India decides to temporarily relocate embassy from Ukraine to Poland
New Delhi, Mar 13: India has decided to temporarily relocate its embassy in Ukraine to Poland in view of the rapidly deteriorating security situation in the war-torn country including the Russian military offensive in its western region.
The decision comes as Russian troops are closing in on key Ukrainian cities and towns including the capital Kyiv.
"In view of the rapidly deteriorating security situation in Ukraine, including attacks in the western parts of the country, it has been decided that the Indian Embassy in Ukraine will be temporarily relocated to Poland," the Ministry of External Affairs said.
"The situation will be reassessed in the light of further developments," it said in a brief statement.
A significant number of officials in the Indian embassy in Kyiv was already working from its camp office in Lviv for the last few days.
The camp office of the embassy was set up in Lviv as part of efforts to evacuate Indian citizens from Ukraine through land border crossings.
Lviv is a city in western Ukraine that is around 70 kilometres from the border with Poland.
India brought back over 18,100 of its nationals from across Ukraine under its evacuation mission 'Operation Ganga' that was launched on February 26 in the wake of the war in Ukraine.
India evacuated its nationals from Romania, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Moldova after they crossed over to these countries from Ukraine through land border transit points.
Ukraine had closed its airspace for civilian aircraft after Russia began the military operation.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security that reviewed India's security preparedness, and the prevailing global scenario in the context of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
An official statement said Modi was briefed on the latest developments in Ukraine, including the details of Operation Ganga to evacuate Indian nationals, along with some citizens of India's neighbouring countries, from Ukraine.
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Malaysian Indian sentenced to jail and caning for raping Indonesian woman in Singapore
Singapore (PTI): An Indian-origin Malaysian man was sentenced in Singapore to 12 years' jail and 12 strokes of the cane for raping a domestic worker outside a train station after tricking her into thinking that he was a police officer.
Sharveen Chetty, 48, pleaded guilty on February 4 to one charge of raping the 35-year-old Indonesian woman in the bushes outside Exit F of a subway, Little India Mass Rapid Transit station, at about 8pm on July 11, 2022.
The victim was with her friends at the time, but Chetty lured her away before he sexually assaulted her, according to a report by The Straits Times on Thursday.
Two other charges – a second rape charge and a charge of impersonating a police officer – were taken into consideration during sentencing on Wednesday.
The witnesses who testified on the first day of the trial included a doctor from Women’s and Children’s Hospital who examined the victim a day after the rapes, and forensic scientists from the Health Sciences Authority.
Chetty had initially contested the charges in a High Court trial that began on February 3. But he changed his mind and pleaded guilty on what would have been the second day of the trial, according to the daily report.
In sentencing, Justice Dedar Singh Gill considered it aggravating that Chetty had targeted the victim because she was a foreigner who might be unfamiliar with the local authorities.
The judge rejected the defence's arguments that the rape was not premeditated.
The judge, however, noted that Chetty had pleaded guilty before the victim and key prosecution witnesses testified, thus sparing her and her friends from going through cross-examination.
The prosecution had sought a sentence of between 11 and 13 years’ jail and 12 strokes of the cane, noting Chetty’s extensive efforts to disguise himself, and his predatory act of leading the victim away from the rest of the group.
Chetty admitted that he became sexually attracted to the victim.
