Where opposite sides meet crossword

China’s top diplomat on Saturday arrived on his first visit to Myanmar since the military seized power last year to attend a regional meeting that the government said was a recognition of its legitimacy and opponents protested as a violation of peace efforts. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will join counterparts from Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam in a meeting of the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation group in the central city of Bagan, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The grouping is a Chinese-led initiative that includes the countries of the Mekong Delta, a potential source of regional tensions due to an increasing number of hydroelectric projects that are altering the flow and raising concerns of ecological damage. China has built 10 dams along the upper stretch of the Mekong, the part it calls the Langcang. Military government spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun told a news conference in the capital Naypyitaw on Friday that the attendance of the foreign ministers at the … [Read more...] about China’s top diplomat visits Myanmar amid opposition protest

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be addressing a public meeting titled as ‘Vijay Sankalpa Sabha’ at Parade Grounds in Secunderabad here on July 3. As the title of the meeting suggests, PM Modi may sound the poll bugle for the 2023 Assembly polls in Telangana to prepare the BJP cadre for the electoral contest. Modi, who landed here on Saturday to attend the BJP’s two-day National Executive Committee meeting, will address the rally on Sunday evening. During his last visit to the city on May 26, Modi, indirectly referring to TRS party, lashed out at family politics saying ‘parivaarvadi’ is democracy’s “greatest enemy”. He had expressed confidence that the BJP would storm to power in the state in the next assembly elections. According to political pundits, Modi is expected to continue his tirade against Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao and the ruling TRS. Rao, popularly known as KCR, on Saturday in a party meeting in support of opposition parties’ presidential candidate Yashwant … [Read more...] about PM Modi to Address Public Meeting in Hyderabad on July 3

Fintech unicorn RazorPay wants to install a statue of a “unicorn with wings/flying horse” in Cubbon Park, while the Consulate General of Switzerland wants to introduce “Barn Parcours”, a fitness training loop pathway. Walkers as well as environmental and heritage activists have opposed them. The Department of Horticulture, and the Department of Electronics, Information Technology and Biotechnology jointly held a public consultation meeting on the unicorn with wings statue project on Saturday. A similar meeting will be held on Sunday morning over the Swiss consulate project, which is also called “Bengaluru Moves”. “There is widespread opposition to any private initiatives and interventions in Cubbon Park. We do not want any such corporate initiatives in the park area,” said S. Umesh, president, Cubbon Park Walkers’ Association. While there is widespread opposition to the statue coming up, many are open to the Bengaluru Moves project, which will only add a fitness trail … [Read more...] about Walkers, activists oppose private projects in Cubbon Park

A delegation of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) legislators on Saturday met the Opposition’s Presidential candidate Yashwant Sinha and expressed their support for him, ahead of the election slated for July 18. “Four MLAs—Ahmed Balala, Kausar Mohiuddin, Mumtaz Khan and Moazzam Khan—met Mr. Sinha. They said that as per our party president’s decision, they would support him in the Presidential elections,” a party source familiar with the development told The Hindu . On June 27, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi announced that his party would support Mr. Sinha’s candidature. “AIMIM legislators will be voting for opposition candidate @YashwantSinha in the #PresidentialElections. Mr Sinha spoke to me on a call earlier as well,” Mr. Owaisi had tweeted. Party sources said that AIMIM floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi was not present at the meeting as he was addressing a public meeting in Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh, where municipal polls are due on July 6. “We have fielded 11 … [Read more...] about Telangana: AIMIM extends support to Yashwant Sinha

Accusing the State government of not delivering on the promises made, pourakarmikas have decided to continue their strike indefinitely till all assurances have been committed to in writing. They alleged that promises made by the Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai in the meeting on Friday found no mention in the minutes of the meeting officials shared with them on Saturday. The strike will continue for the third day on Sunday. “The Chief Minister had agreed to bring pourakarmikas on payroll and bring loading and unloading helpers on direct payment. He had also agreed to provide ₹10 lakh to those pourakarmikas who retire after 60 years. We also received assurances on scholarships for children of pourakarmikas and others. But when we received the letter, there was no reference about these promises made and many things have been left out. We want the State government to include all the promises that were made, and the Chief Minister must come in person and give the letter. We will continue … [Read more...] about Pourkarmikas say promises not kept; decide to continue strike

Fissures in the Telangana Congress came to the fore yet again when the former MP V. Hanumantha Rao went to the Begumpet Airport to welcome the Opposition parties’ Presidential candidate Yashwant Sinha despite the party deciding to stay away from his meeting. While Mr. Rao’s act evoked a strong response from the supporters of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president A. Revanth Reddy, who said it was acting against the party’s interests. What was the need for Mr. Hanumantha Rao to go to the airport when he was not even a voter in the Presidential election, and also after the party took a decision to stay away from the event, which the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) had made a personal affair, argued the party leaders. However, Sangareddy MLA, T. Jayaprakash Reddy did not find anything wrong in Mr. Rao’s move stating that Mr. Sinha was supported by the Congress. “In fact, I also wanted to meet him as an MLA and sought an appointment, but could not get one due to paucity … [Read more...] about Sinha visit: Differences in Congress come to the fore

Iran’s Foreign Minister on July 2 condemned an Israeli airstrike on Syria earlier in the day and said Tehran opposes any military operation by Turkey in Syria’s north. Hossein Amirabdollahian made his comments at the start of his visit to the Syrian capital Damascus, where he was expected to discuss mutual relations and regional affairs with top Syrian officials. Iran has been one of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s strongest backers, sending thousands of fighters from around the region to help his troops in Syria’s 11-year conflict. The war has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million. Mr. Amirabdollahian’s visit came hours after Israel carried out an airstrike on a coastal Syrian village near the border with Lebanon wounding two people, Syrian state media reported. It also comes after Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly said he’s planning a major military operation to create a 30KM (19 mile) deep buffer … [Read more...] about Iran condemns airstrike, opposes Turkish move into Syria

Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) president K. Chandrasekhar Rao has appealed to the electors of the Presidential election, scheduled to be held on July 18, to vote as per their conscience after weighing the two candidates in the fray, and not based on their political affiliation. Addressing a meeting of TRS MPs, MLAs, MLCs, its State executive committee members and other senior leaders of the party convened in support of Yashwant Sinha, the candidate fielded by the Opposition, here on Saturday, the Telangana Chief Minister said Mr. Sinha’s candidature outweighs that of his rival’s as he was a towering personality. “He (Mr. Sinha) is an honest politician and an able administrator who handled the key portfolios of finance and external affairs in the Union Cabinet in the A.B. Vajpayee Government,” Mr. Rao said. In an appeal to all Parliamentarians in the country, the TRS chief said that there was a democratic practice in the country of voting as per conscience on some occasions and … [Read more...] about Telangana: KCR asks TRS legislators to vote as per conscience during Presidential poll

The current cotton season is expected to end on September 30 with 39.27 lakh bales as closing stock. The Committee on Cotton Production and Consumption had estimated the closing stock at almost 41.27 lakh bales at its meeting held in May. After a meeting on Friday, the Committee said imports were expected to be 15 lakh bales, production 315.43 lakh bales and opening stock 71.84 lakh bales. With this, the total availability for the season was estimated at 402.27 lakh bales. On the consumption side, textile mills (non SSI units) were likely to consume 285 lakh bales against 289 lakh bales the Committee estimated at its meeting in May. With weak demand for yarn, demand for cotton had reduced, industry sources said here. Consumption by SSI units were likely to be 20 lakh bales whereas 16 lakh bales were to be non textile consumption. Exports were estimated at 42 lakh bales, said the Committee. There are both supply and demand side constraints, said an official in the Ministry … [Read more...] about Cotton stocks to be lower than expected

Andhra Pradesh Agriculture Minister Kakani Govardhan Reddy on Saturday said that the State government has taken a bold decision to go to the people fully confident of its performance in the last three years and with a view to hear their grievances, if any, and rectify mistakes. Visiting Veerampalli village, near Manobolu in Sarvepalli Assembly constituency, the Minister said, “It is natural for political parties to make promises while in the Opposition. But it requires a lot of courage to visit the people to know their satisfaction levels and take suggestions from them to improve the government’s functioning further.’‘ Unlike during the previous Telugu Desam Party government when the benefits of welfare schemes were given only to those recommended by the local Janmabhoomi committees, the Jagan Mohan Reddy government now implemented welfare schemes on a scale never seen before to benefit one and all and in a most transparent manner, he said. He inspected the newly-constructed … [Read more...] about People are satisfied with govt. performance, says Minister