Five Indian soldiers killed in South Sudan

Five Indian soldiers, including a Lt-Colonel, were killed and another five injured when the UN convoy they were escorting as part of their peace-keeping operations in strife-torn South Sudan came under heavy fire from armed rebels.

The deceased were identified as Lt-Col Mahipal Singh, Naik Subedar Shiv Kumar Pal, Havildars Hira Lal and Bharat Sasmal and sepoy Nand Kishore. Their next of kin will each get $70,000 as grant from the UN, apart from the "higher compensation amounts" paid by the Indian government for "battle casualties"

South Sudan ended decades of civil war with Sudan in 2005 and peacefully formed its own country in 2011. But the south is still plagued by internal violence and shaky relations with Sudan. Leaders in Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, deny that they are arming Yau Yau.

Reopen 1984 riots case against Jagdish Tytler: Sessions Court

Setting aside a magisterial court order accepting the closure report filed by the CBI, the sessions court ordered further investigation.

Earlier, Magisterial court order accepted the closure report filed by the CBI gave to senior Congress leader Jagdish Tytler in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.

The sessions court directed the CBI to record the statements of eyewitnesses to the murder of three Sikhs at Gurdwara Pul Bangash on November 1, 1984. They were burnt alive by a mob that was incited by Mr. Tytler, the witnesses alleged. However, the CBI concluded that Mr. Tytler was present at Teen Murti Bhawan when the riot took place.

Donors countries meet in Doha to raise money for Darfur

Hundreds of delegates are meeting in Doha for a donor conference to raise support for a mulit-billion dollar project to rebuild Sudan’s Darfur region after a decade-long conflict.

The two-day conference beginning on 07/04/13 was agreed under a July 2011 peace deal that Khartoum signed in the Qatari capital with an alliance of rebel splinter groups.

It seeks support for a development strategy needing $7.2 billion for a six-year effort to move Darfur away from food handouts and other emergency aid, laying the foundation for lasting development through improved water facilities, roads and other infrastructure.

Supreme Court stays execution of eight death row convicts

The Supreme Court on Saturday night stayed the execution of eight death row convicts whose mercy petitions were rejected by President Pranab Mukherjee earlier this week.

A Bench of Justices P. Sathasivam and M.Y. Eqbal stayed the execution after hearing senior counsel Colin Gonsalves appearing for the convicts, who filed writ petitions challenging the rejection of their mercy petitions.

The convicts are: Suresh, Ramji and Gurmeet Singh in Naini Central Prison, Allahabad; Praveen Kumar in Belgaum prison in Karnataka; Sonia, daughter of the former Haryana MLA, Ralu Ram Punia, and her husband Sanjeev in Ambala Central Prison in Haryana; Sundar Singh in Nainital, Uttaranchal and Jaffer Ali serving the sentence in a jail in Uttar Pradesh.

Saudi Arabia defers Nitaqat enforcement by three months.

In order to reduce the unemployment rate among the Saudi citizens, the Saudi government issued a new system for the localization of jobs in Saudi Arabia under the name of “Nitaqat”. The new system replaces the system applied since 1994 under the name of “The Saudization”. Nitaqat adopts several principles, which will have impacts on non-Saudis working in the Kingdom.

Riyadh has informed New Delhi that the enforcement has been deferred by three month

Megadeltas vulnerable to rising sea level

R.K. Pachauri, chairperson of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said here on Saturday that cities such as Kolkata, Shanghai and Dhaka, which were located in the coastal areas, were most vulnerable to the rising sea levels due to climate change.

Rajendra Kumar Pachauri has been serving as the chairperson of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change since 2002, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 during his tenure.

Agni-II launch successful

The Strategic Forces Command (SFC) of the Army successfully test-fired Agni-II ballistic missile at 10.25 a.m. on Sunday. It lifted off from a mobile launcher on Wheeler Island, off the Odisha coast, and travelled its entire range of 2,000 km before splashing into the targeted area in the Bay of Bengal, with an accuracy of a few metres. It was a perfect mission which saw no “holds” and the entire flight lasted more than 10 minutes.

Agni-II, which is capable of carrying nuclear warheads, is 20 meters long and weighs 17 tonnes. Its two stages are propelled by solid fuel. It can carry a payload weighing one tonne. The missile has been developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).