US Stresses On India, Pak Dialogue, Fuel Prices Today & Other Top Stories

India, Pakistan Should Engage In Dialogue As Outlined In Shimla Agreement: US

The US on Tuesday said it supports a direct dialogue between India and Pakistan as outlined in the Shimla Agreement. “We believe that direct dialogue between India and Pakistan, as outlined in the 1972 Shimla Agreement, holds the most potential for reducing tensions,” Acting Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Alice G Wells told Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and Non-proliferation of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. She said during 2006-2007 backchannel negotiations, India and Pakistan reportedly made significant progress on a number of issues, including Kashmir. Read more…

India Must Uphold Religious Freedom, Protect People In Assam At Risk For Statelessness: US

Incidents of violence and discrimination against minorities, including attacks on Dalits and Muslims by cow vigilantes, are not in keeping with India’s legal protections for minorities, a top US diplomat told a Congressional subcommittee on Tuesday. “Incidents of violence and discrimination against minorities in India, including cow vigilante attacks against members of the Dalit and Muslim communities, and the existence of anti-conversion laws in nine states are not in keeping with India’s legal protections for minorities,” Acting Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Alice G Wells told Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and Nonproliferation of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Read more…

After Year-Long Delay, NCRB Releases 2017 Data, Leaves Out Cases Of Lynchings, Radical Killings

After a year-long delay, the National Crime Records Bureau finally released the 2017 data on Monday. The report was according to the 2016 format instead of changes and introduction of new categories of crime, which led to the actual delay. Hence, the NCRB data of 2017 has no record of lynchings, radical killings and crime committed by khap panchayats such as horror killings etc. These new categories were introduced under a massive overhaul directed by then NCRB boss Ish Kumar, the Indian Express report said. Under the cartegory of murder, new categories such as lynchings, radical killings etc were put in place. However, the data released on Monday has no details about these sub-categories. Read more…

New Web Rules In 3 Months, Centre Tells Top Court

The Delhi High Court on Monday sought response from the Centre, Facebook messenger and WhatsApp on a plea alleging that the two instant messaging platforms were illegally providing voice over internet services which is only permitted only under a telecom licence. Justice Navin Chawla issued the notice to the Finance Ministry, Department of Telecommunications, Facebook and WhatsApp, and sought their stand on the petition by an internet service provider (ISP) which also alleged that the unregulated functioning of the two platforms was "a threat to national security" and also causes a loss to the exchequer. Read more…

Fuel Prices: Check Latest Petrol, Diesel Rates in India on October 22

The petrol and diesel prices remained unchanged on Tuesday, October 22. However, petrol price did not change for the seventh straight day while diesel also remained the same. Petrol and diesel prices have fallen steadily this month with petrol getting cheaper by Rs 1.34 per litre and diesel price coming down by Rs 1.33 per litre in Delhi so far. Read more…