IVANKA & INDIA

INDIAN CITY bans ''begging'' ahead of Ivanka Trump's visit.

A city in southern India has banned begging in public places ahead of a three-day summit that  Ivanka Trump is due to attend, police said Friday.

The daughter of US president will join India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other leaders at the-

*Global Entrepreneurship Summit* in Hyderabad later this month.

Hyderabad Police Commissioner M. Mahender Reddy resportedly issued this week that beggars should be taken off  the streets because they cause nuisance, obstruction to free movement  [and] danger to vehicular traffic and pedestrians,''

On Friday, a senior police officer who asked not to be named said the notification was part of the city's ''routine- anti-begging efforts'' and should not be linked to Trump's visit.

He said the city had set-up a rehabilitation centre where the beggars could be housed until they were able to 'lead normal lives'.

Begging will be banned in the city until January 7, with offenders facing a fine or a jail.

Activist Madhu Pumima Kishwar said the order  amounted to ''criminalizng'' poverty.

''It is cruel as it criminalizes poverty,'' she said. Did they expect the dignitaries to take a stroll and talk to the beggars on the street.''