March 2019 | Page 11 of 13

Nobel laureates urge Imran, Modi to defuse tensions

March 5, 2019March 5, 2019 Editor

Fifty nine Nobel laureates have written letters to the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan urging them to “defuse the rising tensions” between the two countries, according to a statement.A letter signed by the Nobel laureates, under the aegis of the Laureates and Leaders for Children — a platform founded by Nobel peace laureate Kailash Satyarthi — was submitted to India and Pakistan’s Permanent Representatives to the UN on Saturday, the statement said on Sunday. “In the best interest of our children, we, the Laureates and Leaders for Children call…

Divide Jammu & Kashmir to curb terrorism: BJP MLA GS Damor

March 5, 2019March 5, 2019 Editor

The MLA backed an announcement of a senior Army officer that whoever raises arms against the state would be eliminated as it would deter local elements who back terrorists. Amid stand-off along the Line of Control by Indian and Pakistani forces after the Pulwama terror attack and following air strikes, a BJP MLA from Madhya Pradesh has suggested division of Jammu and Kashmir to curb insurgency, a statement that invited immediate criticism from the Congress. Speaking to the media on Sunday evening on aerial strikes by the Indian Air Force…

Opposition chorus grows for proof of air strike in Pakistan

March 5, 2019March 5, 2019 Editor

Claims and counterclaims by the government and the Opposition sent political temperatures soaring on Monday as the Congress party asked why the government was not providing details of the casualties inflicted in the air strikes on a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) camp in Pakistan last week, while the government accused the Congress party of echoing Pakistan’s line. Prime Minister Narendra Modi implicitly warned Pakistan about supporting terror groups that target India. All of this came even as Indian Air Force chief BS Dhanoa steered clear of a question on the number of casualties,…

Conduct simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly polls: Political parties to EC

March 5, 2019March 5, 2019 Editor

Representatives of almost all political parties sought simultaneous national and assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir as they met an Election Commission (EC) team in Srinagar on Monday, officials said. The Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora-led team arrived in the state for a two-day visit to review security preparedness for the polls amid an escalation of violence in the state, which has been under the President’s rule since December 19. Assembly elections have to be held within six months of the imposition of the President’s rule while the national polls…

Last week was ‘Humiliating episode for India ’: New York Times

March 4, 2019March 4, 2019 Editor

The last week Modi , Modi bhakts and Godi media spent making tall claims about the Indian attacks on PoK and boasting about ‘Indian victory’ over Pakistan but in reality its was a ‘humiliating episode for India’ says leading American newspaper New York Times First the pilot, Wing Cmdr. Abhinandan Varthaman, was soaring through the sky in a MiG-21 on Wednesday. Then he was shot down by Pakistani forces. After parachuting into enemy territory and being surrounded by a mob, he tried to eat some of the documents he was carrying, according to Indian news…

Kashmir bandh tomorrow against assault on Article 35A, Jama’at ban: Trade bodies

March 4, 2019March 4, 2019 Editor

Trade bodies have called for Kashmir bandh tomorrow against the ban on Jama’at-e-Islami and the legal challenge to Article 35A.The call for the strike was issued by various trade bodies of the Valley on Monday. Trade bodies have called for Kashmir bandh tomorrow against the ban on Jama’at-e-Islami and the legal challenge to Article 35A.The call for the strike was issued by various trade bodies of the Valley.The government of India Thursday banned Jamaat-e-Islami Jammu and Kashmir for five years, alleging that it was “in close touch with militant outfits”…

India put in ‘Shameful’ list of 38 Countries for Reprisals on Rights Activists by UN

March 4, 2019March 4, 2019 Editor

The annual report from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres included allegations of ill-treatment, surveillance, criminalisation and public stigmatisation campaigns targeting victims and human rights defenders in the countries. The UN listed 38 “shameful” countries including China and Russia on Wednesday which it said had carried out reprisals or intimidation against people cooperating with it on human rights, through killings, torture and arbitrary arrests. The annual report from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also included allegations of ill-treatment, surveillance, criminalisation and public stigmatisation campaigns targeting victims and human rights defenders. “The world owes…

Health team disallowed to visit ‘Starving’ families stuck in Handwara gunfight

March 4, 2019March 4, 2019 Editor

Government forces on Sunday allegedly disallowed a health team carrying first aid kit besides essentials including baby food and biscuits to visit five families, who according to the locals are stuck inside their houses at Babagund Handwara in this north Kashmir district, where a fierce gunfight between government forces and militants ended earlier this morning after nearly three days of siege. The incident has called into question adherence of SOP by government forces which mandates evacuation of civilian population before gunfight. A team of officials of health department, carrying first…

Questions arise about ‘Vintage Military’ after India loses Dogfight to Pakistan

March 4, 2019March 4, 2019 Editor

It was an inauspicious moment for a military the United States is banking on to help keep an expanding China in check. An Indian Air Force pilot found himself in a dogfight last week with a warplane from the Pakistani Air Force, and ended up a prisoner behind enemy lines for a brief time. The pilot made it home in one piece, however bruised and shaken, but the plane, an aging Soviet-era MiG-21, was less lucky. The aerial clash, the first by the South Asian rivals in nearly five decades,…