A total of 406 people, who are housed at a quarantine facility of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police after being brought back from China due to coronavirus outbreak there, may be released next week if their final samples turn out to be negative, officials said on Saturday.

The final samples of all the people quarantined at the ITBP facility in New Delhi were collected by a team of doctors on Friday and the reports are expected to be received by Monday.

"Based on the reports, a decision will be taken to discharge the travellers, if agreed to by the authorities, which is expected to be done in next week observing laid down protocols and due medical procedures as per the directives of Health Ministry," PRO of the ITBP Vivek Kumar Pandey said in a statement.

A senior home ministry official said all of them will be released by next week if the final samples test negative.

A total of 650 people were brought back from Wuhan in China on February 1 and 2 in two 747 Boeing Air India aircraft after the novel Coronavirus outbreak there.

While 406 people, including seven from Maldives, are being looked after at the quarantine ITBP facility here, rest are at an Army centre at Manesar in Haryana.

The ITBP centre is being looked after by an expert team of doctors and medical professionals.

There are seven children, including an infant in the group.

"No fresh symptoms have been seen today. Food, bed and other basic requirements are catered. Sufficient amount of medicines are also kept at the centre," Pandey said.

The death toll in China's novel coronavirus epidemic has climbed to 1,523 with 143 new fatalities reported mostly from the worst-affected Hubei province while the confirmed cases jumped to over 66,000, health officials said on Saturday.

India has so far reported three confirmed cases of the virus, all in Kerala.

One of the three medical students, who had tested positive for novel coronavirus infection and were treated at a hospital in Kerala, has been discharged after recovery.

Passengers arriving in flights from China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore,Japan and South Korea were being screened for possible exposure to the respiratory virus at 21 identified airports in India.  -- PTI

Three students from Kashmir studying at a private engineering college in Hubballi district of Karnataka were arrested on sedition charges for allegedly raising pro-Pakistan slogans and posting a video of it on a messaging platform, police said on Saturday.

Police said, according to preliminary information, the students are from Shopian in Kashmir and action has been taken on the basis of a complaint from the college management.

"We received information that three students hailing from Kashmir studying at the KLE Institute of Technology had raised slogans supporting Pakistan.

"They had made a video about it which has gone viral. Immediately our team headed by Inspector Gokul Road station went to the spot and arrested them," Hubli-Dharwad Police Commissioner R Dileep said.

Right wing activists, including those from Bajarang Dal who had gathered near the college, demanded stringent action against the three.

As the students were being taken to the police station with their faces covered, an activist tried to attack them,but police escorted them safely.

The FIR has been lodged under Indian Penal Code sections relating to sedition and affecting communal harmony, the official said.

"We are investigating, and whatever comes out as per evidence, law and facts, we will take further action.

"We will look into their background, whether anyone has tried to mislead them," Dileep said, adding that the arrest should not be seen as action against any particular community or region.

According to officials, the selfie video of the three has gone viral as they posted it on WhatsApp.

In the video one of them can be purportedly seen initially uttering something with background music on,after which they chant 'Azadi' one after the other. Then joining chorus to the music that is playing, they purportedly say 'Pakistan Zindabad'.

The music they played is said to be Pakistani military's media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) song, which police said needs to be ascertained.

The video seems to have been recorded at the college hostel, where the students were put up.

College principal Basavaraj Anami said the college has given complaint to the police and the students will be suspended.

The students were admitted under central quota and two are doing their first year civil engineering, while the other is a third year student in the same stream, he said.

According to him, the three had made the video and posted it on WhatsApp.

"It came to our notice in the morning, following which I called the students immediately to my office, and informed the police," the principal told reporters.

"In the video, they have purportedly shouted pro-Pakistan slogans allegedly in the backdrop of the Pulwama attack anniversary yesterday," he added.

Union minister Pralhad Joshi, who hails from the district, described the act unfortunate and demanded strict action against those involved.  -- PTI

A multi-level security arrangement will be in place on Sunday for the oath-taking ceremony of chief minister-elect Arvind Kejriwal at the Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi, officials said.

The ceremony is scheduled to begin at 10 am and traffic regulations will be in place in the area from 8 am to 2 pm, they said.

The officials said 2,000 to 3,000 personnel from the Delhi Police and paramilitary forces, including the Central Reserve Police Force, will be deployed as part of the security arrangements.

Drones are likely to be used for surveillance. Only one reporter and one camera person from every organisation will be allowed to cover the event, according to officials.

Police had issued a traffic advisory on Friday regarding the restrictions. Roads leading to the Ramlila Maidan will be under CCTV surveillance, the officials said.

Door frame metal detectors and baggage scanners will also be installed in and around the ground.

Kejriwal will be sworn in as the chief minister of Delhi on February 16 for the third time.

He has taken oath as chief minister twice before at the same venue.

On Sunday, cars will have to be parked at the Civic Centre and behind it.

Buses will be parked on Mata Sundri Road, Power House Road, Velodrome Road, Rajghat parking, Shanti Van parking and service roads in Rajghat and Samta Sthal as per requirements, according to the advisory.

OB vans will be parked on the footpath along JLN Marg, opposite Ramlila Maidan and beyond gate number 2 up to the roundabout near Kamla Market, it stated.

No commercial vehicles will be allowed from Rajghat Chowk and Delhi Gate Chowk towards Guru Nanak Dev Chowk via JLN Marg, Chatta Rail towards Delhi Gate Chowk via Netaji Subhash Marg, Paharganj Chowk towards Ajmeri Gate via Desh Bandu Gupta Road, Ram Charan Aggarwal Chowk towards Delhi Gate Chowk via Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, DDU Minto Road towards Kamla Market Chowk via Vivekanand Marg and Barakhamba, Tolstoy Road towards Ranjit Singh flyover, the advisory said.

The Aam Aadmi Party swept the Delhi assembly polls, held last week, bagging 62 out of 70 seats.  -- PTI

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Saturday said that no meeting has been scheduled with Union Home Minister Amit Shah for Sunday after the protestors at Shaheen Bagh claimed to be going to meet Shah to discuss issues related to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

A bunch of Shaheen Bagh protesters on Saturday said that they would be going to meet Amit Shah at his residence on Sunday over CAA and NRC while admitting at the same time that they have not sought an appointment with the minister.

"No such meeting is scheduled with the Union Home Minister Amit Shah for tomorrow," said MHA in a statement.

The development came two days after Home Minister Amit Shah said at Times Now Summit here that anyone having doubts over CAA could seek an appointment from his office and he would be willing to meet the person(s) within three days.

A large number of people have been staging a protest at Delhi's Shaheen Bagh since mid-December last year over the CAA, seeking its withdrawal.

It's being dubbed as the 'people's protest' because it has no leader or coordinator.Speaking with media persons on Saturday, a group of anti-CAA protesters at Delhi's Shaheen Bagh claimed that they would be going to meet the home minister, and every one of them would meet the Home Minister personally instead of taking a delegation.

"Amit Shah has himself invited everyone on television to meet him, so we are going to meet him tomorrow. Shah himself said that whoever is facing problem due to CAA should meet him," said one of the protesters who did not wish to be named.

A woman protester said that all the women would also be going to meet the home minister tomorrow.

"Everyone will go and meet Home Minister Amit Shah at 2 pm tomorrow. It's a request that all the citizens including men and women who are facing problems due to CAA, NRC and NPR have to go and meet Amit Shah and PM Modi ji," said an elderly woman.

On Friday, protestors at Shaheen Bagh held heart-shaped cut-outs in which they urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit them at the protest site.

The Citizenship Amendment Act grants citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Parsi, Buddhist and Christian refugees who came from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh on or before December 31, 2014. -- ANI

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday met United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference and discussed bilateral relationship ahead of President Donald Trump's visit to India this month.

'Good to see @SecPompeo at #MSC2020. Allowed us to take stock of the relationship as we look forward to @realDonaldTrump 's visit,' Jaishankar tweeted.

President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump will pay a state visit to India on February 24 and 25 at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it was announced this week.

In addition to New Delhi, Trump will also visit Ahmedabad to address a joint public meeting with Modi at a newly-built stadium.

Jaishankar, who arrived here on Friday for the prestigious security conference, also met House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and said her 'consistent support' to India-US ties has always been a great source of strength.

Jaishankar on Friday met US ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Knight Craft on the sidelines of the conference.

Trump on his maiden trip to India will also meet the country's top business leaders in New Delhi on February 25, in a bid to push for deeper trade and business relations between the two nations.

On the sidelines of the security conference, Jaishankar met several other world leaders attending the meet.

The Munich Security Conference, being held here from February 14-16, is the world's leading forum for debate on international security policy. -- PTI

Reacting to party colleague Jyotiraditya Scindia's 'threat' of hitting the streets if Madhya Pradesh government fails to fulfil its poll promises including farm loans waiver and regularising the guest teachers, Chief Minister Kamal Nath in New Delhi on Saturday said that Scindia was free to do it.

"Toh utar jayein sadak par (Let him if he wants to)," Kamal Nath, who is in Delhi to attend the Madhya Pradesh Coordination Committee meeting, told reporters.

Scindia, who too was present at the meeting, left early.

Scindia has been unhappy with Kamal Nath's leadership.

On Thursday, Scindia told the guest teachers in the state, stating that he would be their 'shield and sword' if all promises in the party's manifesto were not fulfilled.

"I want to assure you that your demand is included in our government's manifesto and it is our sacred text. It has been a year for the government, teachers have to be a little patient. Our turn will come and if not then I assure you that I will be your shield and sword," said Scindia at an event in Kudila village of Tikamgarh district.

"If all promises in the manifesto are not fulfilled, do not think you are alone. Scindia will also hit the streets with you," he added.

The chief minister had on Friday said: "Manifesto is for five years, right? It is not for five months."

The war of word over 'manifesto promises in Madhya Pradesh' received mixed responses from political leaders.

While some extended supports to Scindia, others said that duo must resolve their internal differences within the party. -- ANI

Passengers of a Noapara-bound  train in the North-South line of the Kolkata Metro were evacuated at Chandni Chowk station after smoke was seen billowing out from one of the coaches on Saturday, officials said.

Passengers raised an alarm after seeing smoke coming out from the air-conditioned metro rake when it stopped at the station in the central part of the city around 1.35 pm, Metro officials said.

The passengers were deboarded and the empty rake sent to Noapara carshed, the officials said.

Nobody was injured in the incident and the services were briefly disrupted, they added.  -- PTI

Several Karnataka Congress leaders, including its president Dinesh Gundu Rao and leader of the opposition Siddaramaiah, were detained by the police in Bengaluru on Saturday, as they marched to besiege Chief Minister B S Yediyurappas office to protest against the alleged misuse of the police department by the Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state.

Rao and Bangalore rural MP D K Suresh tried to jump the barricade erected by the police to stop them, and march towards the chief ministers residence, but were stopped midway and detained.

The march, which began from Gandhi statue on Race Course Road, led to a traffic pile-up.

State Congress had organised the protest over sedition case filed against a Bidar school and arrest of a parent and the headmistress (now on bail) for their alleged involvement in staging a drama portraying Prime Minister Narendra Modi in poor light in connection with the (Citizenship Amendment Act) and NRC (National Register of Citizens).

The principal opposition party in the state alleged misuse of the police department by the state government to book cases against those opposing BJP and its 'divisive policies'.

As he was being detained, former chief minister Siddaramaiah termed the police action as undemocratic.

"Police have no right to suppress or take away our rights," he said.

The Congress had planned to lay siege to Chief Minister's Office as law was being violated across the state and false cases were being filed for sedition against political opponents, especially from Congress and those opposing the CAA and NRC, Siddaramaiah said.

Despite BJP activists using 'filthy language and making anti-national comments', no cases were filed against them.

He alleged that BJP was trying to suppress Congress, using the police, and pointed out that cases have been booked against its leader U T Khader and a student from Mysuru for opposing CAA and NRC, while no cases have been filed against ruling party leaders like Somashekara Reddy and AnantKumar Hegde for allegedly making inflammatory speeches.  -- PTI

Seventeen people, out of a large number of passengers who had arrived in Delhi from China and other coronavirus-affected countries before the screening at the airport began around mid-January, have been found symptomatic for the infection and hospitalised, officials said.

Delhi health department officials have traced many of such passengers.

According to data shared by the Delhi health department, till February 13, over 5,700 such passengers were approached after being informed by the Delhi airport authorities.

"As many as 4,707 passengers were found asymptomatic and advised for home isolation (self-quarantined). Seventeen patients were found symptomatic and hospitalised," a senior official of the Delhi health department said.

The number of passengers, who remain untraced stands at 817, the official said, quoting the data collated by the health department.

The number of passengers pending surveillance stands at 68, according to the data.

Passengers arriving from China, Hong Kong, Thailand and Singapore are being screened for possible exposure to the respiratory virus at 21 identified airports in the country, including Delhi airport, from January 17.

In Delhi, of the 4,705 passengers found asymptomatic, a maximum of 1,249 of those were residents of West Delhi district, while 1,073 people lived in Central Delhi.

The Delhi government has already set up a centralised control room at DGHS (HQ) and such centres also in the 11 districts.

"Anyone, who gets flu-like symptoms should immediately contact the nearest control room," the official said.

"Efforts are on to trace the passengers from Delhi who travelled on or after January 15 to China and other countries, and returned to Delhi before the airport screening process began," he said.

The death toll in China's novel coronavirus epidemic has climbed to 1,523 with 143 new fatalities reported mostly from the worst-affected Hubei province while the confirmed cases jumped to over 66,000, health officials said on Saturday.

India has so far reported three confirmed cases of the virus, all in Kerala. One of the three medical students, who had tested positive for novel coronavirus infection and were treated at a hospital in Kerala, has been discharged after recovery, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had said on Thursday.

About the other two, he said subsequent tests indicated significant reduction in 'viral load'.

The health ministry has asked people to refrain from travelling to China in view of the coronavirus outbreak and said travellers on return could be quarantined.  -- PTI

A Delhi court on Saturday imposed a cost of Rs 5,000 on Congress leader Shashi Tharoor for not appearing in hearing on a criminal defamation complaint filed against him for his alleged 'scorpion' remark against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vishal Pahuja imposed the cost on the Lok Sabha member from Thiruvananthapuram noting that he had failed to appear before him despite the court's earlier direction.

The court was hearing the complaint filed by Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party leader Rajeev Babbar, who claimed that his religious sentiments were hurt.

"I am a devotee of Lord Shiva... However, the accused (Tharoor) completely disregarded the sentiments of crores of Shiva devotees, made the statement which hurt the sentiments of all the Lord Shiva devotees, both in India and outside the country," the complaint said.

"The complainant's religious sentiments were hurt and accused deliberately did this malicious act, intending to outrage religious feeling of Lord Shiva devotees by insulting their religious believes," it said.

The complaint, filed through advocate Neeraj, termed the statement as an 'intolerable abuse' and 'absolute vilification' of the faith of millions of people.

The complaint was filed under sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code relating to defamation.

Tharoor had claimed that an unnamed Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader had compared Modi to 'a scorpion sitting on a Shivling'.  -- PTI

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Saturday said that government has taken serious note of the matter pertaining to an Institute in Bhuj where girl students were allegedly forced to remove their innerwear to check whether they are menstruating or not, and has issued orders to the Home department and Education department to take strict action.

"The state government has taken the incident very seriously and issued orders to Home department and Education department to take strict action," said Rupani while speaking to ANI in Ahmedabad.

The chief minister informed that a first information report in the matter was lodged on Friday.

At least 68 girl students of Shree Sahajanand Girls Institute (SSGI) in Gujarat's Bhuj were allegedly forced to remove their innerwear to prove that they were not menstruating.

The students are demanding action legal action against the authorities of the education institution for making such a move.

"We do respect our institution, but what they did was not right. Legal action should be taken against them. We decided to call the media to throw light on the matter," one of the complainants told ANI.

The girl alleged that the principal of the institute blackmailed and forced them to withdraw the complaint.

"The principal and a few others have called us and tried emotionally blackmailed us. He also told us to give in writing that everything is fine now. We want legal action and not just the apology from the administration," she said.   -- ANI

A day ahead of taking oath as the Delhi chief minister for the third time, Aam Aadmi Party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal has called a dinner meeting of his Cabinet ministers to discuss a roadmap for Delhi's development.

According to party functionaries, Kejriwal will discuss with his ministers initiatives that need to be prioritised and action items for Delhi government in the coming three months.

The meeting will also focus on developing a roadmap to make Delhi a global city, they said.

Kejriwal will take oath as Delhi chief minister along with his cabinet at 10 am on Sunday.  -- PTI

The three elderly women who have come to be known as the 'dadis of Shaheen Bagh' are likely to meet Union Home Minister Amit shah at 2 pm on Sunday.

Top officials of the home ministry and Delhi police are also expected to be present at the meeting.

Shaheen Bagh blockade may end on Monday.

Shaheen Bagh has become the epicentre of protest against the CAA as women with young children have been on a sit-in protest for nearly two months.

On February 10, the Supreme Court had said people cannot block public road indefinitely and create inconvenience for others but declined to pass an interim direction on pleas for removal of anti-CAA protesters from Shaheen Bagh.

Around 50 people from different walks of life who are responsible for 'Delhi nirman' will share stage with Arvind Kejriwal during his swearing-in ceremony on Sunday, Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia said.

He said these 50 people would include teachers, bus marshalls, architects of the Signature Bridge and family of fire fighters who lost their lives, among others.

The AAP won 62 seats in the 70-member Delhi Assembly, while the Bharatiya Janata Party bagged the remaining eight seats.

The Congress drew a blank for the second consecutive time.

Kejriwal will take oath as Delhi chief minister along with his cabinet at 10 am on Sunday.  -- PTI

Pakistan Rangers on Saturday violated the ceasefire by resorting to unprovoked firing on forward posts and villages along the international border in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district early on Saturday, officials said.

The Border Security Force retaliated effectively, and the exchange of fire, which started around 4 am at Chakra village in Hiranagar sector, lasted for over two-and-a-half hours, according to the officials.

There was no report of any casualty on the Indian side, the officials said, adding that the Pakistan Rangers also fired dozens of mortars.

The latest ceasefire violation by Pakistan comes a day after a villager was killed and four were injured along the Line of Control in Shahpur sector of Poonch district.  --  PTI

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat inaugurated the newly-constructed Gujarat headquarter building of the Sangh- Dr Hedgewar Bhavan- in Ahmedabad on Saturday.

He inaugurated the five-storey building, located in Maninagar area, after offering flowers to a large painting of Bharat Mata installed at its main entrance.

The new structure was built at a cost of Rs 5 crore after the demolition of the previous RSS building, which was around five decades old.

The new complex has two basements for parking. It houses a large hall on the first floor, two small halls on the second and third floors, a library and rooms for stay, a release by the RSS said.

After the inauguration ceremony, Bhagwat took a stroll in the complex along with the local RSS functionaries.

Bhagwat, who is on a two-day visit to the state, is later scheduled to meet the donors and other people, who have contributed towards the construction of the new building.

In the evening, he would address a gathering of intellectuals at Dinesh Hall in the city.

On Sunday, the Sangh chief would meet and address RSS workers at TransStadia, a private stadium complex in Maninagar area of the city.

RSS workers will remain present with their family members at that event. -- PTI

Former civil servant and chief of Jammu and Kashmir Peoples' Movement Shah Faesal has been booked under the Public Safety Act that allows detention without trial for up to three months and multiple extensions.

The Jammu and Kashmir administration had on February 5 invoked the stringent PSA against former Chief Ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti. 

Both Abdullah and Mufti were under preventive detention since August 5 last year when the Narendra Modi government announced the abrogation of Article 370 revoking Jammu and Kashmir's special status and bifurcating it into two Union Territories. 

Faesal was detained on August 14, 2019, a week after the scrapping of special status of the erstwhile State.

The Supreme Court on Friday issued a notice to the Jammu and Kashmir administration on the plea of National Conference leader Omar Abdullah's sister challenging his detention under the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act, 1978.

The Indian Embassy in Japan on Saturday said it is making efforts to disembark all the Indians on board the cruise ship moored off the Japanese coast after the end of the quarantine period as authorities confirmed that 218 people, including three Indians, have been infected with the deadly disease on the ship.

  

A total of 138 Indians, including 132 crew and 6 passengers, were among the 3,711 people on board the quarantined ship that arrived at the Japanese coast earlier this month.

It was quarantined after a passenger who de-boarded last month in Hong Kong was found to be the carrier of the COVID-19 on the ship.

The Indian Embassy is in contact with Japanese authorities, the ship management company and Indian nationals on board the ship. 

"We have continued our efforts with all of them for early disembarkation of our nationals after the end of the quarantine period and subject to favourable results of their tests for COVID - 19," an embassy official told PTI on Saturday.

A third Indian crew on board a cruise ship off the Japanese coast tested positive for the novel coronavirus, taking the total number of Indians infected with COVID-19 to three.

The embassy has contacted all three Indian nationals who have tested positive for COVID-19 and are currently receiving treatment at medical facilities.

"Their health conditions have been confirmed to be stable and improving. Embassy is also in constant contact with the relevant Japanese authorities to ensure the well-being of all Indian nationals on-board the ship," it said.

The embassy also sent an email to all Indian nationals on board the ship, assuring them of all help and assistance. 

They are also requested to follow the Japanese government's health and quarantine protocols, the embassy said on its Facebook page.

India on Saturday criticised Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's comments on Kashmir and asked him not to interfere in India's internal affairs.

  

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said India rejects all references made by the Turkish President on Jammu and Kashmir, stating that the region is an integral and inalienable part of India.

In an address at Pakistan's Parliament on Friday, Erdogan compared "the struggle of Kashmiri people with that of fight by Turkish people against foreign domination during the World War I".

"India rejects all references to Jammu and Kashmir, which is an integral and inalienable part of India," Kumar said in reference to Erdogan's comments on Jammu and Kashmir.

"We call upon the Turkish leadership not to interfere in India's internal affairs and develop a proper understanding of the facts, including the grave threat posed by terrorism emanating from Pakistan to India and the region," he said.

Slamming the Aam Aadmi Party for inviting the heads of government schools for Chief Minister-designate Arvind Kejriwal's oath-taking ceremony, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kapil Mishra on Saturday said that "forcing" the teachers to come for the ceremony is the beginning of a wrong tradition.

"It is a good thing that teachers were invited for the swearing-in ceremony but forcing them to follow the government orders is the beginning of a wrong tradition," Mishra tweeted in Hindi. He asserted that such practices should not be encouraged.

Earlier in the day, the school heads were requested to attend the swearing-in ceremony, along with 20 teachers, including vice principals, entrepreneurship mindset curriculum coordinators, happiness coordinators and teacher development coordinators.

The Kejriwal-led party won the Delhi Assembly elections on Tuesday with a clear majority of 62 seats out of 70 with contender BJP bagging eight seats, better than its tally of three in 2015.

The Congress party failed to open its account, just like the last election.

US President Donald Trump said that he is looking forward to his two-day visit to India scheduled later this month.

"Great honour, I think? Mark Zuckerberg recently stated that 'Donald J Trump is Number 1 on Facebook. Number 2 is Prime Minister Modi of India.' Actually, I am going to India in two weeks. Looking forward to it!" Trump tweeted. 

Accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump, the US President will visit India on February 24 and 25 at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A day after the announcement, Modi tweeted that India will accord a memorable welcome to the "esteemed guests" and the visit would go a long way in further cementing India-US friendship.

According to the ministry of external affairs, Trump is expected to attend an event at the Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad on the lines of the 'Howdy Modi' function that was addressed by the US President and Modi in Houston in September last year.

Buoyed by its massive victory in the Delhi assembly polls, the Aam Aadmi Party has decided to contest all elections to local bodies across the country as part of an ambitious plan to expand its footprint beyond the national capital.

Senior AAP leader Gopal Rai said the party has convened a meeting of its national executive on Sunday to deliberate on expanding the party by projecting its "positive nationalism".

Rai, a confidante of AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, said the party has set its sight on contesting assembly elections in a number of states including Punjab in the first phase.

"The agenda of Sunday's meeting is to expand our organisation at the national level by including volunteers in large numbers and building party cadre across the country," he said.

Rai, a minister in outgoing Kejriwal government, said people will be able to join AAP's 'nation building campaign' by giving a missed call on the phone number 9871010101.

"We will reach out to people through this campaign and make them volunteers in large numbers. The party will contest elections of all local bodies across the country. AAP will fight upcoming local body elections in Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat," he said.

Rai called BJP's nationalism "negative", asserting that AAP will expand its base by highlighting on "positive nationalism".

"In Delhi, we spread positive nationalism which is based on love and respect. The BJP's nationalism is based on hatred and divisive politics," he said.

"The experiment done by the AAP in Delhi has become a role model for the entire country. Our nationalism is positive nationalism which gives guarantee of good education, health care and livelihood to every section of the society including farmers," he said.

US President Donald Trump's upcoming visit to India will be a "delightful spectacle" and "utterly successful" by many measures, eminent American experts on South Asia issues have said.

Trump along with First Lady Melania Trump are scheduled to visit Ahmedabad and New Delhi on February 24 and 25, according to a White House announcement early this week. 

This would be president's first bilateral visit in the third decade of 21st century and also the first after his acquittal by the Senate in the impeachment trial.

"I think the Trump visit will be a delightful spectacle and utterly successful by many measures," said Ashley Tellis, who is Tata Chair for Strategic Affairs and a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.  

Trump is expected to get a roaring welcome by lakhs of people when he arrives in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. 

He along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi are expected to deliver a historic speech in front of hundreds and thousands of people at the newly build Motera stadium, the largest cricket stadium of the world.  

One of the most prominent experts on India, Tellis, however, noted that at the moment, he was unsure whether the trade disputes between the two countries will be resolved. 

 

A 60-year old villager was killed and four others were injured on Friday when Pakistan army engaged in heavy mortar shelling and firing on civilian areas and forward posts along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district, officials said.

Pakistan army targeted civilians when they were heading towards a mosque to offer Friday prayers in Shahpur hamlet along the Line of Control (Loc), they said.

Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire and launched mortar shells and fired from small arms on villages and forward posts along the LoC in Shahpur and Kerni areas of the district, the officials said.

They used 120 mm mortars to target villages, the officials added.

A mortar shell exploded near a mosque, killing one civilian and injuring four others, they said.

The officials said Indian Army guarding the borderline retaliated befittingly to the Pakistani shelling.

The exchange of fire was going on when the reports last came in, they said.

The deceased was identified as Badar Din of Shahpur, the officials said, adding two among the injured were identified as Mohmmad Shabir, 32, and Imtaiz Ahmed, 33.

The injured have been shifted to the district hospital, they said.

Deputy Commissioner, Poonch, Rahul Yadav and SSP Ramesh Angral visited the hospital Poonch and met the injured persons undergoing treatment there.

Yadav announced an ex-gratia of Rs 1 lakh to the family of the deceased and Rs 5,000 each to the injured persons out of the Red Cross, a statement issued said.

A soldier was killed and three others were injured on Saturday last when Pakistani army violated the ceasefire by resorting to unprovoked firing of small arms and mortar shelling along the LoC in Poonch district, the officials said.  -- PTI