LIVE! Sushma Swaraj intervenes to help 15 Indians stranded in Everest

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Sun, 27 May 2018

Sushma Swaraj intervenes to help 15 Indians stranded in Everest

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21:07 Sushma Swaraj intervenes to help 15 Indians stranded in Everest

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj intervened to help some 15 Indians stranded near Everest after some of them tweeted about their plight to her.

Currently stranded in Lukla since two days, Nepal, with copter company looters refusing to evacuate us to Kathmandu unless we pay 600 dollars per head, Amit Thadhani, a practising surgeon said in a tweet addressed to the external affairs ministers Twitter handle, adding, We paid 200 dollars per head fare from Kathmandu to Lukla.

Swaraj forwarded Thadhanis tweet to the Indian embassy in Nepal, saying Manjeev - Pls see this, referring to the Indian envoy Manjeev Singh Puri.

The embassy responded: Mission is in touch with them. Flights from Lukla are cancelled due to bad weather. We are trying to get them evacuated by helicopter.

Bad weather has led to stranding of many trekkers around Lukla. Taking advantage of the rush, helicopter companies are reportedly overcharging people.

20:23 Congress may align with BSP to oust BJP in MP

Buoyed by the formation of its alliance government in Karnataka, a Congress leader has hinted the party would be inclined to align with the Bahujan Samaj Party to wrest power from the BJP in Madhya Pradesh, where the Assembly polls are due later this year.

MP Congress chief Kamal Nath and state assembly election committee campaign chairman Jyotiraditya Scindia would be in favour of tying-up with the BSP to sweep the assembly polls, said a senior Congress leader, who did not wish to be named.

However, the leader also said the party high command would take a final call on stitching any alliance with the BSP.

Earlier, when reporters asked Nath about his party's strategy for the elections in the central Indian state, he had said the party had not started talks of alliance with anyone.

"I will take everyone's opinion on this and the modalities of a tie-up," he had said.

Nath said the BJP had pocketed just 31 per cent votes in the 2014 general elections, while 69 per cent of the ballots were cast against the saffron party.

"The BJP then claimed that it got majority but what sort of a mandate it secured?" he asked.

The Congress does not want fragmentation of votes and keeping this in perspective, talks were going to be initiated at the national and the state-level, he had said.

A senior BSP leader, who is considered close to Mayawati, said they cannot comment on a pre-poll alliance with the Congress. "Behenji (Mayawati) deals with such issues," he added.

-- PTI

Congress leader P Chidambaram today slammed the NDA government for "celebrating" the completion of its four years in office saying petrol prices is rising and job creation is dismal during the period.

In a series of tweets, Chidambaram said the agricultural growth anaemic and farm wages stagnant during the NDA government rule.

"Read the graphs in newspapers 'celebrating' 4 years of Modi government: growth rate declining, rupee depreciating.

"And petrol prices and inflation rising, IIP stagnant, exports struggling to cross USD 300 billion. And job creation dismal," he said.

The Modi government completed its four years in office yesterday.

-- PTI

19:41 3 Indians among 11 killed by cyclone Mekunu

Three Indians were among 11 people killed by cyclone Mekunu that has battered southern Oman and the Yemeni island of Socotra, authorities and reports have said.

Cyclone Mekunu hit Oman's Dhofar and Al-Wusta provinces on Friday after intensifying from a category one to a category two cyclone, with winds of up to 170 kilometre per hour after it made landfall on Socotra on Thursday.

"Indian Embassy Team in Salalah has confirmed that as per Royal Oman Police, mortal remains of one (Shamsher Ali) of two missing Indian have been found and the search for the other (Madhu) is underway. There is no report of casualty amongst other expatriates," the Indian embassy in Muscat tweeted.

Embassy officials visited a camp at Taqah in Salalah and arranged food for 460 people (145 Indians and 315 Bangladeshi nationals).

"Indian Embassy is taking care of 50 Indian dhow crew," it said.

Salalah port authorities that four Indian registered dhows have sunk alongside the port. All Indian crew are safe, it said.

The death toll from the cyclone has reached 11.

-- PTI

Andhra Pradesh minister Kalava Srinivasulu said today that the TDP would not accept Congress chief Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate of a "united front" in case it comes into being before the 2019 polls.

Srinivasulu said the TDP never had any equation with the Congress and the two parties would never join hands.

"We are 100 per cent clear that the prime minister will not be from the BJP or the Congress. Rahul Gandhi will not be the prime ministerial face of a united front in case such an alternative comes into being with the support of the Congress," he said.

The remarks came days after TDP chief and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu shared stage with leaders of several regional parties at the swearing-in of H D Kumaraswamy as the CM of the Congress-JD-S alliance in Karnataka.

"After the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, regional parties will play a major role at the Centre. The TDP will decide who will be the next prime minister," he said in response to a question from reporters on the sidelines of Mahanadu, a three-day annual conclave of the Telugu Desam Party.

The Congress "indiscriminately" divided the Telugu state, the minister for information and public relations minister said. "It did injustice to Andhra Pradesh. The same thing is happening under the BJP government."

Andhra Pradesh has been seeking special category status from the Centre on the grounds that it is at a disadvantage, especially after the loss of capital Hyderabad to Telangana.

In March, the TDP withdrew from the NDA government over the Centre's refusal to grant special status to the state.

-- PTI

Former vice president Hamid Ansari said on Sunday that efforts of those people who want to change country's history would not succeed.

Citing H G Wells's novel Time Machine to drive the point home, Ansari, at a book launch event said, "Idea behind HG Wells's novel Time Machine was a form of technology by which you can go back and see what might have happened in past. Today, a set of inventors are trying to create the time machine by which you can go back in history and rewrite it. Such efforts won't be successful."

His comment assumes significance since a media report, published in March, claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre has formed a committee to rewrite the history of the country.

According to the report, the committee was formed last year and is headed by Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma.

This is not the first time Ansari has spoken against the majoritarian ideology.

In August last year, days before demitting the office of vice-president, Ansari, in an interview, said that there was a sense of insecurity among Muslims in the country, as "ambience of acceptance" was under threat.

He was criticised by Hindu right-wing parties for his remark.

READ: Hamid Ansari: There's unease. A sense of insecurity is creeping in

When the news broke that Harvey Weinstein would be surrendering himself on rape and sexual assault charges, I didnt have a reaction. As I spoke with others for whom the ground was shaking I realized my feeling was that a sexual predator being legally accountable for criminal behavior is and should be normal, routine and not particularly newsworthy. And I also understood why it is thunderous news.

Read full HERE

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday clarified that the inauguration of the Eastern Peripheral Expressway is not a publicity stunt but an achievement.

Continuing his tirade against the Congress, the chief minister said the party was useless when it was in power.

Adityanath said, "This expressway is an achievement for us and not a publicity stunt. This shows that Congress was useless when they were in power. Unhe janta ke vikaas se koi lena dena nahi hai (They (Congress) have nothing to do with the development of people)."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today inaugurated the Eastern Peripheral Expressway at the District Sports stadium in Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh.

The 135 km long expressway is India's first smart and green highway, built between Kundli on NH 1 to Palwal on NH 2.

Built at a cost of Rs 11,000 crore, the expressway is country's first highway to have solar-powered lights. It also has provision for rain water harvesting.

Along with the PM, Adityanath and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari were also present during the inaugural function.

-- ANI

Campaigners for abortion reform in Ireland have said they will support a move to have a new law named after Savita Halappanavar, who died after being denied a termination in 2012.

Halappanavars father has called for the legislation that will follow the historic referendum result to be referred to as Savitas law. We have one last request, that the new law, that it is called Savitas law. It should be named for her, Andanappa Yalagi told the Irish Times.

Together for Yes, an umbrella group representing pro-repeal organisations, said it would support such a move. It also called on the government to start immediate work on legislation. The people have spoken, said its co-chair Orla OConnor.

Simon Harris, the Irish health minister, will seek cabinet approval for draft legislation, permitting abortion on request up to the 12th week of pregnancy and in limited circumstances up to the 23rd week. The prime minister, Leo Varadkar, has said he hopes a new law will be enacted by the end of the year.

A mural to Halappanavar, who died aged 31 and who became a symbol of the campaign to overturn Irelands ban on abortion in all but the strictest circumstances, became a shrine over the weekend, with flowers, candles and messages left at the site.

Halappanavar, who worked as a dentist, was admitted to University Hospital Galway on 21 October 2012 when she was 17 weeks pregnant with her first child. Medical staff concluded that a miscarriage was inevitable but did not intervene despite requests from Halappanavar and her husband for an abortion as a foetal heartbeat could be detected.

Photograph: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images

Daniel Craig will reportedly receive a fat pay cheque of 50 million for his last outing as James Bond in the next 007 film.

The 50-year-old actor will also get an executive producer credit, along with endorsements and profits, according to Mirror.com.

Craig previously received 37 million for 2015's "Spectre".

The film is likely to have a run time of around two hours and 20 minutes, meaning the actor will get 357,000 per minute of screen time.

If paid 50 million, Craig's earnings will exceed that of his predecessors' with Sean Connery making 7 million for six official Bond movies.

-- PTI

The Nipah virus claimed one more life in Kozhikode district of Kerala on Sunday, taking the overall death toll to 14. The latest victim to the outbreak was 22-year-old Abin who was being treated at Baby Memorial Hospital in the city.

Meanwhile, two more confirmed cases of Nipah were reported in the state.

Earlier on Saturday, according to a report submitted by a central medical team to the Health Ministry, samples collected from bats in Keralas Kozhikode and Malappuram districts tested negative for the virus.

A total of 21 samples, including that from seven species of bats, two species of pigs, one bovine and one caprine, were sent to the National Institute of High-Security Animal Diseases in Bhopal and the National Institute of Virology in Pune.

These included the samples of the bats which were found in the well in a house in Keralas Perambra from where the initial death was reported. They have tested negative for the Nipah virus, the official said.

To prevent the spread of the virus, alerts were sounded in Bihar, Sikkim, Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra. Advisories urging people to take precaution against the virus were issued, asking them to monitor fever cases if anybody has a history of travel to the affected areas, for instance, to Kerala recently.

India has concluded price negotiations with Russia for a nearly Rs 40,000 crore deal to procure S-400 Triumf air defence missile systems for the Indian Air Force, officials said.

They said the two countries are now trying to find a way out to evade the provisions of a US law that seeks to punish countries and entities engaged in transactions with the defence or intelligence establishment of Russia.

"The negotiations for the missile deal have been concluded. The financial component has been finalised," said a top official involved in the negotiations for the deal with Russia.

The official said both Russia and India are likely to announce the deal before an annual summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin in October.

Two other officials said both sides are now looking at ways to insulate the deal from the sanctions announced by the US against Russia under its Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act.

The issue is understood to have figured during Modi's informal talks with Putin in Sochi last week.

There has been mounting concerns in India over the US sanctions against Russian defence majors including Rosoboronexport as billions of dollars of military purchases may be impacted because of the punitive measure.

The US had announced sanctions against Russia under the stringent law for its alleged meddling in the American presidential election in 2016.

India wants to procure the long-range missile systems to tighten its air defence mechanism, particularly along the nearly 4,000-km-long Sino-India border.

In 2016, India and Russia had signed an agreement on the 'Triumf' interceptor-based missile system which can destroy incoming hostile aircraft, missiles and even drones at ranges of up to 400 km. S-400 is known as Russia's most advanced long-range surface-to-air missile defence system.

China was the first foreign buyer to seal a government-to-government deal with Russia in 2014 to procure the lethal missile system and Moscow has already started delivery of unknown number of the S-400 missile systems to Beijing.

The S-400 is an upgraded version of the S-300 systems. The missile system, manufactured by Almaz-Antey, has been in service in Russia since 2007.

-- PTI

16:06 Vice president to visit Jammu tomorrow

Tight security arrangements have been put in place ahead of Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu's visit tomorrow, during which he will be interacting with scientists at the Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, officials said.

The vice president is scheduled to visit the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-IIIM to attend a function, where he will be interacting with the scientists besides visiting the laboratory, the officials said today.

"Necessary arrangements have been made to ensure successful visit of the vice president," Inspector General of Police, Jammu, S D S Jamwal said.

Earlier this week, Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, Hemant Kumar Sharma chaired a high-level meeting of top officials to finalise the arrangements.

In the meeting, they discussed various important issues related to security, traffic regulation, health, hospitality, protocol and uninterrupted power supply, deployment of fire and emergency services, the officials said.

Security forces are on high alert in the Jammu region in the aftermath of a grenade attack near the main bus stand on May 24.

-- PTI

It is North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's "fixed will" that a summit with US President Donald Trump in Singapore should go ahead, state media say.

This followed a surprise meeting on Saturday between Kim and the South's Moon Jae-in, who said the North was "committed to denuclearisation".

Trump had cancelled the 12 June summit, citing the North's "hostility".

But on Saturday he said that the date "hasn't changed" and that things were "moving along very nicely".

The summit would be the culmination of diplomatic efforts that began this year to try to defuse what had threatened to become a military confrontation between the nuclear-armed communist North and the South and its US ally.

The North's KCNA agency released a detailed statement on the meeting and the South Korean president also delivered remarks. It was the leaders' second meeting in as many months.

Moon said he and Kim had "agreed that the June 12 summit should be held successfully" and that the North Korean leader had "again made clear his commitment to a complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula".

But Moon suggested Kim was not certain whether Washington could guarantee the stability of his regime.

15:35 Egyptian court orders temporary ban on YouTube

An Egyptian high court has approved a month ban on video-sharing site YouTube on Saturday, over a video that is believed to denigrate the Prophet Mohammad.

The ruling is considered final and cannot be appealed.

Mohamed Hamid Salem, an Egyptian lawyer filed a lawsuit against YouTube for publishing the low-budget 13-minute video.

The video, which was made in California with private funding, had provoked a wave of anti-American unrest in Egypt and other Muslim countries when it appeared in 2012.

Salem said the ruling also orders that all links that broadcast the film be blocked.

In February 2013, a local court ordered the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology to block YouTube for a month for the same reason, according to Anadolu Agency.

The ministry then said it would be difficult to enforce the ruling as it would eventually lead to disrupting Google's Internet search engine which could incur huge costs and job losses in Egypt.

-- ANI

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu today attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he is a campaign PM who has failed to deliver on promises and said the BJP would definitely not come to power in 2019.

Inaugurating Mahanadu, the TDP's annual conclave, he said the Telugu Desam Party played a key role in forming governments in the past and had the power to change the political narrative in the country, hinting that it would tie-up with like-minded parties to stop the BJP's juggernaut in 2019.

The Congress is in the opposition. It cannot do much. But the BJP will definitely not come to power in 2019, he said.

Naidu said the BJP coming to power in 2019 was a distant dream and Prime Minister Narendra was a campaign PM, who gives slogans only, and has failed to deliver on promises.

The party president said the TDP was key in forming the United Front government in 1996.

The TDP has in the past played a key role in forming governments. It has the power to change the political narrative in the country. We won't step back, Naidu said.

He said the TDP withdrew support from the NDA government as the Centre had reneged on its promise to grant Andhra Pradesh Special Category status and to implement the AP Reorganisation Act.

Naidu accused the BJP of betraying the people of Andhra Pradesh and trying to create law and order problems in the state in collusion with the YSRCP.

-- PTI

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday questioned the benefits of the much-hyped decision to demonetise high-value currency by the Modi government in 2016.

He also slammed banks that allegedly helped rich and powerful manage their cash post demonetisation announcement.

"I was a supporter of demonetisation...but how many people benefited from it? Some powerful people shifted their cash from one place to another," he said.

Questioning the conduct of banks, he asked: "You [banks] are very particular about recovering debts from small people, but what about those powerful people who take loans and disappear?"

Pressing for a need to reform the system, he said, "It is surprising that even the highest officers are unaware. [The] banking system needs reform. I am not criticising, I am concerned," he said.

The Janata Dal-United chief has been a vocal supporter of demonetisation even when he was part of the Opposition.

This was the first time when he has questioned the benefits of demonetisation.

Former president and Pakistan Peoples Party Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari has said he will contest for a National Assembly seat from his native town Nawabshah in the upcoming general elections, making his return to the electoral and parliamentary politics after a gap of 24 years.

The 62-year-old leader made the announcement during an Iftar party hosted by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah at the Chief Minister's House last evening.

He has been elected as Member of National Assembly from Karachi's area of Lyari in 1990, and from Nawabshah in 1993.

Zardari said he could have chosen Lyari as his electoral constituency but later decided in favour of the constituency from his native town.

He also predicted that no party will hold the majority in the next assembly.

Zardari served as the 11th President of Pakistan from 2008 to 2013.

-- PTI

14:19 The long fall of Harvey Weinstein

Harvey Weinstein turning himself in to police on Friday was both an ending and a beginning.

Weinstein was arrested and processed Friday on charges of rape, committing a criminal sex act, sexual abuse and sexual misconduct, according to the New York Police Department.

Read full story HERE

After inaugurating the first phase of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway, the PM reached Baghpat in Uttar Pradesh for dedicating the 135-km-long Eastern Peripheral Expressway, built at a cost of Rs 11,000 crore, to the nation.

Here's what he had to say:

>> We all know the their predicament. To go against Modi, they (Congress) will even go against the country

>> They dont believe in democracy or the constitutional institutions... they have raised issues about the Reserve Bank of India, EVMs, etc, says PM Modi referring to the family that ruled for 70 years.

Those who worship one family cant respect a democracy.

>> The truth is, Congress and its allies mock everything that is being done for all the backward classes, tribals. They always act as obstacles in the path of development

>> This government has undertaken many measures for Dalits, OBCs and SC/STs. We have made special courts to tackle cases of atrocities against the Dalits

>> Congress mocks the governments efforts to make the lives of Dalits, OBCs better

>> We are working for womens empowerment. We provided 4 crore gas connections under the Ujjwala scheme to make womens lives easier

>> In its four years, the UPA government could only get optical fibre connectivity in 59 panchayats. On the other hand, we have provided optical fibre connectivity in more than 1 lakh panchayats

BSP chief Mayawati announced changes in the party constitution, which bar her brother from continuing as its vice president while letting her remain the national president till she is too old for that responsibility. Mayawati said she will continue to lead the Bahujan Samaj Party for the next 20 to 22 years, bluntly telling party leaders that nobody needed to dream of becoming the party president.

She also announced major organisational changes and indicated that the BSP was willing to contest any coming election on its own if "respectable" seat-sharing arrangements could not be worked out.

Mayawati said she had made some minor changes in the BSP constitution last year to involve her younger brother into party work on the request of party leaders.

"It is unfortunate that there were reports in the media about the family being promoted in the organisation, like the Congress," she said.

"But my brother himself said he will work only as a common worker in the interest of the party," she added.

On the changes in the party constitution, she said that no close relative of the national president will hold any position in the party.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi received scores of congratulatory messages on his government's fourth anniversary. Some of them such as Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal were more effusive in their praise than the others. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar also tweeted his message, congratulating him "for completing four years" but also dropped a subtle hint.

"I believe the government will rise to the expectations of the people," he said, re-igniting speculation about the uneasy relations between the top leadership of the two alliance partners.

But the tweet came later.

Minutes earlier, Kumar, speaking at a meeting of bankers, had underlined that Bihar would not get private investment unless it got the special category status. As he walked out, Kumar had evaded responding to a request from waiting camera persons who inquired if he had a message for PM Modi.

It was only after Kumar reached his residence that he tweeted a short message to PM Modi.

It was a message in context of some recent developments, a government source said.

He did not elaborate but officials indicate Kumar had been particularly disappointed with the central government releasing just Rs 1,711 crore for relief and rehabilitation for last year's floods.

Kairana constituency in the politically crucial state of Uttar Pardesh has virtually assumed the dimension of a strategic player in the run up to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The Kairana bypoll, slated for tomorrow, will also see a joint opposition taking on the ruling BJP.

Located around 630 km from capital city of Lucknow, the Lok Sabha constituency has five assembly segments namely Shamli, Thana Bhawan and Kairana in Shamli district, and Gangoh and Nakur in Saharanpur district. There are nearly 17 lakh voters in the constituency with a significant number of Muslims, Jats and Dalit voters.

RLD party worker Abdul Hakeem Khan said he had never seen an election in which the ruling party was being challenged by a joint opposition.

"This is the beauty of our democracy," he said.

The constituency fell vacant after the death of BJP MP Hukum Singh, whose daughter Mriganka Singh is now the party's candidate for the bypoll. She is fighting Rashtriya Lok Dal's Tabassum Hasan, who is supported by the Congress, Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party.

The opposition hopes that by consolidating anti-BJP votes, they will repeat the success of the Gorakhpur and Phulpur bye-elections, where the ruling party suffered an unexpected defeat.

The withdrawal of candidature of Lok Dal candidate Kanwar Hasan from the fray and his joining of the RLD has only added to the opposition's confidence.

The ruling BJP, on the other hand, is making extra efforts to retain the seat to try and send a strong message to voters, party cadres as well as the opposition parties -- that the drubbing in the Gorakhpur and Phulpur bye-elections was an aberration, and that it was still strong in western UP.

"The results of the May 28 bypolls may set the tone and tenor for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections," Rajesh Kumar Saini, manager of a hotel on the busy Shamli-Panipat road, said.

Khan exuded confidence that "Kairana's daughter-in-law Tabassum Hasan will defeat Kairana's daughter (Mriganka Singh)."

-- PTI

11:57

Congress shakes up things, make some significant changes.

>> Oommen Chandy appointed Congress in-charge of Andhra Pradesh, replaces Digvijay Singh

>> Gaurav Gogoi appointed Congress in-charge of West Bengal and Andaman & Nicobar Islands; he replaces CP Joshi

11:41 Leaders pay homage to Nehru on 54th death anniversary

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today led the nation in paying tributes to first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru on his 54th death anniversary.

Nehru, who was born on November 14, 1889, died on

May 27, 1964.

"Tributes to our first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru on his death anniversary," Modi said in a tweet.

Former president Pranab Mukherjee, former vice-president Hamid Ansari and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi paid floral tributes to the departed leader at Shanti Van--Nehru's memorial on the banks of Yamuna here.

Senior Congress leaders, including former PM Manmohan Singh, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Ashok Gehlot and Motilal Vora also paid tributes to the country's first prime minister.

Devotional songs were played and an all-religion prayer meeting was organised at the memorial.

-- PTI

Image: Former PM Manmohan Singh paying homage to Jawaharlal Nehru on his death anniversary. Photograph: ANI/Twitter

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the first phase of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway, which promises to cut down travel time between the two cities to 40 minutes from the current near two-and-a-half hours.

The PM, along with Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, travelled in an open jeep on the 14-lane Delhi-Meerut Expressway, which is being built at a cost of over Rs 7,500 crore.

PM Narendra Modi has described the "road to freedom from pollution".

The PM will then fly in a chopper to Baghpat in Uttar Pradesh, where he will open the Rs 11,000-crore Eastern Peripheral Expressway, which is India's first smart and green highway.

A recording of late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's voice, telling a doctor that her blood pressure of 140/80 was normal for her, has been made available to the media by the commission probing her death.

When a duty doctor tells Jayalalithaa her blood pressure was "high, it reads 140 (systolic)," she asks "by", meaning what was the diastolic value.

To this, the doctor replies "140/80," and she replies "its okay for me... normal."

At the beginning of the 1.07 minute audio, which has beep sounds of the monitors, she coughs and says she can hear a sound, (to denote her breathing difficulty) and it was similar to whistles made by fans in cinema houses.

She also tells a man, identified as Dr K S Sivakumar, her physician, that if it was not possible (to download a mobile application to record her wheezing) "leave it."

In another 33-second audio, which is connected to the other recording, Dr Sivakumar tells Jayalalithaa, who is breathing heavily, that he is recording the wheezing and it was not "very intense now."

Coughing, she tells him "when it (wheezing) was there, I told you, you said it (application) could not be taken (downloaded)."

The doctor says in between that he has downloaded the application (app/to record her wheezing).

Her last voice recordings were made available by the Justice A Arumughaswamy Commission of Inquiry today, probing the circumstances leading to the hospitalisation and the subsequent death of the late leader in 2016.

Giving a background to the recordings, counsel for Jayalalithaa's aide V K Sasikala, N Raja Senthoor Pandian,said that on January 8 2018,Dr Sivakumar had told the Commission in his deposition that he had recorded Jayalalithaa's voice on the night of September 27 2016 at Apollo Hospital.

The voice recording was done by Sivakumar, when the late leader had "wheezing (breathing difficulty) problem."

This was done, according to Sivakumar's deposition, to send the late chief minister's voice to a specialist docto for further evaluation.

"Today, when Dr Sivakumar (questioned by the panel as its witness) appeared before the Commission for deposition, he submitted madam's voice recording during cross examination by me and it was marked as an exhibit," Pandian told PTI.

After her admission to Apollo Hospital on September 22 2016, she had a wheezing problem on September 27, he said, quoting Sivakumar's deposition.

According to Sivakumar's deposition today, after a tracheostomy procedure in October 2016, Jayalalithaa also identified pictures of some deities and spoke a few words with difficulty.

Sivakumar also submitted a to-do list dated August 2, 2016 that covers diet-cum-health monitoring tasks like measuring fasting blood sugar (marked as FBS in the note) and tablets for diabetes, including 'Januvia-50 mg.'

Handwritten by Jayalalithaa in green ink,the chart showed she was conscious of her health and food, according to the deposition. -- PTI

10:26

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates first phase of Delhi-Meerut expressway.

09:58 Pakistan goes to polls on July 25

Pakistan's upcoming general elections for parliament and provincial assemblies will be held on July 25, according to a decree signed by President Mamnoon Hussain.

The Election Commission of Pakistan in a formal letter last week had proposed the president to grant permission to hold election between July 25 and 27.

Sources in the President Office said that Hussain approved July 25 and signed the document to be sent to the ECP to grant it permission to go ahead and hold polls.

According to the law, ECP proposes dates to the president to organize general elections, who is empowered to fix the final date.

The present government will complete the tenure on May 31 and the caretaker government will take over form June 1 and remain in office until a new government is set up through elections.

It is the second consecutive elected government that is poised to complete the five-year tenure. It was elected in 2013.

Earlier, the ECP announced that a total of 105.95 million voters will use their right of vote to elect the new government.

Among them are 59.2 million male and 46.7 million female voters, showing A gender gap of over 12.5 million. -- PTI

Congress president Rahul Gandhi opn Saturday held deliberations with party leaders from Karnataka on the allocation of ministerial berths between his party and the Janata Dal-Secular, but the talks remained inconclusive.

Sources said that the issue could not be resolved despite marathon deliberations and the leaders will again meet today.

The meeting was attended by former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara, state party in-charge K C Venugopal, and senior leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and D K Shivakumar.

"We discussed about portfolio allocation. First, we need to finalise the portfolios between the two parties. Thereafter, we will decide whom to allocate what ministry," Venugopal told PTI after the meeting.

The entire process will be completed in a day or two, he added.

The Congress and the JD-S are at loggerheads over the key portfolios of finance and home.

Chief Minister and JD-S leader H D Kumaraswamy has admitted to having "some issues" with the Congress over portfolio allocation that was delaying the formation of the entire council of ministers. -- PTI

Thirty-six Bangladeshi nationals were arrested on Saturday from various areas of Pune district for allegedly entering and living in the country illegally, police said.

The arrests were made by the anti-terrorist unit of Pune Rural Police and local police in Yevat, Daund and Baramati.

"They were arrested under the Passport (Entry Into India) Rules, Foreigners Act and IPC," said a police officer.

In March, three Bangladeshi nationals were arrested from Pune by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad for allegedly providing shelter to suspected members of Ansarullah Bangla Team, an Islamic extremist group from the neighbouring country.

The arrested trio themselves too were living illegally in India. -- PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will share his thoughts with the people in India and abroad through 'Mann Ki Baat' today at 11 am.

This will be the 44th edition of his radio programme. The programme will be broadcasted on the entire network of AIR and Doordarshan.

The Modi government completed four years in office yesterday. After becoming the prime minister, Modi started 'Mann ki Baat' to talk to people through radio.

09:02 Terrorists decamp with 2 rifles of PSOs in J&K

Terrorists on Saturday night decamped with two rifles of the personal security officers of a protected person in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said.

Two weapons -- an AK-47 rifle and an INSAS rifle -- have been taken away by the militants from the personal security officers (PSOs) from the residence of a protected person in Darban Anantnag in south Kashmir, a police official said.

The PSOs of the protected person -- Sayed Gowhar -- were from security wing and Kulgam police respectively, he said.

The official said the protected person was apparently not present at his house.

Police has registered a case and investigation underway in the matter, the official said. -- PTI

After North and South Korea held a secret meeting, United Stats President Donald Trump has said that things are moving "very nicely" towards a summit on June 12 in Singapore with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

"It's moving along very nicely," Trump said at the White House during a meeting with a US prisoner freed by Venezuela.

"We're looking at June 12 in Singapore. It hasn't changed," he added.

On Thursday, Trump had announced that the US is cancelling June 12 meeting with Kim, citing "open hostility" from Pyongyang.

However, within 24 hours he reversed course, saying it could still go ahead after productive talks were held with North Korean officials.

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