Sushma Swaraj arrives in Saudi Arabia on 3-day visit

Agencies
February 7, 2018

Riyadh, Feb 6: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today arrived in Riyadh on her maiden visit to Saudi Arabia during which she will inaugurate the Janadriyah festival of the Gulf Kingdom, which is home to over three million Indians.

During the three-day visit, Ms Swaraj will meet with the Saudi leadership and discuss bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest.

She will also participate at the inauguration of the prestigious National Heritage and Culture Festival 'Janadriyah', at which India is the guest of honour country.

The festival, organised by the National Guard, exhibits Saudi Arabia's rich tapestry of culture and heritage.

"Warm welcome reflecting our relationship! EAM @SushmaSwaraj received by Saudi officials and Indian Ambassador Ahmad Javed on her arrival at Riyadh airport. Saudi Arabia is India's valued strategic partner," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted.

Ms Swaraj will inaugurate the Janadriyah festival on Wednesday.

Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh had earlier said that India's participation in the festival will be multi-faceted.

"We will have an Indian pavilion where we will project a number of Indian themes and projects. The pavilion will comprise glimpses of traditional and modern India," he said.

Saudi Arabia is home to more than 3 million Indian people and ties between the two countries are on an upswing in the last few years especially after the landmark visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Gulf Kingdom in April 2016.

Saudi Arabia is India's fourth largest trade partner after China, the US and the UAE. The country is a major source of India's energy requirement as it accounts for almost one- fifth of India's crude oil requirement.

The volume of bilateral trade during 2016-17 was recorded at USD 25.079 billion, a slight decrease from the USD 26.71 billion in 2015-16.  

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Abu Safwan
 - 
Wednesday, 7 Feb 2018

WELCOME MAM..Please try to cancel the new family levy system.  Also inform the Indian School authorities not to increase the school fees for the childrens. Thank you very much

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News Network
May 2,2020

Udupi, May 2: All the 18 people who were advised self-quarantine in connection with the Thekkatte petrol bunk incident have been tested negative, however, they were asked to continue the 14-day quarantine, said DHO Sudhirchandra Suda on Saturday.

the petrol bunk at Thekkatte was sealed after a Covid infected person had food and took bath at the petrol bunk, while he was travelling from Mumbai to Mandya.

The employees and the owner of the petrol bunk along with the six employees at Sasthana toll gate were asked to quarantine themselves for 14 days.

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News Network
June 12,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 12: The Karnataka government is mulling to issue caste and income certificates to Brahmins though they are in a minority, accounting a mere three per cent of the southern state''s seven crore population, an official said on Thursday.

"Though Brahmins are in a ''minority'' in terms of their population across the state, they need caste and income certificates to benefit from the welfare schemes as in the case of the SC, ST and OBC groups," an official said here.

The Karnataka State Brahmin Development Board was set up in March 2019 as a state-run company with Rs five crore authorized capital and Rs five crore equity and is registered with the Registrar of Companies.

"The Board has petitioned the state government to implement the 10 per cent quota for the economically weaker sections, as its benefit is being given by the central government jobs and in admissions to the national educational institutions," said its chairman H.S. Sachidananda Murthy.

Responding to the demand, state Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa said the state government would consider issuing caste certificates to the Brahmins so that they too can benefit from the state''s various welfare schemes.

"Though Brahmins belong to the forward community, they are economically weaker and need financial support," said Yediyurappa on Wednesday after unveiling the Board''s official website for all its stakeholders here.

Brahmins whose gross annual family income is less than Rs eight lakh per annum will be eligible for the benefit schemes.

"The Board will soon be authorised to issue caste and income certificates to the members of the Brahmin community so that they can also benefit from the schemes," said the chief minister on the occasion.

Noting that every community has people who are forward and backward economically for various, including historical reasons, Yediyurappa said the Board would be empowered to serve the Brahmins.

"The Board also proposes to provide interest-free loans to the financially weaker sections of the people in the Brahmin community," added Murthy.

The community members urged the Chief Minister to provide 10 per cent of the state government jobs and seats in state-run educational institutions, including professional collages.

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News Network
January 6,2020

Bengaluru, Jan 6: Students and teachers from various colleges in Bengaluru gathered at the Town Hall in the city to protest against the violence which broke out at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus in New Delhi on January 5.

The students raised slogans against Home Minister Amit Shah and Delhi Police.

Placards that read 'The more you attack, the stronger we become', 'Take off your masks terrorist', 'With JNU' were seen during the protest.

"We are here to protest against the incident that took place at JNU with our brothers and sisters. What Delhi Police did was shameful and they should have taken charge of the situation long before and not waited for three hours. We stand with JNU," Nisha, a protestor told ANI.

Professors present at the protest expressed regret over the incident and said attacks on the universities is a sick situation in the country.

"This is sick, where have we come to -- violence in the universities? I was so safe when I was studying in college; what we are giving to our students is horrible," said Sangeeta, a professor present at the protest.

Politicians, cutting across party lines, have condemned the attack on students in JNU and demanded strict action against those found guilty.

More than 18 students were taken to the AIIMS Trauma Centre after a masked mob entered the JNU campus and attacked them and some professors with sticks and rods.

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