Pak PM in India for private visit, Khurshid to host lunch

March 9, 2013

Jaipur, Mar 9: Pakistan Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf arrived here today on a day-long private visit during which he will attend a lunch hosted by External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid but no "substantive" discussions between the two sides are likely.

Ashraf, who is accompanied by a 40-member delegation and some family members, was received at the Sanganer Airport by Rajasthan government officials.

ashraf The Pakistan's Prime Minister's flight to India was delayed by over 50 minutes.

He will soon join Khurshid for lunch at the Rambagh Palace Hotel here following which he will leave for Ajmer to offer prayers at the 12th Century Dargah of Ajmer Sharif.

No substantive discussions are scheduled during the meeting of Khurshid with the Pakistan Prime Minister.

An official spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs had said that "The Pakistan Prime Minister is not visiting New Delhi and no substantive discussions are scheduled to be held in Jaipur".

Asked if a proposal for a meeting in New Delhi was made by India, he had said the visiting dignitary had expressed the desire to undertake a private visit and "all requirements to meet his needs are met. In addition we have not received any other request."

Ashraf's visit comes at a time when there is a chill in bilateral ties over the ceasefire violations at the LoC. An Indian soldier was beheaded by Pakistani troops while the mutilated body of another was found in January.

New Delhi had lodged a strong protest over the beheading of an Indian soldier and brutal killing of another.

Ajmer Sharif Dargah Diwan, Zainul Abedin Ali Khan has said that he will boycott Ashraf's visit in protest against the brutal killing and beheading of Indian soldiers by the Pakistani Army.

"I will not welcome the Pakistani Prime Minister during his visit here in protest against the beheading and killing of Indian soldiers by Pakistani Army on LoC. The incident hurt Indians but their(Pakistan) government is not understanding our sentiments so I took the decision," Khan had said.

Khan's boycott will be largely symbolic because he is seen as a ceremonial head. The Khadims, who control the 12th century shrine of Sufi Saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, escort visiting dignitaries and assist pilgrims at the dargah.

Security in and around the shrine has been beefed up for Ashraf's visit."All the preparations are in place and policemen in adequate numbers have been deployed in the area," IGP Ajmer Anil Paliwal said.

As per the schedule, the delegation in helicopters will land at Ghughara helipad at 3.30 PM and from there reach the Dargah covering a distance of 12.5 km.

They will be greeted at the main gate of the Dargah by the representatives of Dargah committee and committee of Khadims. From there he will reach the main shrine after passing from Buland Darwaja and others.

He will be welcomed by beating of drums and a turban tying ceremony will take place as per tradition, an official said.

This is likely to be Ashraf's last foreign visit before the term of his government ends on March 16.

After the ziyarat, the delegation will return on the same evening by helicopters to Jaipur airport and from there fly back to Pakistan in a special aircraft.

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari had visited the shrine on April 8 last year. He had landed in Delhi and driven straight for a luncheon meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and several other leaders.

Zardari, who was accompanied by his son Bilawal Bhutto, had then flown to Jaipur and taken a chopper to Ajmer, where he spent around 20 minutes and offered flowers and chadar at the shrine. The Pakistan President had donated $1 million to the shrine.

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Govt of India issues fresh guidelines for international arrivals

Agencies

August 2,2020

New Delhi, Aug 2: The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Sunday issued fresh guidelines for international passengers coming to India amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The new guidelines will be implemented from 12:01 am on August 8.

The ministry has also asked all passengers to submit a self-declaration form online at least 72 hours before travel.

"All travellers should submit self-declaration form on the on the online portal (www.newdelhiairport.in) at least 72hours before the scheduled travel," the guidelines said.

It also said that those coming to India must give an undertaking that they would undergo mandatory quarantine for 14 days as prescribed by the government. "They should also give an undertaking on the portal that they would undergo mandatory quarantine for 14 days i.e. 7 days paid institutional quarantine at their own cost, followed by 7 days isolation at home with self-monitoring of health," it added.

Giving exemptions in some cases, the guidelines mentioned, "Only for compelling reasons/cases of human distress such as pregnancy, death in the family. Serious illness and parent (s) with children of 10 years or below, home quarantine may be permitted for 14 days."

"If they wish to seek such exemption, they shall apply to the online portal at least 72 hours before boarding. The decision taken by the government as communicated on the online portal will be final," it said further.

The guidelines further said that travellers could request for exemption from institutional quarantine by submitting a negative RT-PCR test report on arrival.

"This test should have been conducted within 96 hours prior to undertaking the journey. The test report should be uploaded on the portal for consideration," it added.

Passengers have also been asked to download the Aarogya Setu app on their mobile phones.

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India will ruin its economy very quickly if it had severe lockdown: Swedish health expert to Rahul Gandhi

News Network

May 27,2020

New Delhi, May 27: Professor Johan Giesecke of the Karolinska Institute, Sweden, on Wednesday claimed that India will ruin its economy very quickly if it had a severe lockdown.

Claiming that a strict lockdown may disrupt India's economic growth, Giesecke during an interaction with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said: "In India, you will do more harm than good with strict lockdown measures. India will ruin its economy very quickly if it had a severe lockdown."

While calling for a soft lockdown approach in India, he suggested that India has to ease restrictions one by one. It may, however, take months to completely come out of lockdown, he said.

He further criticised countries across the globe for having no post-lockdown strategy.

Emphasising on the disease, the Swedish health expert said that coronavirus is spreading like a wildfire across the world. "It is a very mild disease. Ninety-nine per cent infected people will have very less or no symptoms," he added.

Meanwhile, Ashish Jha, Director Harvard Global Health Institute and a recognised public health official, in interaction with Gandhi, called for a need to go in for an 'aggressive' COVID-19 testing to create confidence among people.

"When the economy is opened post-lockdown, you have to create confidence. There is a need for aggressive testing strategy in high-risk areas," he said.

He asserted that COVID-19 is not the last pandemic in the world, adding that "We are entering the age of large pandemics".

Jha further said that countries like South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong have responded the best to COVID-19 pandemic, while Italy, Spain, the US and the UK have responded the worst.

A few days ago, the Gandhi scion had interacted with former Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan and Nobel Prize Winner Abhijit Banerjee to discuss various issues related to the COVID-19 crisis.

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Rajasthan Assembly passes resolution against CAA

Agencies

January 26,2020

Jaipur, Jan 26: Rajasthan on Saturday on Saturday became the third state in the country to pass a resolution urging the Centre to repeal the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

he resolution was passed in the state Assembly amid opposition by the BJP which accused the ruling Congress of pursuing appeasement politics.

It is the second Congress-ruled state to pass such a resolution after Punjab. The Kerala Assembly too had passed such a resolution against the CAA moved jointly by the ruling Left Front alliance and the opposition Congress-led UDF.

The Rajasthan Assembly resolution, passed by voice vote, also asked the Centre to withdraw the new fields of information that have been sought for updation of the National Population Register (NPR) 2020.

"It is evident that the CAA violates the provisions of the Constitution. Therefore, the House resolves to urge upon the government of India to repeal the CAA to avoid any discrimination on the basis of religion in granting citizenship and to ensure equality before law for all religious groups of India," the state's parliamentary affairs minister Shanti Dhariwal said, moving the resolution.

Leader of the opposition Gulab Chand Kataria of the BJP questioned the state's right to challenge the Act.

"Granting citizenship is a matter for the Centre. In such a situation do we have the right to challenge the CAA? The Congress should stop doing appeasement and vote bank politics," he said.

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Salute to Rajasthan Govt for rejecting communal and black CAA bill. This bill is agaisnt the teach of our Constitution and bjp has never done anything as per our constitutin. Its trying its best to scrap the constitution and restore it with RSS agenda. We should oppose any move by bjp against the value of constitution. As bjp has no respect to our constitution, it has no right to be in power. Many of bjp leaders are giving statemetns against the value of constitution and such leaders should be treated as anti indians and action be taken on them.