Current Events :
Ajay Banerjee
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, May 8
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said the death of a tourist in an incident of stone-pelting in Kashmir was not conducive to attracting tourists to Jammu and Kashmir.“We need to be firm with terrorists and ensure safe movement of tourists, said Sitharaman while addressing a press conference after inaugurating the Naval Commanders’ conference here. The state wanted to promote tourism, the minister said.Speaking about maritime strength, she said, “India will be a force to reckon with in the Indo-Pacific. All of Navy’s demands for the year 2017-2018 have been met.”At the conference, the Navy will review its new mission-based deployments philosophy aimed at ensuring peace and stability in the region. The new deployment philosophy, in furtherance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of security and growth for all in the region (SAGAR), aims at sustained, peaceful and yet responsive presence of Indian naval ships in critical areas and choke points.The Navy’s focus over the past year has been on combat efficiency and material readiness, and upkeep of its large fleet of 131 ships and submarines.Naval commanders would deliberate upon steps to improve the teeth-to-tail ratio and explore niche fields such as artificial intelligence and big data analytics. Harnessing cutting-edge technology, specifically those ‘Made-in-India’, to improve organisational effectiveness and efficiency would be another key focus area of the commanders.Indian Navy has been the flag-bearer of the indigenisation and ‘Make in India’ initiative. As many as 27 ships and submarines are currently under construction in Indian shipyards, including the first indigenous aircraft carrier ‘Vikrant’.
File photo of Nawaz Sharif. AFP
Islamabad, May 8
In further trouble to Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan’s top anti-corruption body on Tuesday ordered a probe against the embattled former Prime Minister and others for allegedly laundering USD 4.9 billion to India, media reports said.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in a press release said its Chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal took notice of reports making rounds on news channels claiming that Sharif allegedly laundered USD 4.9 billion to India, the Express Tribune reported.
According to the media report, this incident is mentioned in the World Bank’s Migration and Remittance Book 2016, the release said.
However, details of the media report in question have not been mentioned in the brief statement issued in Urdu, Geo TV reported.
The statement claims that the amount was laundered to the Indian Finance Ministry after which Indian foreign exchange reserves witnessed an increase and Pakistan suffered as a result.
Sharif is facing three corruption cases at the accountability court following the Supreme Court’s verdict in the Panama Papers case. An NAB inquiry is also under way against him for alleged illegal expansion of a road leading to his estate in Lahore’s Jati Umra locality.
Once formulated, this will be the fifth case against the ousted premier by the NAB.
Earlier today, the accountability court sought more time from the top court to end the trial on references filed by the NAB against members of the Sharif family.
Accountability court judge Muhammad Bashir, who presides over the hearings, has written a letter to the top court requesting for a second extension in the trial.
Earlier in March, the Supreme Court had granted a two-month extension to the accountability court to wrap the proceedings.
However, as the two-month deadline expires, the case is nowhere near its end, with the Al-Azizia Steel Mills and Flagship Investments still untouched, the country’s top anti-graft body is running out of time.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan had disqualified Sharif last year, forcing the three-time prime minister to resign. Sharif has dismissed the corruption charges as politically motivated.
The political future of Sharif, who leads the country’s most powerful political family and his party, has been hanging in the balance since then. If convicted, he can be jailed. PTI
Smita Sharma
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, April 24
India resetting ties with China does not imply Delhi will soften its position on Pakistan and terrorism sponsored from its soil, said sources. Questions are being raised if Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will be in the same room with his Pakistani counterpart during the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation) summit in China in June, will be open to formally reviving dialogue with Islamabad. India and Pakistan became full members of the SCO last year. New Delhi believes multilateral dynamics are different from bilateral ones and that it is too early to comment on the possibility of a handshake or conversation between the India-Pakistan PMs on the SCO sidelines in Qingdao, the sources say. Also, India is not warming up to the idea of reviving SAARC this year. The summit dialogue to be hosted in Islamabad in 2016 saw an India-led boycott in the wake of the Uri terror strikes. Unless Pakistan passes on the hosting right, Indian PM will be unwilling to participate.And the eight-member South Asian grouping charter states that even if one head of government or state does not attend, the summit meet cannot be held. “In the current situation, we do not contemplate a SAARC summit. It is difficult to have a summit when one of the countries is involved in actively sponsoring cross- border terrorism. There has to be a conducive environment for it,” underlined a government source, ahead of Modi’s talks with Xi Jinping, President of Pakistan’s all-weather friend China.Interestingly, India managed to win Chinese support at the global counter-terror funding body FATF (Financial Action Task Force) meeting recently to grey-list Pakistan.
The earrings belonged to the youngest wife of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Photo courtesy Twitter handle: @bonhams1793
London, April 25
A pair of gold pendant earrings from the collection of last Sikh Queen of Punjab Maharani Jind Kaur fetched 175,000 pounds, nearly six times the guide price, at an auction here.The earrings, the highlight of the Islamic and Indian sale at Bonhams yesterday, were estimated to attract bids between 20,000 and 30,000 pounds.The earrings belonged to the youngest wife of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, who was the only wife of the Sikh ruler not to commit sati on his funeral pyre following his death in 1839.She went on to be appointed as the de facto ruler of Punjab before being captured by the British. It was only many years later when she arrived in England that her jewellery, including the earrings on sale, were handed back to her.“The impressive price paid for these beautiful pieces of jewellery conveys their significance,” said Oliver White, Head of Islamic and Indian Art at Bonhams.“These gold earrings are a powerful reminder of a courageous woman who endured the loss of her kingdom, and persecution and privation, with great dignity and fortitude,” he noted.When Kaur’s five-year-old son Duleep Singh was proclaimed Maharaja of Punjab in 1843, she was appointed Regent.The Punjab Empire at the time stretched from the Indian Ocean to the Himalayas and the court was fabled for its artistic and scientific achievements and opulence and riches.The East India Company invaded and annexed Punjab, despite armed opposition organised and led by Kaur. She was deposed in 1846, separated from her son and imprisoned.According to Bonhams’ historians, the Maharani’s personal wealth was confiscated and the state Treasury plundered by the British Army.The famous Koh-i-Noor diamond and the Timur Ruby were sent back to London as gifts for Queen Victoria. Mother and son were eventually reunited after 13-and-a-half-years in 1861 when Kaur moved to England to be with her son. She died in 1863.Besides her earrings, some of the other Indian highlights of the Bonhams auction this week included a painting by Gujarati artist Ghulam Mohammed Sheikh.His ‘Composition in green and black’ inscribed on the reverse with the artist’s name sold for 40,000 pounds, within the guide price estimate of 35,000 and 45,000 pounds.Another Indian painting, dating back to circa 1820-30, ‘Shiva and Parvati with Ganesh, Karttikeya and Nandi on Mount Kailasa’ went under the hammer for 16,250 pounds, beyond the estimated 8,000-12,000 pounds.A ‘Mother and Child’ portrait by Jamini Roy dating back to circa 1950 fetched 11,875 pounds, also beating the guide price estimate of 6,000-8,000 pounds. — PTI
London, April 24
A top UK diplomat has called the Golden Temple a mosque following which he apologised for the gaffe amid protests by Sikhs.Simon McDonald, Permanent Under-Secretary, Foreign & Commonwealth Office, referred to the Golden Temple in Amritsar as the “Golden Mosque” in a tweet on Monday.“At the Queen’s birthday party, presented with picture of The Queen at Golden Mosque in Amritsar in 1997, a permanent memento for Deputy High Commission’s wall,” he tweeted. On realising his mistake, he apologised for the gaffe. The Foreign Office top diplomat said this morning: “I was wrong: I am sorry. I should, of course, have said the Golden Temple or, better, Sri Harmandir Sahib.”However, Bhai Amrik Singh, the chairman of the Sikh Federation, said: “This was a major gaffe by a top civil servant and unacceptable. It demonstrates a remarkable level of ignorance from someone in his position.” “In our view, a public apology and admitting the mistake is not enough. What we need is a commitment from the UK government and senior civil servants to root out such ignorance and discrimination or we will continue to face hate, abuse and threats of violence,” he was quoted as saying by The Guardian.The gaffe comes as Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn vowed to launch an independent inquiry into Britain’s military role in the Indian Army’s 1984 raid on the Golden Temple under his party’s government. The Labour leader promised that an investigation into the attack, which is said to have left thousands of people dead, would be in the party’s next manifesto. — PTI
