Tag: India

  • VIDEO: Pakistani flags hoisted in India’s Jalandhar ahead of Kartarpur opening

    VIDEO: Pakistani flags hoisted in India’s Jalandhar ahead of Kartarpur opening

    The Sikh community in India has hoisted Pakistani flags on their houses in Jalandhar for opening Kartarpur Corridor, Duniya News reported.

    According to the details, the flags can be seen waving in the air in India’s Vijay Colony as millions of Sikhs thank Pakistan for Kartarpur project. They said that this facility will provide them relief in traveling to the neighboring country for the celebrations of 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.

    The video of flags has gone viral a day after posters honoring Prime Minister Imran Khan on the occasion of the opening of Kartarpur Corridor surfaced in Amritsar, India.

    The poster’s displayed, “PM Imran Khan and Navjot Singh Sidhu are the real heroes for opening Kartarpur Corridor”.

    The Sikh minority in India has long sought easier access to the temple, which is just over the border in Pakistan.

    5,000 pilgrims shall be permitted to visit Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib through the corridor on any given day, with an additional provision for more pilgrims on special days including Gurpurab, Baisakhi, etc.

    This corridor will help Pakistan generate revenue up to $100,000 every day and since this facility will remain open 365 days of the year, it can potentially generate a direct income of USD36.5 million i.e. about Rs5.55 billion per annum.

  • ‘Pakistan may have released poisonous gas to pollute air in India,’ alleges BJP leader

    ‘Pakistan may have released poisonous gas to pollute air in India,’ alleges BJP leader

    A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vineet Agarwal Sharda has said alleged either Pakistan or China could have released poisonous gases into India to pollute its air, Pakistan Today reported.

    According to the details, the BJP leader that our neighboring countries should be blamed for the high levels of pollution in Delhi and adjacent areas, adding that “I feel that Pakistan or China are afraid of us”.

    “Ye jo zehreeli hawa aa rahi hai, zehreeli gas aayi hai ho sakta hai kisi bagal ke mulk ne chhori ho jo humse ghabraya hua hai (There is a possibility that this poisonous gas could have been released by any neighboring country which is afraid of us), BJP leader said.

    “We must seriously consider whether Pakistan has released any poisonous gas,” Vineet Agarwal said.

    Sharda said that Pakistan was “frustrated” ever since Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah took charge and was resorting to all sorts of tactics against India.

    Terming Modi and Shah as Lord Krishna and Arjuna from Mahabharata, Vineet said that both leaders were capable of solving all problems.

  • Gandhi’s ashes stolen, memorial vandalised on 150th birthday

    Gandhi’s ashes stolen, memorial vandalised on 150th birthday

    Some of the remains of India’s founding father, Mahatma Gandhi, were stolen on his 150th birth anniversary, a BBC report quoted local police as saying.

    According to the report, the ashes were stolen from the memorial where they had been kept since 1948 — the year of Gandhi’s assassination by a Hindu extremist.

    The thieves also defaced his photographs by scrawling “traitor” in green paint all over them. Some Hindu hardliners view Gandhi as a traitor for his advocacy of Hindu-Muslim unity.

    This is despite Gandhi being a devout Hindu himself.

    Madhya Pradesh Police confirmed to BBC Hindi that they were investigating the theft on the grounds of actions “prejudicial to national integration” and potential breach of peace.

    Mangaldeep Tiwari, caretaker of the Bapu Bhawan memorial, where the ashes were being held, said the theft was “shameful”.

    “I opened the gate of the Bhawan early in the morning because it was Gandhi’s birthday,” he told an Indian media outlet. “When I returned at around 11 pm, I found the mortal remains of Gandhi missing and his poster was defaced.”

  • Ex-Indian PM accepts invitation for Kartarpur Corridor inauguration

    Ex-Indian PM accepts invitation for Kartarpur Corridor inauguration

    Former Indian prime minister (PM) Manmohan Singh has accepted Pakistan’s invitation to travel across the border for the Kartarpur Corridor inauguration in November this year.

    According to Indian Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Amarinder Singh’s spokesperson, the former premier will join the first Jatha [organised company of Sikhs] to Kartarpur Gurdwara on November 9.

    “Former PM Dr Manmohan Singh accepts @capt_amarinder’s invite to join 1st Jatha to Sri Kartarpur Gurdwara on Nov 9, will also attend Sultanpur Lodhi main event @550yrsGuruNanak [sic],” Raveen Thukral tweeted.

    Earlier, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had announced the decision to invite ex-PM Singh in a video message that he said, would be followed up with a formal invitation from the Pakistani government.

    “Dr Singh is widely respected in India and hails from the Sikh community,” he had said in the video that also made a reference to Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s deep interest in the Kartarpur project.

    The corridor will connect Darbar Sahib in Pakistan’s Kartarpur with Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India’s Gurdaspur district and facilitate visa-free movement of Indian pilgrims, who will have to obtain a permit to make the pilgrimage.

    The corridor will be opened in November ahead of Guru Nanak Dev’s 550th birth anniversary. Kartarpur Sahib was established in 1522 by Sikh faith founder Guru Nanak Dev.

  • Ex-Indian PM accepts invitation for Kartarpur Corridor inauguration

    Ex-Indian PM accepts invitation for Kartarpur Corridor inauguration

    Former Indian prime minister (PM) Manmohan Singh has accepted Pakistan’s invitation to travel across the border for the Kartarpur Corridor inauguration in November this year.

    According to Indian Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Amarinder Singh’s spokesperson, the former premier will join the first Jatha [organised company of Sikhs] to Kartarpur Gurdwara on November 9.

    “Former PM Dr Manmohan Singh accepts @capt_amarinder’s invite to join 1st Jatha to Sri Kartarpur Gurdwara on Nov 9, will also attend Sultanpur Lodhi main event @550yrsGuruNanak [sic],” Raveen Thukral tweeted.

    Earlier, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had announced the decision to invite ex-PM Singh in a video message that he said, would be followed up with a formal invitation from the Pakistani government.

    “Dr Singh is widely respected in India and hails from the Sikh community,” he had said in the video that also made a reference to Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s deep interest in the Kartarpur project.

    The corridor will connect Darbar Sahib in Pakistan’s Kartarpur with Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India’s Gurdaspur district and facilitate visa-free movement of Indian pilgrims, who will have to obtain a permit to make the pilgrimage.

    The corridor will be opened in November ahead of Guru Nanak Dev’s 550th birth anniversary. Kartarpur Sahib was established in 1522 by Sikh faith founder Guru Nanak Dev.

  • Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation under fire for awarding ‘fascist’ Modi

    Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation under fire for awarding ‘fascist’ Modi

    The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is facing massive criticism from prominent South Asian lawyers, human rights activists and philanthropists in the United States (US) after it announced to honour Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi with an award, The Guardian reported.

    According to the details, the foundation is said to give Modi “The Global Goalkeeper” award for his “Clean India Programme” under which millions of toilets were set up and benefits of sanitation and hygiene were publicised.

    Reacting to the news about the award, a group of South Asian Americans working in philanthropy on Tuesday wrote an open letter to the Gates Foundation, alleging that Modi had effectively confined millions to their communities.

    The letter also urged the organisation to rescind the award.

    “For over a month now, PM Modi has placed 8 million people in Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK) under house arrest, blocked communications and media coverage to the outside world, detained thousands of people, including children, and denied basic benefits,” said the letter.

    The award comes amid growing criticism of detention and deportation of Muslims in Assam and Kashmir and human rights violations in IoK since August 5 under Modi’s rule have made front pages around the world.

    While Modi’s government claims that the programme has given 90% of Indians access to clean toilets, press reports suggest otherwise. Reports claim that many of the newly-built toilets remain unused because of poor access to water and caste rules that restrict people from cleaning them.

  • What’s the importance of the leaf behind D.G. ISPR?

    What’s the importance of the leaf behind D.G. ISPR?

    Military Spokesperson Major General Asif Ghafoor did a briefing yesterday, updating the press of Pakistan’s fight for Kashmir’s rights. He spoke about how Kashmir was Pakistan’s “jugular vein” and how Pakistan would protect it at all costs. He also warned India of any “misadventure” and said that “nuclear countries do not go to war”. During his briefing, the background was of a green leaf.

    D.G. ISPR Asif Ghafoor’s press briefing

    The leaf is a chinar tree leaf and symbolizes Kashmir. The chinar tree is largely found in Kashmir or European countries and it is largely believed that the Mughal Emperor Akbar planted chinars in the Kashmir valley.

    A large chinar tree

    1,200 saplings of chinar were planted at the same time in a ‘Char Chinar’ pattern, which is four chinar trees planted in four corners of a piece of land.

    Chinar leaf in autumn

    The Char Chinar pattern creates overarching shade so a person standing in any part of the area would have shade during the whole day.

    Chinar trees in autumn in Srinagar

    For Indians, visiting Srinagar in autumn, is an attractive holiday since the chinar leaves turn golden before they fall.

  • ‘Pakistan even has atom bombs as small as 250 grams,’ Sheikh Rasheed warns India

    ‘Pakistan even has atom bombs as small as 250 grams,’ Sheikh Rasheed warns India

    Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad has warned India that Pakistan even has small nuclear bombs weighing 125-250 grams, which can hit and destroy targeted areas, The News reported.

    “We know if we want to use our 1-inch, 2-inch or half an inch [atomic bombs],” the minister said on Sunday, leaving netizens all cracked up.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    “India committed two blunders. The first one was carrying out atomic explosions while presuming that Pakistan would not do so and secondly, it scrapped special status of Kashmir on August 5 this year, believing Kashmiris won’t react”, the minister said further.

    Tensions soar on either side of the border ever since New Delhi on August 5 revoked Article 370 of the Indian constitution, robbing the people of the troubled valley of their autonomous state. India has since kept Kashmir under lockdown.

  • India to receive Israel-made Spice 2000 bombs used in failed Balakot strikes

    By the end of next month, the Indian Air Force (IAF) will be receiving bunker buster version of Israel-made Spice 2000 bombs, which the country is reported to have used in the failed Balakot airstrikes in February, India Today reported.

    According to reports, India and France had signed a Rs3 billion deal with Israel to acquire the bomb that has a standoff range of 60km and approaches the target using its scene-matching algorithm.

    It consists of an add-on kit for warheads such as the MK-84, BLU-109, APW and RAP-2000; and was also used by the IAF in a failed attempt to bomb the religious seminaries in Balakot in February this year.

    The attack had been foiled by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) that had forced Indian pilots to abort their mission and return in haste.

    India had also later failed to support its claims with facts as observers and international media reported that the seminaries New Delhi had claimed to have destroyed, were standing even days after the intrusion.

  • ‘Pakistan’s Shaheen-III can destroy Israel’s Tel Aviv in 12 minutes,’ ex-general says

    ‘Pakistan’s Shaheen-III can destroy Israel’s Tel Aviv in 12 minutes,’ ex-general says

    Defence analyst and former three-star general, Lieutenant General (r) Ghulam Mustafa, has said that “Pakistan, with its Shaheen-III missile, is capable to destroy Israel’s Tel Aviv in only 12 minutes”.

    “It [Shaheen-III] is 18 times faster than the speed of sound,” he said, adding that even on the night of February 27 — when two intruding jets of the Indian Air Force (IAF) were shot down by Pakistan — Indian media claimed that Islamabad was ready to launch an attack against its enemies.

    Mustafa claimed that the United States (US), while fearing that Pakistan would attack Tel Aviv as well, handed over its Air-3 missile to Israel on the night of February 28.

    He said that February 14’s Pulwama attack affected Pakistan in many ways but the attack was “actually planned by India’s premier intelligence agency and Israel”.

    “The US was also involved,” he added.

    According to a notification issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) in April, Mustafa is among the 26 retired officers of the armed forces who are allowed to appear on media as defence analysts.

    “Their views/comments/opinions on media shall remain personal/independent expression and not attributable to the institution,” read the notification issued four months ago.