Security personnel patrol in the violence-hit area of Manipur’s Kanto sabal, in Imphal West on June 20, 2023.
| Photo Credit: ANI
U.S. to ease visas for skilled Indian workers as PM Modi visits
The Biden administration will make it easier for Indians to live and work in the United States, using this week’s state visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to help some skilled workers enter or remain in the country, according to three people familiar with the matter.
The State Department could announce as soon as Thursday that a small number of Indians and other foreign workers on H-1B visas will be able to renew those visas in the U.S., without having to travel abroad, one of the sources said, part of a pilot program that could be expanded in coming years.
Manipur violence | Amit Shah calls all-party meeting on June 24
Nearly 50 days after ethnic violence erupted in Manipur, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has convened an all-party meeting on June 24 to discuss the situation in the State.
The Union Home Ministry tweeted on Wednesday that the meeting would be held at 3 p.m. in Delhi. More than 100 people have been killed in the ongoing violence in the northeastern State and more than 50,000 people have been displaced.
PM Modi’s U.S. visit | Activists ask Biden to publicly rebuke Modi over human rights
Rights advocates in Washington demanded that President Joe Biden publicly call out what they described as India’s deteriorating human rights record, saying the U.S. approach of raising the issue in private with Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been a failure.
In a press briefing on Wednesday, activists and academics also called for hearings in the U.S. Congress about human rights in India under the BJP government led by PM Modi.
West Bengal Governor returns State Election Commissioner’s joining report
West Bengal Governor Dr. C.V. Ananda Bose on June 21 night “returned” the joining report of State Election Commissioner (SEC) Rajiva Sinha ahead of the July 8 panchayat polls, a well-placed source at the Raj Bhavan said.
The step came days after Mr. Sinha failed to appear before the Governor after he was summoned on an urgent basis for an explanation of the incidents of murders, violence and clashes during nomination filing for the panchayat poll earlier this month.
Meitei Tribes Union files plea to defer hearing on appeal against ST status order
Members of the Meitei Tribes Union have now filed a plea to defer the hearing in the appeal filed against the contentious March 27 order, which became the immediate trigger for the ethnic violence that has riven the State for over one and half months now.
Manipur violence has left deep wound in nation’s conscience, says Sonia Gandhi
Asserting that the human tragedy unfolding in Manipur has wounded the conscience of the nation, Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday issued an appeal for peace and urged the women to take the lead in restoring normalcy.
“For nearly 50 days, we have witnessed a great human tragedy unfolding in Manipur. The unprecedented violence that has devastated the lives of people in your State and uprooted thousands, has left a deep wound in the conscience of our nation,” Ms. Gandhi in a video appeal, addressed to the people of the State.
Eight months on, ‘Team Kharge’ is a work in progress ahead of 2024 poll
Three months after the 85th plenary session of the Congress in Raipur authorised party chief Mallikarjun Kharge to nominate new members to Congress Working Committee (CWC), it is still work in progress.
With the next Lok Sabha election less than a year away, many in the party have privately questioned the delay. They point out that Mr. Kharge was elected as the party president in October last year but even after eight months, he doesn’t have the party’s highest decision-making body in place and is functioning with the outgoing CWC or the Steering Committee.
As India seeks new LNG supplies, speculation over possibility of reviving Trump-era deal
Amidst the focus on high technology and defence deals to be announced during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington, experts are watching closely to see if energy deals, which were the highlight of his last big bilateral visit to the United States in 2019, will find a mention. In particular, it is India’s search for more LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) imports in the wake of instability in Russian supplies after the war in Ukraine, as well as speculation over the revival of the 2019 agreement between Tellurian Inc, an LNG company, and Indian Public Sector Undertakings (PSU) in energy.
India climbs eight places to 127 in global gender index, says WEF report
India was ranked at 127 out of 146 countries in terms of gender parity — an improvement of eight places from last year, according to the annual Gender Gap Report, 2023 of the World Economic Forum (WEF).
MBBS curriculum sees overhaul, time limit for completion of course
While first year MBBS classes are likely to begin on August 1 of each year, the National Medical Commission (NMC) has also brought in changes in the undergraduate medical curriculum with the latest overhaul bringing in time limit on completing the MBBS course (by 9 years), fixed number of attempts to clear failed papers, compulsory attendance for both theory and practical papers and a family outreach programme.
Yo Yo Honey Singh alleges threats from Goldy Brar; Delhi Police register FIR
Delhi Police on Wednesday registered a case after singer Yo Yo Honey Singh filed a complaint with the Special Cell alleging that he received death threats and extortion calls from Canada-based gangster Goldy Brar.
Punjab law on naming DGP may pass muster
A day after the Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab passed a legislation to independently appoint the State’s Director General of Police (DGP) without the Central government’s nod, former Uttar Pradesh DGP Prakash Singh — who was the petitioner in a landmark police reforms case — said that the legislation was in consonance with the Supreme Court’s 2006 judgement in that case.
SAFF Championship: Sunil Chhetri’s hat-trick helps India ease past Pakistan
A Sunil Chhetri hat-trick powered India to an easy 4-0 victory over Pakistan in its SAFF Championship opener at a rain-soaked Sree Kanteerava Stadium here on Wednesday.
It was an underwhelming hat-trick — two penalties and a gift from the Pakistan goalie — but the skipper wouldn’t have minded, for the strikes took him to 90 international goals and fourth in the all-time list.