'Clearly, Washington has all but given up hope following US Acting Assistant Secretary of State Alice Wells's stormy visit to Colombo last month where she read the riot act to Sri Lankan leaders to sign the pending status of forces agreement allowing American troops to use Sri Lanka as a hub for operations in the Indian Ocean,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The draft lays down 17 charges against 15 accused, including human rights and civil liberties activists, and they have been sought to be charged under various sections of the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
'The protesters took out a march carrying black flags. They burnt Prime Minister Narendra Modi's effigy while raising slogans against the three farm laws'
The opposition on Wednesday scuttled the introduction of the controversial Communal Violence Prevention Bill in the Rajya Sabha, contending that Parliament does not have the competence to legislate this law, as it will violate the spirit of Federalism.
The court left it to the CBI to take a call on whether those chargesheeted need to be arrested or not.
Observing that there are "definite and proved" allegations that complaints of the victims of violence in the aftermath of the West Bengal assembly polls were not even registered, the Calcutta high court on Thursday ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into all alleged cases of heinous crimes like rape and murder, while accepting the recommendations of a National Human Rights Commission panel.
As Justice (retd) A K Ganguly faced calls to quit as chief of the West Bengal Human Rights Commission, faculty members of the premier National University of Juridical Sciences on Wednesday demanded his removal as honorary professor.
It is high time the Indian government signalled discomfort with the UK providing refuge to those accused of financial crimes in India, states Jaimini Bhagwati.
Hindu American Foundation: 'As an organisation that works on issues affecting Hindu minorities... in the civil war although all groups were affected, Hindu temples and Hindu institutions were disproportionately affected, and Hindus continue to be affected.' Sri Lanka's Ambassador to the United States Prasad Kariyawasam: 'Assume that Sri Lanka is referred to the ICC through the UN Security Council -- which will never happen because Sri Lanka has enough clout to block it. But assume it is. Still, the ICC cannot handle it because retrospectively they don't have jurisdiction.'
The Supreme Court on Tuesday rapped the army asking why it had maintained silence over allegations of rape and murder against its personnel in Manipur and questioned the state government for not proceeding with these cases against them.
Aadhaar-related schemes and the Aadhaar Act exist on the assumption that Right to Privacy is not a Fundamental Right.
The murder charges capped dramatic developments both in the court and outside where a woman head constable witness to the happenings told a Magisterial probe that the two traders were thrashed an entire night by the other police personnel at Sathankulam station where they were detained over alleged lockdown violations late last month.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar briefed the leaders on the latest situation in Afghanistan after the Taliban captured power there last week.
India comes under attack over religious intolerance, human trafficking and slavery at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing.
The hurdle that remains with every government announcement is implementation. We don't lack ideas; we lack either the will or the competence to implement them, says Anjuli Bhargava
'Our policy is pro-Sri Lanka.' 'Burma is not the only girl on the beach in South Asia.''
Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd) lists why India must not do away with AFSPA, but ensure enough transparency to avoid confrontation with human rights.
"If we have to recognise a government, the first thing is that we will need to wait until the government is formed," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said.
Though MEA did not clarify the individuals being referred to, it is being seen as a reference to US lawmakers critical of India on the issue of the Delhi violence.
Xi Jinping is winning the war without firing a shot in Sri Lanka, observes Colonel R Hariharan (retd).
The National Democratic Alliance government is weeding out independent directors on the boards of public-sector undertakings (PSUs).
The DoT is wrongly asking subscribers to link their mobile numbers to Aadhaar in order to keep them active, says Gopal Krishna.
NHRC issues notices to Centre and governments of Delhi, Punjab and Haryana, saying 'the state cannot leave its citizens to die due to the toxic haze.'
The four men, all lorry workers, aged between 20 and 24, were arrested on November 29 for allegedly raping and killing the woman by smothering her and later burning her body.
Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi says her ministry is working on four core areas of "safety, education, employment and confidence building," which are critical for the 58 crore women population in India which includes over 41 crore in rural areas. She also lays out the detailed roadmap for her ministry including setting up of one stop rape crises centres, hostels for working women among others.
'The NRC is aimed at rounding up and permanently jailing Indian Muslims who cannot produce the documents to satisfy a government which punishes those individuals who do not declare maximum number of Muslims foreigners.' 'It is for this reason that we see so many Indian Muslims protesting these laws and it is for this reason that so many non-Muslims cannot stand by and watch what is happening in their country,' says Aakar Patel.
'Many enter the civil services with the desire to do good work but get beaten by the system, step back or become part of it.' 'Ten fantastic officers out of 100 can completely change the game.'
His action after the Godhra train violence doesn't support the picture of an effective and no-nonsense deliverer of good governance, says Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay
At a joint media briefing with Lavrov, Jaishankar listed issues such as "factors of instability" such as terrorism and its cross-border manifestation and said it remains a "major concern".
Tainted former captain Salim Malik is ready to co-operate with the International Cricket Council and Pakistan Cricket Board to get their clearance, which will allow him to earn a living from the game. In a video message, the former Test captain, who was banned in 2000 for life for match-fixing by the PCB on the recommendations of the Justice (Retd) Malik Qayyum judicial commission report, also apologised to the nation and his fans for his actions.
The Supreme Court found enough grounds to order a CBI probe into 1,528 extra-judicial killings in Manipur between 2000 and 2012.
The court dismissed the last-ditch appeal by his mother, saying Dharmalingam has been given "due process in accordance with the law".
One unwanted fallout of Stan Swamy's death from the government's point of view will be the increased attention on those senior citizens who are still in jail on charges which are taking a long time to prove, believes Amulya Ganguli.
Functioning from 8 am to 8 pm, it deals only with mental stress
'The National Conference and the Peoples Democratic Party, as recent events suggest, are quite content as New Delhi's collaborators rather than trying to be true representatives of the Kashmiri people,' says Athar Parvaiz.
In a televised address, Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi said that her country does not fear the scrutiny of the international community, as more than 400,000 minority Rohingya have fled violence in the country's northern Rakhine State.
Rather than a blind reproduction of the government template, a more productive way of enforcing affirmative action in the private sector could be to emulate an American model, suggests Kanika Datta.
'The CBI should be bifurcated and the CBI's charter should be restricted to anti-corruption cases.'
'The investigation of major criminal cases having national and international implications, and national crimes spread over more than one state may be entrusted to a new national crime bureau,' recommends Dr Madhav Godbole, the former home secretary.
Tensions continue to rise at IIT Indore over apology letters and quality of food.
He was permanently absorbed into the ED cadre in 2014 and has headed some high-profile investigations into the 2G spectrum allocation case, the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the money laundering cases against former Union finance minister P Chidambaram and his son Karti Chidambaram, Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda, the Aircel Maxis and VVIP choppers case.
