Archives for June 2023

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka is not in the position to hold a snap presidential election this year because of the ongoing economic crisis and the government’s focus is on debt restructuring, Cabinet Spokesman Bandula Gunawardena said on Tuesday.

“No election would be possible this year as the state finances have not improved,” Gunawardena said while responding to speculation that the government might opt to hold a snap presidential election.

He said the government’s focus, for now, is centred on successfully ending the process of debt restructuring.Advertisementhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/world/2023/jun/14/sri-lanka-cant-afford-to-hold-snap-presidential-election-this-year-due-to-economic-crisis-2584957.html

Former prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was elected as the President of Sri Lanka by the Parliament to serve the remainder of ex-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s term, which was supposed to end in November 2024.

The IMF extended a nearly USD 3 billion bailout facility to debt-ridden Sri Lanka to help stabilise the country’s economy after it was jolted by a devastating economic crisis last year.

“Without restructuring our debt it will not be possible to obtain any more foreign loans,” Gunawardena, also the Minister of Transport and Highways and Minister of Mass Media, said, citing the example of 53 million dollars needed for improving the roads infrastructure.

“Until we pay back the existing loans we will not be able to borrow,” he stressed.

Sri Lanka has a tight September deadline from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to conclude its outstanding debt. The nearly USD 3 billion bailout from the IMF that was approved on March 20 was delayed due to the need to restructure debt.

President Wickremesinghe, who is also the finance minister, is also under mounting criticism for holding back the local council election claiming the treasury was short of funds to allocate money for election expenditure.

The opposition who blamed Wickremesinghe for postponing elections due to fear of losing has petitioned the highest court for intervention in the matter.

The election for 340 local councils was originally fixed for March 9. It has since been postponed indefinitely.

Last year, Sri Lanka plunged into its worst economic crisis since its independence in 1948 due to plummeting foreign exchange reserves that caused severe shortages of essential items and triggered massive public protests.

In April 2022, the island nation declared its international debt default due to the forex crisis.

CHENNAI: A medical bulletin from the Omandurar hospital said that Minister for Electricity, Prohibition and Excise duty Senthil Balaji (47) underwent a coronary angiogram at 10.40 am on Wednesday. It revealed triple vessel disease, for which CABG-Bypass Surgery is advised at the earliest, it added. 

The minister complained of chest pain while being taken for investigation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The medical report will also be sent to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) by the ED to ask their opinion, said sources. 

The minister was arrested in connection with the cash for jobs scam when he was the transport minister during AIADMK regime in 2011-15. CM MK Stalin visited Senthil Balaji at the hospital. Ministers PK Sekar Babu, M Subramanian and Udhayanidhi Stalin are still in the hospital.

According to the doctors, Senthil Balaji complained of chest pain and discomfort and there were variations in his ECG. 

When Senthil Balaji was taken in a car probably the one used by the ED officials,   initially, it was believed that he was being taken to the ED office in Nungambakkam for further interrogation.  But within a few seconds, the situation changed as Balaji was seen screaming in pain holding his chest.  He was seen in the very same dress he wore when he returned to his home on Tuesday morning after hearing the news about ED officials were searching his house.

NEW DELHI: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge slammed the late-night arrest of Tamil Nadu Electricity Minister Senthil Balaji by the (ED) saying that it is “nothing but political harassment and vendetta” by the central government.

“Congress President Shri condemns the late-night arrest of Tamil Nadu Electricity Minister Shri V. Senthil Balaji by the ED. This is nothing but political harassment and vendetta by the Modi govt. against those opposed to it. None of us in the Opposition will be intimidated by such brazen moves,” Kharge said in a press statement released by the Congress.

Meanwhile, Congress MP Karti Chidambaram pointed out that these raids by the central agencies are only for ‘optics’ and it does not help in collating ‘evidence’.

“All these raids on functionaries of political parties opposed to the @BJP4India are only for optics & voyeuristic pleasure of a few, it in no way aids in collating “evidence” in the “alleged” case. Events of 2016 (ADMK)raids in 2023 in the Secratariat Office, seriously

Tamil Nadu Minister V Senthil Blaji broke down while being taken into custody by the ED officials for questioning in connection to an alleged money laundering case in the early hours of Wednesday. This was after his residence was raided by the ED on Tuesday.

The ED brought Balaji to Omandurar government hospital in Chennai for medical examination amid tight security when the high drama was witnessed outside the hospital. Balaji could be seen crying in pain while lying in the car as his supporters gathered there to protest against the ED action. 

SRINAGAR:  Ahead of the start of the annual Amarnath Yatra, the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) has imposed a ban on serving halwa poori, samosas, jalebi, gulab jamun, pizza, dosa, fried roti and “other junk and unhealthy food” to yatris during the two-month long pilgrimage to the cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas.

For the first time, SASB has released a food menu for the yatris performing the pilgrimage to the cave shrine in the south Kashmir Himalayas. The 62-day yatra begins on July 1 from both the traditional Pahalgam route in south Kashmir and the shortest Baltal track in central Kashmir. The yatra will culminate on Raksha Bandhan on August 31.

As per the food menu, heavy pulav, fried rice, poori, bathura, pizza, burger, stuffed parantha, dosa and fried roti, bread with butter, cream-based foods, pickle, chutney, fried papad, chowmein and all other fried/fast food would not be served to the yatris by the community kitchens (langars) set up by the SASB this year.

The SASB has set up about 120 langars for pilgrims along the twin yatra routes of Pahalgam and Baltal. The board has also banned the serving of cold drinks, halwa, jalebi, gulab jamun, laddu khoya burfi, rasgulla and all such items, crunchy snacks (high in fat and salts) chips, matthi, namkeen mixture, pakora, samosa, fried dry fruits and all other deep fried items to the yatris during the yatra.

Besides, there is also a ban on serving non-vegetarian food, alcohol, tobacco, gutka, pan masala, cigarettes, and other intoxicants to the yatris. An SASB official said this is not the first time that the ban has been imposed on serving junk and unhealthy food. This kind of advisory, he said, is being issued every year for pilgrims intending to perform the yatra.

MUMBAI: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena on Tuesday placed a full-page advertisement in many newspapers titled ‘Modi for India, Shinde for Maharashtra’, quoting a survey where Shinde is shown as more preferred for the top post than BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis.

The advertisement carries Sena’s bow-and-arrow symbol and images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and CM Shinde. It has no image or photo of Shiv Sena founder late Balasaheb Thackeray, a noticeable departure going by its earlier publicity materials.

“For the chief minister’s position, 26. 1 per cent of the people in Maharashtra desire Eknath Shinde and 23. 2 per cent of the people wish to see Devendra Fadnavis as the next chief minister,” reads the advertisement.

Thus, it is undeniable proof that 49.3 per cent of the people in Maharashtra wish to see a strong alliance between BJP and Shiv Sena for their state’s leadership, it said.

The figures and claims in the advertisement have been attributed to a Zee TV-Matrize survey.

“According to the election surveys, 30.2 per cent of citizens of Maharashtra prefer Bharatiya Janata Party, while 16.2 per cent of citizens prefer the Shiv Sena (led by Eknath Shinde). These numbers show that a total of 46.4 per cent of people in Maharashtra trust the BJP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena alliance for the development of the state,” the advertisement said.

Responding to the advertisement, Sanjay Raut of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) said, “It was Balasaheb’s Shiv Sena earlier, but the advertisement has cleared the air. It has now become Modi-Shah’s Shiv Sena. Where is the image or photo of the late Balasaheb Thackeray in the advertisement?” 

State BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule, however, tried to downplay the advertisement.

“It is always the election result that decides which party or leader is more acceptable to the voters. Shinde as a cabinet minister was popular earlier and now his acceptance has increased as the chief minister. People of the state have lots of expectations from Fadnavis, Shinde and Modi.”

As a state-level leader, the people of Maharashtra have given preference to Fadnavis twice, he said.

“There is no comparison between the Shiv Sena and BJP about who is a bigger or smaller party,” added Bawankule.

Chief spokesperson of the Maharashtra unit of Congress Atul Londhe called it a “false” survey that he said Shinde has used to promote himself.

“Once the election is over, Maha Vikas Aghadi will win more than 42 Lok Sabha seats (in Maharashtra) and 200 seats in the assembly for sure. A new story would be written about him (Shinde) as ‘once upon a time, there was Shinde’,” he said.

Maharashtra has 48 Lok Sabha seats and 288 Assembly constituencies.

Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) partners — Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress and NCP — have asserted that they will fight the polls with maximum coordination.

Bharat Gogawale, chief whip of the Shinde-led Sena said, “We never manage anyone to get a favourable survey. He (Shinde) is even accessible to people and visits all parts of the state. We have not asked any media house to conduct a survey for us.” 

WASHINGTON: The Biden family is planning to host an intimate dinner for Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 21, a day before the much-in-demand State Dinner at the White House, a senior administration official has said.

Modi has been invited by President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden for an official state visit.

“We will have a very substantial arrival ceremony on the White House lawn. The night before, I expect the Prime Minister and President Biden and the Biden family to have some moments of intimacy where they really have a chance to sit down together,” the official told PTI.

The venue of the intimate dinner has not been disclosed.

According to the White House schedule released last week, Biden is scheduled to travel to California from June 19 to 21.

The Prime Minister is expected to arrive in Washington DC from New York on June 21 after attending the International Yoga Day celebrations at the United Nations headquarters.

The day of hectic activities on June 22 would conclude with a State Dinner, for which a tent is likely to be pitched on the South Lawn of the White House to accommodate the large number of guests who have been invited for it.

The guest list is normally released on the evening of the state dinner. The attendees are expected to be the stakeholders of this relationship from across the United States and also from India.

“I think the State Dinner will be really a celebration of the US-India relations with supporters and advocates coming from India, but also around the United States. We have a saying…it’s a very hot ticket. Hardly a day goes by when I haven’t received requests from people to get the last tickets to the state dinner. I believe it will be a wonderful celebration,” said the official.

According to the official, who spoke on conditions of anonymity, on June 23, there will be a lunch at the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department hosted by Vice President Kamala Harris and the Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

“There will be a number of events while the Prime Minister is here celebrating various elements in the relationship, technology, education, and training. Basically, the Prime Minister has asked for an extremely robust schedule, and that’s what we’ve done. We have essentially given him almost a full slate of events that, in many respects, makes clear why we think the US-India relationship is so important,” said the official.

Responding to a question, the senior administration official said the details of the dinner and other activities would be released by the White House in the coming days.

“But I will tell you, it’s very special. It has been curated in a way to appeal to the prime minister. It will be a nice and appropriate gesture of a close partnership between the two leaders,” said the official.

While the number of guests invited for the State Dinner remains a closely guarded secret, the official confirmed that it is much larger than the 120 that can be accommodated in the State Dining Room of the White House, the traditional venue of the State Dinner.

“Yes (pitching the tent on the South Lawns of the White House). It will be extraordinarily glittery, wonderful, and with great entertainment. And I think it will be a wonderful celebration. We’ll have many dimensions to it. And everyone is quite excited,” said the official.

Meanwhile, there is great enthusiasm among Indian-Americans about Modi’s visit. Hundreds of people from across the country are preparing to travel to Washington DC next week to participate in various events related to the visit. This has resulted in a sudden jump in the prices of hotel rooms and flight tickets.

While no one knows the exact number, several thousands of Indian-Americans are planning to be part of the historic welcome ceremony at the White House on the morning of June 22.

Several community organisations like the Federation of Indian Associations have organised special bus services that would bring community members from the New York and New Jersey areas.

Buses would leave several cities in New York and New Jersey early on June 22 so that they could be at the White House in time for the morning welcome ceremony.

On June 21, hundreds of Indian-Americans have planned to gather at Lafayette Square Park in front of the White House to welcome Modi with a cultural extravaganza that would be reflective of India’s cultural diversity.

And on June 23, the community will organise a dinner reception for the Prime Minister at the Ronald Reagan Building.

In addition, a large number of Indian-Americans are planning to have a glimpse of their popular leaders when he arrives at the hotel in Washington DC and at the airport.