Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives in Chennai to a grand welcome
Mamallapuram: Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Chennai to a grand welcome on Friday, a visit that comes soon after the recent episode of turbulence in bilateral ties over India's decision to withdraw Jammu and Kashmir's special status and reorganise the state into two union territories.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E K Palaniswami, Governor Banwarilal Purohit and Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Assembly P Dhanapal welcomed the Chinese leader, who who has come to India on a nearly 24-hour visit for his second informal summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A brief cultural ceremony was organised to welcome the visiting leader. The venue of the summit, the ancient coastal town of Mamallapuram, about 50 km from the Tamil Nadu capital, is significant as it has strong trade and cultural links with China's Fujian province.
A large number of artistes lined up at the airport waving colourful flags, beating drums and dancing to traditional music to welcome the influential Chinese leader.
Xi is accompanied by Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi. Both are scheduled to hold separate talks with their Indian counterparts S Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. Officials on both sides said the focus of the Modi-Xi summit would be to insulate bilateral trade and development cooperation between the emerging economic powerhouse from differences on Kashmir and the vexed boundary issue.
Notwithstanding the strained ties, the state and the central government agencies have left no stone unturned to accord a warm and grand welcome to Xi. This temple town has been decorated with flowers and colourful lights and historical sites to be visited by the Chinese leader have been spruced up.
The two leaders will hold talks at the 7th century Shore Temple complex overlooking the Bay of Bengal in Mamallapuram in an informal setting in the evening without aides or any agenda with a focus on charting a new roadmap for overall expansion of ties.
Ahead of the two-day summit, Chinese Ambassador to India Sun Weidong told PTI that a new set of consensus including guiding principles on giving a new direction to the bilateral ties are expected from engagement. Xi's visit comes two days after he held talks with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan in Bejing.
A China-Pakistan joint statement issued after talks said China is paying close attention" to the situation in Kashmir and that the issue is a dispute left from history, and should be properly and peacefully resolved based on the UN Charter. The comments angered India as it asserted that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of the country and China is well aware of New Delhi's position.
Officials said there will be at least five occasions when Modi and Xi will have opportunities to engage on an one-on-one setting on Friday and Saturday.
This is the second edition of the informal summit between Modi and Xi. The first informal between the two leaders was held in picturesque Chinese lake city of Wuhan in April 2018, months after a 73-day face off between the armies of the two countries in Doklam tri-junction raised fears of a war between the two Asian giants.
#WATCH Tamil Nadu: Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomed by folk dancers and musicians, upon his arrival at Chennai airport pic.twitter.com/HB37PVAyh9
— ANI (@ANI) October 11, 2019
At 5 pm, Modi will take Xi to three iconic monuments of Mamallapuram -- Arjuna's Penance, Panch Rathas and the Shore temple. Then the two leaders will witness a cultural programme at the temple complex.
The two leaders will sit together in the lawns of the Shore temple and exchange views on charting a new roadmap of development and cooperation. The prime minister will host a private dinner for Xi at the Shore temple complex. The menu is likely to have a host of sumptuous traditional dishes, officials said.
On Saturday, the two leaders will hold one-on-one talks at the Fisherman's Cove resort. This will be followed up by delegation-level talks. After the talks, Modi will host a lunch for Xi, and the Chinese leader will leave for Chennai airport at 12.45 pm, they said.
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Karnataka cabinet approves formation of separate Dharwad Municipal Corporation
Bengaluru: The Karnataka Cabinet has approved a formation of separate Dharwad city corporation. Alongside, a 15% hike in fares across the four state transport corporations was also approved. The revised fares will come into effect on January 5.
Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H.K. Patil, addressing the media at the Committee Hall of Vidhana Soudha, provided details about the decision. He explained that the last fare revision for BMTC was a decade ago when diesel cost Rs 60.98 per litre. Since then, operational costs have risen significantly.
Diesel expenditure for the four corporations has increased from Rs 9.16 crore to Rs 13.21 crore, and personnel costs have grown from Rs 12.85 crore to Rs 18.36 crore. The daily operational burden now stands at Rs 9.56 crore. The fare hike is expected to generate an additional Rs 74.85 crore in monthly revenue without burdening the state exchequer, as Rs 5,015 crore has already been allocated for the Shakti Yojana this fiscal year.
Minister Patil announced that the Cabinet has decided to bifurcate the Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation into two independent municipal bodies.
The Cabinet approved the construction of a fishing port in Hejamady village, Udupi, with a revised estimate of Rs 209.13 crore. Additionally, Rs 84.57 crore has been sanctioned for the modernization and dredging of fishing ports.
In a move to strengthen cow shelters, Rs 10.50 crore has been allocated for projects in 14 districts. The Cabinet also approved constructing a building for Visvesvaraya Technical University in Chikkaballapur district at Rs 149.75 crore.
The Cabinet sanctioned a state-of-the-art bus stand in Bannimantap, Mysuru, at a cost of Rs 120 crore. Spread over 14 acres, the facility will include a divisional office, bus units, and commercial shops.
Approval was also granted to utilize Rs 137.85 crore, provided by the Union Finance Ministry under the Special Capital Assistance Scheme, for capital expenditure.
The Kalyana Karnataka Regional Development Board will use Rs 56.92 crore from its SCP/TSP scheme to supply bed sheets, mosquito nets, and clothing to government residential schools and hostels.
The Cabinet approved Rs 100 crore to construct new buildings for 200 veterinary institutions currently housed in rented or dilapidated structures, using NABARD assistance.
In Davangere, a site was allotted to the Karnataka Working Journalists' Association for constructing a civic facility. A plot in Avaragere village was also leased for 30 years at a concessional rate to Nayaka Vidyarthi Nilaya.
