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Manmohan embarks on a five-day visit to Russia, China on Sunday

October 19, 2013

New Delhi, Oct 19: Civil nuclear liability issues posing hurdles in clinching a deal with Russia on acquiring two new reactors for Kudankulam project and sticky points over an agreement with China to avoid army face offs on the border await resolution as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh embarks on a five-day visit to the two countries on Sunday.

Hopeful of reaching according on both the issues, officials are said to be working over time to negotiate a mutually acceptable solution so that the deals can be signed during the visit to Moscow and Beijing.

14th annual summit

Dr. Singh, who will be paying an official visit to Moscow, will be participating in the 14th annual summit with Russian President Vladmir Putin on Monday, his fifth in Moscow.

Official sources said in a bid to assuage Russian concerns on the civil liability clause in the nuclear law in India New Delhi has made proposals outlining the parameters for taking insurance on the possible damage that could arise in case of an accident.

They include the quantum of liability on suppliers of equipment both foreign and Indian, which has been made clear that it is not unlimited.

Russia has been opposed to application of the nuclear liability law on the reactors for the proposed III and IV units in Kudankulam power project since the original scheme was conceived under an inter-government accord.

Public sector General Insurance Corporation (GIC) has been tasked to work with the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) to work on quantifying the damage and the liability on suppliers of equipment, including the reactors.

Kudankulam accord

Sources are confident that the accord on Unit III and IV will be clinched during Dr. Singh’s visit to Moscow.

The visit to Russia also signifies the deep strategic partnership between the two countries over the years in defence, science and technology and space.

India is also interested in expanding cooperation in the hydro carbons with ONGC’s overseas arm OVL seeking new opportunities in exploration of gas and oil in Russia.manmohan

OVL is already participating in two projects as 20 per cent partner in the Sakhalin one project and as 100 per cent owner and operator of Imperial Energy in Tomsk Region.

After talks and a working lunch with Mr. Putin on Oct 21, the Prime Minister will be conferred with an Honorary Doctorate by the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO).

A customary joint statement will be issued at the end of the visit during which a few agreements will be signed in areas like science and technology, energy efficiency and standards. Also on the margins of the Summit, there will be a meeting of the newly-constitute CEOs Council.

Last year, there was a 24 per cent rise in bilateral trade crossing $ 11 billion in 2012 for the first time.

Investment is emerging as an important focus of bilateral trade.

China visit

From Moscow, the Prime Minister flies to Beijing on October 22 for a meeting with his counterpart Li Keqiang on October 23, his second in six months. He will be hosted a luncheon banquet.

Dr. Singh will also be meeting President Xi Jinpeng, who will host a dinner banquet, a rare honour for an Indian leader after such a courtesy was extended to Jawaharlal Nehru in the fifties.

Border issues

The focus of the visit to China will be the proposed landmark Border Defence Cooperation Agreement (BDCA) to avoid face offs between the two armies along the disputed Line of Actual Control, which officials are hopeful of clinching next week.

The BDCA, which provides for ‘no tailing’ of each other and ‘no shooting’ by troops of both sides, is expected to boost steps to maintain peace, tranquillity and status quo on the border with China.

Coming against the backdrop of the longest face off in Depsang valley in Ladakh this summer, where PLA troops stayed put for over 20 days, it will be a step forward over the 2005 accord that set out standard operating procedures and be part of the confidence building mechanism between the two countries.

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Agencies
February 11,2020

New Delhi, Feb 11: Cheaper lending rates in the country along with the government's booster via tax cuts seem to have had little effect on vehicle sales in January, with car sales decreasing by over 14,531 units, or slightly over 8 per cent, compared to January last year.

According to Rajan Wadhera, President of industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), which gives out the auto sales numbers, the overall slump in vehicle sales in India was due to the "rising cost of vehicle ownership and slower growth in GDP".

Barring three-wheelers, all other segments showed de-growth.

Vehicle sales across segments have been declining for over a year now. SIAM sales data last month compared with that of January 2019 showed that domestic passenger vehicle sales slipped 6.2 per cent to 262,714 units. The decline in car sales stood at 8.1 per cent, and two-wheelers 16.06 per cent.

Sales of commercial vehicles, an indicator of industrial health in the economy, slipped by 14.04 per cent to 75,289 units last month, while the vehicle sales across categories registered a de-growth of 13.83 per cent to 17,39,975 units from 20,19,253 units in January 2019, SIAM said.

However, Wadhera said, they were hopeful that recent government announcements on infrastructure and rural economy would support growth of vehicle sales, especially in the commercial and two-wheeler segments.

"We are looking forward to the early announcement of an incentive-based scrappage policy in the context of the recent assurances by the government," Wadhera said.

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News Network
January 28,2020

Jan 28: After Union minister Anurag Thakur, on Tuesday, BJP MP Parvesh Verma has stoked a controversy by saying that "Shaheen Bagh protesters will enter houses and rape sisters, daughters." The BJP MP even went on to say that if BJP is voted to power in Delhi, they "will clear Shaheen Bagh protest within an hour."

"If the BJP comes to power in Delhi on February 11, we will clear Shaheen Bagh of all protests and protesters within one hour. Not a single person will be visible," Parvesh Verma said during a meeting at Vikaspuri assembly constituency.

"Lakhs of people gather there [Shaheen Bagh]. People of Delhi will have to think and take a decision. They will enter your houses, rape your sisters and daughters, kill them. There's time today, Modi ji & Amit Shah won't come to save you tomorrow..." the BJP MP told news agency ANI.

"If our government is formed, then give me just a month after February 11, and I will remove all mosques built on government land in my Lok Sabha constituency," the BJP parliamentarian added.

Well, these statements didn't go down well with the netizens, who took to Twitter to express what they felt about the BJP leader's comments. A user wrote, "This is pure, unadulterated hate speech." While other user said, "Only when you thought BJP couldn't stoop any lower."

Earlier, on Monday, BJP leader and Union Minister Anurag Thakur triggered a row after he led the crowd to raise an incendiary slogan that "traitors should be shot". At the rally, Thakur, the Minister of State (MoS) for Finance, shouted: "desh ke gaddaron ko" to which the crowd responded, "goli maro saalo ko" (shoot down the traitors).

Addressing the meeting in support of BJP candidate from Rithala, Manish Chaudhary, Thakur raised the pitch of nationalism as he linked opposition parties with anti-CAA protests in Shaheen Bagh and with alleged anti-India slogans, and then asked the crowd to raise the controversial slogan.

For more than a month, over 200 women have been joined by hundreds of others every day at South East Delhi's Shaheen Bagh at a sit-in protest against the CAA which promises citizenship to only non-Muslim refugees from three neighbouring countries.

Protests have been ongoing in different parts of the country against the amended Citizenship Act (CAA) which grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists and Christians fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh if they entered India on or before December 31, 2014.

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Agencies
August 4,2020

Ayodhya,  Aug 4: Various religious ceremonies have been conducted for the past 108 days by saints in Ayodhya and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will take part in `muhurat puja' at 12.44 pm on Wednesday as part of 'bhoomi pujan' for construction of a grand Ram temple.

PM Modi will arrive at 12:30 pm at the Ramjanmbhoomi and take part in various prayers including the main "bhoomi pujan".

Govind Giriji Maharaj, treasurer of Shri Ramjanmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, said that the religious ceremonies will begin from 8:30 am in the morning and will continue till 12:30 pm.

"The Prime Minister will arrive at 12:30 pm and he will offer `puja' for 15 minutes and take 'sankalp'. First Lord Ganesh will be worshipped then he will offer prayers of eight shilas. Some prayers at shilas we have conducted already," Giri told said.

"The muhrat of pooja is at 12: 44 pm. He will say words 'prathisthapayami' and it is crucial to be done in that muhrat," he said.

Elaborating on the rituals to be performed tomorrow by the Prime Minister, the trust member said that most important is `Kurm Shila' .

"The most important is Kurm Shila - this is right beneath the place where Ram Lalla will be seated. It is this ceremony that we are conducting tomorrow. A cone of Bakul tree wood will be kept in ceremony. This isn't an ordinary cone, it is made of various metals including gold and silver. 

A lotus with nine gems too will be part of pujan which will be offered to this cone by the Prime Minister," he said.

"These are intrinsic to main bhumi pujan. The first religious ceremony was of Devi Kali. There are two devi kalis here, `choti' and `badi'. She is kuldevi, family's goddess of Sita. Today we held Ramarchan ceremony," said Giri.

The Vedic pundits who are involved in religious ceremonies have come from Delhi, Mathura and Kashi.

Asked about the absence of Nepal's religious head of Janaki Mandir, he said that there are many, including 20 religious heads, who would not able to come because they can't leave their seat in Chaturmas.

On the design of temple, Giri said, the old design will remain as it is except a rise in height.

"The structure has become popular and we will keep it. Keeping in mind the modernisation of architecture, we have raised height from 128 feet to 161 feet and instead of three peaks we will have five peaks," he said.

Kanchi Pithadhishvar Maharaj has sent silver coins as souvenirs for every sadhu participating in it, Giri said.

Invitations have been sent to 175 people, including 135 saints of 35 religious organisations to attend the foundation stone-laying ceremony of Ram temple.

The construction of Ram temple will begin in Ayodhya after the ceremony to lay the foundation stone.

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