Ivanka in India: Lavish dinner, elegant gifts and indigenous robots!
What's the story
Ivanka Trump's India visit is likely to be memorable for the American president's advisor-cum-daughter.
Yesterday, the day the Global Entrepreneurship Summit began, Modi and she dined at the Falaknuma Palace, formerly owned by Hyderabad's royal Nizams.
She also got a wooden box made in Surat's famous Sadeli style and talked to an Indian robot!
Here's what Ivanka has done on her maiden India visit.
Mitra
At GES, Ivanka interacts with Mitra, an indigenous humanoid
Ivanka is in India to attend the eighth edition of the GES in Hyderabad. At the inauguration yesterday, she and Modi were greeted on stage by Mitra, an indigenous humanoid.
Mitra is created by Bengaluru-based Invento Robotics. It uses facial/voice recognition to know when someone is talking to it.
Mitra asked Modi and Ivanka to "press the button for the US flag on stage".
Dinner
Ivanka's lavish five-course dinner with Modi
The dinner with Modi was a grand affair. There was a lavish five-course spread served around what is reported as the longest dining table in the world: it can seat 101 people.
Menu included gosht shikampuri kebab, murgpista ka salan, Khubani ke malai kofta and sitaphal kulfi.
Exquisite local fabrics like Ikkat were on display.
Information
Ivanka got an exquisite Sadeli box from Modi
Modi gifted Ivanka a wooden box carved in Sadeli style, which was originally used to decorate doors and furniture. However, craftsmen now often use it on jewellery boxes, photo frames and more. Bombay eventually emerged as the hub of Sadeli style.
Hyderabad
An entire city was decorated for Ivanka
Hyderabad, Ivanka's host city, underwent a major facelift ahead of her arrival. Billboards welcoming her went up in many parts.
Roads were repaired and carpeted, her venues decked up and heavy security deployed.
However, there was controversy over reports that Hyderabad police had banned begging in the city during November 8-January 7, 2018, and shifted about 1,000 alms-seekers to jail-ashrams.