After his much-applauded address to the United States Congress, House Speaker Paul Ryan hosts a banquet for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

'More Congressional honours. @SpeakerRyan hosts banquet lunch for PM @narendramodi on Capitol Hill,' tweets MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup.

"Terrorism remains the biggest threat. From West of India's border to Africa, it may go by different names, LeT,Taliban or ISIS," PM Modi said.

"My dream is to economically empower our billion citizens through many social and economic transformations," PM Modi says.

Taking a dig at the Congress and the Opposition at large, the prime minister said, "You are well-known for your bipartisanship.I also witnessed similar spirit in Indian Parliament, especially in Upper House."

PM Modi addresses US Congress, says this temple of democracy has encouraged & empowered other democracies the world over.

PM Modi meet up with member of the Congressional Escort Committee ahead of his speech before the US Congress.

'One of my most cherished memories is a statue of Gandhi gifted by a student named Modi decades ago,' Senator Harry Reid tweeted.

Acclaimed filmmaker Shyam Benegal has thrown his weight behind the Shahid Kapoor starrer Udta Punjab. 

Asserting that the 2017 Punjab elections are going to fought on the grounds of the rampant drug abuse in the state, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of having Censor Board chief Pahlaj Nihalani in his pocket and using him as a pawn to further his chances in the polls next year by playing politics over the upcoming controversial flick, 'Udta Punjab'.


"It is our humble request to Modi-ji, Jaitley-ji and Badal-ji that after letting Punjab suffer for 10 years under the influence of drugs, they should stop playing politics with 'Udta Punjab'.

Nihalani is launching a tirade of charges on an innocent producer without any proof and he wants him to apologise," AAP leader Ashish Khetan said.

Asserting that the NDA regime and the Parkash Singh Badal government would face maximum loss if the 'reality' in Punjab came to light, Khetan further said that the Prime Minister was using the Censor Board chief as a pawn and was attacking an 'innocent' film instead of going after the real problem.


"Nihalani has made it clear that he is not behind the controversy. It is the Modi and the Badal governments and that he is simply a pawn in all this. Harsimrat Kaur, the sister of Majithia, is in Modi-ji's Cabinet and Majithia, whose name has come up in several drug scams, is in Badal's Cabinet. So, you can see that they are all in the same boat here. Even Jaitley-ji has defended Majithia," Khetan said.

Delhi Police is likely to seek full life term for five convicts for gang-raping a 52-year-old Danish woman at knife point near the New Delhi railway station two years ago, in a city court tomorrow.

Additional Sessions Judge Ramesh Kumar II, who on June 6 had convicted the five men, is scheduled to hear tomorrow the arguments on the quantum of sentence to be awarded to the convicts. Under the new law, the offence of gang rape entails a minimum jail term of 20 years and a maximum of imprisonment till remainder of natural life.

Shirish Kunder @ShirishKunder I appeal to everyone to think calmly. If Pahlaj Nihalani is made to resign from Censor Board, he'll be made RBI Governor. That'll be worse.

Film makers can approach tribunal and courts, only problem is censoring comes near the release of a film: Amitabh Bachchan 

Hillary Clinton today made history as she became the first woman to clinch the presidential nomination of a major American political party by winning crucial California and three other state primaries but her Democratic rival Bernie Sanders remained defiant.

"Thanks to you, we've reached a milestone, the first time in our nation's history that a woman will be a major party's nominee," Clinton, 68, told her supporters at her campaign headquarters in Brooklyn, New York. President Barack Obama congratulated Clinton for securing the 2,383 delegates necessary to clinch the Democratic party's presidential nomination.

However, Obama did not formally endorse Clinton -- his former Secretary of State. "Her historic campaign inspired millions and is an extension of her lifelong fight for middle-class families and children," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said. Obama called both Clinton and Sanders to applaud them for "running inspiring campaigns that energised Democrats."

The President will meet Sanders at the White House tomorrow at the Vermont senator's request, Earnest said in a statement.

Amitabh Bachchan lends a tenuous voice to the Udta Punjab controversy saying while he was not aware of the details of the issue, creativity should not be killed.

Censor Board chief Pahlaj Nihalani says he will not apologise to Udta Punjab co-producer Anurag Kashyap that he was being funded by the Aam Aadmi Party. "I said what I heard," the censor board chief said after the film industry united in support of the Udta Punjab team and said Nihalani owes Kashyap an apology.

Speaking to NDTV, Nihalani also said he was proud to be called the PM's chamcha. "Nothing wrong with it. If I will not be the chamcha of my PM then will I be the chamcha of Italy's PM?" he asked.


At the joint press conference with other film industry heavyweights,  Kashyap denied accepting funds from AAP and said he felt embarassed to defend himself over Pahlaj Nihalani's allegations. "Why do we have to certify our honesty," he asked and said Nihalani should prove he had taken money.


In November 2015, Nihalani released a song on YouTube about the initiatives taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his tenure. Titled, Mera Desh hai Mahaan, Mera Desh hai Jawaan', the cringe-worthy effort earned him censure from the BJP.

The BJP has asked the Mehbooba Mufti government to revise the 'soft policy' towards separatists as it was affecting business and tourism in Kashmir, on Wednesday. The party demanded that security given to separatists be withdrawn and they be put behind bars.The party also demanded that concrete steps be taken to prevent the youths from being lured by terrorist groups.


State BJP spokesman Virender Gupta said that despite their anti-India activities, the separatists were enjoying special privileges, including security cover provided by the state government.


"The government should revise its policy towards the separatists. The government should withdraw the security given to separatists and put them behind bars under the Public Safety Act (PSA) for indulging in anti-social andanti-national activities,' he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday added to what could well become his own equivalent of Bushisms - the errors and malapropisms made by American President George W Bush in his speeches. And, again it was with history that he chose to take liberty.


"Konark ke Sun Temple mei 2000 saal pehle uss samay ke kalakaro ne aaj ki modern fashionable girl, jo skirt pehenti hai, aur haath mei purse rakhti hai, unki murtiyan bhi banayi hui hai. Matlab us samay bhi ye cheeze maujood hongi. (In Konark Sun Temple, over 2000 years ago, artists made sculptures akin to the modern fashionable girl who wears skirts and holds a purse in her hand. This means such things were there in those times also," the Prime Minister said while addressing a gathering in Washington.


According to the Archaeological Survey of India, the Sun Temple at Konark, Odisha, was built in the 13th century and the temple is famous for its erotic sculptures. This is not the first time that Modi has said this about Konark. He said this in 2004 at the inauguration of a new campus of the National Institute of Fashion Technology in Gandhinagar. Read more

Bollywood heavyweights lend their support to Udta Punjab in a joint-press conference with the makers Anurag Kashyap and Abhishek Chaubey.

At the press conference are filmmakers Zoya Akhtar, Sudhir Mishra, Mahesh Bhatt, Mukesh Bhatt, Satish Kaushik, Ekta Kapoor, Imtiaz Ali, Rahul Dholakia and Ashok Pandit among others.

Highlights of who said what.

Mahesh Bhatt: We can't turn into a Saudi Arabia where there is opulence but no free thought in society: Tragic that one of us, Nihalani, wants to muzzle us.

Rahul Dholakia, Director: Films we make are based on what happens in society, we don't imagine or create.

Zoya Akhtar: Time to address problems around us. Let's not pretend marital rape, drugs does not exist.  Udta Punjab is a fight for all of us. Can't have 89 cuts and then give an 'Adult' certificate. Udta Punjab has to release without cuts.

Sudhir Mishra: We will fight together.Their job is certify, not censor.

Anurag Kashyap: It's tragic that we have to justify our integrity and honesty. Why do we have to certify our honesty?

Ashok Pandit: Demand Pahlaj Nihalani apologize for this statement (Anurag Kashyap taking money from AAP), it's an insult to the entire film industry.

Satish Kaushik: We are all with you, Anurag.

Shahid Kapoor: Youth has a right to know about drug menace.

The Udta Punjab controversy has also taken a political turn with Aam Aadmi Party boss Arvind Kejriwal accusing Censor Board chief Pahlaj Nihalani of "stopping the film on the BJP's instructions."

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal hotfoots to the Udta Punjab controversy. The CM slammed the head of Censor Board of Film Certification Pahlaj Nihalani for introducing 89 cuts in the film Udta Punjab.

Kejriwal said that that Pahlaj Nihalani censored the contents of Udta Punjab on the direction of the BJP.

"Pahlaj Nihalani's statement makes it amply clear that he has stopped the film on BJPs instructions, tweeted Arvind Kejriwal. Delhi chief ministers statement came after the CBFC chief claimed claimed that he has heard co-producer of Udta Punjab - Anurag Kashyap - took money from Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Eminent journalist KK Katyal passed away this morning after a brief illness. He was 89 and is survived by wife and two daughters. Katyal had worked with various newspapers including The Statesman, Hindustan Times and The Hindu, where he had joined just after Emergency and retired on superannuation as Associate Editor in 2004. He had a stint with United States Information Services as well.

The Shiv Sena on Wednesday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to stop maligning India on foreign shores with his public utterances on corruption in the country.

The Sena took strong objection to Modis repeated statements criticizing the corrupt systems in India during his foreign trips, saying this would prove counter-productive in the long run.

The PM said publicly in Doha how India was steeped in graft, and outlined the measures he had initiated to clean up the mess. The gathering clapped and cheered him. This is nothing but maligning the countrys fair image abroad, the Sena said in an editorial in its mouthpiece Saamana.

It wondered who was responsible if there was talk of corruption among the masses even two years after a Bharatiya Janata Party-led government took charge of the country.

The (corruption) matters coming up in (BJP-ruled) Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh can the Gandhi family be still blamed for it? it asked.

The PM knows better. Hes the countrys face and the world has faith in him. But the world may also misinterpret his statements abroad and this could directly hit our economy, the Sena cautioned.

Chiding Modi, it advised him to criticize corruption and other ills plaguing India domestically and tackle them effectively.

Enough has been spoken about the alleged corruption of Gandhi family and Robert Vadra. Now, its time for action against them. No need to travel to Europe and America shouting about it, the editorial said.

As a nation we are all united, and despite our political differences, we are like a big undivided family and this is the image which should be presented before the whole world.

Touching on Modis recent trip to Switzerland, it chided Modis request seeking the names of Indians holding black money in that countrys banks. This, Saamana said, was ruining Indias image abroad.

The Swiss economy thrives on stash monies from all over the world and they will never reveal whose black money is lying there.

Modi had assured Rs.15 lakh to each Indian by bringing back the hidden money in foreign banks. But all this must be done very discreetly, the Sena said.

Anyway, it pointed out that there was enough black money within India. So what is being done about it?

The Sena said India must be the only country in the world where its a sin to eat beef, mutton, chicken, eggs, fish, garlic and onions but it is no crime if public money is stolen.

Just in: The Producers of Udta Punjab move the Bombay High Court to seek an 'A' certificate for the film and other relief. Filmmakers Vikas Bahl and Anurag Kashyap move court against the CBFC's 89 cuts. The hearing is scheduled to take place at 3 pm today.

Anurag Kashyap, one of the most vocal celebrities, who's production house Phantom films along with Ekta Kapoor's Balaji Motion Posters produced the Shahid Kapoor-Alia Bhatt starrer film conducted a small press conference last night with the media after being enraged with CB's decision.

This morning, Censor Board chief Pahlaj Nihalani, described as a "dictator" by filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, said the 89 cuts imposed on Udta Punjab "have nothing to do with the Punjab elections." Kashyap's many allegations against him were baseless, he said.

Nihalani contended that the film shows 70% of the people in the state consume drugs and said the movie puts entire state of Punjab in a bad light. "Nearly 98% of the movie is in Punjabi and based entirely in Punjab. It is not a Hindi film at all," he said defending the cuts issued for the Kareena Kapoor-Shahid Kapoor starrer.

The shape of things to come.

An employee of Aamla municipal body suffered bullet injuries after he was shot at by a man following a squabble over acute shortage of water in the town here, police said today.

The injured employee was admitted to a missionary hospital at Padhar where doctors removed the bullet successfully after surgery, Aamla Police Station in-charge, Alok Shrivastava said.

The incident occurred last night after the accused got infuriated when water was not supplied to Aamla town.

An argument ensued and he shot the municipal body valveman Ramesh Supatkar, the police officer said. The accused, identified as Lakhan, has been taken into custody and his pistol has been seized, the official said. Protesting the incident, employees of Aamla municipal body have struck work affecting water supply in the town.

Meanwhile, Betul district headquarters is also facing water crisis and the authorities have confined the use of water for essential purposes only under section 144 in the town till June 11,

File pic

A bomb threat forced an EgyptAir aircraft en route to Beijing from Cairo to make an emergency landing in Uzbekistan on June 8, Egyptian officials said. All the 135 passengers and crew on board the Airbus A-330-220 were evacuated and the aircraft was being searched, the officials said.

The plane landed at the airport in the town of Urgench, about 840 kilometers west of the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, three hours after it took off from Cairo at around 11:30 p.m. on June 7.

A six-year-old Pune girl suffering from a heart disease wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking financial help which was promptly granted following which she underwent surgery and is now recovering. Vaishali Yadav, hailing from a poor family, suffered from a hole in her heart. Her father, a small-time painter, was unable to afford an expensive heart surgery and had even sold her toys and bicycle to purchase medicines.

Vaishali, a Class II student, then wrote a letter to PM Modi, requesting him to help her by explaining her health condition and her family's financial inability to meet the huge medical expenses.

Within a week, the Prime Minister's Office alerted the Pune district administration, prompting them to help the girl. The district authorities traced the family's address and rushed the girl to city-based Ruby Hall Clinic where she was successfully operated free of charge on June 2.

Patiala House Court frames charges against gangster Chhota Rajan and three others in a fake passport case.

The Central Bureau of Investigation had earlier in February filed a chargesheet against Rajan and three passport officials -- Jayshree Rahate, Deepak Natvarlal Shah and Lalita Laxmanan -- at the Patiala House Court for providing a fake passport to the gangster.

The chargesheet has been filed under Sections 120, 419, 420, 468, 471 and Prevention of Corruption Act (1988) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Rajan was recently arrested in Bali, Indonesia and extradited to India where he has been charged and is now put up in Tihar jail under trial.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a meeting with Indian ambassadors at the Annual Conference of Diplomats in new Delhi commended them for their chaste Hindi. "You have not forgotten Hindi though you all have been out of India for over 25 years on foreign postings in various capitals of the world," he told them and enjoyed the session where a few ambassadors even quoted from Hindi literature.

He told the gathering that he wanted to institutionalize Hindi as medium of conversation and deliberation.

He won the hearts of Indian ambassadors who were in New Delhi for their annual conference with this pat on the back.

However, few of the senior ambassadors who were keen to get posted as the envoy to the United States got their Hindi speech scripted and memorised it to ensure fluency.

Here's the weather report from Thiruvananthapuram.

The South-west monsoon has set in over Kerala and Lakshadweep, said K Santosh, head of India Meteorological Department's regional centre in the state capital.

Several parts of the state has been receiving heavy rains since last night. The IMD had earlier said that monsoon was likely to hit Kerala on June 9.


Jobi John, former SFI Idukki district president, died and his mother was seriously injured when mounds of earth and rocks fell on their home following heavy rains at Vazhavara early today, police said.

However, his father escaped unhurt and informed neighbours who engaged in rescue operation.The mother's condition is stated to be serious and she has been taken to a hospital in Kochi for expert treatment.

Thiruvananthapuram district authorities are taking precautionary steps like restricting flow of tourists to hill stations like Ponmudi in view of heavy rains. People are also being advised to avoid travelling during night on hilly roads.

A bipartisan group of 18 American lawmakers has written to House Speaker Paul Ryan, asking him to raise the issue of religious freedom in India during his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.


"Religious minority communities '" including Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, and Sikhs -- have endured ongoing violence and harassment for decades in India, and continue to live in a climate where known perpetrators commit violence with impunity," the members of the Congress, led by Trent Franks and Betty McCollum, wrote.


"We respectfully request that during your meetings with the Prime Minister, the 'shared value' of the fundamental right of religious freedom will be a priority in your conversation," they said ahead of the Ryan-Modi meeting. "It is in the best interest of the US and India to reaffirm religious freedom as a shared value in this growing partnership and ensure that conversation concerning justice and accountability for such horrific acts of violence continues," the letter said. In the letter, the lawmakers cite several specific examples of violent attacks that have killed or displaced religious minorities.

Pranab Mukherjee is not seeking a second term as President of India. This is evident from the fact that from today onwards, he will pose for group photographs with the 1800-strong staff members of the President's Secretariat. The staff includes both civilian and armed forces serving the President and guarding the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The concept of a group photo is old. Every president at the time of demitting office poses for a group photo, as a memento one for the staff member to put it up on social media like Facebook or Twitter or just a keepsake at home. Since the drill began of having 24 groups take photos in the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan, the staff has begun whispering, 'saab ko doosra term nahi milega. Sir will not get second term."


Mukherjee, 80, completes his term next July, and according to the Indian Express is already sorting out his papers and gifts presented to him during his presidentship.

Five Indian-origin people, including two women, are among the 200 candidates contesting for next month's general elections in Australia. In the House of Representatives all 150 seats will be contested, as well as the 76 Senate seats -- the first time this has happened in an early election since 1987. The Indian-origin candidates in the fray include two women of Indian background, 51-year-old Australian Sikh Alex Bhathal representing the Greens Party and 43-year-old Fiji Indian Lisa Singh of Labor Party.

The US has recognised India as a "major defence partner", a significant development which paves the way for the country to be treated on par with America's closest allies for defence related trade and technology transfer.

"Noting that the US-India defence relationship can be an anchor of stability and given the increasingly strengthened cooperation in defence, the United States hereby recognises India as a Major Defence Partner," said a joint statement issued after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with US President Barack Obama yesterday.

Just in: The Indian Meteorological Department says that the monsoon has arrived in Kerala.

While Kerala and Karnataka have been receiving plenty of rainfall for the past 10 days, the onset of monsoon was announced on June 9. The Met however announced that the monsoon has hit Kerala today.

This marks the beginning of the rainy season in India.

The IMD had last month said the arrival of monsoon over Kerala would be delayed by about a week from its normal date of June 1. It had said the onset was likely to happen on June 7 with the possibility that it could come four days ahead or beyond that date.

File pic.

India's largest cow hospital provides care for 1,600 cows, bulls, oxen, that are sick, diseased, injured or deformed. With wards for cows with breast cancer, cows that have lost their legs in road accidents, cows that have been operated upon to remove plastic from their bellies, the hospice is a tourist attraction in Rajasthan's Nagaur district. Rediff.com's Archana Masih and photographer Rajesh Karkera visit the hospital. Read

The Aam Aadmi Party has said it is ready to face elections in Goa any time. The elections to the 40-member Goa Legislative Assembly are due in March next year.


"People are so sick and tired of this BJP government. People can demand an early election as well," AAP leader Ashish Khetan told PTI.


"We are ready to face election anytime from now in all the constituencies," he said. AAP has already announced it will contest all the 40 constituencies of the state. Party's national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had also recently addressed a public rally in Panaji.


Meanwhile, senior party leader Ashutosh expressed confidence that the party will form the government on its own in Goa after the polls.

Heather Constructions to move court against Sonia Gandhi, KPCC President VM Sudheeran and Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala over non-payment of dues. Heather Constructions to move court over 'non payment of dues amounting to Rs 2.8 crore over construction of Rajiv Gandhi's statue at Neyyar Dam.

Prabhu Chawla @PrabhuChawla RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan is an Indian national holding Indian passport, claims @RBI in response to RTI query.

Censor Board chief Pahlaj Nihalani says Udta Punjab director Anurag Kashyap's charges are baseless. He said the film's cuts have nothing to do with the polls in Punjab. "Only if one sees the film can one understand why the word Punjab was deleted," he told NDTV.  He also added that the Centre never interferes with the Censor Board. This is the Censor Board chief's first reactions to the Udta Punjab controversy.

The makers of Bollywood film "Udta Punjab" are said to have been asked by the Revising Committee of the censor board to remove all references to Punjab a decision perhaps taken under pressure from the ruling dispensation in the state which is dealing with a festering problem of drugs.

"Udta Punjab", a Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Diljit Dosanjh starrer movie, delves into how the youth there have succumbed to drugs.

The release of the movie in a year when the state is less than nine months from assembly elections is likely to be seen as politically disastrous for the state's ruling party, the Shrimoni Akali Dal which is a partner with the ruling-National Democratic Alliance at the centre.

Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap has said "Punjab" cannot be separated from his film "Udta Punjab," singling out Censor Board chief Pahlaj Nihalani for lacerating criticism over the cuts that the board has ordered in the film.
 
"It is absolutely not possible to cut references to Punjab," Kashyap said asserting, "The film is not anti-Akali or anti-BJP, it is anti-drugs. A film about how youth are losing lives."
 
After the Censor Board denied the film a certificate over "excessive swearing", the makers went to the board's revising committee, which has asked them to remove all references to Punjab, politics and elections. Including from the title.

Kashyap said that the film has left them in 'limbo land' because this has not been communicated to them in writing. "They haven't given us a letter so we cannot go to the tribunal,'' he said, "We have been left in a coma for the last five days and we are awaiting their letter.''

"At one level, we are still a $1,500 per capita economy. All the way from $1,500 per capita to $50,000, which is where Singapore is, there is a lot of things to do. We are still a relatively poor economy and to wipe the tear from every eye, one would at least want to be middle-income around $6,000-7,000 which, if reasonably distributed, will have dealt with extreme poverty. And that is two decades worth of work to be even moderately satisfied."

RBI governor Raghuram Rajan holds forth on the economy. Read the interview here.

Beyond the magic figure of 7.6 lies the bigger challenge for the Modi Government. Read more

Britain's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) on Tuesday dropped its case against Indian-origin journalist Hasan Suroor on the ground that it had "no evidence' to support the allegation of "sexual grooming' made against him by a vigilante group last November.

"Following a further review of the case there is now no longer a realistic prospect of conviction," CPS told the Blackfriars Crown Court in a written submission. Suroor said he was considering suing the vigilante group called Unknown TV.  Read more

MP economic offences wing summons Digvijaya Singh in connection with a case wherein he's accused of unduly favoring a private institute: ANI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi attends a round table meet with key business leaders in Washington DC.

After the meet, the PM will address the 40th annual general meeting of the United States Business and Industry Council.

'An evening dedicated to business. PM Narendra Modi arrives for the USIBC event with key business leaders,' Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted.

'The men and women behind India-US business. PM Narendra Modi attends round table with top CEOs,' he said in another tweet.

The CEOs of Amazon, Star India, Pepsico, US Chamber of Commerce, Sun Pharmaceuticals, Wipro, Westinghouse, Boeing and Mastercard -- among others -- were present at the round table. Photograph: @MEAIndia/Twitter

US Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter meets PM Narendra Modi at Blair House, Washington, DC.

'Deepening a multi-faceted partnership. US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter calls on PM,' Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted.

Treating Pathankot attack at par with 26/11, President Barack Obama today sent out a clear message to Pakistan, asking it to punish its perpetrators amid the US vow to stand with India against terror threats from Pakistan-based groups like JeM, LeT and Dawood 'company'.

'They (Obama and Modi) called for Pakistan to bring the perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai and 2016 Pathankot terrorist attacks to justice,' a joint statement issued after the Obama-Modi meeting at the White House said.

During the meeting, Modi and Obama acknowledged the continued threat posed to human civilisation by terrorism and condemned the recent terrorist incidents from Paris to Pathankot, from Brussels to Kabul, the statement said.

Read the full text of India-US Joint Statement issued on Tuesday after the meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with President Barack Obama at the Oval Office HERE.

Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar is briefing the media after the meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and United States Presidents Barack Oabama. Here are a few excerpts:

- India recognised as a major defence partner for the US, we would be treated at a level similar to the closest allies of the US. This allows for better higher quality technology access on defence side, and liberal access to the dual-use technology side.

- US commitment to bring 2008 Mumbai attackers to justice now extends to Pathankot Attack as well.

- Finalisation of text of the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement was done during the meeting.

- US-India Catalytic Solar Finance Program looks to mobilise a large amount from private sector on solar projects.

- PM Modi and President Obama also discussed the Paris Climate Agreement and clean energy.

- We look forward to the acceptance of our application to join Nuclear Suppliers Group. This matter will come up for discussion end of this month in South Korea, US has been supportive of this process for some time now.

- Last year when President Obama came to India we announced a US-India Joint Strategic Vision, the roadmap for that has been finalised. We hope to finalise the framework for US-India Cyber Relationship in near term.

- On people to people interaction front, India is to open another consulate in Seattle.

Modi thanks 'friend' Obama for backing India's NSG membership

India inches closer to NSG, gets entry to Missile Technology Control Regime

NPCIL, Westinghouse agree to begin engineering work on 6 N-reactors

Alleged kingpin of Apollo kidney racket arrested; 10 docs to be quizzed

Read yesterday's live commentary HERE