Pakistan National Assembly To Elect New PM On Monday

Nomination papers of Pakistan joint opposition candidate Shehbaz Sharif and PTI’s Shah Mahmood Qureshi have been approved for the Prime Minister’s election slated to take place on April 11.

Earlier, Former Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif submitted the nomination papers for the top seat. The nomination papers have been approved for the PM’s election.

Shehbaz Sharif is most likely to become the next Prime Minister of the country. According to sources, PML-N has collected more than one nomination paper for the election from the NA secretariat. The nomination papers will go under scrutiny at 3.00 pm and a list of the candidates will be displayed after scrutiny.

The National Assembly session to elect the new premier will now be held at 2.00 pm on Monday (tomorrow), contrary to a previous schedule of 11.00 am.

Security measures ahead of the Prime Minister’s election are set in place. Strict security is in place around the D-chowk. Furthermore, roads leading to Parliament will be opened after the election of the new premier, as per the news channel.

The voting on the no-confidence motion against the Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government began in the country’s National Assembly late on Saturday night where 174 members have recorded their votes in favour of the resolution that ousted the Imran Khan. (ANI)

Violence On JNU Campus Over Serving Meat On Ram Navami

On the occasion of Ram Navami, a clash broke out between students backed by Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the National Students Union of India (NSUI) and Left-backed students on the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus in the national capital on Sunday.

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party, on Sunday protested at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus, demanding that non-vegetarian food should not be prepared in the mess on the occasion of Ram Navami.

The ABVP also accused the National Students Union of India (NSUI) and Left-backed students of preventing them from worshipping on Ram Navami. “Left and NSUI workers created a ruckus during pooja in the university on the occasion of Ram Navami. There is no angle of non-veg. They have a problem with programs on the occasion of Ram Navami,” said Rohit Kumar, ABVP’s JNU wing president

Meanwhile, the Delhi Police officials have reached the spot to ascertain details about the situation. “Presently the situation is peaceful. Both the student parties are protesting peacefully. Appropriate legal action will be taken on receipt of the complaint. The situation is peaceful”, said DCP South West Manoj C.

A JNU student, Sarika told ANI, “I was the former vice-president of JNUSU. In the afternoon today, a message went viral on social media that ABVP members are not allowing non-veg food inside the campus. The mess usually prepares non-veg food items on weekends. However, ABVP members did not let this food to be prepared.”

“Following this, a clash broke out between student unions inside the campus. Many hostel students did not get food on time as food was not prepared in adequate quantity,” she said.

Another JNU student said, “A clash occurred around 4-5 pm today. ABVP alleged that their religious sentiments will be hurt if non-veg food will be served on the occasion of Ram Navami.”

Reportedly, a number of protestors have been injured and have been shifted to the nearby hospitals. A few students are still protesting in the vicinity of the campus.

A week ago, on April 5, South Delhi Mayor Mukesh Suryan said there was “no need to open meat shops” during Navratri claiming that “most people do not consume non-vegetarian food” during this period. Notably, the JNU campus falls under the jurisdiction of the South Delhi Municipal Corporation. (ANI)

Uttarakhand Dhami 8 New Cities

Uniform Civil Code Soon In Uttarakhand: CM Dhami

Uttarakhand will soon begin the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code in the state, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said on Sunday.

Days after Dhami took oath as the Chief Minister of the state, he said that he will try to fulfill all the promises made by the party.

Addressing a public gathering today in the capital city, Dhami said, “We will fulfill all the promises. We’ll implement the Uniform Civil Code in the state. We have also launched ‘1064 Anti-Corruption Mobile App’ where you can lodge complaints and I assure you that strict action will be taken.”

In March, the Uttarakhand government announced that it will form a “high-powered” expert panel to prepare a draft Uniform Civil Code (UCC) for the state. The decision was taken at the first state cabinet committee meeting headed by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, a day after the new government was sworn in.

With this, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami in March this year said that Uttarakhand would be the first state to implement the UCC.

The Uniform Civil Code is a proposal in India to formulate and implement personal laws of citizens which apply to all citizens equally regardless of their religion, sex, gender and sexual orientation. Currently, the personal laws of various communities are governed by their religious scriptures.

The code comes under Article 44 of the Constitution which lays down that the state shall endeavour to secure a Uniform Civil Code for the citizens throughout the territory of India. Notably, in BJP’s 2019 Lok Sabha election manifesto, BJP promised the implementation of UCC if it comes to power. (ANI)

Ram Navami Procession Pelted With Stones In MP

Several people, including police personnel, were injured in a Ram Navami procession after two groups of people were pelted with stones from both sides, said Madhya Pradesh police in Khargone on Sunday.

The stone-pelting started at the very beginning of the procession leaving around four people injured including a police inspector.

After four houses were set on fire, a curfew had been imposed in the area and people have been advised to stay indoors.

“Curfew has been imposed in Talab Chowk, Gaushala Marg, Motipura, areas. A large number of police forces have been deployed,” informed Additional District Magistrate, SS Mujalda.

Collector Anugrah P, Superintendent of Police (SP) P Siddharth Chaudhary, Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Milind Dhoke took charge of the situation.

Further investigations are underway. (ANI)

Weekly Update: Khan Loses Match; BJP Stunt On Chandiargh; India Tells UK To Move On

Khan The Pathan Brought Down: The great Khan Pathan, Imran Khan, has also been shafted back to earth and his assumption of invincibility punctured by the real power of Pakistan, the Army. Khan was toying with outsmarting the Army. When on the verge of being removed from office, dismissing the C in C of the Pakistan Army seems to be the favourite last desperate preoccupation of many Prime Ministers of Pakistan. But they soon realise their office is a clerical extension of the Army and not the throne of power. They get into a habitual error of thinking that because they got the mandate through votes, they must be more popular and powerful than the Army. The Pakistan Army, like armies elsewhere, does not have a single vote nor does it seek any. It has the tanks and the finance, both of which tend to be more powerful in any political set up.

Now why our westernised anti-west star, the great Imran, international cricketer and once sought after by every socialite lady in the west, thought he could become pro Kremlin and at the same time recruit the democratic mandate in his favour is a mystery. Democracy wallahs are supposed to side with USA and authoritarian leaders on the side of China and Russia. In Pakistan, it is a bit topsy turvy. The Army that hasn’t a single vote, is pro USA, while the democratic elected leader is pro authoritarian Russia.

Pakistan’s perennial problems has been a failure to institute a constitutional structure that reflects the real structure and distribution of power in the country. But it was forced by the United Kingdom to adopt a democratic constitution. The UK calls itself as mother of democracy.

Contrary to popular myth, the UK is really a monarchy and power exercised by some powerful business interests. The System is all in the name of the Monarchy. The Queen has a Government to do the running around and manage the country. The Government is elected. But the leader that pleases Mr Murdoch and a few other British Barons, usually gets the seat of power. The one they don’t like, tends to get hammered in the media, owned by powerful barons.  Even though elected, the Government rules and acts on behalf of the Monarch, not the people. In effect, the Monarch asks the people to elect among themselves a leader and a party to manage her country. Brilliant. Its rule by the Barons, for the Monarch, with the people.

Pakistan on the other hand was bullied by this Monarchical -Baronial UK to adopt a democratic system to be consistent with the requirements of that other non-democratic institution, the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth insists that all member countries be democratic as Britain supposedly is. But it has a permanent non-elected leader, the Queen. And no one has asked when will Britain become a truly democratic State, except for the Sikhs. Once in Britain when the Government patronisingly lectured the Sikhs to become modern and adopt elections in their Gurdwaras, the Sikh leaders told the Government that when the head of State in UK is elected, then they will also pay more attention to Government sermons. The Government backed off.

So we have perpetual issues in Pakistan. Power is with the Army. The Army has set up a democratic front to shut the Brits and Americans up. Meanwhile Pakistani people think they are democratically holding power to account. It serves everyone. When things go wrong, the Army blames the elected leadership and people get a chance to elect another leader who can’t sort the mess either. UK and USA are happy that the country is listed as ‘democratic’ and can tick the boxes. A bit like medieval crusades, when the converted could do anything such as rapes, pillages etc, as long as they called themselves Christian. But if they weren’t Christian, they were called the devil incarnate, child eaters, witches and any grotesque character adjective that the pious Vatican could think of for non-Christians. In modern times, the UK-USA alliance does the same for countries who are not ‘democratic’. India therefore is saved from this name calling.

Time changes but nothing changes. Let’s hope one day Pakistan will have the ability to set up a constitutional structure that reflects the levers and distribution of power as it really is. In the meantime Mr Khan has been bowled out. We hope he has enough money to go into exile in Dubai.

Chandigarh For BJP?

Well, who would have thought that one day the nationalist Hindu party, BJP would be screaming for Chandigarh to be recognised as capital of Punjab? ‘Qudrat’ (Nature) indeed is ironical.

During the militant days of Akali run Anandpur Sahib Resolution campaigns in the late 1970s and then Khalistan campaigns of 1980s, one of the key demands was that Chandigarh should solely be the capital of Punjab. The Punjabi Hindus opposed it.

Ever since the family run Akali Dal Badal came to power, the issue of Chandigarh seemed to have evaporated just as the rest of Anandpur Sahib resolution did. Now that Akali Dal can only be seen with the Hubble Space telescope from outer space, as otherwise it is no where to be seen in the levers of power, the BJP decided it was going to raise the issue of Chandigarh. Obviously it is to start a headache for Aam Admi party in Punjab, but the irony is too much not to be commented on. Fact is that in reality all BJP Punjab has to do is ask its Daddy BJP in Lok Sabha to hand over Chandigarh to Punjab. But where is the fun if it does that?

Britain Told To Look Around

The Indian Foreign Minister is not as much of a rottweiler as the Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov is, but S Jaishankar certainly gave the British Foreign Minister an earful. In reality Jaishankar is not aggressive at all in dealing with other leaders. He is the epitome of a diplomat. Lavrov, on the other hand can get annoyed and throw put downs with ease.

When the British Foreign Minister, Liz Truss, went over to India to give a colonial dressing down to Jaishankar reminding him that India is part of the democratic block and further told him to get in line and oppose Russia, the mild mannered Jaishankar did a Lavrov.

He told her that times had moved on and the world is in a period of multipolar power blocks. India will make its own decisions and not be dictated to by the Brits. Liz Truss, who likes posing as Ms Rambo in tanks, quickly belted up, took the next flight home and sat mopping in her toy tank in the back garden, firing soap bubble shots at the Indian Foreign Minister. That has not been reported or verified yet, but not one beyond possibility. Liz Truss always has the look of a Captain Britain with raised eyebrows.

Sitaram Yechury Re-elected General Secretary Of CPI(M)

Sitaram Yechury has been re-elected as the general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Sunday in the 23rd Party Congress held in the Kannur district of Kerala.

He was chosen to lead the party by an 85-member new Central Committee that was elected at the Party Congress.

He was first elected to the post on April 9, 2015 in the 21st Party Congress held in the Visakhapatnam district of Andhra Pradesh. In the 22nd Party Congress held in Hyderabad in 2018, Yechury bagged the second term for the highest post in the left party.

He succeeded Prakash Karat who had held the top post in the party for three consecutive terms from 2005 to 2015.

Yechury’s responsibility is to revive the party, at present CPI (M) has only been restricted to three states i.e. Kerala, Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu.

During the ongoing event (Congress) he had declared party is giving priority to regional alliances with an aim to weaken Bharatiya Janata Party.

“CPI(M) was ready for electoral alliances with secular parties. He said the party was giving priority to regional alliances with the aim of weakening the BJP in all states,” Yechury.

The 85-member new Central Committee is consisted of 15 women and 17 new cadres, while the 17-member Politburo has three new entrants.

The 17 elected members of the politburo are Sitaram Yechury, Prakash Karat, Pinarayi Vijayan, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, Brinda Karat, Manik Sarkar, Md Salim, Surjya Kanta Mishra, BV Raghavulu, Tapan Sen, Nilotpal Basu, M A Baby, G Ramakrishnan, Subhashini Ali, Ramchandra Dome, Dr Ashok Dhawale and A Vijayaraghavan.

The CPI (M) 23rd Congress was held in Kannur, Kerala from 6 to 10 April. (ANI)

Mahinda Rajapaksa

Lanka: Prez Gotabaya To Hold Crucial Meet With 41 MPs

In a bid to find a solution to the current economic, political and social crisis in the country, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa will be holding a crucial meeting with 41 MPs who recently quit the ruling dispensation.

The meeting between the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and President Rajapaksa is scheduled to be held at 7.00 pm this evening, reported Daily Mirror.

The information of the decisive and crucial meeting was given by the former President and SLFP leader Maithripala Siriserna.

Addressing the media at the party office today morning, he said the main objective of the meeting was to coerce President Rajapaksa to form an interim administration under an all-party Cabinet sans Rajapaksas with the least number of portfolios, reported Daily Mirror.

“Before the interim administration is set up, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution must be re-introduced with added powers to curtail the executive powers of the executive presidency,” he added.

The entire country is demanding the removal of the Rajapaksa clan and President Rajapaksa from power in Sri Lanka.

It seems that the protests and agitations against the President and the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) government will not subside as long as President Gotabaya Rajapaksa remains in power, reported Daily Mirror.

“But it is a long process and takes time. The people need immediate solutions to their current grievances such as the power outage, the skyrocketing price of essential commodities, food shortage, the ever-escalating Cost of Living and many more. If we are to find immediate solutions to these pressing issues, first and foremost action must be taken to form a stable government,” Sirisena said.

The SLFP is of the view that an all-party interim government with no involvement of the Rajapaksa clan will win public confidence as there will be no unnecessary directives or orders from the executive with the re-introduction of the Constitutional provisions of the 19th Amendment.

“To do this, the SLFP expects the support and blessings of all political parties represented in Parliament,” Sirisena stressed.

Sri Lanka is battling a severe economic crisis with food and fuel scarcity affecting a large number of the people in the island nation. The economy has been in a free-fall since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sri Lanka is also facing a foreign exchange shortage, which has, incidentally, affected its capacity to import food and fuel, leading to the power cuts in the country. The shortage of essential goods forced Sri Lanka to seek assistance from friendly countries. (ANI)

Imran Inherited Bad Economy, Leaves It In Worse State: Expert

After Imran Khan was voted out of office by the Pakistani Parliament, renowned economist Atif Mian explained how the former Pakistan Prime Minister inherited a bad economy but left it in even worse shape.

Taking to Twitter, the economist said Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government lacked understanding of the economic challenges and that there’s been zero increase in average income in the country.

In a series of tweets, he said Covid-19 gave temporary respite to the balance of payment (BOP) crisis as oil imports and domestic demand contracted due to the pandemic.

“PM (Imran Khan) voted out of office by parliament after 3.5 years. He inherited a bad economy, but leaves it in even worse shape,” Mian tweeted.

“There’s been zero increase in average income, and Pakistan never got out of the balance of payment (bop) crisis. Covid gave temporary respite to bop crisis as oil imports and domestic demand contracted due to pandemic, but with pandemic receding, is back in serious trouble,” he said in another tweet.

According to the Pakistani-American economist, the larger failure was an incapacity to understand Pak’s macro challenges.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) inherited a currency crisis that was already months in motion, Mian said. “Yet the new government had done no planning. Precious time and reserves were wasted with silly schemes,” he added.

The Pakistani parliament ousted Imran Khan in a vote of no confidence in the early hours of Sunday, media said.

As many as 174 lawmakers in the 342-strong lower house of parliament voted in favour of the no-confidence motion launched by opposition parties. (ANI)

‘RRR’ Grosses Record-Breaking ₹1,000 Cr At Global Box Office

SS Rajamouli’s ‘RRR’ set another benchmark at the box office and entered the Rs 1000 crore club worldwide within 16 days of its release.

The only other films to have crossed 1000 crore globally are ‘Dangal’ and Rajamouli’s ‘Baahubali 2’. With this, the epic becomes the third highest-grossing Indian film ever, overtaking ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’, ‘Secret Superstar’ and ‘PK’.

Interestingly, India’s biggest action drama, ‘RRR’ was also the first Indian film to release in Dolby Cinema.

‘RRR’ narrates a fictionalised tale of India’s freedom fighters Komaram Bheem (Jr NTR) and Alluri Seetharama Raju (Ram Charan) in pre-independence India and has been unstoppable at the box office ever since its release, especially within the mass circuits.

The film included a star-studded lineup including Ram Charan, Jr NTR, Ajay Devgn, Alia Bhatt, Olivia Morris, Samuthirakani, Ray Stevenson, and Alison.

Jayanti Lal Gada of PEN Studios bagged the theatrical distribution rights across North India and also bought worldwide electronic rights for all languages. Pen Marudhar distributed the film in the North Territory.

The Telugu-language period action drama film was produced by DVV Danayya of DVV Entertainments and released on 25th March 2022. (ANI)

Ranbir’s Home Decked With Lights Of Rumoured Wedding

Amid Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor’s wedding rumours, Ranbir’s new under-construction home in Bandra has been decked with strings of lights.

A video from the Krishna Raj bungalow, which is currently under construction, has gone viral on social media. In the clip, various workers can be seen decorating the bungalow with LED string lights.

Ranbir, Alia and Neetu Kapoor have visited the site several times in the past, to check on the construction progress. Sources suggest Ranbir and Alia, fondly called by fans as RanAlia, will move into the Krishna Raj bungalow once they tie the knot.

The wedding will reportedly be a 4-day-long affair at the RK house. The functions will start from April 13 onwards with the Mehendi ceremony followed by a sangeet ceremony on the next day and finally the wedding on April 15. As per reports, the duo will get married in an intimate ceremony.

As per reports, Alia will be donning a Sabyasachi lehenga for her special day. She will also be reportedly wearing Manish Malhotra outfits for her wedding festivities.

Rumours also suggest the couple will host a grand reception at the luxury hotel Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai on April 17.

For the unversed, Ranbir and Alia had fallen in love with each other on the sets of their upcoming film ‘Brahmastra’. The two made their first appearance as a couple at Sonam Kapoor’s wedding reception in 2018.

So far, the couple has remained tight-lipped about their wedding details. (ANI)