News Analysis India

Tag: V Muraleedharan

  • Fake job rackets luring Indians to Southeast Asian countries, many trapped: Centre

    By Online Desk

    The Ministry of External Affairs has said that many Indian youths lured by fake job recruitment offers were trapped in Southeast Asian countries including Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia.

    Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan told the Rajya Sabha that a total of 414 Indians were trapped by firms promising fake IT jobs in Myanmar and 292 of them have been repatriated to India. 

    The Indian mission in Cambodia also rescued over 180 Indian nationals trapped in similar scams and repatriated them to India.

    “Since July 2022, our missions in Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia have issued various detailed advisories, upon receiving information that Indian nationals were being entrapped in fake job rackets, to alert the job seekers, and advised them to verify all antecedents of recruiting agents and companies before accepting an employment offer and not be enticed and entrapped in fraudulent job offers in these countries,” the minister said.

    “The ministry in coordination with the Indian missions/posts abroad and offices of Protector of Emigrants in India takes quick and decisive action whenever instances of exploitation of job seekers by illegal agents come to notice. A list of 2,548 illegal agents has been notified on the eMigrate portal. This information is regularly updated based on complaints filed by aggrieved individuals,” said Muraleedharan.

    “Complaints against illegal agents and dubious IT firms luring Indian youths with false recruitment offers through various channels are regularly shared with the respective state governments for suitable action against the culprits under extant laws,” added the minister, while responding to a question by MPs Pramod Tiwari, S Kalyanasundaram, M Mohamed Abdulla and Dr Kirodi Lal Meena.

    Fifteen Indian nationals duped by fake job offers from crime syndicates in Myanmar were repatriated on Wednesday according to the Embassy of India in Yangon. Earlier, in March 2023, eight Indians who were victims of such syndicates were repatriated from the Southeast Asian country.

    @IndiainMyanmar today repatriated 15 more Indian nationals who were victims of job offers of transnational crime syndicates in Myanmar. They left Yangon for Delhi from where they would go to their respective native places in India.@MEAIndia pic.twitter.com/NIZeKhauBI

    — India in Myanmar (@IndiainMyanmar) July 26, 2023

    The Ministry of External Affairs has said that many Indian youths lured by fake job recruitment offers were trapped in Southeast Asian countries including Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia.

    Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan told the Rajya Sabha that a total of 414 Indians were trapped by firms promising fake IT jobs in Myanmar and 292 of them have been repatriated to India. 

    The Indian mission in Cambodia also rescued over 180 Indian nationals trapped in similar scams and repatriated them to India.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    “Since July 2022, our missions in Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia have issued various detailed advisories, upon receiving information that Indian nationals were being entrapped in fake job rackets, to alert the job seekers, and advised them to verify all antecedents of recruiting agents and companies before accepting an employment offer and not be enticed and entrapped in fraudulent job offers in these countries,” the minister said.

    “The ministry in coordination with the Indian missions/posts abroad and offices of Protector of Emigrants in India takes quick and decisive action whenever instances of exploitation of job seekers by illegal agents come to notice. A list of 2,548 illegal agents has been notified on the eMigrate portal. This information is regularly updated based on complaints filed by aggrieved individuals,” said Muraleedharan.

    “Complaints against illegal agents and dubious IT firms luring Indian youths with false recruitment offers through various channels are regularly shared with the respective state governments for suitable action against the culprits under extant laws,” added the minister, while responding to a question by MPs Pramod Tiwari, S Kalyanasundaram, M Mohamed Abdulla and Dr Kirodi Lal Meena.

    Fifteen Indian nationals duped by fake job offers from crime syndicates in Myanmar were repatriated on Wednesday according to the Embassy of India in Yangon. Earlier, in March 2023, eight Indians who were victims of such syndicates were repatriated from the Southeast Asian country.

    @IndiainMyanmar today repatriated 15 more Indian nationals who were victims of job offers of transnational crime syndicates in Myanmar. They left Yangon for Delhi from where they would go to their respective native places in India.@MEAIndia pic.twitter.com/NIZeKhauBI

    — India in Myanmar (@IndiainMyanmar) July 26, 2023

  • MoS Muraleedharan to attend Dakar Forum in Senegal next week

    By ANI

    NEW DELHI: Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs V Muraleedharan will go on an official visit to the Republic of Senegal from October 24-25 to participate in the 8th edition of the Dakar International Forum on Peace and Security.

    During the visit, MoS will address the 8th edition of the Dakar International Forum on Peace and Security. Being held annually since 2014, the Dakar Forum has become a key event for decision-makers involved in Africa. This is the first time that India is participating in the Forum at a Ministerial level, according to the statement released by the Ministry of External Affairs.

    The participation of MoS in the Dakar Forum underscores the importance that India attaches to the peace, security and developmental issues concerning Africa. The visit is also in line with India’s policy to intensify and deepen its engagement with Africa.

    India and Senegal enjoy warm and friendly relations, sharing common values of democracy and secularism, with strong economic engagement and development cooperation. Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established at the Ambassadorial level in 1962, with a resident Indian Mission in Dakar.

    As per DGCIS, Government of India, statistics, Indian exports to Senegal in 2018-19 touched $ 639 mn and imports from Senegal USD 658 million.

    As to the bilateral trade basket, major items of export from India include textiles, food items, automobiles and pharmaceuticals. Major items of import from Senegal are phosphoric acid and raw cashew.

    India’s investment is mainly in construction, tourism, retail, trading, phosphates, pharmaceuticals etc. The largest investment from India in Senegal is in the Industries Chimique du Senegal (ICS). ICS is the flagship company in Senegal which is in the business of manufacturing phosphoric acid from the rock phosphate available in plenty in Senegal. Indian companies viz. Tata Group (Tata Motors, Tata Unitech), Ashok Leyland, Kirloskar Bros, Ajanta Pharma, Sun Pharma, ShapoorjiPallonji, Kalpataru Power Transmission, KEC Ltd., Promac, SenegIndia etc are present in Senegal.

    In order to increase awareness about business opportunities between India and Senegal and to inform about the opportunities available under our LoCs, this mission has organized four business events in Senegal (two in Dakar, one in Kaolack and one in Kedougou) since January 2018. The embassy of India also put up a KVIC Stall in the 27th edition of the annual trade event Dakar International Trade Fair (FIDAK) from November 29, 2018, to December 16, 2018.

    Recently, former Vice President of India, Venkaiah Naidu also made his visit to Senegal during his three-nation visit. During his visit to Senegal, Naidu signed three MoUs with the West African country to further deepen bilateral partnership in various areas. 

    NEW DELHI: Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs V Muraleedharan will go on an official visit to the Republic of Senegal from October 24-25 to participate in the 8th edition of the Dakar International Forum on Peace and Security.

    During the visit, MoS will address the 8th edition of the Dakar International Forum on Peace and Security. Being held annually since 2014, the Dakar Forum has become a key event for decision-makers involved in Africa. This is the first time that India is participating in the Forum at a Ministerial level, according to the statement released by the Ministry of External Affairs.

    The participation of MoS in the Dakar Forum underscores the importance that India attaches to the peace, security and developmental issues concerning Africa. The visit is also in line with India’s policy to intensify and deepen its engagement with Africa.

    India and Senegal enjoy warm and friendly relations, sharing common values of democracy and secularism, with strong economic engagement and development cooperation. Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established at the Ambassadorial level in 1962, with a resident Indian Mission in Dakar.

    As per DGCIS, Government of India, statistics, Indian exports to Senegal in 2018-19 touched $ 639 mn and imports from Senegal USD 658 million.

    As to the bilateral trade basket, major items of export from India include textiles, food items, automobiles and pharmaceuticals. Major items of import from Senegal are phosphoric acid and raw cashew.

    India’s investment is mainly in construction, tourism, retail, trading, phosphates, pharmaceuticals etc. The largest investment from India in Senegal is in the Industries Chimique du Senegal (ICS). ICS is the flagship company in Senegal which is in the business of manufacturing phosphoric acid from the rock phosphate available in plenty in Senegal. Indian companies viz. Tata Group (Tata Motors, Tata Unitech), Ashok Leyland, Kirloskar Bros, Ajanta Pharma, Sun Pharma, ShapoorjiPallonji, Kalpataru Power Transmission, KEC Ltd., Promac, SenegIndia etc are present in Senegal.

    In order to increase awareness about business opportunities between India and Senegal and to inform about the opportunities available under our LoCs, this mission has organized four business events in Senegal (two in Dakar, one in Kaolack and one in Kedougou) since January 2018. The embassy of India also put up a KVIC Stall in the 27th edition of the annual trade event Dakar International Trade Fair (FIDAK) from November 29, 2018, to December 16, 2018.

    Recently, former Vice President of India, Venkaiah Naidu also made his visit to Senegal during his three-nation visit. During his visit to Senegal, Naidu signed three MoUs with the West African country to further deepen bilateral partnership in various areas. 

  • Union minister V Muraleedharan, opposition face-off at seminar on democracy

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Union minister V Muraleedharan on Friday made a slew of suggestions to opposition parties, including on internal democracy and promoting talent, at a seminar and left soon citing “pressing engagements”, sparking protests from other participants.

    The Minister of State for External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs was speaking at a seminar ‘Challenges Before Democracy’ to celebrate the 86th birth anniversary of late M P Veerendra Kumar, a socialist leader and Chairman of the Mathrubhumi Media Group.

    The other speakers at the seminar were senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan, Congress spokesman Pawan Khera, RJD leader Manoj Kumar Jha, CPI(M) leader John Brittas, BJP leader Swapan Dasgupta and activist Yogendra Yadav.

    “In the present context, the opposition feels that any achievement of India will go into the account of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and hence it chooses not to applaud it. Is it good for democracy,” Muraleedharan asked.

    In his 30-minute speech, mostly in Malayalam, Muraleedharan said in a democracy everyone has the right to criticise, but in his home state Kerala, a person could be put in jail for criticising the chief minister.

    In an apparent jibe at the Congress, he said people protest on the roads across the country saying ‘democracy is in peril’ when central government agencies summon a person for questioning following the due process of the law.

    As Muraleedharan began to leave, Khera and Yadav asked him to at least hear the opposition response to the points he had raised in his speech.

    “You call this democracy when the government is not ready to listen to what we have to say? This is not acceptable,” Khera said.

    In his keynote speech, Bhushan said the role of money power in democracy had increased manifold with the introduction of electoral bonds, removal of limit on contributions to political parties by big corporations and allowing subsidiaries of foreign companies to make donations to political parties.

    He also referred to lack of access to justice, delay in court cases and not having competent judges also posed challenges before democracy.

    “If we have to reclaim democracy there will have to be a very robust citizen’s movement across the country. That movement will have to create its own media organisation that can be used by citizens to spread the right information,” Bhushan said.

    “Our republic has been brought to the brink and if we do not rise to the challenge the situation will become irretrievable,” he said.

    Khera said Congress alone will not be able to fight this battle to reclaim democracy without the participation of the civil society or the media.

    Jha, the Rajya Sabha member from RJD, said the real challenge was not to realise that there were challenges to democracy in the country.

    Yadav, who heads Swaraj Abhiyan, said when solemn memorial lectures are used to score petty political points one realises something was really wrong with democracy.

    NEW DELHI: Union minister V Muraleedharan on Friday made a slew of suggestions to opposition parties, including on internal democracy and promoting talent, at a seminar and left soon citing “pressing engagements”, sparking protests from other participants.

    The Minister of State for External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs was speaking at a seminar ‘Challenges Before Democracy’ to celebrate the 86th birth anniversary of late M P Veerendra Kumar, a socialist leader and Chairman of the Mathrubhumi Media Group.

    The other speakers at the seminar were senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan, Congress spokesman Pawan Khera, RJD leader Manoj Kumar Jha, CPI(M) leader John Brittas, BJP leader Swapan Dasgupta and activist Yogendra Yadav.

    “In the present context, the opposition feels that any achievement of India will go into the account of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and hence it chooses not to applaud it. Is it good for democracy,” Muraleedharan asked.

    In his 30-minute speech, mostly in Malayalam, Muraleedharan said in a democracy everyone has the right to criticise, but in his home state Kerala, a person could be put in jail for criticising the chief minister.

    In an apparent jibe at the Congress, he said people protest on the roads across the country saying ‘democracy is in peril’ when central government agencies summon a person for questioning following the due process of the law.

    As Muraleedharan began to leave, Khera and Yadav asked him to at least hear the opposition response to the points he had raised in his speech.

    “You call this democracy when the government is not ready to listen to what we have to say? This is not acceptable,” Khera said.

    In his keynote speech, Bhushan said the role of money power in democracy had increased manifold with the introduction of electoral bonds, removal of limit on contributions to political parties by big corporations and allowing subsidiaries of foreign companies to make donations to political parties.

    He also referred to lack of access to justice, delay in court cases and not having competent judges also posed challenges before democracy.

    “If we have to reclaim democracy there will have to be a very robust citizen’s movement across the country. That movement will have to create its own media organisation that can be used by citizens to spread the right information,” Bhushan said.

    “Our republic has been brought to the brink and if we do not rise to the challenge the situation will become irretrievable,” he said.

    Khera said Congress alone will not be able to fight this battle to reclaim democracy without the participation of the civil society or the media.

    Jha, the Rajya Sabha member from RJD, said the real challenge was not to realise that there were challenges to democracy in the country.

    Yadav, who heads Swaraj Abhiyan, said when solemn memorial lectures are used to score petty political points one realises something was really wrong with democracy.

  • Nupur Sharma row hasn’t affected India’s ties with Middle East: MoS External Affairs V Muraleedharan

    By Express News Service

    COIMBATORE: The controversy over expelled BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma’s remarks about Prophet Mohammed has not affected India’s relations with Middle-Eastern countries, Union Minister of State for External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs V Muraleedharan said on Thursday.

    Addressing media persons on the sidelines of a lecture meeting in a city college, Muraleedharan said, “The relationship between India and Middle East countries is in no way affected because of the recent incident. Good relationship is being maintained with them. Those countries understand India’s stand.”

    Earlier, delivering a speech on India’s success story in foreign policy in PM Narendra Modi’s era, the minister said that the PM protects not just people living in India, but also the diaspora. 

    “The government of India always makes efforts to protect people of Indian origin who live all over the world. In the last two and half years, we have seen the global pandemic situation and the recent war between Ukraine and Russia,” he pointed out.

    “During the period, the government ensured safe evacuation of thousands of people from Ukraine through Operation Ganga. Besides, the government evacuated Indian citizens and Indian origin and foreign nationals from Afghanistan through Operation Devi Shakti. Operation Vande Bharat helped several thousands return home during the pandemic,” he added.

    Referring to the economic crisis in Sri Lanka, he said, “India provides regular assistance such as financial, energy security, fuel, medicines, food materials, commodities, etc. These reach every Sri Lankan in a balanced way including the Tamil-speaking Sri Lankan citizen.”

    We won’t interfere in AIADMK’s affairs: Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai

    COIMBATORE: BJP State president K Annamalai on Thursday said his party will not interfere in the internal affairs of AIADMK, which is facing calls for unitary leadership. Annamalai said this while addressing media persons in the city.

    Alleging that Tamil Nadu police are puppets at the hands of the CM, he appealed to him to focus on improving the law & order situation in the State rather than blame the Centre. He demanded that the State government release a white paper on Tangedco’s agreement with a private power generation company.

  • Team of eight ministers defends Modi government, calls for action against ‘unruly’ Opposition MPs

    By Express News Service

    NEW DELHI:  With the Opposition hitting the street over Wednesday’s Rajya Sabha ruckus, the government fielded a team of eight Union ministers on Thursday who alleged that the agitating MPs had attempted to strangulate a woman marshal in the upper House, while calling for stringent action against the erring members.

    Union ministers Pralhad Joshi (Parliamentary Affairs), Piyush Goyal (Commerce and Textile), Anurag Thakur (Information and Broadcasting), Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi (Minority Affairs), Bhupender Yadav (Environment and Labour), Arjun Ram Meghwal (MoS, Parliamentary Affairs), Dharmendra Pradhan (Education)  and V Muraleedharan (MoS, External Affairs) were pressed into service by the government.

    “Marshals do not belong to any party. They are for the security of the House, Chair and members. But attempts were made to strangulate a woman marshal. The MPs stood on the table of the reporters. Some of them threw rule books at the Chair, which could have even hurt if they hit the presiding officer or the secretary general. This is unprecedented and unruly behaviour, which requires a thorough probe and stringent action,” said Goyal.

    “A lady marshal was manhandled by opposition MPs. Opposition’s behaviour in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday was a new low for parliamentary democracy. Opposition’s approach of my way or highway is highly condemnable,” he added further.

    Rejecting the opposition’s allegations that people were brought from outside the Parliament, Goyal, who is also leader of the house, said there were 30 marshals in the Rajya Sabha at the time of ruckus, 18 men and 12 women.

    “No one from outside was brought in,” he said, adding he and the group of ministers met Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the House and made an earnest appeal that the strongest possible action should be taken against the opposition MPs for their deplorable behaviour and manhandling marshals.

    Trouble in the upper House unfolded after the Insurance Amendment Bill was taken up for discussion and passage in the Rajya Sabha, with scores of marshals throwing a ring around the reporters’ table and the Chair. Joshi said they had called on Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu and demanded a probe.

    “The Opposition should apologise to the country for their actions in Rajya Sabha. We demand a special committee be constituted to look into all aspects of the unruly behaviour of the Opposition MPs. Actions which may deter a repeat in future should be taken against the erring MPs,” said Goyal.

    The tumultuous Monsoon session of Parliament was curtailed by two days on Wednesday, after opposition MPs jostled with marshals in the well of the house when they were trying to move towards the chair and the treasury benches.

    Echoing similar sentiments, Joshi said a strongest action is must against those who broke the rules.

    It was predecided by the Congress and its friendly allies that Parliament should not be allowed to function in the monsoon session, Joshi alleged.

    Talking about ruckus in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, he said, “Yesterday morning, we were literally threatened that if you dared to pass more bills after passage of the OBC bill there will be more damage.

    ” Referring to an incident when an opposition leader was seen above a table inside the upper house, Thakur said the secretary general’s table in Rajya Sabha is not meant for dancing and protesting.

    He alleged that “anarchy from streets to Parliament” was the Opposition’s only agenda during the monsoon session.

    He demanded that the Opposition must apologise to the nation for its disruptive behaviour during the monsoon session.

    Earlier in the day, a group of union ministers, including Joshi, Goyal and Naqvi, called on Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairperson M Venkaiah Naidu at his official residence here.

    Separately, a group of opposition leaders also met Naidu and complained against the alleged heckling of MPs including some women.

    The ministers, on the other hand, are believed to have complained against the alleged unruly behaviour of some opposition members in the House on Wednesday.

    On Wednesday, Naidu broke down over the ruckus in the House and equated the act of some opposition MPs to “sacrilege in the temple of democracy”.

    Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla was also likely to meet Vice President Naidu in the evening.

    Leaders of several opposition parties on Thursday marched in protest against the government on several issues, including Pegasus, farm laws, and alleged manhandling of their MPs in Rajya Sabha, with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi saying the voice of people was crushed in Parliament and democracy was “murdered”.

    Top leaders of several opposition parties met in the chamber of Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and then walked in protest from Parliament House to Vijay Chowk.

    Those who attended the meeting included Gandhi, Sharad Pawar, Kharge, Sanjay Raut, Tiruchi Siva, Manoj Jha and other opposition leaders.

    (With PTI Inputs)

  • WATCH | Union Minister V Muraleedharan’s convoy attacked in Bengal, BJP sees ‘Trinamool’ hand behind it

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan’s car was vandalised at Panchkuri village in West Midnapore district on Thursday while he was visiting the area in connection with alleged post-poll violence on saffron party workers.

    Muraleedharan alleged in a tweet that the “TMC goons” were behind the attack on his convoy.

    “I went to West Midnapore to meet party workers who have been attacked and their homes were vandalised. I was moving from one house to another with my convoy and then all of a sudden a group of people started charging towards us and attacked,” Muraleedharan said.

    “I am safe, but my driver was injured, few car windows were also smashed,” the minister told PTI.

    BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha who was accompanying the minister claimed that the attack took place despite the presence of the police personnel.

    TMC goons attacked my convoy in West Midnapore, broken windows, attacked personal staff. Cutting short my trip. #BengalBurning @BJP4Bengal @BJP4India @narendramodi @JPNadda @AmitShah @DilipGhoshBJP @RahulSinhaBJP pic.twitter.com/b0HKhhx0L1
    — V Muraleedharan (@VMBJP) May 6, 2021

    An officer of Kotwali police station in West Midnapore said that they are probing into the incident of the attack on the minister’s convoy.

    “It happened at around 12. 30 pm today when some unidentified people attacked the minister’s convoy,” he said.

    No one has been detained or arrested so far, the police officer said.

    BJP president JP Nadda on Thursday condemned the attack and claimed that “TMC-sponsored” violence was in full swing in state after the assembly poll results were declared.

    Condemning the attack, Nadda alleged that law and order has completely collapsed in West Bengal.

    “If an Union minister can be attacked then what would be the condition of common man?” he posed.

    “TMC-sponsored violence is in full swing in West Bengal after assembly elections in the state,” the BJP president alleged.

    He also claimed, “Murderous attacks on BJP workers, rapes happening in West Bengal and people in thousands are fleeing to save lives.

    ALSO WATCH:

  • ‘They combined these two words again’: Salman Khurshid hits out at BJP on ‘Love Jihad’

    By ANI
    KOCHI: Reacting to Union minister of state for external affairs V Muraleedharan’s statement that the NDA would bring a law against Love Jihad in Kerala, former Union Minister and Congress leader Salman Khurshid asked why the BJP has combined the words “love” and “jihad” apparently without understanding their meaning.

    Khurshid said, “I don’t know whether BJP members understand the English language. Do they know what is Jihad? And do they know what is love? They have combined these two words again.”

    Khurshid further said, “The Supreme Court has clarified in the case that they came from Kerala, clarified in cases that came from Madhya Pradesh and elsewhere. There is a right to autonomy and the right to dignity that every human being has. Every person under the Constitution has this right. And the implications of autonomy and equality and dignity. The implications of that can be seen in different cases on different facts. I am not quite sure that the judgment given by the Supreme Court has in any way endorsed what the BJP thinks.”

    “Frankly, who would endorse something the BJP thinks, because one doesn’t know on they think. I don’t know what they mean by it. What is it I wish they would explain. And one could disabuse them and say I am sorry but this is all you are talking about. Reality is completely different,” he said.

    On the NDA’s promise to bring a law to protect the traditions of Sabarimala, he said, “Sabarimala is as we all know an extremely important and sensitive subject. This subject is one on which the Supreme Court’s constitutional bench pronounced its judgement. Curiously, it was the only woman judge, Justice Malhotra who dissented and said the constitutional morality of our constitution doesn’t permit interference whereas four judges said that interference was justified.”

    “This is something that one can simply say it is the final word although there is four-judge majority in this. I think it has become more apparent that the way people have responded that this is not the final word. This is not the only area in which there is difficulty in how we and society perceive our traditional rights what we associate as being religious rights and the manner in which moral cause has sometimes interpreted has not been relevant,” the Congress leader said.

    He further said, “This is not something you should exploit for an election. This is a very important sensitive thing on which people may have to separate views. But the fact that you have a separate view shouldn’t mean that you should insult the view of the other side or that you should consider that to be relevant.”

    “I personally think and I believe all sensible people will say this. Sabarimala is the problem with we all have to internalise and find an ultimate working solution. It is not that something you should exploit for the purpose of an election and reduce it to slogans,” he added.

    The BJP has supported the remark of Kerala Congress (M) chief Jose K Mani who had said that the alleged ‘love jihad’ cases in Kerala should be studied and clarified if there is such suspicion.

    Speaking to ANI, Muraleedharan said BJP didn’t rake up the issue and the Christian community is worried about this. “BJP didn’t rake up the issue. This is an issue that has been there and alive in the society about which many community leaders had expressed their opinion. Christian community is worried about the issue that marriages are happening in the guise of love marriage ultimately aiming at conversion,” Muraleedharan said.

    “I would say Jose K Mani has raised worries and apprehensions of the Christian community. It is for mainstream parties to come out openly and express their opinions on the issue. BJP has responded to this and has come out openly to a live issue saying that there are apprehensions in minds of people and it should be addressed,” he said.

    State assembly elections for the 140-member Kerala will be held in a single phase on April 6. The counting of votes will take place on May 2.

  • India consistently calling upon Sri Lanka to fulfill aspirations of Tamil people: Govt in LS

    Jaishankar visited Sri Lanka in January and the Tamil issue figured in his meetings in Colombo.

  • Submit documents for passport online using new ‘digilocker’ service: V Muraleedharan

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: Minister of State for External Affairs, V Muraleedharan on Friday inaugurated the digilocker service for passport seva, enabling applicants to submit documents online.

    ​According to the minister, the move will benefit applicants as they will no longer be required to carry original documents at the time of application or renewal of passports.

    Documents which can be stored in the government e-locker or digilocker include Aadhaar card, driving licence, voter ID card, PAN verification record, arms licence, birth certificate, caste certificate, ration card, pension certificate, life insurance policy certificate, class X certificate, electricity and telephone bills.

    “To give further fillip to the citizen-centric approach, and to enhance passport service experience in a paperless mode, we have successfully integrated into digilocker platform of the Government. This would enable citizens to submit documents required for passport services through digilocker in a paperless mode. Now, they are not required to carry original documents,” Muraleedharan said.

    The minister said the government is working on the idea of including passport as one of the documents in the digilocker.

    “Moving forward, I am confident this will help citizens retrieve the passport whenever required. In case of loss of passport and while reissuance, this facility will be of great help,” he said, adding that enhanced security features for ePassport are in the pipeline to make it tamper proof.

    “In the coming years, biometric passports would help improve immigration processes at airports which are equipped with automatic e-Passport gates,” he said.

  • 7,139 Indian prisoners lodged in foreign jails: MEA

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: A total of 7,139 Indian prisoners, including undertrials, are lodged in various jails around the world, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday Saudi Arabia has the highest number of 1,599 Indian prisoners, followed by the United Arab Emirates with 898 and Nepal having 886 inmates, according to information provided by Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan in Rajya Sabha.

    “As per the information available with the ministry, the number of Indian prisoners in foreign jails as on December 31, 2020, is 7,139, which also includes undertrials,” he said responding to a question.

    He said due to strong privacy laws prevailing in many countries, the local authorities do not share information on prisoners unless the person concerned consents to the disclosure of such details.

    “Even countries which share information do not generally provide detailed information about the foreign nationals imprisoned,” he said.

    Muraleedharan said Indian missions and posts abroad remain vigilant and closely monitor incidents of Indian nationals being put in jail for alleged violation of local laws.

    “Missions and posts also maintain a local panel of lawyers where Indian community is in sizable numbers,” he added.

    According to the details provided by the minister, 548 Indians are languishing in jails in Malaysia and 536 are lodged in Kuwaiti prisons.