‘Refrain from any further illegal steps’: Modi’s Kashmir meet on Pakistan’s radar

'Refrain from any further illegal steps' - Modi's Kashmir meet on Pakistan's radar

The statement came as the Centre invited 14 political leaders from J&K to participate in a meeting to be chaired by PM Modi on June 24, which is expected to set the road map for holding assembly elections. Pakistan said on Saturday that it would oppose any move by India to divide Kashmir and change its demography. Pakistan’s Foreign Office said in a statement that Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has stated that India must refrain from taking any further illegal steps in Kashmir after its actions of August 5,…

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J&K integral part of India: Centre on Pakistan’s letter to top UN Officials

J&K integral part of India - Centre on Pakistan's letter to top UN Officials

Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and no amount of questioning can change the reality, the Foreign Affairs ministry said today. The assertion came following a letter by the Pakistan foreign minister to two top UN officials alleging a design by New Delhi to change the demographic structure of the region.Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that no amount of justification can make cross-border terrorism acceptable. “The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India. No amount of questioning can…

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What Digvijay Singh promised to a Pakistan-origin journalist about Kashmir: Leaked Clubhouse Chats

What Digvijay Singh promised to a Pakistan-origin journalist about Kashmir: Leaked Clubhouse Chats

During a recent conversation with a Pakistani-origin journalist on the Clubhouse app, Congress leader Digvijay Singh stirred the hornet’s nest by hinting at reversing the decision by the Modi government to revoke Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. The decision was taken on 5th August 2019 by the Modi government in a bid to fully integrate Jammu and Kashmir with the rest of India by revoking the draconian provisions of the article. Shahzeb Jillani, the Pakistani journalist currently residing in Germany, had claimed that he was shocked at the changing…

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Punjab, Haryana farmers head to Delhi border to mark Wed 26 as ‘Black Day’

Farmers from Haryana and Punjab on Sunday, 23 May, left for Delhi borders to mark six months of the Centre passing the controversial farm laws, by observing ‘Black Day’ on Wednesday, 26 May. According to NDTV, farmers from Haryana’s Karnal and Punjab’s Sangur are headed towards Delhi. The farmers’ march to the Singhu border will be led by Bharat Kisan Union (BKU) leader, Gurnam Singh Charuni. Upon reaching, they will perform langar seva for one week, the news channel reported. Farmers have also left the Khanuari border in Sangrur, Punjab,…

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India’s coronavirus crisis pushes up the cost of living and dying

By: Rajendra Jadhav & Saurabh Sharma Ashok Khondare, a 39-year-old vegetable seller in the western Indian city of Pune, had already borrowed money to pay for his sister’s treatment when she died in a private hospital two weeks after contacting COVID-19. While trying to overcome the tragedy, he also had to deal with money problems that increased with his sister’s death. The only available hearse driver charged 5,000 Indian rupees ($68) for a 6-km (four-mile) journey to the nearest crematorium – five times the going rate. When Khondare reached there,…

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India’s Covid Crisis delivers a blow to brand Modi

By Aparna Alluri “Modi leads India out of a lockdown and into a Covid apocalypse,” declared a recent headline in the UK Sunday Times. The Australian newspaper re-published the story with a scathing summary: “Arrogance, hyper-nationalism and bureaucratic incompetence have combined to create a crisis of epic proportions, critics say, as India’s crowd-loving PM basks while citizens literally suffocate.” It earned a rebuke from India, but there’s no denying the fact that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cherished image has taken a bad hit. Stories from India’s punishing second wave have…

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Bodies float down Ganges as more than 4000 died of COVID in India

Scores of bodies are washing up on the banks of the Ganges as Indians fail to keep pace with the deaths and cremations of around 4,000 people a day from the novel coronavirus. India currently accounts for one in three of the reported deaths from coronavirus around the world, according to a Reuters tally, and its health system is overwhelmed, despite donations of oxygen cylinders and other medical equipment from around the world. Rural parts of India not only have more rudimentary healthcare, but are now also running short of…

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India is hiding its COVID Crisis; So the whole world will suffer for it

India is hiding its COVID Crisis; So the whole world will suffer for it

Modi’s government had a choice between saving lives and saving face. It has chosen the latter By – Ankita Rao A few years ago, as Narendra Modi came into power, I worked on an investigative report about India hiding its malaria deaths. In traveling from tribal Odisha to the Indian national health ministry in New Delhi, my colleague and I watched thousands of cases disappear: some malaria deaths, first noted in handwritten local health ledgers, never appeared in central government reports; other malaria deaths were magically transformed into deaths of…

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Top Indian tycoons flee by private jet as Covid-19 infections spiral

India’s mounting crisis surrounding a surge in coronavirus infections is prompting wealthy families to flee the country by private jet. With reports of hospital bed and drug shortages sweeping social media, Indian tycoons and others able to afford fares running into millions of rupees are booking flights to boltholes in Europe, the Middle East and the Indian Ocean. “It’s not only the ultra rich,” said Rajan Mehra, chief executive officer at New Delhi-based private jet firm Club One Air. “Whoever can afford to take a private jet are taking private…

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Farmers hoist flags at Red Fort, intensifying clashes with police

Thousands of protesting farmers who stormed into Delhi with their tractor rally, poured into the Red Fort complex by afternoon, as violence continued in parts of the city. Visuals from the spot showed them climbing a flagpole at the ramparts of the iconic Mughal fort, from where the Prime Minister addresses the nation on Independence Day. As tractors take over the Ram Leela Maidan outside the fort — the original site where they had planned their protest — farmers are heard saying that they will not leave. Violence broke out…

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