THE HEADLINES,
- US President Barack Obama to arrive in New Delhi today on a three-day visit to India .
- 673 candidates left in the fray for assembly elections in Delhi after withdrawal of nominations.
- Telangana continues to be on high alert for swine flu with rising cases of disease.
- ISIS terrorists kill one of the two japanese hostages in their captivity; Japanese Prime Minister condemns the incident as outrageous and unacceptable.
- Defending champion Saina Nehwal takes on World Champion Carolina Marin of Spain in the Women's Singles final of Syed Modi International Badminton tournament in Lucknow today; K Srikanth to clash with Parupalli Kashyap in Men's Singles final.
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US President Barack Obama will arrive in New Delhi today on a three-day visit to India. Mr Obama will be accompanied by First Lady Michelle Obama and a delegation which includes top officials and business leaders. This is Mr Obama's second visit to India. He was invited by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to witness this year's Republic Day Parade as the chief guest. More from our correspondent:
After his arrival, the United States President will be accorded a ceremonial reception at the Rashtrapati Bhawan. Later, Mr Obama will visit Rajghat and lay wreath at the samadhi of Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi. He will also plant a sapling there. In afternoon, Mr Obama will be joined by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a restricted working lunch at the Hyderabad House. The two leaders will then have an expanded delegation level meeting which will be followed by media interaction. Mr Obama will call on President Pranab Mukherjee in the evening and discuss issues of mutual interest. Mr Mukherjee will host a banquet in honour of the the visiting dignitary. With Sant Bahadur, Anupam Mishra AIR News, Delhi.
The visiting dignitary will be the chief guest to witness Republic Day Parade tomorrow. He will attend the 'At Home' reception by President Mukherjee. Mr Obama will also attend Indo-US CEO forum meeting followed by India-US business summit.
Mr Obama will address a function at Siri Fort Auditorium in New Delhi on Tuesday before leaving for Saudi Arabia.
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US President Barack Obama's scheduled visit to Agra on Tuesday has been cancelled. This was disclosed by the District Magistrate of Agra Pankaj Kumar yesterday. He said, cancellation is not because of any reason pertaining to local issues.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Barack Obama will jointly address the nation in the next edition of Mann Ki Baat on All India Radio. The programme will be broadcast on Tuesday at 8 PM on FM Gold and Rajdhani Channels. The regional channels will broadcast the programme at 9 AM on Wednesday. Public can pose their questions at www.mygov.nic.in. The Prime Minister has been addressing the nation over radio every month since last October through the 'Mann Ki Baat' programme.
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President Pranab Mukherjee will address the nation today on the eve of the 66th Republic Day. The address will be broadcast from 7 PM on the national network of All India Radio and telecast over all channels of Doordarshan in English followed by Hindi versions. Broadcast of the address in English and Hindi on Doordarshan will be followed by broadcast in regional languages by regional channels of Doordarshan. AIR will broadcast regional language versions from 9.30 PM onwards.
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The services of Delhi Metro will be curtailed partially tomorrow as part of security arrangements for Republic Day. An official statement said, all Metro parking lots will remain closed from 6 AM today until 2 PM tomorrow. It said, the entry and exit at the Central Secretariat and Udyog Bhawan Metro stations will remain closed from 6 AM to 12 noon and the entry and exit at Patel Chowk and Race Course stations will be closed from 8.45 AM to 12 noon tomorrow. The Mandi House and Pragati Maidan Metro stations will also be closed for public from 10.45 AM to 11.45 AM tomorrow.
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A total of 673 candidates are left in fray for the Delhi Assembly polls after 20 candidates withdrew their nomination papers yesterday. According to the Delhi Chief Electoral Officer's office, a maximum of 18 candidates are in fray from the Burari constituency in North Delhi while the Ambedkar Nagar seat in South Delhi has the lowest four nominees. The Krishna Nagar constituency, from where BJP's Kiran Bedi is contesting, has 10 candidates while in the New Delhi seat from where AAP's Arvind Kejriwal is seeking re-election has 13 candidates in the fray. In Sadar Bazar constituency, from where Congress's Ajay Maken is contesting, has also a total of 13 candidates. Eight candidates are in the fray in Greater Kailash seat from where Sharmistha Mukherjee, daughter of President Pranab Mukherjee, is fighting the polls. Voting for the 70-member Delhi assembly polls will be held on 7th of next month and counting will take place on February 10.
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National Investigation Agency, NIA has absolved Liaqat Shah of all terror charges levelled against him by Delhi Police Special Cell. The agency will also write to the Union Home Ministry about the conduct of Delhi Police officers who 'framed' Liaqat. The NIA has also filed a chargesheet against suspected Delhi Police 'source' Sabir Khan Pathan in the case of Liaqat Shah, who was alleged to be a Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist. 45-year-old Liaqat was arrested on March 20 last year, while crossing the Indo-Nepal border in Gorakhpur with his family. Liaqat had said that he had come to surrender under the Jammu and Kashmir government's rehabilitation policy. The Delhi Police, which arrested him soon after he had crossed the border, alleged that Liaqat was involved in the conspiracy to carry out terror attacks in the capital ahead of Holi.
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In Telangana, the health authorities have continued to be on high alert against spread of swine flu and intensified awareness among people over preventive measures. Though there was no swine flu causality reported during the past 36 hours, the fresh cases being reported remained at high. Fresh swine flu cases also reported at districts like Medak. Our correspondent has filed this report.
"Following the advice by the recently visited central team of experts, that the authorities have shifted 16 swine flu patients who do not need life saving equipment from the nodal hospital to identified hospitals in Hyderabad to make room in the nodal hospital for emergency cases of swine flu. Meanwhile, about a dozen patients infected with swine flu have been kept on ventilators. Mobile medical teams are visiting the vulnerable areas to screen people who might have come into contact with the swine flu patients. The state medical emergency toll free number- “104” has been equipped with a special team to answer public queries regarding swine flu round the clock. lakshmi, AIR News, Hyderabad."
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In Rajasthan, two more people died of swine flu. With this, death toll in the state due to the virus has reached 21 during the last 24 days. Health Department said, out of 294 samples, 77 tested positive for the swine flu.
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The Islamic State released a new video claiming one of the two Japanese captives has been beheaded. In the video, Japanese freelance journalist Kenji Goto holds a photo that purportedly shows the dead body of the second hostage, Haruna Yukawa. SITE Intelligence Group, a US-based organization that monitors extremist websites, said the video has been distributed across several Islamic State-linked Twitter accounts yesterday. Japan's prime minister has condemned the incident as outrageous and unacceptable. Shinzo Abe demanded the release of a second hostage, purported to be Kenji Goto, shown in the video. On Tuesday, Islamic State had threatened to kill the two men unless Japan pay 200 million dollars within 72 hours. US President Barack Obama also strongly condemned the brutal murder of Japanese citizen by the IS. In a statement, he said the US would stand shoulder to shoulder with Japan.
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Himachal Pradesh is celebrating its 45th statehood day today. Governor Urmila Singh has congratulated the people on this occasion. More from our correspondent:
In the year 1971 on this day, Himachal Pradesh was declared as 18th state of Indian Union by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi from the historic Ridge Maidan of Shimla. Since then this small hill state has set up several milestones in the field of development. On this occasion the state level function would be held at Bilaspur town where Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh will unfurl the national flag. Shishu Sharma Shantal, AIR News, Shimla.
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The Fifth National Voters' Day is being celebrated across the country today. The theme of this year is Easy Registration, Easy Correction. The main function will be held in the national capital which will be presided over by former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. On the occasion, awards for best electoral practices will be given to Chief Electoral Officers and District Election Officers. Media houses and civil society organisations will also be given awards for best campaign in Voters' Education and Awareness. The National Voter's Day is celebrated to spread awareness among voters regarding effective participation in the electoral process.
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In the Men's Singles final of Syed Modi International Grand Prix Gold Badminton Championship, it will be an all-Indian affair as Parupalli Kashyap and K Srikanth are set to clash for the title in Lucknow today. Defending champion Saina Nehwal is now one step away from retaining her women’s singles title as she disposed off fourth seed Nichaon Jindapon of Thailand 21-10, 21-16 in the semifinal at the Babu Banarasi Das Indoor Stadium yesterday. Saina will take on Spanish second seed and reigning World Champion Carolina Marin, who dispatched Sindhu 21-13, 21-13 in her semifinal, which lasted 38 minutes. More from Lucknow correspondent.
Today in the Mens' final, Srikanth will take on third seed and compatriot Parupalli Kashyap, who rallied to beat Denmark’s second seed Viktor Axelsen in a very tough semi final match yesterday. In Mens' Doubles, Russian pair Vladimir Ivanov and Ivan Sozonov will take on Danish pair Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen. Whereas the most awaited match will be played between Saina Nehwal and reigning world champion Carolina Marin for Women's Singles title. The Womens' Doubles match and the Mixed Doubles matches are also set to enthrall the Badminton lovers as several titans will clash in pairs with each other. Merajuddin, AIR News, Lucknow."
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NEWSPAPERS HEADLINES:
- "India , US close to breaking Nuclear deadlock "is the banner headline in the Times of India today. The paper adds that Obama may intervene to end impasse over tracking rights".
- "Sadly No wah Taj ! Moment " is the splash story in the Pioneer today. " Obama misses the Taj again " is the banner headline in the Hindustan Times. The subhead reads "Itinerary compacted, Saudi king's death prompts change in plan". "Obama cancels Agra for Riyadh" is the lead in the Asian Age.
- The bottom fold of the Asian Age quotes, the Peoples Democratic Party as saying "Track II talks with BJP on for government in J&K". While the Hindu in a news story quotes Mufti Mohammed Sayeed as saying " we may differ in vision, but an attempt is being made to find common ground".
- The Times of India on its front page reports that a day after the Padma Awards were to be officially announced, yoga guru Ramdev and spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar politely declined to receive the honours. The Indian Express too carries this story on its front page.
- The Pioneer in its bottom spread carries an interesting story about the city's oldest electorate. The paper says that Delhi has 474 voters aged 100 years and above. There are 226 women and 248 men in this list. Among the 100 plus year old voters 10 are 120 years and above. They are all registered in the voters list.
- The Delhi special of The Asian Age writes that "Kejriwal is upset over no Republic -Day parade invite". The paper also quotes Union Minister Harsh Vardhan as saying "no rules flouted". While The Hindustan Times in a box item says,"2014 Republic Day parade pooper Kejriwal not on 2015 list".
- "Farmers get e-Kisaan tablets" writes the Hindu to educate, engage and empower them. Karnataka Chief Minister distributed the tablets in Benguluru.
- The Times of India carries a story that a group of class 10 students in Chennai showed great courage and stopped the marriage of their classmate, a 15 year old girl, to a man more than twice her age.
- And finally, forget the critics the box office receipts and the Oscars. Well the Times of India writes that what really makes a film into a masterpiece is how many passing references it generates in subsequent films made by other directors, scientists have discovered.
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