WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange should be freed, a UN panel ruled as it called on the UK and Sweden to compensate the whistleblower for his "arbitrary detention".
The Sri Lankan government has slammed the decision of the United Nations to set up a panel of experts to advice Secretary General Ban Ki Moon on the human rights situation in the country, saying it was 'unwarranted' since Colombo has already formed a mechanism to address accountability issues. "The proposed panel of experts was unwarranted since Lanka has already set in motion its local mechanism to address accountability issues, said Minister of External Affairs G L Peiris.
"We should not have a repeat of what happened in Mumbai. That there was a terror attack and there was no response," Jaishankar told reporters in Mumbai.
The United Nations has launched an independent review of the functioning of its top climate change body IPCC, which has come under much criticism in the recent months for some errors in its reports.
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.
The report, which was released the report late Thursday night, points out that there was a 'deliberate' attempt by the Pakistan authorities to scuttle the investigation into the killing of the Pakistan People's Party chief.
The three-member international commission that the United Nations plans to appoint to probe the assassination of former Pakistan premier Benazir Bhutto will be a fact-finding panel and will not carry out any criminal investigation. In a letter to the Security Council released on Thursday, Secretary-General Ban ki Moon said the life of the commission will be of six months. "You will note that the commission's mandate would be of a limited duration (a maximum of six months).
The UN made it clear that it will not conduct any inquiry into accusations of sexual harassment against R K Pachauri
In its set of recommendations, the China Committee said that economic sanctions against China in case of an attack on Taiwan will be most effective if key allies such as G7, NATO, NATO+5, and Quad members join, and negotiating a joint response and broadcasting this message publicly have the added benefit of enhancing deterrence.
Rejecting Pakistan's appeal to reopen the probe by United Nations into the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said, "The work of the commission is complete."
The 2007 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change erroneously claimed that the Himalayan glaciers would melt away by 2035.
On the occasion, a panel discussion will be organised on 'Combating inequalities for the achievement of SDGs'.
A United Nations panel has said killing of tens of thousands of people in the final stages of the Sri Lankan civil strife could amount to "war crimes", but Secretary General Ban Ki-moon insisted he would only launch an international investigation if Colombo agrees or member states call for it.
Sadhguru said even though the idea of commemorating the International Yoga Day was mooted by PM Modi, it was "almost like the world was waiting for it".
The United Nations has expressed regret that noted human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin will not be able to serve on an independent inquiry commission that will investigate possible human rights violations and war crimes committed, particularly in the Gaza Strip.
"I made clear to President (Mahinda) Rajapaksa that I intend to move forward on a Group of Experts which will advise me on setting the broad parameters and standards on the way ahead on establishing accountability concerning Sri Lanka," Ban told media-persons I New York, referring to a conversation he had with Sri Lankan President on Thursday.
The UN celebrated the birth anniversary of B R Ambedkar with a top official describing the noted Indian social reformer as a "global icon" for marginalised people.
Most politicians and even non-politicians have been honoured because of what they were purported to be electorally worth for the ruling party of their time, argues N Sathiya Moorthy.
An independent panel appointed by the United Nations has criticised the Pervez Musharraf-led government in Pakistan for failing to protect former premier Benazir Bhutto.Bhutto was killed in a gun and suicide attack after addressing an election rally in Rawalpindi on December 27, 2007.The Commission was headed by Chilean UN Ambassador Heraldo Munoz and included former Indonesian attorney general Marzuki Darusman and Ireland's former deputy police commissioner Peter Fitzgerald.
Pakistan's powerful spy agency ISI continues to have close links with Lashkar-e-Taiba and has used the terror group's services to foment anti-India passion in Kashmir and elsewhere, a UN report has said.
The draft 'Prevention of torture bill, 2017' proposed "stringent punishment" to perpetrators to curb the menace of torture and to have a deterrent effect on acts of torture. The punishment could extend up to life imprisonment and include a fine.
Foreign portfolio investors' (FPIs') net investments in the domestic debt market surged in December, marking a 77-month high, that is, since July 2017. According to market participants, this significant uptick in FPI inflows can be attributed to the post-domestic policy outcome and the US Federal Reserve's dovish stance at the December policy. FPI inflows into debt stood at Rs 18,393 crore in December against Rs 14,106 crore in November, according to data on the National Securities Depository Limited.
Perturbed over calling 26/11 Mumbai terror attack mastermind and Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed as as 'sahib' by a United States Security Council panel, India will seek a clarification on it from the world body.
Questioning Lodha Committee's fresh clarifications, Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) legal advisor Ushanath Banerjee pleaded for a review saying it made a clear departure from the earlier stand and misconstrued the order.
'Keeping the global temperature below not just 1.5 degree Celsius, even 2 degree Celsius is beyond our reach now. Both are impossible.'
China was the sole member in the 15-nation UN organ to put a hold on India's application with the rest 14 members of the Council supporting New Delhi's bid to place Azhar on the 1267 sanctions list that would subject him to an assets freeze and travel ban.
The three judge panel of the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan upheld the the State Department intervention in 2009, which exempts taxes on property owned by foreign governments and UN missions that housed diplomatic staff.
What the INDIA alliance needs is neither a counter to Modi's tall personality and undiminished charisma nor a counter-narrative to his Hindutva agenda, now centred on the Ayodhya temple consecration on January 22, argues N Sathiya Moorthy.
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.
The UN Secretary General was greeting me in Hindi. He had started his foreign service career in the Korean embassy in New Delhi and had retained a love of India.
The UN on Friday, said it is yet to receive any appeal from Jamaat-ud-Dawa or four of its top leaders to review the sanctions imposed on them by the Security Council in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks. If received, the request would need to be considered by the Security Council, with the letter for review being sent through a member state.
He was attending a panel discussion on how to end violence against women.
'The focus needs to shift towards the ability to collect payments, particularly in tier-3 to tier-4 areas where acceptance is still lacking.'
So far, major emitters are far from curbs on emissions on a scale outlined by the IPCC.
The rover will carry out in-situ chemical analysis of the lunar surface during the course of its mobility.
The External Affairs Ministry on Thursday discarded the article titled 'India's embarrassing North Korean connection' by Nilanjana Bhowmick in Al Jazeera, a Doha-based broadcaster, saying the insinuation regarding New Delhi's assistance to North Korea in United Nations proscribed activities is 'baseless and without any merit.'
Noting the urgency and desire on the part of India to extradite people accused of corruption, the UK on Friday said a "legal process" is on in Vijay Mallya's matter and it has to be followed through as there cannot be any shortcut. In May last year, the fugitive businessman lost his appeals in the British Supreme Court against his extradition to India to face money laundering and fraud charges. Asked when can Mallya be extradited to India and if some kind of legal issue is still pending in the matter, new British High Commissioner to India, Alex Ellis, without pointing to any particular case, said he recognises the urgency, importance and the desire to get back people who are accused of corruption to India.
On one hand, South Indian states have been complaining about denial of a proportionate portion of the sharable funds from the Centre, based on population. On the other hand, they stand to lose Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha seats that again are based on population, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
By filing his nomination as Congress president on Friday, Shashi Tharoor has shown he is no 'quockerwodger' -- a word he introduced into our lexicon which means someone acting on the instructions of an influential third party.
Someone suggested Jaishankar was a potential Kissinger who could try and resolve the Russia-Ukraine imbroglio through his intellectual and diplomatic strengths. But calling the spade a spade on issues like imperialism, colonialism and exploitation, he would have raised many eyebrows in the West at a time when the fractures and wounds needed to be treated and healed, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
