Chief of Army Staff (COAS) of Pakistan, Qamar Jawed Bajwa
Amid the worsening crisis due to shrinking foreign reserves, Pakistan army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa has approached the US for help in securing an early disbursement of funds from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to prevent the south Asian country from a looming economic disaster.
In order to seek support on the economic front, Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif persuaded Bajwa to talk to US authorities and use his influence for the early disbursement of IMF funds
The premier and COAS also discussed other options on how to secure the country’s economy from getting into a crisis-like situation, The News International reported citing sources. As per the report, Bajwa telephoned US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and appealed to her to expedite the USD1.2 billion disbursal.
The move by the Army chief comes as Pakistan is gripped by a deep economic slump due to shortage of foreign reserves. However, it is not the first time that the government has approached the US administration for succour
Federal Finance Minister Miftah Ismail had met the US envoy in Islamabad earlier seeking the US government’s influence over the IMF in reviving the bailout package, said The News International report.
As per reports, the IMF’s board meeting is slated for the third week of August and the pressure on the local currency has sparked a debate already whether the country will be able to revive its faltering economy.
Notably, Pakistan has claimed to have taken a few measures to revive the stalled IMF programme like removing subsidies on petroleum products, hiking power and gas tariffs and increasing taxes. These steps have taken a massive toll on the common man and led to a sharp surge in economic hardships for the country’s poorer sections
China: Xi's hyper nationalism foster may backfire 3
China’s President Xi Jinping has fostered an ugly hyper-nationalism in the name of socalled patriotism with Chinese characteristics, according to a media report, which stated that the premier might not always be able to manage it.
US President Joe Biden in March last year spoke about China’s “nationalism” and said it is on the rise.
“Nationalism is on the rise, and repression is spreading and attacks against the rulesbased order are intensifying,” Biden told a virtual meeting of the UN Security Council, adding that America’s fate is “increasingly entwined with international events”.
Fang Fang, a writer in Wuhan, had drawn the ire of nationalists at home in China during the COVID-19 lockdown in the city when the pandemic just started, Policy Research Group reported.
She has received a barrage of online vitriol for daring to criticize the Xi government’s inadequate reaction.
“They act like a bunch of thugs, throwing wave after wave of attacks on everyone who doesn’t cooperate with them,” Fang Fang stated and compared the “attackers” to the rampaging mobs during Mao’s Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and 1970s.
When Fang Fang published the 60th and last instalment of her online journal on life in Wuhan, during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, she had written about her personal struggles as well as those of the first city in the world to go through a COVID19 lockdown.
Salman Khan issued gun license for self-protection after receiving threat 5
Bollywood star Salman Khan has been issued an arms license after he applied for a gun license for self-protection in the backdrop of threat letters that he received recently.
Salman had received a death threat from gangster Lawrence Bishnoi’s gang following which he met Mumbai police chief Vivek Phansalkar over the threat letter to him and his father.
There had been reports that Salman has upgraded to an armoured and bulletproof Land Cruiser ever since the threats.
Notably, Salman and his father Salim Khan had received a death threat on June 5, days after Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala was shot dead in Punjab’s Mansa district on May 29.
Salim Khan’s security team found the letter outside their Mumbai home near the Bandra Bandstand promenade, where Salim Khan goes for his routine morning jog.
Sidhu Moose Wala was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Jawaharke village of Punjab’s Mansa district on May 29. The incident took place a day after his security was withdrawn by the Punjab Police among 424 others.
The letter that the actor received in Hindi said that both Salim Khan and his son would soon meet the same fate as slain singer Siddhu Moosewala (‘Tera Moosawala bana denge’), said the police sources on condition of anonymity.
As per the information received from Maharashtra Home Department, the reason behind the Bishnoi gang threatening actor Salman Khan and his father Salim Khan was to create an atmosphere to show their power.
This is not the first time Salman has received threats. In 2018 when the trial of the blackbuck poaching case was underway, Bishnoi had allegedly threatened the actor because in his community blackbucks are considered sacred.
Due to law and order issue Raut was arrested a little after midnight 7
Heavy police bandobast was deployed outside Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut’s Bhandup bungalow on Sunday and senior police officers rushed to the spot to control the crowd that gathered there a s news of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raid spread. Raut waved out to them a few times while the search was on. Around 7am, ED officials started searching Raut’s bungalow.
Around 4 pm, the ED asked him to accompany them to their zonal office at Ballard Estate. He left for the ED office with the trademark Shiv Sena’s saffron scarf around his neck, waving to supporters from the sunroof of his SUV.
Outside the ED office buildings, heavy police bandobast was deployed and barricades placed. Raut’s MLA brother Sunil and a handful of his friends were allowed to stand n ear the ED office building, which is guarded by CISF personnel.
A Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist was apprehended in the higher reaches of Aloosa forest during a joint operation by 26 Assam Rifles, JKP and CRPF, informed the Indian Army on Sunday.
During the search, war-like stores were recovered from him.
“A specific input was recieved from Jammu and Kashmir and Army Intelligence Unit regarding presence of two suspected terrorists in Gen Area Aloosa Forest. On July 30, a joint operation led by 26 Assam Rifles, JKP and CRPF was launched. During a search of higher reaches in Aloosa Forest, a suspected area was identified. The area was cordoned with extreme caution,” said the Indian Army.
During a search of the area one suspected individual (terrorist) was seen and surrounded from all sides and apprehended. During the search, war-like stores were recovered from him, added the Army.
As per sources, terrorist belonged to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and was planning to carry out attacks on Security Forces in the coming days. His aim was to cause major disruption during Amarnath Yatra.
Pakistan’s desperate attempts to cause fear and panic amongst the locals are aimed at disturbing the prevailing peace and normalcy in the valley. All efforts will be made by the security forces to deny terrorists any space to operate freely. By apprehending one hardcore LeT a major incident has been averted, added the Army.
Sanjay Raut has two battles to deal with; Political and Personal 10
A few weeks ago, they made the plan to detain Sanjay Raut. He skipped the summons twice to appear for questioning in an alleged land scam case. If you look at the chronology of the event, you will see how everything was well-scripted to first demoralise and break Raut. First, some audio went viral in the media; in which he was abusing a woman. An alleged conversation between Raut and Swapna Patker, went viral on the internet. Raut was using foul language while speaking to her. Patker is the same lady who had in 2021 alleged that she is being harassed by Sanjay Raut, for the past eight years. There were long trials in the media. Somehow he was dealing with this shock; they gave him another shock. Point to be noted here is his loyalty towards his party. He could have easily switched sides and safeguard himself like other rebel leaders.
Early in the morning at 7 am, the probe agency team, accompanied by Central Industrial Security Force officials, reached Raut’s home in Bhandup and began searching the property. All that went on for eight long hours. The Enforcement Directorate was questioning Raut, in connection with the re-development of a chawl in Mumbai and related transactions involving his wife and close associates.
Raut in an interview said my wife took money 14 years back and Patra Chwal development is recent. The transaction and scam have no relation to each other; he also said that he doesn’t know what the chawl looks like. While he was being taken away, Raut told reporters, “They have planted fake evidence against me. This is a conspiracy against me and the Shiv Sena. I won’t bow down.”
In the same month, last year exactly one year ago, police reached Swapna Patker’s house without a search warrant. They took her along with them and arrested in the fake degree case. While going with police, she also asserted that they created the fake evidence against her. Swapna and Raut have had family disputes for the past several years. Well now a city magistrate court has directed the Vakola police station to further investigate a complaint lodged in 2013 by Swapna for assault in which the police had filed a closure report.
Patker, in her protest petition against the closure report, has said that the police had not investigated her husband Sujit Patker, with whom she had strained relations and Sanjay Raut, she has suspicions on. She accused Raut of giving perks to her husband Sujit to harass her, but the police never probed them both. Whereas her husband Sujit Patker said it was he who filed for the divorce after the atrocities on him. He said Swapna is the one who introduced him to Raut.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate SB Bhajiale said in his order that the complainant herself provided names of suspicious persons but the investigating officer has never examined them. The police had filed an ‘A’ summary report in the case, as they could not find the unknown culprits. Well, recently all was not well with Raut and Shiv Sena. One fine day Maha Vikas Aghadi shockingly collapsed. Uddhav had to resign, and Raut came in ED clutches. Government changed and the few BJP leaders supported the woman for their own political motives. They could have supported her earlier. Why only now? Whatever must be the reason, the scenario has completely changed. It is a personal as well as political saga.
After one year, somewhat similar things are happening. In April, the Enforcement Directorate attaches assets worth over ₹ 11.15 crore of Raut’s wife Varsha Raut and two of his associates. The properties include a flat in Dadar held by Varsha Raut and eight plots at Kihim beach in Alibaug jointly held by Varsha Raut and Swapna Patker, the wife of Sujit Patker, a “close associate” of Sanjay Raut. The agency wants to question Raut to know about his “business and other links” with his close associates Pravin Raut and Sujit Patker and also about the property deals involving their wives.
ED arrested Pravin Raut in a probe linked to a ₹ 1,034 crore alleged land scam related to the re-development of Patra chawl. He is currently in judicial custody. Guru Ashish Construction Pvt Ltd was involved in re-development of the “chawl”, which had 672 tenants living in tenements on 47 acres belonging to the Maharashtra Housing Area Development Authority (MHADA. At present Sanjay Raut is dealing with two different cases and challenges, one is allegations of Swapna Patker and another one is Patra chawl scam. When Shiv Sena was in Power with or without BJP they could survive against all allegations and odds. Since they shunted Shiv Sena out of power the party has two different battles to deal, one the allegations on personal front and second the political party’s existence.
Let’s see what time unfolds. One thing is sure, politics knows no morals anything can happen, but one who holds power is powerful and the target can be those who protest or speak against power. Let it be the Maha Vikas Aghadi government or BJP government, protesters in all forms are sent behind the bars. It is impossible to say what will happen next in politics because politics has become the game of odds. While concluding I want to make a statement, that Raut is certainly a victim of circumstances in both the cases, personal and political.
(Any suggestions, comments or disputes with regards to this article send us at feedback@www.afternoonvoice.com)
An aggressive half-century from opener Smriti Mandhana powered India to an eight-wicket win over Pakistan in their second T20I match at the ongoing cricket tournament in Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham on Sunday.
With this victory, India is on the way and in the hunt to claim another medal in CWG 2022. They crushed the Pakistan bowling lineup with amazing spells from Sneh Rana (2/15) and Radha Yadav (2/18) and bundled them out for just 99. India finished off the match easily with Mandhana leading from the front with her fifty.
Chasing 100 runs, the opening duo of Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma put India to an explosive start. Pakistan bowlers had no answers for this duo, which only deals in boundaries.
They brought up their 50-run stand in just 29 balls. Spinner Tuba Hassan gave Pakistan the breakthrough they wanted, dismissing Verma for 16 off 9 balls after she was caught by Muneeba Ali while playing a late cut.
Sabbhineni Meghana was the next batter on the crease. Mandhana was on a roll. She struck the ball well and brought up her fifty in just 31 balls. The duo of Meghana and Mandhana kept going before the former was dismissed for 14 off six balls by Omaima Sohail. Jemimah Rodrigues was next up on the crease.
India won the match, finishing at 102/2 in 11.4 overs with Mandhana (63*) and Rodrigues (2*). Sohail and Hassan took a wicket each for Pakistan.
Earlier, Sneh Rana’s fiery spell and tight bowling performance by the Indian team helped them bundle out Pakistan for 99 in the 18 overs of the rain-curtailed match of the ongoing Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham on Sunday.
For India, Sneh Rana and Radha Yadav bagged two wickets each. For Pakistan, Muneeba Ali (32) was the top scorer for them. Opting to bat first, Pakistan’s women’s team got off to the bad start as they lost their opener Iram Javed who was dismissed by Meghna Singh after scoring zero runs.
Captain Bismah Maroof then came out to bat and started smashing Indian bowlers all around the ground but her stint was cut short by Sneh Rana, scoring just 17 runs in 19 runs. Rana who was in red-hot form gave another blow to the Pakistan team as she dismissed opener, Muneeba Ali. In the 10 over of the innings, Pakistan batters tried to open hands and play aggressive shots.
Women in Blue bind Pakistan batters in all ways and restricted them to play big shots. Omaima Sohail and Aliya Riaz played some good shots to keep the momentum going in the favour of their team.
In the 15th over of the innings, Women in Green lost another wicket as Omaima Sohail was sent back to the pavilion after scoring 10 runs in 13 balls. Sohail’s wicket invited Fatima Sana to the crease. Aliya Riaz played some attacking shots and smashed two fours in the over of Deepti Sharma.
Riaz was later departed as she was run out by Meghna Singh after scoring 18 runs in 22 deliveries. In the last over Pakistani batters could only manage to score just 99 runs.
The all-around performance by Women in Blue bundled out Pakistan for 99 runs in 18 overs of the rain-curtailed match. Brief score: Pakistan 99 (Muneeba Ali 32, Aliya Riaz 18; Sneh Rana 2-15) vs India.
West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) scam accused Partha Chatterjee and Arpita Mukherjee were taken to the office of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) after their medical check up at the ESI hospital in Kolkata.
Earlier in the day, Chatterjee had denied his involvement in the School Service Commission (SSC) scam and asserted that the “money does not belong to him.”
He was brought to ESI hospital for a medical examination on Sunday afternoon. “When the time comes, you will know…the money does not belong to me,” he said to media persons today upon being asked about who is behind this conspiracy.
Arrested Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee – who is now suspended from the Trinamool Congress – and his aide Arpita Mukherjee have separately been claiming that they are a “victim of a conspiracy.”
“Partha Chatterjee has been removed from TMC along with the post of General Secretary, National vice president and three other posts. He has been suspended till the investigation is underway,” Abhishek Banerjee said.
Trinamool Congress, which had been distancing itself from its arrested leader Partha Chatterjee, axed him as a minister on Thursday and suspended him from the party leaving it to him to defend himself in the Enforcement Directorate probe in the teacher recruitment scam in which crores of rupees have been seized from residences linked to his aide Arpita Mukherjee.
Trinamool Congress’ decision to part ways with one of its most senior leaders was announced by party leader Abhishek Banerjee at a press conference in which he said “if anyone commits something wrong then Trinamool Congress will not spare him” and ‘there will be zero tolerance for corruption”.
He said Partha Chatterjee will remain suspended till probe is underway. Partha Chatterjee was considered one of the most trusted lieutenants of the Chief Minister, a “go-to” man and was regarded third in party hierarchy after the chief Minister and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee.
After his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate, in connection with the School Service Commission (SSC) scam in West Bengal, Chatterjee had reportedly called Mamata Banerjee four times, which she allegedly did not pick.
Abhishek Banerjee has told the media that Chatterjee has been removed from TMC along with the post of general secretary, national vice president and three other posts. “He has been suspended till the investigation is underway.
He can come back if proven not guilty. CM took the decision and the (Partha Chatterjee) minister was removed.
The probe into the matter is underway. If anyone commits something wrong then TMC won’t spare him,” he said adding that the investigating agency must complete the probe in a time-bound manner. “There will be zero tolerance for corruption.
Investigating agency must complete the probe within the time limit. Even in Sarada case nothing happened, it’s just lingering.
There should be a time-bound investigation,” he said. “The one (Arpita Mukherjee) from whose house sums of money were recovered isn’t from TMC. We want stringent action against those who are linked to this matter. I am saying this in a hypothetical way that if Partha Chatterjee goes to BJP after two months then he will become a saint. Since he is in TMC, all of these things are happening,” he added.
The arrest of Partha Chatterjee followed Rs 21 crore in cash and jewellery worth above Rs 1 crore being recovered from the Kolkata residence of Arpita Mukherjee, a close aide of the former education minister.
The ED unearthed many disproportionate assets allegedly of Partha Chatterjee since his arrest, of which were three flats in West Bengal’s Diamond City.
The ED raided Arpita Mukherjee’s house in connection with an alleged teacher recruitment scam in West Bengal. “The said amount is suspected to be proceeds of crime of the said SSC scam,” the probe agency had said in a statement.
A five-time MLA, Chatterjee was appointed as the minister-in-charge of higher education and school education in 2014 and he held the portfolio till 2021.
Reigning world champion Nikhat Zareen advanced into the quarter-finals of the women’s light flyweight 50kg category at the ongoing Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham on Sunday.
In her bout at the CWG, the in-form Nikhat Zareen, who won the world championships and Strandja memorial gold earlier this year, outclassed Mozambique’s Helena Ismael Bagao at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) in Solihull to prevail by RSC (referee stops contest).
Nikhat Zareen will face Welsh boxer Helen Jones in the Birmingham 2022 boxing quarter-finals. With Bagao trying to catch Nikhat Zareen out early, the Indian capitalised on the openings and gave a flurry of right hooks on her opponent. Swift footwork also allowed the Indian boxer to stay out of the Bagao’s reach.
Zareen completed the first round with a series of 1-2 punches and appeared firmly in possession of her bout. It was a matter of match management for the Indians in the third and final round and Zareen steered through with comfort.
Such was the Indian’s sovereignty that the referee stopped the bout with 40 seconds left and handed Zareen a triumph.
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday said he won’t bow down and quit the party, shortly before being herded into the south Mumbai office of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) whose team conducted a search at his residence in connection with a money laundering case.
“They (ED) are going to arrest me. I am going to be arrested,” Raut told reporters outside the ED office after he was brought there from his Bhandup residence here.
“Zukega nahi (won’t bow down,” Raut said, putting up a brave front. The ED action follows multiple summons issued by the agency against Raut, the latest being on July 27. Raut was summoned for questioning by the ED in a money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the re-development of a Mumbai ‘chawl’ and related transactions involving his wife and ‘associates’.
Sanjay Raut also stated in a tweet stated “I wont be leaving ShivSena and mostly it is false allegations and investigation which is taken place”.
खोटी कारवाई.. खोटे पुरावे मी शिवसेना सोडणार नाही.. मरेन पण शरण जाणार नाही जय महाराष्ट्र
At 7 am on Sunday, ED officials, accompanied by CRPF personnel, reached Raut’s residence and began the searches. Shortly after 5 pm, he was brought to the ED office. The Rajya Sabha MP, who is in the Uddhav Thackeray camp, had denied any wrongdoing and alleged that he was being targeted due to political vendetta.
कोणत्याही घोटाळ्याशी माझा काडीमात्र संबंध नाही. शिवसेना प्रमुख बाळासाहेब ठाकरे यांची शपथ घेऊन मी हे सांगत आहे..बाळासाहेबांनी आम्हाला लढायला शिकवलंय.. मी शिवसेनेसाठी लढत राहीन.
“I swear by late Balasabheb Thackeray that I have nothing to do with any scam,” Raut tweeted shortly after the ED action. “I will die but won’t leave Shiv Sena,” Raut added.
