Aggressive diplomacy and a well prepared case against the JuD, parent organisation of Lashkar-e-Tayiba, led to Security Council's decision to call for worldwide freezing of its assets and putting four LeT leaders on a list of terrorists subject to sanctions, including ban on foreign travel. The case prepared by India was so convincing that even China, which bailed out Pakistan and prevented ban being imposed on earlier occasions, decided to go along.
Two key witnesses in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots have again ruled out returning to India to depose before the courts, but their testimony has been recorded by a visiting two member CBI team in the US.
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and superstar Shah Rukh Khan have been ranked among the 50 most powerful people in the world by prestigious United States-based magazine 'Newsweek' magazine, in a list topped by President-elect Barack Obama.Pakistan army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, who controls the country's nuclear weapons, is placed 20th on the list of the global 'power elite', at the beginning of 2009 in the magazine's January issue.
The issues of climate change, human rights, anti-corruption and access to water are among the hot topics that are factoring into investment and business decision-making processes, Executive Director of the UN Global Compact, Georg Kell said.
The United Nations Security Council has placed sanctions on Pakistan-based Jamaat-ud-Dawa, the front organisation of banned Lashkar-e-Tayiba, declaring it a terrorist organisation.Four top leaders of LeT including Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, Haji Muhammad Ashraf and Zaki-ur-Bahaziq have also been declared as terrorists by the UNSC.Imposing the sanctions, the Council asked all member states to freeze their assets and impose travel ban and arms embargo.
Describing Pakistan a 'failed state', an influential American lawmaker has underlined the need for the United States to tie aid to Islamabad with the Islamic nation, to ensure that the lawless areas bordering Afghanistan are not used by terrorists to launch attacks like in Mumbai. If Pakistan is not able to do that, the United States itself should go in, Congressman Frank Pallone told a meeting organised by the Indian community to pay homage to the victims of Mumbai terror.
In a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and all member nations, Pakistan's Ambassador to the world body Abdullah Hussain Haroon has said, building up circumstantial evidence has resulted in some of the costliest mistakes by mankind, the latest example being the US intervention in Iraq.
Denouncing as 'cowardly' and 'heartless acts' the deadly terror strikes in Mumbai, the Indian community in the US on Wednesday said it was an attack on the pluralistic fabric of India and sought strong measures to fight terrorism.
Contending that the world is not on track to achieve the Millennium Development Goals especially on poverty eradication front, India asked the industrial nations to show greater enthusiasm in fulfilling their pledges to Official Development Assistance and debt relief for poor nations, besides market access and technology transfer.
The gift from the Tata Trusts will allow Cornell to establish and expand partnerships with Indian scientists that build on its strength in applied agriculture research. The endowment will also be used to set up a scholarship fund to bring more Indian students, who may be discouraged by Cornell's price tag, to the university. The gift could eventually help support as many as 25 Indian undergraduate and graduate students at a time.
The UN food agency has sought a political and financial push to boost sustainable agriculture in poor countries and double global food production, saying that such a move would forge a world of economic and social progress.
Underlining the urgency of finding solutions to the major challenges facing Africa, India has called on the international community to effectively implement all its commitments and assist the continent to come out of "poverty trap".
Snow falling from the Martian clouds have been detected by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander, with possibilities of it even reaching the planet's surface. Laser instruments on the lander have detected the snow clouds about 2.5 miles above the spacecraft's landing site and also followed its precipitation.
In a statement issued on Monday, foreign ministers of the three countries, partners in the India-Brazil-South Africa Dialogue Forum, said expansion in both permanent and non-permanent categories is necessary to make the council "more democratic, legitimate, representative and responsive."
India on Friday said it was confident of the passage of the Indo-US civil nuclear deal as it enjoyed bipartisan support among lawmakers, assuring that American firms would not be put at a disadvantage even if there is delay in getting a Congressional nod for the accord.
Given the strong fundamentals of the Indian economy, it will be able to sustain a growth rate of over 8 per cent over the next ten years and continue to attract investments in services and manufacturing sectors, Indian Minister of State for Commerce and Industry said in New York. "Despite some developments that are not favourable, we will still manage to have robust growth," Ashwani Kumar said.
The ongoing financial crisis, poverty reduction, reforms including expansion of the Security Council, uneven progress in the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and Darfur conflict are likely to dominate the agenda of the United Nations General Assembly that begins on Tuesday. More than 170 heads of state and governments, foreign ministers and senior diplomats will participate in the discussion lasting about two weeks.
The United Nations members States have endorsed India's viewpoint that the General Assembly should begin the inter-governmental negotiations on expansion of the Security Council, with consensus emerging in favour of starting parleys by February next year. While all members agree that the Council should be expanded to reflect the current realities, a majority wants the expansion to take place in both categories and a minority subscribes to the UFC viewpoint.
Rising prices and global economic slowdown are threatening Millennium Goals, necessitating an 'aggressive push' to achieve the anti-poverty targets by 2015, said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
A downgraded Hurricane Gustav packed with strong winds and heavy rains lashed the Gulf coast on Monday but spared New Orleans, the city which was devastated three years ago by Hurricane Katrina.Fearing a repeat of the 2005 Hurricane Katrina disaster, more than two million people fled their homes from coastal Mississippi, Albama and South-eastern Texas ahead of the storm, which was at one stage forecast to attain highest Category 5 before making the landfall.