New Delhi: India played a key role to introduce "an element of balance" in the US-sponsored resolution in Geneva on Sri Lanka rights violations, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said. In a letter to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Manmohan Singh said he had instructed the Indian delegation "to remain in close contact with its Sri Lanka counterparts in an attempt to find a positive way forward." "You would be aware that...
03:53 AM, Mar 25, 2012
New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday offered Sri Lanka an olive branch explaining India's vote against it at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). The PM in his letter said that Delhi made every effort to ensure the resolution was balanced. The PM said that it is India's conviction that a meaningful devolution package would lead towards a lasting political solution. "I had instructed our delegation to...
07:06 PM, Mar 24, 2012
Brussels: The European Union banned the wife of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from travelling to the EU or shopping with European companies in a move to stop her buying the Chanel dresses and Louboutin shoes she craves. The EU's latest round of sanctions, which also targeted the president's mother and sister, is notable for including Assad's London-born wife Asma, whose luxury shopping habit was laid bare this month in a...
11:50 PM, Mar 23, 2012
India voted in favour of a US sponsored resolution at the UN Human Rights Council against Sri Lanka over alleged human rights violations during the war with the LTTE. ...
04:59 PM, Mar 23, 2012
Colombo: The 47-member United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva adopted the resolution against Sri Lanka on alleged war crimes on Thursday with 24 countries voting in favour, 15 against and eight abstaining. India also voted in favour of the US-backed resolution. Reacting to the adoption of the resolution, Sri Lanka said that it was a matter of "great satisfaction" for them that 15 countries voted with them "despite the...
06:52 PM, Mar 22, 2012
United Nations: The United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon has appealed to the Syrian authorities to end the violence which has so far killed over 8,000 people as the pro-democracy uprising in the country completes one year. In a statement on the occasion of the mark the first anniversary of the Syrian uprising, the UN secretary general said that military operations against civilians should end to prevent a further militarisation of...
09:17 AM, Mar 16, 2012
New Delhi: Slum children in urban areas across the world, including India, happen to be the most deprived and their sufferings are often obscured by broad statistical averages, a latest UN study has said. In India, like the rest of the world, cities were the "settings for some of the greatest disparities in children's health, education and opportunities," says the report 'The state of the World's Children 2012: Children in...
09:47 AM, Mar 01, 2012
United Nations: The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has strongly condemned the February 13 terrorist attack on Israeli embassy staff in India, saying any acts of terrorism are "criminal and unjustifiable". A statement issued by UNSC President Kodjo Menan of Togo said Council members "condemned in the strongest terms the terrorist attack in New Delhi, India aimed at Israel's diplomatic personnel which resulted in injuries to diplomatic personnel and civilians."...
11:18 AM, Feb 24, 2012
Damascus: The bombings in the rebel bastion Homs by the Syrian government forces have entered the 21st day. Opposition groups in Syria claim over 100 people were killed on Thursday, taking to toll to over 9,000 in the last 11 months. The violence continues even after a UN report accused the government of crimes against humanity. CNN-IBN and IBN-7 are the first two Indian news channels to report from the...
07:59 AM, Feb 24, 2012
United Nations: The UN General Assembly has voted in favour of a resolution urging Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down. The Arab nations-backed resolution condemns human rights violations in Syria and calls for an end to the violence. As expected China and Russia again voted against the measure. But this time, India has voted in favour of the resolution, taking a U-turn from the February 4 voting on a...
08:50 AM, Feb 17, 2012
New Delhi: Sources close to the government said on Friday that the Israeli ambassador did not raise the Iran issue at all during his meeting with External Affairs Minister SM Krishna. "Iran was not raised by the Israel ambassador when he met the external affairs minister, nor was it discussed during the meeting. The report is totally baselsess," they said referring to reports that the ambassador had raised up the...
08:31 AM, Feb 17, 2012
Tehran: Iran will insert its first domestically-produced nuclear fuel rods into a research reactor in Tehran on Wednesday, a top Iranian official said. "Because western countries were unwilling to help us, we began enriching uranium to 20 percent to make nuclear fuel rods," Ali Bagheri, deputy chief of Iran's National Security Council, said in an interview. "These nuclear rods, the first created by Iranian specialists, will be inserted tomorrow into...
07:58 AM, Feb 15, 2012
Male: The United Nations on Monday backed Maldives' new leader's proposal for a national unity government, though the ousted leader is calling for a snap poll to resolve a political crisis. UN Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Oscar Fernandez-Taranco called on all parties to come together "on the principle of inclusiveness and national unity, and reach a consensus on the way forward." Former President Mohamed Nasheed resigned on February 7...
08:08 AM, Feb 14, 2012
The Indian Envoy to the UN, Hardeep Puri, on Friday categorically ruled out any unwarranted interference by the Indian Government in the Maldives. ...
01:57 PM, Feb 10, 2012
United Nations: Diplomats have failed to reach agreement on a UN resolution aimed at ending the bloodshed in Syria, leaving discussions in limbo pending consultations with their home governments. Envoys said on Thursday that yet another text is being drawn up for them to send to their capitals for consideration. British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant told reporters after the session that the new version will be put to a vote...
11:21 AM, Feb 03, 2012
Beit Hanoun (Gaza Strip): Dozens of Palestinians on Thursday tried to block UN chief Ban Ki-moon from entering the Gaza Strip and pelted his armoured convoy with shoes and sticks, accusing him of being unfairly biased toward Israel. The incident cast a shadow over Ban's visit to Gaza, which was meant to draw attention to humanitarian issues in the crowded seaside strip. Ban was in Gaza on the second day...
08:57 AM, Feb 03, 2012
New Delhi: The United Nations has released new data, which shows that India is the most dangerous place in the world for the girl child. An Indian girl child aged between 1 year to 5 years is 75 per cent more likely to die than an Indian boy of the same age, making India the worst gender differential in child mortality in the world. India and China are the only...
12:02 PM, Feb 01, 2012
Beirut: Syrian troops crushed pockets of rebel soldiers on Tuesday on the outskirts of Damascus and the UN Security Council took up a draft resolution demanding that President Bashar Assad halt the violence and yield power. US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told the Security Council that action to end the violence in Syria would be different from UN efforts to pacify Libya. "I know that some members here...
08:04 AM, Feb 01, 2012
Vienna: Senior United Nations nuclear inspectors will arrive in Tehran early on Sunday to press Iranian officials to address suspicions that the Islamic state is seeking atomic weapons. The UN International Atomic Energy Agency hopes Iran, which has indicated readiness to discuss the issue for the first time since 2008, will end years of stonewalling on intelligence pointing to an intention to develop nuclear arms technology. "We are trying to...
07:39 AM, Jan 29, 2012
New York: India, Brazil, Germany and Japan, collectively known as the G4 group of countries, have made a joint bid for the expansion of the UN Security Council in both the permanent and non-permanent categories of membership. Each of these countries aspires to be a permanent member of the United Nations and play a larger global role. They made the joint bid at the informal plenary of the intergovernmental negotiations...
05:11 PM, Jan 27, 2012
