Prime Minister on 2 day visit to Mumbai

Mumbai, Aug 31: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived yesterday night on a two day visit to the metropolis.

At the airport, the Prime Minister was welcomed by Maharashtra Governor S M Krishna and Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh.

Among others present there included State Revenue Minister Narayan Rane, State Minister for Protocol Ashok Chavan, Mumbai Mayor Shubha Raul, City Congress leaders, state Chief Secretary Johny Joseph and other senior government officials.

Tomorrow, Dr Singh will visit Tarapur and Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), apart from holding discussions on the agriculture and other issues with the chief minister.

Dr Singh's visit to Tarapur and BARC assumes significance against the backdrop of the Indo-US nuclear deal and opposition to it by the Left parties.

He will address the Graduation Function of the 50th batch of the BARC training school as chief guest, and later present Homi Bhabha medals to the toppers in various disciplines.

The Prime Minister will also review the state's Agriculture development index during his day-long visit to the metropolis on August 31.

The vice-chancellors of four agricultural universities in the state will be present during the meeting.

Dr Singh is also expected to hold talks with Mr Deshmukh on the implementation of the relief package, sanctioned by him for farmers in the Vidarbha region during his last visit. The Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray had, in a recent letter, had urged him to waive off loans given to farmers in the Vidarbha region as over 3,000 farmers had committed suicide in the last few years.

During his visit, the Prime Minister will dedicate to the nation unit 3 and 4 of the Tarapur Atomic Power plant, with a capacity of 540 MWe each. He will also address a gathering of the scientists on the occasion.

UNI