Month: March 2022

Justice (Retd) Harish Chandra Mishra took oath as the Lokayukta of the Delhi government on Wednesday.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal were present at his swearing-in ceremony.

A retired judge of the Jharkhand High Court, Justice Harish Chandra Mishra, has been appointed Lokayukta of the Delhi government for five years. The post had been lying vacant since December 2020. (ANI)

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday again criticized the BJP-led central government for supporting Vivek Agnihotri’s latest directorial ‘The Kashmir Files’ saying that the situation of Kashmiri Pandits would have been different if the party had done something for them in the past eight years.

The PDP president also said that everyone faced atrocities in Jammu and Kashmir.

“In Jammu and Kashmir, everyone faced atrocities. If the BJP and the PM had done something for the Kashmiri Pandits the way they are promoting the film (The Kashmir Files), their situation would have been different today,” Mufti told reporters here today.

The film, which focuses on the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley in the 1990s, has been mired in controversy since its release on March 11 with the BJP and Opposition parties sparring over the portrayal of the incidents.

Earlier on Tuesday, she also accused BJP of “wanting to divide the nation” and “make many Pakistans” and said Congress had kept the nation safe during its rule.

In a tweet after the release, Mufti had said the stance of Centre towards the film reflected “ill-intention” and would not contribute to healing old wounds.

The movie revolves around the killings of Kashmiri Pandits in the 1990s and has been directed by Vivek Agnihotri, known for films like ‘Tashkent Files’, ‘Hate Story’ and ‘Buddha in a Traffic Jam’. (ANI)

Actor Farhan Akhtar, who recently tied the knot with Shibani Dandekar, took to Instagram to share a beautiful picture of their wedding.

In the candid image, Farhan can be seen looking at his wife lovingly while she is all smiles.

Describing the particular moment, Farhan unleashed his ‘shayar’ side and penned a romantic note for Shibani.

“Tum hastee raho bas yuhin…main yuhin bas dekhta rahoon,” he captioned the post.

Farhan’s post has garnered several likes and comments. Shibani, too, reacted to the post. She thanked him for filling her life with love.

“Love you .. thank you for filling my life with love and laughter,” she commented.

Farhan married Shibani at his family farmhouse in Khandala on February 19 this year. (ANI)

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will hold a meeting with senior party leaders of Haryana on March 25 to discuss programmes and strategies as part of preparations for assembly polls in 2024, sources said.

Former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, AICC in-charge of state Vivek Bansal, party general secretary Randeep Surjewala, state party chief Kumari Selja, party MP Deepender Hooda and party leader Captain Ajay Yadav will be among those present in the meeting, the sources said.

They said senior leaders from the state have been called to the meeting to discuss and formulate strategies for the assembly polls. The Congress has lost two consecutive assembly polls in Haryana and fared poorly in the Lok Sabha polls also.

Having faced drubbing in assembly polls in five states, the Congress is keen to start preparing early for the forthcoming polls.

At the meeting of Congress Working Committee meeting (CWC) held to review the party’s performance in the assembly polls, some leaders are believed to have emphasised that changes in the organisation should be made at least one year ahead of elections.

A meeting of Congress leaders from Haryana was also held at 15, Gurdwara Rakabganj Road earlier this month. (ANI)

Union Minister for Women and Child Development and former actor Smriti Irani, on Wednesday, turned a year older, and to mark her special day, Mouni Roy, who shared screen space with her in the hit TV serial ‘Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi’ penned a heartfelt birthday note for her.

In the note, Mouni recalled her experience of working with Smriti and also talked about the latter’s love for books.
Sharing a candid picture of Smriti on Instagram, she wrote, “My dearest Smriti di, @smritiiraniofficial. This is my most fav story about you to tell; more than a decade and half back, fresh out of Uni I had joined the cast of Kyunki, unnerved wondering how you may be; I was amazed beyond belief; unlike most of them, how kind you were to me (you didn’t have to be), how sharp & intelligent you were, spoke 7 languages, your outstanding vocabulary, your flare for reading (still have to return your books from 17 years ago), a beautiful nerd, everything that you were blew my mind & heart.”

Mouni said she always wanted to become like Smriti Irani.

“I wanted to be like you then, I wish to be like you now; I love you and I pray god always bless you with the best life has to offer making sure you spend your time with those who love and appreciate you the most . HAPPYYYYY BIRTHDAY,” she added.

For the unversed, Mouni essayed the role of Smriti Irani’s daughter Krishna Tulsi in ‘Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi’. (ANI)

China took part in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting here though it is not a part of the OIC, and discussed the historical relations that China and the Muslims share but avoided talking about the Muslim Uyghurs.

Reports have highlighted that Muslim Uyghurs in Xinjiang have been ill-treated by the Chinese authorities over the years.

The Secretary-General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Hissein Brahim Taha met with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday, OIC said in a statement.

The meeting took place alongside the 48th session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad.

During the meeting, both sides discussed the historical relation that China and Muslims share and also talked about different ways to promote bilateral dialogue and cooperation in political, economic, cultural, education, health and inter-civilization dialogue issues.

They also talked about the area of cooperation, especially in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, between China and other member states.

The Chinese Foreign Minister stressed the positive role of OIC in working as the bridge between China and the Muslim world.

OIC’s Secretary-General praised China for participating in the OIC meeting. The two parties also exchanged their views on a set of regional and international issues of mutual concern.

The summit is taking place under the theme, “Building Partnerships for Unity, Justice, and Development.”

Pakistani media said that over 100 resolutions will be considered during the two-day session. Although the meeting is being convened to promote OIC efforts in Afghanistan, Pakistan is likely to rake up the issue of Kashmir even as it fails to speak about Shia Muslims in the country. (ANI)

Highlighting that the Civil Aviation industry has become a key element of India’s economy, Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Wednesday said that the Government has set a target of creating 220 new airports by 2025.

Replying to the demands for grants of the Civil Aviation ministry for 2022-23, Scindia said that India had moved forward in domestic and international travel during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Cargo flights for perishable food items will be increased to 30 per cent with 133 new flights in the coming years,” he said.

Scindia said the simplification of pilot licence will be done in the coming days with the latest technology. He said that the Government plans to create 33 new domestic cargo terminals, set up 15 new flight training schools for pilots, create more jobs, and increase focus on the drone sector.

“With this, Government has set a target of creating 220 new airports by 2025,” he said.

The minister informed the House that 3.82 lakh passengers per day undertook air travel in the last seven days. He informed the house that Ministry is targeting to triple the passenger throughput from 34.5 crore in 2018-19 to 40 crore in 2023-24. Scindia said 90 flights sent to five countries evacuated students from Ukraine.

Scindia thanked the Indian Air Force which conducted 14 sorties and operated 4-C17 Globe Masters during the evacuation.

The minister informed the House that 15 per cent of total pilot strength in the country are women.

Speaking in the Lok Sabha today, Scindia said, “In all other countries in the world, only 5 per cent of the pilots are female. In India, over 15 per cent of pilots are female. This is another example of women empowerment. There has been a lot of changes in the aviation industry in the last 20-25 years.”

“Earlier only big cities had airports. Today that has changed completely. This is the reason why the Civil Aviation industry has become a key element of India’s economy. The amount of employment generated in the industry is massive,” Union Civil Aviation Min Jyotiraditya Scindia said today.

The second half of the Budget session of Parliament resumed from March 14 and will conclude on April 8. The first half of the Budget session began on January 31 and concluded on February 11. (ANI)

A drowning man will catch a straw, as the proverb goes. It is otherwise difficult to explain Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan praising India for its independent foreign policy when on Friday, March 25, 2022, he will have to face a crucial no-confidence motion in the National Assembly of Pakistan where his ouster seems all but certain.

Imran Khan was referring to the Indian decision to buy oil from Russia despite the sanction and despite India being a member of the Quadrilateral Alliance. “Their policy is for the betterment of people,” he said while addressing a public rally at Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on March 20. He seems to have realized his own folly of trying to preside over the government of a failed state.

With Imran Khan’s own party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf having only 155 seats in the 342-member National Assembly, and support from six coalition partners who between them have 23 seats being uncertain, it is difficult to see how the former cricket captain of Pakistan will survive as the Prime Minister.

Nearly 100 legislators from Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Pakistan Peoples’ Party have submitted the no-confidence motion. They need the support of 172 members in the National Assembly to remove Imran Khan from power. Cracks have surfaced among Imran Khan’s own Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf. A key partner of the coalition Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid is opposed to Imran Khan as Prime Minister.

The possible ouster of Imran Khan would once again establish that democracy cannot survive in Pakistan, a country where the army and its powerful wing the Inter-Service Intelligence control everything. Imran Khan has committed the cardinal sin of offending the army. In Pakistan, the support of the politically powerful military is critical for any political party to retain power. He has used the ISI to stay in power, and now the same ISI is trying to remove him from power.

Imran Khan had stood in the way of what was being seen as a routine transfer in the army, with Pak army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa planning to shift Director General of ISI Lt Gen Faiz Hamid as the commander of Peshawar-based XI Corps and replacing him with Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum as the DG ISI. The Prime Minister had refused to issue the formal notification.

The fact, possibly, is that Imran Khan himself had become too dependent on Lt Gen Faiz Hamid and was using the ISI for his political survival. Finally, Imran Khan had to eat the humble pie in October 2021 and accept the face-saver of choosing the same Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum as the DG ISI from a panel of three names presented to him by Gen Bajwa. It is reported that Imran Khan had been warned against any attempt by him to replace the army chief.

While domestic issues like rapid inflation have been highlighted by opposition parties in seeking Imran Khan’s ouster, the former cricket captain of Pakistan must also share a part of the blame himself for having made a mess of the foreign relations of Pakistan.

This, too, has not gone down well with the army which has a major say in the foreign relations of the country.

Imran’s own obsession with the Kashmir issue has antagonized a powerful section of the Islamic world. He has embraced China with open arms, and in the process has antagonized the USA. To humour China, he has refused to condemn the persecution of fellow Muslims in Xinjiang; but even then, he has failed to win the full support of the Chinese either.

The politically powerful army chief of Pakistan, Gen Bajwa, seems to have decided to strike against Imran Khan for having interfered in the traditional domain of the army.

Gen Bajwa has chosen his moment when Pakistan is hosting a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Islamabad on March 22 and 23.

In a meeting of the OIC in Niger in November 2021, OIC sent a message to the Imran Khan government by refusing to discuss Kashmir as a separate item. Ever since the abrogation of article 370, the Imran Khan government has been asking for a special session of OIC on Kashmir, but this has not found favour from countries like Saudi Arabia.

Under the Imran Khan regime, Pakistan’s relations with the Arab world are believed to be at a historic low; particularly after the Prime Minister of Pakistan had refused to criticize the genocide on Muslims of the Xinxiang province committed by China; instead been trying to project Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as the leader of OIC for the support that the latter has extended on Kashmir; calling it still a burning issue in the United Nations General Assembly.

In fact, except for China, Malaysia and Turkey, no other country has supported Islamabad on Kashmir. A professor of International Relations at John Hopkins University has been quoted in the German broadcasting agency DW that Saudi Arabia is unlikely to take measures against India over New Delhi’s Kashmir policy. It sees India as an important trading partner and is unlikely to support Pakistan on the Kashmir issue.

Ironically, though Imran Khan has let down his Muslim brethren in Xinjiang for the sake of humouring China, Beijing has refused to toe Imran Khan’s line on Kashmir. In the joint statement between Pakistan and China released after Imran Khan’s visit to Beijing during the Winter Olympics, the Chinese stand on Kashmir was no different from what it had said in the past, that it was a dispute left over from history and should be peacefully resolved based on bilateral talks. Significantly, China opposed any unilateral action to resolve the Kashmir issue.

The kowtowing of the Imran Khan government to Beijing seems to reflect the reality that since the introduction of Belt and Road Initiative projects in Pakistan, particularly the China Pakistan Economic Corridor, Pakistan has turned into a quasi-colony of China.

Unfortunately, however, despite the overtures of the Pakistan government, Beijing seems to be offering a cold shoulder to Islamabad. When Imran Khan went to Beijing in February 2022 for the Winter Olympics, Pakistan had wanted to convert it into a state visit by Imran Khan with an entourage of a dozen ministers. Beijing, however, asked Islamabad to cut the size of the entourage to about four ministers. President of China Xi Jinping agreed to grant Imran Khan an audience only after a lot of entreaties, and that too a brief one.

It is learnt that China has lately conveyed to Pakistan the displeasure of the former over the deteriorating law and order situation in Pakistan and the slow pace of CPEC projects. Analysts say China does not consider the prevailing security, financial and political situation in Pakistan conducive for more investment; nor is it willing to humour Islamabad with more loans at concessional rates of interest. Baloch separatists are targeting CPEC and the commercial interests of China. There have been protests also by the common people of Pakistan against measures like forcible land acquisition in CPEC project sites.

It is lack of foresight that the Imran Khan government in its anxiety to please the Chinese has antagonized the USA, the traditional friend of Pakistan. At the behest of China, Pakistan stayed away from the Summit for Democracy that US President Joe Biden convened in December 2021. China, incidentally, was not invited to the summit.

The message that the Biden administration learnt was clear, Pakistan had chosen a side; China’s side.

President Biden has not yet made a single phone-call to Prime Minister Imran Khan, which has not gone down too well with Islamabad.

On top of it has come the assertion of Imran Khan in a media interview that would not allow the US to use Pakistan as a base for its operations against Al Qaeda and other Islamic fundamentalist groups. This may not have gone down well with influential sections of the military and civil establishment in Pakistan with their preference for the USA.

Imran Khan has annoyed friends of Pakistan in the European Union, too, by being present in Moscow hours after the beginning of the crisis in Ukraine, even calling the moment “exciting times.” For this, however, Pakistan is unlikely to enjoy the patronage of Russia. During the Winter Olympics in Beijing, Imran Khan had sought a meeting with Vladimir Putin, but in vain. (ANI)

Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha and senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday hit out at Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan for raking up Kashmir issue in the meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), asserting that Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) is an integral part of India.

Kharge said that Imran Khan is facing political challenges in Pakistan and he’s resorting to raking up Kashmir to deflect attention.

“Imran Khan is facing political compulsions and he is chanting Kashmir-Kashmir. No one is going to listen to Imran Khan. He is talking about giving away India’s land to someone else. India is not going to tolerate this,” said Kharge.

“Pakistan Occupied Kashmir is an integral part of India and we won’t let it go. Jammu and Kashmir is and will remain an integral part of India,” the Congress leader further said.

Kharge’s remark came in the backdrop of the Pakistan Prime Minister raking up the Kashmir issue at the OIC meeting in Islamabad.

In his keynote address at the inaugural session of the 48th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) of the 57-member body of Muslim countries, Khan said, “We have failed both the Palestinians and the people of Kashmir. I am sad to say that we have been able to make no impact at all. They don’t take us seriously, we are a divided house and those powers know it.”

With Opposition leaders moving a no-confidence motion against him, Khan, who is on shaky political grounds, in an attempt to deflect from the attention urged member countries of the OIC to present a united front to make a significant impact on Palestine and Kashmir.

At the OIC inaugural address, the Pakistan Prime Minister also raked up the issue of the abrogation of the special status to Kashmir. On August 5, 2019, the government of India had revoked the special Constitutional status of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution and abrogated Article 35A.

Pakistan has repeatedly sought to raise the Kashmir issue at the OIC even while India’s relations with several key players in West Asia and in the Islamic organisation, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Indonesia and Bangladesh, have seen marked improvements in recent years. (ANI)

The head of the US mission to Afghanistan, Ian McCary on Wednesday expressed concern regarding the reports that the Taliban extended their indefinite ban on allowing female students above sixth-grade access to schools.

The decision of the Taliban came hours after Afghan girls were allowed to return to high schools from Wednesday. Media reports said that girl students above the sixth grade were not to be allowed to enter the classrooms at the beginning of the new school year.

“I’m deeply troubled by multiple reports that the Taliban are not allowing girls above grade 6 to return to school. This is very disappointing and contradicts many Taliban assurances and statements. All Afghan youth deserve to be educated,” McCary tweeted.

Taking to Twitter, US Special envoy Rina Amiri also said that these reports not only weakens confidence in the Taliban’s commitments but further dashes the hopes of families for a better future for their daughters.

“The reported failure to open schools for girls above grade 6 across the country not only weakens confidence in the Taliban’s commitments but further dashes the hopes of families for a better future for their daughters,” Amiri tweeted.

Teenage girls across Afghanistan were supposed to return to schools after being banned by the Islamic outfit earlier. Since taking over power in August last year, the Taliban have rolled back women’s rights in virtually every area, including crushing women’s freedom of movement.

The vast majority of girls’ secondary schools were closed. Universities recently reopened, with new gender segregation rules. But many women are unable to return, in part because the career they studied for is now off-limits as the Taliban banned women from most of the jobs.

According to HRW, women and girls are blocked from accessing health care as well. Reports suggest that women and girls facing violence have no escape route.

Allowing girls into schools and other educational institutes has been one of the main demands of the international community.

The majority of countries have refused to formally recognise the Taliban amid worries over their treatment of girls and women and other human rights issues. (ANI)