Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, right, shakes hand with Chinese Premier Li Qiang upon his arrival at Bharat Mandapam convention centre for the G20 Summit in New Delhi, India, on Sept. 9, 2023.
| Photo Credit: AP
G-20 Summit | China backs New Delhi Declaration’s focus away from ‘geopolitics’
China, which had strongly opposed in the negotiations leading up to the G-20 Summit any direct references to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, finally backed the New Delhi Declaration and reaffirmed its recent calls for the grouping to stay away from “geopolitics”.
G-20 Summit | Ukraine says statement on Russian war ‘nothing to be proud of’
Kyiv on September 9 criticised the G20 leaders’ statement on the Russian invasion, which denounced the use of force for territorial gain but refrained from direct criticism of Russia by name. “Ukraine is grateful to the partners who tried to include strong wording in the text. At the same time, in terms of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, the Group of 20 has nothing to be proud of,” said Oleg Nikolenko, a spokesman at the Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Ministry.
Concerns grow over legal vacuum as India moves to repeal Section 377 in the wake of disturbing cases of sexual assault of animals
The proposed Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 Bill has stirred concern among animal rights activists in India due to the removal of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) without the introduction of any alternative provisions to address sexual crimes against animals .Section 377 states, “Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.”
India-U.K. agree to continue to ‘work at pace’ towards a Free Trade Agreement
Reviewing progress on the India-U.K. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in the works, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart Rishi Sunak agreed that Ministers and negotiating teams would continue “to work at pace” towards an agreement. “We discussed ways to deepen trade linkages and boost investment. India and U.K. will keep working for a prosperous and sustainable planet,” PM Modi said on the social media platform ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) after a bilateral meeting with Rishi Sunak on the sidelines of the ongoing G-20 summit. Mr. Modi also conveyed his appreciation for the U.K.’s support during India’s G20 Presidency, marked by “high-level participation at various G20 meetings and events”.
Sri Lanka defends intelligence chief over Easter Sunday attacks allegations by UK channel
Sri Lanka’s Defence Ministry on Saturday defended the country’s intelligence chief after he was accused by a British television channel as the plotter of the 2019 Easter Sunday suicide bombings which killed 270 people, including 11 Indians. The move came two days after ousted former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s denial of Major General Suresh Sallay’s involvement in the bombings and that he had benefited from the attacks to win the presidential election in November 2019.
China on ‘high alert’ after U.S., Canadian ships transit Taiwan Strait
China said Saturday its troops were “on constant high alert” after two ships belonging to the United States and Canada transited through the Taiwan Strait, a military spokesperson said .“The Eastern Theatre Command of China’s PLA organised naval and air forces to trail their entire course and stand alert in accordance with laws and regulations,” said Senior Colonel Shi Yi, referring to the People’s Liberation Army.
A.P. police takes Jana Sena party chief Pawan Kalyan into preventive custody
The Andhra Pradesh Police has taken Jana Sena party president Pawan Kalyan and its senior leader Nadendla Manohar into preventive custody in the NTR district, a police official on Sunday .They are being shifted to Vijayawada, he said, adding that no case has been lodged against them. Mr. Kalyan had condemned TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu’s arrest in a pre-dawn operation at Nandyala on Saturday and attempted to head towards Vijayawada to support the former chief minister.
Mission Sun: Aditya L1 successfully undergoes third earth-bound manoeuvre, says ISRO
Aditya L1 spacecraft, India’s first space-based mission to study the Sun, successfully underwent its third earth-bound manoeuvre in the early hours of Sunday, ISRO said .The space agency’s Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) carried out the operation. “The third Earth-bound manoeuvre (EBN#3) is performed successfully from ISTRAC, Bengaluru. ISRO’s ground stations at Mauritius, Bengaluru, SDSC-SHAR and Port Blair tracked the satellite during this operation,” the Indian Space Research Organisation ISRO) said in a post on social media platform X.
Bali was Bali and New Delhi is New Delhi: Jaishankar on reference to Ukraine in G-20 declaration
The G-20 leaders declaration avoided mentioning the Russian invasion of Ukraine and made a general call to all states to follow the principle of respecting each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, in what is largely seen as a climbdown by the Western powers on the conflic .India managed to hammer out an unexpected consensus among the G-20 countries on the contentious issue through a series of hectic negotiations with emerging economies such as Brazil, South Africa and Indonesia playing a leading role in reaching the breakthrough.
Anna Danilina-Haari Haliovaara clinch U.S. Open mixed doubles title
Anna Danilina of Kazakhstan and Haari Haliovaara of Finland defeated top seeds Jessica Pegula and Austin Krajicek to clinch the U.S. Open mixed doubles crown. Playing together for the first time, Danilina and Heliovaara suffered defeat in just one set during their title run .The pair defeated top seeds Krajicek and Pegula 6-3, 6-4 to lift the trophy at the hard-court Grand Slam on Saturday. “I have no words. It was an amazing run. It’s been a pleasure. To many more,” Danilina was quoted as saying by WTA.
Kejriwal: BJP in panic after INDIA bloc’s bypoll wins
Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said the Bharatiya Janata Party is in panic as the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) emerged “very powerful” in the recent bypolls to seven Assembly seats in the country. While the BJP on Friday won Boxanagar and Dhanpur in Tripura and Bageshwar in Uttarakhand, the INDIA bloc parties won four seats, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha in Jharkhand’s Dumri, Congress in Kerala’s Puthuppally, Samajwadi Party in U.P’s Ghosi, and Trinamool MCongress in West Bengal’s Dhupguri.
Asia Cup 2023: Samarawickrama, Shanaka star in Sri Lanka’s victory against Bangladesh
Birthday boy Dasun Shanaka was also the man with the golden arm as the Sri Lanka skipper picked three wickets to help his side defend 257 against Bangladesh in a Super 4s match of the Asia Cup at the R. Premadasa Stadium on Saturday .The host’s 21-run win extended its winning run in ODIs to 13 games, second only to Australia’s 21-match streak in 2003, and virtually eliminated Bangladesh. Shanaka made early incisions by getting the better of the openers with the short ball, and when Mushfiqur Rahim and Towhid Hridoy (82, 97b, 7×4, 1×6) looked poised to make a match of it with a resolute 72-run stand for the fifth wicket, his slower ball sent Rahim back and snapped the crowd out of slumber.
