President on Southern sojourn from December 18

President Pranab Mukherjee would visit Hyderabad from December 18 to December 31 for a customary Southern sojourn.
Telangana Chief Secretary Rajeev Sharma held a meeting with officials of different departments here on the arrangements for the President's visit, a state government release said today.
During the visit, the President would attend the convocation ceremony of the Military College of Electronics and Mechanical Engineering (MCEME) on December 19. He would attend a meeting of Indian Economic Association at Professor Jayashankar University here on December 27.
During his stay here, the President would also participate in the 'Aayutha Chandi Yagam' to be performed by Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao at his farm house in neighbouring Medak district, according to the release.

The Chief Secretary discussed sprucing up the Rashtrapathi Nilayam here, the President's retreat in the South, for Mukherjee's visit, besides other arrangements, it added.
Located at Bolarum, the Rashtrapathi Nilayam building was taken over from the Nizam of Hyderabad after India attained independence and handed over to the President's Secretariat.

Constructed during 1860, the building has a total land area of 90 acres. A single-storied building, it contains in its premises 11 rooms.
Mukherjee said over 2,000 Rabindra Sangeet have played a
pivotal role in Bengali culture.
Addressing the gathering in Bengali, Mukherjee said that he was present in the literary body's annual conference in 1980 in Jamshedpur, then in the undivided Bihar and now in Jharkhand.

In her speech, Jharkhand Governor Droupadi Murmu said literature was the mirror of the society.
Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Raghubar Das described Bengali literature as rich and said a Rabindra Bhavan would be set up in Ranchi.
Jharkhand Parliamentary Affairs Minister Saryu Roy said several litterateurs had enriched Bengali language.
Requesting for setting up of East-Economic Confederation to help the East grow, Roy said it could begin from Bengal.