Prime Minister Narendra Modi received a warm and heartfelt welcome as he arrived at Hotel Korston in Kazan, where Russian nationals greeted him by singing a Krishna Bhajan.The Prime Minister was seen attentively listening to the Krishna Bhajan performed by the Russian nationals. Following the musical tribute, PM Modi took the time to greet and engage with members of the Indian diaspora who had gathered to meet him at the hotel.PM Modi is in Kazan to attend the 16th BRICS Summit, which is being held under Russia’s chairmanship. During his visit, the Prime Minister is also expected to hold bilateral discussions with his counterparts from BRICS member countries. According to ANI, PM Modi landed in Kazan on Tuesday to participate in this significant global event.Upon his arrival, the Prime Minister also witnessed a vibrant dance performance by artists from the Russian community at Hotel Korston. One of the Russian artists, who performed along with her team, spoke to ANI and shared her excitement about the opportunity to perform for the Indian Prime Minister. She said, "We were so excited and nervous, we rehearsed for this dance for nearly three months... The people really like PM Modi. He (PM Modi) said that we are exciting dancers."Meanwhile, PM Modi shared a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) to inform about his arrival in Kazan. He said, "Landed in Kazan for the BRICS Summit. This is an important Summit, and the discussions here will contribute to a better planet."Randhir Jaiswal, official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, also took to X to share news of the Prime Minister’s arrival, stating, "PM @narendramodi lands in the heritage city of Kazan, Russia. On arrival, PM was warmly received by the Head of the Republic of Tatarstan, Rustam Minnikhanov."The 16th BRICS Summit, taking place from 22 to 24 October in Kazan, will focus on the theme "Strengthening Multilateralism for Just Global Development and Security." According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the summit provides an important platform for leaders to discuss major global issues, review the progress of BRICS initiatives, and explore potential areas for further collaboration.This is PM Modi’s second visit to Russia this year, following his trip to Moscow in July for the 22nd India-Russia Annual Summit, during which he held bilateral talks with President Putin. On that occasion, the Prime Minister was also honoured with Russia’s highest civilian award, the Order of St. Andrew the Apostle, at the Kremlin in Moscow.BRICS, which initially began as a formal grouping after a meeting of the leaders of Russia, India, and China on the sidelines of the G8 Outreach Summit in St. Petersburg in 2006, has since grown significantly. The first BRIC Summit was held in Russia's Yekaterinburg in 2009, and South Africa joined the group in 2010, turning BRIC into BRICS. The third BRICS Summit, in 2011, saw South Africa’s participation for the first time.Most recently, in 2024, BRICS expanded further with the inclusion of five new members—Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates—underscoring the grouping’s growing influence on the global stage.According to ANI, PM Modi’s participation in the BRICS Summit is expected to strengthen India’s multilateral engagement and pave the way for further cooperation with member nations. (With inputs from ANI)
22 October,2024 03:42 PM IST | kazan | mid-day online correspondentTwo Indian nationals were arrested on Tuesday for illegally carrying over INR 20 lakh in cash in Nepal's Kapilvastu district, police said. Salman Quaresia, 33, and Umesh Sakharam Khandagle, 39 -- both residents of Raigad district in Maharashtra -- were arrested in the Krishnanagar area of Kapilvastu district during a routine security check at the Nepal-India border. They were travelling in separate vehicles with Indian number plates. Police recovered a total of INR 20,50,000 from them with no supporting documents. Carrying INR 25,000 or more in cash without proper documentation is illegal in Nepal. The arrested individuals have been handed over to the Revenue Investigation Department in Kapilvastu district, along with the seized banknotes, for further investigation, police said. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
22 October,2024 03:39 PM IST | Kathmandu | PTIGautam Bambawale, a former Indian Ambassador to China, Bhutan, and Pakistan, has stated that the recent agreement between India and China on border patrolling along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) significantly increases the likelihood of a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping during the upcoming BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia.Bambawale highlighted that this agreement, especially concerning patrolling in eastern Ladakh, paves the way for a potential face-to-face discussion between the two leaders. He emphasised that the probability of such a meeting happening is "very high." He also clarified that the agreement was reached solely through discussions between India and China, without any involvement from Russia.Speaking to ANI, Bambawale remarked, "On the recent agreement on patrolling along the LAC, particularly in eastern Ladakh, I do not believe the Russians had any role in this. It was the result of negotiations between India and China alone."The former envoy expressed optimism, noting that the resolution of border issues could help in rebuilding the strained relationship between the two countries, which has been affected since the Summer of 2020. However, he tempered expectations, stating, "I think it will be a meeting to break the ice. I don't anticipate an immediate warm-up of relations, as this situation has persisted for over 4.5 years. It will take time to fully restore the relationship to its former state, but this agreement is a positive start."He went on to explain that if the two leaders do meet in Kazan, it could represent a significant step towards mending ties. Bambawale said, "A meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit could be another step towards restoring the relationship."The patrolling agreement, according to Bambawale, also signals that China may be willing to return to the status quo of the pre-2020 era. This could lead to advancements in other areas such as trade, commerce, and investment. He noted, "This agreement, coming just before the BRICS summit in Kazan, suggests that China is keen on improving relations with India and allowing progress in other sectors. However, rebuilding trust between the two nations will take time."When asked about the impact of this development on the BRICS grouping, Bambawale said the understanding between India and China would significantly strengthen the alliance, even if it doesn’t necessarily mean India is moving closer to China or Russia. He explained, "The cooling of tensions between India and China will strengthen the BRICS group. As India has always maintained, a peaceful border enables the rest of the relationship to move forward."According to ANI, the former envoy also remarked on the importance of restoring the status quo ante along the LAC, stating, "If this agreement restores the status quo as it existed before China's military actions in eastern Ladakh in 2020, it is a very welcome development. India should be commended for taking a firm stance, and this agreement vindicates India's position after 4.5 years of a tense standoff."His remarks followed a statement by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, who, in a special media briefing ahead of Prime Minister Modi's visit to Russia, confirmed that an agreement had been reached on the patrolling arrangements along the LAC. Misri had noted that the discussions between India and China, conducted at both diplomatic and military levels, had led to the resolution of several standoffs.As per ANI, Misri said, "As a result of discussions over the past few weeks, an agreement has been reached on patrolling arrangements along the LAC, which is leading to disengagement and an eventual resolution of the issues that emerged in 2020."Prime Minister Modi and President Xi are both set to attend the BRICS Summit in Kazan, where this agreement and the potential for a bilateral meeting could shape the next phase of India-China relations. (With Inputs from ANI)
22 October,2024 11:14 AM IST | New DelhiPresident Joe Biden is "deeply concerned" about the release of classified documents on Israel's preparation for a potential retaliatory attack on Iran, according to a White House spokesman. US officials confirmed on Saturday that the administration is investigating an unauthorised release of classified documents that assess Israel's plans to attack Iran. White House national security spokesman John Kirby said on Monday that the administration was still not certain if the classified information that became publicly disclosed was leaked or hacked. Kirby added that administration officials don't have any indication at this point of "additional documents like this finding their way into the public domain." He added the Pentagon is investing the matter. "We're deeply concerned and the president remains deeply concerned about any leakage of classified information into the public domain. That is not supposed to happen and it's unacceptable when it does," Kirby said. The documents are attributed to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency, and note that Israel was still moving military assets in place to conduct a military strike in response to Iran's blistering ballistic missile attack on Oct. 1. They were sharable within the "Five Eyes," an intelligence alliance comprised of the U.S., Great Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. Marked top secret, the documents first appeared online Friday on the Telegram messaging app and quickly spread among Telegram channels popular with Iranians. Analysts at the SITE Intelligence Group tracked the release of the documents to a Telegram channel popular with Iran-backed militias. The channel contained posts from an anonymous user with a long history of posting other supposedly top-secret content who said they had access to the documents. The user also wrote that they had sold some of the material and also provided it to the Iranian military. The Telegram channel identifies itself as being based in Tehran, Iran's capital. It previously published memes featuring Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and material in support of Tehran's self-described "Axis of Resistance," which includes Middle East militant groups armed by the Islamic Republic. One of the two documents resembled the style of other material from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency leaked by Jack Teixeira, an Air National Guardsman who pleaded guilty in March to leaking highly classified military documents about Russia's war on Ukraine and other national security secrets. The release comes at a pivotal time in the Middle East, as Israel considers its response to Iran's attack. The U.S. has urged Israel to take advantage of its elimination of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and press for a cease-fire in Gaza, and has likewise urgently cautioned Israel not to further expand military operations in the north in Lebanon and risk a wider regional war. However, Israel's leadership has repeatedly stressed it will not let Iran's missile attack go unanswered. The investigation into the leak may take some time as authorities look for digital or physical clues that could reveal how the information got out, and what implications it may have for information management and intelligence sharing with U.S. allies, according to Gavin Wilde, a senior fellow in the Technology and International Affairs Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "I imagine they'll eventually get to the bottom of it," said Wilde, who formerly worked on the National Security Council. "The intelligence community has gotten a lot better at digital chain of custody " who has seen a particular document, how many times it's been shared, and with whom." The nation's spy agencies have worked to bolster cybersecurity following recent leaks involving Teixeira or former NSA contractor Reality Winner. Accounting for human behavior, however, can be a harder challenge, according to Shawnee Delaney, a former officer at the Defense Intelligence Agency who is now CEO of the Vaillance Group, a private threat analysis firm. "Cybersecurity isn't just a technological issue," Delaney told The Associated Press. "It's a human one and humans are wholly unpredictable." Spokespeople for the Pentagon and the National Security Agency said officials were aware of the incident but had no further comment. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
22 October,2024 10:31 AM IST | Washington | AP | PTIA budget of Pakistani Rs 10 million has been allocated to re-construct a Hindu temple in the Punjab province of Pakistan, marking the first phase of restoration 64 years after it was rendered dysfunctional, a report said on Monday. The Evacuee Trust Property Board, overseeing minority worship places in Pakistan, has started the construction of the Baoli Sahib temple in Zafarwal town of Narowal, a city on the western bank of river Ravi in Punjab, after the place of worship was rendered dysfunctional in 1960. Currently, there is no Hindu temple in Narowal district. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
22 October,2024 08:58 AM IST | Lahore | AgenciesVietnam elected Luong Cuong, a military general, as its new president on Monday, the fourth official to fill the role in 18 months. Cuong, 67, was elected by the National Assembly to replace To Lam, who remained president even after he was formally appointed as the general secretary of the ruling Communist Party in August. Cuong, who has served in the Vietnamese army for over four decades, has been a Politburo member since 2021. His appointment took place after months of uncharacteristic tumult in Vietnam’s politics and the death of former party general secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, who dominated leadership since 2011. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
22 October,2024 08:57 AM IST | Hanoi | AgenciesAn Indigenous senator told King Charles III that Australia is not his land as the British royal visited Australia’s parliament on Monday. Sen. Lidia Thorpe was escorted out of a parliamentary reception for the royal couple after shouting that British colonisers have taken Indigenous land and bones. “You committed genocide against our people,” she shouted. “Give us what you stole from us… our bones, our skulls, our babies, our people. You destroyed our land. Give us a treaty. We want a treaty.” No treaty was ever struck between British colonisers and Australia’s Indigenous peoples. Charles spoke quietly with Albanese while security officials stopped Thorpe from approaching. “This is not your land. You are not my king,” Thorpe yelled as she was ushered from the hall. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
22 October,2024 08:57 AM IST | Canberra | AgenciesLebanese were surveying the damage on Monday after Israeli strikes hit nearly a dozen branches of a Hezbollah-run financial institution that Israel says is used to fund attacks but where many ordinary people keep their savings. The strikes targeted Al-Qard Al-Hassan branches in the southern neighbourhoods of Beirut, across southern Lebanon and in the Bekaa, where Hezbollah has a strong presence. One strike flattened a nine-story building with a branch inside it. Smoke was still rising from several locations on Monday. Israeli issued evacuation warnings ahead of the strikes. Israel apologises for killing soldiers The Israeli military apologised on Monday for a strike that killed three Lebanese soldiers in southern Lebanon the previous day. The Israeli military asserted that it is not battling the country’s military and its soldiers believed they were targeting a vehicle belonging to the Hezbollah militants. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
22 October,2024 08:56 AM IST | Beirut | AgenciesThe assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally in July was “preventable and should not have happened,” according to a bipartisan House panel that is investigating the shooting and what it calls the “stunning security failures” at the event. The report from a House task force, released on Monday, is just the latest look at the cascading and wide-ranging law enforcement failings that preceded the July 13 shooting at the Butler, Pennsylvania, rally where Trump was struck in the ear by gunfire. One rallygoer was killed in the shooting and two others were wounded. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
22 October,2024 08:56 AM IST | Washington | AgenciesUS Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Kyiv for an unannounced visit on Monday, hours after a Russian drone attack on the Ukrainian capital and as Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky pushes Western partners to keep providing military support for the war. Austin said on the X platform that his fourth visit shows “that the US, alongside the international community, continues to stand by Ukraine”. Ukraine is having difficulty holding back a ferocious Russian campaign along the eastern front that is gradually compelling Kyiv’s forces to give up a series of towns, villages and hamlets. Zelensky is urging Western allies to support his so-called victory plan’ to end the almost three-year war, which is Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II and has cost tens of thousands of lives on both sides, including many civilians. The Western response has been lukewarm, and Austin was expected to discuss the plan with Ukrainian officials in Kyiv. Zelensky said in a Sunday evening video address that his plan had won the backing of France, Lithuania, Nordic countries and “many other allies” in the European Union which he didn’t name. The key country, however, is the US, which is Ukraine’s biggest military supplier. Zelensky said he had received “very positive signals from the US,” but he stopped short of saying he had secured Washington’s endorsement for the plan. ‘Withdraw North Korean troops moved to Russia’ South Korea on Monday demanded the immediate pullout of North Korean troops allegedly deployed in Russia as it summoned the Russian ambassador to protest deepening military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow. South Korea’s spy agency said Friday it had confirmed that North Korea sent 1,500 special operation forces to Russia earlier this month to support Moscow’s war against Ukraine. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
22 October,2024 08:51 AM IST | Kyiv | AgenciesUnion Minister for Education Dharmendra Pradhan held a significant meeting with Singapore's Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, focusing on enhancing collaboration in school education, vocational training, and research, as reported by ANI. This discussion is part of Pradhan's broader agenda to strengthen educational ties between India and Singapore during his week-long tour.During their meeting, the two leaders explored ways to strengthen their partnership through three essential pillars: talent, resources, and market engagement. Pradhan underscored India's perception of Singapore as a trusted knowledge partner, particularly in fostering deep tech, startup innovation, and related ecosystems. He stated, "India looks at Singapore as a trusted knowledge partner in further invigorating deep tech, start-up and innovation ecosystems," according to ANI.In a post shared on X, Pradhan highlighted the meaningful conversations he had with PM Wong, emphasising the desire to elevate and expand bilateral cooperation. He wrote, "Called on PM of Singapore, HE Mr. @LawrenceWongST. Had meaningful conversations on elevating and expanding our bilateral cooperation in school education, vocational education and research," ANI reports.Additionally, the education minister mentioned that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and PM Wong had jointly unveiled a framework designed to transform India-Singapore relations into a robust partnership, covering critical and emerging areas. This strategic vision aims to promote mutual benefits and advance both nations' educational landscapes, as per ANI.In a separate engagement, Pradhan also met Singapore's Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan. Their discussions centred on further strengthening the India-Singapore Knowledge Partnership and enhancing bilateral cooperation in the education sector. Pradhan expressed his gratitude for Balakrishnan's friendship and collaborative spirit, noting their agreement to work closely to elevate their educational partnership.As part of his itinerary, Pradhan visited the National University of Singapore (NUS), where he engaged with President Professor Tan Eng Chye. They discussed potential research collaborations between NUS and top Indian higher education institutions, particularly in the fields of medical technology, startups, and digitalisation.Pradhan's visit is not only aimed at enhancing educational ties with Singapore but also forms a crucial part of his broader mission to strengthen cooperation with Australia. This initiative reflects India's commitment to fostering international partnerships that promote knowledge exchange and innovation in education, ultimately benefitting students and institutions across both nations, ANI reports. (With Inputs from ANI)
21 October,2024 03:58 PM IST | SingaporeADVERTISEMENT
