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  • Supreme Court questions the continuing relevance of two-child norms. The Court observed that falling fertility rates have weakened the population-control rationale behind laws disqualifying people with more than two children from contesting local body elections. It referred the issue to a larger Bench for consideration
  • Supreme Court declines to shift Tirupati laddu case outside Andhra Pradesh. The Court rejected a plea seeking transfer of the trial, despite arguments that political statements by Andhra Pradesh's Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister could affect the fairness of proceedings
  • Supreme Court transfers Azam Khan's fresh ED bail plea to Allahabad High Court. The apex court declined to consider the Samajwadi Party leader's bail request in a fresh Enforcement Directorate case and directed that it be listed before a division Bench of the High Court on November 16
  • Two killed in Delhi building collapse; contractor booked. Two bodies were recovered after a building collapsed in Chawri Bazaar. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said the contractor had been booked and the concerned junior and assistant engineers suspended
  • Uttar Pradesh voter rolls show a 2.4-crore discrepancy. A difference of approximately 2.4 crore names has been reported between the state's panchayat and rural Assembly voter lists. The Election Commission has ordered the two sets of rolls to be matched
  • Gujarat announces 3% dearness allowance hike. The state government announced a three-percentage-point increase in dearness allowance for government employees and pensioners ahead of Diwali
  • Sensex and Nifty post their strongest single-day gains in months. The Sensex surged 2,008.61 points, or 2.60%, to close at 79,310.01, while the Nifty 50 climbed 576 points, or 2.40%, to 24,536.60. Financial and automobile stocks led the rally, supported by falling crude prices and renewed foreign investor buying
  • Maaya Rajeshwaran reaches WTA-level quarter-final. The 17-year-old Indian defeated Poland's Weronika Falkowska 6-4, 6-3, becoming the first Indian woman since Sania Mirza in 2012 to reach a quarter-final at a WTA Tour-level singles event
  • Tanvi Patri reaches Youth Olympics badminton final. The 15-year-old defeated Japan's Yuzuno Watanabe in the semi-final, assuring India of a medal and becoming the first Indian badminton player to reach the girls' singles final at the Youth Olympics
  • India beat Pakistan 3-2 in SAFF Championship. India defeated Pakistan in a closely contested match, having led 3-0 before conceding two late goals. The victory was reported as a significant result for India's second-string side
  • India beat Japan 4-1 to win a record sixth Asian Champions Trophy. India recovered from an early deficit to defeat Japan in the final at Mohali, extending its record as the tournament's most successful men's team
  • The Supreme Court issued notice to the Centre and the Election Commission on a petition challenging Section 16 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, which grants the CEC and Election Commissioners protection from legal proceedings for acts performed in their official duties. The petition argues that such blanket immunity could leave citizens without an effective remedy for alleged wrongdoing by the Commission
  • The Supreme Court told voters whose names were deleted from Delhi's draft electoral rolls not to be apprehensive about seeking re-enrolment through Form 6, after the Election Commission assured it that such applicants would not be prosecuted merely because their names had appeared in earlier rolls
  • Congress leader Rahul Gandhi opened the party's campaign for the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections with an Insaaf rally in Sangrur, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's home district, accusing the AAP government of failing to control drugs, gangster violence and corruption. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge outlined six commitments, including a drug-free Punjab, protection of farmers, employment for young people and action against corruption
  • Rahul Gandhi accused the AAP government of running Punjab through a remote control from Delhi and questioned Bhagwant Mann's ability to tackle drug abuse, making personal allegations about the Chief Minister's conduct during their time together in Parliament
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India's Foreign Policy Investment In Middle-East Pays Rich Dividend

By Our Editorial Team
First publised on 2024-02-13 14:00:16

About the Author

Sunil Garodia The India Commentary view

When seven former Indian Navy officers and one former Navy seaman, working for a Doha-based private company Dahra Global, were arrested on unspecified charges in Qatar in 2022 and later sentenced to death there was little hope that they would be released and sent back to India. The buzz was that they were arrested on charges for spying for Israel (which amounts to treason in those parts) and given the extra-sensitive nature of all Middle-East countries towards Israel it was rightly assumed that the arrested persons, even if they were not executed, would spend a considerable time in Qatari jails. But, in a major diplomatic win for India, all eight were released on Monday and seven of them returned home.

India has, in the last ten years, invested considerable time and energy in improving its relations with countries in the Middle-East. Nations like Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman always tilted towards Pakistan in the past although their relations with India were not strained. But in the last few years, these countries have begun to appreciate the work being done by India on the global stage (especially during the pandemic) and its growing economic clout. Also, Prime Minister Modi's personal equation with the rulers of these countries has also helped in taking bilateral ties several notches higher. In the case of the arrested persons in Qatar, India chose to handle the issue very carefully without making unnecessary noise for the consumption of the global media.

Things started moving fast after Prime Minister Modi met the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamin bin Hamad Al-Thani on the sidelines of COP28 summit in Dubai. The convicts on death row till then were allowed consular access and allowed to file an appeal. The result was that the death sentence was commuted to jail terms of varying degrees. That was a major breakthrough. After that, talks went on though proper channels, monitored at all times by Prime Minister Modi, and finally culminated in securing their release. This shows how well and in a calibrated manner India has been able to broaden bilateral relations with both the Islamic monarchies in the Middle-East and Israel. The success of India's foreign policy measures in the region is proved by the release of the eight Navy men from Qatar. 

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