People holding placards shout slogans demanding the arrest of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member Nupur Sharma for her blasphemous comments, on a street in Mumbai, India, June 6, 2022. PHOTO: REUTERSIndonesia and Malaysia have both summoned India’s envoys in their countries over “derogatory” remarks made about the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) by two officials with the South Asian nation’s ruling party, their foreign ministries said Tuesday. Remarks by a spokesperson for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who has since been suspended, sparked the furor. But the remarks, which stoked protests among Muslims in India, sparked another backlash from Indonesia’s Muslim community. He said the remarks also contradicted the United Nations resolution to combat Islamophobia, which was adopted in March.

My beloved country is in the grip of numerous dire problems ranging from crushing inflation to unbearable load-shedding. Unfortunately, our leaders, who tout to be the champions of democracy are adamant not to sit together to cooperate for the sake of the country. - Advertisement -The democracy in our country has been hijacked by a few families who have their members in one party or the other. No matter which party is in power, we see similar faces occupying important positions. I wish the newly installed government would pay a bit of attention to the plight of people who have been crushed under the burden of multiple problems.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday repeated his call for formulating a ‘charter of economy’, urging all stakeholders to join hands to launch “an unalterable policy framework” to help the country achieve agro-based and export-oriented growth. Addressing a ‘Pre-Budget Conference’, the prime minister underscored that there could be no economic stability without political stability in the country. “It is important that without political stability, there can be no economic stability, and vice versa,” he said, stressing the need for a charter of economy. “No matter what happens, whichever party comes into power, the goals set in the ‘charter of economy’ will remain unchanged. Tough measuresTalking about the tough decisions being taken by the government, Prime Minister Shehbaz said that the non-productive assets should be taxed.

An Indian special court on Tuesday sent notorious financial scammer Prashanta Kumar Halder and five of his associates to jail. Better known as PK Halder, the scammer and his cohorts were produced before the Special CBI Court in Kolkata in the morning. The court sent them to jail as the police did not seek their further remand. The ED told the court on Tuesday that they had found 88 bank accounts belonging to Halder and his associates. The Bangladesh Security and Exchange Commission (BSEC) recently ordered the seizure of all market shares belonging to PK Halder’s companies.

1st ODI: Pakistan to face West Indies in Multan on WednesdayThe first One-Day International (ODI) of the three-match series between Pakistan and West Indies will be played at Multan Cricket Stadium on Wednesday. Match will start at 4:00 pm according to Pakistan’s standard time. Earlier, the West Indies team arrived in Pakistan on Monday while the ODI squad headed by skipper Nicholas Pooran landed at the Islamabad International Airport. Later the visitors departed for Multan through a chartered flight where they will play three limited-overs matches on June 8, 10 and 12 at the iconic stadium after a gap of 14 years. On their arrival, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) gave the visiting team a warm welcome at the hotel.

“They [government] are trying to put me behind bars on trumped-up charges so that this movement could be stopped,” he said while addressing his party’s lawyers forum at his Banigala residence in Islamabad on Tuesday. “Come what may this movement for real freedom will not stop till the announcement of early elections,” he added. Speaking about money laundering case against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Imran said the accused became the judge in his own case. Speaking about rising fuel and electricity prices, Imran said he had never witnessed such skyrocketing inflation in the history of the country. Imran said due to the “flawed policies” of the incumbent government, international rating agency Moody’s downgraded Pakistan outlook from stable to negative.

A list of 200 officials — over two dozen of whom staff the office of minister Abdul Shakoor — of the division has been finalised for the pilgrimage, it emerged. The trip for these individuals would cost Rs170 million of the taxpayer’s money, a report published in The News said. The staff from Abdul Shakoor’s office includes five drivers, four security personnel, one cook and 11 secretaries and assistants. The News report quoted a ministry spokesperson as saying the staff of the ministry goes every year to help pilgrims during Haj. “Staff like drivers and gunmen are tagged along for help in works such as carrying luggage, etc,” the spokesperson said.

The UAE foreign ministry says the BJP officials’ comments were ‘contrary to moral and humanitarian values and principles’. Shortly afterwards, the BJP suspended Sharma and expelled Jindal, and issued a rare statement saying it “strongly denounces insult of any religious personalities”. The UAE’s foreign ministry on Monday said the BJP officials’ comments were “contrary to moral and humanitarian values and principles”. It added that Doha is expecting “a public apology and immediate condemnation of these remarks” from the Indian government. At least 15 Countries including Pakistan, Indonesia, Jordan, Libya, Maldives and Oman have lodged official protests with Indian Embassies in those nations over the controversial remarks.

But there is not going to be any declaration of financial emergency. Nor is there any financial emergency,” the minister wrote in his tweet. But there is not going to be any declaration of financial emergency. Nor is there any financial emergency. — Miftah Ismail (@MiftahIsmail) June 6, 2022“Speculation on social media about this is wrong and coming from biased quarters,” Finance Minister Miftah Ismail said in one of his tweets.

KARACHI – Sindh Minister for Minorities Affairs Giyanoo Mal alias Gianchand Esrani distributed scholarship cheques among 2,811 non-Muslim students of the province at a cheques distribution ceremony held at Sindh Scouts Association’s auditorium here on Monday afternoon. He said the department received over 8,000 applications for the provision of scholarships to non-Muslim students, studying in colleges and universities this year. Besides providing scholarships, the provincial department of Minorities Affairs is also developing, renovating and repairing the worship places like temples, churches, gurudwaras, graveyards and Shamshan Ghat. On the occasion, the Secretary of the Minorities Affairs Department Mr Mohammad Abbas Baloch said that the Sindh government has created the department for the welfare of minorities. The ceremony was also attended by officers of the Minorities Affairs department, members of the Sindh Non-Muslim Welfare Committee and parents of the students.

India’s ruling Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) continued to receive flak over the weekend over its national spokesperson’s blasphemous remarks against Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), Al Jazeera and Arab News reported on Monday. Saudi Arabia joined a host of Muslim countries — including Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Iran and Pakistan — that took strong exception to derogatory remarks made against Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) by leaders of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Later in the day, the Pakistan Army also condemned the “blasphemous remarks by Indian officials” in a tweet. Following a strong reaction from the Muslim countries, the ruling BJP suspended Sharma and expelled Jindal from the party for their remarks, according to Hindustan Times. Bollywood actor Swara Bhaskar, who has often raised her voice for Indian Muslims and their ordeals, took to social media and shared her two cents on the matter.

At a time when the country is at the crossroads of political and economic turmoil, the need for a broad-based dialogue is a jiff of fresh air. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s desire to kick-start a national dialogue is well within the realm, and should walk the talk. A policy that should spell out economic and strategic hallmarks for the next decade or so, and one that should not be influenced or hampered with the change of political guard cannot be delayed any further. Their thrust to rewrite a new Charter of Democracy and a grand consensus on economic reforms is public discourse. This call for dialogue is part of One Nation, One Policy; and must go ahead in all humility.

International human rights organizations have expressed concern that human rights activists in Kashmir are being framed in bogus cases to stifle their voices. United Nations Charter of Human Rights, Overview, The United Nations Charter of Human Rights states that no religious, racial, or sexual discrimination can be tolerated in respect of fundamental human rights and freedoms. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation Permanent Commission on Human Rights has condemned the violation of Indian human rights in Kashmir on the day of exploitation. The OIC Human Rights Commission says that on the day of the siege of Kashmir, the OIC Human Rights Commission supports the demand of UN experts to address the dangerous human rights situation in Indian-occupied Kashmir. Interestingly, taking such a stand, India does not even allow international human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch to visit occupied Kashmir and observe the situation there.

Amid reports of prolonged power outages in the country, former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Monday said that the power load-shedding would be reduced to 3.5 hours from Tuesday (tomorrow). "After June 30, there will be no load-shedding of more than two hours. Abbasi said that from Tuesday, there will only be 3.5 hours of power outages in the country and from June 16, the period would be reduced to three hours. Lamenting over the ‘incompetence’ of PTI government, the former prime minister said that the efficiency of some power plants in the country was extremely low and should have been replaced. He further said that the LNG contracts made during the tenure of the PML-N government were saving the country Rs140 billion.

Finance Minister Miftah Ismail said on Monday that there was no financial emergency in Pakistan, especially after the two back-to-back increase in the price of petroleum. But there is not going to be any declaration of financial emergency. Nor is there any financial emergency. — Miftah Ismail (@MiftahIsmail) June 6, 2022“But there is not going to be any declaration of financial emergency. Nor is there any financial emergency.