UZHHOROD: US first lady Jill Biden made an unannounced visit to western Ukraine on Sunday, holding a surprise Mother’s Day meeting with the nation’s first lady, Olena Zelenskyy, as Russia presses its punishing war in the eastern regions.

“I wanted to come on Mother’s Day,” Biden told Zelenskyy. “I thought it was important to show the Ukrainian people that this war has to stop and this war has been brutal and that the people of the United States stand with the people of Ukraine.”

The first lady travelled by vehicle to the town of Uzhhorod, about a 10-minute drive from a Slovakian village that borders Ukraine.

The two came together in a small classroom, sitting across a table from one another and talking before reporters before they met in private.

Zelenskyy and her children have been at an undisclosed location for their safety.

Zelenskyy thanked Biden for her “courageous act” and said, “We understand what it takes for the US first lady to come here during a war when military actions are taking place every day, where the air sirens are happening every day — even today.”

The school where they met has been turned into transitional housing for Ukrainian migrants from elsewhere in the country.

The visit allowed Biden to conduct the kind of personal diplomacy that her husband would like to be doing himself.

President Joe Biden said during his visit to Poland in March that he was disappointed he could not visit Ukraine to see conditions “firsthand” but that he was not allowed, likely due to security reasons.

The White House said as recently as last week that the president “would love to visit” but there were no plans for him to do so at this time.

The meeting came about after the two first ladies exchanged correspondence in recent weeks, according to US officials who declined to provide further details because they were not authorized to discuss the ladies’ private communications.

As she arrived at the school, Biden, who was wearing a Mother’s Day corsage that was a gift from her husband, embraced Zelenskyy and presented her with a bouquet.

After their private meeting, the two joined a group of children who live at the school in making tissue-paper bears to give as Mother’s Day gifts.

Jill Biden’s visit follows recent stops in the war-torn country by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other members of Congress, as well as a joint trip by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv. Her visit was limited to western Ukraine; Russia is concentrating its military power in eastern Ukraine, and she was not in harm’s way.

Earlier, in the Slovakian border village of Vysne Nemecke, she toured its border processing facility, surveying operations set up by the United Nations and other relief organizations to assist Ukrainians seeking refuge.

Biden attended a religious service in a tent set up as a chapel, where a priest intoned, “We pray for the people of Ukraine.”

Before that, in Kosice, Biden met and offered support to Ukrainian mothers in Slovakia who have been displaced by Russia’s war and assuring them that the “hearts of the American people” are behind them.

At a bus station in the city that is now a 24-hour refugee processing center, Biden found herself in an extended conversation with a Ukrainian woman who said she struggles to explain the war to her three children because she cannot understand it herself.

“I cannot explain because I don’t know myself and I’m a teacher,” Victorie Kutocha, who had her arms around her 7-year-old daughter, Yulie, told Biden.

At one point, Kutocha asked, “Why?” seeming to seek an explanation for Russia’s decision to invade Ukraine on Feb 24. “It’s so hard to understand,” the first lady replied.

The 24-hour facility is one of six refugee centers in Slovakia, providing an average of 300 to 350 people daily with food, showers, clothing, emergency on-site accommodations and other services, according to information provided by the White House.

Biden also dropped in at a Slovakian public school that has taken in displaced students. Slovakian and Ukrainian moms were brought together at the school for a Mother’s Day event while their children made crafts to give them as gifts.

Biden went from table to table meeting the mothers and kids. She told some of the women that she wanted to come and “say the hearts of the American people are with the mothers of Ukraine.”

“I just wanted to come and show you our support,” she said before departing for Vysne Nemecke.

In recent weeks border crossings are averaging less than 2,000 per day, down from over 10,000 per day immediately after Russia’s invasion on Feb.24, and a large portion of that flow is daily cross border traffic.

Biden is on a four-day visit to Eastern Europe to highlight US support for Ukrainian refugees and for the allied countries such as Romania and Slovakia that are providing a safe haven for them. She spent Friday and Saturday in Romania, visiting with US troops and meeting with Ukrainian refugee mothers and children.

With her trip, the American first lady followed the path of prior sitting first ladies who also travelled to war or conflict zones.

Eleanor Roosevelt visited servicemen abroad during World War II to help boost troop morale.

Pat Nixon joined President Richard Nixon on his 1969 trip to South Vietnam, becoming the first first lady to visit a combat zone, according to the National First Ladies’ Library. She flew 18 miles from Saigon in an open helicopter, accompanied by US Secret Service agents.

Hillary Clinton visited a combat zone, stopping in Bosnia in 1996. Four years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and during the US-led war in Afghanistan, Laura Bush went to Kabul in 2005 and Melania Trump accompanied President Donald Trump to Iraq in December 2018.

BENGALURU : The Congress party’s digital membership has turned into a morale booster for the grand old party in Karnataka as over 78 lakh people have enrolled which is 30 per cent of the 2.6 crore members across the country for the party and almost 15 per cent of the total electorates, about 5.2 crore in the state.

Through the process, the party has touched almost all the 58,186 booths in 224 Assembly constituencies across the State and over 2.2 lakh party workers were reportedly involved in it with great enthusiasm. The party, which is struggling to revive, with senior leader Rahul Gandhi touring Telangana for a couple of days, is likely to use the data to bolster its base, besides strengthening its cadre on the lines of the BJP.

It is also likely to share the data with its election strategists, in the wake of 2024 LS polls, and appointed Sunil Kanugol, who joined AICC unconditionally in March first week, as Karnataka in charge for 2023 assembly polls.

The data collected by visiting doorsteps of the members have been broken up into demographic components like caste, age, gender which will help analyse it in the long run and target the groups with information.

There are about 56 per cent youths aged below 40 and 40 per cent women out of 78 lakh who have enrolled digitally, sources said. “We will also set up the 12-member committees in each booth and create the WhatsApp groups to share all the area specific information and also about the programmes of the Congress party including the manifesto.

The data will help the party strengthen its cadre,” remarked Raghunandan Ramanna, chief co-ordinator for the digital membership. “Karnataka is first in the digital membership followed by Telangana which has over 40 lakh. I do not know how authentic the digital membership of other parties are including the BJP’s,” he claimed.

AHMEDABAD:  Despite tall claims of some Gujarat BJP leaders that the party has no rival in the 
upcoming Assembly polls, the ruling party is taking all precautions to avoid a repeat of 2017 when it had to content with a simple majority.

In the 182-member Gujarat Assembly, the party won 99 seats in 2017 against the 115 seats it had bagged in 2012. On the contrary, the opposition Congress improved its tally to 77 from the previous 61.  The saffron party is expected to focus vigorously on the 16 seats which it had won narrowly.

A senior BJP leader, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said: “We have drawn up an action plan to strengthen booths in the constituencies where the winning margin was less than 3,000 votes in 2017. Also, there is a parallel plan to bring strong Congress leaders into the party in these constituencies.”

Stating that booth management was the key to BJP’s victory, the party leader said they would seek the cooperation of social workers and religious leaders in the low-margin booths.

“A few days ago, party general secretary BL Santosh had a meeting with senior party leaders, in which RSS office-bearers were also present. A special strategy has been drawn up to retain the seats which were won by us with a narrow margin, and to win the seats which were bagged by Congress with a narrow margin,” the party leader said.

To retain its weaker seats, the saffron party has started constituency-wise surveys to assess the performance of the sitting MLAs, sentiments of voters and the problems faced by them. After the survey, which is being prepared by a private agency, a report will be handed over to the leadership.

Lucknow: BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh on Thursday opposed Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray’s visit to Ayodhya on June 5 and warned that he will not be allowed to enter the city till he tendered a public apology for humiliating north Indians.

Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, MP from Kaiserganj Lok Sabha constituency and one of the leaders of the Ram Mandir movement, in a tweet said, Will not allow Raj Thackeray, who humiliates north Indians, enter the Ayodhya border .

Before coming to Ayodhya, Raj Thackeray should apologise to all North Indians with folded hands, he said.

In a series of tweets, the MP also requested Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath not to meet Thackeray till he apologised to the North Indians.

I request Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ji not to meet Raj Thackeray until he publicly apologises to the North Indians, he said.

The MP also said that the Thackeray family had no contribution in the temple movement.

“From the movement for Ram temple to its construction only Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, and the common man have had a role. The Thackeray family has no role in it,” he said.

Brij Bhushan was also an accused in the controversial Babri Mosque case, which was felled by kar sevaks in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.

On April 17, Thackeray in Pune had announced he would visit Ayodhya on June 5 to seek blessings of Lord Ram.

“On June 5, I will go to Ayodhya along with other MNS workers to have darshan of Lord Ram. I appeal to other people also to come to Ayodhya,” Thackeray had said in a press conference.

I have not gone out for a long time , was his reply when asked about the purpose of his visit.

Speaking to the media later at the event, Thackeray questioned RSS’ contribution too in the temple movement.

“How many kar sevaks’ lost their lives for this? It is because of the Supreme Court and the central government that the Ram temple is being established there. So I want to go there in the early stages (of construction). Later, once the temple is ready, everyone will visit it again,” he said.

Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said Union Home Minister Amit Shah is spreading lies about the situation in West Bengal while turning a blind eye to the communal violence and attacks on women in BJP-ruled states.

The Centre is dispatching teams of NHRC and others to West Bengal following various incidents, but not to violence-affected Jahangirpuri in Delhi and UP where women are allegedly being attacked, Banerjee claimed.

“Mr Amit Shah, are you the home minister of West Bengal, or the home minister of the entire country? From your acts, it seems you are solely obsessed with West Bengal,” she said.

Mr Shah only wants to cause divorce between Bengali and Hindi speaking communities, between Hindus and Muslims. Please don’t play with fire” she added.

Shah is currently on a visit to West Bengal, reports said. 

Stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra

New Delhi: The apex child rights body NCPCR has sought action against comedian Kunal Kamra for tweeting a “doctored” video of a boy singing a patriotic song in front of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The NCPCR also sought immediate removal of the video.

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), in a letter to Twitter’s grievance officer, said a complaint was received by it regarding Kamra tweeting the “doctored” video of a minor singing a patriotic song to further his own political agendas.

“The Commission has taken cognizance of the complaint and is of the view that using minors for propagating political ideologies is a violation of the provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 and the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. Further, the Commission is apprehensive that using children for such promotional purposes is harmful and detrimental to their mental well-being,” it said.

Therefore, the Commission said, the video should be taken off the platform immediately and appropriate action should be taken against the official account of Kamra for posting such content.

Kamra had shared the purported video of Modi’s interaction in Germany with the child but he replaced the song that the boy sang — ‘Hey Janmabhoomi Bharat’ — with “Mehengayi daayan khaaye jaat hain”.

The father of the boy lashed out at Kamra, saying “keep the poor boy out of your filthy politics and try to work on your poor jokes.”

Reacting, Kamra said the video is in the public domain posted by a news organisation.

“The joke is not on your son, while you enjoy your son sing for his motherland to the most popular son, there are songs that he should listen to from people of his country also,” Kamra tweeted.

Kamra, in another tweet, said the NCPCR has sought action against him for posting a “meme”.

Priyanka Mohite

Mumbai: Priyanka Mohite from Satara in western Maharashtra has become the first Indian woman to scale five peaks above 8,000 metre after she climbed Mount Kanchenjunga on Thursday.

Priyanka (30), the recipient of Tenzing Norgay Adventure Award 2020, successfully completed her expedition to Mount Kanchenjunga (8,586 m), the third highest mountain on the planet, at 4.52 pm, her brother Akash Mohite told PTI.

In April 2021, she had scaled Mt Annapurna (8,091 m), the 10th highest mountain peak in the world and had become the first Indian woman climber to achieve the feat.

Priyanka has also climbed the world’s highest peak Mount Everest (8,849 m) in 2013, Mount Lhotse (8,516 m) in 2018, Mount Makalu (8,485 m) and Mount Kilimanjaro (5,895 m) in 2016.

Passionate about mountaineering since childhood, Priyanka started to scale mountains in the Sahyadri range of Maharashtra as a teenager and in 2012 scaled Bandarpunch, a mountain massif of the Garhwal division of the Himalayas, in Uttarakhand.

In 2015 Priyanka scaled Mt. Menthosa which at 6443 metres is the second-highest peak in the Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh.

The Bengaluru-based climber is also the recipient of the Maharashtra Government’s Shiv Chhatrapati State award for adventure sports for 2017-2018.

Bengaluru: The Karnataka government on Thursday approved the project for construction of Anubhava Mantapa at a cost of Rs 532 crore.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the Basavakalyan Development Board chaired by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.

“The state government has given its approval for construction of Anubhava Mantapa, which has been taken up by Basavakalyan Development Board, at a cost of Rs 532 cr. The Chief Minister instructed for completion of the works within three years,” the government said in an official release.

Anubhava Mantapa is a revolutionary forum formed by 12th century social reformer Basaveshwara. He had tried to eradicate social inequities and discriminations through Anubhava Mantapa.

The Anubhava Mantapa would be built in an apt form to reflect the social revolution brought about by Basaveshwara, the statement said adding, the Mantapa would have facilities to exhibit short films and pictures on the life and ideals of the social reformer and other visionary social thinkers of that era who propagated their thoughts through Vachana Sahitya’ (poetic saying).

Basavakalyan is an important religious site in Bidar district of northern Karnataka bordering Maharashtra, for the dominant Lingayat community, to which Chief Minister Bommai and his predecessor B S Yediyurappa belong.

The move comes a year ahead of the assembly elections in Karnataka.