Dr Manmohan Singh remains the only member of a minority to be Prime Minister of India. At the time of his Prime Ministership (2004-2014), his being a Sikh could be seen as him being almost a Hindu. Dr Singh, who was P.V. It was perhaps inevitable that Dr Singh would reject Mr Modi’s claims that Congress intended to give India over to the Muslims. However, though Dr Singh was a Sikh whose party was headed by a naturalized Italian, his Cabinet, his parliamentary majority, was overwhelmingly Hindu, and he could hardly do anything to alienate them.

Pakistan’s plans to resume direct flights to Europe have been delayed for another week, as the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has not yet decided to lift the travel restrictions imposed on the country. The case of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and other domestic operators has been referred to the Third Country Operators (TCO) board. The matter has been referred to the TCO board, which will make a final decision during its meeting next Saturday. The sources said officials of the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) would participate in the TCO board huddle. However, Pakistan will have to wait for a week to find out what lies ahead for the PIA and other domestic air carriers.

He was chairing a meeting on Friday to review readiness of districts regarding the polio eradication campaign starting from June 3 (Monday). “The positive environmental samples indicate that there are pockets of unimmunized children who are vulnerable to polio virus. The EOC coordinator instructed the provincial EOC team to develop a proforma to monitor performance of district officials on weekly basis based on key priority indicators including field meetings and priority community interventions. Mr Afzaal stressed on the district officials to multi-task which was need of the hour considering intense polio virus transmission and other health priorities. He announced that polio campaign will start from Monday June 3 which will continue for 7 days in mega districts including Lahore, Faisalabad and Rawalpindi.

ISLAMABAD - In order to build pressure over coalition government, a grand opposition alliance is in the making which will confront the government at all the platforms. The two sides exchanged views on the current political situation in Balochistan and expressed deep concern over the deteriorating situation in the province. They urged the National Party Chief to join the Grand Opposition Alliance to defend the constitution and respect the genuine public mandate to govern the country. The National Party leadership will present the matter of joining the alliance to the Central Committee and inform the SIC/PTI leadership of the decision, National Party Chief said. The former Speaker Asad Qaiser remarked that a systematic and orchestrated campaign is being waged against the judiciary of Pakistan.

As the government led by Shehbaz Sharif continues to refine the upcoming budget, it may be premature to make assumptions about its contents. It will take a few more days for the budget ideas to become more solid and for their contents to be finalised. The PML-N’s uncertainty about the budget’s format is indicative of the unstable political climate in the nation. The incumbent party, on the one hand, is unwilling to lose more politicalThe PML-N’s uncertainty about the budget’s format is indicative of the unstable political climate in the nation. In a departure from tradition, the PTI government in KP revealed its next budget last week, far ahead of the federal budget.

That 145 out of the 193 UN member states have recognized a Palestinian state has infuriated Israel. We remember on November 15, 1988, during the first Palestinian intifada, or uprising, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat unilaterally proclaimed an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. Soon after, Algeria became the first to recognize an independent Palestinian state officially. Sweden, which has a large Palestinian community, became the first EU member in Western Europe in 2014, to recognize a Palestinian state. Malta and Slovenia have also expressed readiness to recognize a Palestinian state when the circumstances will be right.

Amid the sprawling desert in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Chinese scientists are harnessing advanced greenhouse technologies to unleash the agricultural potential of the otherwise infertile land. In Yang's view, the harsh climate in the Hotan desert provides an opportunity rather than a hindrance. According to Yang, by using energy-efficient technologies in Hotan desert greenhouses, running costs were significantly reduced compared to conventional greenhouses. "Currently, the construction cost of energy-saving desert greenhouses is 350 yuan (about 48.2 U.S. dollars) per square meter, around one-third of that of Dutch glasshouses. Yang said this breakthrough in the speed breeding technology of desert greenhouse crops provides technical support for using desert greenhouses to carry out annual crop production and speed breeding in Xinjiang in the future.

Trade between Pakistan and India has remained a casualty of political tensions and wars between the two rival neighbors. According to a report of the World Bank, bilateral trade between India and Pakistan is having potential of $37 billion. According to another study of the World Bank, India accounts for 80 percent of Pakistan’s total unrealized potential of trade. For the resumption of trade with India, Pakistan needs to look at India as a potential market for its goods and industries. For the resumption of trade with India, Pakistan needs to look at India as a potential market for its goods and industries.

Earlier this year, a photo of Chris Evans seemingly signing an item resembling a missile or bomb led to online speculation that he was writing on a missile bound for Gaza. The picture received considerable criticism online, prompting the 'Captain America' actor to respond to the rumors on social media. Similarly, a post on Facebook alleged, "Captain America actor Chris Evans signs an Israeli bomb that will kill innocent civilians in Gaza." Evans responded by sharing his explanation and a screenshot from AFP's website quoting the US Air Force. You can read the quote from the Air Force in the next story,“ read a caption from the actor’s Instagram Stories.

The experts believe that the attitude of the coalition government does not appear democratic; every institution is prioritising its ego over Pakistan. He stressed the importance of strengthening institutions in a democracy, emphasising that individuals may change, but institutional strength remains paramount. Express News Bureau Chief in Islamabad, Amir Ilyas Rana, highlighted that Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa had previously stressed that ordinances should only be issued under significant compulsion. Faisal Husain, the Karachi Bureau Chief for Express News, citing Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's statement, remarked that there are corrupt individuals within all institutions. Express News Bureau Chief in Lahore, Mohammad Ilyas, stated that labelling the judiciary as "black sheep" is inappropriate.

We have seen countless atrocities committed by honor-bound vigilantes, and we need to see no more. The second point, the establishment of special courts, merits a much wider discussion. Laws that define mob vigilantism as a collective act, where the individual’s participation is guilt enough, are needed. Mobs cause violence through incitement and by adding critical mass to the gathering, even if an individual within that mob has not done anything illegal. Special courts, or at least specialized laws, are direly needed.

Donald Trump, the former president of the United States and presumptive Republican nominee, was found guilty on all counts in his New York hush money trial on Thursday, making him the first former president to become a convicted felon. After a six-week trial and 10 hours of deliberations over two days, the jury, composed of seven men and five women, unanimously determined that Mr. Trump was guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. The case stems from the concealment of a $130,000 hush money payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels in the waning days of the 2016 election to keep her quiet about an alleged affair. Mr. Trump then reimbursed Mr. Cohen by disguising the repayment as legal fees. Judge Juan Merchan will decide Mr. Trump’s fate in the coming weeks.

GENEVA: The number of people fleeing their homes because of war, violence and persecution has reached 114 million and is climbing because nations have failed to tackle the causes and combatants are refusing to comply with international law, the UN refugee chief said Thursday. On the Gaza war, the council has not called for a ceasefire because of opposition from the United States, Israel’s closest ally. He said Gaza is also “a tragic reminder of what happens when conflicts (and by extension a refugee crisis) are left unattended” for decades. Grandi said violations of international law, including forcing people to flee, are having a devastating effect on people around the world. In Ukraine, international humanitarian law is violated every day with Russian attacks on the country’s power networks, houses and other civilian infrastructure, he said.

The national debt has already risen to Rs78.9tr, including Rs43.4tr in domestic debt and Rs32.9tr in external loans. This is not surprising given that the government has been running an unsustainablely high budget deficit that averaged 7.3pc of the economic output over the previous five years. The study reveals that in the six months leading up to December, the country’s debt payments increased by over 64 percent to Rs 4.2 trillion. The study claims that over the course of the six-month period, debt servicing costs significantly exceeded increases in tax collections. According to the study, the ministry attributes our mounting problems with debt servicing to higher domestic interest rates.

PESHAWAR - The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) on Thursday killed two terrorists affiliated with the banned outfit Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) during an operation in Lakki Marwat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. According to a CTD spokesperson, the law enforcement personnel conducted an intelligence-based operation in Lakki Marwat during which the terrorists opened fire. In the prompt retaliatory fire, two terrorists were shot dead while others managed to escape. The dead terrorists were affiliated with Tipu Gul group of TTP. During the operation, the CTD personnel recovered grenades, arms, and ammunition from the killed terrorists.