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Ivanka Trump SIPA USA/PA Images

An Indian city is rounding up beggars ahead of a visit by Ivanka Trump

Begging is a criminal offence in India and can be punished by as much as 10 years in prison, although the law is rarely enforced.

AUTHORITIES IN THE southern Indian city of Hyderabad are rounding up beggars ahead of a visit by Ivanka Trump for an international conference.

Over the past week, more than 200 beggars have been transported to separate male and female shelter homes located on the grounds of two city prisons. Authorities have been strictly enforcing a begging ban on the city’s streets and in other public places.

The crackdown seems to be having the desired effect, with most of Hyderabad’s thousands of beggars vanishing from sight.

Trump is a senior adviser to her father, President Donald Trump. Later this month, she is scheduled to be a featured speaker at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Hyderabad, which will also be attended by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Officials say the drive against begging was launched because two upcoming international events are taking place in the city — the entrepreneurship summit and the World Telugu Conference in December.

Begging is a criminal offence in India and can be punished by as much as 10 years in prison, although the law is rarely enforced.

“We will complete the clearing of beggars from the city roads by the end of the month,” said V.K. Singh, a top police officer.

The beggars have been rounded up from traffic junctions, bus stations and railway stations and transported by van to the shelters, where they often find themselves separated from their family members.

India Ivanka Trump Beggars File of a beggar in Hyderabad. Mahesh Kumar A. Mahesh Kumar A.

They are being offered clean clothes, a shower and a bed. But they’re also being fingerprinted before they’re allowed to leave and told they could face jail time if they are found begging again.

More than 20% of India’s 1.3 billion people live on less than $2 a day. For many, begging is survival.

Beggars tend to crowd around cars at traffic signals, knocking on windows and asking for food and money. They include children as young as 5, who weave through dangerous traffic and often perform small acrobatic acts.

A rights group that runs the two Hyderabad homeless shelters on the grounds of the Chanchalguda and Charalapally jails where the beggars are being taken estimates the city has 13,000 beggars.

About half of them are begging because they are living in poverty while the other half want money for alcohol and drugs, said Gattu Giri, an official with the Amma Nanna Ananda Ashram organisation.

The entrepreneurship summit is an annual event that this year will focus on supporting female entrepreneurs. Running from 28-30 November, the summit is being jointly hosted by the US and India.

Singh said that next month, after Ivanka Trump has left, police will start offering cash rewards to people who inform them of a beggar’s location. Police have set up a control room to receive the information.

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    Mute Larry David the 2nd
    Favourite Larry David the 2nd
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    Jul 4th 2015, 5:41 PM

    Ok advertising works cos I am getting me one of those babies ASAP.

    432
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    Mute Red Marauder
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    Jul 4th 2015, 5:52 PM

    This must have every peeping Tom drooling!

    221
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    Mute dstaffx
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    Jul 4th 2015, 6:20 PM

    Can it see through curtains?

    123
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    Mute David Carino
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    Jul 4th 2015, 7:12 PM

    only shower curtains

    68
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    Mute Oliver
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    Jul 4th 2015, 5:43 PM

    I want it…

    108
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    Mute Paul Furey
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    Jul 4th 2015, 8:10 PM

    I went and checked and for some strange reason there is a shortage. Berminghams say 6 weeks wait and camera.ie have 10 on backorder and you have to pay full price €650 up front. Oh well.

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    Mute cosmological
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    Jul 4th 2015, 5:48 PM

    Excellent, thank you Journal.

    94
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    Mute CW
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    Jul 4th 2015, 5:47 PM

    That’s crazy stuff, holy mother of Devine Julie’s Caesar’s àrses bloody banana….

    Must get me one of them.

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    Mute Pee Shank
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    Jul 4th 2015, 7:20 PM

    amazing

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    Mute Tap Solny
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    Jul 4th 2015, 5:58 PM

    A Nikon D3200 or a Sony A58 would cost €450 including a 18-55mm kit lens. Either camera is far superior to the Nikon Coolpix p900. The D3200 is a DSLR, the the A58 is an SLT and the Coolpix is a bridge camera. The Coolpix is quite good up to 83x but it cannot be compared to a DSLR.

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    Mute Pee Shank
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    Jul 4th 2015, 6:07 PM

    Wow

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    Mute Joseph Siddall
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    Jul 4th 2015, 6:18 PM

    Tap, all very true but “Bridge” cameras sell very well for a reason. Most people see them them as being a very acceptable compromise answering all their needs in one piece of reasonably priced kit. Modern bridge cameras are really quite superb…within their operational parameters.

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    Mute Tap Solny
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    Jul 4th 2015, 6:32 PM

    Agreed Joseph. I have the Nikon Coolpix P900 and a Sony HX400v – both are superb bridge cameras. I also have a Sony A58 and a Sony A77ii – both are excellent DSLRs (SLTs).

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    Mute Maximus
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    Jul 4th 2015, 7:50 PM

    Very impressive, WoW!.

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    Mute Paul Mc Nulty
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    Jul 4th 2015, 8:28 PM

    Tony and Joseph comparing their cox…

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    Mute Gemma Shah
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    Jul 4th 2015, 9:31 PM

    My Uncle visited last week toting one of these. Totally in awe. Well worth the money I reckon.

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    Mute Kemberlee Shortland
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    Jul 5th 2015, 1:45 AM

    My Canon Powershot SX60 does the same shot of the moon, if not better.

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    Mute Eoin
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    Jul 5th 2015, 12:41 AM

    Paparazzi wet dream.

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    Mute Ger Clifford
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    Jul 5th 2015, 12:05 AM

    So does my Canon 18x zoom SX600hs.

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    Mute Una Simms
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    Jul 5th 2015, 12:48 PM

    eh..I dunno…..I’d like the zoom to go a little closer….. This just doesn’t try hard enough…….. (awesome actually)

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    Mute cp
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    Jul 5th 2015, 10:35 AM

    Now that’s impressive! Definitely putting that on my wish list!!

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