Daily Bulletin: 50,000 expected at 'Howdy, Modi!' in Texas where PM, Donald Trump likely to share stage; Amit Shah to address Mumbai rally; day's top stories

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At 'Howdy, Modi!' event today, Donald Trump to join Narendra Modi in Houston

The Indian-American community in US' Houston is all set to welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the 'Howdy, Modi' event on Sunday, anticipated to see a footfall of 50,000 people, which will be the largest gathering ever for an elected foreign leader visiting the US, other than the Pope. The three-hour event in which President Donald Trump will join Modi is being organised at the NRG Football stadium.

The event is expected to provide " the world a glimpse of the contributions of Indian-Americans to the cultural, intellectual and social landscape of the US," PTI quoted the organisers as saying. For the first time, Modi and Trump will share the stage to address the 50,000-strong Indian diaspora during the event titled “Shared Dreams, Bright Future" that will focus on the success of Indian-Americans as well as the strength of the US-India relationship.

The 'Howdy Modi!' summit comes amid tensions with Pakistan over the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, with Islamabad raising the issue on almost all international platforms to corner New Delhi into reversing the action which stripped the now-Union Territory of its special status.

Amit Shah to address rally in Mumbai, will speak about Article 370, poll alliance with Shiv Sena

After Narendra Modi's rally in Nashik in on Thursday, all eyes are now set on Home minister Amit Shah's public event on Sunday in Mumbai where he is expected to touch upon the issue of the BJP's pre-poll pact with the Shiv Sena. Shah, who is also BJP president, will speak at NESCO complex in suburban Goregaon (East) at an event organised by the Mumbai unit of the saffron party.

BJP and Shiv Sena leaders have been speaking in different voices over the number of Assembly seats the two-party should contest in Maharashtra in the upcoming polls. The state heads of the BJP and the Shiv Sena have been stating that they are keen on contesting the Assembly polls jointly.

However, some other prominent leaders of both parties have been giving a different opinion. In the 288-member Assembly, the Sena is pressing for a 135-seat each formula with the BJP, leaving the remaining 18 for the smaller allies.

However, the BJP is reportedly not willing to give more than 120 seats to the Sena. Shah is expected to speak about the BJP-Sena pre-poll alliance besides other key issues like the Centre's decision to revoke Jammu and Kashmir's special status under Article 370 and bifurcate it in two Union Territories.

The 'Jan Jagran Abhiyan' (public awareness campaign) was launched by the BJP in favour of the abrogation the state's special status under Article 370 of the Constitution. Under it, the party has decided to organise 370 small indoor meetings and 35 big meetings across the country, including six in Jammu and Kashmir.

Zoya Akhtar's Gully Boy to be India's entry for Oscars

Zoya Akhtar's 'Gully Boy', featuring Ranveer Singh as an aspiring rapper, has been selected as India's official entry in the International Feature Film category at the Oscars, the Film Federation of India (FFI) announced on Saturday.

The movie, which released commercially across the country on 14 February, also features Alia Bhatt, Vijay Raaz, Kalki Koechlin, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Vijay Varma, and Amruta Subhash.  Gully Boy, produced by Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar, features Ranveer as an up-and-coming rapper who sets out to achieve his dream by rhyming about his life on the Mumbai streets.

"India's official entry for Oscars this year is Gully Boy. There were 27 films in the running this year but it was a unanimous decision to select Gully Boy," FFI secretary general Supran Sen told PTI. Ranveer said it is a proud moment for the entire team.

India take on South Africa in third T20I

India will face South Africa in the third and final T20I of the series at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, with a chance that the series might be drawn.

South Africa lost in their second encounter against India by seven wickets in Mohali thanks to a clutch Virat Kohli innings, and the first T20I was abandoned due to rain in Dharamshala, making this match their only chance to get a positive result before heading into the Test leg of the tour.



from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/2QmRDlq
FP Staff

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