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Major initiative to improve Indo-Pak ties unlikely before LS polls: Official sources

Agencies
December 28, 2018

New Delhi, Dec 28: It is unlikely that there will be any major initiative to improve ties between India and Pakistan until Lok Sabha elections are held, official sources said Thursday.

However, they did not "definitively" rule out any positive development.

Last month, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, while calling for bettering ties between the two neighbours, had said that he was willing to wait for New Delhi's response till general elections are held in India. The Lok Sabha polls are due in April-May.

Asked about the latest episode of harassment of staff at Indian High Commission in Islamabad, the sources said India is not contemplating scaling down its strength in the mission.

They said Pakistan is yet to grant gas connections to the new residential building of its mission in Islamabad despite repeated requests by India.

"Our diplomats are facing harassment on multiple counts. Our High Commission buildings and projects in Islamabad are stalled for last 10 years. We moved people in the High Commission building with no gas supply," said a source.

They said furniture for new buildings are held up at the border and no telecom connections have been granted by Pakistan.

Recalling the "unprecedented levels" of harassment of officials of the Indian mission in Islamabad earlier this year, the sources indicated that India had given a tit for tat response.

"That resulted in them backing of real fast," said a source.

When asked about alleged harassment of Indian diplomats in the country, Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal said Islamabad was facilitating the Indian High Commission to operate according to the international laws and diplomatic norms.

"Pakistan stands for upholding the Vienna Conventions on diplomatic relations and has always endeavoured to facilitate the working of the Indian High Commission in Islamabad within the diplomatic norm, international law and practices," he said during a media briefing in Islamabad.

On the Kartarpur corridor project, the sources said it was a cultural initiative and not a diplomatic or political one.

They said Kartarpur corridor initiative does not mean India was going to open dialogue with Pakistan on larger issues.

The corridor will connect Darbar Sahib in Pakistan's Kartarpur - the final resting place of Sikh faith's founder Guru Nanak Dev - with Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India's Gurdaspur district.

Pakistan has been projecting the initiative as its major diplomatic coup. On Thursday, Pakistan described it as the "high point of diplomacy" for the Imran Khan government.

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News Network
March 13,2020

Bhopal, Mar 13: The Madhya Pradesh Economic Offences Wing (EOW) on Thursday decided to verify facts afresh in a complaint against former Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and his family, in which they are accused of falsifying a property document while selling land.

The development came after Mr Scindia quit the Congress and joined the BJP on Wednesday. 22 MLAs who belong to his camp also resigned, threatening the survival of the Kamal Nath government in the state.

"Yes, an order has been given for re-verification of facts in the complaint filed by Surendra Shrivastava," an Economic Offences Wing official told PTI.

An EOW release said Mr Shrivastava on Thursday filed a new complaint against Mr Scindia and his family, alleging that by falsifying a registry document, they sold him a piece of land at Mahalgaon which was smaller by 6,000 sq feet than the original agreement in 2009.

He had lodged the complaint first on March 26, 2014. But it was investigated and closed in 2018, the EOW official said. "As he again petitioned us today, we will re-verify the facts," the officer said.

Jyotiraditya Scindia's close aide Pankaj Chaturvedi alleged that it was political vendetta.

"The case had been closed for want of evidence. Now for vengeance, it is being reopened. We have full faith in the Constitution and law. We will get justice and Kamal Nath government a befitting reply," Mr Chaturvedi said.

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News Network
January 6,2020

Dehradun, Jan 6: Universities are centres of learning and will not be allowed to become "addas" of politics, HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' has said.

The minister was replying to questions from reporters in Haldwani on Sunday about protests against the amended Citizenship Act across university campuses.

"Universities are centres of learning where the country's future is in the making. We cannot let them become addas of politics," Nishank said.

He accused the opposition parties of trying to turn the universities into hotbeds of politics.

The new legislation passed by Parliament aims to grant citizenship to persecuted religious minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who had taken refuge in India and there is nothing wrong in it, the Union Minister said

"When Pakistan was created, the population of religious minorities there stood at 22 per cent. Today it is a minuscule 3.7 per cent. Persecuted on the basis of their religion, they sought sanctuary in India. The CAA is meant only to grant them citizenship," he said.

Terming the law humanitarian, the minister said it was going to make no difference to the status of Muslims in India and wondered why the Congress was making such a hue and cry about it.

Nishank's press conference in Haldwani was part of the BJP's campaign to create awareness in favour of the amended Citizenship Act.

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News Network
June 2,2020

New Delhi, Jun 2: India on Tuesday reported 8,171 more COVID-19 cases and 204 deaths in the last 24 hours as the country's virus count inches closer to two lakh, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The total number of cases in the country now stands at 1,98,706 including 97,581 active cases, 95,527 cured/discharged/migrated and 5,598 deaths.

Cases in Maharashtra have crossed 70,000 including over 30,000 recovered while Tamil Nadu's COVID-19 tally jumped to 23,495.

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