Pakistan says Asia Bibi still in country, reports of her leaving fake news

Chief Justice Saqib Nisar overturned the conviction by the Lahore High Court that had sentenced Asia Bibi, a mother of four, to death in 2010.

International News: Pakistani authorities on Thursday rejected as "fake news" reports that a Christian woman who was released from a jail a week after the Supreme Court overturned her conviction and death sentence for blasphemy has left for the Netherlands.

Asia Bibi, 47, acquitted in the blasphemy case was released, amid nationwide anger, from the jail in Multan on Wednesday midnight.

It was reported in local media that she was taken to Noor Khan Airbase Rawalpindi, from where she would be shifted to the Netherlands.

Asia Bibi Case

"Asia Bibi was released from New Jail for Women Multan (some 350 kilometres from Lahore) on Wednesday midnight. She is taken to Noor Khan Airbase Rawalpindi where a chartered plane will take her to the Netherlands," 24News reported on Thursday.

Some other news channels also reported the release of Asia Bibi and her departure for the Netherlands.

However, Foreign Office spokesman Dr Mohammad Faisal dismissed reports that the mother of five had left the country.

Read full news on → Pakistan Blasphemy Case

Pakistan Vs New Zealand 3rd T20: Pakistan won by 47 runs, whitewash New Zealand 3-0 in T20 series

Pakistan won the first match in Abu Dhabi by two runs and the second by six wickets in Dubai.

Pakistan Vs New Zealand 2018: Pakistan defeated New Zealand by 47 runs in the third and final Twenty20 international in Dubai on Sunday to claim another clean-sweep in the game's shortest format.

Pakistan were lifted to 166-3 by Babar Azam who made a 58-ball 79 with seven boundaries and two sixes while Mohammad Hafeez hit a 34-ball 53 with four boundaries and two sixes.

When on 48, Azam became the quickest to score 1,000 Twenty20 runs in just 26 innings beating India's Virat Kohli's record by an innings.

Leg-spinner Shadab Khan took 3-30 as New Zealand were bundled out for 119 in 16.5 overs.

Pakistan won the first match in Abu Dhabi by two runs and the second by six wickets in Dubai.

↓↓↓ Watch 3rd T20 Scorecard & Highlights ↓↓↓

Pakistan Vs New Zealand 3rd T20 Highlights

---

 News Source: BS & Business Standard

Asia Cup 2018: Bangladesh beat Pakistan by 37 runs to play against India in the final

Mushfiqur's 99 and Mohammad Mithun's 60 were instrumental in Bangladesh's win against Paksitan. Bangladesh will now take on India in the title clash in Dubai on Friday.

Asia Games 2018: Gritty Bangladesh set up a final clash with India in the Asia Cup after stunning Pakistan by 37 runs in the last Super Four match, riding on Mushfiqur Rahim's valiant 99 here.

Mushfiqur notched up his 30th half-century, while Mohammad Mithun made 60 to lift Bangladesh to a decent 239 all out from a precarious position after skipper Mashrafe Mortaza opted to bat in the virtual semifinal on Wednesday night.

---

News Source: BS & Business Standard

---

Mushfiqur was unlucky as he fell one short of what could have been his seventh ODI century but did enough to rescue Bangladesh with a 144-run fourth wicket stand with Mithun after they were reduced to 12 for three inside five overs.

Later, opener Imam-ul-Haq (83) turned out to be the lone bright spot for Pakistan as they faltered in pursuit of the modest chase and were restricted to 202 for nine.

Bangladesh will now take on India in the title clash in Dubai on Friday.

↓↓↓ Scorecard & Highlights ↓↓↓

Pakistan Vs Bangladesh

Asia Cup 2018: Can India put a stiff challenge to Pakistan in Dubai today (Match Preview)

The last time India and Pakistan met was in the ICC Champions Trophy final on June 18, 2017, at the Oval in London

Asia Cup 2018: In Match 5 of Asia Cup 2018, Rohit Sharma’s India will up against their arch rival Pakistan led by Sarfaraz Ahmed at Dubai International Stadium in United Arab Emirates. Indian cricket team will look to correct the mistakes they did against Hong Kong on Tuesday. India might make change in their playing 11 bringing in Jasprit Bumrah in place of Shardul Thakur and Hardik Pandya would replace Khaleel Ahmed. On the other hand, Pakistan will be high on confidence after crushing Hong Kong in their first game of the tournament.

India Team News

• The major concern for India is their middle order batters as in their previous game, Dinesh Karthik and Kedar Jadhav were not able to hit big shots in the death overs while Dhoni was dismissed out for a duck. On the bowling front, Bhuvneshwar Kumar looked rusty in his opening spell leaking too many runs while the spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzuvendra Chahal bowled superbly in the middle overs to bring India back in the game against Hong Kong. Jasprit Bumrah likely to replace Shardul Thakur, who bowled 3 No balls in an over which somehow shifted the momentum in opposition favor.

Pakistan Team News

• For Pakistan, Asia Cup is the start of a busy season. The trend suggests that once Pakistan are in the groove they are hard to stop. Pakistan has a combination of experienced players and young talented players like Fakhar Zaman who is coming after a fantastic ODI series in Zimbabwe where he finished as the leading run-getter with 515 runs. Meanwhile, Shoaib Malik the most experienced batsman in Pakistan line-up is also among the leading run scorers in ODIs with 7,015 runs.

↓↓↓ Playing 11, Scoreboard & Live Updates ↓↓↓

India Vs Pakistan

---

News Source: BS

Imran Khan's economic challenge: Rescue, Resuscitate, Reform Pakistan

Imran Khan's economic vision is bold and if he gets it right Pakistan could be a transformed country

 

International News → With cricketer turned politician Imran Khan on the cusp of becoming the next Wazir-e-Azam of Pakistan, his economic vision has the potential of transforming Pakistan's stuttering economy. But his road to redeem Pakistan's economy could ruffle a lot of feathers, including that of the Pakistan army which has a major role to play in Khan's rise to the top. Khan certainly faces an uphill task – the nation he will lead sits at the bottom of the pile on several important social and economic parameters.

The World Bank estimates that Pakistan's GDP growth rate will decline to 5 per cent in 2019 from 5.7 per cent in 2017. In 2018, Pakistan won't grow more than 5 per cent. In 2020, it will grow at 5.4 per cent – significantly lower than other South Asian nations like India and Bangladesh. In 2017, its per capita GDP grew by 3.6 per cent – again lower than India and Bangladesh but better than Sri Lanka.

Pakistan Election Results

In 2016, almost 5 million children in Pakistan were out of school. The country has the lowest primary school enrollment rate in the region. It has more child laborers than other nations in the neighborhood. Its labor participation rates are abysmal. It ranks 147 in the Ease of Doing Business Index – better than Bangladesh. Suicide bombings, armed insurgency and military coups are the order of the day gnawing away the nation's soul every single day. In many ways, the Pakistan Imran Khan is inheriting is a tinderbox waiting to explode.

One of the key aspects of Khan's economic reform program which he dubbed as a “five-point emergency plan” in Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf’s (PTI) manifesto, which could ruffle many feathers and generate a political backlash from his opponents, pertains to radically reform the way Pakistan spends its Rs 4.75 trillion (1 USD equals 129 Pakistani rupees) budget. Khan has promised that among other things, he would be looking to reduce the defence budget of Pakistan.

While Khan hasn't specified how he intends to get Pakistan’s all-powerful military to reconcile to this, his plan is to trim Pakistan's $9.6 billion military budget which accounts for almost a fifth of the country's total budget.

Read More → Imran Khan's economic challenge

---

News Source : BS

Sikh woman on Pak pilgrimage converts to Islam, marries Lahore man

She has applied for an extension of visa, citing "threats of assassination" to her life in India, before Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad.

Latest News : A Sikh woman pilgrim from Punjab's Hoshiarpur district has reportedly converted to Islam and married a Lahore-based Pakistan national, reports reaching her family in Punjab have indicated.

Kiran Bala, daughter of Manohar Lal, wrote to the Pakistan Foreign Office that her visa should be extended as she married one Mohammad Azam, a resident of Lahore, during a ceremony held at Jamia Naeemia seminary in Lahore on April 16, The Express Tribune reported.

She went to Pakistan on her Indian passport with Pakistan visa valid till April 21. Her old father-in-law, Tarsem Singh, alleged on Thursday that his daughter-in-law could have fallen into the hands of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and may have been forced to convert and remarry there.
Kiran's father-in-law, Tarsem Singh spoke to ANI and said, "My daughter-in-law called and said that she has converted to Islam and got re-married in Pakistan. I want to request the Prime Minister, CM of Punjab to take her out of this situation. I suspect she might have fallen into the hands of ISI."

Around 1,700 Indian pilgrims had gone to Pakistan to visit Sikh shrines, including Panja Sahib Gurdwara near Lahore and Nankana Sahib -- the birth place of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev, on the occasion of Baisakhi on April 13.

Kiran Bala, 31, a widow, is the mother of three. She was living with her in-laws at their village house in Garhshankar sub-division of Punjab, around 90 km from Chandigarh.
The children are with their aged grandparents. Their father had passed away in 2013. "I had dropped my daughter-in-law with SGPC officials in Amritsar on April 10 for the pilgrimage in Pakistan. The 'jatha' is expected to return on April 21.

"I cannot believe what has happened. No one has contacted us officially from the SGPC and the foreign ministry. I want my daughter-in-law to be returned safely," Tarsem Singh, a Sikh religious preacher in his village, told the media.

Tarsem Singh alleged that Kiran Bala could be in touch with the Pakistani man (whom she has reportedly married) through social media. He alleged that she was using social media frequently on her mobile phone in the past one month.

The visit of the Indian pilgrims to Pakistan has been mired in controversies in the past one week with Pakistani agencies and officials denying permission to Indian embassy officials there from meeting the visiting delegation members.

Posters of Khalistan, a separate Sikh homeland, have also been put up at the places where the Indian delegation is visiting.

Watch Video: Shoe thrown at former Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif at Lahore madrasa

As Sharif was heading towards rostrum for a speech, a student hurled a shoe at him that hit his shoulder and ear.

International News : A shoe was hurled at Pakistan’s ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif by a religious extremist today during a function at an Islamic seminary in Lahore.

The incident took place a day after religious extremist blackened the face of Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Khwaja Asif with ink when he was addressing his party’s worker’s convention in his hometown in Sialkot, some 100-km from Lahore.

Today Sharif was a chief guest at Jamia Naemia seminary, Ghari Shahu Lahore.

As Sharif was heading towards rostrum for a speech, a student hurled a shoe at him that hit his shoulder and ear.

The student also managed to reach in front of Sharif and chanted “Labbaik Ya Rasoolullah” slogan.

The security personnel caught the student and his other accomplice who also chanted “Labbaik Ya Rasoolullah” slogans and gave them sound thrashing.

Later, the two students were handed over to police. Police identified the shoe thrower as Abdul Ghafoor, a former student of the seminary, and his accomplice as Sajid.

The situation became very tense after the incident. Sharif made a brief speech in which he did not mention about the man who threw shoe at him.

The religious parties especially Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan had held Sharif and his party (PML-N) responsible for making an attempt to change a clause related to finality of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) in the Constitution.

In yesterday’s incident, Faiz Rasool, who threw ink at the foreign minister, told the police that he vent out his anger because the PML-N had tried to change the finality of the Prophet in the Constitution.

→  Nawaz Sharif in Lahore  ←

From surgical strike to 80 martyred personnel, 2016 a mixed year for Army

Biggest deal to be struck during 2016 was the one for 36 Rafale fighter jets for 7.8 billion Euros

Latest News - Signing of long-pending deals including one for Rafale fighters, a logistics agreement with the US, Surgical Strikes, new blacklisting and defence procurement policies besides induction of indigenous nuclear submarine were some of the achievements of the defence ministry in 2016, which was a mixed year for the armed forces.

The high point for the military was the daring surgical strike carried out by the special forces on terror launch pads across the LoC it lost a number of soldiers during the year.

Jammu and Kashmir alone saw over 80 security personnel being killed while countering Pakistan's proxy war. The army managed to eliminate about 160 militants in the state including the poster boy of militancy Burhan Wani.

Many security personnel were also killed fighting armed insurgency. Deadly attacks on the Pathankot air base, and army camps in Uri and Nagrota were a setback that led to the loss of several lives.

The armed forces also had a mixed year when it came to administration and compensation issues.

Read Article Source>>>

---

Be Updated on Stock Market News  &  Latest Business News   |  Business Standard

Pak, visa, Mallya, smart cities, Masala bonds: Highlights of Modi, May's summit meet

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday called for action against state sponsors of terrorism as Britain joined India in asking Pakistan to act against terrorists who perpetrated the 2008 Mumbai and 2016 Pathankot terror attacks.

Here are the key highlights of their summit meeting:

 

1. Terrorism

2. India wants Mallya, Lalit Modi back

3. Business deals

4. Masala bonds in London

5. UN Security Council

6.Visa services for Indian businessmen

7: No change in visa for students

8. Defence

 

The two sides signed two documents pertaining to ease of doing business and intellectual property rights.

 

READ SOURCE

BRICS summit: How India failed to convince other nations on Pakistan

The Indian side, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his officials, pushed for the BRICS summit Goa Declaration to specifically mention "cross border terrorism" that India was faced with and also the names of Pakistani based terror outfits. However, it failed to convince the other member states.

The Goa declaration didn't refer either to the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), which is headed by Masood Azhar, the man India believes was behind the Pathankot terrorist attack, or the Hafiz Saeed-led Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD). Saeed is considered to be the mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks.

It did, however, name such groups as the Islamic State, Jabat-al-Nasra, the Syrian Islamist rebel group, and other UN designated groups. Amar Sinha, India’s chief negotiator in the BRICS, said that India couldn't get a consensus on naming Pakistan-based terrorist outfits since it doesn't concern all the BRICS countries.

Misses for India

• Despite Modi’s urgings to fellow BRICS leaders, Goa Declaration has no mention of “cross border” nature of terrorism

• Goa Declaration doesn’t mention any of the Pakistan-based terrorist outfits, like JeM or JuD

• Agreement on BRICS credit rating agency postponed

Hits of the summit

• Agreement on setting up and Agriculture Research Platform

• Discussions to set up a Railway Research Network

• All members committed to support the NDB, popularly known as BRICS Bank

Read Source

Kohli anchors India to 6-wicket win over NZ, lead series 1-0

Virat Kohli held centrestage with a delightful unbeaten 85 after a collective bowling effort as India cruised to an easy six-wicket victory over New Zealand taking a 1-0 lead in the five-match ODI series, here tonight.

After bowling out New Zealand for 190 in 43.5 overs, India reached the target in a mere 33.1 overs in a match that turned out to be thoroughly one-sided.

If debutant all-rounder Hardik Pandya (3/31) stole the limelight in the bowling department, it was another flawless effort from 'Chase Master' Kohli, whose 85-run knock came off 81 balls. He struck nine fours before effortlessly lofting Ish Sodhi for his only six to finish the match in style.

It was rearguard action from New Zealand that saw them reach 190 after being down at 106 for 8.

If not for Tom Latham, who remained unbeaten on 79 and Tim Southee (55), New Zealand would have never imagined to reach near the 200-run mark.

Southee played the role of an aggressor and together with Latham stitched quickfire 71 runs off just 58 balls for the ninth wicket to give New Zealand bowlers something to bowl at.

But India hardly had any problems in overwhelming the target with vice-captain Kohli again showing his supreme command in the 50-over format.

View full Scorecard

New Zealand

190/10 (43.5)

vs

India

194/4 (33.1)

India won by 6 wickets

Read Source

---

Pakistan vs West Indies, 1st Test, Day 4 at Dubai

View full Scorecard

Oct 13-17, 2016- 1st Test at Dubai International Cricket Stadium (day/night)

Pakistan579/3d & 123

West Indies357 & 95/2 (31 ov, target: 346)

Stumps - West Indies require another 251 runs with 8 wickets remaining

---

Army camp attacked in Kashmir's Kupwara, 3 terrorists killed

Three terrorists were on Thursday killed in an encounter with security forces after they attacked an army camp in north Kashmir's Kupwara district, the army said in Srinagar.

The terrorists opened fire on an army camp at Langate in Kupwara district around 5 AM, which was retaliated by the alert jawans, an army official said.

After repulsing the attack, the security forces launched a search operation in the area, during which the terrorists fired upon them, leading to an encounter.

"Three terrorists have been killed in the ensuing encounter and three AK 47 rifles have been recovered from the spot," the official said.

He said the operation was on and further details were awaited.

Read Source

---

Three militants killed in Langate attack in J&K

Three separatist militants were killed on Thursday in a gunfight that erupted after they attacked a counter-insurgency Rashtriya Rifles (RR) camp in north Kashmir's Kupwara district.

"Three terrorists were killed in the resulting encounter," Colonel Rajesh Kalia, spokesman of the Indian Army's Srinagar-headquartered 15 Corps confirmed to IANS.

"Heavily armed terrorists dressed in army fatigues attacked the 30 RR camp situated in Langate town of Kupwara district at 5.10 a.m. today (Thursday)

"The alert guards at the 30 RR camp in Langate located close to a civilian facility foiled the terrorists' attempt to enter the camp by breaching its security periphery," he said.

"The terrorist firing stopped for some time, but it started again at 6.30 a.m," he added.

Read Source

India knockout Pakistan as No 1 Test team after beating New Zealand

India pulled off a brilliant all-round performance to trounce New Zealand by 178 runs in the second Test to clinch the series with an unassailable 2-0 lead, which also propelled them to the top of the ICC rankings dethroning arch-rivals Pakistan, here on Monday at Eden Gardens.

Virat Kohli's men wrapped up the series-deciding victory on the Fourth day of the match after setting the Black Caps a mammoth target of 376 runs to chase.

The visitors showed some spark to start with but their chase floundered in the post-tea session and the side was bowled out for 197 in 81.1 overs in what was India's 250th home Test.

The home team had earlier finished its second innings at 263 in 76.5 overs.

Following Rohit Sharma's 82-run knock on Sunday (yesterday), Wriddhiman Saha also picked up his second successive half-century of the match by scoring a 120-ball 58, laced with half a dozen fours.

Faced with an improbable chase, New Zealand were off to a confident start before things went downhill in the final session of the day.

Opener Tom Latham top-scored for them with a 148-ball 74, which included eight hits to the fence 

Read Source

---

Brief Scorecard

IND -  316, 263

NZ - 204, 197-all out (81.1 Ovs)

India won by 178 runs

PLAYER OF THE MATCH
Wriddhiman Saha

View Full Scorecard

---

The global cost of India-Pakistan nuclear war

If India and Pakistan fought a war detonating 100 nuclear warheads (around half of their combined arsenal), each equivalent to a 15-kiloton Hiroshima bomb, more than 21 million people will be directly killed, about half the world’s protective ozone layer would be destroyed, and a “nuclear winter” would cripple the monsoons and agriculture worldwide.

As the Indian Army reports striking terrorist camps across the border, and a member of Parliament (MP) of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) urges a nuclear attack and the Pakistan defence minister threatens to “annihilate”India in return, these projections, made by researchers from three US universities in 2007, are a reminder of the costs of nuclear war.

Visualisation by nucleardarkness.org based on study by researchers from Rutgers University, University of Colorado-Boulder and University of California, Los Angeles

BJP Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy said, on 23 September, 2016, that if 100 million Indians died in a Pakistani nuclear attack, India’s retaliation would wipe out Pakistan.

Source: Pakistani Nuclear Forces, 2015; Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

Source: Indian Nuclear Forces, 2015; Bulletin of Atomic Scientists

Agni III, IV and V, with their longer ranges, might be able to reach all of Pakistan, but it can be safely said that they are directed more towards China.

India also possesses an estimated two ship-launched 350-km range Dhanush SRBM, which could be fitted with nuclear warheads.

India’s aircraft can deliver an estimated 45% of 106 warheads. The Indian Air Force’s Jaguar fighter bombers can deliver about 16 nuclear warheads, while the French-built Mirage-2000 fleet can deliver 32.

Full Story Source...

India strikes across LoC; What are Pakistan's options?

India undertook surgical strikes across the Line of Control, breaching self-imposed military discipline, destroying infrastructure as well as killing terrorists who were poised to cross the border and damage Indian cities and Jammu and Kashmir.

This is bound to invite retaliation, both from Pakistan as well as the rest of world, which will now begin scrambling to plead India to continue its policy of strategic restraint.

The Director General Military Operations (DGMO) used the hotline to contact his counterpart in Pakistan. This is scrupulous observation of protocol – that is exactly what the hotline is for.

The first such interaction is likely on 6 October when Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Pakistan Finance Minister Ishaq Dar head out to attend the World Bank meeting in the US.

But before that, how will Pakistan respond? That’s what needs to be seen.

---

We are in a place where three scenarios are possible: 

1) An unpredictable actor comes into play - a suicide bomber takes it into his head to blow himself up in a crowded place, a Paris type event - which will be the equivalent of tossing a cracker into a crowd and could have unforeseen consequences. 

2) Pakistan retaliates and India hits back, gradually escalating into full scale confrontation.

3)The international community steps in and talks both Pakistan and India out of it. The UNSC holds a meeting and peacemakers step in.

The third scenario is the most likely but the first and second cannot be ruled out.

Read Source...

---

Related Articles:

 India strikes back as Army conducts surgical strikes across LoC in Pakistan

 Sensex falls 300 points as India strikes back on terrorists camps across LoC

Do not mistake our intent for peace as weakness: Nawaz Shar

Captured soldier inadvertently crossed LoC, report of soldiers killed false: Army

The Indian Army on Thursday said that one of its soldiers from the 37 Rashtriya Rifles (RR), along with his standard weapon, had inadvertently crossed over to the other side of the Line of Control (LoC) and termed as "completely false and baseless" reports in Pakistani media that eight of its soldiers had been killed.

An army release issued by the Defence Ministry said that Pakistan had been informed on the hotline by the Director General Military Operations Lt Gen Ranbir Singh about the soldier crossing over the LoC.

It said that such inadvertent crossing by army personnel and civilians was not unusual on either side and they are are returned through existing mechanisms.

"One soldier from 37 RR with weapon has inadvertently crossed over to the other side of the Line of Control. Pakistan has been informed by the DGMO on the hotline. Such inadvertent crossing by Army and civilians are not unusual on either side. They are returned through existing mechanisms," the release said.

"As regard report of killing of eight Indian Army personnel reported in sections of Pakistan media, the report is completely false and baseless," the release added.

Dawn had quoted security sources as saying that Pakistan military had said it had captured an Indian soldier and killed eight others. Dawn later withdrew the story, replacing it with another that did not specify the number of Indian soldiers killed.

Read Source...

Surgical strikes: How the world conducts them and how India did it

Indian armed forces conducted surgical strikes in the early hours of Thursday across the Line of Control (LoC), involving not more than 100 commandos, in what is seen as a paradigm shift in how this government plans to deal with terrorist camps across the border.

The term "surgical strike" has been prevalent in the international media since the days of the Gulf War, and it came to typify operations conducted by the US thereafter.

Going by the generally accepted definition offered by experts, a surgical strike comprises a swift, intelligence-driven attack on a specific target or targets with minimum collateral damage to structures, infrastructure or civilians in the target's vicinity.

The operation can involve special forces units on the ground, strikes conducted by military aircraft or vessels.

---

How India conducted its strikes

How the big hitters do it

---

The US and Russia, with varying degrees of success, have been conducting surgical strikes in Syria for some time now, hitting extremists and ISIS targets with PGMs. 

The US in particular has been using its armed drones for targeting specific leaders of various terrorist organisations, especially the al-Qaeda; however, given reports of numerous civilian casualties attached to such strikes, the claims that such operations are surgical strikes have rung hollow for countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan. 

Read Source...

Indian film body bans Pakistani actors

Indian Motion Picture Producers Association on Thursday passed a resolution to ban Pakistani actors from the industry in the wake of the Uri attack.

"IMPPA in their 87th annual general meeting passed a resolution that no Pakistani will be hired by their producer members forever," producer T P Aggarwal, the president of IMPPA, told PTI.

The resolution came on a day the Indian Army announced that seven terror launch pads were targeted across the Line of Control by special forces during a 'surgical strike' overnight in which heliborne and ground forces were used.

Producer Ashoke Pandit, a member of the IMPPA, said, "IMPPA paid homage to the martyrs who were killed in Uri. It therefore felt its responsibility towards the nation and passed a resolution banning Pakistani Actors & technicians in India till normalcy returns. For IMPPA, nation comes first."

18 Army personnel were killed in the Uri attack.

The decision came amid demands by various political outfits to ban Pakistani artistes from Indian films and performing in India.

Last week, Raj Thackeray  led  Maharashtra Navanirman Sena issued a 48-hour ultimatum to Pakistani artistes and actors including Fawad Khan and Ali Zafar, to leave India by September 25 or else they would be pushed out.

Recently, the concerts of Pakistani singers Shafqat Amanat Ali and Atif Aslam scheduled in Bengaluru and Gurgaon respectively were also cancelled.

Read Source...

5 key events that will drive the markets from here on

After a knee-jerk reaction to the surgical strike by India across the Line of Control (LoC) that saw the S&P BSE Sensex tumble over 500 points in intra-day deals on Thursday, the markets remained on the edge on Friday. The S&P BSE Sensex and the Nifty 50 indices lost ground after opening on a flat note.

Analysts expect markets to remain choppy as investors adopt a wait-and-watch mode over the next few sessions till there is more clarity on the geopolitical situation.

---

Besides the second quarter results of India Inc, here are 5 key factors that will determine the market direction over the next couple of months.

Clarity on the geopolitical situation...

RBI Monetary Policy review...

US Presidential Election...

Rate hike by the US Fed...

Oil Prices...

---

Read Source...

Related Articles:

 Indo-Pak conflict: Markets will recover after knee-jerk reaction, say analysts

Oil slips as scepticism over OPEC deal grows