Press Trust of India

As part of its public outreach, India’s external affairs ministry Tuesday held its first question and answer session on Facebook with its spokesperson being flooded with questions from across the world during the 45-minute session, including requests to help out Indians in a Maldives jail.

MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin, who has 257,000 followers on Twitter and regularly updates the social media platform with posts on any new diplomatic event, received around 30 questions. The 45-minute session reached 112,192 Facebook users, with 4,655 likes, comments and shares.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Tuesday said her party Trinamool Congress was opposed to land acquisition through force and demanded immediate withdrawal of the “draconian” land ordinance promulgated by the centre.

“Immediately withdraw land ordinance. It is draconian. It will affect the farmers. We have always opposed this,” Banerjee said in a Twitter post.

“We do not support forceful land acquisition,” she said on the day the NDA government came in for strident criticism over the land acquisition bill which was introduced in the Lok Sabha.

A Special Task Force (STF) Tuesday registered an FIR against Governor Ram Naresh Yadav and 100 others in the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (MPPEB) or Vyapam scam, sources said.

Additional Director General of Police (STF) Ashish Khare told the media that the first information report (FIR) was lodged over the recruitment of forest guards.

Those named in the FIR include 88 candidates and 11 middlemen and other people.

They have been charged under relevant sections of the IT Act and the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Union Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma paid a surprise visit to the Taj Mahal Tuesday evening, to look into the issues ailing the structure, following a directive from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He was accompanied by union minister of state for human resource development Ram Shankar Katheria and local tourism industry leaders.

The minister said the monument required strategies to control crowds and eliminate touts.

The minister asked the Archaeological Survey of India and the department of tourism to green the Taj Corridor between the Agra Fort and the Taj Mahal.

India and key Gulf partner Bahrain have agreed to start negotiations on an MoU on defence cooperation as well as inking of an agreement on internal security during their first High Joint Commission (HJC) here co-chaired by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Bahraini counterpart Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmed Bin Mohamed Al Khalifa.

In a joint statement issued Monday, both sides welcomed holding of the first meeting of the High Joint Commission Sunday, and agreed that the commission at the level of foreign ministers reflects accurately the depth and strength of bilateral ties.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, who holds the finance portfolio, will be presenting the budget for 2015-16 in the state assembly on Tuesday.

The cabinet chaired by Akhilesh Yadav Monday approved budget proposals for various departments, an official said.

The cabinet gave its green signal to more than a dozen major proposals for which funds have been earmarked. Under the new proposals, a new tehsil has been sanctioned for Mughalsarai while a quality control mechanism for the Agra Lucknow Expressway has also been approved by the state cabinet.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday said it was time for India to “realize the potential of soft power” as an important strategy for external affairs and foreign relations.

Inaugurating the first international “Ramayana Mela” here, Modi said that “world affairs were no longer on one track”.

“India should leverage its great traditions and culture in forging ties with countries around the world in a way that is deeper, more personal, and therefore, far more powerful,” he said.

A joint India-Nepal motor rally will be flagged off on February 27 from Puri in Odisha to promote connectivity, people-to-people contact, and spiritual and adventure tourism in both the countries, India’s Ambassador to Nepal Ranjit Rae said here Monday.

“The rally is aimed at strengthening Nepal-India people-to-people exchanges and to sustain the momentum following the historic visits of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Nepal last year,” the envoy said.

The first Indo-Nepal Friendship Motor Rally will cover more than 2,500 km before concluding in New Delhi on March 8.

Rajasthan on Monday decided to set up a heritage council under the chief minister for conservation, regulation and maintenance of heritage structures of historical and archaeological importance.

The Rajasthan Heritage Conservation Bill, 2014 would be tabled in the state assembly during the budget session that would begin Feb 25, the state’s Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rajendra Singh Rathore told the media here.

The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje Monday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday condoled the loss of lives in a ferry accident in Bangladesh.

“My prayers are with the families of those who lost their lives in the accident in Bangladesh,” the prime minister said in a statement.

An overloaded ferry, carrying over 100 people, capsized Sunday after being hit by a cargo trawler in Padma river in Bangladesh. The toll has reached 69.

(IANS)