India

Jammu, Jan 15 (PTI) In a bid to build bridges between Raj Bhawan and Hurriyat Conference, J&K Governor Satya Pal Malik Tuesday reached out to the separatist leaders urging them to apprise him directly of the cases of "atrocity and injustice" to common people that they may come across.

Malik made the offer with an appeal that the Hurriyat Conference leaders should not treat him as "an alien".

"I have a message for Hurriyat that they should not consider me as an alien," Governor Malik told PTI in an interview.

Kollam, Jan 15 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday launched a scathing attack on the left government in Kerala on the Sabarimala issue, saying Communists do not respect India's culture and spirituality.

Hitting out at the CPI-M-led LDF and the opposition spearheaded by the UDF in the state, he said both the fronts were two sides of the same coin and accused them of neglecting people of the state.

"We know that the Communists do not respect India's culture, history and spirituality," Modi said at a public meeting here.

Jammu, Jan 15 (PTI) A BSF officer was killed on Tuesday in sniper fire from across the border in the Samba sector of Jammu and Kashmir, officials of the border guarding force said.

They said Assistant Commandant Vinay Prasad was hit by a sniper shot at about 10:50 am when he and his patrol party were out for "carrying out border domination" along the IB.

Mumbai, Jan 15 (PTI) The country is going to add 1,000 aircraft over the next 7-8 years, a top government official said Tuesday.

India is the fastest growing domestic aviation market and has been registering double-digit growth for more than 50 consecutive weeks.

Civil Aviation Secretary R N Choubey said the country is an aviation locomotive for the world and provides humongous opportunities for players across the globe to grow.

Bhopal, Jan 15 (PTI) Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath Tuesday launched his government's Rs 50,000-crore farm debt-waiver scheme named 'Jai Kisan Rin Mukti Yojana'.

Hailing the scheme as a milestone, Nath said here it would benefit 55 lakh small and marginal farmers.

He also slammed the opposition parties for alleging that the scheme was being implemented without any budgetary provisions.

Lucknow, Jan 15 (PTI) Buoyed by the new SP-BSP alliance for the coming Lok Sabha elections, at least one Bahujan Samaj Party leader has gone on social media projecting party chief Mayawati as the next prime minister.

Senior BSP leader Sudhindra Bhadoria shared a poster expressing the wish on his certified Twitter handle while congratulating Mayawati Tuesday on her 63rd birthday, celebrated as `Jan Kalyankari Diwas' or Public Welfare Day.

Bhadoria tweeted that it was his dream to see the BSP chief become prime minister.

Lucknow, Jan 15 (PTI) The Uttar Pradesh government has allocated Rs 4,200 crore for the Kumbh Mela being held in the 'sangam' city of Allahabad, which is over thrice the budget of the Maha Kumbh in 2013, making the mega pilgrimage perhaps the costliest ever.

"The UP government has allocated Rs 4,200 crore for 2019 Kumbh Mela. The previous state government had spent around Rs 1,300 crore for the Maha Kumbh, which was held in 2013," state Finance Minister Rajesh Agarwal told PTI.

Chennai, Jan 15 (PTI): Tamil Nadu lad D Gukesh Tuesday became the second youngest Grand Master in the world and the youngest Indian to achieve the feat at 12 years, seven months and 17 days, erasing the mark set by his state-mate R Praggnanandhaa in June last year.

He achieved his third and final GM norm at the ongoing 17th Delhi International Open Chess tournament in Delhi after beating compatriot D K Sharma in the ninth round.

Gukesh becomes India's 59th Grand Master.

Kolkata, Jan 15 (PTI) Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee is a better leader than many others, but it cannot be said at this juncture if she would make a good prime minister, former national security advisor M K Narayanan said Tuesday.

Narayanan, also a former governor of West Bengal, said he had spent a lifetime in intelligence and had seen almost all leaders since Independence and she is "better suited among others as she is a listener at least to some.... She is a difficult person with some remarkable qualities."

New Delhi, Jan 15 (PTI) Finance Minister Arun Jaitley unexpectedly left for the US for a medical check-up following a kidney transplant last year, sources said.

Jaitley, 66, who had a kidney transplant operation and follow-up check-ups at AIIMS last year, left for the US on Sunday night for a "regular medical check-up", sources said, adding that he would be back by this weekend.

This is Jaitley's first overseas visit since his kidney ailment was confirmed in April last year.