IPA Webdesk
Blinken, Jaishankar discuss Afghan situation 2nd time this week
Washington: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar discussed the chaotic situation in Afghanistan for a second time this week and agreed to continue their close coordination over the matter. Taliban took control of Afghanistan on Sunday. Their sudden takeover, which comes as the...
Sources say Taliban sent assurances on safety of Indian embassy staff
New Delhi: The Taliban did not want India to evacuate diplomats from its Kabul embassy, sources told NDTV today, indicating that the government had received messages from the group’s Qatar office assuring them of the safety of Indian staff and security personnel. These messages – sent from the office...
UN reports door-to-door Taliban searches for US helpers
United Nations: The Taliban are going house-to-house searching for opponents and their families, according to an intelligence document for the UN that deepened fears Friday Afghanistan’s new rulers were reneging on pledges of tolerance. After routing government forces and taking over Kabul on Sunday to end two decades of...
BJP MLA calls for ‘Talibani style’ attack on TMC leaders
A ruling BJP MLA in Tripura, Arun Chandra Bhowmik, has stoked a controversy by allegedly saying that his party activists should counter Trinamool Congress leaders in Talibani style if they land at Agartala airport. The saffron camp, however, said it is the MLA’s version and not that of the...
FIRs over BJP’s Mumbai rally for Covid violations
At least seven first information reports (FIRs) for alleged violation of COVID-19 norms were registered in Mumbai on Thursday against the organizers of the BJP’s ‘Jan Ashirwad Yatra’, an official said. Cases were registered at Vile Parle, Kherwadi, Mahim, Shivaji Park, Dadar, Chembur and Govandi police stations under section...
Calcutta HC directs CBI, special team probe of poll violence
Kolkata: Allegations of rape, murder and crimes against women after the Bengal election will be probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation, or CBI, the Calcutta High Court said Thursday afternoon. Other criminal cases related to the post-poll violence, will be investigated by a special Bengal Police team...
Women Congress MPs allege being abused
Two female Congress MPs broke down in Raipur on Wednesday as they narrated the scuffle that took place in Parliament on August 11. MPs Chhaya Verma and Phulo Devi Netam accused the Centre of being anti-women and termed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah as ruiners...
Subhas Sarkar defends ‘dark complexioned’ Tagore remark
Minister of State (Education) Subhas Sarkar, who courted controversy for saying “Rabindranath Tagore’s complexion was dark compared to others in his family”, on Wednesday insisted that his remarks will “only increase respect” for the Nobel laureate. “Keep a record of whatever I have said (about Tagore). I will give...
India ‘very carefully’ following Afghan developments: Jaishankar
United Nations: With the Taliban now in control in Kabul, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday said New Delhi is “very carefully” following the developments in Afghanistan and India’s focus is on ensuring the security and safe return of Indian nationals still in the war-torn country. Jaishankar, addressing...
Shashi Tharoor cleared of blame in wife’s death
Sunanda Pushkar was found dead in a suite of a luxury hotel in Delhi on the night of January 17, 2014. New Delhi: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor was cleared by a Delhi court today of charges in the case involving the death of his wife Sunanda Pushkar. Sunanda...
PM chairs meet to review Afghan issue
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security last evening to assess the situation in war-torn Afghanistan. The meeting was attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval....
Sedition case for comparing Taliban to freedom fighters
Lucknow: A sedition case has been filed against a Samajwadi Party MP and two others in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal district over alleged remarks that compare the Taliban to India’s freedom fighters “A case was registered late last night against Shafiqur Rahman Barq and two others for provocative comments...
Biden scrambles to limit credibility loss
WASHINGTON: When President Joe Biden appeared in the White House East Room on July 8 to stress that the U.S. pullout from Afghanistan was proceeding apace, he declared that a Taliban takeover of the country was not inevitable. Five weeks later, the Taliban is in charge, scenes of chaos...
Sasikala audio rattles AIADMK
“It’s the wish of the party cadres that I become the third-generation leader of the AIADMK party”, uttered VK Sasikala in a new audiotape that has surfaced on social media, adding to the woes of the AIADMK in Tamil Nadu. The expelled AIADMK leader, who is celebrating her 67th...
Asthana’s appointment as Delhi Police chief challenged
New Delhi: Former CBI official Rakesh Asthana’s appointment to the post of Commissioner of Delhi Police and his one-year extension in service has been challenged in the Delhi High Court. The matter will be heard today. The petitioner has sought action in the matter, claiming that the criteria for...
Parliament disciplinary panel recommendations to be crucial
Speculations are rife about what the mandate will be of the Parliamentary Special Committee which is in the process of being constituted to look into the ruckus incident on the last day in Rajya Sabha. Vice President Venkaiah Naidu is looking at all possible legal options so that this...
E-Visa to fast-track Afghanistan evacuation
New Delhi: The government today announced a new category of electronic visa to fast-track applications from Afghans who wish to leave the Taliban-controlled country. The new visa category is called “e-Emergency X-Misc Visa”. Thousands of people, desperate to flee the land-locked nation, have been thronging capital Kabul’s airport since Sunday,...
Biden vows devastating response if Taliban attack US interests
Washington: US President Joe Biden warned the Taliban Monday not to disrupt or threaten the evacuation of thousands of American diplomats and Afghan translators at the Kabul airport. The response to any attack would be “swift and forceful,” Biden said in a televised address from the White House. “We...
