THE HEADLINES
- US President Barack Obama leaves for a three-day visit to India; To reach New Delhi tomorrow morning; Agra trip cancelled.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulates bankers for surpassing the target by opening 11.5 crore accounts ahead of Republic Day.
- In Telangana, the number of swine flu cases goes up to 291 with 48 fresh samples testing positive.
- Defending champion Saina Nehwal to take on Carolina Marin of Spain tomorrow in the Women's Singles final of the Syed Modi International tournament.
<><><>
US President will arrive in New Delhi tomorrow morning 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 Barack 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.
"On 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. He will also plant a sapling there. In afternoon, Barack 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. Later, Mr Obama and Mr Modi will interact with the media. Mr Obama will call on President Pranab Mukherjee in the evening and discuss issues of mutual interest. Mr Mukherjee will also host a banquet in honour of the the visiting dignitary". Shiela, AIR News, Delhi.
Our Correspondent says, after witnessing the Republic Day Parade, the visiting dignitary will attend the 'At Home' reception by President Pranab Mukherjee. Mr. Obama will after that attend the Indo-US CEO forum meeting followed by India-US business summit.
On the 27th, before leaving for Saudi Arabia to attend the funeral of late Saudi King, Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, Mr Obama will address a function at the Siri Fort Auditorium.
<><><>
US President Barack Obama has cancelled his visit to Agra and would be leaving for Saudi Arabia from New Delhi on the 27th of this month.
<><><>
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 27th of January at 8 pm on FM Gold and Rajdhani Channel. The regional channels will broadcast the programme at 9 am on 28th of January. Public can pose their questions at MyGov website.
The Prime Minister has been addressing the nation over radio every month since last October through the 'Mann Ki Baat' programme.
<><><>
The Army today said, the announcement of ban on Hafiz Saeed-led Jamaat-ud-Dawah by Pakistan is a good move but it's effect needs to be gauged on ground. Talking to media persons in Srinagar today, General Officer Commanding 15 Corps, Lt General Subrata Saha described it as a significant move by Pakistan, adding Army is waiting and watching as to how the ban on JuD would manifest on ground. He said all necessary precautions have been taken in view of the visit of US President Barack Obama and Republic day and adequate care being taken to foil nefarious designs of militants.
<><><>
President Pranab Mukherjee will address the nation tomorrow 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.
<><><>
The services of Delhi Metro will be curtailed partially on Monday as part of security arrangements for Republic Day. An official statement said, all Metro parking lots will remain closed from 6 am tomorrow until 2 pm on January 26th. It said, the entry and exit at the Central Secretariat and Udyog Bhawan Metro stations will remain closed from 6 am to 12 noon on Republic Day and the entry and exit at Patel Chowk and Race Course stations will be closed from 8.45 am to 12 noon. The Mandi House and Pragati Maidan Metro stations will also be closed for public from 10.45 am to 11.45 am.
<><><>
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has congratulated all bankers on the success of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana. In an email to them, Mr Modi said, the target set for opening bank accounts, has been surpassed well ahead of the target date of 26th of January this year. He said, by opening 11.5 crore new accounts in a very short span, the country achieved a coverage of 99.74 per cent of all households in the country. The Prime Minister said there is need to redouble efforts on financial literacy and linking of Aadhaar needs to be improved further.
<><><>
Today is National Girl Child day. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called upon the people to end discrimination against the girl child and ensure that daughters get equal opportunities to shine. In his message, Mr Modi said, girl child's role in nation-building is paramount. He saluted the unparalleled accomplishment of the girl child.
<><><>
To receive AIR news updates in English, free through SMS, you can register on our website www.newsonair.nic.in
For different languages, you can register by typing AIR<SPACE><LANGUAGE CODE> on your mobile and sending an SMS to 7738299899.
<><><>
In Telangana, the number of swine flu cases has gone up to 291 with 48 fresh samples testing positive for H1N1 virus. However, there was not a single death reported during last 24 hours, while a total 22 people have succumbed to Swine Flu during the current season in the State. The State government spokesperson on swine flu Dr Narendra Nath told reporters in Hyderabad this evening that intense monitoring to curtail spread of swine flu virus will continue.
<><><>
Still with, Telangana, over two hundred children between 4-12 years of age working in various factories have been rescued in Hyderabad this morning by the local police. All of them have been identified to have come from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. They were working in bangle and shoe making units at Aman Nagar in the state Capital.
<><><>
In Jammu and Kashmir, the Peoples Democratic Party has said that party has maintained dialogue with the BJP on the issue of government formation in the State. Speaking to partymen on the sidelines of a function in Jammu today, the PDP leader Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, however, emphasised that the party will not compromise on its core ideology of time bound revocation of Armed Forces Special Power Act from the State and continuation of Indo-Pak dialogue.
Meanwhile, party leader Mehbooba Mufti was today unanimously re-elected as party’s president for the fifth consecutive time. She will remain the PDP party president for the next three years.
<><><>
The Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal today said, the allegations that he has incited people to take bribes, are baseless. In his reply to an Election Commission notice, Mr Kejriwal said, he had instead urged people not to vote for parties which offer bribes. He said, he tried to remove a dirty practice in politics by appealing people to take money but not vote for parties which offer money.
Mr Kejriwal said in his reply that both BJP and Congress are targeting him because they are worried that their old trick of buying voters, will fail. He said, he respects the Election Commission and the law. Mr Kejriwal said, if the EC finds his reply un-satisfactory, he will not make such comments while the Model Code of Conduct is in force.
<><><>
The Aam Aadmi Party today denied reports of rift between its chief Arvind Kejriwal and senior leader Prashant Bhushan over ticket distribution. Briefing media, party leader Sanjay Singh said the party's internal Lokpal had filtered all the candidates before clearing their names. Mr Singh said that the party's internal ombudsman had rejected two candidates after a rigorous filtering. The reports come days after party leader Shanti Bhushan called for the replacement of Kejriwal as the party chief.
<><><>
BJP President Amit Shah today said the party will definitely win the upcoming Delhi assembly elections. Addressing party workers in Northwest Delhi this evening, Mr Shah said that the party's winning streak in recent elections is not because of any particular wave, but the result of the hard work of booth level workers. He expressed his gratitude to all grassroot level workers who go door to door to make people aware of the party's policies and plans.
<><><>
A total of 1616 hoardings have been removed from public property in Delhi till date, whereas a total of 118 FIRs have been lodged in this regard. The Election Commission, in its release said, a total of 91 hoardings on private property were also removed. These are in addition to the removal being done by the local bodies.
A total of 123 FIR’s have been lodged against political parties under violation of model code of conduct. 186 bottles of Indian made foreign liquor and 607 bottles of country liquor were also seized as part of expenditure management measure till date.
<><><>
In Odisha, the Central Bureau of Investigation today arrested Pravat Dash, brother of Seashore group of companies chief Prashant Dash, at Bhubaneswar in connection with the mega chit fund scam. The CBI sleuths, probing the multi-crore chit fund scam in the state, grilled Pravat Dash for some time for alleged misappropriation of 3 crore rupees transferred to his account. Pravat was Director of as many as 15 ventures of the Seashore group of companies including Seashore Securities, which had collected money from investors from across the state assuring them of high returns.
<><><>
For many of the audiences present on the fourth day of the ongoing Jaipur Literature Festival, the day began with a chilly weather and warm, scintillating music. Former President of India, Dr. A. P.J. Abdul and Nobel laureate V.S.Naipaul today shared there vision and experience in Jaipur literature Festival.
Former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam has said there will be opportunity in industry and human resource sector with economic development activities in the country. While addressing a session on fourth day of Jaipur literature Festival Dr Kalam said youth should always aim for bigger goal in life and work hard to achieve it.In other session on classical Indian Literature famous play-writer and actor Girish Karnard and Professor Sheldon Pollock said sanskrit is language which bridges gap between different languages and regions.In yet another session Journalist and writer Adan Le bor said India should adopt American model to prevent black money.Dharmesh Bharti, AIR NEWS.JAIPUR
<><><>
In Yemen, thousands of people have taken to the streets in the capital Sanaa to protest against Shia Houthi rebels who have tightened their grip on the city. In the wake of the resignation of the Western-backed president and Prime Minister, yesterday saw marches for and against the rebels. President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi said he could not continue after the Houthis failed to honour a peace deal.
Protests against the rebels were also reported in a number of other cities today. Parliament is due to meet tomorrow to discuss whether to accept President Hadi's resignation. Security sources said the BBC that Yemen's intelligence chief, Ali Hassan al-Ahmedi, has also stepped down.
<><><>
In Bangladesh, at least 34 people have died and scores have been injured, most of them in firebomb attacks amid rising political unrest fuelled by a stand-off between Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the main opposition leader. Police said, at least 25 people have died in arson attacks, including two yesterday. Eight more were killed in clashes with police and one died following injuries from a crude bomb blast. The renewed political turmoil could cause a delay in shipments by the country's 24-billion dollar garment industry, already under pressure after a string of fatal accidents.
<><><>
In Sports, Defending champion Saina Nehwal will take on reigning World Champion Carolina Marin of Spain in the Women's Singles final of the 120,000 US Dollar Syed Modi International Badminton tournament. In the semi-final in Lucknow today, Olympic bronze medallist Saina disposed off fourth seed Nichaon Jindapon of Thailand in straight sets 21-10, 21-16. In the other semi-final Carolina Marin defeated third seeded Indian P V Sindhu 21-13, 21-13.
The Men's Singles final will be an all-Indian affair with K Srikanth facing his compatriot Parupalli Kashyp. In the semi-finals, while Srikanth overcame H. S.Prannoy 12-21, 21-12, 21-14, third seed Kashyap defeated second seeded Dane Viktor Axelsen, also in three games, 18-21, 22-20, 20-7.
Both the finals will be played tomorrow. All India Radio will broadcast live commentary on the matches. The commentary can be head on Rajdhani and RN Channles from 1.55 p.m.
Meanwhile, in the Women's Doubles semi-final, the Indian pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa lost against the duo of Amelia Alicia Anscelly and Fie Cho Soong 16-21, 21-19, 13-21.
<><><>
