India abstained in the UN General Assembly on Thursday on a resolution that underscored the need to reach "comprehensive, just and lasting peace" in Ukraine, citing the resolution's "inherent limitations" in reaching New Delhi's desired goal of securing lasting peace and ending the conflict which has been raging for one year now.
Chinese ambassador to Sri Lanka, Qi Zhenhong said that China was happy that the matter was dealt with and Beijing and Colombo jointly safeguard each other's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.
The best, wisest, and fairest next step in strengthening our own cause is to restore statehood to Jammu & Kashmir and allow the resumption of robust political activity. That's a box that remains unchecked on the Modi government's report card as we approach the fourth anniversary of Kashmir's Constitutional shift, notes Shekhar Gupta.
India abstained in the United Nations General Assembly on a draft resolution calling for Russia to be held accountable for violations of international law by its invasion of Ukraine and requiring Moscow to pay reparations to Kyiv for damages, loss and injury resulting from the war.
Prime Minister Modi on Saturday left for Egypt after concluding his state visit during which he held wide-ranging talks with President Joe Biden and addressed the joint session of the US Congress.
Campaigners from Hamburg-based (Germany) think-tank World Future Council, along with British charity ActionAid, protested against the Church of England and Middlesbrough Borough Council on Monday for investing their pension funds in UK-based metals and mining company Vedanta Resources Plc (with an $8-billion group turnover), whose reputation for trampling human rights and alleged unclean mining practices has been questioned before.
'This was the worst phase yet in the state's human rights history.' 'Notorious interrogation centres were set up, large numbers died in firing on civilian mobs.' 'This is what today's generations might identify better as the Haider phase in Kashmir's history,' says Shekhar Gupta.
In the year since Modi cast the spotlight on Pakistan's human rights violations in Balochistan, India has not done much more than raise the issue at the UN a few times.
The statement posted on SDPI's website alleged that freedom of speech, protests and organisation have been ruthlessly suppressed by the regime going against the basic principles of the Indian constitution.
During the hearing, the activist had said she loved her life and was using her fast as a weapon to achieve her goal of repealing the AFSPA as it would have 'more impact' and added that this was 'not a crime'.
More than 200 protesters waving Khalistan flags descended upon the Indian Consulate in San Francisco on Wednesday for a planned demonstration amid a heightened security presence of the San Francisco Police Department (SFDP).
'This award is funded by American money so I took this decision.'
He will succeed K K Venugopal, whose term will end on September 30.
Voicing his deep concern, the UN chief said that the "hospitals in the south of Gaza are already at capacity and will not be able to accept thousands of new patients from the north."
India has always provided very strong support to minority communities in Afghanistan, particularly Sikhs and Hindus, and it is an important part of New Delhi's effort to evacuate those Afghan nationals who want to leave the war-ravaged country, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla has said.
The Hague-based ICC accused the Russian president of responsibility for war crimes committed by Russian forces in Ukraine during the war that has been ongoing for over a year.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the move, saying he was carrying out President Donald Trump's orders. "Today, I am announcing visa restrictions on current and former CCP officials who are believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, undermining Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy, as guaranteed in the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration or undermining human rights and fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong," Pompeo said.
In the financial year 2018-19, the party collected Rs 5.17 crore as contributions and Rs 3.74 crore in FY 2019-20.
Prima facie there was a nexus between human rights activist Gautam Navlakha, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, and Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai, an agent of Pakistan's spy agency ISI convicted in the United States for terror funding, a special NIA court has said in its order denying bail to the campaigner.
"The fight against impunity is critical to the larger pursuit of securing peace and justice. The Security Council must send an unambiguous and unequivocal message on this count," External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar told the 15-nation UN Security Council briefing on Ukraine 'Fight against impunity'.
Noting that prisoners lack understanding of their rights, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday said there was a need for increasing their awareness and advocated the need for educating them.
India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador T S Tirumurti said India remains on the side of peace.
'The credibility of the messenger here is highly suspect. This is something which the global community is aware of'
Iran was ousted from the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women on Wednesday evening in the wake of the Mahsa Amini protest.
India maintains that the Kashmir issue is a bilateral one and no third party has any role in it.
India also slammed Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for raking up Jammu and Kashmir at the UN.
Brushing aside opposition from the Dravida Munetra Kazhagam and other parties in Tamil Nadu, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday met Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa but did not give him any assurance on which way India will vote on a the United Nations Human Rights Council resolution for an independent international probe into rights abuses during the war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
Nepal's new Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli on Friday said that the blockade of key border points with India is 'more inhuman than a war' as he criticised New Delhi for raking up alleged rights abuse in Nepal at the UNHRC.
The 67-page report released on Monday titled "I Was Hit So Many Times I Can't Count" looks at Japan's history of physical punishment in sport and includes first-hand accounts from athletes.
Israeli troops backed by tanks and drones on Thursday continued to pound Gaza in its operation against Hamas, defying mounting calls for restraint and a United Nations vote to investigate the deadly offensive that has killed 720 Palestinians and 34 Israelis.
India's failure to resolve the Kashmir issue and improve relationship with Pakistan has been an "impediment" to India's rise and become the greatest hurdle in it becoming a permanent member of the UN Security Council and the Nuclear Suppliers Group, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's envoys have claimed.
The exit of CPN-UML may not immediately affect the Prachanda-led government, which is supported by the Nepali Congress which has 89 lawmakers in the House.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Thursday warned the Bharatiya Janata Party not to 'provoke' the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, saying it will not be able to 'bear the consequences' and that his party also knows 'all types of politics', escalating his attack on the saffron party after the arrest of his cabinet colleague V Senthil Balaji.
United Jihad Council chairman and supreme commander of Hizbul Mujaheedin Syed Salah-ud-Din will address a seminar in Srinagar via telephone from Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir on Wednesday. Ahsan Untoo, chairman of the human rights group, said the seminar will be attended by several senior separatist leaders including Mirwaiz Moulvi Umar Farooq, Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik.
The Union home ministry issued a notification, announcing the formation of the tribunal.
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India was among the 11 countries that abstained from voting on the resolution in the UN Economic and Social Council.
India's dream to be in the forefront of international politics has come true. India has placed itself firmly as a major player in the shaping of a new world order, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Eyebrows went north in India, especially in New Delhi where in the confusion some people criticized the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) which is based in New York. Chitra Subramaniam offers some perspective.
'Although perhaps not with a greater majority, and maybe even a slightly reduced majority in the Lok Sabha.'
In days of smart, networked technology and no shame over collateral damage, what will blow up next -- cars, mobile phones, TV sets, refrigerators? And where?, asks Shyam G Menon.
