Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur will personally receive United States President Barack Obama when he arrives at the Delhi airport on November 7.
The Rashtrapati Bhavan has been flooded with calls from editors of newspapers, TV channels and news portals, who have been seeking information about the official banquet to be hosted by President Pratibha Patil, in honour of United States President Barack Obama on Monday.Due to a flurry of demands from Parliamentarians as well as dignitaries from other fields, the dinner will be hosted at Mughal Garden.
"The ministry of external affairs would convey the time of the meeting in due course. It could take place on November 8 as per the schedule of the visiting dignitary," party leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said.
Randhir Singh, secretary general of the Indian Olympic Association, claimed that India will perform better at upcoming 16th Asian Games, in Guangzhou, China, later this month.
Dadwal had asked for transfer from his present position following completion of his three-year tenure, but was asked by the home ministry to stay on till the end of the Commonwealth Games.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday circumvented all controversial domestic political issues, including those that surround Telecom Minister A Raja, Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan's alleged role in the Adarsh Society scam, and the Commonwealth Games fiasco, but assured that he would look into the matter once he returns to India and then make any meaningful comment on it.
Taking India's Look East policy a step further, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday announced visa-on-arrival facility for citizens of Cambodia, Vietnam, Philippines and Laos; and emphasised the need to speed up the finalisation of a free trade agreement in services and investment between India and South East Asian nations.
The $31-billion company, which sources around 30 per cent of its global consumption from India, had also criticised the Indian government for not opening foreign direct investment in single brand retailing.
The prime minister is in Hanoi to attend the 8th ASEAN-India Summit and the 5th East Asia Summit.
The ministry of renewable energy resources headed by Farooq Abdullah is taking a close look at various proposals made by a Finish delegation led by Paavo Vayrynen, Minister for foreign trade and development.
Sleuths of the Intelligence Bureau, the Research and Analysis Wing and the Delhi police have turned the Parliament premises into a virtual fortress to ensure that nothing goes wrong during the visit by United States President Barack Obama, who is scheduled to address the joint session of the House on November 8."Technically, you cannot call it a joint session. At best, it can be termed as President Obama's speech to the members of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha," said an official.
The two leaders are likely to finalise the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement, which will be formally signed in January next year after the due process of 'legal scrubbing' is over, sources said. The CECA, once signed, might come into force from July 2011.
To foster increased business exchanges, people-to-people contact, especially for students, India and Japan on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding to simplify visa procedures for each other's citizens.
The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between India and Japan, negotiations for which concluded on Monday, necessitates the abolition of customs duties on 94 per cent of trade between the two nations over the next decade.
Referring to their ties with China, India and Japan on Monday agreed that it was essential to engage China in a closer, more open and productive dialogue as both Tokyo and New Delhi are desirous of peace in the region. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Japanese counterpart Naoto Kan discussed the issue of boundary disputes with China -- while India faces border issues over land, Japan is engaged in a maritime territorial row -- in Tokyo.
India and Japan adopted a mutually acceptable stance, in Tokyo on Monday, to speed up negotiations on a civil nuclear agreement, resolving to bring it to fruition at the earliest.
Despite Home Minister P Chidambaram's assurance that action will be taken against Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani's alleged secessionist speech in New Delhi last week, the city police is yet to file a complaint against the separatist leader."We are studying the speech delivered by Geelani. Once that is done, a report will be sent to the home minister for his approval," Delhi police spokesperson Rajan Bhagat said.
Thnew deal will likely usher in a new era of cooperation and broad-basing of economic relationship between the two Asian powers.
The India-Japan civil nuclear deal might not fructify anytime too soon, with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh acknowledging that India was keenly aware of Japanese sensitivities on the matter and "would not like to force the issue".Dr Singh was addressing a business luncheon attended by top leaders of business and industry from India and Japan in Tokyo on Monday.
The competitive devaluation of the Yuan and the non-tariff barriers imposed by China on the services and pharmaceutical sectors have badly hit the Indian economy. However, New Delhi might not directly push for the appreciation of the Chinese currency given the extremely high level of Indian imports as it would lead to an increase in the prices of domestic goods and services, sources said.
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