Senior Trinamool Congress leader Chandrima Bhattacharya has resigned as the party's West Bengal president and from all other posts, citing a loss of trust after an admonishment from Mamata Banerjee. She has since been seen meeting with the Ritabrata Banerjee-led rebel faction, further deepening the organisational crisis within the TMC following its recent Assembly election defeat.
Apart from Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, the Barasat MP, those attending the meeting included TMC MLAs Anisur Rahaman Biswas of Deganga, Bina Mondal of Swarupnagar, Mohammad Abdul Matin of Haroa and three more legislators from the Basirhat subdivision of North 24 Parganas district.
The Pakistan Cricket Board has defended its decision to ban Blessing Muzarabani from the Pakistan Super League for two years, despite admitting that no formal contract was ever sent to the Zimbabwean pacer.
'Shock, confusion, and paralysis reigned.' 'Pakistan was caught in a most embarrassing situation. It could neither claim credit for the operation nor admit to a dismal intelligence failure and lack of army preparedness.'
Hina Khar Rabbani, the gorgeous and soft-spoken foreign minister of Pakistan, made quite an impression during her three-day official visit to India.
The Afghanistan government has cited investigations to claim that the killers of former President Burhanuddin Rabbani, its negotiator with the Taliban, were Pakistanis.
Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar has blamed Afghan refugees living in Pakistan for the assassination of former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani and said they are responsible for various other problems.
The two-day visit to New Delhi of Professor Burhanudin Rabbani, chairman of the high peace council of Afghanistan, from July 14 will be an occasion for Indian leaders to have detailed discussions on the reconciliation process initiated in Afghanistan with the Taliban groups.
The son of Afghanistan's slain peace negotiator Burhanuddin Rabbani was on Saturday appointed the new head of the Afghan High Peace Council to lead reconciliation talks with the Taliban, months after his father's assassination dealt a major blow to the peace efforts.
On Friday, Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai claimed that former president Burhanuddin Rabbani's killing was plotted in the Pakistani city Quetta.
Branded as a "veritable arm" of the Inter-Services Intelligence, the Haqqani network's operational chief Sirajuddin Haqqani has claimed that his group did not kill Burhanuddin Rabbani and denied any links with the Pakistani spy agency.
Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar will visit Kabul on February 1 to boost Pakistan-Afghanistan ties and efforts to engage the Taliban that were affected by the assassination of former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani last year.
Burhanuddin Rabbani, chairman of the High Peace Council and former President of Afghanistan who met Prime minister Manmohan Singh over lunch in New Delhi on Thursday and later had delegation level talks, has expressed desire to perform Friday prayers at the historic Jama Masjid.
Condemning the assassination of chairman of the Afghan High Peace Council Burhanudin Rabbani, India on Tuesday said that the forces of terror and hatred have silenced "another powerful voice of peace" there. Expressing shock at the death of Rabbani, also former president of Afghanistan, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna "unreservedly" condemned the act of "great brutality." "I fondly recall my meetings with him in Kabul and again in New Delhi last July," he said.
Six days after former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani was assassinated, authorities in Kabul have arrested a prominent Afghan connected to the Taliban militants as a suspect.
Expressing happiness over meeting his Pakistani counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar at a reception on Tuesday, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said such social exchanges will go a long way in normalising relations with the neighbouring country.
Tahir Ali examines the consequences of the assassination of former president Burhanuddin Rabbani on attempts to broker peace in Afghanistan
Co-operation with the US is India's only strategic option. The US is now as concerned as we are over Pakistani machinations in Afghanistan. It could be more amenable to feelers from India for joint moves by India and the US to prevent a return to power of the Taliban with the ISI's backing, says B Raman.
The remarks made by Indian Army Chief General Bikram Singh following the beheading of an Indian soldier on the LoC last week were 'very hostile', Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said on Tuesday, as she asked Indian leaders to 'catch up' with developments in her country.
Expressing happiness over meeting his Pakistani counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar at a reception on Tuesday, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said such social exchanges will go a long way in normalising relations with the neighbouring country.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar on Tuesday said a result-orientated dialogue would help India and Pakistan resolve their bilateral issues.
India and Pakistan on Wednesday announced additional Confidence Building Measures related to Kashmir, including increasing cross-LoC trading days and expanding travel to include tourism and religious aspects.
Talking tough, Afghanistan has alleged Pakistan had advance knowledge of the plot to assassinate former president Burhanuddin Rabbani and said Islamabad was refusing to cooperate in investigations of the crime.
Islam is the "most misunderstood" and "misrepresented" faith in the world, Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar contended and said that illiterate and irresponsible people have been allowed to take the religion in their hands.
Apparently Hina Rabbani Khar, Pakistan's youngest and first female foreign minister, has had it with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen's incessant indictments of Pakistan's intelligence agency, the Inter Services Intelligence.
Karnataka tutor, who allegedly dialed Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani, is given a clean chit after investigators find out that he made the call by mistake and had no ill intentions, reports Vicky Nanjappa
Former Afghanistan President Burhanuddin Rabbani has been killed in explosion at his house in Kabul on Tuesday evening. He was leading the leading the country's efforts to talk peace with the Taliban.
Hina Rabbani Khar is set to become Pakistan's first woman foreign minister, with Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani recommending her elevation as a full-fledged minister, ahead of the Indo-Pak Foreign Minister-level talks in July.
An Afghan delegation arrived in Islamabad on Tuesday to share information with Pakistani officials on the assassination of Afghan peace envoy Burhanuddin Rabbani, diplomatic sources said.
"It is Pakistan's firm determination not to allow any space on its territory for militants and terrorists. At the regional plane, we must all pledge that our respective territories will not be allowed to be used against others by terrorists," Khar said while addressing the United Nations General Assembly.
'If Pakistan's army wants to escalate violence in Kashmir, they have an unlimited supply of jihadis they can train and send. That's not an issue for them.'
Former Pakistan foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar on Wednesday said India and Pakistan should shed their "old baggage" as she made a strong pitch for the resumption of the Indo-Pak dialogue process.
Pakistan President Arif Alvi has stirred a controversy by proposing a 'one-state solution' to the Palestine problem in a significant departure from established policy, prompting the caretaker government to distance itself from the remarks and calls for his resignation.
Jaishankar said the world today sees Pakistan as the epicenter of terrorism who has its fingerprints over a lot of terrorist activities.
'Under the circumstances, this announcement may remain limited to bravado and little else, adding momentum to Imran's narrative of victimhood,' points out Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RA&W.
Among the many reasons to watch Murder In Mahim is that it may be a chance to wipe out -- if it is achievable by a Web series -- the air of judgment towards those who do not conform to the majority's idea of normal, asserts Deepa Gahlot.
Though the two-day SCO Council of Foreign Ministers' meeting began at the Taj Exotica Resort in Benaulim on Thursday evening with a reception hosted by Jaishankar, the main deliberations took place on Friday.
It would be the highest level visit to India by any Pakistani leader in recent years and a possible opportunity to break the ice between the two nations.
Her comments come days after Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif sought "serious" and "sincere" talks with his Indian counterpart for the resolution of the "burning" issues, including Kashmir.
"As of now, there are no norms and regulations under the National Medical Commission to accommodate medical students, who were studying abroad and had to return to India midway, in Indian medical colleges in between an academic session," a health ministry official told PTI, on the condition of anonymity.
