Ms Swaraj was a conscientious woman who understood suffering and pathos and attempted in her inimitable way to mitigate them, recalls Rup Narayan Das.
India slammed Pakistan at the UN after Prime Minister Imran Khan raked up the issue of Jammu and Kashmir in his address to the 76the UN General Assembly session on Friday.
The United States, Canada and the United Nations have condemned the Iranian air attack on Israel, with President Joe Biden reaffirming America's 'ironclad commitment' to the Jewish nation and vowing to convene a meeting of the G-7 leaders on Sunday to develop a coordinated response to the brazen assault.
Guterres will visit Moscow where on April 26 he will "have a working meeting and lunch with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and will be received by President Vladimir Putin," Eri Kaneko, associate spokesperson for the secretary-general said on Friday.
Pezeshkian gained the attention of people for his stance against the crackdown on the 2009 pro-democracy protests and the violence perpetrated by the notorious morality police in 2022 after Mahsa Amini's death.
The UN Security Council on Tuesday failed to adopt a resolution calling for humanitarian ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war after a veto by the US.
"We call on Pakistan to stop cleansing their own minorities including Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and others," Bhat said.
The crises of the 21st century, 9/11, the economic meltdown, COVID-19, Russia-Iran war and the Hamas-Israel war seem to be never ending. In this situation, Iran might be contemplating a nuclear deterrent to defend itself, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan, the distinguished long-time Rediff contributor who turns 80 on June 17..
'The way he is batting, you will feel it would be unfair if you do not take him.'
Two years after the Centre's flagship village electrification scheme Saubhagya concluded with the government claiming 99.9 per cent success, several states have added close to 1.1 million rural households that remain to be connected to the electricity grid. This new list includes earlier unwilling households that have now agreed to have a metered connection and also those built or discovered in the states' surveys since 2019. Assam and Uttar Pradesh are the states that have the majority of such new additions.
Thousands of yoga enthusiasts from across the world rolled out their yoga mats as they joined day-long sessions of the ancient Indian practice to commemorate the 10th International Day of Yoga on Friday.
New Delhi has reached out to Moscow while waiting for a new president in Washington. New Delhi knows well that in international relations, there are no permanent friends or foes, only permanent national interests, points out Dr Rup Narayan Das.
In a statement later, the White House said Biden and Netanyahu discussed Israel's military campaign in Gaza, including its "objectives and phasing".
'Afghan people will not accept a governing structure that excludes women and minorities'
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday targeted Jawaharlal Nehru and claimed that past mistakes were responsible for the problems such as Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) and occupation of some parts of the Indian territory by China.
China Thursday offered to play a 'constructive role' to ease tension between Pakistan and Iran following their missile strikes against each other over the last two days and asked the two countries to 'exercise restraint and calmness and avoid escalation'.
"We have also assisted nationals from other countries, who approached us, in their return to their respective countries. And we will remain open to doing so in the coming days."
'China will do everything to hamper our ability to be a competitor.' 'China wants every country in the region to be subservient and we are the biggest stumbling block.'
Crucial reforms in Muslim personal law, especially laws related to inheritance and adoption, need to be initiated forthwith; historically speaking, without the State's backing, hardly has any reform taken place or allowed to prevail, asserts Mohammad Sajjad.
India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador T S Tirumurti said India remains on the side of peace.
The UN Security Council on Wednesday failed to adopt a Brazil-led draft resolution that would have called for humanitarian pauses in the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict to allow full access for aid to the Gaza strip after the US vetoed the text.
Israel's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, lambasted the United Nations Security Council for failing to condemn the October 7 Hamas terror attacks and the slaughter of unarmed civilians.
"The two sides note that the relationship between Russia and China has progressed to a more advanced interstate cooperation compared to the military-political unions of the Cold War era as it is not bloc or confrontational in nature, nor does it target any third countries," Russia's new agency Tass quoted the document as saying.
Jadeja, Chahar, Harshal, Tushar, Mitchell... Who gets your vote?
"The largest displacements in the context of disasters in 2021 occurred in China (6.0 million), the Philippines (5.7 million) and India (4.9 million). Most disaster displacements during the year were temporary," it said.
The resolution recognised the contribution of sports in creating an atmosphere of tolerance and understanding among peoples and nations, its role to prevent and counter terrorism and violent extremism and its contributions to building resilience against radicalisation to violence and terrorist recruitment.
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Strongly hitting out at Pakistan for again raking up the Kashmir issue at the United Nations, India has said a constructive contribution cannot be expected from a country that has an established practice of hosting terrorists and is the "epicentre" of global terrorism, and the biggest destabilising force in the world.
India said perhaps the Permanent Representative of Pakistan is "not aware that Osama bin Laden was hiding in their own country in plain sight, and it is the US forces which got him inside Pakistan. Nor have they heard their Prime Minister refer to Osama bin Laden as a martyr."
NEET is a court-ordered examination, supposedly aimed at meritocracy. However, over the past years when the incumbent Narendra Modi government at the Centre began implementing it, it took on political and casteist colours, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
As the UN marks 75 years of its existence, the 193-member UN General Assembly adopted a forward-looking political declaration that gave a clarion call for strengthening mechanism to combat terrorism, reformed multilateralism, inclusive development and better preparedness to deal with challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic.
'India mattered to him and he wanted to matter to India.'
Calling for attention to cases of sexual violence against women and girls in India, UN Resident Coordinator in India Renata Dessallien said the alleged rape and murder in Hathras and Balrampur are a reminder that those from disadvantaged social groups are at greater risk of gender-based violence.
'Who has seen what Sharia is? Who knows what actual Sharia is?'
Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) said the attack was aimed at "specific targets".
The 193-member UN General Assembly adopted a resolution, introduced by Pakistan's ambassador Munir Akram under agenda item culture of peace, to proclaim March 15 as the International Day to Combat Islamophobia.
As the Ukraine conflict impacts the global GDP, India is projected to grow by 6.4 per cent in 2022, slower than the last year's 8.8 per cent but still the fastest-growing major economy, with higher inflationary pressures and uneven recovery of the labour market curbing private consumption and investment, according to a UN report. The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs said in its World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) report released on Wednesday that the war in Ukraine has upended the fragile economic recovery from the pandemic, triggering a devastating humanitarian crisis in Europe, increasing food and commodity prices and globally exacerbating inflationary pressures. The global economy is now projected to grow by only 3.1 per cent in 2022, down from the 4.0 per cent growth forecast released in January 2022.
The United Nations on Wednesday pared down India's growth forecast by 20 basis points to 5.8 per cent for 2023 calendar year, citing higher interest rates and risks of recession in the developed world weighing on investment and exports. "Economic growth in India is projected to moderate in 2023, with higher interest rates weighing on investment and slower global growth weakening exports," it said in its latest World Economic Situation and Prospects report. The report has projected global trade to contract 0.4 per cent and the world economy to grow at 1.9 per cent in 2023.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday made a strong push for reforming multilateral institutions, including the United Nations, and spoke glowingly of India's ties with the United States, saying the two countries stand at a new dawn in their relationship that will not only shape their destiny but also that of the world.
Never before in history have Cannes and its sidebars found space for eight Indian, or India-themed, films.
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