Krishna arrives in Washington for third 'Strategic Dialogue'

June 12, 2012

smk

Washington, Jun 12: External Affairs Minister S M Krishna arrived here to hold the third Strategic Dialogue with his counterpart Hillary Clinton, during which the two sides are expected to discuss a wide range of bilateral and regional issues.

Krishna, who would co-chair the meeting with Clinton on June 13, is leading a high-powered delegation. During the meet the two leaders are expected to deliberate on issues related to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Asia-Pacific region and their joint collaboration in third world countries.

Hours before Krishna arrived here yesterday afternoon by a Acela train from New York, the Secretary of State set the tone for the Strategic Dialogue by saying that India has "significantly" reduced its dependence on Iranian oil and this would get waiver from the Iranian sanctions act of the US Congress. However, Krishna did not comment on the issue.

Krishna is accompanied by a number of top ministerial colleagues including the Minister for Science and Technology Vilasrao Deshmukh, Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia, the Prime Minister's Public Information Infrastructure and Innovation Advisor Sam Pitroda, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Women and Child Development Krishna Tirath, Minister of State for Planning, S&T and Earth Sciences Ashwini Kumar.

Other members include Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai, Home Secretary R K Singh, the Director of Intelligence Bureau Nehchal Sandhu, Secretary for Higher Education Ashok Thakur and some senior officials. Today, the External Affairs Minister is scheduled to address the annual gala of the US India Business Council (USIBC), the largest bilateral trade organisation based in Washington and the premier business advocacy organisation advancing the US-India commercial and trade ties.

"Krishna's participation will provide a boost into what has been a rewarding US-India commercial partnership these past 20 years, since India first opened its economy in 1991," USIBC president Ron Somers said in a statement.

Yesterday, a number of sub-dialogues along the margins of this Strategic Dialogue, including the Global Issues Forum, Homeland Security Consultations, Strategic Intelligence Dialogue, the Counter-terrorism Joint Working Group, Cyber Consultations, Information and Communications Technology Working Group, the Women's Empowerment Dialogue, Dialogue on Health Cooperation and other events took place.

The Indian Ambassador to the US, Nirupama Rao, said the Strategic Dialogue will have discussions on five themes, strategic, defence, homeland security, counter-terrorism and intelligence; economic, energy, climate; S&T, innovation and health; higher education and empowerment; and regional strategies and linkages.

On the margins of and preceding the Strategic Dialogue, Union Human Resources Development Minister Kapil Sibal will co-chair a meeting with Clinton on education related issues.

Yesterday, Minister for Science and Technology Vilasrao Deshmukh co-chaired the Joint Science and Technology Commission Meeting with John Holdren, President Obama's Advisor on Science and Technology.

Azad will co-convene with Clinton and UNICEF, a Call to Maternal and Child Care Action on June 14-15 in Washington.

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'His father dropped bombs in India,' says Digvijaya on Padmi Shri given to Adnan Sami

News Network

February 3,2020

Indore, Feb 3: Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Sunday attacked the Centre for conferring the Padma Shri on Pakistan-origin singer Adnan Sami, who became an Indian citizen in 2016.

Addressing "Save the Constitution, Save the Country" rally here in Madhya Pradesh, Singh said Sami's father had "pounded India with bombs" when he was serving with the Pakistani Air Force (PAF).

"Since Sami is an artist who has come from Pakistan, I had recommended his case to the Indian government for citizenship. He has got Indian citizenship under the Modi government," the Congress leader said, adding that he never made any recommendation to the government for conferring Padma Shri on Sami.

He said Sami's father had "dropped bombs against us" while flying a Pakistan Air Force combat plane.

"In contrast, Indian Army officer Sanaullah of Assam, who had fought against the enemy, was sent to a detention camp for failing to show documents (during the Assam NRC exercise). This is the citizenship law of the Modi government," he said.

Sami, born in London to a Pakistani Air force veteran, applied for Indian citizenship in 2015 and became a citizen of the country in January 2016.

He was one of the 118 people chosen for the Padma Shri awards by the Centre last month.

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Nowadays, Modi is uttering Pakistan even in his dream, while putting the India & Indians on the fence.

BSF Officer Sanaullah was deprived of his basic rights and put in the detention center while Adnan Sami was granted citizenship and conferred with prestigious "Padma Shri" Award. Really, Modi & Amit Shah duos doesn't know what they are doing in India.....what a bizzare!!!

Nowadays, Modi is uttering Pakistan even in his dream, while putting the India & Indians on the fence.

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India’s COVID-19 tally crosses 7 lakh-mark with 22,252 fresh cases, toll rises to 20,160

Agencies

July 7,2020

India's COVID-19 tally raced past the seven lakh-mark with 22,252 fresh infections on Tuesday, five days after crossing the six lakh post, while the death toll climbed to 20,160 as 467 more people succumbed to the disease, according to the Union health ministry.

With this, the country has recorded over 20,000 cases of the infection for the fifth consecutive day.

India's coronavirus infection caseload stands at 7,19,665, the ministry's data updated at 8 am showed.

With a steady rise, the number of recoveries stands at 4,39,947, while there are 2,59,557 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country.

"Thus, around 61.13 % of patients have recovered so far," an official said.

The total number of confirmed cases also includes foreigners.

Of the 467 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, 204 are from Maharashtra, 61 from Tamil Nadu, 48 from Delhi, 29 from Karnataka, 24 from Uttar Pradesh, 22 from West Bengal, 17 from Gujarat.

Telangana and Haryana reported 11 deaths each; Madhya Pradesh nine; Andhra Pradesh seven; Jammu and Kashmir six; Rajasthan and Punjab five each; Bihar, Kerala and Odisha two each; and Arunachal Pradesh and Jharkhand one each.

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COVID-19 death toll rises to 886 in country; cases climb to 28,380: Health ministry

News Network

April 27,2020

New Delhi, Apr 27: The number of COVID-19 cases climbed to 28,380 and the death toll due to it rose to 886 in the country on Monday, registering a record increase of 60 deaths in 24 hours, according to the Union Health Ministry.

There has been a spike of 1,463 cases since Sunday evening.

The number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 21,132, while 6,361 people have recovered, and one patient has migrated, the ministry said.

Thus, around 22.41 per cent of patients have recovered in the country so far.

The total number of cases includes 111 foreign nationals.

A total of 60 deaths were reported since Sunday evening, of which 19 fatalities were reported from Maharashtra, 18 from Gujarat, eight from Rajasthan, seven from Madhya Pradesh, two each from Karnataka, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, and one each from Punjab and Tamil Nadu.

Of the 886 deaths, Maharashtra tops the tally with 342 fatalities, followed by Gujarat at 151, Madhya Pradesh at 106, Delhi at 54, Rajasthan at 41, and Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh at 31 each.

The death toll reached 26 in Telangana, 24 in Tamil Nadu while West Bengal and Karnataka have reported 20 deaths each.

Punjab has registered 18 fatalities so far. The disease has claimed six lives in Jammu and Kashmir, four in Kerala while Jharkhand and Haryana have recorded three COVID-19 deaths each.

Bihar has reported two deaths, while Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha and Assam have reported one fatality each, according to the ministry data.

According to the Health Ministry data updated in the evening, the highest number of confirmed cases in the country are from Maharashtra at 8,068, followed by Gujarat at 3,301, Delhi at 2,918, Rajasthan at 2,185, Madhya Pradesh at 2,168, Uttar Pradesh at 1,955 and Tamil Nadu at 1,885.

The number of COVID-19 cases has gone up to 1,177 in Andhra Pradesh and 1,002 in Telangana.

The number of cases has risen to 649 in West Bengal, 523 in Jammu and Kashmir, 511 in Karnataka, 469 in Kerala, 313 in Punjab and 289 in Haryana.

Bihar has reported 277 novel coronavirus cases, while Odisha has 108 cases. Eighty-two people have been infected with the virus in Jharkhand and 51 in Uttarakhand.

Himachal Pradesh has 40 cases, Chhattisgarh has 37 and Assam has registered 36 infections each so far.

Andaman and Nicobar Islands has 33 COVID-19 cases while Chandigarh has 30 cases and Ladakh has reported 20 infections so far.

Meghalaya has reported 12 cases, Puducherry has eight cases while Goa has seven COVID-19 cases.

Manipur and Tripura have two cases each, while Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh have reported a case each.

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