To Avoid FATF Blacklist, Pak Sanctions 88 Terror Groups

In a bid to avoid a demotion from the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) grey list to the blacklist during the upcoming October plenary meeting, Pakistan on Friday imposed sanctions on more than 88 terrorists associated with different terrorist groups, including Daesh, al-Qaida, and Taliban, Pakistan media reported.

According to the details, the government has also seized the bank accounts and properties of the terrorists in the country. They have also been banned from traveling aboard, Ary News reported.

It is pertinent to mention here that the 88 terrorists were included in the terrorists’ list issued by the United Nations a few days back.

In a statement, the Foreign Office had said: “The sanctions are being implemented by Pakistan in compliance with the relevant UNSC resolutions and we hope that other countries will also follow suit.”

Earlier today, Prime Minister Imran Khan had chaired a meeting for reviewing the political, economic situation, and progress of the legislations related to the FATF action plan.

Pakistan is in the grey list since June 2018 and the government had given a final warning in February to complete the remaining action points by June 2020. The FATF extended the June deadline to September due to the spread of coronavirus that disrupted the FATF plenary meetings.

Earlier this month, Pakistan has submitted its initial draft report to the joint group of FATF, showing compliance of the remaining 13 points out of 27 action points pertaining to terror funding, ahead of the plenary meet scheduled for October, The News International reported on Tuesday.

Top official sources said that Pakistan would share its updated version of the progress report to the FATF review group in the first week of September. The first draft was sent to the FATF on August 6.

In July, Pakistan Financial Monitoring Unit director-general Lubna Farooq told the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance on Tuesday that the country is yet to comply with 13 conditions out of the 27-point Action Plan of the FATF including curbing terror financing, enforcement of the laws against the proscribed organizations and improving the legal systems.

The 13 conditions that remain unimplemented are related to curbing terror financing, enforcement of the laws against the proscribed organisations and improving the legal systems, Express Tribune reported.

Pakistan will have to demonstrate the effectiveness of sanctions including remedial actions to curb terrorist financing in the country; it will have to ensure improved effectiveness for terror financing of financial institutions with particular to banned outfits. It is yet to take action against illegal money or Value Transfer Services (MVTS) such as Hundi-Hawala.

Pakistan will have to place sanction regime against cash couriers. Pakistan will have to ensure logical conclusion from ongoing terror financing investigation of law enforcing agencies (LEAs) against banned outfits and proscribed persons. Pakistani authorities will have to ensure international cooperation based investigations and convictions against banned organisations and proscribed persons.

Seizure of properties of banned terror outfits and proscribed persons is another unfinished agenda. The conversion of madrassas to schools and health units into official formations is also needed to be demonstrated. (ANI)

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Watch – ‘No Smartphone, No Classes, Kids Play All Day’

LokMarg brings you a ground report from rural India, where in the absence of smartphones and computers, school children are unable to study amid Covid-19.

Our reporter Praveen Sharma visits rural households in Uttar Pradesh to find that a majority of students are unable to take advantage of online classes. Parents say they can ill-afford expensive phones or data. Result is most school children now idle away their time playing or running errands.

School teachers list out state government measures for distance learning as schools are yet to reopen. But poor households are unable to take their benefit. They are only waiting for the schools to reopen. Watch:

India’s Covid-19 Tally Crosses 29-Lakh Mark

India’s COVID-19 tally crossed the 29 lakh mark with the country reporting 68,898 cases in the last 24 hours, informed the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Friday.

The coronavirus cases in the country now stand at 29,05,824. The total cases are inclusive of 6,92,028 active cases and 21,58,947 patients who have been cured/discharged or have migrated.

983 deaths due to COVID-19 were reported in the last 24 hours across the country, taking the toll to 54,849.

As per the latest update by the Ministry, Maharashtra — the worst affected state — has a total of 1,62,806 active cases and 21,359 deaths due to COVID-19.

Tamil Nadu has a total of 53,283 active cases and 6,239 deaths while Andhra Pradesh has a total of 87,177 active cases and 3,001 deaths.

Karnataka has a total of 82,165 active cases and 4,429 deaths. Delhi’s active cases tally stands at 11,271 and 4,257 deaths.

The total number of samples tested up to 20th August is 3,34,67,237 including 8,05,985 samples tested yesterday, said the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Friday. (ANI)

West Think Tank Highlights Rights Abuse In Balochistan

In its report on the human rights situation in Balochistan, the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) has highlighted findings by the Pakistan Human Rights Commission’s (HRCP), that states that enforced disappearances and missing persons remain a recurrent feature in the region.

EPRS, the European Parliament’s in-house research department and think tank, underscored the precarious situation of religious and ethnic communities in Pakistan including the Shia Hazara Community, the Zikri Community, as well as the Hindu and Christian Communities.

In its June report EPRS quoted the HRCP to point out that the Shia Hazara community remains persecuted to the point that it has been “virtually ghettoized” in the city of Quetta.

“Target killings and other attacks have taken a major toll on the community. While the number of attacks has decreased over the last four or five years, there are still enough instances of targeted violence that compel them to live with a sense of perpetual fear,” the report quoted HRCP’s finding.

“The HRCP’s team met representatives of the Hindu and Christian communities in Quetta and with representatives of the Hindu community in Gwadar to assess the situation of religious minorities in Balochistan. Although there has been a decrease in the number of attacks against religious minorities in recent years, these communities continue to live with an inherent sense of far,” it added.

The think tank quoted Human Rights Watch’s 2020 report’s chapter on Pakistan to underscored that 2019 April attack on a passenger bus in Balochistan.

“On April 18 unidentified assailants forced 14 passengers to disembark from a passenger bus on the Makran Coastal Highway [in Balochistan] and then executed them. On May 12 2019, after militants attacked a hotel in Gwadar, Balochistan, killing 5 people, the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility,” the report mentioned.

As regards attacks on health workers, Human Rights Watch reported that “On April 30 [2019], two unidentified assailants killed a female polio worker in Chaman, Balochistan. The vaccination campaign resumed after the government launched an awareness campaign and asked social media platforms to remove anti-vaccine content.”

EPRS said the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) in March “expressed its concern over reports of the provincial government of Balochistan, Pakistan targeting Hazara Shi’a for the spread of coronavirus.

The think tank also quoted the 2019 Report on International Religious Freedom, published by the US Department of State June 10, in its section on Pakistan, said that “armed sectarian groups connected to organizations banned by the government as extremist, as well as groups designated as terrorist organizations by the United States and other governments, continued to stage attacks targeting Shia Muslims, including the predominantly Shia Hazara community”. (ANI)

Lung Scarring Found In Covid-19 Death Cases

Ten post-mortem examinations performed on patients with confirmed COVID-19 found that all patients had lung injuries and early scarring of the lungs as a result of the virus, as well as injury to their kidneys.

Nine patients also had thrombosis – a blood clot, in at least one major organ (heart, lung or kidney). The team was unable to investigate thrombosis in the tenth patient.

The research team behind the study believe that the findings could help guide clinicians on treating complications as a result of COVID-19, such as using blood thinners to prevent blood clots from developing. They also hope that a better understanding of the key complications in severe cases could help clinicians develop new ways to monitor and treat the disease.

The study, published in The Lancet Microbe, was led by researchers at Imperial College London and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. Although the number of patients examined is small, this is the largest study to date of post-mortem examinations on COVID-19 patients in England.

Dr Michael Osborn, Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer at Imperial College London, Consultant Pathologist at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and co-author of the study, said: “COVID-19 is a new disease and we have only had limited opportunities to comprehensively analyse tissues from patients at autopsy, to better understand what caused a patient’s illness and death for research purposes.

Our study is the first of its kind in the country to support existing theories from researchers and doctors on the wards that lung injuries, thrombosis, and immune cell depletion are the most prominent features in severe cases of COVID-19. In the patients we looked at, we also saw evidence of kidney injuries and in some cases, pancreatitis, and these with our other findings will help clinicians develop new strategies to manage patients. ??”Autopsy based analysis of COVID-19 for research is vital to learn more about this disease as the pandemic develops. We are extremely grateful to those who consented to this research and appreciate the advancement of medical science their generosity will bring.

As a result of our work, we have worked with colleagues at the Royal College of Pathologists to produce national guidelines for autopsies in COVID-19 patients and in anticipation of a possible second wave of cases we have put systems in place to rapidly facilitate further studies in the future and so further our understanding on the nature and cause of the disease, which we hope would lead to more effective treatments and fewer deaths.”

Dr Brian Hanley, from the Department of Cellular Pathology at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and co-author of the study, added:

“The UK has sadly had a large number of deaths related to COVID-19. The search for effective treatments will rely on an understanding of how the disease affects the body. The post-mortem examination is vital in this respect. The findings in this study support research from other autopsy groups worldwide and in the UK that describe the structural damage to organs caused by COVID-19. It also documents several unexpected complications. This increased understanding of COVID-19 can help clinical teams with the management of severe cases and also monitor and treat further complications as a result of the disease.”

During the lockdown period, researchers nationally had very limited opportunities to carry out post mortem examinations for research purposes on patients who died from the disease. The team wanted to see whether they can glean new insights on how the virus infects the cells of the body by studying tissue samples from patients who died as a result of severe COVID-19.

The team performed full post-mortem examinations and biopsies on ten patients aged 22-97 at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust hospitals during March-June. Full consent for post mortem with widespread tissue sampling and use of the tissue for research was sought from the relatives and friends of the deceased in line with national protocols. Seven of the patients were men and four were women. Six of the patients were from a BAME background and four patients were white.

In the patients studied, high blood pressure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease – the name for a group of lung conditions that cause breathing difficulties – were the most common contributing factors to death. All patients developed a fever and had at least two respiratory symptoms such as cough and shortness of breath during the early stages of the disease. Most patients died within three weeks of presenting with symptoms and treatments varied across the cohort.

The study team also reported six main findings:

-All patients had diffuse alveolar damage (DAD). DAD is a term used to describe a pattern of lung injury which can be seen as a result of viral infection. This type of lung injury can affect both gas exchange (oxygen and carbon dioxide) and blood flood in the lungs.

-All patients fully assessed nine of the ten patients had some form of thrombosis- a blood clot – in at least one major organ (it was not possible to investigate thrombosis in the tenth patient). Thrombosis prevents blood from flowing normally through the circulatory system and can lead to strokes and heart attacks.

The researchers found thrombi in the lungs of eight patients, the heart of five patients, and the kidneys of four patients. They believe that this supports the theory that COVID-19 causes circulatory complications and that patient treatment could be augmented with blood-thinning medication to prevent blood clots. – All patients had evidence of acute renal tubular injury – a kidney injury that can lead to kidney failure or damage. The main causes are low blood flow to the kidneys and severe infections. It often affects patients who are in hospital and intensive care units.

-T-Lymphocyte Depletion (TLD) in the spleen and the lymph nodes was another consistent finding. T-lymphocytes (white blood cells) are a major component of the immune system and play a role in destroying infections. TLD is a reduction in T-lymphocytes, which alters the immune system and its response. Haemophagocytosis is another consistent finding in this group, which occurs when the immune system overreacts to an infection and destroys some of its own cells.

-The researchers found evidence of acute pancreatitis in two of the patients. Acute pancreatitis is a condition where the pancreas becomes inflamed. It can be treated with fluids into the veins but in some cases can develop into serious complications and cause organ failure. Damage to the pancreas in COVID-19 patients has not been reported before but it is not clear in this study whether the pancreatitis was related to COVID-19 infection or other causes.

-The researchers also found evidence of rare fungal infection, in one of the patients, called Mucormycosis. Mucormycosis is an infection that may spread through the bloodstream to affect another part of the body. Severe infections can involve the lungs, brain, and other organs including the kidneys, spleen, and heart.

The team is working with a range of research groups both nationally and internationally to perform more detailed analyses of these tissues and is hoping that this research will expand to include a wider range of patients. (ANI)

Jitan Manjhi Quits Grand Alliance Ahead Of Bihar Polls

In a setback to `mahagathbandhan’ ahead of assembly elections in Bihar, Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) led by former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi has decided to snap ties with it.

Manjhi’s son and MLC Santosh Suman on Thursday said that the party workers were ignored by the grand alliance members.

“We decided to fight for their rights by leaving the alliance. We haven’t decided the future course of action, we’ll talk to our workers and our senior leaders will discuss. We might contest the election on our own or forge a new alliance. There can be a third front too,” Suman said.

He said they were ignored in the grand alliance.

“They thought we have no potential. How long would we have tolerated? I do not think there was a meeting of senior leaders of the alliance in the last one and one-and-a-half years. It was detrimental for the welfare of poor,” Suman told ANI.

“The alliance partners of mahagathbandhan have another agenda. They do not think of the welfare of the poor. They do not talk about the development of Bihar hence we decided to fight for the rights of poor and marginalized separately,” he said.

Asked if HAM will be part of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the state, Suman said no decision has been taken.

“We have not decided it, whether we will join NDA or not. It is not yet decided where we will go. Politics has several possibilities and we will take decisions in the coming days,” he said.

The grand alliance in Bihar includes Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress, Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) and Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP).

The term of present assembly is scheduled to end on November 29 and assembly polls are likely to be held in October-November.

The Election Commission has not yet taken a call on poll dates in Bihar amid the conditions created by coronavirus pandemic. (ANI)

AAP To Contest Uttarakhand Assembly Polls In 2022

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said the Uttarakhand Vidhan Sabha (Legislative Assembly) elections in February 2022 will be fought and won by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on the issues of improved education, healthcare and employment.

“In the 2022 Vidhan Sabha elections, we will advocate for three main issues — employment, education and healthcare. The current government has failed to give jobs to the people, which is why so many people migrate to other states. The condition of government schools and hospitals in Uttarakhand is terrible and private institutions are exploitative. We will win all 70 seats and create a new Uttarakhand model of governance just like we did in Delhi,” Kejriwal told ANI.

He added, “In the last three months, while we were battling the COVID-19 pandemic, many people from Uttarakhand who live in Delhi came to me and requested the AAP to contest the elections in Uttarakhand. They wanted the same government and mohalla clinic healthcare system. We conducted a survey in Uttarakhand to know how the party would be received if we contested the elections there and around 62 per cent voted in our favour.”

Kejriwal further said despite not having a large organisation in Uttarakhand he believed that they would win the election as the people had lost all hope in the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

“The Congress and BJP have had multiple chances to prove themselves. After so many years, the people of the state have lost all hope in them. Even if AAP doesn’t have a large organisation, we will fight the election on hope. We believe that 1 crore people will come out to vote, not for Aam Aadmi Party or Arvind Kejriwal, but for the future of their children,” he added. (ANI)

Pakistan’s Diplomatic Downfall, Internal Implosion

Unable to arrange a face-to-face meeting with Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Suleiman of Saudi Arabia, the high-powered delegation led by Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Bajwa and ISI chief has returned empty-handed to Islamabad.

In addition to the humiliation caused by failing to gain an audience with the Crown Prince, the Saudi government also cancelled its decision to honour General Bajwa, a promise that was made by the Islamic Kingdom just a few months earlier.

The trip of the Pakistani generals to Saudi Arabia comes after Saudi Arabia cancelled a USD 3.2 billion oil credit facility to Pakistan. In 2018, when Imran Khan ‘won’ the general elections, Saudi Arabia gave Pakistan a loan of USD 3 billion to help the latter with its balanced of payments crisis and issued the above-mentioned oil credit facility to Pakistan.

Saudi Arabia’s decision to cancel the oil credit facility to its Muslim brother country came after Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mahmoud Qureshi issued a statement literally threatening the Saudi led Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to convene an emergency special session on Kashmir or else he would call a meeting of like-minded Muslim ‘brother’ countries. This tantamount to splitting the Saudi led alliance.

The statement enraged the Saudis and in retaliation they cancelled the USD 3.2 billion oil credit facility and made a demand that Pakistan pays back USD 1 billion dollars that it already owes them. Pakistan had to beg China to lend her the money in order to pay Saudi Arabia. Since the abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution that gave the so-called special status to the former state of Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan has suffered an anti-India diplomatic knockout. Pakistan has isolated herself and the country has only itself to blame.

Defence analyst Major (R) Gaurav Arya says that in today’s global economic environment only a pluralistic approach would work. And rightly so. UAE and Israel establishing diplomatic and trade relations brokered by Donald Trump’s administration is testimony to the reality of pluralism in a cutthroat competitive global market. Regrouping of nation-states into new economic zones and partnerships requires new thinking and bold leadership.

Unfortunately, Pakistan is still entrapped in the obsolete political narrative of the Ottoman period and has failed to produce or even adapt to new patterns of thought and give birth to bold leadership. Pakistan and its politics is rooted in envy, dishonesty and deception and has cost her the trust of the global community.

Today, Pakistan is known for its hate of Hindus, being envious of a fast-developing India, for its corrupt and dishonest handling of foreign aid and its trickery and deception in dodging the global community in the fight to eliminate Taliban and other variants of Islamic Jihadist organisations such as Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, Hizbul Mujahideen, Jaish-e-Mohammad or the recently covert terrorist outfit The Resistance Front which Major (R) Gaurav Arya calls “secularisation of terrorism”.

The news regarding the establishment of diplomatic relations between UAE and Israel coincided with another important development. 10,000 Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) stationed in the Kashmir Valley have been directed by the Home Ministry to return to their bases in mainland India. This sends a strongmessage to the global community regarding the law and order improvement in the ill-fated region of the Kashmir Valley.

Since the abrogation of Article 370, peace has been re-established in the Valley at a more-than-expected fast pace. No bloodbath has taken place as previously predicted (read threatened) by Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Scores of sleeping terrorist cells have been busted in Srinagar and many jihadi infiltrators, as well as home-grown individual terrorists, have been eliminated in deadly encounters in which our jawans have also laid down their lives. And even more interestingly, (but mostly unreported in Indian media), people of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) have been holding protests against Pakistan almost every single day.

Daily protests are now the new norm in PoK. The political and social content of these protests range from demonstrations against long durations of load shedding in Palandri for instance, to demands for justice raised in Nakyal for Ejaz Abbasi, a senior PoK journalist who was beaten up at the Press Information Department (PID) in Islamabad a couple of weeks ago, to torch-bearing rallies in Muzafarabad against the diversion of Neelum-Jhelum River for Azad Patan and Kohala Hydropower Projects, both of which are part of the illegal CPEC agreement between Pakistan (read military) and China (read Communist Party-controlled corporations).

The CPEC is illegal because PoK is Indian territory occupied by Pakistan and the later cannot enter into any defence or economic agreement that include GB or PoK until and unless the territorial dispute between Pakistan and India is resolved and Pakistan withdraws its army from GB and PoK.

Similarly, in Pakistani-occupied GB, people are protesting against cuts in wheat subsidies, illegal land grab of green pastures in Nilter, land grab for a bus stand in Gilgit as well as for the illegal extension of Gilgit airport, lack of medical facilities in Hunza, Load shedding in Skardu, and so on and so forth.

The USD 14 billion Diamer-Bhasha Dam Hydroelectric project is another issue that has generated anxiety among the subjugated population of GB. The displaced people of the villages in and around the historic city of Chillas are awaiting the deceitful promise made by the Pakistan and Chinese companies to resettle them and pay compensation for loss of their ancestral home.

For every 25 people in GB, there is one Pakistani army personnel deployed. Only last month, Imran Khan approved of an additional 100 army platoons to be sent to Diamer district to protect the construction site of the dam.

Pakistan’s high handedness and arrogance is manifest in the fact that she does not even bother to consult the real stakeholders of CPEC or so-called developmental project that are being initiated in the occupied territory of GB or PoK. Therefore, in the coming weeks and months, conflict between PoK/GB and Pakistani establishment seems inevitable. This became evident when on August 5 this year Imran Khan went to address the puppet legislative assembly in PoK.

During his speech, a rebellious PoK Prime Minister Farooq Haider, demanded that Imran Khan and Pakistan grant PoK self-determination! He said, “The world will not listen to you (Pakistan), however, if we (PoK) were free and had autonomy then they themselves would take their case to the global community!” This came as a shock to the Pakistani establishment.

Likewise, the outgoing chief minister of GB Hafiz Hafeez Ur Rehman, has been complaining about Pakistan’s high handedness in dealing with pressing issues related to GB. Hence, Pakistan has lost the goodwill and the trust of its ‘Muslim’ brothers living under occupation in GB and PoK and they now seem desperate to find a solution to end their misery.

On the other hand, Pakistan is faced with an insurgency in Balochistan that is now turning into a civil war between the oppressed Baloch people and the barbaric Pakistani army. Similar, with the resurfacing of independence movement in Sindh reignited by peasant-based Sindhudesh Revolutionary Army; a previously non-violent nationalist, anti-feudal, anti-Pakistan sentiment is now gradually turning into an armed insurgency.

While this movement has managed to catch the imagination of the youth, more importantly, it has been able to attract the Sindhi urban lower-middle and working-class since urban-based Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) announced that it would join the struggle to free Sindh from Pakistani occupation.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhawa, Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) is becoming a focal for crusade against the atrocities of Pakistan military in the tribal areas. In Punjab, a witch-hunt against those who oppose domination of civil society by military and Islamic clergy is currently underway. Sackings of Professors Pervez Hoodbhoy and Ammar Ali Jaan of Quid-e-Azam University in Islamabad and FC College in Lahore respectively are fresh examples of state-sponsored repression in Punjab.

The new Tahafuz e Bunyaad e Islam (Protection of Fundamentals of Islam) bill passed by the Punjab assembly last month is seen as part of establishments’ attempts to impose censorship on print and spoken word. 100 books were banned immediately after the bill became an Act. More than 1,000 books are being scrutinised by the state to check if they meet the Wahhabi narrative of Islam. Hence cultural and intellectual genocide has begum in Punjab. Student and workers’ protesting and striking for better pay and health and safety facilities are now holding joint protest rallies in Lahore.

The recent visit to Saudi Arabia by Pakistan Army chief General Bajwa and DG ISI that ended up in humiliation will add to the feeling of alienation and haplessness among the common people in Punjab and PoK in particular and Pakistan in general. The failure of Imran Khan to provide 50 lakh houses and 10 million jobs, a GDP showing negative growth of minus 0.38 per cent and the persecution of political opponents are all perfect ingredients of a recipe for rebellion.

However, it is the recent visit of the Pakistan Army chief and DG ISI along with other top brass military officials and Pakistan’s perpetual failure in harnessing diplomatic support that could prove to be the last bale carrying the straw that will sink the ship.

The aftermath of the downward diplomatic spiral and the impending rebellion of Pakistani society can be summed up in Major (R) Gaurav Arya’s own words “an implosion of the synthetically manufactured country called Pakistan is neigh.”

The author who is a human rights activist from Mirpur in PoK. He currently lives in exile in the UK. (ANI)

Man Takes Son 85 Km On Cycle To Class 10 Exam Centre

Shobharam, a resident of Madhya Pradesh’s Dhar district travelled on a bicycle with his son for around 85 kilometres to ensure he appear for his Class 10 boards supplementary exam being conducted under the state government’s “Ruk Jana Nahin” scheme.

The man, who hails from Manawar Tehsil in Dhar district said he has no other choice as public transport was unavailable.

“I want my son to become something after completing his studies. There is no public transport in lockdown. I don’t have even a motorcycle so I have to cover the journey on a bicycle. I saved money for his form for the exam by doing ‘majdoori’ (daily wage work). I am a farmer but mostly do daily wage work,” Shobharam told ANI.

Shobharam’s son Ashish has to appear for his maths exam on Tuesday so they left their home on Monday afternoon. They spent the night in Mandav and reached the examination centre in Dhar a few minutes before the time.

Due to lack of accommodation in Dhar, they also kept three days’ food with them.

Ashish on Wednesday took the social science exam.

“I came on the bicycle as the buses were not operating. I took exams of maths and social science. I want to big officer. I also pedal the cycle for some distance,” he said.

Dhar District Magistrate Alok Singh said that the man could get some help if he had approached any official.

“The administration has made district headquarters as the centre of exams. If the person had approached tehsildar or any other official then he could have got some help. Many vehicles are also plying,” he said. (ANI)

Iran Names New Missile After Late Gen Soleimani

Iran on Thursday unveiled a new ballistic missile named after Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani, who was killed in a US drone strike in January.

The showcase took place in the run-up to National Defence Industry Day, which is observed on August 22.

During the event, broadcast by state television, Defence Minister Amir Hatami reported on Iran’s latest military achievements — in particular, the ballistic missile, dubbed Hajj Qasem Soleimani, and the cruise missile, called Abu Mahdi. The latter is named after Iraqi Shia militia deputy commander Abu Mahdi Muhandis, who was killed alongside Soleimani near Baghdad.

The Qasem Soleimani missile has a range of 1,400 kilometres, while the Abu Mahdi Muhandis missile hits targets at a range of 1,000 kilometres. The country has also demonstrated domestically-made drones.

In his address, President Hassan Rouhani noted the progress in the defence industry, saying that Iranian weapons must have high precision, sufficient destructive power and manoeuvrability.

He stressed that the national defence industry pursues a strategy of deterrence, rather than any offensive strategy and the country does not aim to occupy any territories or harm any nation. (ANI/Sputnik)