08:13 Mediators in Ayodhya land dispute case to meet for first time today:
The three-member Supreme Court appointed mediation team in the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi land dispute case is set to meet at ground zero in Ayodhya today.
To assist them in their task, the district administration on directions of the state government has built a mini secretariat inside the Awadh university campus. From lodging to a negotiation room, all facilities for the three mediators have been set up there.
Following the Supreme Court order that the process should remain a secret, the government and the local administration have taken steps in this regard. No official communication about the movement of the members or their schedule is being made public.
Sources, however, confirmed that the court-appointed mediators former Supreme Court judge FMI Kalifulla, senior advocate Sriram Panchu and spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar will reach Ayodhya by a special flight on Tuesday morning around 11am.
Highly-placed sources reportedly said that the guest house at the engineering department of the university has been earmarked for the meetings and lodging of the panel members.
As of now, two typists one for Hindi and the other for English have been assigned to work with the mediation panel. Sources say some of the required staff is being directly brought by the negotiators themselves.
In the first leg, the mediation panel is expected to stay in Ayodhya for around three days, following which the further schedule will be worked out depending upon the progress in mediation and dialogue with the litigants in the case.
00:03 Erdogan dials Modi; condoles deaths in recent terror attacks:
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan telephoned Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday to condole the deaths in recent terrorist attacks in the country and wish speedy recovery to those injured, a statement said on Monday.
During their conversation, Modi underscored the importance of “immediate, demonstrable, and irreversible action” against terrorism by all countries concerned.
He asserted that terrorism remains one of the gravest threats to global peace and security.
“President Erdogan expressed condolences for the victims of recent terrorist attacks in India, and wished speedy recovery to those injured in the attacks,” the statement said.
Forty personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force were killed on February 14 when a Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a paramilitary bus in Kashmir’s Pulwama district . — PTI
Source: Rediff