Malappuram (Kerala), Mar 25 (PTI) Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday said the slogans 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' and 'Jai Hind' were first raised by two Muslims and asked whether the Sangh Parivar would be ready to abandon them.

Reaching out to the minority community in this Muslim-dominated north Kerala district, the veteran CPI(M) leader said Muslim rulers, cultural icons and officials had played a significant role in the country's history and independence movement.

Aizawl, Mar 25 (PTI) Vanlalhmuaka, the BJP's candidate for the lone Lok Sabha seat in Mizoram, on Monday called upon the people of the state to change their perception of the saffron party.

He blamed rival parties in Mizoram for projecting BJP as a "communal" and "anti-Christian" party.

The BJP state unit president said that Mizoram should also "learn ways to collaborate with the NDA government at the Centre like other northeastern states to usher in more development".

BEIJING, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun met with Mao Sophan, deputy commander-in-chief of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces and commander of the Royal Cambodian Army, on Monday in Beijing, with the two sides pledging to further promote military cooperation.

Dong said the China-Cambodia friendship has continued to flourish over time and the building of the China-Cambodia community with a shared future has entered a new era of high quality, high level and high standard under the strategic guidance of the leaders of the two countries.

Singapore, Mar 25 (PTI) An "insensitive" post by the Embassy of Israel here that tried to make a political point citing the holy Quran has been taken down after the intervention by the government of Singapore.

The post on the Facebook page was made on Sunday.

24 March 2024; MEMO: An Israeli hostage in Gaza died due to a shortage of medicine and food, Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, said on Saturday, Anadolu reports.

“We announce the death of the Zionist captive Yejiv Bukhattaf, 34, due to shortages of medicine and food,” Al-Qassam stated via Telegram.

TEHRAN, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Somalia has released 33 Iranian fishermen and sailors imprisoned in the country, the official news agency IRNA reported on Sunday.

Ali Gholampour, Iran's ambassador to Kenya, said that the Iranians were being transferred to their home country by plane, stressing that Somalian officials had expressed readiness to the move towards the process of reviving ties with Iran after several years of diplomatic freeze, according to the IRNA.

23 March 2024; MEMO: China’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) Zhang Jun announced that the US-proposed draft resolution in the Security Council on the Middle East greenlights the continuation of killings in the Gaza Strip.

United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese shared that the crimes committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip since 7 October could preoccupy the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the next 50 years.

Singapore, Mar 24 (PTI) Russia is a country with which India has always had a positive relationship and both countries have taken extra care to look after each other's interests, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Sunday, as he dismissed the notion that Moscow is drifting towards China.

Interacting with the Indian community in Singapore, Jaishankar said India should look at its relationship with Russia or any other country from its perspective.

Colombo, Mar 24 (PTI) Sri Lanka’s former President Maithripala Sirisena will face police questioning on Monday on his recent remarks on the 2019 Easter Sunday suicide bombings that he was "aware” of the masterminds of the attacks that killed 270 people, including 11 Indians.

Sirisena, 72, was president between 2015 January and 2019 November. He had previously denied any knowledge of the attacks. Police chief Deshabandu Tennakoon told reporters on Sunday that Sirisena’s statement would be recorded on Monday.

Lahore, Mar 23 (PTI) Observing the 93rd death anniversary of independence war heroes -- Bhagat Singh, Raj Guru and Sukh Dev -- here on Saturday, their supporters and followers demanded to reopen the case to ensure justice to them like it was done in the case of former prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.

British rulers on March 23, 1931, hanged Bhagat Singh along with Raj Guru and Sukh Dev at Shadman Chowk here after trying them under the charge of hatching a conspiracy against the regime.

New Delhi, Mar 24 (PTI) The opposition INDIA bloc will hold a "maha rally" at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan on March 31 to safeguard the country's interests and democracy, AAP leader Gopal Rai said on Sunday.

The announcement comes after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal (55) was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday from his official residence in connection with an excise policy-linked money-laundering case. A court on Friday sent the AAP national convenor to the central agency's custody till March 28.