Asian Lite News Archive

Category: -Top News

  • UN Security Council lacks legitimacy: India

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    By Arul Louis  In a strong criticism of the make-up and functioning of the Security Council, India said that as a “non-representative” body it lacked the legitimacy to advise nations on political inclusion. Ambassador Bhagwant S. Bishnoi, India’s Deputy Permanent Representative at the UN, told the Council, “The imperative of political inclusion should not become…

  • Point of no return wit Israel: Palestine

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      A Palestinian official  said ties with Israel reached a “point of no return” after Israel decided to halt the transfer the tax revenues to the Palestinian National Authority. “Israel is practicing a collective punishment against the Palestinian people,” said chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, in a statement following his meeting with foreign diplomats in…

  • Modi confident in Sirisena on reconciliation

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    New Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena will promote reconciliation in his island nation with a vision for inclusiveness, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said. Describing Sri Lanka as “a truly close neighbour and friend”, Modi offered New Delhi’s continued support and partnership to Colombo and the Sri Lankan people in “realising their aspirations”. The prime minister…

  • NRI Frank Islam receives Martin Luther award

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    An eminent Indian-American entrepreneur and philanthropist Frank Islam has been presented with the prestigious Martin Luther King Jr. Award in recognition of his contribution to the legacy of the great leader through his efforts in international service and civil engagement. The award, which carries the name of Martin Luther King Jr., an apostle of peace,…

  • India-US ties looks promising with Obama visit

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    By Ranjana Narayan  India-US ties are set to move to the transformative level during President Barack Obama’s India visit later this week, building also on the personal rapport developed between him and Prime Minister Narendra Modi with both sides keen to have promising outcomes from the talks on a range of issues, including defence, energy,…

  • Pakistan extends Lakhvi’s detention

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      Pakistan government extended detention of Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi by 30 days under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO), a media report said. Lakhvi has been behind bars since Feb 19, 2009, after an FIR was registered with the Federal Investigation Agency against him for allegedly training terrorists and facilitating the 2008 Mumbai terror attack…

  • Tharoor to be questioned: Police

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    Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi  said Congress leader Shashi Tharoor will be questioned tuesday in connection with the murder of his wife Sunanda Pushkar. “Tharoor will be reaching Delhi by today (Monday) evening. He might be questioned tomorrow (Tuesday) or day after,” Bassi told media in the capital. He also said the Special Investigation Team…

  • Chinese daily accuse India of Cold War mindset

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    India needs to “give up its Cold War mindset” so that ties with China can become promising, said a Chinese daily that noted democracy has become a burden for India’s development. India is “a proud nation, competitive and unwilling to lag behind”. It is eager to challenge China in every aspect, from aerospace, military force,…

  • Israel urges cutting ICC funding

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    Israel called for cutting funding for the International Criminal Court (ICC) over the tribunal’s decision to probe possible Israeli war crimes during last year’s war with Hamas in Gaza. Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Israel was trying to get various countries to stop funding the ICC, Xinhua reported. “We will demand that our friends…

  • Will Obama land with family in New Delhi?

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    As US President Barack Obama prepares to land in India, mum’s the word with official lips tightly sealed. Very little or no information is being breathed out about the high-level visit, while frenzied preparations continue. When is he arriving? For how many days? Besides Delhi, what are the other places he is likely to visit?…

  • India, Lanka pledge to build better ties

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      Nine days after President Maithripala Sirisena took office, Sri Lanka and India pledged to deepen their relations, with New Delhi agreeing to work “closely and extensively” with Colombo. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj conveyed India’s views to her new Sri Lankan counterpart Mangala Samaraweera, who arrived here overnight on his first foreign trip after…

  • Ajay Maken takes on Dikshit

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    By Gaurav Sharma  Their mutual animosity was not unknown. Now, after becoming the Congress face for the assembly polls here, former union minister Ajay Maken has hit out at former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit. Faced with two formidable foes in the BJP and the AAP, Maken now admits that Dikshit’s 15 long years as…

  • Maiden visit to Cuba by US delegation

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    A US delegation has arrived here for the first time since the two neighbouring countries decided to restore diplomatic ties last month, Xinhua reported. The visiting six-member delegation, headed by US Senator Patrick Leahy, during its stay in the capital city till Monday will discuss with Cuban officials and civilian leaders the practical measures required…

  • Pakistan in fuel crisis

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    Pakistan has a new crisis: widespread fuel shortages that have raised tempers all across the country and forced Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to sack top officials. Newspapers have reported scuffles at fuel stations in major cities as hundreds of cars and two-wheelers lined up for petrol and diesel – only to be told that none…

  • Obama visit set to cement India-US ties

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    By Arun Kumar  Beyond the symbolism of President Barack Obama being the first US president to be the chief guest at India’s Republic Day, his second visit to India in four years promises to galvanise India-US ties. There is also a great deal of speculation about who gains more from the visit – Prime Minister…

  • Palestine in the ICC: A game changer?

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    By Hardeep S. Puri and Omar El Okdah The year 2014 ended with a cliff-hanger for the Israeli-Palestinian question. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas signed the Rome Statute on New Year’s eve, a day after a UN resolution mandating Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank failed to pass at the Security Council. As a result,…

  • Yasin Malik arrested in protests over refugees

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      Separatist leader Muhammad Yasin Malik was arrested here  amid protests against the proposal to grant citizenship rights to refugees from West Pakistan settled in the Jammu region. The Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chairman led a protest march in uptown Maisuma locality of Srinagar after the Friday prayers. “Police detained Yasin Malik and…

  • Sunanda’s death an enigma

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    Even in her death, Sunanda Pushkar remains larger than life. A year after the 52-year-old Pushkar, the beautiful and glamorous wife of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, was found dead in her room in a luxury hotel here, a host of questions regarding her death remain and her name and photograph continue to be splashed in…

  • 2024 Olympic Games bid begins

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    The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that the bid process for 2024 Olympic Games gets underway with new invitation phase. It’s the first bid process following the adoption of Olympic Agenda 2020 earlier last month in Monaco during the 127th session, reports Xinhua. According to the IOC “strategic roadmap for the future of the Olympic…

  • Negotiations to begin for UNSC reform

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    By Arul Louis  General Assembly President Sam K. Kutesa said  a diplomat appointed by him is working with UN members to produce a document that will be the basis of negotiations on reforming the Security Council and make a “qualitative difference” to the long-delayed process. Reforming the Council to raise the number of permanent members…

  • Leela Samson quits as censor board chief

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    Leela Samson has resigned as chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), citing interference, coercion and corruption of panel members. “It is absolutely true that I have resigned. (I resigned) Last night by SMS and today by email and hard copy letter,” Samson said via an SMS . CBFC is a statutory body under…

  • Bone stem cells may regenerate bones

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    Indian-American researcher Siddhartha Mukherjee from Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) has identified stem cells that are capable of regenerating both bone and cartilage in bone marrow of mice. The cells called osteochondroreticular (OCR) stem cells were discovered by tracking a protein expressed by the cells. Using this marker, Mukherjee and his team found that OCR…

  • Cyber war game to begin between UK and US

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    David Cameron, who is in Washington to meet President Barack Obama and discuss the need to intercept internet communications and the setting up of the joint “cyber cell” to defeat cyberattacks, said there was a “broad agreement” between the US and UK. An unprecedented amount of intelligence co-operation and information sharing between the two nations…

  • Belgium on high alert after raids

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    Belgium is on high alert after a major anti-terror raid in which two suspected Islamist militants were killed. The suspects were shot dead in the eastern town of Verviers after they opened fire on police with automatic weapons reported BBC. Officials say they had returned from Syria and planned imminent attacks on police targets. Another…

  • BJP questions Akhilesh on bodies in Ganga

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    The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) questioned Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav’s silence on the recovery of as many as 110 bodies in the Ganga and Betwa rivers in the last few days. Saying that the chief minister should have spoken on the issue and initiated a high-level probe into the matter, BJP state spokesperson…

  • Intellectual property on India-US agenda

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      Intellectual property rights and a bilateral investment treaty (BIT) would be key issues on the agenda in the ongoing India-US dialogue on the economic front, according to a State Department official. Secretary of State John Kerry had “a very good visit” to India recently for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Vibrant Gujarat economic summit, and…

  • Pakistan plan to ban Haqqani Network

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      US has welcomed a reported step by Pakistan government to ban the Haqqani Network, blamed for attacks on American and NATO-led forces in Afghanistan, media reported. “We welcome reports that the government of Pakistan plans to outlaw the Haqqani Network,” Xinhua quoted US State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf as saying. “It is an important…

  • India prepared to tackle any terror threat: Parrikar

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    India’s security forces were “well prepared” to tackle any possible terror strike, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said Thursday, in the wake of intelligence inputs that attacks may be carried out on soft targets including schools in Jammu and Kashmir ahead of US President Barack Obama’s visit. Answering queries from media persons at the Army Day…

  • Media is prosecution, judge, jury: Tharoor

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    Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has hit out at a section of the media for hounding him over the murder of his wife Sunanda Pushkar, saying some anchors were behaving like “prosecution, judge and jury”. “I been advised not to take any legal action against the media by my lawyers,” Tharoor told CNN-IBN in an interview.…

  • US to loosen restrictions on Cuba

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    The Obama administration said that it will loosen trade, finance, and travel embargo against Cuba. The US Departments of Treasury and Commerce  announced regulatory amendments to sanctions on Cuba following the US president’s announcement of a set of diplomatic and economic changes to chart a new course in US relations with Cuba in December 2014,…

  • Kiran Bedi joins BJP

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    Former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Kiran Bedi  joined the BJP and will be fielded in the Feb 7 Delhi assembly elections. Flanked by Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah and union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Bedi became a member of the party by dialling the toll-free number started for the BJP’s mass membership drive.…

  • RBI cuts repo rate by 25 basis points

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    With the inflation rate coming down to below eight percent by January 2015 as targeted and likely to be below six percent by January 2016, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has reduced the repo rate by 25 basis points, said bank Governor Raghuram G. Rajan. The much awaited reduction in key interest rates by…

  • Modi greet troops on Army Day

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      Prime Minister Narendra Modi  greeted the officers and the troops of the Indian Army on the 67th Army Day, and said they “ensured protection of our territorial integrity” and “fought the scourge of terrorism”. Extending his greetings to officers, soldiers, veterans, civilians, ex-Servicemen and their families, President Mukherjee said: “Our army has consistently displayed…

  • Quraishi to join King’s College London

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    The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) and King’s College London today announced that the next FICCI-India Institute Visiting Fellow would be Dr. S Y Quraishi, the former Chief Election Commissioner of India. The Fellowship was set up as part of a collaboration between FICCI, India’s apex business chamber, and the King’s…

  • India celebrates Pongal

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    The harvest festival of Pongal was celebrated by people of Tamil Nadu in the traditional manner – by getting up early, donning new clothes and visiting temples. The Pongal festival is celebrated to thank the sun, rain and farm animals. The aroma of ghee-fried cashews, almonds and cardamom wafted through from homes as the traditional…

  • Cameron discuss security with Pak army chief

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      Pakistan Army chief Raheel Sharif met British Prime Minister David Cameron here and discussed issues related to regional security, media reported . Gen Sharif raised issues related to proscribed organisations, anti-Pakistan elements operating from outside Pakistan and measures to choke terror financing, Dawn reported. He also held talks on regional security and mutual defence…

  • India on high alert ahead of Obama visit

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      Militants will try to sneak into India and attack schools in Jammu and Kashmir on the eve of US President Barack Obama’s visit to the country, a top army official said here Thursday. “Around 200 militants are waiting in 36 launch pads across the Pir Panjal mountain range to infiltrate into the Indian side,”…

  • US court dismisses case against Modi

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      A US court has dismissed a lawsuit accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of failure to control the 2002 Gujarat riots, saying as a sitting head of government he was entitled to immunity. In dismissing the case filed by human rights group American Justice Centre (AJC) in New York, US District Judge Analisa Torres  upheld…

  • “Bibi’s Policies Fueling Anti-Semitism”

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    Alon Ben-Meir, professor of international relations at the Center for Global Affairs at NYU, comments on latest world events I am no longer surprised by what Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu says or does. No leader with any pride and sensitivity would have tried to exploit for political gain the tragic deaths of four French Jews who were…

  • Dr Sanjay Gupta’s documentary wins award

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    The CNN documentary, “WEED: Dr. Sanjay Gupta Reports”, presented by its chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta has received the duPont-Columbia University Award for 2015, according to a university release. The documentary took a critical look at research on medical marijuana and its impact on the lives of its users. “With compelling personal cases, over two…

  • INTERVIEW: Shilpa Shetty

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    By Nivedita   Why should only women cook and do the laundry, asks actress-entrepreneur Shilpa Shetty, who feels men should contribute equally to household chores to ease out a woman’s responsibilities. She also feels this give and take goes a long way into a happily ever after. Shilpa, who is married to businessman Raj Kundra, credits…

  • Another Delhi church vandalized

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    A church here was vandalized before dawn, the fourth such incident in the capital in seven weeks, police said. The incident, which took place around 4.20 a.m., was captured by a CCTV camera installed inside the premises of Our Lady Of Graces Church at Vikaspuri in west Delhi. “The CCTV footage shows that two people…

  • Obama names two NRI’s to key posts

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    By Arun Kumar  President Barack Obama has nominated two Indian-Americans to key posts of chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) and member of the Board of Directors of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation. Jonodev Osceola Chaudhuri, son of a native American mother and an Indian immigrant father, is currently the acting chairman of…

  • Kamala Harris to run for US senate

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    By Arun Kumar   California’s Indian-American Attorney General Kamala Harris, a “good friend” of President Barack Obama, has thrown her hat into the ring for the 2016 race to replace fellow Democrat veteran Barbara Boxer in the US Senate. “I will be a fighter for the next generation on the critical issues facing our country,” pledged…

  • Million plus take holy dip on Makar Sankranti

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      Around 10-12 lakh devotees have taken a holy dip in the Ganga on the occasion of Makar Sankranti in this West Bengal island considered auspicious by Hindus, a minister said. “Between 10 to 12 lakh pilgrims congregated at Gangasagar this time. This is a record number in the last few years. The holy dip…

  • Priyanka Vadra to visit Rae Bareli

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    Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, daughter of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, will  visit her mother’s constituency Rae Bareli for two days, party leaders said Wednesday. She will meet Congress leaders in the constituency. In some parts of Uttar Pradesh, there have been demands by party activists to replace Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi with his sister Priyanka…

  • Musharraf indicted in murder case

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    An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Pakistan’s Quetta city  indicted former president Pervez Musharraf in a case related to the murder of Balochistan leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti in 2006, Dawn reported. Despite the ATC’s repeated orders, the former military dictator did not appear in the court Wednesday. In the court, Musharraf’s counsel Zeeshan Cheema submitted…

  • 104 bodies found in Ganga

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    The Uttar Pradesh government  ordered a probe after over 100 bodies were found in a channel of the Ganga in Unnao district, an official said. Thirty bodies were recovered from the river’s channel till late Tuesday but by Wednesday morning the number swelled up to 104. Director General of Police (DGP) A.K. Gupta has sought…

  • Indian economy to grow by 7% in 2016: WB

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    By Arul Louis   Helped along by falling oil prices and by lower interest rates in developed countries, India’s economy is expected to grow by seven percent next year and these two factors can be a game-changer if the nation were to seize the opportunity to implement fiscal and structural reforms, World Bank Chief Economist Kaushik…

  • Cameroon forces kill 143 Boko Haram militants

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    At least 143 members of the Nigerian Boko Haram Islamist terrorist group have been killed in clashes with Cameroonian security forces, Cameroonian Communications Minister Issa Bakary said . In an attack preceding the fighting, Boko Haram militants assaulted the headquarters of Cameroon’s Rapid Intervention Battalion in the northwest of the country near the Nigerian border…