THE HEADLINES:
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi to hold talks with Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in Abuja today.
- Campaigning reaches its peak for assembly elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand.
- Elon Musk’s SpaceX to launch India’s heavy communication satellite GSAT-20 from Cape Canaveral in US on Tuesday.
- US President-elect Donald Trump nominates Chris Wright as Energy Secretary.
- At least eight persons killed and 17 injured in knife attack in Jiangsu Province of China.
- In Hockey, India to take on Japan in Women’s Asian Champions Trophy at Rajgir in Bihar today.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold talks with Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at Abuja today. Mr Modi reached Abuja last night on a two day visit to Nigeria. Indian diaspora in Nigeria gave Prime Minister a very warm welcome on his arrival in Abuja.
This is the first visit by a Prime Minister of India to Nigeria in 17 years. Prime Minister Modi and President Tinubu will review the strategic partnership between the two countries and discuss further avenues to enhance the bilateral relationship. Several agreements are expected to be signed following the talks. Prime Minister Modi will also address a gathering of the Indian community in Nigeria. Our correspondent has filed this report.
India and Nigeria have become strategic partners since 2007 with growing economic, energy and defence collaboration. More than 200 Indian companies have invested over 27 billion dollars in important sectors in Nigeria. The two countries also share a strong development cooperation partnership. The Nigerian President visited India last year for the G20 Summit. Nigeria is a very large economy within Africa. Both India and Nigeria are multi-religious, multi-ethnic and multi-linguistic countries. Nigeria has also become a partner country of BRICS. The Indian diaspora is very strong in the country at around 60 thousand and is the largest diaspora in West Africa.
Prime Minister Modi has lauded the Marathi community of Nigeria for being connected to their culture and roots. In a social media post, Mr Modi said, the Marathi community in Nigeria expressed joy at Marathi being conferred the status of a classical language.
From Nigeria, Prime Minister Modi will travel to the Brazilian city of Rio De Janeiro tomorrow on a two-day trip to attend the G20 Summit hosted by President Lula Da Silva. India is part of the G20 Troika along with Brazil and South Africa and has been actively contributing to the ongoing G20 Summit discussions.
On the third and final leg, Prime Minister Modi will undertake a state visit to Guyana from 19th to 21st of November.
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Campaigning for assembly elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand has reached its peak as only two days are left for canvassing to end.
In Maharashtra, campaigning for the assembly elections is in full swing. Political leaders from various parties are crisscrossing the state, making a final push to win over the voters. More from our correspondent:
Union Minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Amit Shah is going to address rallies in Gadchiroli, Wardha and Nagpur. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari will address public meetings in Nashik, Ahilyanagar and Mumbai. NCP President Ajit Pawar will be canvassing in Ahilyanagar, Pune, Satara and Kolhapur. On the other hand, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge will be campaigning in Nagpur, Kolhapur and Sangli today. Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi will be addressing a public meeting in Gadchiroli and will hold a road show in Nagpur. NCP(SP) President Sharad Pawar will be campaigning in different constituencies in Pune and Raigad. Shiv Sena (UBT) President Uddhav Thackeray will be canvassing in Palghar and Satara.
In order to encourage the voters’ to exercise their franchise on the 20th of November, the Election Commission is making efforts through SVEEP to create awareness about the importance of voting. We have more from our correspondent:
From welcoming the polling party by drawing rangoli to bride and groom holding flex appealing voters to exercise their right to franchise and felicitating the villages, firms and housing societies for recording 75 per cent voting. These are some of the forthcoming initiatives being witnessed this election season in Maharashtra. It was a pleasant surprise for the polling party to see a rangoli drawn outside the residence of Vasundhara Krishnarao Dange in Ghulewadi in Sangamner taluka of Ahilyanagar district. The polling party had reached the residence of this 88 year old woman for the home voting facility. The ingenious method devised by the district magistrate of Ahilyanagar is also becoming a talk of the town as villagers, firms and housing societies will be feted if they set a record of ensuring more than 75 per cent voting. With this the villages, housing societies and firms will be called the architect of democracy.
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In Jharkhand, leaders of various political parties are leaving no stone unturned to woo the voters.
BJP President JP Nadda will address three poll rallies in Gomia, Sindri and Nala today. On the other hand, Senior Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader and Chief Minister Hemant Soren is scheduled to address six rallies across the state. Congress leaders are also scheduled to address a series of meetings across the state. RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav will address a gathering at Dhanbad.
Several BJP leaders including Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Himanta Biswa Sarma, and Champai Soren will also campaign in support of NDA candidates. Leaders from the AJSU party and left-wing parties are expected to hold rallies and roadshows in various parts of Jharkhand.
Campaigning for the single phase Assembly elections in Maharashtra and the second phase of elections in Jharkhand will come to an end tomorrow evening. Voting will take place on the 20th of November, while counting of votes will take place on the 23rd of this month.
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In our series of constituency profiles, today we take a look at Dhanwar assembly seat in Giridih district of Jharkhand. This seat will go to polls in the second phase of assembly polls on the 20th of this month. More from our correspondent:
State BJP President Babulal Marandi is contesting from this prestigious seat. Mr Marandi who has won twice from Dhanwar in 2014 and 2019, is seeking a third term. Babulal Marandi was the first Chief Minister of Jharkhand. The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) has fielded Nizam Uddin Ansari against Marandi. On the other hand, CPI(ML), an alliance partner of I.N.D.I.A bloc, has also fielded Raj Kumar Yadav from this seat. In view of this, there will be friendly contest between JMM and CPI. In a political development, stalwart independent candidate Niranjan Rai joined BJP yesterday. It will certainly help Babulal Marandi in elections. Although, twenty four candidates, including sixteen independents are in the fray from the seat, the main contest is expected to be between Babulal Marandi of the BJP and Nizam Uddin Ansari of the JMM. Key issues in the constituency include re-opening of mica mines, migration of people and unemployment. It remains to be seen whether Babulal Marandi of the BJP will retain this seat for a third time, or Nizam Uddin Ansari of the JMM bags the prestigious Dhanwar seat.
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Elon Musk’s SpaceX will launch India’s heavy communication satellite GSAT-20 from Cape Canaveral in US on Tuesday. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman S Somanath has said that SpaceX’s Falcon-9 will launch ISRO’s GSAT-20, also called GSAT N-2, on November 19. The satellite is expected to remain in operation for 14 years. It will provide vital services across India, including internet connectivity for remote areas. We have a report:
Weighing 4,700 kg, GSAT-20 is one of India’s heaviest communication satellites. SpaceX was chosen for the launch, as the GSAT-20 is too heavy for India’s own rocket LVM-3, popularly known as ‘Bahubali’ to carry. Radhakrishnan Durairaj, Chairman and Managing Director of the New Space India Ltd (NSIL), the commercial arm of ISRO, said that the ISRO has got a good deal for launching such a heavy satellite on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. India had till now relied on French launch service provider Arianespace for such heavy satellite launches, however, the company does not have any operational rockets at present and the only reliable option India had was to go with SpaceX.
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India has sent the first consignment of about 425 metric ton of food grains and other edible items to Suriname for its Social Welfare Programme. India enjoys close, warm and friendly relations with Suriname, reinforced by cultural and people to people contacts bridged by Indian Diaspora’s arrival dating back to one and a half century. Several high-level visits have been exchanged since the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Suriname in 1976 when the Indian Embassy opened in Paramaribo in 1977 and Surinamese Embassy in New Delhi in 2000.
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In a significant move to repatriate cultural heritage, the United States announced the return of over 1,400 looted artefacts valued at 10 million dollars to India. The items, part of an ongoing initiative to restore stolen art to South and Southeast Asia, include pieces recently displayed at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. Among the returned treasures is a sandstone sculpture of a celestial dancer, illicitly transported from central India to London before being sold to a Met patron of the museum and subsequently donated to the museum.
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In the US, President-elect Donald Trump announced Chris Wright as his choice to head the Department of Energy. Wright, the founder and CEO of Liberty Energy, is a vocal supporter of fossil fuel use and is expected to align with Trump’s goals of maximizing oil and gas production. Beyond production, Wright is likely to echo Trump’s skepticism towards international climate change efforts. Known for dismissing climate change concerns as exaggerated, Wright has notably compared attempts to tackle global warming to Soviet-style communism, insisting that no energy transition is currently underway.
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In China, eight persons were killed and 17 injured in a knife attack at a vocational school in Jiangsu Province yesterday. The attack took place at around 6:30 PM at the Wuxi Vocational Institute of Arts and Technology in Yixing City. The 21-year-old suspect, surnamed Xu, was caught at the scene and he confessed to his crime. According to the police, Xu, a graduate of the school this year, returned to the school to vent his anger for not receiving his graduation certificate due to failing exams and for dissatisfaction with his internship pay. Rescue efforts are underway and police are further investigating the case. This is the second attack on civilians this week.
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In Hockey, India will square off against Japan in their final group-stage match of the Women’s Asian Champions Trophy 2024, at the Rajgir Hockey Stadium in Bihar this evening. The match will start at 4.45 pm. The hosts are running unbeaten at the Women’s Asian Champions Trophy 2024. They registered their fourth straight win in as many games, beating China 3-NIL last evening. With this win, India moved to the first position with 12 points from four games.
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India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast heavy rainfall with thunderstorm and lightning in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Karaikal and Kerala today. The IMD also said that dense to very dense fog conditions are likely to prevail at night and early morning hours over Punjab, Haryana-Chandigarh, Delhi and West Rajasthan today.
Furthermore, the weather department has forecast a gradual fall in minimum temperatures by 2-3 degrees celsius over Northwest, West and Central India during the next 4-5 days.
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TODAY’S NEWSPAPERS HEADLINE:
- All dailies have widely noticed the run up to assembly elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand with political leaders trying their best to influence the voters.
- “Amid setbacks, Sukhbir quits as SAD president,” notes The Sunday Tribune.
- All newspapers have also noticed the tragic incident in a Jhansi hospital where 10 newborns were charred to death. The Sunday Pioneer reports, “Negligence claimed 10 newborn lives.”
- “West in trouble, India has overtaken UK says Truss,” headlines Hindustan Times. Truss added that the British economy has been overtaken by India due to a string of reforms.”
- Finally, The Sunday Pioneer informs, “JNU becomes first university to introduce Indian knowledge traditions course.”
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THE HEADLINES ONCE AGAIN :
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi to hold talks with Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in Abuja today.
- Campaigning reaches its peak for assembly elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand.
- Elon Musk’s SpaceX to launch India’s heavy communication satellite GSAT-20 from Cape Canaveral in US on Tuesday.
- US President-elect Donald Trump nominates Chris Wright as Energy Secretary.
- At least eight persons killed and 17 injured in knife attack in Jiangsu Province of China.
- In Hockey, India to take on Japan in Women’s Asian Champions Trophy at Rajgir in Bihar today.