Avtar Singh Makkar, the president of the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee, has written a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, seeking permission to visit the Taliban-dominated Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan, to assess the condition of the Sikh families residing in those areas. Makkar's request comes in the wake of reports about the residences of Sikh families being razed for the non-payment of jazia.
An air ambulance of the Medanta hospital on Monday crash-landed near Bangkok after it caught fire, resulting in the death of its pilot and injuries to four crew members, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said.
A US Congress-constituted quasi-judicial body on Wednesday asked the Joe Biden Administration to designate four nations, including India, as "countries of particular concern", alleging that religious freedom conditions there in 2020 continued their negative trajectory.
Birla conveyed to the head of the European Union's legislative body that it was inappropriate for one legislature to pass judgements on another and the practice could be misused by vested interests.
More than 3,00,000 Rohingya have poured into Bangladesh since the latest flare-up in violence on August 25.
A group of retired civil servants also called upon the PM to reach out to the families of the victims in Unnao and Kathua and "seek their forgiveness on behalf of all of us".
It was Prime Minister Modi's first such virtual bilateral engagement with a leader of a neighbouring country. For Rajapaksa, it was the first diplomatic engagement with a leader of a foreign country after he was sworn in as prime minister.
Andhra Pradesh government has conveyed the deep concern and apprehensions of the people of the state over the incidents of murders of the people belonging to the state in the United States of America. Mohammed Ali Shabbir, minister for energy, coal, minorities' welfare and non-resident Indians affairs convened a high level meeting on the instructions of the Chief Minster Y S Rajasekhara Reddy on Friday.
The government has announced a crop insurance policy.
The Union home ministry is expected to forward the proposal to the Registrar General & Census Commissioner for a detailed examination and suggestions, a ministry official said.
Over the years, a noticeable unpleasantness began to develop between senior and junior, Sorabjee and Salve. Salve gave credit, for his rise in the profession, to Nani Palkhivala, and not to Sorabjee. This hurt Sorabjee, though he never admitted it.
The United States has made it clear to India that it is "discouraging" it from proceeding with its acquisition of S-400 missile defence systems from Russia but Washington will have to weigh "important geostrategic considerations" while taking a decision on growing calls for a presidential CAATSA waiver to New Delhi, President Joe Biden's nominee for Coordinator for Sanctions Policy has told lawmakers.
The BJP calling the Congress a "torn old party" moving towards a stage where its relevance and necessity will be completely lost.
Meanwhile, India has cancelled all visas issued to foreign nationals coming from China as it stepped up efforts to combat the spread of novel coronavirus after 150 passengers were identified with symptoms of the deadly virus and sent to isolation units.
The US intends first to cripple the Afghan government financially through sanctions, freezing of assets, denial of access to international banking, etc, and then proceed to do pretty much what it wants to do with scant regard for Afghanistan's sovereignty, predicts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Why wouldn't so strategically-minded an adversary, such as China, not militarily exploit to the maximum Indian timidity, stupidity, and cupidity all along the LAC and legitimate, as it has done so often in the past, the fait accompli of incremental territorial grabs which, by the way, is its strategy and policy as implemented on the ground?'
'Why isn't the BJP ready to give reservations to Muslims despite the high court telling it to do so?' 'A K Antony said the Congress lost the 2014 election because of Muslim appeasement. Antony should have gone to the jails of Maharashtra and found out how many Muslims were arrested during Congress rule. I don't know what kind of appeasement this is.' 'We reposed faith in so-called great secular leaders and they deceived us.'
With this allocation of portfolios, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP has got most of the 'plum' ministries.
India and Indians can ignore Pakistan, but that cannot be said of other nations in the neighbourhood, where New Delhi's 'Neighbourhood First' policy constantly reverberates. Four of the eight SAARC member-nations are Muslim -- Afghanistan and Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Maldives. The rulers decide the nation's India or anti-India policy in the first two, and street-opinion contributes to the same in the latter two, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
The sources said both sides held extensive deliberations on modalities for disengagement of troops from all the friction points in eastern Ladakh at the talks.
'... The girl's parents would probably react in the same manner as the parents of the Hindu girl who marries a Muslim boy.' Minority Affairs Najma Heptulla, in an exclusive interview.
The Oil Ministry has proposed raising natural gas prices by at least 60 per cent, a move that will result in rise in urea as well as power costs.
All Indian film personalities who performed at the show are safe; former cricketer Ravi Shastri's wife hurt.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has approached the Supreme Court seeking to intervene in the hearing on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, saying there was a need to take into account the "international human rights law, norms and standards" in the proceedings.
Indian politics, held captive in one way or the other by Ayodhya, may now well seek its emancipation from this issue, and the pursuit of welfare, asserts Congress leader Salman Khurshid in this excerpt from his latest book, Sunrise over Ayodhya.
Former Kerala minister T H Mustafa was on Thursday suspended from the Congress for calling Rahul Gandhi a "joker" and saying that the party vice-president should be removed if he does not resign in the backdrop of the party's debacle in the Lok Sabha polls.
Guwahati is witnessing massive protests over the new Citizenship law. The MEA said that both sides have decided to 'defer' Abe's visit to a mutually convenient date.
By passing this bill, Congress is showing that the US will not turn a blind eye to the suffering of the oppressed, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy said.
5 joint secretaries serving in the ministry of home affairs on Tuesday met Home Minister Rajnath Singh and urged him to reconsider the decision to suspend senior IAS officer G K Dwivedi for renewal of Foreign Contribution Regulation Act licence of controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik's NGO.
Under the draft law, triple talaq in any form -- spoken, in writing or by electronic means such as email, SMS and WhatsApp -- would be bad or illegal and void.
The top court issued notices to Union ministries of law and justice and minority affairs as well as the National Commission of Women after taking note of the plea of Delhi-based woman Nafisa Khan challenging the practice of polygamy and 'nikah halala', and said that the matter will be taken up a five-judge Constitution bench.
The protesters carried banners and placards reading "Shame on Pakistan" and "We will expose the real face of Pakistan". Some of the banners and placards urged Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to protect the gurdwara, one of the holiest sites in Sikhism.
Empowerment of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) with extra territorial jurisdiction and declaration of Maulana Masood Azhar, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and Dawood Ibrahim as terrorists after legislative amendment were counted among its achievements by the MHA, headed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
'Those who worked with him or came to know him rated him as one of our best, with a sharp intellect, unfailing courtesy and ready wit.' Ambassador T P Sreenivasan fondly remembers Ambassador B S Prakash, wonderful human being, unusual diplomat and long-time Rediff.com columnist, who passed away into the ages on Monday, October 4, 2021.
The illegal immigrants were detained in 2012 and since then they were lodged in Cachar Central Jail in Assam's Silchar.
Jammu and Kashmir "was, is and shall forever" remain an integral part of India, a top Indian diplomat asserted at the UN Human Rights Council's meeting in Geneva on Wednesday, a day after Pakistan sought the international community's intervention on the Kashmir issue. Speaking at the 43rd session of the UN Human Rights Council which is being held in Geneva in Switzerland from February 24 to March 20, Vikas Swarup, secretary (west), the ministry of external affairs, described Pakistan as the "epicentre of global terrorism".
Responding to USCIRF's statement on the bill, the MEA said it was guided by 'prejudices and biases'.
There is a churning going on among Muslims, and Mehmood Madni should be credited for breaking the silence. He has initiated a debate on the options before Muslims to look beyond the Congress yoke and fear of the BJP, says Ehtasham Khan
The list has been sent to Governor Ram Naik for approval.
The alacrity with which regional States responded to Delhi's invite signals that expectations are high regarding an Indian role in the efforts to stabilise the situation in Afghanistan, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
