MODI MAY GIVE PALESTINE A MISS DURING VISIT TO ISRAEL
Uncertainty prevails over whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Palestine when he visits Israel, possibly in June. Modi will be the first Indian prime minister to visit Israel.
It will be a departure from tradition if the PM doesn’t travel to Palestine. Last two high-profile visits to the region, under Modi’s premiership, by President Pranab Mukherjee and external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj saw both leaders visit Palestine during their tour to Israel. Mukherjee was the first Indian president to visit Israel when he travelled to the country in October 2015 and Swaraj visited both countries in January 2016.
Sources said the visit to Israel as a stand-alone one will be befitting to mark 25 years of diplomatic ties between the nations. There is also a possibility of India hosting Palestine president Mahmoud Abbas before Modi’s visit to Israel. But source say the visit has not been “locked yet”.
Indian officials have been insisting that there is no change in India’s position on the Palestine question and it was the Modi government that hosted the firstever India-palestine joint commission. New Delhi believes in a two-state solution to the conflict.
Though India remained wary of how the Arab world will see its ties with Israel, the government has been more open about its ties with the Jewish state. India was the first non-arab country to recognise Palestine’s statehood in 1988.
In a rare surgery, over 5,070 gallstones were removed from a 45-year-old man during a laparoscopic surgery in Kota.
Mohammad Shabbir from Ratlai was suffering from stomach ache for the past three years and was diagnosed with cholelithiasis (gallstones disease).
“Usually, between two and 100 gallstones are removed from the gall bladder during a surgery. But 5,070 gall stones is certainly uncommon,” said Dr Dinesh Jindal, who operated upon Shabbir.
He added, “The world record for the maximum number of gallstones recovered during a surgery belongs to an Indian surgeon named Dr ML Saha from West Bengal. He had recovered 11,950 gallstones.”
While it took only 30 minutes for the surgery, it took the hospital staff two hours to count the gallstones.
Talking about the weight of the gallstones, Dr Jindal said it did not matter as the stones are made of cholesterol and can float on water.
Gallstones are generally formed if the bile contains too much cholesterol, bilirubin, or not enough bile salts.
It is also caused by consumption of a high-fat diet, obesity, diabetes, hormonal changes, weight loss and dieting or can be hereditary.
Meanwhile, Shabbir, who was operated upon on February 28, is healthy and recovering from the surgery.
“I didn’t drink enough water, which the doctor says might be a reason for the disease,” he said.