Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday asked his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi to “give peace a chance” and assured him that he “stands by” his words and will “immediately act” if New Delhi provides Islamabad with “actionable intelligence” on the Pulwama attack.

Khan’s remarks came a day after PM Modi in a rally in Rajasthan, recalled his conversation with the Pakistan PM during a congratulatory call after he became the country’s premier.

PM Modi had told him “let us fight against poverty and illiteracy” and Khan gave his word saying he is a Pathan’s son “but went back on it”.

“There is consensus in the entire world against terrorism. We are moving ahead with strength to punish the perpetrators of terrorism…The scores will be settled this time, settled for good…This is a changed India, this pain will not be tolerated…We know how to crush terrorism,” PM Modi further said.

A statement released by the Pakistan Prime Minister’s Office said, “PM Imran Khan stand by his words that if India gives us actionable intelligence, we will immediately act.”

PM Modi should “give peace a chance”, Khan said in the statement.

In his first statement issued since the February 14 attack, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan had on Tuesday accused India of blaming his country “without evidence” and warned of retaliation against any military action by India.

However, he assured India that he would act against the perpetrators of the deadly Pulwama terror attack, carried out by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror group and said that the issue between the two countries can be solved through dialogue.

India had called Khan’s offer to investigate the attack if provided proof as a “lame excuse”.

The already sour relations between India and Pakistan have worsened over the past few weeks as New Delhi accused Islamabad of the Pulwama attack.

India has accused Islamabad’s spy agency ISI of being involved in the attack and has maintained that the terror group JeM is a “child of the Pakistan Army”.

Following the attack, India immediately withdrew the ‘Most Favoured Nation’ status granted to Pakistan and initiated steps to isolate the neighbouring country from the international community.

Earlier, India had also announced its decision to stop the flow of its share of water from the Beas, Ravi and Sutlej to Pakistan.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had in many of his public speeches after the attack, said that the security forces have been given full freedom to decide the future course of action regarding the terrorist attack in Pulwama.

India’s neighbours, including Sri Lanka, Maldives, Nepal, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Bhutan—and other countries like Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iran, Russia, Germany, Canada, UK, Australia and Canada came out in strong support of New Delhi following the terror attack.

Over 44 CRPF personnel were killed and many injured on February 14 in one of the deadliest terror strikes in Jammu-Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) suicide bomber blew up an explosive-laden vehicle near their bus in Pulwama district.

The bus was part of a convoy of 78 vehicles carrying around 2500 CRPF personnel from Jammu to Srinagar.

Agencies

Nasheman News :  Megastar Amitabh Bachchan says it is unfortunate to have come across stories about married women who are thrown out of their house because they are suffering from Hepatitis B. He is against this kind of discrimination towards women and says he will fight for it as long as he is alive.

Amitabh was addressing the media at the launch of a national action plan combating Viral Hepatitis in India along with Maharashtra Minister for PWD, Public Health and Family Welfare Eknath Shinde here on Sunday. 

“I was interested in this great campaign that the government of India and other associations including the World Health Organisation (WHO) have put into practice. My family doctor and his other doctor friends visited me and made me aware of that… how very little is known about it,” said the cine icon.

“I immediately agreed in whatever way I could. There were two things that attracted me, first thing was dissemination of information about Hepatitis B. Most people aren’t aware of this disease but it is a life threatening one so, I felt it’s my duty as a citizen of India to create awareness about it.”

He also said that he feels sad when he sees discrimination towards women when it comes to fighting with diseases. 

“Second thing that surprised and hurt me was that the factor of discrimination particularly to women… it’s really unfortunate that I have come across such stories where married women are thrown out of their house because they are suffering from Hepatitis B.

“Women are half of the power of the country. They are the strength of our country so, they must be treated with respect and dignity that they deserve. If we begin to discriminate them, just because they are suffering from a particular disease, then it is not acceptable and I will fight for this as long as I am alive.” 

Talking about himself, he said: “Today, I am free from tuberculosis because it was diagnosed and treated at the right time so, I feel we must pay a lot of attention to the process of detections of these diseases because if they are detected on time, then there is a cure and I am an example of that.”

Nasheman News :  Karnataka intensified efforts to contain a raging wildfire in the Bandipur forest area in the Chamarajanagar district bordering Tamil Nadu, an official said on Monday.

“As the wildfire spread to about 2,000 hectares in the 874 square kilometres (sq km) Bandipur forest, around 500 guards, officials, eco-volunteers and people from the area rushed to douse the flames,” an official told IANS here.

Movement of people and vehicles, including cars, buses and trucks have been banned on the National Highway-67 and inter-state roads until further notice across Bandipur, which has a sprawling tiger habitat and is biodiversity rich as part of the eco-sensitive southern Western Ghats.

Unlike in the past or in many years, this is the first time the wildfire in Bandipur flared up earlier due to the sudden climatic change and rapid growth of dry grass and Lantana.

“There has been no reports of casualty or injury to animals, including spotted deer, bison, antelopes, elephants, tiger and leopard so far, as they would have ran into the core forest area to escape from the scorching heat and the raging fire that started on Saturday.

“Although small animals like snakes and calves would have perished caught in the blaze,” said the official.

Nasheman News : Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Sunday urged Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to hold the biennial Aero India air show in Bengaluru only as Asia’s premier aerospace event, an official statement said.

“Kumaraswamy requested Sitharaman to hold the Aero India air show in Bengaluru only in the coming years too as the 2019 and previous 11 editions were held here over the last 22 years,” said thestatement after they met at the Chief Minister’s home office here.

Thanking Sitharaman for holding the 12th edition of the 5-day international expo here, the Chief Minister said the people of the state and city were happy to visit the air show and witness the static and flying display of over 50 aircraft, including fighters at the IAF’s Yelahanka base.

Kumaraswamy’s appeal to the Defense Minister came at a review meeting of the air show that concluded in the evening on a high note, with over a lakh of people crowding the venue to witness the metal birds fly and perform aerobatics.

The Chief Minister made the appeal personally as the Defence Minister did not announce dates of Aero India 2021 at the inaugural event on Wednesday though it is has been the practice hitherto and is customary at all international air shows.

Speculation was rife in July-August last year about a change of venue when following media reports that the Defence Ministry was planning to shift the prestigious event to Uttar Pradesh ahead of the general elections.

The massive fire in the air base parking lot on Saturday that gutted about 300 cars and the death of a IAF pilot after two Sury Kiran jets collided in the air and crashed on Tuesday while rehearsing for the flying display were also discussed at the meeting, where IAF and defence ministry officials, state officials and city police were present.

During the meeting the reason for fire at parking place and mitigating measures taken after the incident were discussed, with state Home Minister M.B. Patil who was also present. 

“The meeting decided to take precautions while organizing such events in future and measures to mitigate the hardship of the gutted car owners,” added the statement.

Nasheman News :Hospitalised Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar is under observation and should be discharged “in a day, or a day and a half max”, Goa Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said here on Sunday, urging people “not to speculate” about his health.

As confirmed by the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) on Saturday, a team of Delhi-based All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) doctors, led by professor of gastroenterology Pramod Garg arrived at the Goa Medical College near Panaji and examined Parrikar, who was earlier hospitalised at the Delhi hospital.

However, Rane while speaking to reporters late on Sunday said that while some of the medication which was prescribed to Parrikar have been changed by the AIIMS specialist, no endoscopy procedure was performed and that the former Defence Minister’s parameters are stable. He also said that an infection, which Parrikar was suffering from, “is under control”.

Rane also said that it is better that Parrikar remains hospitalised, because “all doctors, everything is there”.

Rane later tweeted a public appeal urging people not to heed to rumours vis-a-vis the Chief Minister’s health.

“There was no endoscopy performed, nor is there any sign of bleeding. He will be kept under observation for another 24 hours and discharged thereafter. Appealing all to follow my tweets for latest updates on the CM’s health and not pay heed to rumours.”

Rane’s tweet contradicts a formal statement by the CMO on Saturday, which said that Parrikar would be undergoing an “upper GI endoscopy” procedure at the top state government hospital.

Amid reports of his deteriorating health, Parrikar, who is suffering from advanced pancreatic cancer, was hospitalised on Saturday evening.

While the CMO on Saturday said he is stable and being admitted for a gastrointestinal endoscopy, Rane speaking to reporters in the night denied the same, triggering further speculation about Parrikar’s health.

Sources at the Goa Medical College, where the Chief Minister is admitted, said Parrikar is being treated for internal bleeding. “The internal bleeding was caused by a cut near the intestine,” the source said.

Parrikar was diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer in February last year and has been in and out of hospitals in Goa, Mumbai, Delhi and New York since.

Meanwhile, the Congress in Goa has asked people to pray for the Chief Minister’s health and not to mock his ill-health.

Nasheman News :  Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Sunday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of cashing in on farmers’ plight for votes and said that launching the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme at end of his tenure will not help him win the elections.

Modi on Sunday launched the PM-KISAN scheme by transferring the first instalment of Rs 2,000 each to over one crore farmers. Under the scheme, Rs 6,000 will be given per year to small and marginal farmers having combined land holding or ownership of up to 2 hectares.

“The attempt to win the elections by announcing the Rs 6,000 per annum scheme for the farmers will not help Modi, as the they have become intelligent,” Gehlot said at a press conference here. 

He also asked why the scheme was not launched earlier. 

“Prime Minister Modi said in Tonk on Saturday that the Congress raises the loan waiver issue only when the elections are near. But why did the Central government not introduce the Rs 6,000 per annum scheme five years back.”

Gehlot also expressed his doubts whether such a meagre amount will benefit the farmer in this era of high inflation. “Modi should know that we are giving higher pension to the farmers.”

The Rajasthan government on Saturday announced to provide Rs 1,000 monthly pension to small and marginalised farmers above 75 years of age. It will also give Rs 750 monthly pension to small and marginalised women farmers above 55 years of age and male farmers above 58 years of age without any regular source of income.

Gehlot also twisted the poll slogan “Modi hai to mumkin hai,” coined by Modi, to “Modi hai to namumkin hai.”

Addressing a rally at Tonk on Saturday, Modi said, “Public trusts the present government because of the work carried out in the last four years. People know ‘Modi hai to mumkin hai’ (People know that if Modi is there, everything is possible).”

Gehlot said, “It is not right to say ‘Modi hai to mumkin hai.’ Instead, one should say ‘Modi hai to namumkin hai’ (if Modi is there, nothing is possible) as the Prime Minister could not fulfil a single promise made during the election campaign before the 2014 polls.” 

Nasheman News :A Delhi court on Monday granted bail to journalist Priya Ramani in a defamation case filed by former Union Minister M.J. Akbar.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal granted bail to Ramani asking her to furnish a personal bond and surety of Rs 10,000 each.

The court has listed the matter for further hearing on April 10.

Ramani appeared before the court in pursuance of summons issued against her in the defamation case filed by the former Minister of State for External Affairs after Ramani named him in a case of misconduct.

She was the first in a long list of women journalists to accuse the former Minister and journalist-turned-politician of sexual harassment.

The allegations against Akbar, 68, dated back to his former career in journalism. 

Ramani revealed in October 2018 that an article she wrote in 2017 about an unnamed editor’s predatory behaviour was in fact about M.J. Akbar. 

She said he was as “talented a predator” as he was a writer. Several other women since have come forward with stories about him.

Akbar has denied the allegations made against him and said they were “false and imaginary”.

The statements of seven witnesses, including that of Akbar, who is now with the Bharatiya Janata Party, have been recorded in the defamation case.

 India’s ace badminton player P.V. Sindhu on Saturday flew in homegrown Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas at the Aero India air show being held in Bengaluru.

“The flight was a wonderful experience. The captain performed various maneouvers, including a loop,” Sindhu told the media after the sortie which lasted for about 40 minutes.

The combat jet’s trainer version was piloted by Group Captain Siddharth Singh, while Sindhu was the co-pilot in the tandem-seater cockpit.

Sindhu is the first woman to fly in a Tejas aircraft.

“The aircraft was on a medium altitude sortie and flew up to a maximum height of about five km,” an Indian Air Force (IAF) official told IANS.

Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat also flew in the aircraft on Thursday.

The LCA on February 20 got the final operational clearance (FOC) from military aviation regulator Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification (Cemilac) for induction into the IAF as a weaponised fighter jet in its operational fleet.