Manmohan Singh arrives in Bangalore ahead of schedule

Bangalore, June 23 (UNI) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived here this afternoon on a two-day visit to the city, three hours ahead of schedule.

Dr Singh, who was to land at Mangalore Bajpe airport to lay the foundation stone for the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation's (ONGC) multi-crore Aromatics complex at the MRPL complex, was forced to reach Bangalore due to inclement weather and heavy rain.

The IAF Boeing, carrying Dr Singh, hovered over the Bajpe airport twice before it was routed to Bangalore. Consequently, the ONGC officials deferred the function.

At the airport here, Dr Singh was given a warm welcome by Karnataka Governor T N Chaturvedi, Union Minister of State for Planning M V Rajsekharan, Home Minister M P Prakash and State Congress Chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Opposition leader in the Assembly N Dharam Singh.

The Prime Minister is scheduled to release a special coin to commemorate saint Basaveshwara and attend the valedictory of the Canara Bank's centenary celebrations later in the day.

He would be laying the foundation stones for the ten-lane 9.89 km mixed expressway corridor between Bangalore and the Electronic city and the Metro Rail projects tomorrow before leaving for New Delhi.

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