Foreign Ministers of Iran, Australia, Japan on India visit
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif who is on a three-day visit to India met Union Minister of Road, Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday.
Mr. Zarif's meeting with Mr. Gadkari assumes significance in the wake of a collaboration between the two countries along with Afghanistan on the operationalisation of the strategically-located Chabahar port.
According to the MEA, apart from Zarif, Foreign Ministers of Japan and Australia — Taro Kono and Marise Payne — are also visiting India.
Ceremonial reception to Norwegian Prime Minister
Prime Minister Narendra Modi greets Norway's Prime Minister Erna Solberg during a ceremonial reception Rashtrapati Bhawan, in New Delhi on Tuesday, January 8, 2018.
The visiting Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg was accorded a ceremonial reception at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Tuesday.
Ms. Solberg Monday lauded her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi's "everyday, normal life politics" that dealt with direct problems of the people as she cited the example of Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan.
She said the campaign might seem "not-so-visionary, not up in the skies" but it is needed to solve the sustainable development challenges because sanitation is an extremely important issue.
Shutdown against Citizenship Bill in Northeast
Deserted look of the new and old Saraighat bridges which connect northeast with rest of the country, during the state-wide bandh call given by All-Assam Students’ Union (AASU) and 30 other organisations to protest against the scheduled tabling of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 in Guwahati on Tuesday, 8 January 2019.
The north-eastern states shut down on Tuesday against the “anti-indigenous people” Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 that the Union Cabinet cleared on Monday for approval by the Parliament.
The All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) had first announced an 11-hour shutdown against the Bill, its first such call in more than a decade. The North East Students’ Organisation and state-based students’ bodies in the other north-eastern states joined in while political parties such as Congress and All India United Democratic Front supported the call.
Central Trade Unions begin strike
Supporters of the general strike squatting in front of the Raptisagar Express at the Thiruvananthapuram Central Railway station on Tuesday.
Central Trade Unions Tuesday began a two-day nationwide strike to protest against the government’s alleged anti-worker policies and unilateral labour reforms.
“The strike is quite visible in Assam, Meghalaya, Karnataka, Manipur Bihar, Rajasthan, Goa, Punjab, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Haryana -- particularly in the targeted industrial areas and different mines,” Amarjeet Kaur, General Secretary of All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), said.
Kim Jong-un visits China
A vehicle that is part of a motorcade that is believed to be carrying North Korean leader Kim Jong Un makes its way through central Beijing, China, January 8, 2019.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is visiting China at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, only days after warning he may take an alternative path if the United States does not ease sanctions and pressure on his isolated country.
The visit, confirmed by North Korean and Chinese state media, will likely lead to Mr. Kim's fourth summit with Mr. Xi in the last year and comes amid plans for a second summit with Mr. Trump aimed at denuclearising the Korean peninsula.
Carlos Ghosn asserts innocence
Motonari Otsuru (left) chief lawyer of the legal team for former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn, other members of the legal team, lawyers Go Kondo and Masato Oshikubo sit in a courtroom ahead of a court hearing on a case of Ghosn at the Tokyo District Court in Tokyo Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2019.
The former chairman of Japan’s Nissan, Carlos Ghosn, appeared in court on Tuesday and asserted his innocence while demanding the reason for his prolonged detention.
The hearing was Ghosn’s first public appearance since his Nov. 19 arrest.
Ghosn, appearing in a dark suit without a tie and wearing plastic slippers and looking thinner than he had before his arrest, denied any wrongdoing.
“Your honor, I am innocent of the accusations against me,” he said. “I am wrongfully accused,” he said, reading from a prepared statement.
