India donates 200 cows for Rwandan economic development project
New Delhi, July 24 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday visited a village in Rwanda and donated 200 cows for an economic development project of the East African nation.
"Being part of a transformative project towards economic development of Rwanda!"External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted.
"PM @narendramodi donates 200 cows under #Girinka - One Cow Per Poor Family Programme at Rweru village," Kumar stated. "Girinka is an ambitious project that provides both nutritional and financial security to the poor."
Girinka is a social protection scheme of the Rwandan government personally overseen by President Paul Kagame.
The poorest families are gifted dairy cows by the government and the first female calf born of the cow is gifted to the neighbour, thus promoting brotherhood and solidarity in the community.
Earlier in the day, Modi visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial that honours the memory of over one million Tutsis killed by the then Hutu majority government in 1994.
Modi reached Rwanda on Monday on the first leg of his five-day, three-nation tour of Africa that will also take him to Uganda and South Africa.
Following delegation-level talks with Rwandan President Paul Kagame, India and Rwanda signed eight agreements, including in the areas of defence, agriculture and dairy production, trade and leather and allied sectors.
Modi also announced that India will open a new High Commission in Rwanda in what can be seen as yet another manifestation of India's increasing engagements with Africa.
India's current High Commissioner to Rwanda has residence in Uganda. Modi's visit is the first ever Prime Ministerial visit from India to Rwanda.
This is also his second visit to mainland Africa after he visited Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya in 2016.
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Taj Mahal top earning ASI monument through ticket sales from FY19-20 to FY23-24: Govt
New Delhi, Apr 3 (PTI): The iconic Taj Mahal in Agra earned the "highest income" through the sale of tickets among the ASI-protected monuments from FY19-20 to FY23-24, according to data shared by the government.
Union Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat shared the data in a written response to a query in Rajya Sabha.
He was asked the amount that the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has received from selling entry tickets to various monuments in the last five years, year-wise and monument-wise; and the monuments that have received the highest income through selling entry tickets in the last five years.
In his response, the minister shared the data in a tabular form for cycles of financial years ranging from FY19-20 to FY23-24.
According to the data, Taj Mahal earned the top slot for all five years.
The Mughal-era architectural wonder was commissioned by Emperor Shah Jehan in the 17th century and it is considered one of the most beautiful buildings in the world.
In FY19-20, the Agra Fort in Agra and Qutub Minar in Delhi were in the second and third positions.
In FY20-21, the Group of Monuments Mamallapuram in Tamil Nadu and Sun Temple, Konark were in the second and third positions. In FY23-24, Qutub Minar and Red Fort of Delhi were in the second and third positions.
