- Monday, June 05, 2023
A Myanmar government team visited Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh last Thursday (25) as part of a mooted pilot repatriation scheme. Most of the refugees have been stuck in ramshackle camps in southeastern Bangladesh since fleeing a 2017 crackdown by the Myanmar military that is now subject to a United…
Bollywood actress Dia Mirza who is in Abu Dhabi for IIFA 2023 on Saturday discussed the role of cinema and IIFA as a platform in raising awareness and driving action for sustainable development. Dia who is also a UN Environment Goodwill Ambassador and United Nations Secretary-General Advocate for Sustainable Development…
The United Nations food agency said on Monday (22) that lack of funding has forced it to cut food aid for around one million Rohingya refugees living in camps in Bangladesh for the second time in three months. Rations would be cut from $10 (£8.05) per person per month to…
US President Joe Biden aims to speak this weekend with Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi about Ukraine and the "sacrosanct" issue of sovereignty and territorial integrity, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Saturday (20). Lula and Modi are attending a…
Cyclone Mocha crashed through Myanmar and southeastern Bangladesh last Sunday (14), sparing sprawling refugee camps, but bringing a storm surge to swathes of western Myanmar where communications were largely cut off. Mocha made landfall between Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh and Myanmar’s Sittwe packing winds of up to 195 kilometres (120…
India is among 10 countries that combined account for 60 per cent of global maternal deaths, stillbirths, and newborn deaths, a United Nations report released on Tuesday (9) said. Sub-Saharan Africa and Central and Southern Asia are regions where the largest number of deaths are recorded, the survey said. Global…
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will join President Emmanuel Macron in Paris for France's Bastille Day military parade on July 14, the two countries said in a joint statement Friday (5). Following in the footsteps of other world leaders wooed by Macron such as former US president Donald Trump, the…
In flood-hit southeastern Pakistan, villagers are trading tents and tarpaulins provided by aid agencies for local materials such as lime, mud and bamboo to build their own low-cost and water-resistant homes as part of a post-disaster recovery rethink. They have been designed by Yasmeen Lari – Pakistan’s first certified female…
Singapore hanged a prisoner on Wednesday (26) after he was convicted of conspiracy to smuggle one kilogram of cannabis. Tangaraju Suppiah was hanged in defiance of a plea by the United Nations Human Rights Office for Singapore to "urgently reconsider" and calls by British tycoon Richard Branson to halt it.…
UNICEF estimates on Wednesday (19) show that South Asia has the highest number of child brides globally, with 290 million child brides accounting for 45% of the total, due to increased financial pressures and school closures resulting from COVID-19. The children's Agency of the United Nations has called for more…
India's external affairs minister S Jaishankar has called on Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni and discussed possible cooperation in the areas of trade, infrastructure, energy and defence. Jaishankar, who arrived in Uganda on Monday (10), met Museveni at his farm in Rwakitura and conveyed to him the personal greetings of prime…
Bollywood actress Dia Mirza has teamed up with Hollywood star Edward Norton for a documentary series Restore: Films From the Frontiers of Hope for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The actress, who is the Goodwill Ambassador for UNEP, and the UN Secretary General's Advocate for Sustainable Development Goals, has narrated…
The US state department in its yearly report on human rights practices stated that India had "significant human rights issues" and instances of abuse, which included the targeting of dissidents, journalists, and religious minorities. This report was released almost a year following secretary of state Antony Blinken's statement that the…
Indian film Kantara, starring Rishab Shetty in the lead role, was screened at the Pathe Balexert theatre Geneva on March 17. An audience of about 220 people including the UN representatives, Heads of International Organisations from Germany, Brazil, UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development), ITU (International Telecommunication Union)…
The city of Newark, New Jersey, was hoodwinked for five days in January when Mayor Ras Baraka invited what he thought was a delegation from the Hindu nation of Kailasa to enter into a sister city partnership, according to official confirmation. A signing ceremony took place during which Baraka expressed…
The BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha, based at the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, also popularly known as the ‘Neasden Temple’ in London, observed International Women's Day (IWD) by hosting an inspiring conference on Sunday (12). The organisation's celebration of IWD (celebrated on 8th March every year) demonstrates its ongoing commitment to women…
During a press conference on Friday (10), Pakistan's Foreign Minister, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, acknowledged the difficulty of getting the Kashmir issue to the forefront of the United Nations' agenda, calling it an "uphill task." Zardari also stumbled when referring to India, initially describing it as "our friend" before correcting himself…
TIM DAVIE, the BBC's director general, has said he will not resign after the public broadcaster's sport service was decimated on Saturday (11) by a backlash over Gary Lineker's removal as Match of the Day host. "Everyone wants to resolve the situation calmly," Davie said in an interview with the…
BRITAIN has announced a new £5.26-million humanitarian funding to support Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said £4.26 million out of the package will be distributed through the World Food Programme and the remaining £1m will go through the UNHCR for pressure cookers. London’s gesture…
THE FOURTH World Cultural Festival will be held in Washington DC this fall, organiser Art of Living has announced. Several world leaders and hundreds and thousands of people from across the globe are expected to attend the three-day event from September 29 to October 1 at the historic National Mall.…
On Thursday (02), Narendra Modi and his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni discussed the potential for the co-development and co-production of defense equipment in India. Modi invited Italian defense companies to participate actively in the Make in India initiative. The two leaders welcomed the deepening of defense cooperation between the two…
INDIAN-AMERICAN Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley on Tuesday (28) made it clear that if she is voted to power in 2024, the US will not be the "world's ATM" and pay "bad guys" like Pakistan hundreds of millions of dollars. In the op-ed in the New York Post, Haley wrote…
Crown Prince of Denmark, Frederik Andre Henrik Christian on Tuesday highlighted India's progress towards a greener future and said, "Changes seen in India are amazing." Speaking at India-Denmark: Partners for green and sustainable progress conference, he said, "Changes seen in India are amazing. Despite the changes people had gone through,…
ITALY arrested three men who they believe trafficked up to 200 people aboard a wooden boat that smashed apart on rocks off southern Italy last Sunday (26), killing at least 64 people, police said on Tuesday (28). Lieutenant colonel Alberto Lippolis said a Turkish man and two Pakistani nationals had…
PAKISTAN prime minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday (27) said more than two dozen Pakistanis were believed to be among 59 people who drowned when a boat carrying migrants to Europe crashed against rocks near the southern Italian coast. At least 81 people survived last Sunday's (26) accident, with 20 hospitalised…
A NEW law raising the legal age for marriage in England and Wales to 18 years came into force on Monday (27), aimed at protecting vulnerable young people from being forced into weddings against their will. Until now, those aged 16 or 17 could get married with parental consent as…
INDIAN-AMERICAN Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley has vowed to cut foreign aid for countries like China, Pakistan and Iraq which “hate” America, if she is voted to power. The 51-year-old two-term governor of South Carolina and the former US ambassador to the United Nations formally launched her 2024 presidential bid…
INDIAN-AMERICAN Bobby Jindal, the former governor of Louisiana state, came out in defence of White House hopeful Nikki Haley, saying she should not be criticised or praised for her gender or ethnicity. Jindal was the first Indian-American to have entered the race for US presidency in 2016. He dropped out…
INDIA'S G20 presidency comes at an “incredibly important time” when the world confronts challenges like the Ukraine conflict, global food supply disruptions and China's increasingly assertive actions on the world stage, UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has said. He also announced that he will travel to New Delhi next week…
India on Thursday (23) abstained in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on a resolution that underscored the need to secure “comprehensive, just and lasting peace” in war-ravaged Ukraine, as it questioned whether the world was “anywhere near a possible solution” acceptable to both Moscow and Kyiv a year into…
INDIAN-AMERICAN tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy has launched his 2024 presidential bid, becoming the second community member to enter the Republican Party's presidential primary after Nikki Haley. Ramaswamy, 37, whose parents migrated to the US from Kerala and worked at a General Electric plant in Ohio, announced his presidential bid on…
Republican leader Nikki Haley has said that as a "brown girl" growing up in a black-and-white world, she saw the "promise of America" unfold before her, as she proudly flaunted her Indian heritage in her first public appearance as a White House hopeful. Haley, 51, is the two-term Governor of…
Foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra on Wednesday (15) called on Bangladesh’s prime minister Sheikh Hasina during which he reaffirmed India’s support for wider and deeper development and economic partnership with her country. Kwatra arrived in Dhaka on Tuesday (14) evening from Kathmandu, Nepal, on a two-day visit. “Foreign Secretary @AmbVMKwatra paid…
Former US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley on Tuesday (14) kicked off her campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, a tough challenge as her former boss Donald Trump holds a strong lead in a new Reuters/Ipsos poll. "I'm Nikki Haley and I'm running for president," Haley said in…
Health justice lawyer Priti Krishtel was named along with four other US-based experts last week to the O’Neill-Lancet Commission on Racism, Structural Discrimination and Global Health. The three-year commission, the secretariat of which is based out of the O'Neill Institute at Georgetown University Law Center, Washington DC, includes almost 20…
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been pegged as the world's most popular leader with an approval rating of 78 per cent as per a survey by a US-based consulting firm 'Morning Consult.'As per the rating PM Modi's ratings trump those of other leaders including US President Joe Biden, French President…
According to an observational study done by Imperial College London, a higher intake of ultra-processed foods may be associated with an increased risk of getting and dying from cancer.Researchers at Imperial's School of Public Health have produced the most thorough assessment of the link between ultra-processed meals and cancer risk…
Police in Assam has arrested more than 1,800 men for marrying or arranging marriages to underage girls, launching what the eastern Indian state's chief minister said on Friday was the start of a sustained crackdown on the practice. Police began the arrests on Thursday night, and more were likely, including…
Haley, 51, is the two-term Governor of South Carolina and the former US Ambassador to the United Nations. When she enters the race, Haley will be the first contender to join the contest against her former boss, who is currently the sole Republican seeking his party's 2024 nomination. Trump, 76,…
The dreaded terror outfit Islamic State of Iraq and Levant in South-East Asia (ISIL-SEA) has been designated as a global terrorist organisation by the United Nations Security Council. The Security Council's 1267 Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee added the Islamic State in Iraq and…
Racism is "structural, institutional and systemic" in Britain, a group of United Nations experts concluded on Friday, warning that people of African descent were witnessing the "erosion of their fundamental rights". Public spending cuts have exacerbated racial discrimination and intolerance, the UN Working Group of Experts on People of African…
India has invited Pakistan's foreign minister to a meeting of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO) that it is hosting in May, Indian media reported on Wednesday, signalling a possible thaw in relations between the nuclear-armed rivals. The invitation came days after Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif called for talks with…
The Minister of State for the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and the United Nations at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) Lord Tariq Ahmad said that a strong trade deal with India could boost the economy by billions of pounds over the long term. "A strong trade…
A British Sikh Army officer and physiotherapist has set a new world record for the longest solo, unsupported, and unassisted polar expedition by a woman. Captain Harpreet Chandi, known as Polar Preet having already completed a trekking challenge to become the first Indian-origin woman to set the record of a…
India is expected to overtake China as the world's most populous country this year even though its population growth has been slowing down, United Nations says. Following are some key points about India's demography, according to government data: - India estimates its population at 1.38 billion, compared to China's 1.4…
The Indian-American community, including Vice President Kamala Harris, celebrated the legacy of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr, asserting that the country must continue to fight for the freedom to vote and freedom for all. King, a champion of civil rights for Blacks, was born on January 15, 1929,…
The UK and its international partners were set to join forces on Monday (9) to support Pakistan rebuild and recover from the unprecedented floods that devastated the country last summer and affected tens of thousands of people and destroyed property worth billions. Currently, Pakistan and the United Nations are jointly…
In a horrific case of sexual violence, a Hindu woman in Pakistan has reportedly been gang-raped by a group of men who allegedly mutilated her body after the crime, The Mirror reported. The victim, Diya Bheel, was a 42-year-old widow and a mother of five. She belonged to the South…
A Cambridge professor who is a leading global figure in the economics of the natural environment, Professor Sir Partha Sarathi Dasgupta; COP-26 president Alok Sharma and drinks company Diageo’s CEO Ivan Menezes are among prominent Asians who have been recognised in the New Year Honour’s List published late last Friday…
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a phone call to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday sought India's help in the implementation of a peace formula with Russia. "I had a phone call with PM Modi & wished him a successful G20 presidency. It was on this platform that I announced…
Taliban-appointed Education Minister in Afghanistan on Thursday said Afghan women were banned from university 'for not following dress code' which has sparked a global backlash. The continuation of co-education and lack of observation of hijab by students were among the reason cited by Taliban minister Neda Mohammad Nadim for banning…
Female university students in Afghanistan have turned away from campuses on Wednesday after the Taliban-run administration said women would be suspended from tertiary education. The decision to bar women was announced on Tuesday evening in a letter to universities from the higher education ministry, drawing condemnation from foreign governments and…
The centennial birth anniversary of His Holiness (HH) Pramukh Swami Maharaj (1921-2016) was observed at a special commemorative event in the UK parliament on Monday (19). The occasion saw the presence of a number of dignitaries, including the virtual presence of prime minister Rishi Sunak. At the centennial celebration, special…
The BJP on Friday slammed Pakistan’s Bilawal Bhutto for his objectionable comments against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the foreign affairs minister of the neighbouring country represents a “morally, intellectually and financially bankrupt” nation which has no credibility due to its support to terrorism. Union minister Anurag Thakur said Bhutto’s…
The UK wants India to be among the new permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, alongside Brazil, Japan, Germany and African representation, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said on Monday. In his first major foreign policy speech since taking charge in the Rishi Sunak-led government, Cleverly praised Prime…
On 12 December 2012, the UN General Assembly unanimously endorsed a resolution urging countries to accelerate progress towards universal health coverage (UHC) – the idea that everyone, everywhere should have access to quality, affordable health care. To recognise this historic resolution, the world celebrates UHC Day every year on 12…
World Sindhi Congress (WSC) thanked the government of the UK for putting sanctions on Mian Mithu, who has been involved with the forced conversions of Sindhi Hindu girls in Sindh. An influential cleric and a Pakistani politician, Mian Mithu was accused of forced conversions and is among the list of…
Following criticism over the public execution of a man, the Taliban on Thursday defended its actions. The Taliban on Thursday termed the international criticism over its public execution "reprehensible" and "interference" in Afghanistan's internal matters, Voice of America (VOA) News reported. Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid in a statement said that…
More than 60 people took part in the celebration organised by Asian People's Disability Alliance (APDA) to mark the United Nations' International Day of Persons with Disabilities and the Platinum Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II who passed away in September, at its Harlesden Day Care and Development Resource…
The United Nations refugee agency has criticised a centre-right think tank’s hardline report supported by Home Secretary Suella Braverman that proposed permanent detention of asylum seekers entering the UK illegally. The Centre for Policy Studies paper with the home secretary’s foreword called for barring migrants arriving in Britain illegally from…
The Taliban's treatment of Afghan women and girls, including their exclusion from parks and gyms as well as schools and universities, may amount to a crime against humanity, a group of U.N. experts said on Friday. The assessment by the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan Richard Bennett and nine other…
The devastating floods that affected lives and economy in the South Asian nation of Pakistan this year have rung the warning bells across the globe. Environmentalists and conservationists have raised serious concerns over the deadly disaster that has killed nearly 1,700 people and displaced almost eight million people. The extreme…
The United Kingdom has reiterated its support for the creation of new permanent seats in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for India, Germany, Japan and Brazil and also called for the expansion of the council in both permanent and non-permanent categories. Addressing the UNSC's annual debate on Security Council…
The global population reaching eight billion should be seen as an opportunity with people as creators of resources, experts said on Tuesday (15) but stressed that focus should be on equity and equality as well as caring for the aging populace. The world population touched eight billion on Tuesday and…
Noted Bollywood singer and composer Shankar Mahadevan, who is a member of the celebrated Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy songwriting trio, has been chosen to receive honorary doctorate from Birmingham City University (BCU) for his outstanding contribution to music and the arts. West Midlands Mayor Andy Street made the announcement on behalf of the…
An India-based computer hacking gang targeted critics of the Qatar World Cup, an investigation by British journalists said on Sunday, as the Qatari government furiously denied it had played any part in commissioning the eavesdropping. A database leaked to Britain's Sunday Times and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism revealed the…
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will on Monday use a speech at the United Nations climate summit in Egypt to tell world leaders to deliver on their promises to tackle global warming. Sunak, who became prime minister late last month, had initially said he would be too busy coming up…
India on Thursday said it is working “sincerely” with the UK for finalisation of the proposed free trade agreement, days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart Rishi Sunak agreed on the “early conclusion” of the deal. “Both sides are working sincerely on the free trade agreement,” External…
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced on Wednesday (2) that he will attend the COP27 climate summit in Egypt next week, reversing his previous decision to skip the meeting in Sharm El Sheikh to focus on domestic issues and the economic crisis in the UK. Sunak took to Twitter to…
Pakistan is out of Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) 'grey list' with the global watchdog stating that Islamabad would continue to work with the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering to further improve its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) system. FATF said it welcomes Pakistan's significant progress in improving its…
British Prime Minister Liz Truss is fighting for her political survival after only six weeks in the job. Below is a timeline: SEPT. 5 - TRUSS WINS LEADERSHIP CONTEST Truss is elected Conservative Party leader by the party's membership, winning 57% of the vote to succeed Boris Johnson. SEPT. 6…
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday (local time) emphasized the remarks made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Russian President Vladimir Putin in Samarkand, and said that he "could not agree more" with PM Modi's advice. On the sidelines of the SCO summit in Samarkand on September 16,…
Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati, Secretary-General, Global Interfaith WASH Alliance, Parmarth Niketan, Rishikesh and Co-President, Religions for Peace was an esteemed speaker at the historic International Conference on Cohesive Societies from September 06 - 08 in Singapore. The Conference was organized by the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, the Government of…
UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman has met with local police officers and Hindu and Muslim community leaders in Leicester and assured them that thugs behind recent violent clashes would face the full force of the law. During a visit to the eastern England city on Thursday, the Indian-origin Cabinet minister…
Hollywood star and humanitarian Angelina Jolie has said the flood disaster in Pakistan should be a "wake-up call" for the world regarding climate change, calling for more international aid after meeting with victims. Pakistan has been lashed by unprecedented monsoon downpours that flooded a third of the country -- an…
Protests have spread across Iran over the death of Mahsa Amini after the young woman was arrested by the morality police, as a rights group said Wednesday (20) two more protesters were killed overnight, raising the toll to six. Public anger has flared since Iranian authorities on Friday announced the…
Indian American politician and diplomat Nikki Haley has called TV host Sunny Hostin a 'racist' for claiming that the former hides her Indian name to appease Republican voters, media reports said. Slamming the former governor of South Carolina as a “chameleon" on Tuesday’s (20) episode of The View talk show,…
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was right when he said that the time is not for war, France President Emmanuel Macron said at the ongoing 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. "Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India was right when he said the time…
At least 11 schoolchildren died in an air strike and firing on a Myanmar village, according to the United Nations children's agency, an attack the country's junta said targeted rebels hiding in the area. UN chief Antonio Guterres on Tuesday condemned the strike, according to his office, which stated at…
Global icon Priyanka Chopra, on Tuesday, shared pictures from her first trip with her daughter Malti Marie to New York. Taking to Instagram, the 'Don' actor shared a couple of pictures which she captioned, "Our first trip to the big apple." In the first picture, Priyanka could be seen seated…
The UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador said “all is not well with our world”. With just under eight years left to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), actor-producer Priyanka Chopra Jonas said "a just, safe and healthy world" is the right of every individual which can become a reality with global solidarity.…
King Charles III, the new British monarch who has succeeded Queen Elizabeth II after her death, on Saturday (17) dialed Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka to express gratitude to her for personally attending his mother's funeral in London on Monday (19). The King also thanked the president of…
Sri Lankan president Ranil Wickremesinghe on Sunday (11) said that the government will not oppose the private member's Bill presented to parliament to decriminalise homosexuality, however, the Bill will require the support of individual members of parliament. "We are for it, but you have to get the support of individual…
Queen Elizabeth, Britain's longest-reigning monarch and the nation's figurehead for seven decades, has died aged 96, Buckingham Palace said on Thursday. Here is some reaction to the news: U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTONIO GUTERRES "As the United Kingdom's longest-lived and longest-reigning Head of State, Queen Elizabeth II was widely admired for her…
Labour MP Preet Kaur Gill has urged the UK government to increase aid to Pakistan following unprecedented flooding which has left thousands dead. "It was a matter of huge concern that the government has only pledged £1.5m in financial assistance to Pakistan in response to the immediate humanitarian crisis. I…
On the auspicious day of Ganesh Chaturthi, India's external affairs minister Dr S. Jaishankar visited the BAPS Hindu Mandir site in Abu Dhabi. He was accompanied by an esteemed delegation of senior officials from the Ministry of External Affairs, including the Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra, Ambassador Sanjay Sudhir, Joint…
The death toll from floods in Pakistan has reached near 1,200 as 19 more people lost their lives in the last 24 hours. At least 1,186 people have died since June 14 from the rains and floods, Geo News report citing National Disaster Management Authority's (NDMA's) statement. According to the…
Myanmar's ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Friday was sentenced to three years in jail with hard labour after a court found her guilty of electoral fraud. Zabuthiri Township judge Maung Maung Khin handed down the sentence at a junta-controlled closed court in the Naypyitaw Detention Centre, News Agency,…
Former James Bond actor Daniel Craig has called for an end of the use of cluster bombs and ammunitions worldwide, specifically referencing the use of the weapons in Ukraine. Cluster bombs release a series of smaller explosions, posing risks to civilians. They can be costly to locate and remove. The…
Vikram Doraiswami, presently Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh, has been appointed as the next High Commissioner of India to the UK, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced on Tuesday. "Shri Vikram K. Doraiswami (IFS: 1992), presently High Commissioner of India to the People's Republic of Bangladesh, has been appointed…
Housed in a detention centre in southern England, Aladeen says he risked his life to travel thousands of miles from his homeland of Syria to escape being forced to fight in the military of President Bashar al-Assad. Now the 21-year-old is battling to stay in Britain and avoid being sent…
Seventy-five years of the independent polity have been tumultuous and turbulent for the state of Pakistan. Oscillating between military rule and civilian governments, the country to date has failed to witness even one complete five-year tenure of any of its Prime Ministers. This offbeat political tug of war has raised…
A UK court on Monday ruled to end life support for a 12-year-old boy despite opposition from his parents and a last-minute intervention by the United Nations. The Court of Appeal in London decided doctors can switch off life support for Archie Battersbee from 12 pm (1100 GMT) on Tuesday.…
Taliban on Sunday said that it is ready for engagement with the international community, but if "they are against Islam, are not acceptable." "We just follow Allah, Prophet Mohammad, the Caliph of Rashidun and Companions in implementation of our law. We don't accept anything from anyone which is against Islam,"…
A South Africa-based rights group has submitted a criminal complaint to the Attorney General of Singapore requesting the arrest of former Sri Lankan President, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, for alleged war crimes. Lawyers from the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) submitted a 63-page complaint that argues that Rajapaksa committed grave breaches…
TORY leadership battle is heating up and Rishi Sunak remains a strong contestant in the race for the top job in the country. Sunak, 42, is just one step away to become the first prime minister of Indian origin in the UK. According to a report in the MailOnline, his…
BRITAIN recorded its highest ever temperature of 40C (104F) on Tuesday (19) as a heatwave gripping Europe intensified, forcing train tracks to buckle and fuelling a spate of fires across London. The Met Office said the provisional record, which still needs to be confirmed, was recorded at 12.50 pm (1150…
Prince Harry is in New York to deliver a keynote speech at the United Nations headquarters on the occasion of Nelson Mandela International Day on Monday. In his speech, he revealed that he realised Meghan Markle was his "soulmate" during one of their trips to Africa. According to Page Six,…
Forty magical moments from the life and career of Priyanka Chopra Jonas A path-breaking global career has turned Priyanka Chopra Jonas into perhaps the most famous Indian celebrity on the planet. From her stunning Miss World win to becoming a frontline Bollywood star and then cracking Hollywood, she has blazed…
THE United Nations (UN) World Population Prospects report released on the occasion of the World Population Day on Monday (11) projects a further two-and-a-half billion people to be added to the global population. The world population is projected to peak 10.4 billion in the 2080s. The population of the world…
THE UK government is hosting the International Ministerial Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) on July 5 and 6 in London. The conference brings together faith and belief leaders, governments, parliamentarians, and civil society organisations from 100 countries to take global action to promote freedom of religion or…
Amid the plummeting humanitarian and economic conditions, women and girls in Afghanistan are being deprived of their most basic human rights -- employment and education, speakers told the Security Council on Thursday, as they examined the restrictive policies of the Taliban who took control of that country in August last…
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday defended his controversial deal to expel migrants to Rwanda, telling critics to "keep an open mind". On the first day of a trip to Kigali -- which is hosting a Commonwealth summit this week -- he also heaped praise on Rwandan President Paul…
India's envoy to Bhutan Ruchira Kamboj, a 1987-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer on Tuesday appointed as India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York. Kamboj will succeed TS Tirumurti as the Indian ambassador to the UN. "Ms. Ruchira Kamboj (IFS: 1987), presently Ambassador of India to Bhutan,…
ON the occasion of International Day of Yoga, prime minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday (21) said that yoga is becoming a way of life and has become a source of inspiration for health, balance and cooperation. The Prime Minister remarked that India is celebrating Yoga Day at a time when…
There cannot be 'double standards' on 'relegiophobia' and combating the issue should not be a "selective exercise" involving only one or two religions but apply equally to phobias against non-Abrahamic religions, India said at the United Nations.Addressing the UN, Ambassador TS Tirumurti said, "As we have emphasized, combating religiophobia should…
Britain's government cannot give a fixed date for when it will first be able to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, deputy prime minister and justice secretary Dominic Raab said on Thursday.Britain's initial attempt to deport asylum seekers - part of a policy designed to deter dangerous sea crossings of the…
Commonwealth leaders have told Eastern Eye that the UK government is “hell bent on destroying the Commonwealth in pursuit of a colonial agenda”. This newspaper has previously reported on the campaign by Boris Johnson’s administration to oust the current boss of the organisation’s administrative arm, Patricia Scotland. But now her…
Britain is confident it can overcome legal challenges to its bid to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda following a last minute intervention by European judges that grounded the first flight minutes before it was due to depart late on Tuesday.The government had been forced to fight a series of legal…
The debilitating crisis in Sri Lanka has left nearly half of the children in the country in need of some form of humanitarian assistance, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). The UN has launched an appeal to address the urgent needs of the most vulnerable population within the next four…
Britain on Friday condemned Russian proxy authorities in Donbas for what it called an "egregious breach" of the Geneva convention in sentencing to death two British nationals captured in the separatist region while fighting for Ukraine.Prime Minister Boris Johnson's spokesman said he was talking to Ukraine rather than Russia about…
The British government's controversial plan to send migrants arriving illegally in Britain to Rwanda is unsafe and irrational, lawyers seeking an injunction to stop the first planned deportations told the High Court in London on Friday. The government announced in April it had struck a deal to send potentially tens…
Britain is prioritising talking to Ukraine rather than Russia on the situation of two jailed British men who have been sentenced to death in one of Russia's proxies in eastern Ukraine, Prime Minister Boris Johnson's spokesman said on Friday. Two Britons and a Moroccan who were captured while fighting for…
Britain's government overcame a legal challenge to its controversial policy to begin deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda as the High Court dismissed campaigners' attempts to win an injunction and said the first flight could leave next week.Charities and a trade union had launched a challenge earlier this week against the…
The United Nations on Thursday said foreign direct investment (FDI) in India declined by $19 billion to $45 billion in 2021. However, despite this, the country remains in the top 10 global economies in terms of FDI. According to the World Investment Report of the United Nations Conference on Trade…
On the occasion of World Environment Day, India on Tuesday asserted that developing countries need to be given an additional time frame beyond 2050 to reach net-zero emissions and for this developed nations should do a net-negative by the middle of the century and vacate the carbon space for developing…
A NUMBER of distinguished guests came together at the Parmarth Niketan Ashram in Rishikesh in the northern Indian state if Uttarakhand on Tuesday (7) – the fifth day of the week-long celebrations that are underway in the honour of the 70th birth anniversary of His Holiness (HH) Pujya Swami Chidanand…
SRI LANKAN president Gotabaya Rajapaksa has instructed officials to stockpile adequate essentials and warned against organised efforts of traders from creating an artificial scarcity amidst an impending food shortage facing the island nation in the next three months, media reports said on Friday (3). Sri Lanka is going through the…
India has cautioned over the “heightened” threat of misuse of biological agents and chemicals as weapons against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic and called on the international community to address the rapid evolution of proliferation risks. It said new and emerging technologies may increase the risk of Weapons of…
TAMILS who resettled in Britain after fleeing the Sri Lankan civil war held a vigil in London on Wednesday (18), with some likening the island nation's current economic crisis to the conditions they faced during the decades-long conflict.The gathering of Tamils seeking justice for those from their community who were…
INDIAN billionaire Gautam Adani struck a $10.5 billion (£8.58 bn) deal to buy Swiss cement giant Holcim's local business, the companies said, betting on a construction boom predicted in coming decades.In his biggest acquisition to date, the deal will give coal-to-ports magnate Adani - who vies with fellow Indian Mukesh…
A UNITED NATIONS working group’s ruling on the “arbitrary detention” of a British Sikh man in India is expected to mount pressure on the UK government to do more to secure his release.Jagtar Singh Johal, from Dumbarton in Scotland, was arrested by plain-clothes officers in the north Indian state of…
INDIA and France on Wednesday (4) called for "an immediate cessation of hostilities" in Ukraine, with prime minister Narendra Modi again stopping short of condemning Russia's invasion of its neighbour. India, which imports much of its military hardware from Russia, has long walked a diplomatic tightrope between the West and…
PRIME MINISTER Boris Johnson landed in Gujarat last Thursday (21) as he began his two-day India visit. He said he felt like Indian cricket star Sachin Tendulkar, as hundreds of people lined the streets and dozens of billboards depicted his image. “I had an amazing reception,” he said. “My face…
An asylum reform bill proposed by the British government is set to become law after overcoming a final hurdle in parliament on Wednesday. The House of Lords, the upper house of the British parliament, passed the bill and rejected a last-minute amendment to the text, meaning it will now become…
Rwandan President Paul Kagame said Kigali was not "trading in human beings" when it agreed to a controversial deal allowing Britain to send migrants and asylum seekers to his country. The agreement announced last week has attracted a chorus of criticism from rights groups, opposition figures in Britain and Rwanda…
BRITAIN and India agreed on Friday (22) to step up defence and business cooperation during a visit to New Delhi by Boris Johnson, who said a bilateral free-trade deal could be wrapped up by October. On his first visit to the Indian capital as UK prime minister, Johnson discussed with…
ON ITS news website, the BBC, in an article entitled Why did Will Smith hit Chris Rock at the Oscars? discusses various theories, including ‘There were elements of performative alphamale behaviour at play here. An instinctiveness for a man to harm another man who insults his partner’. In fact, this particular…
Britain's prime minister said Rwanda is well-equipped to 'resettle' migrants and asylum-seekers to the UK despite some human rights groups describing the project as 'inhumane'. The controversial deal, announced on Thursday, is part of the government's strategy to clamp down on record numbers of people making the perilous journey across…
INDIA'S dependence on Russia for major defence equipment and other items like fertiliser is immense, a top American diplomat said.US deputy secretary of state Wendy Sherman, during her testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, dwelt on India's position on Russia and its repeated abstention from the United Nations on…
RUSSIA was suspended from the UN Human Rights Council after the 193-member General Assembly on Thursday (7) voted to adopt a resolution moved by the US while India abstained.The resolution titled ‘Suspension of the rights of membership of the Russian Federation in the Human Rights Council' was adopted with 93…
INDIA'S foreign minister said on Wednesday (6) the government is working to stabilise economic transactions with Russia, a day after New Delhi condemned the killings of civilians in Ukraine and called for an independent probe.S Jaishankar told lawmakers in Parliament that Russia continues to be a critical economic partner and…
India on Tuesday condemned the killings of civilians in Ukraine's Bucha and called for an independent investigation, having earlier declined to explicitly criticise the invasion of Ukraine by its long-time partner Russia. A Ukrainian human rights ombudswoman said on Tuesday that between 150 and 300 bodies may be in a…
AT 16, Payzee Mahmod was coerced by her Iraqi-Kurdish family in London into marrying a man around twice her age.Two years later her elder sister Banaz, who had left a marriage she was forced into aged 17, was murdered by members of her family in a so-called honour killing.Laws in…
THE US has asserted that it did not send any letter to Pakistan on the current political situation in the south Asian country, a media report said on Thursday (31). Pakistan's embattled prime minister Imran Khan has recently claimed the opposition's no-confidence motion against his government is the result of a…
INDIA's Infosys played down its business ties in Russia after British chancellor Rishi Sunak came under fire over his wife's stake in the IT giant. Infosys, with a market value of some $100 billion, was co-founded by Sunak's father-in-law NR Narayana Murthy. His daughter Akshata Murty, Sunak's wife, owns a…
THOUSANDS of people rallied in the UK capital in solidarity with Ukraine following Russia's invasion, as London's mayor stepped up criticism of the government's response to the refugee crisis. Following a call from the mayor Sadiq Khan for a demonstration of "solidarity with Ukraine", crowds marched through the city centre…
A SENIOR White House (USA) official said on Friday (25) India's position at the United Nations over the crisis in Ukraine has been "unsatisfactory" but was also unsurprising given its historical relationship with Russia.Mira Rapp-Hooper, director for the Indo-Pacific on the White House National Security Council, told an online forum…
INDIA on Thursday (24) abstained in the UN General Assembly on a resolution by Ukraine and its allies on the humanitarian crisis in the war-torn eastern European country.India said the focus should be on cessation of hostilities and on urgent humanitarian assistance and the draft did not fully reflect New…
THE THIRD round of the ongoing India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations will be hosted by India next month, Britain's Department for International Trade (DIT) said on Thursday (24).A joint “outcome statement” released by the DIT confirmed that a draft treaty text of chapters that will make up the new…
FOREIGN ministers of Muslim nations began meeting in Pakistan on Tuesday (22) as the country's leader trumpets his Islamic credentials while at the same time battling the most serious challenge to his rule in four years.The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is meeting in Islamabad with an ambitious agenda that…
LONDON'S Parliament Square was the flag-off point for Indian spiritual leader Sadhguru's 30,000-km motorbike tour on Monday (21), as he set off on his Save Soil awareness campaign across Europe and the Middle East en route to India.The yoga guru, 64, donned his biking gear for the 100-day tour, which…
BRITAIN is very disappointed with India's stance on Russia's invasion of Ukraine, trade minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan said ahead of the conclusion of the second round of trade talks. India has avoided condemning Russian actions since it invaded Ukraine three weeks ago, to the frustration of allies including the US, and…
INDIA is considering taking up a Russian offer to buy its crude oil and other commodities at discounted prices with payment via a rupee-rouble transaction, two Indian officials said, amid tough Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.India, which imports 80 per cent of its oil needs, usually…
US lawmakers have questioned India's UN vote on the Ukraine issue during a Congressional hearing on the Indo-Pacific on Wednesday (9). India, a non-permanent member of the powerful United Nations Security Council for a two-year term ending December this year, has repeatedly abstained on resolutions against Russia's invasion of Ukraine.…
PAKISTAN’S prime minister Imran Khan has hit out at Islamabad-based Western envoys who last week urged the south Asian country to condemn Russia's actions in Ukraine, asking them if they thought Pakistan was their "slave".The heads of 22 diplomatic missions, including those of European Union member states, released a joint…
STATE BANK OF INDIA (SBI) has stopped processing transactions of Russian entities sanctioned by the West over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, sources said.India’s largest lender has issued a circular as it fears that any transaction with entities or sectors under sanction will invite sanction on it as well, the sources…
INDIA's opposition on Wednesday (2) stepped up pressure on the government to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a day after an Indian student died during shelling in the eastern city of Kharkiv. India is yet to criticise long-standing arms supplier Russia publicly, instead urging both sides to cease hostilities,…
US PRESIDENT Joe Biden said Washington is in unresolved "consultations" with India over Ukraine. He was asked on Thursday (24) if Washington and Delhi were "fully in sync" over Russia's attack on Ukraine ahead of an expected UN Security Council vote. Biden did not elaborate, but his short response to a question…
UN rights experts have called for an end to "misogynistic and sectarian" online attacks against a female Muslim Indian journalist, asking the authorities to investigate the harassment. Rana Ayyub, a fierce critic of prime minister Narendra Modi and the Hindu nationalist government of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has been…
AIR INDIA has won a nod of an appeals court in Quebec to challenge a Canadian court order that allowed foreign investors in Bangalore-based Devas Multimedia to seize the airline’s funds.Three Mauritius investors and the German major Deutsche Telekom had sought the seizure to recover compensation for a failed 2005…
From Russia to North Korea to Zimbabwe, the impact of diplomatic sanctions has long been questioned. But Bangladeshi activists have no doubts: extrajudicial killings have suddenly stopped since punitive US measures were imposed two months ago, they say. Around 2,500 Bangladeshis have allegedly been killed by security forces since prime…
A golf club belonging to Pakistan's military was closed on Wednesday after a court ruled it encroached on national park land in the capital and breached environment regulations. In a rare ruling against the country's powerful armed forces, judge Athar Minallah said Tuesday that the navy had "illegally" established Margalla…
BRITISH Army Captain Harpreet Chandi has made history by becoming the first woman of colour to cross Antarctica unsupported. A message from the Sikh officer’s Twitter account said on Monday (3), “#polarpreet has just made #history becoming the first woman of colour to complete a solo expedition in Antarctica. She…
The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday condemned last week's massacre in Myanmar of more than 30 people, including two Save the Children staff, that was blamed on junta troops. The killings took place on Christmas Eve in eastern Kayah state, where pro-democracy rebels have been fighting the military, which…
BRITISH minister who chaired the Cop26 climate summit has said that tackling the climate crisis must be a whole government effort or risk becoming “just a bunch of meaningless promises”, reported The Guardian. Alok Sharma has added that all of his colleagues must bear joint responsibility for the UK’s net-zero…
The decision by Bangladesh to close schools for Rohingya refugees risks leaving a generation of children "practically uneducated", a United Nations human rights envoy warned on Sunday (19). Authorities this week ordered the closure of "unauthorised" education centres in border camps hosting around 850,000 members of the stateless Muslim minority,…
There are 66 known Indian-origin fighters affiliated with Daesh (Islamic State), says a US report. IN a report that would leave the Indian security establishment worried, the United States state department has said that there are 66 known Indian-origin fighters affiliated with global terror outfit Daesh as of November. The…
THE United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has added Durga Puja, one of India’s major festivals, to its ‘Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity’ in a first of its kind move in Asia. In a tweet, the world body wrote, “Celebrations of city of joy -…
The United States is considering new measures to pressure the Myanmar junta to return to a "democratic trajectory", secretary of state Antony Blinken said on Wednesday, as alarm grows over an escalating crackdown on dissent. Myanmar has been in chaos since February when Aung San Suu Kyi's civilian government was…
Bangladesh authorities demolished about 1,000 shops belonging to Rohingya in camps, an official said on Friday (10), with a rights worker saying the move would have a "huge impact" on refugees' livelihoods. About 850,000 Rohingya are packed into 34 camps across the country, most of whom fled a 2017 military…
INDIA is looking to collaborate with foreign countries and international organisations to build digital identity systems across the world, a top official said on Friday (3). Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) CEO Saurabh Garg said that the agency is also exploring emerging technology to enhance security and increase the…
DIFFERENCES have cropped within the UK government ahead of free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations with India, according to a media report. Britain’s environment secretary George Eustice raised concerns over food safety standards in India, City A.M. reported, citing Whitehall sources. “George is certainly in favour of free trade, but he…
DOZENS of Rohingya refugees sent to a remote and flood-prone Bangladesh island have been allowed to visit their relatives for the first time since their relocations began two years ago. Nearly 20,000 members of the stateless Muslim minority, who fled neighbouring Myanmar in 2017 after a brutal military crackdown, have…
DOMESTIC and sexual abuse in the Sikh community has become a challenge for women, thanks to “toxic cultural practices” and a lack of culturally sensitive services which leaves them suffer in silence, The Observer has reported citing a comprehensive report. The report made by Sikh Women’s Aid (SWA), the only…
I ATTENDED COP26 as the shadow business minister to meet businesses and representatives of other nations to discuss where we are making progress and what more needs to change. COP26 has been an important and historic event in Glasgow to “keep 1.5 alive” – the Paris Agreement ambition of limiting…
INDIA'S environment and climate minister, Bhupender Yadav, took aim at a draft deal at the United Nations climate summit on Saturday (13), saying he disagreed with the language on fossil fuel subsidies and that the draft lacked balance. In one of the strongest criticisms of the COP26 draft deal, Yadav…
THE India-led International Solar Alliance (ISA) and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) signed a memorandum of understanding at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow on Friday (12). They agreed to collaborate and support countries in the implementation of ambitious national climate action in line with global efforts.…
INDIA on Sunday (7) told the UN climate summit in Glasgow that its solar energy capacity was about 45 gigawatts and reiterated that although the country represents 17 per cent of the global population, its historical cumulative emissions are only four per cent of the total. Making a statement on…
A SIKH officer of the British Army and physiotherapist is on a mission to become the first Indian-origin female to complete a solo, unsupported trek to the South Pole. Captain Harpreet Chandi, known as Polar Preet, will be travelling 700 miles while pulling a pulk or sledge, battling temperatures of…
US has partnered with the UK and India-led Green Grids Initiative of a global energy grid launched by prime minister Narendra Modi at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow. At a meeting of the Steering Committee of the Green Grids Initiative – ‘One Sun One World One Grid' (GGI-OSOWOG) earlier…
AN INDIAN schoolgirl, whose solar-powered ironing cart project was a finalist of Prince William's inaugural Earthshot Prize, addressed the World Leaders' Summit of the COP26 conference in Glasgow with a clarion call for them to act and save the planet. Vinisha Umashankar, 15, from Tamil Nadu, was part of the…
BRITISH prime minister Boris Johnson has welcomed Narendra Modi's climate commitments to achieve net zero carbon emissions and for half of India's energy to come from renewables by 2030. Delivering India's national statement at the World Leaders' Summit in Glasgow on Monday (1), prime minister Modi for the first time…
INDIA prime minister will be presenting the formal position on India's climate action agenda and lay out the best practices and achievements in the sector at the COP26 summit in Glasgow on Monday (1). During the high-profile segment of the World Leaders' Summit, Narendra Modi is scheduled to deliver a…
INDIA administered its one billionth Covid-19 vaccine dose on Thursday (21) as it fights its way back from a devastating surge in cases that brought the health system close to collapse. Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the feat as a "triumph of Indian science", but authorities remain on guard for…
BANGLADESH'S ruling party rallied on Tuesday (19) in support of the nation's besieged minority Hindus after one of the worst bouts of communal violence in the Muslim-majority nation in over a decade. According to local media, the wave of clashes left at least six people dead and dozens of homes…
ANANDIBEN Patel, the governor of the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, on Sunday (17) concluded her three-day visit to Parmarth Niketan Ashram in Rishikesh in the neighbouring state of Uttarakhand. The visit coincided with Navratri, the nine-day Hindu festival that celebrates the divine feminine energy. Patel observed Navami and…
DISPARITIES in multidimensional poverty among ethnic groups are consistently high across many countries, a new analysis on global multidimensional poverty has found. In nine ethnic groups more than 90 per cent of the population is trapped in poverty, it added. The global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) produced by the United…
THE statistical rise in children and young people’s mental health problems is staggering. According to a Royal College of Psychiatrists study, since the pandemic began 18 months ago, the number of children and young people developing mental health issues has risen by 134 per cent compared to last year. Nearly…
BRITONS visiting India this month will have to undergo mandatory quarantine even if they are fully vaccinated against Covid-19, in retaliation for the UK’s curbs on Indian citizens, a senior government source in New Delhi said on Friday (1). The new rules, which take effect from Monday (4), follow the…
PRATHAM Education Foundation chief executive Dr Rukmini Banerji and eminent economist Professor Eric A Hanushek have been awarded the 2021 Yidan Prize, the world’s highest education accolade, in recognition of their ground-breaking work in addressing a key aspect of education: improving quality of education and outcomes for learners at scale.…
TATA Steel has signed the Sea Cargo Charter (SCC) as the world's first steel-manufacturer, re-emphasising that it's committed to sustainable operations and reducing impact on climate. The SCC, which was launched in October 2020, seeks to reduce environmental impacts of global seaborne cargo. It sets up a common, global baseline…
PRIME MINISTER Narendra Modi on Friday (24) described as "outstanding" his first bilateral meeting with US President Joe Biden who said the Indo-US relationship is destined to be "stronger, closer and tighter" as the two leaders discussed a wide range of issues, including combating Covid-19, climate change, trade and the…
NOBEL Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, who was shot by a Taliban gunman in Pakistan as she left school in 2012, has pleaded with the world not to compromise on the protection of Afghan women's rights following the Taliban takeover. As countries and organisations take the first steps to engage…
US PRESIDENT Joe Biden on Friday (24) would look to deepen his bid to strengthen the American leadership of the Indo-Pacific against a rising China by hosting the maiden in-person summit of the regional Quad summit. Biden will be joined by the prime ministers of India, Japan and Australia for…
THE United States is shipping another 2.5 million Covid vaccine doses to hard-hit Bangladesh, a White House official said on Thursday (24), after the Biden administration announced a ramping up of global donations. The latest shipment - 2,508,480 Pfizer doses - brings the total of US shots to the country…
SRI Lanka has called on the world to safeguard the Buddhist heritage of Afghanistan under the Taliban, who provoked outrage by destroying giant Buddha statues when they were in power earlier. "I request the United Nations and the international community to ensure the protection of the Buddhist heritage of Afghanistan,"…
INDIA'S anti-smuggling intelligence officials have seized almost three tonnes of heroin, reportedly worth around £1.9billion, in a major bust at Mundra Port in the western Indian state of Gujarat. Officials told BBC that forensic testing was underway to determine the exact value of the seized drugs. According to one statement,…
ON the occasion of Organ Donation Week that kicked off on Monday (20), BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha has launched a new educational video about organ donation and the importance of having a conversation with the family about one’s wish to donate organs. Organ Donation Week is an annual campaign held in…
Well-known Bollywood actress Bhumi Pednekar has been invited to speak at the prestigious Climate Week in New York. Apart from being a notable actress in Hindi films, Pednekar is also a climate change advocate who spearheads the hugely successful social media initiative Climate Warrior, which is aimed at raising awareness…
INDIA’S foreign minister on Tuesday (21) urged Britain to remove a rule requiring Indians visiting there to quarantine even if they are fully vaccinated. India's Covishield vaccine, developed by AstraZeneca and manufactured in India by Pune-based Serum Institute, is not recognised by Britain under new rules despite being identical to…
SRI Lanka president Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Monday (20) said he held a “fruitful discussion” with UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres on ways to jointly promote "reconciliation" in the country as the only way to move towards a prosperous future. Rajapaksa, who is in the US for the United Nations General Assembly…
PAKISTAN has called on world powers to unblock billions of dollars in Afghan assets frozen after the Taliban takeover but said it did not expect recognition of the new government soon. Ahead of talks on Afghanistan at the UN General Assembly, Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Monday…
THE ball is in China's court when it comes to making the United Nations COP26 climate change conference in November a success, Britain's Alok Sharma, the summit's president, said on Sunday (19). Sharma, who said he had "constructive and very frank discussions" during a visit to China earlier this month,…
SRI Lanka's minister of state for prisons management Lohan Ratwatte tendered his resignation on Wednesday (15), days after he allegedly threatened to kill Tamil prisoners during his visit to the country's north-central region, a senior official said. Ratwatte's resignation came as pressure mounted on him after Tamil political parties sought…
THE consulate general of India in New York, the US, recently organised an event to honour 'Hollywood to the Himalayas: A Journey of Healing and Transformation', the memoir of Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati, secretary-general of Global Interfaith WASH Alliance, Parmarth Niketan Ashram located in Rishikesh in the northern Indian state of…
Senior Commonwealth sources have accused the UK government of “destroying the family because of a vendetta against the secretary-general”, Patricia Scotland. In exclusive interviews on the condition of anonymity, non-British Commonwealth insiders outside the UK have alleged that the UK government “has put pressure” on poorer and developing nations to…
President Joe Biden on Tuesday (31) mounted a fierce defense of his exit from Afghanistan as the "best decision for America," the day after the US military withdrawal celebrated by the Taliban as a major victory. "This is the right decision. A wise decision. And the best decision for America,"…
THE UK government on Sunday (29) faced criticism after its hurried withdrawal from Afghanistan ended, leaving hundreds eligible for relocation behind. Prime minister Boris Johnson hailed a mission "unlike anything we have seen in our lifetimes" after the UK airlifted over 15,000 people in the last two weeks. Troops landed…
THE number of Afghans crossing over to Pakistan has soared since the twin suicide bombings in Kabul on Thursday (26), despite Islamabad’s position that it won’t accept any refugees from its western neighbour. Some 6,000 Afghans would normally move across the Spin Boldak-Chaman border crossing and the number went up…
The carnage from twin suicide bombings at Kabul airport will fuel fears that a Taliban-controlled Afghanistan could prove an increasingly powerful magnet for terror groups like Daesh (Islamic State). The bombings, claimed by the regionally based Islamic State-Khorosan or IS-K, killed scores of people including 13 US soldiers, and were…
PAKISTAN prime minister Imran Khan has called for the formation of an inclusive government in Afghanistan and asked the international community for positive engagement with Kabul. Khan made the comments during his meeting with the executive director of the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), David Beasley, in Islamabad on…
BRITAIN’S top counter-terrorism police officer has warned that Afghanistan will again become a base for exporting terrorism, and predicted lone-wolf attacks “probably within two years”. In an exclusive interview with Eastern Eye, assistant commissioner at the Metropolitan Police, Neil Basu, said the Taliban take-over in Afghanistan earlier this month will…
PAKISTAN on Monday (23) said the Afghan Taliban have assured that they would not allow their soil to be used against Islamabad by Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants, amidst reports that several hardcore terrorists have been released in Afghanistan after the insurgents seized Kabul. The TTP, commonly known as the Pakistani…
RADICAL preacher Anjem Choudary has advocated a stringent implementation of sharia in a “fledgling” Afghanistan”. The British cleric from East London also called upon the Taliban to declare Afghanistan a caliphate and enforce punishments like stoning for adultery, chopping off hands for thefts and lashing for drinking alcohol. Choudary, who…
SEVEN people died near Kabul airport amid chaos, reports stated on Sunday (22), citing Britain's Ministry of Defence. Meanwhile, the UK, US and other allies continue to struggle to evacuate thousands of foreign nationals and Afghans who are trying to flee Afghanistan after Taliban Islamists took control a week ago.…
INDIAN National Congress parliamentarian Shashi Tharoor was on Wednesday (18) cleared by a court in Delhi of charges linked to the death of his wife Sunanda Pushkar in 2014. The body of Pushkar, 51, was found in a suite of a luxury hotel in the Indian capital on the night…
AN ENGINEER’S initiative to help his Indian friend with her tedious chore of handwashing clothes has now transformed into a mission to change the lives of millions of such women in developing countries. London-based Navjot Sawhney set up Washing Machine Project in 2018 when he came up with the idea…
HUMAN Rights Watch (HRW) on Monday (16) called for a United Nations probe into alleged enforced disappearances of Bangladesh opposition activists, demanding sanctions on the officials found responsible. The rights watchdog released a report identifying 86 political activists, businessmen and student members of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) who…
LALIT Modi, the Indian cricket administrator who is sought for questioning in India over money-laundering allegations, is facing a legal challenge worth about £5 million in the high court in the UK. The 55-year-old, who is known to be the founder of the lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament,…
The United Nations Security Council said on Monday (16) the international community must ensure Afghanistan does not become a breeding ground for terrorism under the Taliban, following an emergency meeting in New York. The 15-member council issued a joint statement after UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres told the meeting that the…
WITH the situation in Afghanistan deteriorating fast, British parliamentarian Navendu Mishra and 49 of his colleagues from across political parties have written a letter to foreign secretary Dominic Raab for extending urgent help to the refugees in the violence-ravaged nation who are at threat of persecution by the Taliban. In…
POLICE Scotland has paused its training programme in Sri Lanka “for the time being” as the force’s activity in the south Asian country is being reviewed. Its engagement with Sri Lanka where it worked to develop community policing has been halted since May, months after reports that it renewed its…
BRITAIN'S climate chief has warned that the world is running out of time to stop a climate change catastrophe. Alok Sharma, who will be leading COP26, the climate summit hosted by the UK this year - said the effects are already there with floods, wildfires and heatwaves. "We can't afford…
THE Taliban closed a key border crossing with Pakistan on Friday (6), saying no one would be allowed through it until Islamabad dropped or relaxed its visa requirements for Afghans. The Taliban, wresting control of a large part of Afghanistan in the wake of the withdrawal of US and other…
THE president of the UK's upcoming climate change conference is taking flak for having travelled to more than 30 countries in seven months. The Daily Mail reports that Alok Sharma travelled to seven of the countries in the red list, and by using exemption available for ministers he did not…
A SIX-YEAR-OLD who has written letters to world leaders on climate change has urged action as she warned our planet “needed looking after”. Aleesha Gadhia reached out to numerous politicians and corporations during the national lockdown caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, to find out what they were doing to tackle…
BRITAIN'S climate is already undergoing change as experts warn that extreme weather events, such as floods, heatwaves and droughts, will increase across the world due to the effects of global warming. Recent decades in Britain have been warmer, wetter and sunnier than in the last century, with last year the…
INDIA, said to be the world's third-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, skipped a key climate meeting of more than 50 countries, the UK environment ministry said on Wednesday (28). The recent two-day conference held in London was the first face-to-face talk among governments in more than 18 months. The…
BANGLADESH has evacuated 10,000 Rohingyas from around refugee camps on the Myanmar border after monsoon landslides and flash floods killed at least 14 people, officials said on Wednesday (28). After three days of torrential rain, the refugees, most of whom fled a military crackdown in Myanmar in 2017, were moved…
INDIA’S score has improved substantially on a trade facilitation survey conducted by the United Nations for 143 countries. The country scored 90.32 per cent in the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific’s (UNESCAP) latest Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation, up from 78.49…
PAKISTAN'S opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday (24) rejected prime minister Imran Khan's remarks that Islamabad would let the people of Kashmir decide if they want to join Pakistan or become an "independent state". He said Khan was deviating from the country's "historical and constitutional position" by proposing a second…
LAST week’s horrifying floods in Germany make Alok Sharma, president of COP26, just about the most important man in Britain – possibly even in the world. It’s his job to bring competing nations together as mankind confronts climate change at the conference due to be held in Glasgow from November…
Bangladesh is to start giving coronavirus vaccinations to some of the 850,000 Rohingya refugees who fled across the border from Myanmar, officials said on Thursday. With infections rising across the country, refugee commissioner Shah Rezwan Hayat said about 48,000 Rohingya aged over 55 would start receiving jabs from next month…
JAMAICA plans to ask Britain for compensation for the Atlantic slave trade in the former British colony, a senior government official said, under a petition that could seek billions of pounds in reparations. Jamaica was a centre of the slave trade, with the Spanish, then the British, forcibly transporting Africans…
PAKISTAN security forces used tear gas on Thursday (15) to disperse hundreds of people who tried to force their way across the border from Chaman to Spin Boldak in Afghanistan. Pakistan officials closed the border on Wednesday (14) after the Taliban seized Spin Boldak and raised insurgent flags above the…
ENGLAND is "systemically racist" and the UK government is in breach of a United Nations (UN) treaty designed to eradicate racial discrimination, a recent report claimed on Wednesday (14), adding that minority ethnic groups in the country face sustained disparities across health, the criminal justice system, education, employment, immigration and…
Gathered around a tandoori oven in the kitchen of a small Kabul restaurant, a group of Afghan women prepare naan for their lunchtime customers. They are all survivors of domestic violence, and many will never be able to return to their families. Mary Akrami, the founder of the shelter where…
BANGLADESH has been spending about $2 billion (£1.4bn) every year since 2010 on its efforts to mitigate climate change, finance minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said on Wednesday (7). The government has also made an allocation of about $2.9bn (£2.1bn) in the current budget, he said, while addressing a virtual press…
PAKISTAN'S anti-corruption watchdog has established an anti-money laundering and terror financing cell to check financial crimes and illegal transfer of resources. Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) placed Pakistan on the grey list in June 2018 and asked Islamabad to implement a plan of action to curb money laundering and…
THE US has appointed Indian American diplomat Atul Keshap as Chargé d’Affaires, interim envoy, to India. Keshap, 50, a career member of the senior foreign service, will be departing for New Delhi following the retirement of Ambassador Daniel Smith, the US State Department said in a statement on Tuesday (29). “Keshap’s…
BANGLADESH announced on Sunday (27) that it has scrapped at least 10 major coal-fired power plants as it seeks to scale up its power generation from renewable energy sources. Nasrul Hamid, the state minister for power and energy, said the decision was taken in view of technological changes and as…
Sri Lanka's president on Thursday pardoned 16 minority Tamils imprisoned for over a decade, as the country faces renewed United Nations pressure over detentions without charge under draconian anti-terrorism laws. The amnesty is a first for people linked to the Tamil Tigers since Gotabaya Rajapaksa, a member of the majority…
THE burnt-out MV X-Press Pearl has caused "significant damage to the planet by the release of hazardous substances", the United Nations (UN) said on Sunday (20) as it announced a team of experts to determine the full extent of the disaster and necessary follow-up action. A team of oil spill and chemical…
A British MP faces trial over accusations he sexually assaulted a 15-year-old boy in 2008, it was revealed on Friday after reporting restrictions on the case were partially lifted. Imran Ahmad Khan, 47, the Conservative MP for Wakefield, West Yorkshire, faces a single count of sexual assault against the individual,…
BANGLADESH’S foreign minister, AK Abdul Momen, has sought a ‘clear roadmap’ from the United Nations (UN) on the early repatriation of Rohingyas from Bangladesh to Myanmar. Authorities in Bangladesh set up 34 camps in the country's southeastern district of Cox's Bazar for nearly 900,000 Rohingya refugees, who fled persecution and violence in…
A SRI LANKA court freed on bail the country's top detective after 10 months behind bars on Wednesday (16), in a case that attracted the international condemnation of Colombo's human rights record. The Court of Appeal asked a lower court to free Shani Abeysekara and another detective accused of falsifying…
THE SINKING fire-damaged container ship MV X-Press Pearl could take months to salvage because of rough monsoon seas, Sri Lanka said on Tuesday (15), as authorities investigated whether the deaths of dozens of turtles and dolphins were caused by the disaster. Part of the Singapore-registered vessel submerged in early June…
THE UN improperly collected and shared data from more than 800,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, passing it on to Myanmar, the country they fled, Human Rights Watch claimed on Tuesday (15), urging an investigation. Over the past three years, the United Nations refugee agency has registered hundreds of thousands of…
INDIAN Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday (14) said the country is on the right track to achieve its target of land-degradation neutrality. The leader said this while delivering a keynote address at the United Nations’ “High-Level Dialogue on Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought” via a video call. “We are…
ACTING British High Commissioner to India Jan Thompson on Monday (14) expressed pleasure over Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually joining the recently held G7 Summit in the UK and said the host nation will continue to work closely with the Asian power on global issues, including on the path…
BANGLADESH is preparing an action plan to help the businesses become more competitive in exports and face the new challenges, after its graduation to a developing economy. The plan, being prepared by the Economic Relations Division, will include the strategies in the Eighth Five Year Plan. According to the United…
INDIA has been elected to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), one of the six main arms of the United Nations, for the 2022-24 term. The country was elected in the Asia-Pacific States category along with Afghanistan, Kazakhstan and Oman in the elections held on Monday (7). The council having…
UK chancellor of the exchequer Rishi Sunak on Saturday (5) welcomed “seismic tax reforms” agreed by the world’s richest economies at the G7 finance ministers meeting, chaired by Britain. Finance ministers meeting in London agreed to battle tax avoidance through measures to make companies pay in the countries where they…
PAKISTAN had done more than any other countries in the world to combat global warming relative to its economic means, said prime minister Imran Khan on Friday (4). Pakistan, this year's host of the United Nations' annual World Environment Day on June 5, is among the countries worst affected by…
PEACE, stability and prosperity in south Asia depend on the "normalisation of relations" between Pakistan and India, a top UN official said as he urged the neighbours to work for a peaceful solution to the Kashmir issue. UN General Assembly president Volkan Bozkir, a former Turkish diplomat and politician, is…
By Amit Roy AUTHOR Sam Pitroda is calling for a radical reform of major global institutions such as the United Nations, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, NATO and the World Health Organization due to “stagnation in their functioning”. “These institutions have made significant contributions to keep peace alive,…
A BANGLADESHI woman journalist was granted bail on Sunday (23) against the charges of stealing government documents related to negotiations on the purchase of coronavirus vaccines. Rozina Islam, a senior reporter of Bangla daily Prothom Alo, was arrested last Monday (17) for allegedly stealing important government documents from the health…
PAKISTAN has sought the deployment of an international protection force in Palestine territories, echoing a similar suggestion made by Turkey. At a special meeting of the United Nations General Assembly held on Thursday (20) to discuss the situation in the Middle East, Pakistan’s foreign affairs minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi suggested…
A DHAKA court said it will pass its order on Sunday (23) on the bail application of a Bangladesh journalist arrested earlier this week on charges of “stealing information” from the country’s health ministry. The court of the chief metropolitan magistrate which conducted a virtual hearing on Thursday (20) permitted…
PAKISTAN'S foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi held extensive consultations with his counterparts from other Muslim countries in New York in the run-up to a special meeting of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) scheduled for Thursday (20). Entrusted by Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan to build a "united stance" of…
PAKISTAN said it will supply medical emergency relief to Palestine which has been locked in a violent cross-border conflict with Israel for more than a week. Information and broadcasting minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said in Islamabad the federal cabinet also decided to send Covid-19 medicines to Palestine on humanitarian grounds.…
“Unedifying” row over despatch box “puts back equality, diversity and inclusion” by Barnie Choudhury Britain top south Asian police officer has told a global audience that institutional racism does exist in Britain – contrary to the government’s latest report on racism. The Met’s assistant commissioner, Neil Basu, was speaking during…
INDIA and UN have expressed deep concern at clashes and violence in Jerusalem's Temple Mount as well as over evictions in Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan neighbourhoods. Indian has called on both sides to avoid changing the status-quo on the ground. India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador T S Tirumurti…
PAKISTAN received its first shipment of Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines from the COVAX Facility on Saturday (8). The consignment of 1,238,400 doses of vaccines, which will be followed by another of 1,236,000 in a few days, will support the Government of Pakistan’s ongoing historic drive to bring the pandemic to an…
IN one of the most ambitious environmental targets, British prime minister Boris Johnson will commit to cut carbon emissions by 78 per cent by 2035, almost 15 years earlier than previously planned. Johnson will make the commitment this week ahead of a US climate summit that will be hosted by…
Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan had hoped a fight over cartoons of the prophet Mohammed would result in an easy win -- placating the ultra-conservative quarters at home while being hailed as a defender of Islam abroad. The gamble seems to have backfired spectacularly. For the past week, riots have…
By Amit Roy THE US navy did something strange last Wednesday (7). It sailed through a section of the Arabian Sea near the Lakshadweep Islands without prior notice to challenge India’s assertion that the waters were part of its exclusive economic zone. Afterwards, the US made a point of humiliating…
Slum dwellers in the Pakistani city of Karachi have stopped the demolition of thousands of homes by mapping flood risks from clogged drains, offering a feasible solution to other informal settlements facing climate change impacts, urban experts said. After unexpectedly heavy rains flooded much of Karachi last year, authorities said…
India's Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a plea to stop the government from deporting to Myanmar some 150 Rohingya Muslims police detained last month, paving the way for them to be sent to a country where hundreds have been killed following a military coup. Prime minister Narendra Modi's government has…
By Amit Roy EHSAN MASOOD is a 53-year-old science journalist and senior editor at the journal Nature who has written a book on why Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is no longer a good way of quantifying how well a country is doing economically. He points out that GDP does not…
SPECIAL presidential envoy for Climate John Kerry will travel to Abu Dhabi, New Delhi and Dhaka from April 1-9 to discuss the climate crisis. Kerry would travel for consultations on increasing climate ambition ahead of US president Joe Biden's Leaders' Summit on Climate from April 22-23 and the 26th Conference…
UN human rights council adopted a resolution on Tuesday (23), spearheaded by Britain, to investigate war crimes during Sri Lanka's civil war against separatist Tamil Tigers. The chief of the Geneva-based rights council, Michelle Bachelet's office will now have new staff, powers and a £2.0 million budget to look at…
By: Mohnish Singh It is no secret that Bollywood actress Dia Mirza’s heart beats for the environment. She has been using her celebrity status to help protect the environment for many, many years now, and is very involved with several environmental causes as the United Nations Environment Goodwill Ambassador. Talking…
By Rithika Siddhartha BRITISH INDIAN ties are “under leveraged” for the benefit of both sides and there is a real focus in the UK on the Indo-Pacific region, a senior minister said as he embarked on a visit to the south Asian country. Lord Tariq Ahmad is the minister…
A court in Bangladesh on Sunday ordered a probe into claims by a formerly jailed cartoonist that he was tortured before police detained him under the country's harsh internet laws, his lawyer said. Ahmed Kabir Kishore, 45, was arrested in May 2020 under the controversial laws and charged with carrying…
The US special envoy for Afghanistan and the commander of NATO forces there met Pakistan's army chief on Monday to discuss the Afghan peace process at a pivotal juncture for the stalled negotiations. Pakistan is the third country that US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has visited in the last week…
By Barry Gardiner Labour MP for Brent North IMAGINE the outcry if the UK government was to tell farmers what crops they must sow and how much they were allowed to produce. Or if it forbade farmers from selling their produce to anyone they choose and forced them to sell…
UK vaccine deployment minister Nadhim Zahawi has defended a shipment of ten million doses of Covishield en route from India amid some concerns that it would impact supplies of COVID-19 vaccines for poorer nations. The minister in charge of overseeing the UK's vaccination programme said the vaccine doses developed by…
FAMOUS chefs from UK’s favourite cookery shows have joined with the NHS to tackle Covid vaccine hesitancy and boost uptake. Great British Bake Off star Nadiya Hussain, MasterChef’s Saliha Mahmood and Asma Khan from Netflix’s Chef’s Table are all backing the vaccine drive focused on the British Bangladeshi community. They…
A prominent Bangladeshi cartoonist was granted bail on Wednesday (3) as several hundred people staged more protests over the death of a fellow government critic also arrested under the country's harsh internet laws. Ahmed Kabir Kishore, 42, was detained in May after he drew cartoons mocking a powerful businessman close…
A plan by Sri Lanka to bury Muslim coronavirus victims on a remote islet was slammed on Wednesday (3) by locals and the minority community. Colombo banned burials of Covid-19 victims in April, despite expert assurances they would not spread the virus, implementing a policy of forced cremations. Sri Lanka's…
Sri Lanka on Friday ended forced cremations of people who have died of coronavirus, after visiting Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan urged Colombo to respect the funeral rites of the island's minority Muslims. The government first banned burials in April over concerns -- which experts said were baseless -- by…
AN Indian-origin employee at the UN has launched a campaign to become the next secretary-general of the world organisation. Arora Akanksha, 34, launched #AroraForSG campaign against incumbent Antonio Guterres, who is seeking a second five-year term in January 2022. Currently, Akanksha is working as an audit coordinator for the United…
Bangladesh is moving 3,000-4,000 more Rohingya Muslim refugees to a remote Bay of Bengal island over the next two days, two officials said on Sunday, despite concerns about the risk of storms and floods lashing the site. Dhaka has relocated around 7,000 to Bhasan Char island since early December from…
UK prime minister Boris Johnson will host a virtual meeting of the leaders of the group of seven countries on Friday(19) ahead of the G7 summit in June. The virtual meeting will be part of the UK's G7 presidency this year and the first gathering of G7 leaders since April…
by SHALINA PATEL WHEN you see the letters UDHR, I’m sure you know what they stand for – the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. But did you know that it was an Indian reformist called Hansa Mehta who is credited with rephrasing Article 1 from ‘all men’ to ‘all…
THE United Nations human rights office called on Indian authorities and protesting farmers to exercise "maximum restraint" hours before the growers impose a nationwide road blockade on Saturday(6) seeking a repeal of new agricultural laws. Tens of thousands of farmers have camped out on the outskirts of New Delhi for…
A huge fire swept through the Rohingya refugee camps in southern Bangladesh in the early hours of Thursday (14), the United Nations said, destroying homes belonging to thousands of people. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said more than 550 shelters home to around 3,500 people were either totally or partially…
UK prime minister Boris Johnson has invited his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi for the G7 summit as he confirmed details on Sunday (17for the high-level meeting to be presided over by Britain in the coastal region of Cornwall between June 11 and 13. Johnson had extended an invitation to Modi…
Pakistan has announced a new government-run instant digital payment system in a bid to boost financial inclusion and government revenue in the country where only a fraction of economic transactions occur on the books. The new system, called "Raast" or "direct way", will be rolled out in three phases culminating…
The UK government on Tuesday (12) announced sanctions on sourcing from Chinese businesses in retaliation of the “harrowing” human rights violations being perpetrated in the Xinjiang province of the country against the Uyghur Muslim minority. UK foreign secretary Dominic Raab said in a House of Commons statement that the United…
BRITAIN has appointed business minister Alok Sharma as the full-time president of the United Nations COP26 climate conference to be held in Glasgow this November. The government said the event would be the largest summit the UK has ever hosted, bringing together representatives from nearly 200 countries. "The biggest challenge…
A Pakistani court on Friday (8) sentenced a militant leader accused of plotting the 2008 Mumbai attacks to five years in jail for terror financing. Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, a senior figure in the banned militant organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), was arrested in the eastern city of Lahore on Saturday where he was…
Four Bangladesh navy ships on Tuesday took the second and biggest group of Rohingya Muslims yet from crowded refugee camps to an uncertain future on a bleak island three hours from the mainland. The government insisted that the 1,800 refugees, who have been in camps since fleeing a Myanmar military…
By Amit Roy MURSHEDA CHOWDHURY, who has been a doctor for 25 years and is of Bangladeshi origin herself, has highlighted some shocking health statistics – especially for Bangladeshi men – that have been exposed by the pandemic. What Covid-19 has done is to shine a light on structural racism…
Stay in a squalid refugee camp -- hopeless, starving, and made to feel a burden -- or leave, risking death, rape, human trafficking and months at sea to reach a husband you've never met. This is the bleak choice many Rohingya women, already scarred from fleeing violent persecution in Myanmar,…
London police said on Monday (30) they have launched an investigation into alleged war crimes by British mercenaries who trained a security force accused of brutalising Tamil people during Sri Lanka's civil war. The war crimes unit of the Metropolitan Police said it was acting on a referral received in…
India on Sunday denied allegations by its arch-rival Pakistan that New Delhi had helped fund militant groups on Pakistani soil, with a foreign ministry spokesman dismissing them as "fabricated" and "figments of imagination". Pakistan's foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Saturday the country would present its evidence to the…
by LAUREN CODLING THE historic election of Indian American Kamala Harris as vice-president elect in the US has been praised as a breakthrough moment of hope in America and abroad, as the first woman voted to the post said she “would not be the last”. Harris, 56, who is of…
The UK has invited India prime minister Narendra Modi to the Climate Ambition Summit scheduled next month, according to a British government statement on Thursday (5). The December 12 Climate Ambition Summit will provide a platform for leaders who are ready to come forward with announcements of new, more ambitious…
Pakistani police have rescued a missing Christian teenager who was allegedly forced to convert to Islam and marry a 44-year-old Muslim man, her family said on Tuesday (3) after the case sparked street protests and outrage on social media. A court in the city of Karachi ordered police to free…
Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan said on Sunday (1) his government will give provisional provincial status to part of Kashmir, drawing condemnation from India, which has long objected to any such changes by Islamabad. Khan's proposal would apply to Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan's only land link to China, which is the northern…
India and the US on Tuesday (27) strongly condemned cross border terrorism in all its forms and asked Pakistan to take "immediate, sustained and irreversible" action to ensure that no territory under its control is used for launching terror attacks. The issue of cross-border terrorism figured in the third edition…
Popular Indian-American Republican politician Nikki Haley on Saturday (25) revealed that Donald Trump, soon after winning the November 2016 US presidential election, had offered her the position of secretary of state which she politely refused. However, 48-year-old Haley, who at that time was the South Carolina Governor, said she could…
Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan accused French president Emmanuel Macron on Sunday (25) of "attacking Islam", after the European leader criticised Islamists and defended the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed. Khan's comments follow statements Macron made last week after a French teacher was beheaded near Paris after he…
International donors on Thursday (22) stumped up an additional $597 million in humanitarian aid for Rohingya refugees languishing in camps in Bangladesh after they fled ethnic violence in Myanmar. The UN had appealed for more than $1 billion this year to meet the humanitarian needs of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh,…
UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet voiced her dismay on Tuesday (20) at the arrest of activists in India and restrictions to the work of non-governmental organisations. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights appealed to New Delhi to safeguard the rights of human rights defenders and NGOs. Bachelet regretted…
A Indian film star is at the centre of a political storm after agreeing to play the lead in a biopic of Sri Lanka's legendary cricket spinner and national hero Muttiah Muralitharan. Vijay Sethupathi is under pressure in his southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu not to accept the role…
India on Wednesday (14) contributed one million dollars to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East to support Palestinian refugees who have been facing extreme challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a move hailed by the UN body as "timely help". The Government…
Bangladesh must do more to tackle child marriage if it is to meet its own goal of eliminating the crime by 2041, according to a United Nations report released on Wednesday (7). "This human rights violation...(is)robbing children of their childhoods," said Veera Mendonca, a spokeswoman for the UN's children agency.…
DAYS of fighting between rival Rohingya drug gangs, in the world's largest refugee camp in Bangladesh, left seven people dead. Bangladesh police on Wednesday(7) said it has sent more troops to bring the situation back to normal. Two armed gangs of refugees from Myanmar are waging a deadly turf war…
Indian police on Tuesday (6) accused foreign human rights groups and Muslim organisations of inciting caste tensions after widespread protests against their handling of a gang-rape and murder of a young Dalit woman. The assault last month of an "untouchable" Dalit teenager has sparked outrage across the country against rampant…
THE English court of appeal on Monday(5) overturned an earlier high court ruling on who the UK recognised as Venezuela's president in a case which involved €1.8 billion ( £1.63 billion) worth of Venezuelan gold stored at the Bank of England. The court granted the Nicolas Maduro-backed Banco Central de Venezuela’s…
Renowned Indian actor Sonu Sood, who caught the entire world’s attention with his humanitarian work during the Coronavirus-induced lockdown, has been conferred with the prestigious SDG Special Humanitarian Action Award by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The award was presented to the actor at a virtual ceremony on Monday…
India as the world's biggest vaccine maker will use its resources "for all humanity" in the battle against coronavirus, prime minister Narendra Modi told the United Nations on Saturday. In his address to the virtual UN General Assembly Modi made no direct mention of climate change or of India's current…
NARENDRA MODI pledged at the United Nations on Saturday (26) that Indian vaccine production capacity would be made available globally to fight the pandemic as he sought a greater role for India in the global body. "As the largest vaccine-producing country of the world, I want to give one more…
AN attempt which started 15 years ago has been renewed by four nations including India. Brazil, Germany, India and Japan have relaunched their bid for permanent seats in an expanded UN security council, which experts say 'would not happen'. "We commit to instill new life in the discussions on the…
When India began lifting its coronavirus lockdown, Meera, a child bride from northwestern India, was focused on just one thing: when she could start playing football again. In Rajasthan, one of the Indian regions where early marriage persists despite being outlawed more than a decade ago, a girls' soccer initiative…
Nearly 300 Rohingya migrants reached Indonesia early Monday claiming to have been at sea for seven months, United Nations officials said, in one of the biggest landings by the persecuted Myanmar minority in years. The migrants -- including more than a dozen children -- were spotted at sea on a…
As the coronavirus kept virtually everyone at home, Talat Jahan was busily crisscrossing the slums in her black-and-yellow rickshaw - on a lockdown mission to help women suffering abuse and hunger in her central Indian city. Jahan, 29, a domestic abuse survivor, and about a dozen other women who recently…
THE coronavirus pandemic is expected to take a heavy toll on funding for innovation, and may well accelerate the shift in research towards Asia, the United Nations said on Wednesday (2). "The great risk... is that innovation expenditures and the means to finance innovation will spiral downwards as the global…
The UK government has launched a review of its overseas aid budget allocations to ensure greater value for taxpayer funds as part of its new ministry merging its foreign and aid ministries. The new Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), which formally launches on Wednesday, combines the Foreign and Commonwealth…
Rohingya Muslim refugees in Bangladesh held a "silent protest" on Tuesday (25) to mark the third anniversary of clashes between Rohingya insurgents and Myanmar security forces that set off a huge movement into Bangladesh of people seeking safety. More than 1 million Rohingya live in the world's largest refugee settlement…
Five years ago, Sadeka Begum was working 12-hour shifts in a garment factory as the main earner for her family in Bangladesh. Today the 23-year-old is one of the first graduates of a special university programme that aims to inspire female workers to become leaders and boost women's rights across…
By Amit Roy KAILASH NATH BUDHWAR, a broadcaster, writer, director and presenter who died last Saturday (11) at Northwick Park Hospital in Harrow, aged 88, was head of Hindi and Tamil at the BBC from 1979-1992, the first Indian to be appointed to the post. In those days, when the…
EARTH will be home to 8.8 billion souls in 2100, two billion fewer than current UN projections, according to a major study published Wednesday (15) that foresees new global power alignments shaped by declining fertility rates and greying populations. By century's end, 183 of 195 countries -- barring an influx…
HOLLYWOOD star Angelina Jolie on Monday (13) backed the £5.3 million UK drive to help kids and teachers in 10 of the poorest countries hosting refugees, including Pakistan, South Sudan and the Yemen. She joined Baroness Liz Sugg, the UK’s special envoy for girls’ education, in urging other countries to…
Hundreds of Rohingya refugees on a flood-prone island in the Bay of Bengal will not be allowed to leave unless they agree to return home, Bangladesh authorities said Thursday. The 306 Muslim Rohingya from Myanmar were put on Bhashan Char island in April after being taken off two boats trying…
THE BUDDHA's message of solidarity and service to others is more important than ever, believes UN chief Antonio Guterres, noting that nations can deal with the consequences of the pandemic that only through global cooperation. The UN secretary general's remarks came during a belated commemoration of the International Day of…
Three Myanmar military officers were found guilty by a court martial investigating atrocities against Rohingya Muslims in conflict-ridden Rakhine state, the army announced on Tuesday (30). The rare action against military members came as Myanmar faces charges of genocide at the United Nations' top court over a brutal 2017 crackdown…
THOUSANDS of sex workers in Bangladesh are going hungry and many face abuse because they are unable to pay their brokers due to the coronavirus pandemic, charities working with them have warned. Bangladesh is home to about 100,000 sex workers and charities estimate that seven out of 10 are struggling…
MILLIONS of people across the globe marked the International Yoga Day (IYD) on Sunday (21) as they joined virtual gatherings and shared online their pictures and videos highlighting the importance of the ancient practice for the world as it battles the coronavirus pandemic. Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the celebrations…
Indian prime minister Narendra Modi has extolled yoga as a way of building a "protective shield" of immunity against the coronavirus, as his nation battles a surge in infections. Modi, a keen yoga practitioner who has long espoused the benefits of the ancient Indian practice, gave the advice in a…
THE economic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic could plunge an extra 395 million people into extreme poverty and swell the total number of those living on less than $1.90 a day worldwide to more than one billion, researchers said in a report on Friday (12). The report - published by…
Cabin crew in protective suits, health certifications for passengers, mandatory face masks, and longer check-in times. This is the new reality of mass air travel. As people dream of taking to the skies once more, they face the prospect that changes to curb the spread of coronavirus will be even…
MALAYSIA will ask Bangladesh to take back about 300 Rohingya refugees detained after a boat carrying them entered its waters this week, the southeast Asian nation's defence minister said on Tuesday (9). Malaysia does not recognise refugee status but has been a favoured destination for ethnic Rohingya, most of them…
The 30 migrants slain by traffickers in Libya on Wednesday had been abducted while crossing the country in search of work and then tortured to extract a ransom, Bangladesh's foreign ministry said on Friday, citing a survivor. Libya's internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) said on Thursday it had…
INDIA and Bangladesh began a massive clean-up after the fiercest cyclone since 1999 killed at least 95 people, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. Cyclone Amphan flattened houses, uprooted trees, blew off roofs and toppled electricity pylons, while a storm surge inundated coastal villages and wrecked shrimp farms…
INDIA and Bangladesh began a massive clean-up Thursday (21) after the fiercest cyclone since 1999 killed at least 84 people, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. Cyclone Amphan flattened houses, uprooted trees, blew off roofs and toppled electricity pylons, while a storm surge inundated coastal villages and wrecked…
India's National Hydrographer Vice Admiral Vinay Badhwar has been honoured with the 2019 Alexander Dalrymple Award in recognition of his outstanding contribution to Indian hydrography and across the Indian Ocean Region, the UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO) said on Monday (18). The award, which was initiated by the UKHO in 2006,…
TO many farmers in southeast Pakistan, an impending locust attack when summer crops of cotton, sugarcane and rice are being sown, and fruit and vegetables are ready to be picked is a much bigger problem than the COVID-19 pandemic. "If the crops are eaten up by the locusts, we will…
A MENTAL ILLNESS crisis is looming as millions of people worldwide are surrounded by death and disease and forced into isolation, poverty and anxiety by the pandemic of COVID-19, United Nations health experts said on Thursday (14). "The isolation, the fear, the uncertainty, the economic turmoil - they all cause…
WHY POPULAR MOVIE STAR CELINA JAITLY HAAG DECIDED TO STEP BACK IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA by ASJAD NAZIR BEAUTY queen turned Bollywood actress Celina Jaitly shone globally and then decided to walk away from the spotlight to start a family. She became a wife and devoted mother, but remained…
US secretary of state Mike Pompeo on Wednesday (29) praised India for lifting export bans on critical medical supplies including pharmaceuticals used to treat COVID-19 patients, saying it was an example of working together with partner countries to tackle the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic. "We're working with our…
South Asia could face a further public health crisis as children miss routine vaccinations, the UN warned on Tuesday (28), spurring fears that the fallout from the novel coronavirus pandemic might reverse hard-earned gains in the region. The United Nations children's agency UNICEF said hundreds of thousands were at risk…
The World Health Organization warned on Saturday recovering from coronavirus may not protect people from reinfection as the death toll from the pandemic approached 200,000 around the globe. Governments across the world are struggling to limit the economic devastation unleashed by the virus, which has infected nearly 2.8 million people…
INDIAN-AMERICAN politician Nikki Haley has launched an online petition seeking to hold China's communist government accountable for "lying" about the coronavirus pandemic. More than 40,000 people had signed the 'Stop Communist China' petition on Friday (24), hours after being initiated by the former South Carolina governor who set a goal…
Oxford University is launching a human trial of a potential coronavirus vaccine, with the daunting aim of making a successful jab available to the public later this year. Of the more than 100 research projects around the world to find a vaccine -- described by the United Nations as the…
INDIA bats for a for a fair, transparent and equitable access to essential medical supplies and any future vaccines developed to fight COVID-19. The country co-sponsored a UN general assembly resolution in this regard. The 193-member assembly adopted the Mexico-drafted resolution 'International cooperation to ensure global access to medicines, vaccines…
Countries from India to the Philippines, already struggling with the coronavirus pandemic, are likely to also battle weather-related crises, from heat waves to cyclones, in coming months, disaster experts warned on Thursday (16). In India - currently under lockdown with more than 12,000 confirmed cases of the virus - the…
DONALD TRUMP has halted US funding to the World Health Organization over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic as the country registered over 600,000 cases of Covid-19 and 28,300 deaths. Trump, who has reacted angrily to criticism of his administration's response to the worst epidemic in a century, has become…
Hundreds of millions of people around the world will spend the Easter holiday at home as lockdown measures intensify to combat the coronavirus, a pandemic with a global death toll rapidly approaching 100,000. Governments have forced businesses to close and limited the movement of half the world's population, halting economic…
POPULAR rice brand Tilda and the United Nations World Food Programme (UNWFP) are taking part in an initiative to provide nutritious meals for underprivileged families. Asian chef Cyrus Todiwala is part of the ‘Helping Mums Together’ campaign which sees specialised meals aimed at combating low birth weight in Bangladesh for…
The number of confirmed coronavirus deaths accelerated past 50,000 on Friday (3) as the United States, Spain and Britain grappled with their highest tolls yet and the world economy took a massive hit. The human scale of the pandemic has never been more stark -- experts warning that more than…
THE coronavirus pandemic is the most challenging crisis the world has faced since World War II, one that is killing people and will also lead to an economic recession without any parallel in the recent past, warns UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. According to the estimates by the Johns Hopkins University,…
The novel coronavirus pandemic that has forced billions of people across the globe to stay home is making parents skip routine immunisations for their kids, the United Nations children's agency UNICEF warned Thursday. The phenomenon is being aggravated by overburdened health services where medical workers are being diverted from giving…
THE sewage-soaked alleys and cramped canvas and bamboo shacks that house one million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh are a horrifying scene for experts watching the coronavirus pandemic creep closer. The wretched conditions in the camps, where most of the stateless Muslims arrived in 2017 to escape a Myanmar military clampdown…
The UN has hailed India for "championing" the phase-out of single-use plastics, and its engagement in the Clean Seas Campaign among other programmes, including marine litter, air pollution, environment and health. In a letter to Environment Secretary CK Mishra, UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Deputy Executive Secretary Joyce Msuya commended India…
The United Nations has backed India's 21-day nationwide lockdown, and a top WHO official termed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic "comprehensive and robust". Globally, the death toll from the coronavirus has risen to 18,915 with more than 422,900 cases reported in over 165 countries and…
As nations around the world fight the coronavirus pandemic with mass lockdowns and travel bans, UN experts warn that some three billion people lack even the most basic weapons to protect themselves: soap and running water. The outbreak has infected some 200,000 people and killed 9,000, scorching through populations across…
The United States on Tuesday (17) placed the new leader of the Islamic State group on its blacklist of terrorists, naming him as Amir Mohammed Abdul Rahman al-Mawli. Secretary of state Mike Pompeo said that al-Mawli was named leader of the ultra-violent group after an October raid by US commandos…
TILDA has announced the return of ‘Helping Mums Together’ campaign, as the rice brand extended its partnership with the United Nations World Food Programme for the sixth year. The campaign will see Tilda funding an equivalent of one nutrition-boosting meal for new and expectant mothers in Bangladesh for every specially…
THE trade impact of the coronavirus epidemic for India is estimated to be about $348 million, said the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) report. India is among the top 15 economies most affected as slowdown of manufacturing in China disrupts world trade. For India, the trade impact is…
THE United Nations on Tuesday (2) appealed for nearly $900 million to help hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees and vulnerable host communities in Bangladesh this year. The UN refugee agency and the International Organization for Migration and other partners launched a joint appeal for $877m (£686m). The money would…
US president Donald Trump on Saturday (29) said he planned to meet Taliban leaders in the "not-too-distant future", asserting that it was time that the war against terrorism was fought by someone else, particularly the countries in the region. "I will be meeting personally with Taliban leaders in the not-too-distant…
BANGLADESH is reconsidering a plan to relocate Rohingya refugees to a flood-prone island located hours by boat from its coast, junior minister for disaster management and relief Enamur Rahman told on Wednesday (26). The proposal to move 100,000 people to Bhasan Char in the Bay of Bengal to ease overcrowding…
INDIA has asked the UN's human rights body to develop a “better understanding and appreciation” of ground realities in the “vibrant democracy” before concluding on issues such as its amended citizenship law and administration of Kashmir. India's strong statement came after UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on…
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan urged the world community to "act now" on the deadly violence against Muslims in India on Wednesday (26). "IOJK [Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir] was the beginning. Now 200 million Muslims in India are being targeted. The world community must act now,” Imran Khan tweeted. Communal violence in…
Sri Lanka prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, who oversaw a brutal end to a decades-long conflict with Tamil separatists, said on Wednesday (19) the country was withdrawing from a United Nations resolution investigating alleged war crimes. Rajapaksa was president when Sri Lankan troops defeated Tamil Tiger guerrillas in 2009, but rights…
SRI LANKA has taken a "strong objection" to the US imposing a travel ban on its Army chief Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva, saying the move is based on "unverified information", after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the allegations of gross human rights violations are serious and credible. The Sri…
THE US has imposed sanctions on Sri Lanka's army chief, Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva, for alleged human rights violations including extrajudicial killings in 2009 during the country's civil war, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday (14). "The allegations of gross human rights violations against Shavendra Silva, documented…
By Barnie Choudhury Former BBC journalist IN MARCH 2005, I was having coffee with an officer from the National Crime Squad, and she asked me what my biggest fear was post-9/11. I knew children as young as seven were being groomed to sell drugs, and I had heard chatter…
INDIA'S ambassador-designate to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu on Thursday (6) presented his credentials to president Donald Trump in his Oval Office of the White House. Trump, during the Oval Office credentials ceremony, warmly welcomed Sandhu, a career foreign service official, back to Washington DC and wished him success in…
MALAYSIAN prime minister Mahathir Mohamad has dialled back his criticism of India after it sparked a boycott of Malaysian palm oil, his chosen successor Anwar Ibrahim told on Thursday (6), urging New Delhi to note the change in tone. India, the world's biggest buyer of edible oils, last month imposed…
TARANJIT SINGH SANDHU, a career foreign service official, arrived here Monday (3) as India's ambassador-designate to the US. "Ambassador of India to the United States" Sandhu "arrived this morning and assumed charge," the Indian Embassy said in a tweet soon after his arrival. He was given a warm welcome by…
THE European Union, the US, China, India, Japan and Russia are the world's "big emitters" who must respect and meet their commitments to cut greenhouse gas emissions and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, the UN chief has said, underlining that their failure to do so will undermine global climate action…
Seasoned diplomat Taranjit Singh Sandhu has been appointed as India's Ambassador to the US, replacing Harsh Vardhan Shringla, the Ministry of External Affairs said. Shringla is set to take over as the next foreign secretary on Wednesday. Sandhu, a 1988-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, is currently posted as High Commissioner…
Amid anti-CAA protests in India, the UK on Thursday (30) said it hopes that the Indian government will address concerns of the people over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) as its manifesto commitment is "with all, development for all and trust of all". Outgoing British High Commissioner to India Dominic…
In a sweeping legal victory for members of the Rohingya Muslim minority, the United Nations' top court on Thursday (23) ordered Myanmar take all measures in its power to prevent genocide against the Rohingya people. The court's president, Judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf, said the International Court of Justice "is of…
Gul Makai is a biopic on Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani girl, who fought against the Taliban for the education of girls. Malala became a household name and won many international awards for her bravery. Well, we all know that from the past few years, Indian films are not allowed to…
THE last decade was India's hottest on record with the national weather office calling the impact of global warming "unmistakable" and extreme weather killing more than 1,500 people last year. India, home to 1.3 billion people, is at the forefront of climate change suffering devastating floods, dire water shortages and…
Bangladesh's High Court on Monday ordered the government to ban single-use plastics in coastal areas and in hotels and restaurants in one year to combat pollution. In 2002 the south Asian nation was among the first countries to ban the use of plastic and polythene bags in an effort to…
United Nations human rights experts called on Pakistan's high court on Friday (27) to clear liberal academic Junaid Hafeez of blasphemy charges and overturn his death sentence. In a joint statement, they described Hafeez's condemnation by a lower court last week as a "travesty of justice" and said senior judges…
India and the US on Thursday (19) asked Pakistan to take "immediate and irreversible action" to ensure that no territory under its control is used for terrorism against other countries and to prosecute the perpetrators of cross-border terror attacks, including Mumbai and Pathankot strikes. The two countries also asked Pakistan…
A PAKISTANI anti-terrorism court indicted Hafiz Saeed, the alleged mastermind of deadly 2008 attacks in Mumbai, on terror financing charges on Wednesday (11), a government prosecutor and defence lawyer said. Defence lawyer Imran Gill said his client pleaded not guilty. The charges were read as the 70-year-old Saeed was present…
INDIA climbed one spot to 129 among 189 countries in the 2019 human development index, according to a report released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on Monday (9). In 2018, India's human development index (HDI) value of 0.647 had put it at 130 rank. In India, 27.1 crore…
A HOLY man wanted by Indian police on sex assault charges has said he has created a new country for Hindus that will fight global warming, offer free healthcare, and promote gender equality and vegetarianism. Nithyananda Swami, who once had thousands of followers that included film stars and politicians in…
Priyanka Chopra has been honoured with UNICEF's Danny Kaye Humanitarian Award. The India star was named the 2019 recipient of the Humanitarian Award by the United Nations Children's Fund in June this year and received the award at the Snowflake Ball in New York on Tuesday night. "Giving back is…
AN Indian-American expert working for the UNDP in Afghanistan has been killed in a terrorist attack on a UN vehicle in Kabul, according to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. "I want to confirm with a heavy heart that a United States citizen, Anil Raj of California, was killed in…
THE UK India Business Council (UKIBC) has launched a campaign to highlight the importance of the socio-economic impact that the UK businesses make in India. This campaign is being delivered in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and will map the activities of businesses and universities against the…
cheap flights to Mumbai, Mumbai flight ticket Mumbai has been declared as one of the top cities in the world. Home to Bollywood, the eclectic city sizzles with life. MyticketstoIndia serves cheap flights to Mumbai tickets. Whether it is the sea front or shopping, there are several reasons why you must…
The 2021 version of naval exercise between India and the UK could be the most complex and sophisticated one yet, British High Commissioner Sir Dominic Asquith said on Friday, highlighting deepening bilateral defence ties. He also said a liaison officer of the UK will be posted in Indian Navy''s information…
Myanmar faced accusations of genocide in a landmark lawsuit filed by Gambia at the UN's top court on Monday (11) over the Southeast Asian nation's treatment of Rohingya Muslims, Gambia's government said. Gambia said it was acting on behalf of the 57-nation Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in bringing the case…
Two top advisers to president Donald Trump ignored or undermined him because "they were trying to save the country," former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley writes in a new book. She says both then-secretary of state Rex Tillerson and White House chief of staff John Kelly sought her help in…
The United States wants the United Nations to take up the Dalai Lama's succession in an intensifying bid to stop China from trying to handpick his successor, an envoy said after meeting the Tibetan spiritual leader. Sam Brownback, the US ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, said he spoke at length…
THE international community does have a role in diffusing tension in Kashmir and an India-Pakistan dialogue could help arrive at a solution akin to the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland, which allows a level of free exchange on both sides of the border, opined strategic experts in London over…
As India prepares to install a nationwide facial recognition system in an effort to catch criminals and find missing children, human rights and technology experts on Thursday warned of the risks to privacy from increased surveillance. Use of the camera technology is an effort in "modernising the police force, information…
A LABOUR candidate who courted controversy for saying she would celebrate the death of Tony Blair has now been accused of using anti-white slurs. Zarah Sultana, who is standing for Coventry South, reportedly referred to a Jewish student as YT, a slang used against white people, while she was a…
A LABOUR candidate has apologised on Monday (4) for saying she would celebrate the deaths of Tony Blair and Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu. Zarah Sultana, who is standing for Coventry South, also wrote that she supported “violent resistance” by Palestinians and used the hashtag “extremistmuslim” online. In posts uncovered by…
INDIA and Germany on Friday (1) agreed to provide financial support to climate initiatives aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, with the latter expressing its readiness to provide €1billion to India for green urban mobility. The two countries signed a joint declaration on the matter after prime minister Narendra Modi…
A young Afghan mother of seven sits on a red woollen rug alongside four other women who are slicing huge slabs of handmade, flowery soap into smaller bars. She is one of about 20 female employees -- many of them recovering drug addicts -- working part time on an organic…
Facebook is failing to rein in a "tsunami" of hate posts inflaming ethnic tensions in India's Assam state, campaign group Avaaz said on Wednesday (30), with content about "criminals", "rapists", "terrorists" and "dogs" shared almost 100,000 times. Avaaz said the dehumanising language - often targeting India's Bengali Muslims - was…
India prime minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday (29) pressed for the reform of the United Nations while expressing regret over some countries using the global body as a "tool" rather than an "institution" to resolve conflicts. During an on-stage discussion with founder, co-chairman and co-chief investment officer of Bridgewater Associates,…
DISSIDENT political leaders from the Indian state of Manipur on Tuesday (29) said they were unilaterally declaring independence from India and forming a government-in-exile in Britain. The former princely state became part of India in 1949, two years after the country won independence from Britain, but has since seen decades-long…
MALAYSIAN prime minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Tuesday (22) he would not retract his criticism of New Delhi's actions in Kashmir despite Indian traders calling for an unprecedented boycott of Malaysian palm oil. The impasse could exacerbate what Mahathir described as a trade war between the world's second-biggest producer and…
WHEN night falls in the Indian village of Nabipur, the backyard furnaces come to life, burning waste tyres from the West, making the air thick with acrid smoke and the soil black with soot. Not long ago, Nabipur was a quiet farming village in northern India. Now the village is…
‘INSPIRATIONAL’ leaders at the GG2 Leadership Awards 2019 showed that minorities can reach their full potential. GG2 Hammer Award: Nitin Paranjpe, COO, Unilever AS COO, Nitin Paranpje heads one of the world’s major consumer business giants. Paranjpe, 56, started as a trainee working for Unilever’s Indian subsidiary. He was appointed…
CANADIAN athletic apparel retailer Lululemon Athletica has started a probe into the sourcing of its clothing following a media report. A report by The Guardian said young women staff members of the garment factory that supply the brand were beaten and physically harassed. The Canadian firm used a factory in Bangladesh where women workers are…
VIDHYA Ramalingam believes it's always possible to change, even for people deeply involved in the murky online world of jihadist and far-right extremism. Her company Moonshot CVE has the ambitious aim of trying to get anyone tempted by violence back on the straight and narrow. Over the last four years,…
PAKISTANI authorities on Thursday (10) arrested four aides of Islamist leader Hafiz Saeed, the suspected mastermind of a four-day militant attack on the Indian city of Mumbai in 2008, on terrorism financing charges, counter-terrorism police said. Saeed, arrested on the same charges, has been on judicial remand since July, a…
Bangladesh's prime minister on Wednesday (9) vowed to mete out the "highest punishment to the killers" of a university student who died after he criticised a deal the leader made with India. The killing of 21-year-old Abrar Fahad on Monday, allegedly by members of a student branch of the country's…
New Delhi reacted crossly on Wednesday (9) after Xi Jinping appeared again to back Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan on Kashmir, just two days before Indian premier Narendra Modi was due to host the Chinese president for an "informal summit". Kashmir, divided between India and Pakistan since 1947, has been…
INDIA'S prime minister Narendra Modi will host Chinese president Xi Jinping for an informal summit later this week, the Indian foreign ministry said, with the talks coming at a time when ties have been strained over Kashmir. The meeting in the southern Indian city of Chennai on Friday (11) and…
A trailblazer in Indian tennis, Sania Mirza, on Thursday (3), revealed that as a child, she was once asked to stop playing as "no one would marry" her if her complexion turned "dark" due to the rigours of an outdoor sport. Speaking at the World Economic Forum's India Economic Summit…
Taliban co-founder Mullah Baradar was due in Pakistan on Wednesday (2) as US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad also visited, officials said, though it was unclear if they would meet for the first time since Donald Trump scuttled talks between Washington and the Islamist extremists. Insurgent spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid tweeted that the…
The year is 2025 and militants have attacked India's parliament, killing most of its leaders. New Delhi retaliates by sending tanks into the part of Kashmir controlled by Pakistan. Fearing it will be overrun, Islamabad hits the invading forces with its battlefield nuclear weapons, triggering the deadliest conflict in history…
by Barry Gardiner Over the past few weeks many people have contacted me about the situation in Kashmir and the events that have taken place since the Indian Parliament revoked Article 370 of the Indian Constitution. Let me start by saying that I would not expect any Indian politician to…
MAHATMA Gandhi's life and legacy were remembered by people across the world on his 150th birth anniversary on Wednesday (2) with several countries, including France and Sri Lanka, releasing commemorative postage stamps and organising events to mark the day. Indian missions across the world held commemorative events where leaders and civil…
A decision by Pakistan to appoint a former diplomat as its ambassador to the United Nations has sparked criticism over his alleged involvement in a domestic violence dispute in 2002. Munir Akram "has been appointed as Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations in New York, in place of…
The UK’s Opposition Labour Party on Wednesday (25) passed an emergency motion on Kashmir calling for party leader Jeremy Corbyn to seek international observers to "enter" the region and demand the right of self-determination for its people, drawing criticism from the Indian diaspora representatives who described it as "ill conceived"…
INDIAN prime minister Narendra Modi, along with UN chief Antonio Guterres and other world leaders, inaugurated the Gandhi Solar Park and Gandhi Peace Garden at the headquarters of the global body, underlining that Mahatma Gandhi's principles act as a moral compass as the world grapples with challenges of climate change,…
School students from 70 cities across India are joining Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg's call for mass protests to sound the alarm on climate change with activities such as climbing atop a garbage dump at Bhalaswa landfill and marching to the prime minister's Office. The week-long campaign, called 'Strike on…
Donald Trump and Narendra Modi both rose to power on nationalist appeals to their countries' majority communities. Both scoff at traditional media and enjoy making pronouncements by Twitter. And now, the two leaders will bond over an extravaganza of Indian culture as they visibly symbolize their alliance. The US president…
US president Donald Trump's presence at the Houston event marks a new milestone, prime minister Narendra Modi said on Friday (20) as he expressed confidence that his visit would present India as a vibrant land of opportunities, a reliable partner and a global leader. This would be the first time…
Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan warned citizens on Wednesday (18) that anyone who goes to fight jihad in Kashmir will hurt the territory's cause, as anger simmers between Islamabad and New Delhi over the disputed region. Indian authorities are waiting for "any excuse" to crack down in the Himalayan region,…
Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who remain inside Myanmar face systematic persecution and are living under the threat of genocide, a UN fact-finding mission said on Monday, repeating calls for top generals to face trial. Myanmar security forces are accused of killings, gang rape and arson during a crackdown…
ONE of Britain's most outspoken MPs on the Kashmir issue Bob Blackman has called on Pakistan to leave Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, asserting that India has a sovereign right over the entire region. Addressing a UK-based Kashmiri Pandit gathering organised here on Saturday (14), the Conservative Party MP countered the Pakistani government's…
CONSUMER goods giant Unilever released a list of its global tea suppliers on Thursday (12), bolstering a drive to stamp out worker exploitation and modern-day slavery on plantations. The move by the Anglo-Dutch food group - which buys 10 per cent of the world's tea supply and owns at least…
Pakistan's foreign minister told the United Nations human rights forum on Tuesday (11) that India's military presence in the disputed Muslim-majority territory of Kashmir raised the spectre of genocide. India, which stripped Kashmir of its autonomy on August 5th, in response accused Pakistan of "offensive rhetoric..of false allegations and concocted…
Pakistan on Saturday (7) said it had denied India's president Ram Nath Kovind permission to fly through its airspace -- access to which is usually granted -- due to New Delhi's recent "behaviour". The decision comes at a time of high tension between the two nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours over…
THE domestic market for computer services in India is forecast to grow faster than their exports, fuelled by the government's Digital India programme and the country's burgeoning start-up environment, according to a UN report. "The computer services industry in India is increasingly catering to the domestic market, leveraging expertise gained…
Bangladesh on Monday (2) ordered operators to shut down mobile phone services to almost one million Rohingya refugees living in camps in the country's southeast, an official said. The move follows an outbreak of violence in recent weeks at the camps, most of whose residents fled into Bangladesh from Myanmar's…
Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan has called for mass demonstrations across the country to protest against Delhi's actions in Indian-administered Kashmir, as tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals continued to boil. "I want all Pakistanis to come out tomorrow (Friday) 12 noon-12.30 pm to show solidarity with the Kashmiri people," Khan…
By Nadeem Badshah JACKFRUIT biryani, coconut and beetroot-filled samosas and masala grilled avocado are some of the dishes being created by Indian restaurants to cater to Britain’s growing vegan community. Chefs are conjuring up a wider range of dishes for the estimated 600,000-plus Britons who have a plant-based diet with…
INDIAN prime minister Narendra Modi on Monday (26) highlighted India's large scale efforts towards eliminating single-use plastic, conserving water, harnessing solar energy and, protecting flora and fauna for a sustainable future in his address to a G7 session on the environment here. Modi is attending the G7 Summit in this…
A BIRMINGHAM MP has urged prime minister Boris Johnson to intervene in the Kashmir crisis, pointing out that the more than one million British citizens of Kashmiri descent were anxiously awaiting the prime minister's response. Khalid Mahmood said the UK helped create the current situation and only a decisive intervention…
Sri Lanka's president on Monday (19) named war veteran Shavendra Silva as its army chief, drawing sharp criticism from the United States and the United Nations over the appointment of an officer who has been accused of serious human rights violations. Silva, 55, is credited with successfully leading an army…
SEVENTEEN out of around 100 telephone exchanges were restored Saturday (17) in the restive Kashmir Valley, the local police chief told AFP, after an almost two-week communications blackout. New Delhi cut landlines, mobile phones and the internet in early August as it stripped the Muslim-majority region of its autonomy. Fearing…
Bullied at school, gang raped as a prostitute and asked about his genitals in job interviews, Daniel Mendonca - like many intersex people in India - has been mistreated all his life. Although the country's top court officially recognised intersex and transgender people as a third gender with equal rights…
India's ambassador to the United Nations on Friday (16) slammed international interference over Kashmir, after the Security Council held its first formal meeting on the disputed region in almost 50 years. The discussions, which were requested by Pakistan and China and took place behind closed doors, follow New Delhi's decision…
by LORD MEGHNAD DESAI INDIA’S home minister, Amit Shah, and prime minister, Narendra Modi, achieved a fundamental change last week in abrogating Article 370 and announcing the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir state into two union territories. To understand the significance of the move, you have to go back to…
Pakistan observed a 'Black Day' on Thursday (15) to coincide with India's Independence Day celebrations, as one of the main militant groups fighting Indian rule in Kashmir led a protest through Pakistan's part of the disputed region. India's decision this month to revoke special status for its portion of Kashmir,…
INDIAN prime minister Narendra Modi warned Thursday (15) of the risks of an "unchecked population explosion" in the nation of 1.3 billion people, the first time he has raised the issue, and called for family planning measures. India is the world's second-most populous country behind China with 1.4 billion, and…
PAKISTAN's permanent representative to the United Nations was heckled by a man who accused her of corruption. Maleeha Lodhi was addressing media persons when a man heckled her and said, "You are a thief and don't deserve to represent Pakistan". "What are you doing from the last 15 to 20…
Indian troops enforced the fifth day of a military lockdown across Kashmir but eased some restrictions for Friday prayers, as China and Pakistan vowed to stand together after New Delhi's move to end the disputed Muslim-majority region's autonomy. Beijing said it was "seriously concerned" after the decision by prime minister…
Pakistan downgraded its diplomatic ties with nuclear-armed rival India on Wednesday (7), announcing that it will expel the Indian envoy and suspend trade in a deepening row over New Delhi's clampdown on disputed Kashmir. India stripped the Himalayan region of its seven-decade-long semi-autonomous status on Monday through a contentious presidential…
Former stars of fierce cricket rivals India and Pakistan traded online barbs Tuesday (6) over New Delhi's explosive decision to strip restive Kashmir of its autonomous status. Indian ex-cricketer Gautam Gambhir took a swipe at Pakistan's Shahid Afridi after he urged the United Nations to intervene in the move to…
Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina is likely to visit India in October to discuss several bilateral and regional issues, including the long-pending pact on the Teesta water sharing and the Rohingya crisis, foreign minister Dr AK Momen said in Dhaka on Sunday (4). It will be Hasina's first visit to…
The US and the Taliban were thrashing out elements of a deal to bring a close to Afghanistan's 18-year conflict at the second day of renewed talks in Doha on Sunday (4). The US, which invaded Afghanistan and toppled the Taliban in 2001, wants to withdraw thousands of troops and…
Thousands of Indian tourists, pilgrims and workers began leaving the disputed region of Kashmir after a local government alert over possible militant attacks, and India said it killed at least five militants who were trying to attack its forces. Indian security officials said on Friday they had found evidence of…
Indian schoolchildren are learning about same-sex couples in a new textbook, in the latest sign of shifting attitudes in the socially conservative country following the decriminalisation of gay sex last year. Authorities in the western state of Maharashtra have revised the syllabus for class 11 students, who are aged about…
From the once pristine rivers of Hindu Kush to the slums of Islamabad, Pakistan is being smothered by plastic due to a lack of public awareness, government inertia, and poor waste management. Plastic bags are a large part of the problem -- the nation uses some 55 billion of them…
FORMER Maldives vice president Ahmed Adeeb Abdul Ghafoor has sought political asylum from India as he faces a serious risk to his life in his home country, a UK lawyer from the firm representing the politician said on Friday (2). Ghafoor Thursday (1) reached India via sea route on the…
INDIA’S prime minister Narendra Modi never asked US president Donald Trump to help mediate with Pakistan over Kashmir, the government said on Tuesday (23), after Trump's comments set off a storm of criticism. Trump told reporters on Monday (22) that Modi had asked him, during a meeting in Japan last month, if he would…
The head of Sri Lanka's Roman Catholic Church on Sunday (22) called for the government to resign over its alleged failure to investigate an "international conspiracy" behind the deadly Easter bombings. Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith said the authorities had failed to identify those behind the suicide bombings that killed at least…
Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan travels to the United States today (21) hoping the arrest of a militant leader with a $10 million US bounty on his head and progress in Afghan peace talks will help secure a favourable reception. Khan is expected to try to mend fences and attract…
Human traffickers are increasingly targeting Rohingya living in Myanmar and neighbouring Bangladesh, where hundreds of thousands fled after a brutal military crackdown in 2017, a U.N. investigator warned on Thursday. About 730,000 Rohingya were driven from Myanmar to neighbouring Bangladesh, where they live in squalid refugee camps, fearing further persecution…
MORE Indians are becoming obese while the number of undernourished people in the country have declined, according to a report by the UN that said that globally over 820 million people are suffering from hunger. The report titled the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2019 was…
Pakistani authorities announced a crackdown on Wednesday (3) against Hafiz Saeed, leader of the group blamed for deadly attacks on Mumbai in 2008, amid growing international pressure to act against militant groups. Pakistan's counter-terrorism department said it had launched 23 cases against Saeed and 12 aides for using five trusts…
by KEERTHI MOHAN and LAUREN CODLING ASIAN women in “semi-arranged marriages” are less likely to experience marital violence, a new report revealed last week. Many women in India face some form of domestic violence, and most often, the perpetrators are their husbands, a United Nations survey released last Tuesday (25)…
A CYCLONE that had been heading for western India has veered away, forecasters said Thursday, although costal areas were still expected to be hit by winds gusting up to 160 kilometres (110 miles) per hour. Vayu, classified as a very severe cyclonic storm, moved north-northwestwards in the night over the Arabian Sea, and…
India's diplomats, including women, at the UN turned into star cricketers as they joined forces with their counterparts from the Permanent Missions of Pakistan, Australia and Bangladesh and won a match against a team of British diplomats, as the excitement of the ongoing Cricket World Cup reached the world organisation's…
UNITED NATIONS (UN) secretary-general António Guterres has appointed Indian origin Anita Bhatia as the deputy executive director of the UN agency for gender equality and the empowerment of women (UN-Women) for resource management, sustainability and partnerships. Bhatia has had a distinguished career at the World Bank Group, serving in various…
A YEAR after Indian police killed 13 people protesting against pollution from a copper smelter in this hardscrabble southern port city, tensions within the community and between residents and the police are still running high. No officer has been arrested or charged in connection with the shootings, and a judicial…
India, which is owed $38 million by the UN for peacekeeping operations, has voiced concern over the “unjustifiable and inexplicable” delays in reimbursement to countries providing peacekeeping troops and police for UN missions. It underlined that recurrent delays in payments have turned the Troop Contributing Countries (TCCs) as “de facto…
CHIEF minister of Southern Indian state of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan rang the iconic opening bell at the London Stock Exchange (LSE) yesterday (17) to mark the listing of ‘masala bonds’ sold by the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB). Masala bond is a type of bond issued outside India. The…
THE men contesting India's general election are vying for women voters but the paltry number of female candidates shows the battle women face in Indian politics - as in so much else in Indian life. When not trading barbs, India's prime minister Narendra Modi and his political rival Rahul Gandhi…
AN INDIAN police officer deployed to the UN mission in Congo and a consultant with the UN development programme killed in the Ethiopian Airlines plane crash are among 115 UN peacekeepers and staff honoured by the United Nations for their sacrifice in the line of duty. Police officer Jitender Kumar,…
SPANISH police have smashed a Bangladeshi-run ring which smuggled more than 350 migrants from the Indian subcontinent into the country and gave them fake passports, a statement said on Friday (3). The migrants allegedly paid the ring between 14,000-20,000 euros ($15,500-$22,000) for the journey, police said, adding that 11 people…
PAKISTAN has issued an official order to freeze the assets and impose travel ban on Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar after the United Nations declared him a "global terrorist". In a notification issued Wednesday (1), the foreign ministry said, "the Federal Government is pleased to order that the Resolution 2368…
THE UNITED Nations on Wednesday (1) added Masood Azhar, the leader of a Pakistan-based Islamist group, to its list of global terrorists after China lifted its objections to the move. The UN sanctions committee on the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda announced in a press release the designation of Azhar, leader…
SRI LANKA'S Catholic churches suspended all public services over security fears today (25), as thousands of troops joined the hunt for suspects in deadly Easter bombings that killed nearly 360 people. Security forces also made fresh arrests overnight over the attacks, as the government faced pressure over its failure to…
