Niazi, hand-picked by his party chief Imran Khan, resigned on Thursday after 25 lawmakers of his party moved a resolution of no-confidence motion against him to replace him with party's regional president Sardar Tanveer Ilyas.
A Kashmiri Pandit himself, Kaul feels, it is time now for the people to move forward, after more than 30 years of unbridled violence.
The answer seems to be 'yes' since party veterans themselves are questioning the move in the backdrop of the April 24 Lok Sabha polls, even as their hopes of a possible tie-up with Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam seem to have dashed with its chief M Karunanidhi virtually shutting the door despite extending an olive branch.
'He was the best court craftsman that I have ever seen who could modulate his arguments in accordance with the judge and the mood.'
'We are going to need more technical people in government.' 'You can't expect a generalist to understand the complicated world of financial engineering.' 'I regret to say that most of our politicians have no competence to deal with these things. Nor is there a willingness to learn.'
'There is a huge risk of misinformation and disinformation, and targeted campaigns that could potentially happen against candidates or to push certain narratives.'
Human rights abuses allegedly perpetrated in the war against Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam haunted Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on the sidelines of the CHOGM summit with UK Prime Minister David Cameron on Saturday giving the island country an ultimatum to conduct a credible probe into the war crimes by March, failing which he would seek an international investigation.
'We hope that the situation in Afghanistan does not pose a challenge to its neighbours and its territory is not used by terrorist groups'
The announcement came as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson decided to re-designate about 10 countries as 'Countries of Particular Concern'.
Foreign Office spokesperson tweeted that India violated the ceasefire agreement in Tandar, Sabzkot, Khuiratta, Baron, Bagsar and Khanjar areas.
About 416 Myanmarese soldiers crossed over to India in view of the situation arising out of the fighting between Myanmar's armed ethnic groups and the government forces, and Indian military is 'closely watching' the unfolding developments, Army Chief General Manoj Pande said on Thursday.
'No private citizen can be prevented from holding or propagating in India or abroad, a view contrary to that of the government of the day. The government, it seems is misreading the mandate in the Lok Sabha as being a mandate to crush dissent. In times when ruling parties have brute majorities in Parliament, the true test of safeguarding democracy is its ability to allow dissenting voices to be heard,' says Indira Jaising, the former additional solicitor general.
Remaining in the denial mode, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday termed as "India's long-time habit" the assertion that his country was behind the Uri attack.
A United Nations human rights investigator has recommended that international pressure be put on North Korea as part of a multi-pronged strategy to know the fate of hundreds of foreign nationals allegedly abducted by it.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday admonished the Gujarat Police over its officials publicly flogging five people belonging to the Muslim community at a village in Kheda district in 2022, asking angrily from where did they draw the authority to tie people to poles and beat them up.
British Prime Minister David Cameron on Friday made a historic visit to the former war zone of Jaffna to "shine a light on the chilling events" during the last phase of the war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, hours after Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa cautioned against turning the Commonwealth into a "punitive and judgemental body".
Three journalists of China's state-run news agency Xinhua, who were denied extension of visa, have departed India, Lok Sabha was informed on Wednesday.
The Taiwanese foreign minister said the time has come for all democratic countries to find ways to deal with China's expansionist agenda and its military muscle flexing, especially in the maritime domain.
The Union home ministry on Thursday recommended a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the affairs of the Indian arm of the global NGO Oxfam for alleged violation of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, sources said.
The Ministry of External Affairs said Pakistan was told that entire Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, including areas of Gilgit and Baltistan, are an integral part of India and that Islamabad should immediately vacate the areas under its illegal occupation.
However, the voice of the poor victims of prostitution got drowned in the loud and flashy discourses on other mundane gender issues like child marriage, maternal health, water and sanitation, economic empowerment.
'As a member of Congress, it was important to meet with Prime Minister Modi. Promoting the India-US relationship is a priority. It is important to have a constructive dialogue with the biggest democracy in the world,' US Congressman Mike Honda tells Ritu Jha/Rediff.com
Sharif met US Secretary of State John Kerry in New York during which he raised the Kashmir issue.
The Bombay high court on Monday asked three Jain religious charitable trusts and a city resident practising Jainism why they were seeking to encroach on the rights of others by appealing for restrictions or ban on advertisements for meat and meat products in print and electronic media.
By passing this bill, Congress is showing that the US will not turn a blind eye to the suffering of the oppressed, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy said.
'How can any religion have anything to do with terrorism? How was Islam equated with terrorism? And once that happens, how does a man in the western country differentiate between a moderate Muslim and a radical Muslim'
Johnson said Modi has been 'very strong' in his reaction to what happened in Bucha in Ukraine and that everyone understands and respects New Delhi's decades-old historic relationship with Moscow.
Describing it as a historic moment for the Indian American community, Rakesh Mangal, former president of the Indian American Doctors' Association, Houston, said Trump attending the "Howdy Modi" event says how important India is to the entire world, especially to the US.
"They cry victim when they actually are the perpetrators," she said, rejected Pakistan's charges against India on the issue at the 42nd session of the UNHRC.
Jammu and Kashmir "was, is and shall forever" remain an integral part of India, a top Indian diplomat asserted at the UN Human Rights Council's meeting in Geneva on Wednesday, a day after Pakistan sought the international community's intervention on the Kashmir issue. Speaking at the 43rd session of the UN Human Rights Council which is being held in Geneva in Switzerland from February 24 to March 20, Vikas Swarup, secretary (west), the ministry of external affairs, described Pakistan as the "epicentre of global terrorism".
'Is it because they perceive India as a soft state?'
A bench of Justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta, which had allowed anticipatory bail to Surat resident Tusharbhai Rajnikantbhai Shah in a cheating case, got irked when it was informed that the businessman was remanded in police custody.
The illegal immigrants were detained in 2012 and since then they were lodged in Cachar Central Jail in Assam's Silchar.
'What the UP administration wanted was political mileage, and they also had the silent approval from the central government.'
'The government's proposal to store citizens' data including Aadhaar data under its Digital India initiative on cloud is violative of the citizens' human rights because the cloud is admittedly beyond India's jurisdiction.'
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the move, saying he was carrying out President Donald Trump's orders. "Today, I am announcing visa restrictions on current and former CCP officials who are believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, undermining Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy, as guaranteed in the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration or undermining human rights and fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong," Pompeo said.
The assault and humiliation of two women paraded naked in a Manipur village in May sparked nationwide outrage on Thursday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying the incident had shamed 140 crore Indians and the Supreme Court terming it 'simply unacceptable'.
Rainbow flags could be taken from fans at the World Cup in Qatar to protect them from being attacked for promoting gay rights
In a significant development, India for the first time on Thursday abstained from voting on the United States-sponsored resolution against Sri Lanka on alleged human rights violation which was passed by 23 votes in favour as against 12 in opposition and 12 abstentions in the United Nation's Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Companies today are taking a very fashionable way to reduce their workforce. Instead of the outright firing of employees, an alternative approach that some companies are using is the passive-aggressive method which is both deliberate and accidental, points out corporate lawyer Ishanee Sharma.
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