I want France to be India’s best partner in Europe: Emmanuel Macron

Agencies
March 10, 2018

New Delhi, Mar 10: French President Emmanuel Macron Saturday said he wanted his country to be India's best partner in Europe as he started a three-day trip to the country aimed at ratcheting up security and energy ties.

Macron, who was welcomed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his traditional bear hug on his arrival late Friday, also said "collective security" will be on top of the agenda during talks later Saturday.

"France is the entry point to Europe. We want to be India's best partner in Europe," Macron said after a ceremonial reception at New Delhi's presidential house.

"The first (objective of my visit) is to seal for the decade to come to a strong pact around collective security in the region between our two democracies."

The two countries are to sign an accord to step up military cooperation in the Indian Ocean where regional power China has been flexing its muscles.

Macron also talked about his personal rapport with Modi which was established after their meeting in Paris last year.

"I think we have very good chemistry, our two great democracies have a historic relationship," the French president said.

Modi broke protocol to receive Macron at the airport Friday, exchanging warm hugs and robust handshakes.

"Welcome to India, President @EmmanuelMacron! Your visit will add great strength to the strategic partnership between India and France," he tweeted Friday.

On Sunday, Macron will attend a solar power summit designed to showcase India and France's commitment to fighting climate change, which both leaders have made a priority.

Travelling with his wife Brigitte, France's 40-year-old president will also visit the monument to love, the Taj Mahal, a few hours drive from the Indian capital on Sunday.

On Monday, he heads to the chaotic Hindu holy city of Varanasi on the banks of the river Ganges, which the Indian premier has promised to modernise and clean up.

Macron's visit comes after a somewhat misstep laden visit to India by Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau.

Both he and Macron are often compared internationally because of their broadly similar political views, as well as youth and good looks.

But Trudeau's visit hit a series of embarrassing bumps and he received a fairly cool reception from Modi.

Trudeau was pilloried on social media and in the Canadian press for donning traditional Indian clothing at every opportunity.

And there were red faces when it emerged a former Sikh militant was invited to a dinner with him in Mumbai.

Macron has so far opted for more sober and predictable dress -- a dark suit.

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Agencies
January 11,2020

New Delhi, Jan 11: Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Friday said that he has never seen innocents like the Indian people, who believe the claims made by the government on the implementation of its programmes. The former Union Minister, addressing a literary event, said, "I have never seen innocents like the Indian people. If something appears on print (and named two newspapers also), we believe it. We believe anything."

Claims like all villages having been electrified in the country and toilets built for 99 per cent of families in India were being believed, he said.

Similar was the case of the Ayushman Bharat scheme, (Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana or PM-JAY is a flagship health care scheme of the Centre), he alleged.

Stating that his Delhi-based driver's father had to get a surgery done under the scheme, he said, however, it could not be performed.

"I asked him (car driver) if he had the Ayushman card and he showed a card and I told him to take it (to hospital). In hospital after hospital, they said they were not aware of anything like that (Ayushman scheme). But we believe that the Ayushman scheme has come to the whole of India," he said.

Further, he said "we believe that for any disease, treatment will be done (indicating the Ayushman scheme) without shelling out money. We are being innocents."

Many news items and data were contrary to the truth, he added.

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News Network
January 27,2020

Jan 27: Bollywood Film Director Anurag Kashyap, who has been vocal about his political views on social media, slammed Union Minister Amit Shah and accused him of being 'cheap'.

"How timid our Home Minister is. Its own police, its own goons, its own army and security increases and invades unarmed protestors. Amit Shah has crossed the extent of cheapness and inferiority. History will spit on this animal," Kashyap tweeted.

The film director has taken an active part in the anti-Citizenship Act protest rallies and was against the Jawaharlal Nehru violence. He also came in support of his contemporary Deepika Padukone when the latter faced backlash for showing up at JNU in support of the students.

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News Network
April 3,2020

New Delhi, April 3: With 478 cases reported in the last 24 hours, the highest spike so far, India's tally of positive coronavirus cases on Friday rose to 2,547 including 162 cured/discharged and 62 deaths, as per the latest data of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

As many as 647 positive coronavirus cases have been reported so far from across 14 States whose linkage can be traced to the Tablighi Jamaat cluster at Nizamuddin, the Centre said on Friday.

"A total of 647 cases of positive coronavirus cases have been reported from across 14 States whose linkage can be traced to the Tablighi Jamaat cluster at Nizamuddin," Lav Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.

"The cases can be traced in Andaman and Nicobar, Assam, Delhi, Himachal, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh," added Aggarwal.

The Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi has emerged as a hotspot for COVID-19 after several positive cases from across India were linked to the gathering including deaths in Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Telangana.

An FIR was earlier registered against Tablighi Jamaat head Maulana Saad and others under the Epidemic Disease Act 1897, in the national capital.

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