Morning Brief: India To Build Memorial In France For Soldiers Who Died In World War I; Former CMs Of MP Asked To Vacate Government Houses; Nikki Haley To Visit India Next Week
Good morning, dear reader! Here’s your morning news and views brief for today.
India To Build Memorial In France For Soldiers Who Died In World War I
India will construct a war memorial in France’s Villers Guislain, a town around 200 km from Paris, to highlight the contribution of the soldiers from the country who fought in World War I, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has announced. In November and December 1917, Indian cavalry regiments of the British Indian Army were involved in fighting around the village of Villers-Guislain. Old cavalry regiments of the Indian Army observe Cambrai Day on November 30 and December 1 to celebrate the valour of the Indians who fought and died in the battle. The 9th Hodson's Horse, the Royal Deccan Horse (now 9th Deccan Horse), 34th Poona Horse (now 17 Poona Horse), 38th Central India Horse (now only Central India Horse) and 18 Cavalry were the Indian cavalry regiments which participated in the battle. Over a million soldiers from undivided India served the Allied Powers during World War I, with nearly 70,000 of them dying. This will be the second such memorial built for the Indian Armed Forces outside the country. The first one, located in France’s Pas-de-Calais, was built in honour of the Indians who fought in the Battle of Neuve Chapelle. The memorial commemorates some 4,742 Indian soldiers with no known graves.
After UP, Former CMs of MP Asked To Vacate Government Houses
Just weeks after a Supreme Court (SC) order forced former chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh to vacate their government houses, a division bench of the high court in Jabalpur has asked all former chief ministers of Madhya Pradesh to do the same. The order is likely to affect former chief ministers Kailash Joshi, Uma Bharti, Babulal Gaur and Digvijaya Singh. All four are occupying sprawling B-Type bungalows in Bhopal. While Uma Bharti is a minister in the Centre, Babulal Gaur is an MLA and Digvijaya Singh is a Rajya Sabha MP. Kailash Joshi does not hold any office. All former chief ministers of UP, including Akhilesh Yadav, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Narayan Dutt Tiwari and Mayawati have vacated their government bungalows. The SC has said that former chief ministers are not entitled to government houses for life.
Nikki Haley To Visit India Next Week
The US’ permanent representative to the United Nations Nikki Haley, who holds a Cabinet-level position in the Trump administration, is set to visit India next week. Apart from speaking at a think tank in New Delhi, Haley will meet National security Advisor Ajit Doval and officials in the Ministry of External Affairs. She may also call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The visit comes ahead of the 2+2 talks between foreign and defence ministers from India and their American counterparts. Issues such as the US’ pull out from the Nuclear deal with Iran and sanctions on countries signing defence deals with Russia are likely to come up during the visit.
J&K Heads Towards Governor’s Rule
Jammu and Kashmir, where Chief minister Mehbooba Mufti resigned after the Bharatiya Janata Party pulled out of the alliance with her party, is now headed towards Governor’s rule. The other two parties in the state - the National Conference (NC) and the Congress - have announced that they were not keen to form an alliance with Mufti’s Peoples Democratic Party. In the 89-member state assembly where the majority mark is 45, the BJP has 25 MLAs and the PDP has 28. The Congress and the NC have 12 and 15 MLAs respectively. In a press conference after Mufti’s resignation, NC leader and former chief minister Omar Abdullah called for fresh elections in the state. According to reports, Governor NN Vohra has forwarded his report to the President. The state is set to come under the Governor's rule for the fourth time since 2008 and eight time since 1977.
52 Indian Detained Under Trump's Policy Against Illegal Immigration
At least 52 Indians, many of whom have identified themselves as Sikhs or Christians fleeing religious persecution from the Hindu majority, are reportedly incarcerated at a prison in Oregan under the Trump administration’s ‘zero-tolerance’ policy against illegal immigration. At least 123 immigrants seeking asylum have been detained over the last month, and some have been separated from their children. The policy, under which 2,342 children have been separated from their parents after crossing the Southern border of the United States, is unique to this administration.
UK Will Bear The Consequences Of Visa Policy Against India
The United Kingdon (UK), which has excluded Indian students from a new list of countries considered low risk in order to facilitate an easier visa application process, will have to bear the consequences of its decision, an Indian High Commission official has said, according to the Times of India. The official was responding to a remark made by the UK's international trade secretary Liam Fox. According to Fox, India was excluded from the list because New Delhi refused to sign an agreement promising to facilitate the return of illegal Indian immigrants in the UK.
"It's up to the British government to decide what kind of visas they want to give and whether they want closer ties with India. It's for them to decide if they want to link this to the MoU, but if they do, they will have to bear the consequences. I am not confident this is going to turn out well,” the Indian official said.
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