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Pakistan restores Samjhauta Express services to Delhi

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Pakistani authorities on Monday restored the Samjhauta Express services between Lahore and Delhi, days after the train was suspended due to tense bilateral ties.

The train departs on Monday and Thursday from Lahore.

The Samjhauta Express carrying some 150 passengers left Lahore railway station for India, Radio Pakistan reported.

The train, named after the Hindi word “agreement”, comprises six sleeper coaches and an AC 3-tier coach. The train service was started on July 22, 1976 under the Shimla Agreement that settled the 1971 war between the two nations.

Agencies

Shivratri revives bond between Kashmiri Pandits & Muslims

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Nasheman News : Manzoor Ahmad Bhat, 62, returned after performing ‘Umrah’ (pilgrimage to Mecca) last month. He lives in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district, but his current visit to Jammu has a special purpose and meaning.

He has brought walnuts to greet Girdharilal Daftari, his 68-year-old Kashmiri Pandit friend who lives in Jammu after shifting out of the Valley in early 1990 after outbreak of militancy.

Walnuts are traditionally offered by Muslims to their Kashmiri Pandit neighbours and friends ahead of Shivratri.

Bhat and Daftari have been friends for over 30 years. The turbulence of time has upset many equations in Kashmir, but the brotherhood between Kashmiri Pandits and Muslims has somehow survived.

“How can I forget to be with my friend on an occasion like Shivratri. In good old days, I would look forward to the special feast of fish and nadru (lotus stem) at Daftari’s home. The love and affection that went along the food, served on Shivratri, cannot be expressed in words,” said Bhat.

Since the outbreak of insurgency in Kashmir over 30 years ago, there has hardly been a year when Bhat and Daftari haven’t been together on the festival. 

In a way, they are like hundreds of other Kashmiri Muslim and Pandit friends. They may not be able to visit each other on Shivratri due to geographical distance, yet continue to share the same feelings of nostalgia.

With their intertwined histories, culture and livelihood for centuries, most among the two communities believe they will withstand the present turmoil.

“Can you believe it? I was taught Arabic and Persian by a Pandit teacher. Isn’t this a statement that dispels the fear about the shared future of these two communities?” said Nisar Ahmad, 69, a resident of Srinagar.

The close links between the two communities were more pronounced in villages than cities.

“I would ask my Muslim neighbour to bring mutton, fish, nadru and other things for the festival. But it would take me quite a bit of time convincing him that he must accept the money for these purchases,” said Shamlal Koul, 63, who lived in a north Kashmir village before shifting out of the Valley.

The mutual trust has stood the test of time. Pandits would not eat pork and the local Muslims would not eat beef.

“That was the level of faith we had between us. It cannot be denied that under the influence of the changing times, our youth might not feel so passionately about their Muslim neighbours.

“That is something nobody can deny. Children of the two communities feel betrayed. They have not interacted with each other so often after 1990, and whenever there has been some social media interaction between them, it has been based on mistrust.

“It is the duty of the elders among the two communities to educate children about the love and respect Pandits and Muslims in Kashmir had for each other.

“The pain of migration, leaving everything behind, is something nobody among our community can forget. But Kashmiri Muslims have been more unfortunate because of the lives of youth snatched by violence during this period,” said Daftari.

He said the Muslim festival of Eid and the Shivratri have to regain their historic meaning for the two communities.

“Unless that happens, both Muslims and Pandits would lose the most glorious chapter of their history,” Daftari rued.


Army chief visits forward areas in Jammu region

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Nasheman News : To take stock of the operational preparedness of forces, Army chief General Bipin Rawat visited forward areas on the border in the Jammu region on Sunday.

Defence ministry spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Devender Anand said: “The Chief of Army Staff, General Bipin Rawat, visited various army forward locations of Samba and Ratnuchak in the Jammu region to review the operational deployment and preparedness. 

“The Army Chief was briefed about the situation and preparedness by Lieutenant General J.S. Nain, General Officer Commanding Rising Star Corps. The Army Chief also interacted with the troops at forward locations. 

“He expressed complete confidence in the Indian Army’s capabilities to thwart any nefarious designs of enemies and handle any situation. The Chief also praised the high moral and preparedness of the troops.”

Delhi Assembly to go paperless ahead of vote

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Nasheman News : The Delhi Assembly has sought help from the state government for turning paperless after the delay in the implementation of the Centre’s project for paperless Assemblies.

During the budget session of the Assembly, which concluded last week, the General Purposes Committee (GPC) of the Delhi Vidhan Sabha had tabled a report stating the paperless project was “badly delayed”.

“The Assembly Secretariat sought Rs 20 crore in the budget estimates for 2019-20. The project will be modified to suit the needs of the Assembly and it’s members,” said the report.

The government has allocated the amount for the purpose.

“A lot of papers are used in the Assembly. Our aim is to make it paperless by the next session. The work will start from April and the implementation will take around six months,” Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel told media.

“It will take a little time, as we need to first develop a centralised system. There will be a display screen on MLAs’ seats. Everything, from questions and answers to reports, will be available on the touch of finger,” he said.

Goel said the study and the estimate part of the project has been completed and with the sanctioning of the money, the work will also begin next month.

“A team from the Assembly visited the Himachal Pradesh Assembly in 2015 after it turned paperless to get first hand knowledge. They (Himachal Assembly) also have nearly the same number of MLAs as we do,” he said.

For turning paperless, the Delhi Assembly will work with the Information and Technology Department of the state government as well as the National Informatics Centre (NIC), the GPC report said. 

The GPC had approved the implementation of ‘e-Vidhan’ in the Assembly and recommended adoption of the Himachal model.

A draft project report estimating a cost of Rs 17.79 crore was submitted to the Ministry of Information and Technology in October 2015. But later, the project was transferred to the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, the report said.

On its part, the Parliamentary Affairs Ministry had decided to implement the National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA) project in all state Assemblies. 

The Ministry was of the view once all Assemblies adopted NeVA, funds for the physical infrastructure would be released in phases, said the GPC report.

VCK, DMK finalise seat sharing for LS polls

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[Nasheman news] Chennai The DMK and VCK on Monday inked an electoral pact by which the latter will contest from two seats in Tamil Nadu in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

The two parties reached the agreement after talks.

Speaking to the media, VCK leader Thirumavalavan said the two constituencies will be decided later.

According to Thirumavalavan, the DMK-led alliance will win all the 40 Lok Sabha seats — 39 in Tamil Nadu and the lone Puducherry seat.

He said the party would decide on whether to contest under its own symbol or under DMK’s Rising Sun symbol.

The DMK has signed electoral alliance pacts with Congress (nine seats in Tamil Nadu and the lone Puducherry seat), IUML and KDMK (one seat each).

The DMK is also holding talks with the two communist parties, MDMK and others like DMDK.

The DMDK founded by A. Vijayakant has called a meeting of its party senior officials on Tuesday probably to decide on whom to align with.

Dhoni joins Sachin, Sourav, Dravid in elite group

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[Nasheman news] Hyderabad Former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has become only the fourth Indian batsman to complete 13,000 runs in List A cricket. Dhoni has amassed 13,054 runs in 412 List A matches at an average of 50.79.

The veteran wicketkeeper-batsman has joined an elite club, comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid.

Dhoni achieved the milestone during the first One-Day International (ODI) against Australia when he scored a gritty half-century to power India to a six-wicket victory.

Former England star Graham Gooch is at the top of the list with 22,211 runs in List A cricket.

Apart from this, Dhoni’s unbeaten 141-run partnership with Kedar Jadhav is the second highest fifth-wicket stand by India against Australia at home. This was also the second best partnership for any wicket at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium here. 

The highest stand was put up by Shaun Marsh and Shane Watson of Australia when they produced a 145-run opening partnership in 2009.

ICC declines BCCI plea to isolate Pakistan

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[Nasheman news] Dubai The International Cricket Council (ICC), here on Saturday evening, turned down the BCCI’s request for isolation of Pakistan from the global cricket community.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had in a letter to the ICC, following the Pulwama terror attack, demanded that the international cricket community sever cricketing ties with nations from where “terrorism emnates”.

However, the ICC board at its meeting refused to accept the BCCI request.

“The ICC has made it clear that this request cannot be implemented, as of now. The ICC did concede to our demands on security at the World Cup, but refused to accept this demand of ours,” a BCCI official said.

Several former cricketers, like Sourav Ganguly and Harbhajan Singh and former officials like Rajiv Shukla, had demanded that India should boycott the June 16 World Cup match against Pakistan and persuade the international cricket community to isolate Pakistan.

The BCCI has, however, not taken any decision to boycott the match yet, saying it will follow the government instructions on the matter.

Election Commission team on two-day visit to J&K

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[Nasheman news] Jammu A team from the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday embarked on a visit to Jammu and Kashmir to review the preparedness for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and the security situation in the state.

“The team headed by Deputy Election Commissioner Sandeep Sharma will hold meetings with leaders of seven national and three regional parties in Srinagar on Monday,” official sources said.

They will also hold detailed discussions with top administration officials including Deputy Commissioners and Senior Superintendents of Police of 10 districts in the Kashmir Valley and two in the Ladakh division.

According to the sources, the team will also be briefed about the security situation in the state following cross-border tensions in the past one week.

“Before flying back to Delhi tomorrow (Tuesday), the team will hold a press conference here tomorrow,” the sources added.

The ECI visit is taking place amid intense speculation whether the state Assembly polls will also be held simultaneously with the general elections or be deferred to a later date.

Anti-terrorism protest at UN demands action against Pakistani terror sponsors, JeM chief

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[Nasheman news] United Nations Members of the Indian community and international supporters have held a protest outside the UN headquarters demanding that the international organisation act against Pakistani leaders abetting terrorism and impose an arms embargo on Islamabad.

The protest on Sunday by about 400 people also included concerned citizens from the US, Bangladesh, Caribbean countries, Sri Lanka and Israel, as well as from Pakistan’s Balochistan province.

The protesters held up signs listing various terrorist attacks around the world linked to Pakistan — from Pulwama to New York’s Times Square, and from Mumbai to London, and the Pakistani military’s atrocities during Bangladesh’s War of Independence.

Their posters also listed terrorist organisations like the Al Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Haqqani Network, Taliban, Laskshar-e-Omar, Sipah-e-Sahaba that are based in Pakistan and operate internationally. 

A memorandum from the protesters to the UN said the world body should declare Pakistan a global terrorist state and JeM leader Masood Azhar an international terrorist and impose sanctions on them.

As a member of the Security Council, China has been protecting Azhar and has vetoed efforts by other members to add him to the list of global terrorists so he would face international sanctions.

The JeM claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir on February 14 which killed 40 Central Reserve Police Force personnel.

The memorandum also asked the UN to impose an arms embargo on Islamabad and financial and travel sanctions on Pakistani political and military leaders involved in protecting and aiding terrorist organisations.

Overseas Friends of BJP President Krishna Reddy Anugula said that they would send the memorandum to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday.

Karnataka Congress MLA Umesh Jadhav resigns

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[Nasheman news] Bengaluru Karnataka’s “rebel” Congress MLA Umesh Jadhav resigned from the Assembly on Monday.

Jadhav, a two-time MLA from Chincholi constituency in Kalaburagi district, submitted his resignation to Assembly Speaker K.R. Ramesh Kumar without giving any explanation.

“Jadhav submitted his resignation letter to Kumar earlier in the day at the latter’s house in Kolar town near Bengaluru,” a party official told IANS here.

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