[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] good morning, everyone. Welcome to the Atlantic Council. Im paula dobriansky, im on the executive committee of the Atlantic Council board and i would want to commend the councils Eurasia Center for todays program which is entitled the state of human rights and putins russia. As many of you know the center has been extremely active and a vigorous voice on a range of issues from russias disinformation to the issue of ukraine, the scale and scope of the aggression in ukraine and the illegal annexation of crimea. Todays forum is particularly timing. Russia has experienced the worst crack that in human rights in decades. And we have three keynote speakers who will be up first, and all of whom are making a difference in their own way. Their strong, outspoken advocates for freedom and basic human rights in russia. Im going to introduce the first three and then will be having a panel afterwards which will be moderate
Pakistan will not allow any temporary setback in Indo-Pakistan ties owing to current difficulties caused by Indian “interference” in its internal affairs to come in the way of the ongoing process of normalisation of relations between the two countries, according to President Zia-ul-Haq.
A key demand of the dissenters in the party to constitute the congress parliamentary board has been accepted as a suggestion at the party's big meet in Rajasthan. The suggestion now needs the approval of the Congress Working Committee.
Dissenters question tie up with ‘communalists’ in Bengal
Days after a show of strength by a section of the Congress group of dissenters (the “G-23”) in Jammu, a key member of the group, Anand Sharma, on Monday lashed at out at his party for having an alliance with the Indian Secular Front (ISF) party in West Bengal, and asserted that the poll tie-up “militates against Congress ideology”.
On Sunday, West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who is also the party’s leader in the Lok Sabha, had shared a stage with Left leaders and ISF founder Abbas Siddiqui of Furfura Sharief at a public rally of the grand alliance.
Senior Congress leaders Anand Sharma, former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Kapil Sibbal, Raj Babbar, Vivek Tankha, were also present at the event.