Two captives later freed
Four Indians were suspected to have been kidnapped by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant militant group in Libya on Wednesday. Two of the four were freed by their captors on Friday. The External Affairs Ministry said that the four people had been trying return to India via the Libyan capital of Tripoli, when they were detained at a checkpoint 50 km from the city of Sirte. Three of them were faculty members at the University of Sirte, while one worked on the University's campus. Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said that officials were attempting to negotiate the release of the captives.
India, Bangladesh complete land swap
India and Bangladesh completed a historic land swap late on Friday night. Fifty former Bangladeshi enclaves with over 14, 800 residents became part of Indian territory, while 111 Indian enclaves with over 37,300 residents became part of Bangladeshi territory. While India transferred 17,158 acres to Bangladesh, it received 7,110 acres from its neighbour. The swap fulfilled the terms of the Land Boundary Agreement first signed between Indira Gandhi and her Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Majibur Rehman in 1974. However, the deal was approved by the Indian Parliament only earlier this year. Officials from West Bengal said that the state government would begin development projects in the new territories, laying the maximum emphasis on "education, healthcare and sanitation".
Rajnath criticises UPA for coining phrase 'Hindu terrorism'
The United Progressive Alliance government weakened India's fight against terrorism and diverted the direction of investigations by coining of the term "Hindu terrorism", Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said. "Terrorism is terrorism, it does not have any caste, creed or religion," Singh told the Lok Sabha. Later, Congress leader Anand Sharma accused the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh of trying to "link terrorism to religion and caste".
Planning under way for talks with Pakistan
The governments of India and Pakistan were working to set up talks between their country's National Security Advisers in the later half of August, Indian officials said on Friday. The discussions between Indian NSA Ajit Doval and his Pakistani counterpart, Sartaj Aziz, will be held in New Delhi. However, the officials said that the Central government was considering holding the talks after the monsoon session of Parliament so that it could avoid being criticised by the opposition over its overtures to Pakistan following this week's militant attack in the Gurdaspur district of Punjab.
CBI given three weeks to take over Vyapam cases
The Supreme Court on Friday gave the Central Bureau of Investigation three weeks to take over all the 185 cases related to the multi-crore rupee Vyapam recruitment scam in Madhya Pradesh. A bench of the court headed by Chief Justice of India HL Dattu asked Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi to inform it of the number of vacancies in the CBI and the steps taken to fill the posts. The court's order came after Solicitor-General Ranjit Kumar expressed the CBI's inability to take over the cases due to a lack of manpower. Kumar said that charge-sheets had been filed in 78 of the 185 cases, adding that 22 special courts including five in Bhopal would hear the cases.
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Four Indians were suspected to have been kidnapped by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant militant group in Libya on Wednesday. Two of the four were freed by their captors on Friday. The External Affairs Ministry said that the four people had been trying return to India via the Libyan capital of Tripoli, when they were detained at a checkpoint 50 km from the city of Sirte. Three of them were faculty members at the University of Sirte, while one worked on the University's campus. Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said that officials were attempting to negotiate the release of the captives.
India, Bangladesh complete land swap
India and Bangladesh completed a historic land swap late on Friday night. Fifty former Bangladeshi enclaves with over 14, 800 residents became part of Indian territory, while 111 Indian enclaves with over 37,300 residents became part of Bangladeshi territory. While India transferred 17,158 acres to Bangladesh, it received 7,110 acres from its neighbour. The swap fulfilled the terms of the Land Boundary Agreement first signed between Indira Gandhi and her Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Majibur Rehman in 1974. However, the deal was approved by the Indian Parliament only earlier this year. Officials from West Bengal said that the state government would begin development projects in the new territories, laying the maximum emphasis on "education, healthcare and sanitation".
Rajnath criticises UPA for coining phrase 'Hindu terrorism'
The United Progressive Alliance government weakened India's fight against terrorism and diverted the direction of investigations by coining of the term "Hindu terrorism", Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said. "Terrorism is terrorism, it does not have any caste, creed or religion," Singh told the Lok Sabha. Later, Congress leader Anand Sharma accused the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh of trying to "link terrorism to religion and caste".
Planning under way for talks with Pakistan
The governments of India and Pakistan were working to set up talks between their country's National Security Advisers in the later half of August, Indian officials said on Friday. The discussions between Indian NSA Ajit Doval and his Pakistani counterpart, Sartaj Aziz, will be held in New Delhi. However, the officials said that the Central government was considering holding the talks after the monsoon session of Parliament so that it could avoid being criticised by the opposition over its overtures to Pakistan following this week's militant attack in the Gurdaspur district of Punjab.
CBI given three weeks to take over Vyapam cases
The Supreme Court on Friday gave the Central Bureau of Investigation three weeks to take over all the 185 cases related to the multi-crore rupee Vyapam recruitment scam in Madhya Pradesh. A bench of the court headed by Chief Justice of India HL Dattu asked Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi to inform it of the number of vacancies in the CBI and the steps taken to fill the posts. The court's order came after Solicitor-General Ranjit Kumar expressed the CBI's inability to take over the cases due to a lack of manpower. Kumar said that charge-sheets had been filed in 78 of the 185 cases, adding that 22 special courts including five in Bhopal would hear the cases.
