Veteran actress and politician Jaya Bachchan wouldn’t consider celebrity photographers to be her best friends, as in the past few years she has had a few altercations with them when they tried to approach her at events. However, lag raha tha bahaar agayi when Bachchan pleasantly posed for photos with two other women and cheekily remarked, “dekha mein kitna smile karti hoon.”
United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ambassador to India, Abdulnasser Jamal Alshaali, in an interview with The Hindustan Timessaid that his country has played a role in the past in addressing tensions between India and Pakistan, though any future role it might play would be up to both neighboring countries.
Talking to Foreign Editor at The Hindustan Times, Rezaul Hasan Laskar about Pakistani Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif’s remarks about asking the UAE to help build a bridge with India, the ambassador said his country has “played such a role in the past”, but future endeavours will depend on both India and Pakistan.
He also talked about expanding the gulf country’s relationship with India, saying that UAE is engaged in technical discussions to finalise a rupee-dirham arrangement for trade as part of the efforts to build on the free trade agreement signed by the two countries last year.
He also said that UAE is keen on revisiting the arrangement for flights to India and introducing flights to more Indian destinations to help bring down airfare.
He said: “If you check the price of a ticket today, it’s more than 50 per cent higher than it used to be a few years back or it used to be pre-Covid. That’s already a market signal that we need to pay attention to because we are talking about this entire relationship and aviation is a crucial point in expanding this relationship.”
When asked about UAE’s plans to invest in food parks and renewable energy in India under the I2U2 framework, Jamal said the conversation between the Gujrat government and UAE is going on.
In recent times, both countries have grown close. In November 2022, UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan visited India to further strengthen its bilateral relationship with India.
Pakistan is observing the fourth anniversary of Operation Swift Retort—popularly known as Surprise Day— when the country’s armed forces gave a befitting response to Indian pilots.
On February 27 in 2019, the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) shot down two Indian planes that had violated Pakistani airspace. One of the Indian pilots—Abhinandan Varthaman—was captured alive by Pakistan, but was later handed over to the rival country as a gesture of peace and goodwill.
In a tweet, Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif paid tribute to the Pakistan Air Force on Monday for its “befitting response” to the Indian violation of Pakistan’s airspace “on the pretext of false flag Pulwama attack”.
“While we aim for peace with all, we are mindful of our duty to defend the country. Let no one make any mistake about it,” he warned.
Today the nation pays rich tribute to PAF for a befitting response to the Indian violation of Pakistan's air space on the pretext of false flag Pulwama attack. While we aim for peace with all, we are mindful of our duty to defend the country. Let no one make any mistake about it.
At the time, Abhinandan’s praise for the tea he was served grabbed the attention of the world, and Twitterati didn’t hold back on the jokes. This year too, social media users remembered the fateful day in a fun way.
The incident happened after 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed by a young Kashmiri boy. Later, India blamed Pakistan for the attack and Indian Air Force (IAF) launched an aerial strike near Balakot on February 26, 2019.
Pakistan Air Force (PAF) jets crossed the line of control in a tit-for-tat move into Indian territory.
The PAF shot down two IAF aircraft and captured one of the pilots. The debris of the SU-30 fell in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) and its pilot was killed, while the MiG-21 pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan, whose aircraft fell on the Pakistan side was captured alive.
Married couple Muhammad Singh Yadav from India and Iqra Jeewani from Pakistan were both arrested in Bangalore for forging fake documents and citizenship cards to help Jeewani stay in the country. Yadav (21) was working as a security guard at an IT organization in Bangalore, while Jeewani was a student from Hyderabad, Pakistan. Both met in 2020 while playing the online game Ludo where they fell in love, and then were in a long distance relationship. However during this time, Jeewani was being pressurized by her parents to get married, but the two of them knew that given the political tensions between India and Pakistan, they won’t be able to be together. Both Jeewani and Yadav decided to travel to Nepal together where they got married in a Hindu ceremony, according to the police. In order to help Jeewani stay in India with proper documents, Yadav got her a fake Indian citizenship card so that she may stay with him in Bangalore. The police informed BBC that they had traced the couple after Jeewani made a lot of calls during the day to her mother in Pakistan. After further investigation, Jeewani was declared guilty and handed over to the Foreigners Regional Registration Office on 20 January. She was deported back to Pakistan in February while Yadav is still in jail. The BBC got in touch with Yadav’s family, who said that the couple had committed no crime, but had only fallen in love. “We don’t care if she’s Muslim or Pakistani, she’s our daughter-in-law. We’ll take good care of her,” said Yadav’s mother. Meanwhile, Jeewani’s family had confirmed that their daughter had reached home, but refused to speak further on the matter.
Suleman Shehbaz, son of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, appeared on a podcast where among other matters, he discussed the history of Ittefaq Group, the Sharif family business.
As a clip of the show went viral, Twitter had objections to Suleman Shehbaz’s version of history.
He said that the Sharif family prioritised business first and politics second.
“In 1970’s Ittefaq Group (Family business of Sharif family) was so big that no one knew about Tata and Birla in the region,” said Suleman to the host.
“In 1970s Ittefaq Group was so big k ye Tata Birla waghera ka tou pata he nahi tha” pic.twitter.com/42ONMlwd4d
It is pertinent to mention here that Tata Group was founded as a private trading firm in 1868 by entrepreneur and philanthropist Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata.
Twitter had all kinds of reactions to Suleman’s statement.
Indian poet Javed Akhtar’s comments about Mumbai attacks at the recent Faiz Festival circulated heavily on social media. Akhtar attacked Pakistan for refusing to hold accountable the terrorists behind 26/11 attacks. He also said that India had always honored and celebrated the legacies of Pakistani musicians like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Mehdi Hassan, but Pakistan refused to do the same thing.
Pakistani actors have slammed the Indian screen writer for his inappropriate comments and especially for misleading the audience into believing that Indian actors and musicians were not respected in Pakistan. Actor Ejaz Aslam criticized Akhtar for refusing to own up to the destruction India had done in Kashmir, instead of hating on the country that had invited him as a guest.
“Mr javed akhtar would you mind shedding some light on Kashmir issue ? You shouldn’t have come if you have so much hatred for pakistan, we still let u go back safely & thats our answer to your nonsense”
Mr javed akhtar would you mind shedding some light on Kashmir issue ? You shouldn’t have come if you have so much hatred for pakistan, we still let u go back safely & thats our answer to your nonsense #javedakhtar#goback#nonsense # pic.twitter.com/b7DCIdnH1o
Actress Saboor Aly reacted to the celebrities who were praising Javed Akhtar at the mehfil, and said she was ashamed that they refused to set professional boundaries towards someone who had disrespected them in this manner. She also felt that it was shameful how many local celebrities who are equally as talented are not given the honor and respect Akhtar was given for three days.
“These people were celebrating someone who had insulted them in their own home, and then sat at his feet and singing praises. What a shame! So-called educated people. You have never respected your own talent the same way. Some of the biggest stars in this country had passed away in severe circumstances when they didn’t even have any money to pay for their operation. Where were these people then who respected talent so much?”
Fashion designer Zara Shahjahan criticized the elite participants who had attended the conference where Javed Akhtar had said this, and also later had hosted a mehfil for him.
“He was not just allowed to come to Pakistan, he was allowed to shit on Pakistan and then the Lahori “fake” elite hosted a party for him where they cried on his knees.”
He was not just allowed to come to Pakistan, he was allowed to shit on Pakistan and then the Lahori “fake” elite hosted a party for him where they cried on his knees. 🤮 https://t.co/jUgDFVUtdP
Actress Resham, who had also shared video clips of attending the mehfil hosted by Ali Zafar where Akhtar was honored, gave her defence on her Instagram stories. She shared that she deeply respected her country and its people, and was not aware of the comments he had made.
“I hold my country Pakistan in deep respect, and was not aware of the type of comments Javed Akhtar had made at the conference on the Faiz Festival that day. I condemn his words. As per our customs of special treatment, we consider guests God’s mercy but Pakistan is more precious to us than our hearts and lives.”
Call it what you want – gol gappa, paani puri, phuchka or the like, this street-side snack is a favorite for many across the subcontinent. But the beloved snack often ends up being the subject of many food experiments.
For example, a video posted on twitter by a food blogger shows how a good old gol gappa is now being made into ice-cream.
Goll-Gappay is everyone’s favorite street food and if you are not a gol –gappa or pani puri fan, we think you’ve never had one. After shopping in busy markets, Goll-Gappay is the first thing in every person mind. But the standard sweet and sour Goll- Gappay is being usurped by ice cream goll-gappay.
The video shows the cart owner making goll-gappay for a customer with vanilla ice cream and also gola kanda ice cream.
The video went viral on social media after being shared by an Indian channel. After the video went viral social media users are saying NO to this rather horrible combination.
What are your thoughts on this food fusion? Pass or fail?
Senior journalist Shahid Masood has apologised for the disinformation that he passed on his show.
The anchor had claimed on the aid sent by Pakistan to his show, ‘Live with Dr.Shahid Masood’ on GNN that the aid Islamabad had sent to Ankara after this month’s devastating earthquake, had infact been sent by Turkey when floods hit Pakistan in 2022.
Soon after, the story went viral on social media, eventually landing on Indian news channels and websites, running propaganda against Pakistan.
Masood has now tendered an apology for stating incorrect facts on his show.
Masood said that as his show is live, he received a text from a Turkish number and said the words on-air. However, he apologised for the incorrect news he said on-air.
Indian politician Pramod Muthalik has urged young Hindu men to lure “10 Muslim girls if we lose one Hindu girl” through what he called “love jihad”.
Muthalik, the chief of the Hindu nationalist party Sri Ram Sena, alleged that thousands of Hindu girls were being “exploited in the name of love jihad”, the belief that Muslims are seeking to deceive Hindu women through marriage and convert them to Islam.
“We are aware of the situation. I would like to invite the youth here. If we lose one Hindu girl, we should trap 10 Muslim girls. If you do so, Sri Ram Sena will take responsibility for you and provide every kind of security and employment,” said Muthalik, as quoted in TheIndian Express.
“Our girls are exploited in love jihad. Across the country, thousands of girls are cheated in the name of love. We should warn them,” the politician further said.
“I am not saying this because elections are around the corner. My statements have always been in the interest of Hindus,” the report quoted him as saying.
TheIndian Express added that Muthalik’s comments have been widely criticised, with “love jihad” considered to be a baseless conspiracy theory that courts have rejected.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday held a meeting to review the situation evolving after President Arif Alvi’s unilateral announcement of a date for elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
ECP decided to consult Attorney General for Pakistan and other legal experts in this regard.
The meeting was called to after the president announced April 9 as the date for the polls of provincial assemblies.
On Monday, Alvi exercising his power under Section 57 (1) of the Elections Act, 2017, announced the election date and further asked the ECP to issue an election programme in accordance with Section 57 (2) of the Act.
Alvi’s move was rejected by federal ministers who were of the view that the president had abrogated the Constitution and he had no right to announce the date.
The ECP stated that “the commission has been and will continue to make decisions without any pressure according to the Constitution and law”.
It added that the electoral watchdog is always ready to conduct an election within 90 days as per the Constitution and law, but nowhere in the Constitution, it is written that the commission will give the date for the election.
