The arrest of two Catholic nuns from Kerala in Chhattisgarh on charges of human trafficking and forced religious conversion has ignited a political controversy, with opposition parties criticizing the arrest and the Chief Minister defending the police action.
The Supreme Court has initiated a suo motu case regarding investigation agencies summoning lawyers and will examine if they can be put to notice. The action follows the Enforcement Directorate summoning senior lawyers, which was condemned by bar associations.
India on Friday proposed imposing retaliatory duties under the WTO (World Trade Organisation) norms against the US over American tariffs on automobile sector in the name of safeguard measures. "The proposed suspension of concessions or other obligations would take the form of an increase in tariffs on selected products originating in the United States," according to a notification of the WTO being circulated at the request of India.
One hundred years ago, a group of 10 revolutionaries carried out an operation that shook the British Empire. Utkarsh Mishra revisits the 'Kakori Conspiracy Case', a turning point in the armed struggle for independence.
Top military officials from India and Pakistan highlighted their views at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, billed as Asia's premier defence forum, amid heightened tensions between the two sides following last month's military confrontation.
India abstained from a UN General Assembly vote on a resolution regarding Afghanistan, citing the need for a balanced approach that combines incentives and disincentives, and calling for new initiatives to address the humanitarian crisis.
An Indian delegation met top officials of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) and Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate here even as New Delhi stepped up efforts to designate The Resistance Front, a Lashkar-e-Tayyaba proxy, as a UN-listed terror outfit for its alleged involvement in the Pahalgam attack.
India's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval is expected to attend a major security meeting in Moscow next week, organized by Russia's Security Council. Doval is invited for the 13th international meeting of high representatives for security issues, taking place from May 27-29. The meeting, chaired by Sergei Shoigu, Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, will see participation from over 150 countries and international organizations. Pakistan's NSA, Lt Gen Asim Malik, is also expected to attend the meeting, leading to speculation of a possible face-to-face meeting between the two NSAs amidst heightened tensions between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam attack and subsequent retaliatory actions.
The United Nations Security Council held closed-door consultations on rising tensions between India and Pakistan, with envoys calling for restraint and dialogue. The consultations, requested by Pakistan, lasted for about an hour and a half. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed concern over the tensions, urging both countries to avoid a military confrontation. India's former Permanent Representative to the UN, Syed Akbaruddin, said that no consequential outcome could be expected from the discussion.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh stated India's readiness to assist Pakistan in combating terrorism if it cannot act on its own, highlighting Operation Sindoor as a demonstration of India's capabilities. He also criticized Pakistan's appointment to a UN counter-terrorism committee.
Gandhi urged the prime minister to speak out "clearly, boldly and forthrightly" on behalf of the legacy that India has long represented.
We have nothing to gain by raising our concerns internationally as our narrative has got entangled with several controversial concepts in the United Nations, asserts Ambassador T N Sreenivasan.
Modi, who visited Cyprus in the first leg of his three-nation visit, reiterated India's support for Cyprus's unity and for a peaceful resolution of the Cyprus Question based on UN Security Council resolutions, international law, and the EU Acquis.
The post further read that "at a moment of heightened regional turbulence", President Trump "demonstrated great strategic foresight and stellar statesmanship through robust diplomatic engagement with both Islamabad and New Delhi," Dawn reported.
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has strongly condemned the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir, urging that those responsible be held accountable and brought to justice. The Council issued a press statement expressing its deepest sympathy to the victims' families and calling for all states to cooperate in combating terrorism. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also expressed concern about the situation, urging India and Pakistan to exercise restraint.
Due to the rising COVID cases, the Centre is conducting mock drills to check facility-level preparedness and has instructed all states to ensure availability of oxygen, isolation beds, ventilators, and essential medicines, official sources had said.
India's active Covid case tally crossed the 5,000 mark with Kerala remaining the most affected state followed by Gujarat, West Bengal and Delhi, according to the Union health ministry data released on Friday.
Going by political tradition, another formation will likely come to power in Karnataka in the next assembly election, due 2028. And if that happens, Mr Shivakumar will have to sit it out till 2033, points out Aditi Phadnis.
UN Secretary-General Antnio Guterres expressed concern over the heightened tensions between India and Pakistan, calling for maximum restraint and urging both countries to step back from the brink. Guterres offered his "good offices" to both governments in the service of peace and condemned the recent terror attack in Pahalgam, emphasizing the need to bring those responsible to justice. He also stressed that a military confrontation would be detrimental and could easily spin out of control. His remarks came hours before a closed consultation of the UN Security Council on the matter, requested by Pakistan. The UN Secretary-General highlighted the need for de-escalation, diplomacy, and a renewed commitment to peace.
The chief adviser's decision to stay in office came two days after he told student-led National Citizen Party (NCP) leaders that he was mulling resignation as he felt "the situation is such that he cannot work", citing difficulties in working amid the failure of political parties to find common ground for change.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has stated that the conversation regarding the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir has not been stalled. He claims the issue was raised at the recent NITI Aayog governing council meeting, and the formal speech distributed at the meeting includes a mention of the return of statehood. Abdullah also addressed concerns about the impact of the Pahalgam terror attack on tourism, emphasizing the importance of local Kashmiris visiting tourist spots first to revive the industry and ensure a sense of security.
Amid an uptick in Covid cases in some parts of the country, Director General of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Dr Rajiv Behl said the severity of infections as of now is generally mild and there was no cause for worry. Speaking about new Covid variants being traced, he said genome sequencing of samples in the west and south have shown that the new variants are not severe and are Omicron sub-variants. These are LF.7, XFG, JN.1 and NB. 1.8.1. The first three are more prevalent, Dr Behl said. "Samples from other places are being sequenced and we will know in a day or two if there are more variants." The ICMR DG said there has been an uptick in cases --first from the south, then west and now from northern India. All these cases are being monitored through the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP). Besides that, ICMR's nationwide respiratory virus sentinel surveillance network is keeping a watch on emerging infections and pathogens, he said. "Whenever cases increase, we look at three things. It's dependent on three factors with the first being how transmissible it is, conversely how fast the cases are increasing. Previously we saw Covid cases double in two days, but this time it is not that cases are increasing rapidly. "Secondly, are the new variants evading our previous immunity? When new variants come, they evade immunity -- be it natural or from the vaccine. But there's nothing to worry about at the moment," Dr Behl said. He also said that the third factor is the percentage of severe cases in all Covid instances. "Are we getting a very severe disease without comorbidities? As of now, the severity is generally low. There's nothing to worry about. We should be vigilant and we should always be prepared," the ICMR DG asserted. Dr Behl also informed reporters that the Union Health secretary chaired a meeting on Sunday that was also attended by the director general of health services and himself. "We have been closely monitoring the situation. We should be vigilant at this moment, but there is no cause to worry. The general public should be vigilant. There is no need to take any such action as of now," he said. The officer added that the WHO database has been showing that the new variants were not causing severe disease. "People do not need to take any immediate action. They should follow normal precautions. So, there is nothing special to do right now." Asked about the need for a booster dose, he said there is no need for vaccination as of now. "India has the capability to make vaccines and if need be, we can make any vaccine in no time."
The UN Security Council could meet soon to discuss the situation between India and Pakistan, with the UNSC President expressing concern over rising tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbors. The President, Ambassador Evangelos Sekeris of Greece, said a meeting would provide an opportunity to express views and help diffuse tensions. Sekeris also condemned terrorism in all its forms, including the recent attack in Pahalgam, and called for de-escalation and dialogue between India and Pakistan.
There are 4,026 active cases in India and five fresh deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours.
Pakistan was waiting for an opportunity to bring the Jammu and Kashmir issue to the global agenda and resorted to the terrorism route to provoke India, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Bhutto, who served as the Foreign Minister earlier, addressed a briefing at the UN Headquarters in New York and sought reconciliation with India, making a plea for talks and Intel sharing between the two neighbours.
All states have been instructed to ensure availability of oxygen, isolation beds, ventilators and essential medicines in view of rising cases of Covid, official sources said on Wednesday.
As soon as one of the pleas came up for hearing on Friday, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, objected and said there can't be an "endless" filing of pleas challenging the Act.
The editorial came amidst the ongoing tussle between Arlekar and the Marxist party-led Left Democratic Front government over the usage of 'Bharat Mata portrait' during official functions being held in Raj Bhavan.
In a post on X, Sherman said that he 'emphasised to the Pakistani delegation the importance of combatting terrorism, and in particular, the group Jaish-e-Mohammed, who murdered my constituent Daniel Pearl in 2002'.
The NSAB is an advisory body that provides inputs to the National Security Council Secretariat.
After registering a positive growth for two months, India's exports slipped into negative territory again, contracting 2.17 per cent year-on-year to $38.73 billion in May due to a fall in global petroleum prices, while trade deficit narrowed at $21.88 billion during the month.
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said there is no need to panic about COVID-19 cases, even as she asserted that the hospitals were fully prepared to tackle if the number rises.
A statement issued by the parliamentary affairs ministry earlier on Saturday said the all-party delegations will project India's national consensus and resolute approach to combating terrorism in all forms and manifestations.
In order to reduce government litigations, the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said the GST Council has fixed a monetary limit for filing appeals by the tax department before the various appellate authorities. It has recommended a monetary limit of Rs 20 lakh for GST Appellate Tribunal, Rs 1 crore for the High Court and Rs 2 crore for the Supreme Court for filing of appeals by the department before these legal forums, she said after the 53rd GST Council meeting held in New Delhi.
'Prashant Kishor is a businessman before he is a politician, and given that the expected average turnout for JSP candidates is 5,000 to 6,000 votes and since Bihar has a significant number of seats where the margin between the winner and runner-up falls within that range he will capitalise on exactly that to showcase his presence.'
Reaffirming India's stand against terrorism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged leaders of the G7 to galvanise global action against terrorism and underscored the need for strict action against those who 'promote and support' it.
China and Pakistan are in a tight strategic alliance. India must deal with them one at a time, but be prepared in case they decide to collude, points out Shekhar Gupta.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh was acting on a batch of pleas against the blanket ban on blood donations by such persons from the LGBTQIA+ community.
The Supreme Court on Monday said the pleas challenging the Waqf (Amendment) Act's constitutional validity will now be taken up by a bench headed by Chief Justice of India-designate Justice B R Gavai on May 15 as the incumbent CJI will be demitting office on May 13.
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