PM meets president ahead of China visit

NEW DELHI: Ahead of his three-day China visit, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday called on President Pratibha Patil to discuss issues related to his trip.

At the 30-minute meeting at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Manmohan Singh also reviewed national developments including follow-up action on the Delimitation Commission report to redraw the map of parliamentary and state assembly constituencies, an official statement said.

Manmohan Singh leaves for Beijing on Saturday evening.

The cabinet Thursday cleared a home ministry proposal for issuing an ordinance to commence the work of recasting parliamentary and assembly constituencies.

The cabinet also decided to double the salary of the president to Rs.100,000 a month and revised the salaries and pensions for the vice president and governors.