of its personnel who died in an air crash over INS Hansa air base in Goa involving the Ilyushin-38 maritime surveillance aircraft. — PTI
The initiative
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13-year-old Andhra girl youngest to scale Everest
Hyderabad, May 25 Purna was accompanied by Sadhanapalli Anand Kumar (16), a Class IX student from Khammam district of Andhra Pradesh. She completed the feat this morning. Anand and Purna are students of the Andhra Pradesh Social Welfare Educational Society. “They climbed the Everest at 6 am today after a 52-day expedition,” an official said. “Purna created a record by becoming the youngest girl to climb the Everest,” he said. They were selected from 150 children who were
initially chosen for adventure sports as part of the society’s initiative to promote excellence among the students of
the society, the official said. Twenty of them were sent to a mountaineering institute in Darjeeling for training and nine among them were sent on an expedition to the Indo-China border earlier. The two students with a higher degree of toughness and endurance
were sent to the Everest expedition in April, he said. The two students were now returning to the
base camp, the official added. — PTI
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Restoring the lost symbols of Kashmiriyat
New Delhi, May 25 One of the volunteers is not even a refugee himself. Long settled in Texas, US, as a practising nephrologist, Maharaj Krishen Razdan has, however, become the backbone of this cultural revival phenomenon. At the heart of this phenomenon is the restoration of the Valley’s Hindu shrines destroyed during militancy and later neglected due to the absence of custodians. As a financial advisor to an institution called Samajik Vikas Sansthan, created few years ago to reclaim the once shared Hindu-Muslim legacy of the Valley, Razdan identifies dilapidated shrines and restores them on his own before handing them back to their trustees. In India on another restoration mission (having maintained six shrines in over three years), Razdan spoke to The Tribune about why he is undertaking this task and how his endeavours would have failed but for the help Muslims across the Valley offered him. “Wherever I go in Kashmir as part of this job, Muslims tell me —— we are waiting for your return. When I went to restore the Vichar Nag Temple, north of Kashmir, Muslim friends guided me to a spot where two springs used to flow when the temple was in its heydays. We dug and reclaimed the lost springs and also a Shivalingam. In most of the restored shrines, we have Muslim caretakers who are helping us in their own way,” says Razdan, whose team (which includes local Muslim labourers) rebuilds shrines by restoring what’s left of them, landscaping the area and constructing living rooms for Kashmiri Pandit families which throng shrines on major religious occasions. The sansthan works simply: they identify the shrine that needs care, contact the trustees — mostly Kashmiri Hindus who fled and have never returned since — ask for permission to restore the area and return the rebuilt shrine to the custodian. Razdan says, “I want my Kashmiri Hindu friends to return. I am trying to make whatever a little contribution possible to ensure that they feel at home when they return. We all revere our shrines. For us, these physical spaces are extensions of our selves. If we can reclaim even some of our lost legacy, we can hope to one day see a Kashmir as we remember it with Hindus and Muslims living together.” Razdan so far has restored the following shrines- Vichar Nag (located nine kms from Kashmir’s Lal Chowk); Zeeth Yar (located in Kashmir’s VVIP area), Reshpeer (a temple on the Alikadal bridge; it was not burnt in 1991 because the Muslims revered the saint after whom it was named); Bhadra Kali temple in the terrorist-prone Handwara; Manzgam shrine in Kulgam and Pohkribal temple on Nageen Lake. His latest mission in Kashmir is to restore an ancient Shiva Temple on the bridge leading to Sopore, the hometown of hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani. “That’s why I am here this time,” smiles
Razdan.
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2G case: Raja, Kani, Dayalu to appear in special court New Delhi, May 25 These 19 accused — 10 individuals and nine firms — are scheduled to appear before Special CBI Judge OP Saini, who had on May 2 taken cognisance of the ED's charge-sheet filed against them in the case. The court had issued summons to all the accused, asking them to appear before it on May 26 and holding that there was "enough incriminating material" on record to proceed against them. ED had filed its charge-sheet against the 19 accused in the money laundering case on April 25. - PTI
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Modi to visit Rajghat Pak delegation arrives Modi to shift to 7 Race Course on Monday
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The spotlight will once again be on the leaders of India and Pakistan when SAARC leaders assemble here tomorrow for the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister-elect Narendra
Modi.
President Pranab Mukherjee will host a 'private dinner' for SAARC leaders and their representatives, who have been especially invited for the swearing-in of Narendra Modi as the country's 15th Prime Minister.
President Pranab Mukherjee will host a 'private dinner' for SAARC leaders and their representatives, who have been especially invited for the swearing-in of Narendra Modi as the country's 15th Prime Minister.
