Hotel reception
The New York Palace Hotel, located on Madison Avenue, was abuzz with activity ever since Narendra Modi and his entourage checked in on Friday afternoon. Across the street, there were hundreds of cheering Modi supporters. The hotel?s lobby was full of people trying to get an audience with the Indian leader. Spotted among them was US-based attorney C Edmond Allen, whose name has been linked with arms dealer Abhishekh Verma. Allen is seen as a whistle-blower of sorts for the CBI and said that when he heard Modi was visiting New York, he decided to try and meet him. Last heard, Allen left the hotel lobby disappointed.
Veg entourage: As usual, the owner of Bukhara Grill and The Castle?both popular Indian restaurants?bagged the catering contract at the New York Palace Hotel for serving Indian meals for the Prime Minister and members of his delegation during Narendra Modi’s five-day trip. Raja Jhanjee, the owner of the food chain, said they have been catering for such VVIP visits for years. However, this year the instructions were to dish out only vegetarian food for the entire delegation.
Secret numbers: The organisers of the much-hyped Madison Square Gardens Modi event are now reticent about how much money they have raised from members of the Indian community and how much will be spent on the Sunday show. While earlier Dr Bharat Barai (the main organiser) and the others were boasting about a $1.5 million collection, at a press conference on Friday, they refused to reveal any figures. ?This is not public information… if any funds are lying unspent, we will together decide how to spent it or which charity to donate the money to.?
