In a new twist, it has now emerged that senior Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade enjoyed full diplomatic immunity including from personal arrest and detention on December 12 when she was taken into custody by the United States authorities in a visa fraud case.
Central Reserve Police Force personnel posted at the entrance did not recognise the new petroleum minister.
Amid protests by civil services aspirants against the new Union Public Service Commission syllabus, the government on Monday said the issue will be resolved within a week.
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The policy will be announced shortly, Minister of State for Communications and IT Milind Deora said on Monday.
S Jaishankar, the new Indian Ambassador to the US, will arrive in Washington on Tuesday to take charge amid a raging diplomatic row over the arrest and strip-search of senior diplomat Devyani Khobragade on visa fraud charges.
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To get what it thinks are its dues, its brass have directed; construction, realty, renting of property, personnel supply, security & goods transport among those under lens
The father of the Indian woman diplomat, arrested on visa fraud charges in New York, on Tuesday met Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and was assured of the government's support.
The United States on Tuesday virtually justified the reported strip search by New York police of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade, saying "standard procedures" have been followed during her arrest.
A 1979 batch Indian Foreign Service officer, Singh said it is generally recognised that Indian diplomacy over a period of time has gained "more and more impact".
Backlash in the United States against contracting of jobs to foreign service providers will not significantly affect business process outsourcing trends, IT research and advisory firm Gartner Inc has said.\n\n\n\n
A 1966-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, Shashank succeeds Kanwal Sibal, who retired on Sunday after an 18-month stint.
US career diplomat Jeffrey Davidow is likely to be the next ambassador to India in place of Robert Blackwill, who recently resigned to pursue academics at the Harvard University, sources said.
Pakistan's 'approach is one of getting even, an eye for an eye, or death by a thousand cuts.' 'The entire effort is to be the equal of India. Unfortunately, the reality is that this can never be the case.' 'India will always be the bigger, economically stronger, technologically more self-reliant country.' 'Therein, lies the dilemma Pakistan faces which leads it to perennial enmity with India,' notes Ambassador Gautam Bambawale in the Air Marshal Y V Malse Memorial Lecture 2019.
The United States is committed to ensuring India's entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group, a top American diplomat said on Wednesday, expressing "regret" that his government was unsuccessful in making it a member of the grouping at its pleanary in Seoul last week.
'Visiting my friend in his affluent locality, I realised that the Delhi weather had become the great equaliser.' 'Pollution was always in the air, everywhere, and had become the primary subject of all conversations,' notes Ambassador B S Prakash.
The new Ministers of State sworn in by President Ram Nath Kovind at a ceremony in the Rashtrapati Bhavan include Virendra Kumar, Anant Kumar Hegde and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, former IAS officers Alphons Kannanthanam and R K Singh, former diplomat Hardeep Puri and ex-Mumbai police chief Satyapal Singh. Two other new faces are Ashwini Kumar Choubey, a member of the Lok Sabha from Bihar, and Shiv Pratap Shukla from Uttar Pradesh.
The PM held wide-ranging talks with the Sultan of Oman and signed eight agreements, including pacts on cooperation in the field of defence, health and tourism.
'Vijay Gokhale's appointment as foreign secretary can be regarded as a certain 'adjustment' that could make a difference to the poor climate of India-China relations,' says Ambassdor M K Bhadrakumar.
It is the "poor" Hindi translation of English comprehension passages and other questions of Civil Services Aptitude Test that is bothering the aspirants, and not the English part of the paper, Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad on Sunday said.
Scores of National Students' Union Of India activists on Saturday staged a protest outside the residence of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, demanding scrapping of Civil Services Aptitude Test.
Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Tuesday cancelled his meeting with a senior United States Congressional delegation ostensibly as a mark of protest against the treatment meted out to India's deputy consul general in New York.
'It is to be fervently hoped that a person as rational and brilliant as Hamid Ansari will not be allowed to wilt and simply wither away.'
'It will take years for the mission in Islamabad to recover as a top-notch diplomatic establishment,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
This shows the strict pattern of civil services examination conducted by the UPSC for selecting country's top bureaucrats
'The first 55 years of Natwar Singh's life give a fascinating narrative of our diplomacy,' says Ambassador B S Prakash after reading One Life is Not Enough.
Nirmala Sitharaman's elevation not only to full Cabinet minister but also pitchforking her to the elite Cabinet Committee on Security group with the defence portfolio is undoubtedly the biggest takeaway from Sunday's reshuffle, says Rajeev Sharma.
Ajit Doval is now India's all-powerful security boss. This concentration of power disrupts our layered security system. Will it not weaken whatever remains of the power and authority of the home, defence and finance ministers? asks Shekhar Gupta.
'The high court notice could go some way in easing the vitiated civil-military relationship, and the trust deficit between civil servants and the military.'
English marks in the Civil Service Aptitude Test-II will not be included for gradation or merit and 2011 candidates may get a second chance to appear for the test next year, the government announced in Lok Sabha today seeking to defuse the Union Public Service Commission row that has seen the aspirants on warpath.
The government appealed to protesting Civil Services aspirants to be "patient" and said it would not tolerate any injustice to them on the basis of language.
'It seems likely that the February 2019 crisis is over.'
It's something to remember as New Delhi welcomes Sheikh Hasina, says Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
Government has told the Delhi high court that Devyani Khobragade obtained US and Indian passports for her two daughters in violation of law.
'Soon enough, we were out shouted. The journalist had a multiple agenda -- he berated the Government, the bureaucracy in general and the UPSC system that selected them.'
