India on Wednesday hit out at tweets by global celebrities such as singer Rihanna and climate activist Greta Thunberg in support of the farmers' protests, the focus of a sharply polarised international debate that saw many Bollywood stars and top ministers rally around the government in its pushback.
Prominent international celebrities and activists on Wednesday joined American pop star Rihanna to extend support to the farmers' protests here and garner international attention on the protracted stir but their remarks were slammed by India as 'neither accurate nor responsible'.
Noting that the US energy dominance will be declared a strategic economic and foreign policy goal, Trump said America has 1.5 times as much oil as the combined proven resources of all OPEC countries
This letter comes after a number of prominent celebrities, Tendulkar and legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar, tweeted in support of the Centre on the microblogging platform Twitter.
The two-day G20 Summit saw the Indian side making "significant contributions" on resolve to counter terrorism and boost global trade and investment.
From the Republic Day violence to Lakhimpur Kheri incident and terms such as 'toolkit' and andolanjeevi entering the Indian political lexicon, it was controversies galore during the year-long farmers' movement against the contentious agri laws.
At the summit, the US is able to play the role of a bully.
Rakesh Tikait, the 51-year-old Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader from the hinterlands of Muzaffarnagar in western Uttar Pradesh, welcomed the support from international artistes and activists, including Rihanna and Greta Thunberg, but acknowledged he does not know them.
'Modi knows the people here are opposed to this project, but he is using the might of government to push this port down our throats.'
Rather than talking endlessly about lost and marginal opportunities, India's climate envoys need to start thinking bigger, says Mihir S Sharma.
Rajkummar Rao does the best with what he is given and he ably elevates the generic story-telling. Too bad that his performance remains the only takeaway from such an inspiring real-life story, notes Mayur Sanap.
The Swedish teen climate change campaigner said it is 'deeply unfair' that students are asked to appear in the tests during the pandemic.
Even as world leaders continue to debate, climate change activists took to the streets of Glasgow for the Global Day of Action for Climate Justice march.
The average global temperature between January and October has been 0.68 degrees Celsius higher than the 20th century's average global temperature of 14.1 degree C.
Two persons claiming to be the personnel of Delhi Police seized a computer hard disk and other items from the house of green activist Shantanu Muluk, a suspect in the "toolkit" case related to the farmers' protest, without a search warrant on February 12, in Beed in Maharashtra, his father Shivlal Muluk has told local police.
The avoidable stresses and strains in ties helped in one way. It showed for the entire region how a matured India handled diplomatic relations, especially with a smaller and suspicious neighbour, with practised dignity and patience, unruffled by provocations in word, deed and action, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
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As we wave goodbye to 2019, we look back at the highlights of the year, in the numbers that made it memorable.
The go-ahead given to prosecute Arundhati Roy would be seen by supporters of freedom of speech as an announcement that the Right-Wing doesn't feel humbled by the results of the elections, argues Shyam G Menon.
Amid the 'Toolkit' controversy surrounding the ongoing farmers' protest, the central government has directed the microblogging platform Twitter to remove 1,178 Pakistani-Khalistani accounts spreading misinformation and provocative content on farmers agitation, sources said.
US ambassador to India Richard Verma on Thursday batted for people-to-people cooperation in dealing with global environmental challenges even as he underscored the "important" role films and technology can play in spreading awareness in this regard.
Earlier in the day, former India spinner Pragyan Ojha said the country knows how important farmers are and an outsider's opinion is not needed on an internal matter.
Senior journalist Darryl D'Monte reports exclusively for Rediff.com from Paris.
Sitharaman, a newcomer on the Forbes most powerful women list, is ranked 34th. The Forbes 2019 list of 'The World's 100 Most Powerful Women' has been topped by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, followed by President of the European Central Bank Christine Lagarde in the second spot and Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, ranked third. Also on the list is Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina (29).
Indian government's crackdown on the protest after it turned violent on January 26 in Delhi.
'I was not scared because I knew I had not done anything wrong. And I was walking for a good cause.'
Amidst the investigation into the security breach in Parliament -- which I emphasise, should be done -- let us not forget the grievances raised (this is, of course, assuming the protestors were there to put the spotlight on said grievances and not for any other purpose). For questionable laws, unemployment, Manipur, authoritarianism; all these are contemporary worries among sections of the public, points Shyam G Menon.
The game plan is to pressure India and China to come back and commit to further emissions cuts by next year's UN meeting. Neither China nor India has 2030 targets anywhere near in line with a 1.5 degree centigrade pathway, and so will be on the target list of nations under pressure to return next year with more ambition, predicts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'They are too connected for the relationship to completely sour.' 'It will be difficult to mend this relationship, but it will start with full and clear evidence on the issue in question.'
There is no evidence to show that the toolkit on farmers' protest is responsible for the violence on January 26, activist Disha Ravi's counsel told a Delhi court which reserved for Tuesday its order on her bail plea.
The Delhi Police will investigate the role of a woman based in the United Kingdom after its probe revealed that she, along with lawyer Nikita Jacob and engineer Shantanu Muluk, allegedly drafted the content of a 'twitter storm' campaign in February in support of the ongoing farmer agitation, officials said on Wednesday.
If the pitch gets hampered then the match officials will assess the pitch and see whether it is in good condition to play or not if yes they will continue playing on the same and if not then they will look at the other pitch condition and take a call on whether they can play on the other one or not, according to ANI.
The Congress and the government engaged in a war of words in Lok Sabha on Tuesday over sedition cases with the opposition party alleging the stringent law is being misused, drawing a sharp retort from Union minister G Kishan Reddy who asked it not to lecture others on democracy.
A police case has been filed against three persons in connection with the appearance of ice in the shape of a 'lingam' in the renowned Trimbakeshwar temple in Maharashtra's Nashik in June last year, which a probe committee has now proclaimed as a hoax.
Patkar, talking to reporters, said that she wanted to meet the family members of Swain, but a section of locals claimed that the team of activists was there to seek feedback from them about the JSW project.
Much of Sajini Shinde Ka Viral Video's enjoyment comes from the carefully picked star cast who do a pretty good job, observes Mayur Sanap.
There's a lot of entertainment coming up for you on OTT in the month of August.
Many celebrities including cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar and legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar rallied around the central government on social media using hashtags #IndiaTogether and #IndiaAgainstPropaganda following tweets by Rihanna and climate activist Greta Thunberg backing farmers who are protesting near Delhi border.
Disha Ravi is yet another addition to a growing list of young activists who the Delhi police have arrested since last year on various charges that have yet to be proved in a court of law.
