In rare gesture, PM Modi to host special farewell for Pranab
NEW DELHI: A series of farewell functions is lined up for the outgoing President Pranab Mukherjee. In a rare gesture Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 22 is hosting a farewell dinner in honour of the 13th President of India in prestigious Hyderabad House of the Lutyen’s Delhi. The President elect Ramnath Kovind along with Council of Ministers would be present on that dinner. Prime Minister is expected to give a farewell speech there. A special menu has been ordered for the outgoing President.
President Mukherjee will also hold a banquet on July 24 in honour of the Council of Ministers in the Banquet Hall of the President house. On the same evening, outgoing President will address the nation on the national television, which would be telecast in both English and Hindi. All the regional channels would telecast the address in their respective languages.
On July 23, Speaker of the Lok Sabha Sumitra Mahajan is hosting a farewell function in the central hall of the Parliament. In that function Union minister of State Babul Supriyo has been asked to perform a Tagore Song: Ekla Chalo Re .... The Speaker is hosting a tea party in honour of the outgoing President.
In all the functions, President elect Ramnath Kovind has also been invited. On July 25, new President Kovind would be sworn in as the 14th President of the country in Darbar Hall of the Rashtrapati Bhavan where two separate chairs will be kept side by side. The moment new President is sworn in, the out-going President Mukherjee would leave his chair for the incoming President.
After that, new President will come to the Central Hall of the Parliament and give his acceptance speech. When the function is over, the outgoing President would be sent off to his new residence 10 Rajaji Marg. NEW DELHI: The Army’s director general of military operations Lt. Gen. A K Bhatt on Thursday strongly took up with his Pakistani counterpart the issue of Pakistani troops “deliberately targeting” civilians and firing at school children along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.
During a telephonic conversation, Bhatt asked Pakistani DGMO Maj. Gen. Sahir Shamshad Mirza to exercise “strict control” over his troops and instruct them to refrain from any “nefarious activities”, an Army spokesperson said.
The Pakistani DGMO was informed about Pakistani troops deliberately targeting civilian villages and also firing at school children in Nowshera sector of Rajouri district when they were being evacuated from the area on Tuesday.
“This, he (Mirza) was told, does not behove any army.
The Indian Army as professional force takes due care to avoid targeting of civilians and Pakistan Army was expected to do the same,” Army spokesman Col. Aman Anand said.
Col Anand said the Pakistani DGMO was informed about the spate of ceasefire violations which also included “calibre escalation coupled with incidents of sniping and attempted infiltration”.
The two DGMOS had spoken on Monday as well, during which Bhatt told Mirza that the Indian Army reserves the right to retaliate appropriately against any incident of ceasefire violation along the LOC in Jammu and Kashmir.
Anand said the Indian Army has been taking all necessary steps to ensure the safety of life and property of Indian citizens. The telephonic call over the hotline was initiated by Lt. Gen. Bhatt to protest Pakistani troops’ firing at school children.