Another Pakistani soldier martyred as India continues unprovoked shelling across the Line of Control (LoC), increasing the toll to four in last 24 hours. “Another brave son of soil laid his life in the line of duty,” said Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Asif Ghafoor in a tweet Friday morning. Sepoy Muhammad Sheeraz embraced shahadat in Buttal Sector.
The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulation Authority (Pemra) has completely banned all kinds of advertisements featuring Indian actors or characters from being aired on electronic media. PEMRA’s statement included 11 multinational brands whose content was banned from running with immediate effect. The notice added that the ban shall remain until all these advertisements are produced in Pakistan with Pakistani characters.
President of Pakistan Dr Arif Alvi conferred military honour upon two brave sons of the soil, Wing Commander Noman Ali and Squadron Leader Hasan Mehmood, for downing an Indian jet on February 27 in the aftermath of which an Indian pilot was arrested. Wing Commander Noman Ali was conferred Sitara-i-Jurat and Sq Leader Hasan Mehmood Siddiqui was awarded Tamgha-i-Jurat.
The United States has further cut Pakistan’s aid by $440 million, bringing down its commitments under Kerry Lugar Berman Act to just $4.1 billion, which is slightly over half of the total amount that Washington had promised to give nine years ago. The decision to cut Pakistan’s economic assistance, was revealed about three weeks before visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan to US.
The Federation Of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE), the mother body of all the 24 crafts of filmmaking, has banned singer Mika Singh aka Amrik Singh from any performance, recording, playback singing and acting in India ‘irrevocably forever’. The step was taken after a 30-second video clip of Mika’s performance at a wedding in Pakistan was released on Twitter.
The Multan-Sukkur Motorway (M-5) which is part of the multi-billion dollar China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project has been completed and will open for public this month. The motorway – stretching over 392 kms will reduce the duration of journey between the two cities from 6 hours to 3-3.5 hours. The mega project is completed at a cost of around Rs294 billion within 3 years.
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) will hold a session in New York on August 16 to deliberate over the prevailing situation in Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK) days after India scrapped Article 370, Radio Pakistan reported. The request to convene the meeting was made by Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi. China also backed Pakistan’s request, asking for the UNSC to meet behind closed doors.
Thousands of people have attended the funerals of five Russian nuclear engineers killed by an explosion as Russia tested a new rocket engine, a tragedy that caused a large increase of radiation and raised questions about a secretive weapons programme. According to Russian government, radiation levels around the site in Severodvinsk were estimated up to 16 times higher than the norm.
Court in India has acquitted six men accused of killing a 55-year-old Muslim dairy farmer. The court citied lack of evidence, raising questions over prosecution’s failure to make its case despite videos of a crowd beating Pehlu Khan. Videos shot on mobile phones showed Khan begging for mercy as mob of cow vigilantes stopped his truck and set upon him.
Priyanka Chopra has been branded a hypocrite over a tweet she posted in February amid escalating tensions between India and Pakistan. The incident, which was widely shared online, took place during a cosmetics event in US when audience member Ayesha Malik accused Chopra, who was appointed a United Nations goodwill ambassador in 2016, of “encouraging nuclear war against Pakistan”.