Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri is scheduled to visit Bangladesh next week for a foreign secretary-level meeting, amidst ongoing tensions between the two countries. The visit comes after the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus took power in Bangladesh, following the ouster of Sheikh Hasina as prime minister. The meeting will focus on a range of bilateral issues, including the potential extradition of Hasina and visa-related matters. Tensions between the two nations escalated further with the arrest of Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das in Bangladesh, leading to concerns from India regarding attacks on minorities in the country.
Firhad Hakim, a senior minister in West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), has defended his remarks on the Muslim population in the state and India, saying he is a diehard secular and patriotic Indian. Hakim's comments, made at a minority students' event, have sparked controversy with the BJP, Congress, and Hindu monks accusing him of promoting communalism and advocating for a Muslim majority. Hakim, however, clarified that his remarks were taken out of context and that he was merely advocating for the empowerment of the Muslim community. He also highlighted the need for greater representation of Muslims in the judiciary.
Bangladesh has summoned its Acting Deputy High Commissioner in Kolkata for urgent consultations following protests over attacks on Hindu minorities. The mission in Kolkata has witnessed multiple protests over the past week by political parties and religious groups condemning the reported atrocities against Hindus in Bangladesh. In a related development, the Bangladesh Assistant High Commission in Agartala, Tripura, suspended all visa and consular services on Tuesday, citing security reasons. The decision followed an incident where protesters breached the mission's premises on Monday to protest the arrest of Hindu spiritual leader Chinmoy Krishna Das in Dhaka.
The monks took the route taken by famous Chinese scholar Xuanzang (602-664 AD).
Recent attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh have ignited political debate in West Bengal, with the ruling TMC and opposition BJP utilizing the issue to advance their respective agendas. While the TMC emphasizes communal harmony and calls for international intervention, the BJP criticizes the TMC's inaction and links the situation to its push for the Citizenship Amendment Act. The issue has also brought other opposition parties into the fray, with all sides highlighting the interconnectedness of the region's socio-political fabric.
These three recipes by Pamela Timms will make for the perfect weekend treat.
A Chinese court on Monday sentenced a Tibetan monk to 11 years in prison for plotting and instigating the self immolation of a fellow monk in protest against curbs on them, which drew international attention.
A 17-year-old girl from Bangladesh was arrested by West Bengal Police after the Border Security Force (BSF) apprehended her for illegally crossing the border into India. The girl, who is a resident of Panchagarh district in Bangladesh, claimed that she fled after her family members were threatened by fundamentalists in Bangladesh for being ISKCON devotees. The girl's relatives confirmed that they had received threats and were planning to send her to India to protect her from harm.
'You have to separate the concept of India as a nation State which is very young and the Upanishadic wisdom which is timeless.'
Dinesh Karthik may have spent his career in M S Dhoni's shadow, but his contributions to Indian cricket, especially in the IPL, deserve a legacy all his own, asserts Sudhir Bisht.
A Chinese court on Thursday awarded suspended death sentence to a Tibetan Buddhist monk and a 10-year jail term to his nephew for "inciting" people to commit self-immolations opposing Chinese rule in Tibet.
Amateur Ham Radio operators have picked up suspicious late-night radio signals in coded Bengali, Urdu and Arabic along the Indo-Bangladesh border in South Bengal over the last two months, raising concerns about possible extremist activities. The signals, which have been detected between 1 AM and 3 AM, are unusual in their pattern and language usage, according to Ham radio operators, who have reported the matter to authorities. The development comes amidst ongoing unrest in Bangladesh and growing anti-India rhetoric in the neighbouring country. Security agencies are investigating the matter, and the Border Security Force (BSF) has acknowledged the seriousness of the situation.
Swansea City are becoming a force in the Premier League after maintaining their unbeaten start with am impressive come-from-behind 2-1 victory over Manchester United, manager Garry Monk said.
Austin Reaves added 23 points and Gabe Vincent scored 15 on five 3-pointers for the Lakers. Rui Hachimura and Jaxson Hayes had 11 points apiece and Jarred Vanderbilt collected 14 rebounds.
Ranveer Allahbadia found an easy way of asking questions which made sense to him and his team. No counter-questions or finding out the 'Why?' from the celebrity he was speaking to. The 'Why?' was buried and forgotten in Ranveer's shows, observes Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee paid rich tributes to Swami Smaranananda.
Speaking at a seminar in New Delhi, Madhav stressed that culture and religion have been the major aspect of ties between India and Southeast Asia
Through history, the Mela has held different meanings for ascetics, the colonised, colonisers, and tourists, but all have been moved by its grandeur points out Atanu Biswas.
A key aide to Bangladesh's interim government has urged India to unequivocally recognize the July-August uprising that toppled Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's regime, arguing that this is crucial for rebuilding bilateral ties. Mahfuj Alam, considered a de facto minister in the interim government, criticized India's portrayal of the uprising as militant, anti-Hindu, and an Islamist takeover, and called for a change in approach to understand the "new Bangladesh realities." He stated that bypassing the uprising would be detrimental to relations between the two countries. Alam, whose organization spearheaded the protests against Hasina's government, emphasized the democratic nature of the struggle, which he said was about a "generational and responsible struggle." His statement comes amid strained relations between Dhaka and Delhi, with India expressing concerns over the safety of Bangladesh's Hindu community.
Swansea City manager Garry Monk has escaped sanction from the FA after accusing referee Michael Oliver and Stoke City winger Victor Moses of cheating in his team's 2-1 Premier League defeat at the Britannia Stadium.
Taking strong exception to a media report that two monks of a temple in a Tibetan-inhabited region were shot dead by the police during a recent clash, China on Wednesday said they died in a blast at a monastery where an explosive material for Buddhist rituals was stored.
Buddhist monks have demanded the arrest of chief priest of Mahabodhi temple in Bodh Gaya, Bhante Bodhi Pal, ex-officio secretary of Bodhgaya Temple Management Committee (BMTC) Kalicharan Yadav and public relations officer Bhajju Yadav for chopping off a branch of the Bodhi tree.
In the first major anti-Beijing protests by Tibetans after the Lhasa riots, hundreds of people from the community attacked a police station and government officials in northwest China, leading to arrests of nearly 100 pro-Dalai Lama monks, authorities said on Sunday.
Three Hindu temples were vandalized by a mob in Bangladesh's Chattogram on Friday, following protests and violence sparked by the arrest of a former ISKCON member on sedition charges. The attack occurred in the port city's Harish Chandra Munsef Lane, where the Shantaneshwari Matri Temple, the nearby Shoni Temple, and the Shantaneshwari Kalibari Temple were targeted. Temple authorities reported that a group of hundreds threw brickbats at the temples, causing damage to the Shoni Temple and the gates of the other two. The incident has triggered diplomatic tensions between India and Bangladesh, with both countries expressing concerns over the safety of their respective minorities.
Nearly two weeks after a Buddhist monk was found dead in mysterious circumstances in Mumbai in a suspected case of murder, another ascetic belonging to the same religion committed suicide in suburban Deonar on Friday.
Taking a brief spiritual break, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday visited two famous shrines of West Bengal -- Belurmath, with which he has an emotional connect as he had tried in vain to join its order thrice.
China detained large numbers of Tibetans after they returned from India and forced them to undergo political "re-education", a global rights group has said, prompting Beijing to justify it as a necessary move to quell separatist activities.
Dadlani had tweeted a photograph of the spiritual leader, saying he was making a "monkery of democracy".
Observing secularism means to 'live and let live', the Supreme Court on Tuesday said regulating madrasas was in the national interest as several hundred years of the nation's composite culture could not be wished away by creating silos for minorities.
Some of the best moments from PM Modi's China visit.
Assailants slit his throat sometime on Friday night, they said.
uthroties fear an outbreak of disease due to the short supply of food, fresh water and medicines.
This comes amid the row over the arrest of former priest of ISKCON Bangladesh, Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, over sedition charges, which led to protests and unrest in Bangladesh.
In response to the tragic incident, many committees scaled back their celebrations significantly.
Hasina said she left Bangladesh in August with an aim to stop the violence. However, the situation has deteriorated further, she said.
India on Monday described as 'deeply regrettable' an incident of breach of the premises of Bangladesh Assistant High Commission in Agartala by a group of people protesting against the arrest of Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das in the neighbouring country.
