The Centre on Saturday night announced that the probe into alleged irregularities in the medical entrance exam NEET will be handed over to the CBI for a comprehensive investigation.
Elections for the five non-permanent members of the 15-nation Council for the 2021-22 term will be held around June next year.
Here is an explainer on the functioning of the seven-year-old body.
India and Brazil on Wednesday called for urgent progress in reforms of the UN Security Council, as they agreed to scale up bilateral ties and deepen cooperation in international fora.
"We have a strong view that there should be Security Council reform of the United Nations, that the Security Council should reflect the modern world, which is why we've suggested that both India and Japan should become permanent members of a reformed United Nations Security Council," the Australian foreign minister said.
She lamented that Africa despite being the largest continent in terms of number of the countries and India, which has has one-sixth of the world's population, still don't have permanent membership of the UNSC.
With the reality of coalition politics staring the BJP in its face, this was inevitable, points out Ramesh Menon.
On October 24, the United Nations turns 70. 'The credibility of the UN has been eroded by the fact that the Security Council does not represent the political realities of the world today,' says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan, listing the 10 things the UN needs to do to become more relevant and effective.
The agency had received Rs 946.51 crore to manage its affairs in the Budget Estimates for 2023-24, which was later increased to Rs 968.86 crore in the Revised Estimates.
In a significant victory, India has been re-elected to the UN's main human rights body for the period of 2015-17, receiving the highest number of votes in the Asia-Pacific group.
The United Nations General Assembly today elected Angola, Malaysia, New Zealand, Spain and Venezuela as the new non-permanent members of the Security Council for a two-year term beginning in January next year.
Noting that the last reforms to the Security Council were made in the sixties, Ambassador of France to India Jerome Bonnafont said "if we want the Security Council to remain a legitimate place for handling peace and security crisis in the world, it is absolutely necessary to have India as well as couple of others as permanent members."
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".
Prime Minister Modi felt there were too many silos with no arrangement to take a comprehensive view on national security. The PM has entrusted NSA Ajit Doval to evolve a comprehensive roadmap and get it implemented, reveals Nitin Gokhale, Editor-in-Chief, Strategic News International.
The biggest challenge will be to convert his regime into a coalition of minds. But given the fact that he is instinctively an authoritarian leader and supporter of the hard Hindutva line, the survival of his government will depend on his ability to balance between his heart and mind, between instinct and pragmatism, asserts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author of Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times.
The people will view it from their viewpoint, their immediate interest, historical experiences, their insecurities, he said.
India, which has been at the forefront of the years-long efforts to reform the UNSC, began its two-year tenure at the Council on Friday last.
While Congress and the states ruled by non-NDA parties pushed for the Centre meeting its statutory obligation of covering the deficit, the Union government cited a legal opinion to say it had no such obligation if there was a shortfall in tax collections. The Centre as well as BJP-JD-U-ruled Bihar were of the opinion that the states should borrow to make up for the shortfall in the tax revenues that have been compounded by the COVID-19 crisis, sources said.
Seeking China's backing for a permanent United Nations Security Council seat for India, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna on Tuesday called on Beijing to 'review' its policies on UN reforms to 'welcome' its neighbour to the core group of the world body."Indeed, even on the complex issue of UN reforms, it is time for China to review previously held positions and welcome the presence of, in the Security Council, a nation with which it has much in common," Krishna said.
India and Britain have also agreed that the World Bank should be reformed to give it an environmental focus. They further agreed on improving the working of the International Monetary Fund and on giving the United Nations a greater role in its stability and reconstruction activities.
India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Syed Akbaruddin, on Thursday lambasted Pakistan for peddling a false narrative on New Delhi and said there are no "takers for your malware here".
India and Africa on Wednesday declared their support to each other for a permanent seat in the expanded United Nations Security Council and favoured reforms of the world body to make it more representative and democratic.
There is a growing sentiment in the world and the global South in a way embodies it. But there's also political resistance, he said.
Sushma in her address at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Council of Foreign Ministers meeting said that terrorism is an enemy of basic human rights.
"Time has come for Pakistan to decide in its own interests. We will do what's in Pakistan's interests," Qureshi told Geo TV in an interview.
The race for the UN secretary-general for 2022-2027 is already over and another term for Antonio Guterres is a foregone conclusion, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Visiting Namibian Foreign Minister Marco Hausiku conveyed his country's "strong support" to India's candidature for permanent membership of the Security Council during talks with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
The Security Council as it is today is unable to bring peace and security in the world and so there is reason for countries like India to become members of the Council, Ambassador Asoke Kumar Mukerji tells Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com.
The US welcomed the election of India as a non-permanent member of the powerful UN Security Council along with South Africa and Brazil and hoped these countries would play an important and constructive role in resolving key global issues together.
'The 2024 election results will lead to much intense targeting of Modi, more intense debates, many more breakdowns in Parliament and many more movements on the streets.' 'The results have hit Modi's standing, and the politics of the Opposition parties will be sharply focused to ensure that Modi doesn't get back his charisma of being 'invincible' with help of State power.' Sheela Bhatt looks at the political situation through the prism of 2024 Lok Sabha election results.
India said the prevailing architecture of the UN Security Council has proved to be grossly inadequate in effectively dealing with current challenges such as the conflicts in the Middle East and the rise of ISIS as it called for urgent reform of the UN body.
"Will the President, while he is in India and probably while he is speaking to the Parliament, utter the words, 'The United States supports India's permanent membership in a reformed UN Security Council' or not?
Addressing the UNGA plenary session Clegg called for enlarging the Security Council 'to make up for the failure to fully face new challenges posed by a global map' that has radically changed since the world body was founded 65 years ago.
On Pakistan, the publication quoted him as saying that India wants "normal and neighborly relations."
The prime minister also underlined the importance of a free and open Indo-Pacific for the Pacific island nations and said India respects the sovereignty and integrity of all countries.
Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) chairman Bibek Debroy on Tuesday said the government was losing revenue due to the GST, which should be revenue neutral with a single rate. Speaking at an event organised by the Calcutta Chamber of Commerce in Kolkata, he however said that GST has led to a lot of simplification. "The ideal GST is one that has a single rate, and it was meant to be revenue neutral.
India has slammed the "indifference" of some UNSC towards restraining terrorists, saying it has questioned the Security Council's ability to combat terrorism.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday announced the adoption of the New Delhi Leaders Declaration, a significant victory for India's G20 presidency that came amid increasing tensions and divergent views over the Ukraine conflict.
PM Modi on Saturday met PM Abe and invited Japan to be part of the 'Make in India' programme.
Britain has backed India for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council to make the world body more credible and effective.
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