India News
Ajay Bisaria to be India’s new High Commissioner to Pakistan

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Bisaria takes over from Gautam Bambawale, who moves to China. MEA likely to make formal announcement soon.
India has decided to appoint Ajay Bisaria as its new High Commissioner to Pakistan replacing incumbent Gautam Bambawale, who is now proceeding to China.
Ajay Bisaria, India’s “most presentable face” is an expert on Russia and will be, according to the Indian media, able to “address Russia’s nascent strategic proximity to Pakistan which will no doubt be an important focus area for him.”
Though officially the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has not made any announcement, the news was leaked to the Indian media and is being highlighted in both countries, as reshuffle at this level is always of great interest.
The Indian media says a 1987 batch IFS officer, the new High Commissioner to Pakistan, Bisaria, has had an impeccable career as a diplomat. A savvy diplomat, Bisaria has also served as private secretary and aide to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee from 1999 to 2004 and in that capacity handled a range of defence, economic and foreign policy issues.
Fluent in Russian, Bisaria headed the Eurasia division from 2009 to 2014. As his official profile says, he helped articulate an ambitious policy vision for India in Central Asia and coordinated India’s approach to six annual Indo-Russian summits. Bisaria also worked on India’s policy for multilateral entities like SCO and the Russia-India-China trilateral.
For the outgoing envoy, Bambawale, his must be the shortest stint for any Indian High Commissioner in Pakistan. Bambawale had been given the role on January 13, 2016 and it’s not been even a year before he’s being sent off to China. Bambawale came to Pakistan after heading the Indian mission in Bhutan, and his posting to China shows the great regard that the Modi government has in his diplomacy skills. It would not be unlikely that on completion of his posting in Beijing, Bambawale could be brought back to New Delhi as the new foreign secretary if there is an opening at the South Block.
Bambawale will be remembered in Islamabad for his cool demeanor in the face of some of the most difficult periods in bilateral relations. Heating up of the Line of Control (LoC) which saw body bags on both sides with scores injured and homes destroyed to Pakistan expelling officers from his mission for undesirable activities to the arrest of a high-profile Indian spy Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav, nothing appeared to have gone right during his tenure.
However, Bambawale also experienced some embarrassing moments for his remarks on Kashmir which led to the Karachi Chamber of Commerce canceling an event in which India’s top diplomat was to speak.
In his remarks in Karachi, Gautam Bambawale had called Kashmir an ‘internal matter’ of India. “There are problems in both India and Pakistan and you [Pakistan] should focus on resolving your problems before looking into the problems of other countries,” he had said.
Even the expected foreign secretary level talks scheduled after the arrival of Bambawale had to be postponed mutually after the Pathankot terrorist attack. However, Bambawale and his wife, Amita Sathe Bambawale were a popular couple on the diplomatic circuit and frequent guests at homes of Pakistani admires.
Amita even indulged in some food diplomacy where she shared some exclusive Indian recipes with an NGO which runs a café and these are even now the most popular dishes on the menu. Bambawale is a fan of Pakistan’s pride — poet Kishwar Naheed — and enjoyed hearing her poetry saying he understood Urdu but could not read it.
Knowing the constraints in the time that he spent here, the high commissioner concentrated on trade as a means to improve and bring some semblance to bilateral relations.
“…We want to strengthen the relationship between India and Pakistan and that will be my effort while I am posted there….The road to normalisation of relations between India and Pakistan can only be accessed through trade and the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) can play a critical role in this regard, says the Indian envoy”, he had stated, adding that there was no better way of improving bilateral relations than mutually beneficial economic ties.
It was in his tenure that the Indian government introduced multiple visas for three years exclusively for businessmen. These include visits to 15 Indian cities with exemption from police reporting.
Moreover, the businessmen can travel to India by road and return via air. A 1984 batch IFS officer, Bambawale has served as joint secretary of East Asia Division where he handled both China and Japan.
He, in fact, was one of the longest serving joint secretaries there with his tenure lasting from 2009 to 2014.
According to the Indian media, “there are few who know China better than him as he has also served as India’s DCM in Beijing. His understanding of the region is also expected to help India deal with the North Korea situation more effectively.
Bambawale has also served as India’s ambassador to Bhutan and is well-versed with the situation at Doklam which is claimed by China. As a young IFS officer, Bambawale opted to learn mandarin Chinese and also served in Beijing and Hong Kong from 1985 to 1991”.
– With Agencies
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India News
Parliament Winter Session: Government lists 18 bills including criminal codes, Kashmiri migrants, Women Reservation Act to Jammu and Kashmir
The winter session of the Parliament is also likely to discuss the report of the Ethics Committee on the cash for query allegations against Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra.

The winter session of the Parliament will begin from December 4 and will conclude on December 22. The government has listed around 18 bills for the upcoming session. Reports said that the list includes two to extend provisions of the Women’s Reservation Act to Jammu and Kashmir and Puducherry and three to replace the criminal laws.
In addition, the government has also listed the first batch of supplementary demands for grants for the year 2023-24 for presentation, discussion, and voting during the session. Apart from these, three important bills which seek to replace the IPC, CrPC, and the Evidence Act may be taken up for consideration during the session. Meanwhile, an all-party meeting will be held on December 2. The meeting has been called by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi on behalf of the government.
Notably, the winter session of the parliament will take place a day after the results for the assembly polls in the five states including Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, and Telangana, will be declared. As per the bulletin issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat, the government is looking forward to initiate a bill that seeks to increase the strength of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly from 107 to 114 in an effort to provide representation to Kashmiri migrants, displaced persons from Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir and Scheduled Tribes.
Additionally, the winter session of the Parliament is also likely to discuss the report of the Ethics Committee on the cash for query allegations against Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra. The committee has recommended her expulsion. In a 6:4 verdict, the ethics panel adopted a 500-page report on cash-for-query allegations against the Trinamool MP, recommending her expulsion from the lower house of the Parliament with the support of six members.
Aparajita Sarangi, Rajdeep Roy, Sumedhanand Saraswati, Preneet Kaur, Vinod Sonkar, and Hemant Godse supported the adoption of the report. Danish Ali, V Vaithilingam, PR Natarajan, Giridhari Yadav opposed it.
India News
Telangana elections: AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi urges people to vote to strengthen democracy and nation
Speaking to the media Owaisi said it is not a day to celebrate at home. He stressed on the importance of every vote. He said if the people caste their vote, then the accountability of politicians will also increase. He said first time voters have a greater responsibility to fulfill.

AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi cast his vote at St Faiz school in the Rajendra nagar assembly constituency on Thursday. He urged people to vote to exercise their franchise to strengthen democracy and further restore faith in the constitution during the ongoing Telangana state elections. Voting started at 7am at various polling booths across the state amid heavy security arrangements.
Speaking to the media Owaisi said it is not a day to celebrate at home. He stressed on the importance of every vote. He said if the people caste their vote, then the accountability of politicians will also increase. He said first time voters have a greater responsibility to fulfill.
Voting is taking place at 35,655 polling stations across the state. He appealed to the families to preserve the Ganga Jamuna Tehzeeb and take Telangana towards development. Owaisi is a three time member of the parliament, representing the Hyderabad constituency in Lok Sabha. The city has been a stronghold of AIMIM since 1984 and Owaisi is seeking re-election
For the first time in Telangana home voting for citizens aged over 80 years and persons with disabilities has also been made available. About 27,600 voters have been enlisted to cast their vote during the elections. An election official said about 1000 voters have also been registered for the electronically transmitted Postal Ballot system.
BRS leader K Kavitha, Telangana minister and BRS MLA KT Rama Rao, state Congress chief Revanth Reddy and others cast their votes. In the first state elections Telangana, the Congress party got 25.20 percent votes and BRS got 34 percent in the Telangana area.
In the year 2018 BRS won 88 of the 119 seats and had 47.4% of the vote share. The Congress came in the second position with nineteen seats. The counting of votes is going to take place on Dec 3.
India News
Telangana elections: Allu Arjun, Jr NTR, Chiranjeevi cast votes in Hyderabad
Allu Arjun was seen wearing a crisp white shirt with black pants as he stood in the line waiting for his turn to cast at the BSNL centre polling booth no 153 in the posh Jubilee Hills area of Hyderabad. After casting his votes he was seen encouraging others to do it as well.

Many Tollywood celebrities were seen queueing up at polling booths in Hyderabad to cast their votes for the Telangana state elections. Allu Arjun, Jr NTR and megastar Chiranjeevi reaching the election booth early in the morning and cast their votes.
Allu Arjun was seen wearing a crisp white shirt with black pants as he stood in the line waiting for his turn to cast at the BSNL centre polling booth no 153 in the posh Jubilee Hills area of Hyderabad. After casting his votes he was seen encouraging others to do it as well.
Megastar Chiranjeevi cast his in the jubilee hills club polling station along with his wife Surekha and daughter Sreeja. He was surrounded by the media and his fans as soon as soon as they came to know their favourite superstar had come out to vote. Jr NTR was seen waiting in line for his turn to cast his vote. He kept was seen wearing a white t-shirt and jeans as he cast his vote and made a quick exit from the area.
Oscar winning music composer MM Keeravani cast his vote and urged everyone to cast their vote. He said this is not a holiday. He said voting is their responsibility and it is important to exercise this right. He said he came first and voted to inspire everyone and he felt happy to vote. Keeravani was accompanied by his son, famous singer Kala Bhairava to cast his vote. Actor Sumanth cast his vote at Jubilee Hills Club.
Polling started in all the 119 assembly constituencies in Telangana on Thursday morning at 7am. The voting will continue through the day and will conclude at 6pm. Over 3 crore people in the state are eligible to cast their votes.
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