Heena Sharma Blog

  India will host a health secretary-level meet virtually with other South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation countries on Thursday to discuss the ongoing COVID-19 crisis . Pakistan has also been invited to attend the workshop. It is a virtual workshop on management of Covid-19, response to the pandemic and exchange of best practices amid the pandemic. On March 15, 2020, during a video conference of the SAARC Heads of State, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had proposed a Coronavirus Emergency Fund for the region. This emergency fund was set up in response to the global coronavirus pandemic. The initiative seeks to mitigate the risks associated with the coronavirus pandemic in the South Asian region with India contributing USD10 million to it. Other members of the SAARC expressed their support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his proposal for the coronavirus emergency fund. Read More

People are feared killed in an ongoing gunbattle after the Pakistan Stock Exchange in Karachi came under attack from terrorists, Geo News reported. Four militants stormed the exchange and opened indiscriminate fire. Initial reports said that four attackers came out of their vehicle and threw grenades after which they reportedly entered the building, Dawn reported. Police surgeon Dr Qarar Ahmed Abbasi said that five bodies and seven injured, including policemen, have been brought at the Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi. According to the report, all four terrorists have been killed and weapons, hand grenades have been recovered from the attackers. A clearance operation is underway in the exchange. Read More

Cash-strapped Pakistan has received an emergency loan of $1.39 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to boost its foreign exchange reserves in the wake of the coronavirus crisis . The $1.39 billion loan is in addition to the $6 billion bailout package that Pakistan had signed with the IMF in July last year to stave off a balance of payment crisis. "SBP (State Bank of Pakistan) has received $1.39 billion under the Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) from the IMF," the central bank said in a tweet on Wednesday. Pakistan in March had requested the global moneylender for a low-cost, fast-disbursing loan under its Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) to deal with the adverse economic impact of the pandemic. The RFI is used to provide financial assistance to IMF member countries facing an urgent balance of payments need without requiring them to put a full-fledged programme in place. Read More

A court in Pakistan on Tuesday sentenced former president Pervez Musharraf to death for high treason, giving its judgment on charges relating to the imposition of extra-constitutional emergency in November 2007, reported the Dawn newspaper. Musharraf, 74, ruled Pakistan from 1999 to 2008 and lives in Dubai in self-imposed exile. The previous Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government had filed the treason case against the former army chief in 2013 over the imposition of an extra-constitutional emergency in November 2007, which led to the confinement of a number of superior court judges in their houses and sacking of over 100 judges. The trial in the high-profile treason case has not seen much progress since Musharraf left for Dubai in March 2016 after his name was removed from the no-fly list. Musharraf is said to be suffering from Amyloidosis, a rare condition for which he has been admitted to a hospital, news agency PTI reported in October 2019. Read More

A large number of Sikhs from India have visited the Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara in Pakistan and installed a golden palanquin at the shrine. Most of the 1,100 Sikhs, who are in Pakistan to attend the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak in Nankana Sahib, visited the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur, also known as Kartarpur Sahib, along with Punjab Governor Chaudhry Sarwar and installed the golden palanquin they had brought in with them. The governor said that the Kartarpur Corridor, which has been completed within the stipulated time, will help bring both the countries closer. Meanwhile, the Pakistan government has decided to make it mandatory for the tour operators to have a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the interior ministry to take foreign Sikhs, other than Indians, to the holy site specially the Kartarpur Sahib. "The Sikhs coming from the US, Canada and the European countries have been issued visit visa for Lahore. There are security problems with

At least 46 people were killed and several others injured as a massive fire broke out on a train in Pakistan's eastern Punjab province on Thursday after a gas canister carried by a passenger exploded. The train, Tezgam, was on its way to Rawalpindi from Karachi when the fire broke out, destroying three of the train's carriages, including two economy class carriages and one business class carriage at Liaquatpur near Rahim Yar Khan in Punjab province. Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad said a gas stove blew up when some of the passengers were preparing breakfast on the speeding train in violation of rules. At least 46 people killed and several others injured in the fire, District Police Officer Rahim Yar Khan Ameer Taimoor Khan said. Most deaths occurred from people jumping off the train, he added. Prime Minister Imran Khan while expressing his condolences directed the authorities to ensure the provision of best medical treatment for the injured. Read More

The Asia-Pacific Group of the the global watchdog for terror financing and money laundering has put Pakistan in the Enhanced Expedited Follow Up List (Blacklist) for its failure to meet its standards, officials said on Friday. The Asia Pacific Group (APG) of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has also found that Pakistan was non-compliant on 32 of the 40 compliance parameters of terror financing and money laundering. The FATF APG meeting was held in Canberra, Australia and the discussions lasted over seven hours over two days. "The APG has placed Pakistan in the Enhanced Expedited Follow Up List (Black List) for failure to meet its standards," an Indian official privy to the development said. On 11 effectiveness parameters of terror financing and money laundering, Pakistan was adjudged as low on 10. The official said despite its efforts, Pakistan could not convince the 41-member plenary to upgrade it on any parameter. Read More Article Source -> Bus

Cricket Australia has revamped the domestic one-day tournament structure for the upcoming 2019-20 season. On Tuesday, it announced the fixtures of the 50-over domestic competition which will now be played in three parts, the first part -- Marsh One-Day Cup -- will commence on September 21. It will be followed by the Sheffield Shield beginning October 10. The remaining part of the competition, which comprises of 11 games, will take place in two more blocks - late-October and mid-November. The final of the competition will be held on November 26. The other major change is the expansion of the Women's National Cricket League (WNCL), with teams each playing eight matches, compared to just six in previous seasons. Cricket Australia's Head of Cricket Operations Peter Roach said: "We've listened to the states, territories, the ACA and players on what is going to make our cricket system stronger." "For the men's One-Day Cup, the key priorities wer

Congress leaders including from former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh claimed that several surgical strikes were conducted by army during the previous UPA rule. “ Multiple surgical strikes took place during our tenure, too. For us, military operations were meant for strategic deterrence and giving a befitting reply to anti-India forces than to be used for vote garnering exercises, Singh had said in an interview to a newspaper. Congress leader Rajiv Shukla had told reporters at an AICC briefing last week that six surgical strikes were conducted during the period of Manmohan Singh government. PM Modi in a rally slammed the Congress for telling "lies" aand said the party does surgical strikes only "in video games". Read More Article Source -> Business Standard

The engine is from a roadcutter, the wings are burlap, the wheels are borrowed from a rickshaw: a popcorn seller has caught the attention of the Pakistan Air Force by building his own plane. The tale of Muhammad Fayyaz has captured the hearts of many in a nation where millions, just like him, have limited access to education and are fighting for opportunities. "I was literally in the air. I couldn't feel anything else," Fayyaz said of his first flight in a machine he learned to build mainly from viewing TV clips and online blueprints. Pakistan has been thrilled before by stories of scientific prodigies plucked from obscurity before -- notably, that of the engineer who said in 2012 that he had invented a car that could run on water -- a story that was later debunked by scientists. But Fayyaz insists he flew and his claim is being taken seriously by the air force, whose representatives have now visited him multiple times, even issuing a certificate to commend

India have dropped three places to fifth in the expanded men's Twenty20 International team rankings while Pakistan have consolidated their top position, according to the latest list issued by the ICC. The ICC Friday unveiled an expanded T20I team rankings table with 80 teams who will now be able to gauge their progress in a format, recognised by the world body as the vehicle for the growth of the game. Pakistan, ICC T20 World Cup champions in 2009, are now on 286 points while the next four teams are within two points of each other -- South Africa (262), England (261), Australia (261) and India (260). South Africa and India have swapped positions two and five in the expanded table, whose launch coincides with the annual rankings update in which series results from 2015-16 are removed and outcomes from 2016-17 and 2017-18 are weighted at 50 per cent. In other significant changes, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka have moved up one place each to seventh and eighth positions, re

Pakistan on Thursday said it has examined 22 "pin locations" shared by India but found no terror camps and claimed that there are no links to nail 54 people detained in connection with the Pulwama terror attack as it shared the "preliminary findings" with New Delhi. Pakistan is willing to allow visits, on request, to these locations, the Foreign Office (FO) said. "While 54 detained individuals are being investigated, no details linking them to Pulwama have been found so far," it said. "Similarly, the 22 pin locations shared by India have been examined. No such camps exist. Pakistan is willing to allow visits, on request, to these locations," the FO said. It said that in consistent with its commitment to cooperate, Pakistan on Wednesday shared preliminary findings of its investigations with India along with a set of questions. India handed over the dossier to the Acting High Commissioner of Pakistan in New Delhi on February 27 with

At a time when India is fuming diplomatically at the conversion of two minor Hindu girls to Islam in the Sindh province of Pakistan, a look at the religious composition of Pakistan’s population shows that the Hindu population has increased exponentially over a three-decade period. Pakistan in 2017 conducted its first census since 1998. Before 1998, the census was last been held in 1981. According to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, the country’s population in 2017 was 207 million, growth of 146% from 1981. While Pakistan has not yet revealed the religious composition of its population in the latest census, the 1998 census pegged the population of Hindus at 2.1 million. In 1998, Hindus comprised 1.6 per cent of Pakistan’s population which made them the biggest minority group in the country. Assuming that the proportion of Hindus in Pakistan’s total population remained the same, the number of Hindus in Pakistan, according to its latest census, would be around 3.3 million. Since 1

A meeting between officials of India and Pakistan to finalise the modalities for setting up of a corridor linking the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistani town of Kartarpur with Gurdaspur district in Punjab commenced here Thursday, officials said. The talks are being held at the Indian side of the Attari-Wagah border, they said. It is the first meeting between officials of India and Pakistan to discuss the Kartarpur corridor issue, amid heightened tensions between the two nations over the Pulwama terror attack, followed by India's pre-emptive air strike on Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) camps in Balakot and Pakistan's subsequent retaliation. In the meeting, New Delhi is likely to raise the issue of hassle-free access to the Indian pilgrims besides asking Islamabad to insulate Sikh pilgrims visiting the shrine in Pakistan from pro-Khalistan propaganda. From the Indian side, officials comprised representatives from the Union Home Ministry, External Affairs Ministry, BSF, Nat

As China again blocked a UN resolution to designate JeM chief a global terrorist, Congress president Rahul Gandhi Thursday hit out at Prime Minster Narendra Modi, saying he was weak and scared of Chinese President Xi Jinping . The Congress chief attacked the prime minister and said he had not spoken on China blocking the resolution in the UN Security Council. The party accused the BJP of letting Masood off the hook again and also questioned Modi what was the use of "swinging" with Xi. "Weak Modi is scared of Xi. Not a word comes out of his mouth when China acts against India. NoMo's China diplomacy: 1. Swing with Xi in Gujarat. 2. Hug Xi in Delhi. 3. Bow to Xi in China," Gandhi said on Twitter. India's bid to designate the Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed's chief as a global terrorist suffered a setback with China on Wednesday putting a technical hold on a proposal to ban him following the Pulwama terror attack . The proposal

In a major diplomatic achievement, India for the first time addressed the OIC meeting on Friday here, and asserted that the war against terrorism, which was destabilising regions and putting the world at great peril, was not against any religion. India's participation came despite strong demand by Pakistan to rescind the invitation to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to address the grouping of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) which was turned down by the host UAE, resulting in Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi boycotting the plenary. "Terrorism and extremism bear different names and labels. It uses diverse causes. But in each case, it is driven by distortion of religion, and a misguided belief in its power to succeed. The fight against terrorism is not a confrontation against any religion," Swaraj, who is the first Indian minister to address the meeting of the 57 Islamic countries, said. Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, a senior mi

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has admitted that Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar is in Pakistan and is "unwell", but said the government can act against him only if India presents "solid" and "inalienable" evidence that can stand in a court of law. Qureshi's remarks came amid heightened tensions between India and Pakistan after the February 14 terror attack by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) in Pulwama that left 40 CRPF personnel dead. India has handed over a dossier to Pakistan with "specific details of the JeM complicity in Pulwama terror attack and the presence of JeM terror camps and its leadership in Pakistan." India also expressed regret at the denial by Pakistan's political and military leadership at the presence of terrorist infrastructure in territories under its control. "He is in Pakistan, according to my information. He is unwell to the extent that he can't leave his hou

Pakistan on Thursday announced that it will release an Indian Air Force pilot who was captured on Wednesday after an aerial combat between the two countries’ fighter jets along the Line of Control. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said that the release of IAF pilot will be a "peace gesture". The worst military standoff between the two rival neighbours began on Tuesday when India’s external affairs ministry said the country’s air force jets had launched airstrikes against terrorists inside Pakistan. The target was a camp run by Jaish-e-Mohammed which claimed responsibility for the February 14 suicide car bombing in Pulwama, Kashmir, which killed 40 members of India’s paramilitary CRPF. On Wednesday, Pakistan claimed it had downed an Indian jet. Article Source -> Business Standard

The Congress on Thursday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the joint statement issued after his talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, saying the PM "forgot" to write the name of " terror nourisher " Pakistan in the document. The statement, issued hours after the Modi-Crown Prince talks, said the two leaders condemned the Pulwama terror attack in the strongest possible terms and called on all countries to renounce the use of terrorism as an instrument of state policy. However, it did not name Pakistan in this context. "Modiji on February 18 said 'the time for talks with Pakistan is over, and now action will be taken'," Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala tweeted. "Modiji on February 20 saying --India and Pakistan will talk as Modiji has been trying for since May 2014," he said, referring to a paragraph in the document that talked about the Indian and the Saudi sides agreeing onthe need for

Tensions between India and Pakistan have escalated sharply after a suicide bombing in Kashmir killed 40 CRPF jawans, an attack claimed by Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad . Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed a strong response to the attack and said he had given the military a free hand. Pakistan would retaliate if attacked, his counterpart, Imran Khan, has warned. The neighbours have twice gone to war over Kashmir since independence in 1947. Here is how their militaries stack up. MILITARY BUDGET In 2018, India allocated four trillion rupees ($58 billion), or 2.1 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP), to support its 1.4 million active troops, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). Last year, Pakistan spent 1.26 trillion Pakistani rupees ($11 billion), about 3.6 per cent of its GDP, on its 653,800 troops. It also received $100 million in foreign military assistance in 2018. Between 1993 and 2006, more than 20 per