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  • ‘Decision of England board is cowardly, was made out of fear of the players and India’: British author

    ‘Decision of England board is cowardly, was made out of fear of the players and India’: British author

    British author and journalist Peter Oborne termed the decision of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) as cowardly, saying that the decision to cancel the tour of Pakistan was taken out of fear of English players and India.

    The author slammed the English board, saying the grounds on which the visit to Pakistan was canceled were a matter of “grave concern”.

    Peter said: “The England board’s decision to cancel the tour was cowardly and out of fear of the players and India, especially the IPL. The security arrangements in Pakistan were the same as those made for Prince William and Kate Middleton. The British High Commission in Pakistan was satisfied with the security arrangements.”

    While talking to Sky News, the author said: “Not for Pakistan’s cricket, this decision is a blow to the whole world. Pakistan team is one of the best teams in the world, England apparently did not make this decision on security grounds.”

    He also criticised “invisible” Chairman ECB Ian Watmore to come on television and defend this decision.

    “We are kicking one of our closest cricketing allies on teeth because of India,” he stated.

    Oborne said that there was no change in the English board’s security advice, adding that the press release did not mention security but the players’ stress.

    He further said that Pakistan came and played in the UK even in the dangerous time of Covid-19. Pakistan did good to Britain by coming in the pandemic.

    Earlier, veteran cricket journalist George Dobell had taken the ECB to the cleaners for cancelling its tour to Pakistan and had called it out on its “hypocrisy”.

  • Indian extremists trend #BoycottShahRukhKhan for viral picture with PM Imran Khan and film ‘Pathan’

    Indian extremists trend #BoycottShahRukhKhan for viral picture with PM Imran Khan and film ‘Pathan’

    Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan has landed himself in a huge controversy as #BoycottShahRukhKhan trended on Twitter over the last weekend.

    Twitter was flooded with netizens claiming that the Don 2 star has ‘seriously hurt some religious and patriotic emotions over and over again’.

    Twitterati shared the actor’s old pictures and clips from the past where Shah Rukh Khan was seen with Prime Minister Imran or speaking of intolerance in India.

    Ahead of SRK’s movie release ‘Pathan‘, netizens started questioning “Why praise Pathan in India?”

    A Twitter user wrote, “He [SRK] is making [a] movie on Pathan…I mean it’s [a] spy action movie so why don’t they give him [a] Hindu name, Why praising Pathan in India?”

    Another Twitter user sharing a video tweeted, “This guy @iamsrk is pro-Pakistani and he has proved it many times.”

    A man shared an interview of the king of Bollywood and wrote, “Time to show Pakistan lover @iamsrk some intolerance by boycotting him and continuing his streak of Consecutive Flops on Box office. Soon he will settle down in Pakistan.”

    https://twitter.com/imaatmanirbhar/status/1438373109896126467
  • New Zealand to tour India for T20, Test series after abandoning Pakistan tour

    New Zealand to tour India for T20, Test series after abandoning Pakistan tour

    New Zealand will be visiting India in November to play three Twenty20 Internationals and two Test matches, two months after abandoning their tour of Pakistan over “safety concerns”.

    The series against New Zealand will kickstart India’s 2021-22 home season, which includes four Tests, three one-days and 14 T20Is, the Indian cricket board said in a statement on Monday.

    In a move that disappointed cricket analysts and enthusiasts, New Zealand called off their limited-overs tour of Pakistan minutes before the opening fixture in Rawalpindi on Friday following a security alert from their government.

    India could not host the second half of the Indian Premier League (IPL) or the T20World Cup because of the Covid-19 surge in the country this year.

    Both tournaments have been shifted to the United Arab Emirates, with Oman also hosting some T20 World Cup matches.

    West Indies will arrive in India in February to play six limited-overs matches, followed by Sri Lanka who will face their hosts in two Tests and three T20 matches.

    South Africa will tour India in June to play six T20 matches.

    Meanwhile, after New Zealand, England also cancelled their men and women teams’ tour to Pakistan.

  • India spied on Pakistan and China, says US-based intelligence company

    India spied on Pakistan and China, says US-based intelligence company

    Texas-based Exodus Intelligence believes India used its “zero-day” security vulnerabilities, which hackers can use to attack systems, to spy on Pakistan and China, according to a report published in Forbes.

    Exodus Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and co-founder Logan Brown said that after an investigation, he believes India handpicked one of the Windows vulnerabilities from the feed—allowing deep access to Microsoft’s operating system—and Indian government personnel or a contractor adapted it for malicious means.

    The Exodus CEO maintained that India was subsequently cut off from buying new zero-day research from his company in April and it has worked with Microsoft to patch the vulnerabilities.

    Earlier this year, researchers at Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky witnessed a cyberespionage campaign targeting Microsoft Windows PCs at government and telecom entities in China and Pakistan.

    Aspects of the code looked like some the Moscow antivirus provider had previously seen and attributed to a company it gave the cryptonym “Moses”.

    Beyond the two zero-days already abused, according to Kaspersky, “at least six vulnerabilities” made by Moses have made it out “into the wild” in the last two years. Also according to Kaspersky, another hacking crew known as DarkHotel — believed by some cybersecurity researchers to be sponsored by South Korea — has used Moses’ zero days. South Korea is not a customer of Exodus.

    “We are pretty sure India leaked some of our research,” Brown said. “We cut them off and haven’t heard anything since then . . . so the assumption is that we were correct.”

  • India world’s top source of misinformation on Covid-19: Study

    India world’s top source of misinformation on Covid-19: Study

    India disseminated the largest amount of Coronavirus misinformation on social media due to the country’s higher internet penetration rate, increasing social media usage and users’ lack of internet literacy, according to a new study.

    The study titled ‘Prevalence and Source Analysis of COVID-19 Misinformation in 138 Countries’ was published in Sage’s International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions journal.

    As per details, the study examined 9,657 pieces of misinformation made in 138 countries. They were fact-checked by 94 organisations to understand the prevalence and sources of misinformation in different countries.

    “Of all the countries, India (18.07 per cent) produced the largest amount of social media misinformation, perhaps thanks to the country’s higher internet penetration rate, increasing social media consumption and users’ lack of internet literacy,” the study stated.
    The results also showed that India (15.94 per cent), the US (9.74 per cent), Brazil (8.57 per cent) and Spain (8.03 per cent) are the four most misinformation-affected countries.

    Read More: Study reveals Pakistanis prayed for India during Covid-19 crisis

    Based on these results, the study stated that it is presumed that the prevalence of Covid-19 misinformation can have a positive association with the pandemic situation.

    “Social media (84.94 per cent) produces the largest amount of misinformation, and the internet (90.5 per cent) as a whole is responsible for most of the Covid-19 misinformation. Moreover, Facebook alone produces 66.87 per cent of the misinformation among all social media platforms,” it added.

    Earlier, the World Health Organisation (WHO) had also cautioned that false information on the virus is spreading and putting people in danger. WHO had advised people to make sure to double-check everything they hear with trusted sources before believing or sharing them with others.

  • Newly-wed bride asks groom to bring water, runs away with cash, jewellery

    Newly-wed bride asks groom to bring water, runs away with cash, jewellery

    A bride robbed her husband while going to her in-laws’ in India’s Uttar Pradesh after she sent him to bring water for her.

    As per reports, the groom’s marriage was fixed through a mediator and the latter had mentioned a condition that made the groom’s family pay INR80,000 to the bride.

    The groom named Raju agreed to the condition and gave the money along with jewellery, gifts and clothes.

    Read More: Bride slaps groom for chewing ‘gutka’ during wedding ceremony

    The newly-married couple went to a bus station to leave for home.

    The bride asked her husband to fetch her a glass of water at the bus station, as she was thirsty. After he returned, the bride was not there. She disappeared depriving him of money, gifts and clothes that were given to her, as they were also not there.

    Later, the husband reported the case to the police.

  • ‘Pakistan Zindabad’, Shaan calls out ex-Indian army officer for spreading fake news

    ‘Pakistan Zindabad’, Shaan calls out ex-Indian army officer for spreading fake news

    Pakistani actor Shaan Shahid reacted to a viral picture from his movie ‘Yalghaar’ after an ex-Indian army officer tweeted a photo of Pakistani actors, falsely claiming that they were Pakistani soldiers who had been martyred in Panjshir Valley in Afghanistan. Apart from Shaan, others actors in the picture include Umair Jaswal and Bilal Ashraf.

    Shaan responded to the tweet by sharing his movie poster and said, “Hello from the other side. Pakistan Zindabaad!”

    Umair Jaswal also made fun of the picture. He tweeted, “Hello dear! From Pakistan.”

    The confusion started after a former Indian army officer, Maj Gen GD Bakshi, claimed on Twitter that the Pakistan Army had suffered heavy casualties in Panjshir Valley.

    A Twitter user mocked Bakshi by sharing a picture from the set of Pakistani movie ‘Yalghaar’ and wrote: “My class fellow from school days Maj Aijaj 2nd from left and Capt Jufar 1st from left embraced martyrdom in Panjshir. They were buried yesterday in Peshawar. ISPR is trying to hide these casualties. They fought bravely and should be honoured as such. This is injustice by Pak Army.”

    Following the false claim, an Indian general Lt Gen H S Panag(R) criticised his own general.

    Earlier, an Afghan journalist mistook Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MNA Aamir Liaquat as a martyred soldier in Afghanistan.

    Indian news channels, Republic TV, and Zee Hindustan ran visuals from a video game — Arma-3 — stating that it was the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) attacking the anti-Taliban fighters.

    Then a Twitter user shared a picture of a fighter jet, claiming that a PAF plane was shot down in Afghanistan’s Panjshir Valley. Later, a fact-check by Dawn showed that the picture is actually from 2018 in the United States.

    Bakshi, who has had a long career in the Indian army, is known for spreading fake news. An article by Indian publication The Print last year referred to him as the “shrillest warmonger in the media”, as per Dawn.

  • New Indian channel promises to present ‘only good news’

    New Indian channel promises to present ‘only good news’

    India’s leading TV Channel, India Today has launched a Hindi-language TV channel that promises to present only “good news.”

    The latest channel named ‘Good News Today’ “will showcase stories of hope, human triumph, innovation and inspiration from different walks of life, from different parts of India and the world,” India Today Group vice-chairperson Kalli Purie told Arab News.

    “We need to spread positivity, good stories and personalities no matter what the reality is,” she added.

    According to Purie, the slogan of this channel is Achi Khabar, Sachi Khabar (good news, authentic news).

    The country’s position has been falling rapidly on the World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders. In 2016, it was 136th, but in 2020 it dropped to 142nd.

    Based in Uttar Pradesh (UP), India Today is a 24-hour English language television and has one of the largest viewerships in India. In addition, India has more than 160 national and regional news channels.

  • UN investigation wanted for Kashmiri leader Syed Ali Geelani’s death

    UN investigation wanted for Kashmiri leader Syed Ali Geelani’s death

    Chairman of Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir Shehryar Khan Afridi wrote letters to United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and High Commissioner of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) Michelle Jeria, calling for an impartial but immediate UN investigation into the custodial killing of Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, reports Dawn.

    Talking to reporters, Afridi said, “Hurriyat leaders are being killed in custody by the illegal occupational regime of India in Jammu and Kashmir under the garb of the Covid-19 pandemic. Had the UN investigated the custodial murder of Ashraf Khan Sehrai, Geelani’s life could have been saved. Now we fear that other imprisoned Kashmiri leaders including the new All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) chief Massarat Alam Bhat, Syed Shabbir Shah, Yasin Malik, Asiya Andrabi, Dr Qasim Faktu, and others may also be killed the same way.”

    “This loss may turn out to obstruct Kashmiri people’s voice and compromise their long struggle for freedom. I would also like to bring to attention here the matter in which Geelani’s death was handled by the occupational Indian government where they shut down the internet across the Kashmir valley and beefed-up security forces when word of his death spread,” he said.

    Veteran Kashmiri leader and freedom fighter Syed Ali Shah Geelani was laid to rest on September 2 amid high security at Hyderpora in Srinagar.

    Syed Ali Geelani’s son told AP that the family had planned the burial at the main Martyrs’ Graveyard in Srinagar as per his will but were disallowed by the police.

    “They snatched his body and forcibly buried him. Nobody from the family was present for his burial. We tried to resist but they overpowered us and even scuffled with women,” said his son Naseem Geelani.

  • ‘We should export Burnol to India after seeing their jealousy over Afghanistan’: Fawad Chaudhry

    ‘We should export Burnol to India after seeing their jealousy over Afghanistan’: Fawad Chaudhry

    “Seeing India’s jealousy over the situation in Afghanistan, we should export Burnol to them,” said Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry.

    https://twitter.com/FawadPTIUpdates/status/1434458264553639936

    Regarding Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency’s director-general Lt-Gen Faiz Hameed’s visit to Kabul, Chaudhry said, “General Faiz is not the first intelligence chief to visit Kabul. Earlier, according to the United States (US) media, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) chief, Turkish and Qatari intelligence chiefs had visited Kabul as well.”

    “Pakistan’s efforts to evacuate foreigners from Afghanistan are immense and we will continue to do so,” added Fawad.

    https://twitter.com/FawadPTIUpdates/status/1434444791580868608

    “It would not be fair to say that we should not care for the people who did not leave Kabul,” added the minister.

    https://twitter.com/FawadPTIUpdates/status/1434444791580868608

    The federal minister further said, “Unconventional contacts are necessary for discussion on various issues at a time when there is a power vacuum in Afghanistan.”

    “There’s no government in Afghanistan at present and there’s a power vacuum there. In such a situation, who should a leader from the political setup of Pakistan meet there? The prime minister and foreign minister will meet their counterparts [who are not there],” said the minister.