'Carrying Message of Peace' Nawaz Sharif Arrives For Narendra Modi's Swearing in

May 26, 2014

Sharif Arrives Modis SwearingNew Delhi, May 26: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif arrived in Delhi on Monday to attend Narendra Modi's swearing in as India's new Prime Minister, a historic first being seen as a step towards revitalizing ties that have been strained since last year. "I am carrying a message of peace. Dialogue is the only solution," he told reporters before leaving Lahore.

Mr Sharif, 64, is among six South Asian leaders invited for the swearing-in, unprecedented for any Indian prime minister's inauguration.

General Pervez Musharraf was the last Pakistani head of state to visit India in 2005.

Mr Sharif, who began his third term as prime minister last June after years of exile in Saudi Arabia, met outgoing PM Manmohan Singh last September on the sidelines of a UN meet in New York.

Today, Mr Sharif's only engagement is the evening ceremony.

Mr Modi will meet the Pakistan prime minister tomorrow as part a series of bilateral meetings. Officials say the meeting will be an ice-breaker more than anything, to set the tone for a dialogue.

The offer of a meeting with Mr Modi is said to be a major factor in clinching Mr Sharif's visit, which was reportedly opposed by some in Pakistan's security establishment.

Peace moves between the two countries were derailed last year after a series of ceasefire violations that escalated with the killing of five Indian soldiers in a Pakistani ambush in August last. In January, a jawan was beheaded by Pakistan soldiers.

During his campaign, Mr Modi had lashed out at the Congress for engaging with Pakistan despite the killings. "The heads of our soldiers are cut, but then their prime minister is fed chicken biryani," he sneered at one rally.

Mr Modi's invitation to Mr Sharif has been sharply criticized by the BJP's oldest ally, Shiv Sena, which believes India must not resume peace talks, cultural and cricketing ties with Pakistan unless violence along the border stops. Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, however, said he would attend the swearing in even though it was "difficult to trust Pakistan."

The BJP's massive mandate - the party seized 282 seats on its own - means that it has room to act without pressure from its allies.

Also read: Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa arrives for Modi's swearing-in

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News Network
June 22,2020

New Delhi, Jun 22: With an increase of 14,821 new cases and 445 deaths, India's COVID-19 count reached 4,25,282 on Monday.

According to the latest update by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), 13,699 deaths have been recorded due to the infection so far in the country.

The rise in confirmed cases today is lower than the highest spike of 15 thousand plus cases registered on Sunday.

The count includes 1,74,387 active cases, and 2,37,196 cured/discharged/migrated patients.

Maharashtra with 1,32,075 confirmed cases remains the worst-affected by the infection so far in the country. The state's count includes 60,161 active, 65,744 cured, discharged patients while 6,170 deaths have been reported due to the infection so far.

Meanwhile, the national capital today became the second-worst affected region in the country with the number of confirmed cases in Delhi reaching 59,746 as opposed to Tamil Nadu's 59,377 cases.

While 2,175 deaths have been reported in Delhi due to the infection so far, the toll in Tamil Nadu stands at 757.

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News Network
April 15,2020

New Delhi, Apr 15: The Union Health Ministry has identified 170 districts as COVID-19 hotspots and 207 districts as potential hotspots, officials said on Wednesday, reiterating that there has been no community transmission of the disease in the country so far.

Addressing the daily briefing to provide updates on coronavirus situation in the country, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Health Lav Agarwal said that states have been asked to classify districts which have reported a higher number of cases as hotspots, the districts where cases have been reported as non-hotspots, and green zones where no cases have been reported.

"Hotspots are those districts which are reporting more number of cases or where the rate of growth of COVID-19 cases is high," Agarwal said, adding a detailed direction has been issued to states stating consolidated efforts are required to utilise this period of lockdown to curb the spread of the virus.

"Cabinet secretary held a video conference today with all chief secretaries, DGPs, health secretaries, collectors, SPs, municipal commissioners and CMOs where hotspots were discussed and orientation on field level implementation of containment strategy was given.

"They were told about large outbreak containment strategies, cluster containment strategies. Delineation of buffer and containment zone, parameter mapping, defining of entry and exit points were also discussed in detail," he said.

The joint secretary said movement of people will not be allowed in containment zones except for those related with essential services and special teams will search for new cases and samples will be collected and tested as per sampling criteria.

The officials said that health facilities in buffer zone outside the containment zone will be oriented and people facing SARI and influenza-like symptoms will be tested there.

"Special teams have been formed which will work in containment zone and do contact tracing and house-to-house surveys. Cases of fever, cough and breathlessness will be identified in the survey and requisite action will be taken as per protocol," Agarwal said, adding that there has been no community transmissions so far but some local outbreaks.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in India has risen to 11,439 with 1,076 fresh cases reported in the last 24 hours while the death toll stands at 377, the ministry official said.

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Agencies
February 25,2020

New Delhi, Feb 25: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday called a meeting to discuss the prevailing situation in the national capital after violence in Northeast Delhi over the amended citizenship law left four people dead.

Delhi's Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and representatives of different political parties were invited for the meeting.

Follow live updates of clashes among CAA protesters in Delhi here

The home minister has convened a meeting to discuss the current situation in Delhi, a Home Ministry official said.

The move came after the home minister reviewed the law and order situation in the national capital on Monday night as violence rocked Northeast Delhi.

Frenzied protesters torched houses, shops, vehicles and a petrol pump, besides hurling stones.

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