POLITICS

‘Symbol of love for Owaisi’ — Telangana’s new Secretariat at heart of new ‘mandir-masjid’ row

Days after the inauguration of Telangana’s new Secretariat, politics around it continues, with the Opposition BJP repeatedly accusing the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) of “hurting Hindu sentiments”.  On Sunday, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao inaugurated a swanky new Secretariat — Dr B.R. Ambedkar Telangana State Secretariat — for the state. Built at an estimated cost of more than Rs 600 crore, the Secretariat stands in place of a Nizam-era structure. It will house a temple, a mosque and a church — much like the old one, which had a temple and two mosques.  The BJP, however, has objected to the design of the building, claiming that the cylindrical domes atop it follow Islamic architecture, and were adopted by the chief…

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RAF Typhoon fighters scrambled to intercept Russian jets off Scottish coast

Royal Air Force Typhoon fighters stationed in Scotland have been dispatched to intercept a Russian military plane that was operating close to UK airspace. The plane was identified as a Tu-142 Maritime Patrol aircraft, also known as a Bear-F by NATO. It approached from the North-East and flew in international airspace over the Norwegian Sea and North Atlantic Ocean on Sunday. In reaction, jets were sent from Royal Air Force Lossiemouth to intercept the Russian plane. Typhoon Jet© Express Norwegian F-35A fighter jets were also launched to monitor the Russian threat as part of NATO’s response. However, it did not enter UK sovereign airspace at any point during the incident. An RAF Typhoon pilot said the scramble “demonstrated the close working…

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Pakistani court rejects ownership plea of actor Raj Kapoor’s ancestral Haveli in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Peshawar High Court has dismissed a petition asking ownership over the famous Bollywood actor Raj Kapoor’s Haveli in the historic walled city of Peshawar. The Haveli has been declared a national heritage by the provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province in 2016.  The petitioner’s claim that the father of the petitioner had purchased the mansion during an auction in 1969 after competitive bidding, paid its cost and remained as absolute owner till the commencement of the acquisition process initiated by the provincial government was rejected by the court. The bench has told the council that the case could be forwarded to the civil court.  Kapoor Haveli has been declared a national heritage The Additional Advocate General of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa…

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Russia could collapse as a result of Putin’s war in Ukraine

Russia could collapse into warring mini-states as a result of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Former CIA analyst Paul Goble thinks that Moscow has been fatally weakened by the despot’s antics and claims that Putin is likely to be killed before events that could tear Russia apart. Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine last year with the expectation of a quick victory but his reputation has been shattered by Russia’s failures on the battlefield. Attention has now turned to what could happen to the country and Putin himself and Goble – a longstanding expert on Russia and the Soviet Union – is convinced that the nation could fracture into nuclear-armed mini-states. He told The Sun Online: “People are now much…

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Sharad Pawar Has Agreed To Reconsider His Move To Quit As NCP Chief, Says Nephew Ajit Pawar

Hours after Sharad Pawar announced his decision to step down as Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief, his nephew Ajit Pawar on Tuesday said that the veteran Maratha politician has agreed to reconsider his move. Ajit Pawar said that he would take two to three days to rethink his decision. “We told him (Sharad Pawar) that the workers are quite upset. We also told him that party workers want him to remain the party president along with having a working president. He said he will rethink his decision and needs 2-3 days…” NCP leader Ajit Pawar told reporters as he held talks with protesting party workers in Mumbai.  Sharad Pawar, while announcing his resignation, said that he has decided to step…

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King wants to ‘make state visit to India’ at earliest opportunity

The King has told a peer of his desire to make a state visit to India “at the earliest opportunity” now that he is monarch. Lord Karan Bilimoria said that the King made the comments to him at a reception in parliament for MPs and peers to mark his Coronation. “We spoke about the importance of a state visit to India, because I recently led the first parliamentary delegation to India in six years, and he said he’d love to go there soon,” the British Indian businessman said. The King’s remarks come after the Queen decided to avoid stoking a diplomatic row with India by opting against wearing the controversial Koh-i-Noor diamond at the Coronation. She instead has chosen to wear Queen Mary’s crown reset with…

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US religious freedom panel again recommends India for blacklist

For a fourth year, the independent body says India should be singled out for discrimination against Muslims and other groups. An independent US panel again calls for President Joe Biden’s administration to add India to a religious freedom blacklist, reserved for countries it accuses of ‘systematic, ongoing [and] egregious violations’ An independent commission in the United States has, for the fourth year in a row, recommended that India’s government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, be added to a religious freedom blacklist, saying that conditions in the country for religious minorities “continued to worsen” throughout 2022. In its annual report on Monday, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) again called on the US Department of State to designate…

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US believes 20,000 Russians killed in Ukraine war since December

Tens of thousands of Russian soldiers have been injured since fighting intensified in eastern Ukraine in December, according to an estimate by the White House. The conflict has intensified in Ukraine’s Donetsk region since December 2022 [Sofiia Gatilova] Russians have suffered 100,000 casualties, including 20,000 killed, since a war of attrition intensified in Ukraine’s Donetsk region in December, according to an estimate by the White House, as Kyiv readies for a new counteroffensive against Moscow’s forces. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on Monday said the figure was based on newly declassified United States intelligence. He did not detail how the intelligence community arrived at the number He added that about half of those killed were soldiers recruited by the…

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China steps up use of ‘exit bans’ against government critics

At least 15 laws and legal instruments now cover exit bans with millions of people potentially affected. Some people do not find out they are banned from leaving until they get to the airport. China has stepped up the use of exit bans against human rights defenders and their families and expanded legislation authorising their use to anyone under investigation or anyone connected to an investigation, according to a new report. Mentions of ‘exit ban’ on the Supreme People’s Court database rose from less than 5,000 in 2016 to 39,000 in 2020, rights group Safeguard Defenders said on Tuesday. Only administrative, criminal and civil case-related exit bans appear on the court’s China Judgments Online database so the figure is probably…

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Taliban FM to meet Pakistan, China foreign ministers: Media

Taliban’s interim foreign minister gets UN clearance to travel for meeting with counterparts in Pakistan. Afghanistan Taliban’s interim Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi, centre, attends the opening of a special meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Islamabad, Pakistan [File: Farooq Naeem] A United Nations Security Council committee has agreed to allow the Taliban’s interim foreign minister, Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi, to travel to Pakistan from Afghanistan to meet with Pakistani and Chinese counterparts, according to news reports. The Reuters news agency reported on Monday that Pakistan’s UN mission requested an exemption for Muttaqi to travel between May 6 and 9 “for a meeting with the foreign ministers of Pakistan and China”. Muttaqi has long been subjected to a…

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