PM thanks Gulf, focus shifts to rift with Pak

ates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar comes amid the government’s consistent efforts to strengthen ties with the Gulf across sectors.

PM Modi’s remarks, as also India’s unequivocal statement welcoming the UAE’S accord with Israel, contrasted sharply wit h Pakist a n’ s g uarded response to full normalisation of relations between the UAE and Israel. “Pakistan’s approach (to the accord) will be guided by our evaluation of how Palestinians’ rights and aspirations are upheld and how regional peace, security and stability are preserved,” Islamabad’s statement said.

India’s statement, issued after UAE foreign minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan briefed his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar, was unambiguous and welcomed the restoration of full diplomatic ties between two strategic partners of India. New Delhi maintained its traditional support for the Palestinian cause and hoped for early negotiations for an acceptable two-state solution. Since he took over as PM, Narendra Modi has made cementing relations with Gulf countries his topmost priority. He was the first PM to visit Abu Dhabi in 2015 after 34 years. The next year, he travelled to Saudi Arabia, the flag-bearer of Sunni Islam.

The two Sunni countries along with Kuwait and Qatar are at the heart of PM’S Middle East diplomacy as New Delhi realises the role these countries play in its energy security, and the well-being and progress of the Indian diaspora as well as the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the 57-member grouping of Islamic countries.

An Indian diplomat said the statements by New Delhi and Islamabad on the Uae-israel accord reflected their priorities. “While India has found partners for peace in the Middle East, it is for Pakistan to answer whether it will partner ongoing Shia revolution in Iran or restoration of Ottoman empire in Turkey or revival of Muslim Brotherhood in Qatar. It is quite evident that the UAE-ISrael accord will restore peace in the normally restive region as opposed to polarisation that Pakistan has exploited in the past using either Palestine or Kashmir as per its political convenience.” It was a reflection of the strength of ties between India and the Gulf countries that Pakistan’s repeated requests to convene a meeting of the OIC’S Council of Foreign Ministers have not been accepted so far.

The Saudi-led OIC’S refusal drove foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi to tell a TV channel that he would ask Prime Minister Imran Khan “to call a meeting of the Islamic countries that are ready to stand with us on the issue of Kashmir”.

The Imran Khan government, which came under attack from opposition parties for Qureshi’s remarks, is learnt to have hugely upset the kingdom. Pakistan is planning to send its Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa to Riyadh to try to repair relations but is yet to get confirmation from Saudi Arabia for an appointment with the Saudi leadership. main rain producing systems during monsoon. No low-pressure area had formed in July and the monsoon trough (line of low pressure) had frequently oscillated towards the Himalayan foothills, bringing extremely heavy rains to northeastern states.

June had ended with surplus rains of 17.6% while July had closed with a deficit of 9.7%. But the low pressure areas developing in August have intensified rains in the core monsoon region—parts of central and east India. According to IMD’S Sunday bulletin, parts of Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Konkan and Goa recorded very heavy to extremely heavy rains on Saturday and Sunday morning.

For example, Bhopalpatnam a nd Bhai r a mgarh 2 2 c m, recorded 32 cm and 22 cm.of rain respectively; and Sama 27 cm and Bijapur 23 cm. All are located in Chhattisgarh,

The monsoon trough is active and lies south of its normal position (Ganganagar to Bay of Bengal.) Its western end is likely to move northwards during the next two days. A cyclonic circulation lies over south Punjab. Convergence of strong moist southwesterly winds from the Arabian sea over the plains of northwest I ndi a is l i ke l y t o f ur t her strengthen from August 18 onwards.

Because of these conditions, increased rainfall is likely over northwest India from August 18 with widespread and heavy rains over the region and Uttarakhand. Extremely heavy rain is likely over west Rajasthan and Uttarakhand on August 18 and over north Punjab on August 19.

Extremely heavy rain is also likely over Telangana, Konkan, Goa, Vidarbha and Chhattisgarh, and the ghat areas of Madhya Maharashtra on Sunday and Monday. Due to the likely formation of a low-pressure area, heavy to very heavy rain is likely over Odisha and Gangetic West Bengal also on August 18 and 19, IMD’S Sunday bulletin said. trate Shailendra Kumar Singh visited the village and site of the incident.

The rape and murder of the teenage girl evoked a sharp response from political leaders. SP president Akhilesh Yadav, BSP chief Mayawati, UP Congress president Lallu Singh, former Congress MP Jitin Prasada and several others condemned the incident.

Yadav said in a tweet: “The rape and murder of a teenage girl in Lakhimpur Kheri is an incident which has shaken humanity. In the BJP rule, atrocities on children and women are at an all-time high.”

“Why is the BJP government shielding those who are involved in rape, kidnapping, murder and other crime,” the former state chief minister asked.

Prasada said: “The inhuman act with a girl has put humanity to shame. This is an extremely saddening incident. In this episode, the police must initiate such a strong action that it becomes a deterrent for criminals.”

Mayawati too demanded strict action against the guilty. “What is the difference between the SP government and the present BJP government... The BSP demands that the government should initiate strong action against the guilty in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident and also in the Azamgarh incident.” A village head was recently killed in Azamgarh. controversy linked to Facebook data breach of around 50 million users in the US to benefit Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in 2016. Christopher Wylie, the Cambridge Analytica whistleblower had told British lawmakers that he “believed” the Congress party in India was a client of the company at the regional level.

“The fact is that today access to information and freedom of expression has been democratized. It is no longer controlled by retainers of your family and that is why it hurts. Btw, haven’t yet heard your condemnation of the Bangalore riots. Where did your courage disappear,” Prasad tweeted on Sunday.

BJP’S IT cell chief Amit Malviya said the concept of free speech cannot be selectively applied. “Sonia Gandhi’s (Congress interim chief) statements before the Delhi elections also constituted hate-speech, they led to huge scale rioting,” Malviya told HT.

“For the last couple of years, pages linked to the right-wing, to the BJP, have faced unilateral action by Facebook. The social networking giant has also taken action against right-wing organisations such as Opindia, Rightlo and Mynation,” Malviya said, adding that this shows that Facebook is not aligned to the BJP.

Trinamool Congress spokesperson Derek O’brien joined Gandhi in attacking the BJP. “I spoke on this issue on the floor of #Parliamentin June 2019. Video in the public domain. Your story has brought the focus back to the skeletons in the cupboard,” O’brien said.

Information and technology panel chairperson Shashi Tharoor said that the parliamentary body would like to hear from Facebook after reports emerged of an alleged collusion between the social media company’s India policy head and the BJP.

“The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology would certainly wish to hear from @Facebook about these reports & what they propose to do about hate-speech in India,” Tharoor tweeted.

PM THANKED GULF COUNTRIES FOR LETTING INDIANS STAY FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD AMID THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

that went viral on social media, showed the woman’s hair being soaked in water and shaved as she pleads for mercy.

Police said t he i ncident occurred at Jagdambapur Bharbhatiya village under the Srinagar Pujaha police station limits of West Champaran district on Saturday, where a group of villagers, including the woman’s husband Ramayan Choudhary, subjected her to humiliation and mental torture.

“We have arrested four of the accused, including the woman’s husband, and further investigation into the matter is underway,” said Nitash Gudiya, superintendent of police (SP), West Champaran.

The woman told the police that the villagers, in connivance with her husband and other family members, accused her of being an infidel.

Police have registered a case against 12 people and other unknown persons under sections 341, 342, 498(A), 354(A) and 354(B) among other relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

India, in the early stages of the outbreak, enforced a 68-day nationwide lockdown starting March 25, when the country had around 602 confirmed cases and 12 deaths. Most curbs have slowly been relaxed in the months since, with the government announcing a phased “unlock” plan from June. “We do not know yet what the reasons are for fewer deaths in India. However, there are some educated guesses. One, India has a relatively young population... Two, Indians get common cold from other coronaviruses that might be providing cross immunity against Sars-cov-2,” said Dr Sanjay K Rai, professor of community medicine at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. partner, was earlier admitted to Sanjay Gandhi PGI in Lucknow on July 12 after being found Covid-19 positive.

On Friday night, he had a multi-organ failure and was put on ventilator support.

Chauhan was a cabinet minister in the Yogi Adityanath government. He held the portfolios of sainik welfare, home guards, PRD and civil security.