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India., US sign deal for unrestricted flights

     New Delhi: India and the United States signed an agreement on Thursday to allow unrestricted number of flights in each other's territory. The landmark agreement was signed here today by Indian Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel and the United States transportation secretary Norman Y Mineta. Terming the agreement as a great beginning for a new chapter in the relationship of the two nations, Patel said that it would enhance not only people-to-people tie but also trade and commerce. The Union Cabinet presided by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, had on Wednesday night given its nod for replacing the 1956 Air Services Agreement with the new one.

     Under the new agreement both India and the US can mount any number of flights to any point in each other's territory. The deal includes open routes, frequencies, pricing, as well as opportunities for cooperative marketing arrangements and is expected to at least double the passanger traffic between India and the United States, which is currently pegged at around two million per annum. In another significant agreement Air India and other carriers will be allowed to have additional ports of call other than existing ones like Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Newark (New Jersey). Similarly, American carriers will also be able to have direct operations to additional cities in India. Currently, Indian carriers operate 28 flights a week to the US, which has 14 flights. The new accord also seeks to remove the earlier restriction of code-share rights to any five points in the respective territories of both countries.

Musharraf to start India visit from Ajmer Sharif (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: Pakistan President Gen Pervez Musharraf will start his three-day tour to India on Saturday by visiting the shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti at Ajmer before arriving in New Delhi, official sources said. According to the Dawn, for security reasons and to save time and the attendant inconvenience to the highway traffic, the president will take a helicopter to Ajmer after landing at the neighbouring Jaipur. Then Indian foreign minister Jaswant Singh, speaking moments after President Musharraf's Agra visit in 2001 ended, had explained Gen Musharraf's empty-handed return on the absence of a hukm from Ajmer shrine. That hukm very nearly gave a slip on Wednesday too when Gen Musharraf's desire to visit the shrine was momentarily stalled by its authorities who wanted him to come there on Saturday afternoon because of ongoing prayers. According to the earlier plan, Gen Musharraf was to land first in Jaipur en route to Delhi, visit the shrine on Saturday morning and reach here in the afternoon to be at the dinner being hosted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh the same evening. There was a proposal: let the president visit the dargah on his way back on April 18. But Pakistani diplomats said the issue had been resolved and Gen Musharraf would go to the shrine shortly after the crowd at the special prayers dispersed. On Sunday morning, he would watch the one-day match between India and Pakistan at Ferozeshah Kotla grounds for a couple of hours. Prime Minister Singh will join him for the match.

     The president will then break away for a host of meetings with the Indian leadership and then meet his Indian counterpart A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who is hosting a lunch for him the same day. A meeting with the Hurriyat leaders has also been lined up. According to paper, there are suggestions to have Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Musharraf at the prize distribution ceremony in the evening after the match, but a decision on this has not been taken yet. Later in the day, the Pakistan High Commission plans to host a reception in honour of the president. Elaborate security measures, including aerial ferry service, have been chalked out for the match.

Zahira to appear before SC next week (Go To Top)

     Ahmedabad: Zahira Sheikh, the key witness in the Best Bakery case, will appear before the Supreme Court for a hearing on April 18, her lawyers said today. The Nanavati Commission, which is probing the Gujarat riots case, has asked Zahira to file a fresh affidavit, and will record her evidence on May 4, the prosecution lawyer Mukul Sinha told reporters in Ahmedabad. Sinha added: "Zahira's lawyers have said in the application that a hearing has been kept on the 18th of this month by the order of the Supreme Court and in that hearing she has filed the same affidavit. So since both the inquiries are connected she had sought the hearing to be held simultaneously on the 18th at the Supreme Court. The court has granted her plea but made clear the she will nevertheless record evidence before the commission on the fourth of next month."

India frees 24 Pak prisoners (Go To Top)

    New Delhi: India today released 24 Pakistani prisoners at the Wagah border and announced that nearly 160 Pak fishermen lodged in Indian jails will be released on April 19. "Twenty-four Pak prisoners are going to Pakistan today. Another 160 prisoners will also be handed over to the Pakistani authorities in coming days, in which 40 are languishing in Punjab jails and another 120 are in other jails across the country," said Avatar Henry, Food and Supply Minister, Punjab. The External Affairs Ministry spokesman, Navtej Sarna, however, said that 156 fishermen would be released on April 19. The move is being seen as an apparent response to similar gesture by Islamabad ahead of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's visit to New Delhi. "This process will continue, we are trying to make good relations between both the countries," added Avatar. Pakistan had released 529 Indian fishermen held in Pakistani jails on March 21 as a "goodwill gesture." India and Pakistan are carrying forward the peace process between them driven by various Confidence Building Measures (CBMs).

Homage paid to Baba Saheb BR Ambedkar (Go To Top)

    New Delhi: The Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat lead the nation in paying homage to Baba Saheb, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar on his 114th Birth Anniversary here today. He offered floral tributes at the tastefully decorated statue of Baba Saheb at Sansad Bhavan Lawns in Parliament House complex this morning. The Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh also offered tributes to the Father of the Indian Constitution, Dr. Ambedkar. Among other leaders who paid floral homage to Baba Saheb included Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment Shrimati Meira Kumar, Home Minister Shri Shivraj Patil, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, Ministers of State Suresh Pachauri, R. Velu and Manik Rao Gavit, Leader of the Oppostion in the Lok Sabha Shri L. K. Advani and Chief Minister of Delhi Shrimati Sheila Dixit. Thousands of people visited the Parliament House Complex since morning to pay tributes to the messiah of the marginalised and downtrodden sections of society among chanting of slogans 'Baba Sahib Amar Rahe'. The function began with a prayer by Buddhist monks. The artists of Song and Dram Division sang devotional songs. The function was organised by the Ambedkar Foundation.

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