POLITICS

German Magazine’s ‘Racist’ Cartoon ‘Mocking’ India Irks Netizens

With India set to overtake China in terms of population, a ‘racist’ cartoon reportedly published by German magazine ‘Der Spiegel’ to depict the demographic change has irked Indians. The cartoon shows an overloaded train with people sitting atop it holding a tricolour while a Chinese bullet train is seen behind on another track probably showing China with technological advancement and India with old-age infra. However, the cartoon has not gone well with Indians and several prominent leaders criticised the ‘racist’ depiction. Senior Adviser, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Kanchan Gupta said, “Hi Germany, this is outrageously racist. @derspiegel caricaturing India in this manner has no resemblance to reality. Purpose is to show #India down and suck up to #China. This is…

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Around 30 people detained for questioning, hunt on for terrorists

Around 30 people have been detained for questioning so far as security forces conducted a massive search operation to track down the terrorists who ambushed an Army truck in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch killing five personnel last week, officials said on Sunday. Necessary action is being taken against the terrorists responsible for the deadly attack, the Army’s Northern Commander Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi said during an interaction with the personnel who survived the ambush in the dense forest area of Bhata Dhurian on Thursday. A stretch of the Jammu-Poonch national highway which was closed following the ambush was reopened for vehicular traffic on Sunday. In a tweet on its official handle, the Army’s Northern Command shared Lt Gen Dwivedi’s visit…

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Ukrainian troop positions spark counteroffensive speculation

 Ukrainian military forces have successfully established positions on the eastern side of the Dnieper River, according to a new analysis, giving rise to speculation Sunday that the advances could be an early sign of Kyiv’s long-awaited spring counteroffensive. The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, reported late Saturday that geolocated footage from pro-Kremlin military bloggers indicated that Ukrainian troops had established a foothold near the town of Oleshky, along with “stable supply lines” to their positions. Analysts widely believe that if Ukraine goes ahead with a spring counteroffensive, a major goal would be to break through the land corridor between Russia and the annexed Crimean Peninsula, which would necessitate crossing the Dnieper River in the country’s south.…

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PM Modi’s security details leaked before Kerala trip, claims Union minister

Union Minister of State V Muraleedharan on Sunday claimed that details of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s security arrangements were leaked to the media days before his trip to Kerala and accused the Left government of remaining silent on the issue.  Kerala | It's surprising that the details of the security arrangements that were proposed to be organised for the PM got leaked into the media and WhatsApp groups of thousands of people. But the most surprising thing is the silence that is maintained by the Kerala govt. Within 24… pic.twitter.com/J4p3kIGizu— ANI (@ANI) April 23, 2023 Recently, a 49-page report by ADGP (Intelligence) with details of the names of officials on duty, their role and detailed programme chart of the prime…

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‘I was a bit shocked by it’ People in Newcastle city centre react to the UK Government’s emergency alert

People across the North East received an emergency alert on their mobile phones on Sunday afternoon. The UK-wide alert was used by the Government to test their emergency system. It was sent at 3pm and was accompanied by a 10-second siren. “This is a test of Emergency Alerts, a new UK government service that will warn you if there’s a life-threatening emergency nearby. “In a real emergency, follow the instructions in the alert to keep yourself and others safe. “Visit gov.uk/alerts for more information. “This is a test. You do not need to take any action.” People shopping in Eldon Square in Newcastle city centre were giving a warning about the alert. At 2.55pm, an announcement was made over the tannoy informing people that it would…

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Terror outfit planning to target Imran Khan

 A classified report by the Pakistan Ministry of Defence has revealed that a banned terrorist outfit is planning to target former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and other high-profile political personalities in the country, the media reported on Sunday. The report revealed that, besides Imran Khan, Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif and Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah may also be targeted by hostile elements to sabotage peace in the country, Express News reported. According to the report, the banned organisation can attack Imran Khan during public rallies or movement by “malicious religious fanatics”. It added that the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) or foreign-sponsored banned organisations may target the leadership of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and…

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‘More than 20 bodies’ exhumed in Kenyan starvation cult investigation

More than 20 bodies have been exhumed as part of an investigation into a starvation cult in Kenya, according to reports. Police began exhuming remains on Friday from more than a dozen suspected graves in the east of the country thought to contain the remains of followers of a fringe Christian sect who believed they would go to heaven if they starved themselves to death. On Thursday, homicide detectives marked out patches of earth with sticks and yellow tape in Shakahola forest in Kilifi county, near the location where police rescued 15 members of the Good News International Church last week, according to footage broadcast by Citizen TV. Reports suggest children are among the dead© Reuters Police began exhuming bodies on…

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Sikh separatist Amritpal Singh arrested in India after manhunt

Singh and his supporters raided a police station in February after one of the preacher’s aides was arrested. Amritpal Singh, centre, leaves the Sikh shrine of the Golden Temple with supporters in Amritsar, India Indian police have arrested Sikh separatist Amritpal Singh after searching for him for more than a month, a state police official says of an operation against the revival of an independent Sikh homeland in the state of Punjab bordering Pakistan. The rise of Singh – a preacher in the northwestern state of Punjab, where Sikhs are the majority – has revived talk of such a homeland and stoked fears of a return to violence of the 1980s and early 1990s. “Amritpal Singh has been arrested from the Rode…

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Tens of thousands of Israelis rally against judicial reform plan

Plans by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to weaken the Supreme Court have outraged many in Israeli society. Protesters take part in a demonstration against the nationalist coalition government’s proposed judicial overhaul, in Tel Aviv, on Saturday Tens of thousands of protesters have flocked to Tel Aviv and cities across Israel to express their opposition to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government and its divisive plan to overhaul the country’s judicial system. Crowds of Israelis held banners with the words “Crime Minister” overlaid on Netanyahu’s face in Tel Aviv at Saturday’s protest, the latest in a series of weekly actions since the start of the year. Plans by Netanyahu’s government to weaken the Supreme Court have outraged Israelis who see it as an assault…

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Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 424

A partially destroyed house and crater after missile raids in the town of Kostyantynivka, Donetsk region, Ukraine, on April 21, 2023 Here is the situation on Saturday, April 22, 2023: Diplomacy and law Russia has announced the tit-for-tat expulsion of more than 20 German diplomats following the removal of Russian embassy staff from Germany. Berlin was destroying ties with Moscow, Russian state media said. Jack Teixeira, the US Air National Guardsman accused of leaking classified documents about the war in Ukraine to a small group of gamers, had been posting confidential material months earlier than previously known and to a much larger chat group, the New York Times has reported, citing online postings it had seen. Fighting Russia’s Defence Ministry has reported…

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