NEWS
DIGEST, EVENING
19 May 2019:
13 Ramazan 1440:Vol: 11, No:205
INDIA
Live: General election concludes with phase 7
recording over 60% turnout;
The seventh and final phase of Lok Sabha
election 2019 was held on May 19 in 59 constituencies, including in Varanasi
where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking to retain the seat.Over 10 crore
people were eligible to vote in the phase which saw 918 candidates across seven
States and one Union Territory. Polling was held in all 13 seats in Punjab and
an equal number of seats in Uttar Pradesh, nine in West Bengal, eight seats
each in Bihar and MP, four in Himachal Pradesh, three in Jharkhand and the lone
seat Chandigarh. Repolling was held in in seven booths in Kerala's Kannur and
Kasaragod Lok Sabha constituencies today following the Election Commission’s
finding that bogus voting took place in the booths on April 23.Besides the Lok
Sabha seats, bypolls were held four Assembly seats in Tamil Nadu and one in
Goa.Among the prominent candidates are PM Modi and Ravi Shankar Prasad of the
BJP, and Shatrughan Sinha and Manish Tewari of the Congress.For all 59
constituencies, the turnout figure stands at 61% till 5 pm as against 64.63% in
2014. Punjab: 60% till 5 pm against 71.28% in 2014, Himachal: 65.5% till 5 pm
compared to 65.06% in 2014, M.P.: 59.38% ill 3 pm compared total 66.87% in
2014, Jharkhand: 68.27% till 3 pm as against 68.87% in 2014, West Bengal:
65.59% till 4 pm compared to a total of 79.15 % in 2014, Bihar: 50.86% turnout
till 5.30 pm compared to total of 51.49 % in 2014. Thehindu
Exit Poll Results Lok Sabha elections LIVE:
First polls call it for NDA
As the intense election battle came to a close
with the conclusion of the seventh phase of Lok Sabha elections, three exit
polls predicted that the BJP-led NDA will win more than 300 seats and return to
form its second successive government. In the 2014 elections, the NDA together
won 336 seats.India TV predicts a landslide 7 out of 7 seat win in Delhi for
the BJP. Three exit polls have predicted a big win for NDA. Two exit polls said
the BJP-led NDA will win more than 300 seats and return to form its second
successive government. Times Now-VMR says NDA will win 306 and UPA 132 seats. According
to India Today-Axis, YSR Congress is expected to win anywhere between 18 to 20
seats in Andhra Pradesh while TDP will be down to 4 to 6 seats. In 2014
elections, N Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP had bagged 16 and emerged as the single
largest party with a vote share of 40.8 per cent. The second-biggest party was
the Jaganmohan Reddy-led YSR Congress Party, which won 8 seats with 45.7 per
cent votes. Republic C-Voter has
predicted more than 300 of 543 seats for BJP-led NDA.However, exit polls have
often proved to be unreliable in the past. For instance, exit polls on the 2004
Lok Sabha polls wrongly predicted BJP-led NDA coalition winning again,while in
2009 they underestimated Congress-led UPA’s seat share.In 2014, however, most
of the exit polls turned out to be accurate with BJP securing a majority of its
own. Indianexpress
BJP,
Allies To Cross 300, According To Poll Of Polls
Exit Poll Live: NDA set to return to power
with 306 seats, predicts Times Now-VMR exit poll
Voters in this UP village allege BJP workers
inked their fingers to stop them from voting
New Delhi :Residents of Tara Jivapur village
in Uttar Pradesh’s Chandauli district alleged that three men who claimed to be
from BJP had “forcefully” applied ink to their fingers and gave them Rs 500 on
Saturday in a bid to prevent them from voting in Sunday’s seventh and final
phase of Lok Sabha elections.One of the villagers told ANI: “They were from BJP
and asked us if we’ll vote for the party. They told us now you can’t vote.
Don’t tell anyone.”Taking note of the allegations, Chandauli SDM KR Harsh said
villagers are eligible to vote and action will be taken against the accused
based on the complaint.“Complainants are present at police staion. We will take
action as per the complaint they file. They are still eligible to cast votes as
elections hadn’t begun then. They will have to mention in the FIR that ink was
forecefully applied,” he told ANI.Chandauli is among the 13 Lok Sabha seats in
which polling began on Sunday morning. UP BJP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey is
seeking reelection from Chandauli.indianexpress
Politicians Caution against Manual Vote
Tabulation
Mumbai:Opposition parties have been
apprehensive about glitches in EVMs, but a new spectre looms large ahead of May
23 when the counting of votes begins.With the verdict of millions of voters in
the 2019 elections sealed inside EVMs, there are fresh fears of foul play and
potential manipulation that could result from alleged loopholes in the counting
processes of the Election. Commission of India (ECI), warns an expert on
election laws. In order to avoid this, there is a clamour that the ECI must
provide a printout of the votes cast in each EVM to all candidates or their
counting agents, which can be later tallied with the final vote-count.In the
EVM era, for reasons best known to it, the ECI continues the old and faulty
“manual recording and tabulation” of votes, where there is scope for
manoeouvring, said eminent Nagpur-based lawyer Vinod Tiwari, a BJP leader. He
has raised the issue with ECI since 2009 but said the election body was
“reluctant to take any steps to improve the systems, which can benefit the
entire electoral process”.IANS
‘Deleted’ Stamped on Names of Muslim Voters in
Electoral Rolls in UP’s Ballia
Lucknow; Samajwadi Party will reportedly
approach the Election Commission over alleged deletion of names of Muslim
voters in Chandauli, Uttar Pradesh. Names of several Muslim voters were
reportedly deleted from the electoral rolls at a booth in Ballia Lok Sabha
constituency in the state as well.As per Times Now journalist Prashant Kumar,
the names have been allegedly deleted at booth number 334, 335, 336 in
Mughalsarai. Mughalsarai falls under Chandauli Lok Sabha constituency in
Chandauli district .As per Uttar Pradesh.ORG News, “deleted” was stamped over
several Muslims names at Murli Manohar Town Inter College booth in Ballia
constituency. caravandaily
Ashok Lavasa note pushes poll panel to rethink
clean chit to NITI, PMO
New Delhi :Election Commission (EC) has
decided to revisit its clean chit to the NITI Aayog and PMO over an alleged
violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), at Election Commissioner Ashok
Lavasa’s insistence. Last week, the poll panel had disposed of a Congress
complaint alleging misuse of the NITI Aayog by the PMO for gathering
information on Gondia, Wardha and Latur ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s
election rallies there. Speaking at a press conference on May 12, Deputy
Election Commissioner Sandeep Saxena had informed journalists that EC had found
no merit in the complaint as PM, by virtue of an instruction issued on Oct.7,
2014, is permitted to combine his official and electioneering visits.The clean
chit, Sunday Express has learnt, was given despite Lavasa’s request on file for
further clarification from NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant on whether the govt
think tank had indeed sought information from the collectors of Gondia, Wardha
and Latur, and if the information was used for the PM’s visit. The complaint
was dismissed as Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora and Election
Commissioner Sushil Chandra felt the exemption granted to PM on Oct.7,2014,
rendered the allegation infructuous.Lavasa is learnt to have subsequently
questioned how the matter was decided without obtaining complete facts.
Following his objection to the process followed, EC wrote a second letter to
Kant on Thursday asking him to clarify whether NITI Aayog had sought
information from the collectors and if the information collected was used for
the PM’s election-related visits.Kant hasn’t been given any deadline to respond
by.Congress had filed its complaint to the EC on May 1. In it, party had
claimed that NITI Aayog was used by PMO to collect information in advance about
places where Modi was scheduled to campaign.Quoting from a news report in
scroll.in, Congress complaint alleged that in March, NITI Aayog wrote to
collectors in Maharashtra seeking basic statistics and demographics of Gondia, Latur
and Wardha. Similar information was sought from officers of all Union
territories on local culture, history, heroes and the areas Modi was to
visit.This, Congress said, was a violation of EC’s instructions prohibiting
misuse of govt resources in poll campaigning.indianexpress
Tribunal to adjudicate ban on SIMI conducts
hearing: First public witness opposes ban, says knowledge based on news
reports, books
Aurangabad: Anjum Inamdar (53), the first
public witness deposing before the tribunal constituted by the central
government to ascertain whether there was sufficient cause to extend the ban on
SIMI, on Saturday said all his knowledge and opinion about the banned outfit
was based on reports in newspapers and information in books. Inamdar, president
of Pune-based organisation Muslim Mulnivasi Manch (MMM), also submitted an
affidavit before the tribunal, which is currently conducting hearings in
Aurangabad. The tribunal is presided by Justice Mukta Gupta. The only other
public affidavit received by the tribunal is from a former general secretary of
SIMI in Uttar Pradesh.Inamdar told Justice Gupta that during the hearings in
Pune earlier this month, police “submitted incomplete information” before the
tribunal about two terror cases in the city – German Bakery Blast of Feb.13,
2010, and the Faraskhana bomb blast on July 16, 2014.2 officials from
Telangana, including Police Inspector J Venkateshwarulu and Police
Sub-Inspector G V Narayana, also deposed before the tribunal on Saturday. indianexpress
The history behind the ban on SIMI, and why
the tribunal is reviewing it
3 killed in JK encounter:Cops say 1 was
‘active aid of terrorists’,family says he was not militant
Shopian:Hours after police said that 3 militants
were killed in an encounter in Shopian, a J&K Police release clarified that
one of them was an “active associate of terrorists”. His family, however,
maintained that he had nothing to do with militancy.Ishtiyaq Ahmad Bhat’s body
was among the three bodies recovered from Handew area after an encounter
between militants and security forces in the village on Thursday evening.
Initially,J&K Police said that three militants were killed in the
operation.In another release, issued by J&K Police spokesperson at
midnight, they said that the militants had been identified. The release said
that as per police records, Ishtiyaq was an “active associate of terrorists”
and criminal cases were earlier registered against him, including one for militant
activities. “His complicity in the instant incident is under probe,” the
spokesperson said. Army spokesperson on Thursday night had said that only two
militants were killed in the encounter. It did not mention Ishtiyaq’s
killing.At Ishtiyaq’s two-storey house in Handew village, the family appeared
shocked. “How was he killed and how did he reach there? Only god knows what
happened. But I can assure you he was not a militant, he had nothing to do with
militancy. He was a civilian,” Ishtiyaq’s father Mohammed Dawood Bhat said.That
afternoon, Ishtiyaq reportedly returned home with firewood from his orchard,
and then left to spend time in the neighborhood. An hour later, his family
received news that he was killed in an encounter in a nearby orchard.When the
firing started in the village, Bhat said he immediately called on Ishtiyaq’s
mobile. “But his phone kept ringing, and was later switched off. I started
worrying,” he said. It was only after the Army took some locals to take the
bodies out after the operation that one of them was identified as Ishtiyaq,
said Bhat.The family admitted that Ishtiyaq was arrested earlier this year. “He
was in jail for about a month. As he was regularly going to the police station,
he developed good relations with the police and would often play cricket with
them,” said another relative of Ishtiyaq. “Whenever he got a call from the
local police station, he would meet them.”indianexpress
SIT formed to probe cattle trader’s death in
J&K, curfew continues for third day
New Delhi:A 5-member SIT was constituted on
Saturday to probe the death of a 50-year-old cattle trader, which had triggered
communal violence in J&K’s Bhaderwah town of Doda district.“A five-member
SIT headed by Superintendent of Police, Bhaderwah, Raj Singh Gouria has been
constituted to probe the killing of Shah,” PTI quoted senior Superintendent of
Police, Doda, Shabir Ahmad Malik as saying.On Saturday, Gouria, along with with
other members of the SIT, and a team of Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL)
visited the scene of the incident at Kachi Nalthi village and collected fresh
evidence.“We are at the scene as part of the investigation after the setting up
of the SIT although the probe of the case has already started soon after the
incident,” PTI quoted Gouria as saying.Naeem Ahmad Shah (50), a resident of
Qilla Mohalla in Bhaderwah, was walking home from Basti village with two
others, when he was shot by some people at Nalthi bridge around 2 am on
Thursday. When the men reached near Nalthi bridge, they noticed some people
hiding behind the bushes. These people allegedly started abusing them and
accused them of being cattle smugglers.Meanwhile, curfew continued in Bhaderwah
town and its outskirts and mobile internet services remained suspended across
Doda district for the third day on Saturday. indianexpress
‘This is cold-blooded murder’: Family alleges
RSS-BJP workers killed cattle trader in Jammu
J&K youth selected for UN AYIMUN
conference
Bandipora youth Mudasir Nazir Wani has been
selected for the coveted Asia Youth International Model UN (AYIMUN) conference.
He was selected from more than 33,000 applicants across the globe. Mudasir is
one of the 2,500 delegates who would be participating in the conference.AYIMUN
is an annual conference wherein young leaders from all over the world sit
together in an assembly called Meeting Session and each of them plays the role
as a diplomat, representing the country they are assigned to.This year’s AYIMUN
is plotted to be the greatest MUN conference in Asia-Pacific. It will be held
in Putrajaya International Convention Centre, Malaysia from August 25 to 28,
2019 with 2,500 delegates across the globe.The theme of the conference is
“Human security agenda in the globalised world, moral, ethical and ideational
foundations of politics”.thehindu
Doctor held for ‘posts against Brahmins,
Hindus’: ‘Equating Brahmanvaad with Hinduism a problem’
Mumbai:Dr Sunil Kumar Nishad is a compulsive
‘Facebooker’, especially when on leave. On the surface, his barbs are aimed at
anything — from EVMs to Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur. However, for Nishad,
belonging to the Nishad community, which falls under the OBC, ‘Brahmanvaad’ is
the avowed enemy that has to be countered and called out. And he sees himself
as a crusader on this issue on social media.However, last week, some of his
posts led to an FIR at Parksite police station, in Mumbai’s eastern suburbs,
following which Nishad was arrested, spent a night at the police lock-up before
being released on bail on Thursday by a local court.“The biggest problem is
that people are equating Brahmanvaad with the Hindu religion. Brahmanvaad, like
Manuvaad or Ambedkarvaad,are philosophies. I am against Brahmanvaad, which is a
discriminatory philosophy encouraging practices like untouchability and
considers one group of people superior to others on the basis of their caste. I
am a Hindu myself but Brahmanvaad has nothing to do with any religion,” Nishad
said.“I am just following the principles of Jyotiba Phule,Shahu Maharaj and Dr
BR Ambedkar, which talk about equality, fraternity and justice. Any philosophy
that is against these principles, like Manuvaad, where a woman has to die
because her husband has died, needs to be called out. What I post does not come
from a place of hatred but for creating awareness. If anything, you are only
improving your religion by doing this,” Nishad said. “I am, however, not a
bhakt.”“There is no point in becoming a devotee of someone. I am a follower of
the thoughts of these great people. When Jyotiba Phule and Savitribai Phule
started a school for girls, people at that point had said that it was wrong,
and harassed them. It was Fatima Shaikh and her brother who gave them a place
to start their school. This is how people who follow a similar ideology — like
educating girls in this case — come together. It has nothing to do with any
religion,” he added.Nishad, who originally hails from Noida, was born and
brought up in Mumbai. indian express
PMO, Prez, other VVIPs owe Air India Rs 600
crore:RTI
Even as Air India continues to sell property
to raise money, the government of India owes the struggling airline Rs 598.55
crore, according to information released by Air India in response to a Right to
Information application. Almost half of these dues are from the PMO, which has
yet to pay the struggling airline Rs 297.08 crore, mostly for aircraft maintenance.
“Payments of 2008 onward are still pending,” said retired Commodore Lokesh
Batra who received the reply on March 31, 2019.“Media often reports that
employees’ salaries get delayed, but why? At the end of the day, it is tax
payers who pay for lapses of governance.”scroll.in
Nitish condemns Pragya Thakur’s remark,
favours her expulsion from BJP
After exercising his vote Bihar Chief Minister
Nitish Kumar on Sunday condemned his alliance partner BJP's candidate from
Bhopal Pragya Thakur’s controversial remark that Nathuram Godse was a deshbhakt
(patriot). “This is condemnable...Mahatma Gandhi is father of nation and people
will not like if anyone talks about Godse in this manner”, Kumar said when
asked about BJP’s Bhopal candidate Pragya Singh Thakur’s controversial remark
that assassin of Mahatma Gandhi Nathuram Godse was a patriot.Kumar further said
BJP should expel Ms Thakur from the party.“We should not tolerate such things”,
he added while speaking to a news agency. When asked if Ms Thakur be expelled
from the party, Kumar said, “it must be considered”. “But, it is an internal
matter of BJP”, he added further.Kumar exercised his vote at a government
school near Raj Bhawan and said that “elections should not be held over such
long duration”.“A long gap was there between each seven phases of poll...I’ll
write to leaders of all political parties to build a consensus on this that election
should wrap up early for convenient of voters”, said Mr Kumar while speaking to
journalists.thehindu
Godse assassinated Gandhi, but Pragya Thakur
killed his soul;Kailash Satyarthi
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Kailash Satyarthi
on Saturday criticised BJP leader and its Bhopal Lok Sabha candidate Pragya
Singh Thakur for calling Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse a patriot.
Gandhi is above power and politics, Satyarthi said, adding that people like
Thakur were “killing the soul of India”.“Godse had killed Gandhi’s body, but
people like Pragya are killing his soul, along with non-violence, peace,
tolerance and the soul of India,” the child rights activist said in a tweet in
Hindi. “Gandhi is above all power and politics.”
Blast outside MLA Munirathna’s residence in
Bangalore kills one, police launch probe
Bangalore:A man was killed in a blast outside
Karnataka Congress MLA Munirathna Naidu’s residence in Vyalikaval in Bangalore
on Sunday. Police said they are investigating the cause of the blast which
occurred at around 9.15 am.Bangalore City Police Commissioner T Suneel Kumar
identified the blast victim as Venkatesh, a 45-year-old washerman. A forensic
team has reached the blast site and further investigation is underway, Kumar
said.According to eyewitnesses, the intensity of the blast was such that the victim’s
body was mutilated. Police officials at the spot said the explosion took place
next to parking area of the MLA’s house. indianexpress
In Varanasi, Media Made 2 RSS-Backed Muslim
Women the Voice of the Community
Varanasi: On March 11, 2017, the day the
assembly election results were declared in Uttar Pradesh, a clip of Muslim
women celebrating Narendra Modi’s victory in Varanasi was prominently featured
on the media. ANI feed made its way to primetime news on almost every channel.
Several people across the city would cite the images of a few burkha-clad women
dancing and singing praises of Modi as proof that ‘even Muslims’ were
supporting their ‘great leader’.A few months later, in May 2017, another ANI
clip got much play. This featured Muslim women at Varanasi’s Sankat Mochan Darbar,
reciting the Hanuman Chalisa, 100 times, to “get rid of the ill practice of
triple talaq”.“Teen talaq ke ‘sankat’ se mukti ke liye Hanuman ji ki sharan
mein Muslim mahilain (Muslim women seeks relief from Triple talaq at the
Hanuman temple)” ran the headline in Amar Ujala. “Muslim Women for Reprieve
from Triple Talaq” claimed TOI. On Diwali, the Times of India YouTube channel
showed Muslim women performing the Ram Aarti in Varanasi. 6 months later, ANI
had another story on Muslim women making rakhis to send ‘Modiji’, their true
brother who had saved them from triple talaq. Most recently, in the run-up to
elections 2019, Muslim women were shown campaigning for Modi in Varanasi.Most
of the stories were picked up from the ANI feed. They were widely circulated,
but had very few details. They failed to point out that these ‘Muslim women’
rarely numbered more than five, or that the two women at the centre of all the
clips and images were always the same. Some reports mentioned the organisations
they were linked to – the Muslim Mahila Foundation and the Vishal Bharat Sangh
– but there was no mention of the fact that these organisations, though
nominally independent, have RSS’s support. The impact of these stories is found
in the many voices one hears in Varanasi that embellish praise for Modi with
details of how he even enjoys the support of ‘Muslim women’. Thewire
WORLD
Saudi 'seeks to avert war, ready to respond
with force'
Saudi Arabia wants to avert war in the region
but stands ready to respond with "all strength and determination"
after last week's attacks on Saudi oil assets, a senior official said, adding
that the ball was now in Iran's court.Riyadh has accused Tehran of ordering
Tuesday's drone strikes on two oil pumping stations in the kingdom, claimed by
Yemen's Houthi group.The attack came two days after four vessels, including two
Saudi oil tankers, were sabotaged off the coast of the UAE.Iran has denied it
was behind the attacks which come as Washington and the Islamic republic spar
over sanctions and the US military presence in the region, raising concerns
about a potential US-Iran conflict."The kingdom of Saudi Arabia does not
want a war in the region nor does it seek that," Minister of State for
Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir told a news conference on Sunday."It will
do what it can to prevent this war and at the same time it reaffirms that in
the event the other side chooses war, the kingdom will respond with all force
and determination, and it will defend itself and its interests."Saudi's
King Salman on Sunday invited Gulf and Arab leaders to convene emergency
summits in Mecca on May 30 to discuss implications of the attacks."The
current critical circumstances entail a unified Arab and Gulf stance toward the
besetting challenges and risks," UAE foreign ministry said in a
statement.Saudi Arabia's Sunni Muslim ally UAE has not blamed anyone for te
tanker operation, pending an investigation.No one has claimed responsibility,
but 2 US govt sources said last week that US officials believed Iran had
encouraged the Houthi group or Iraq-based Shia militias to carry it
out.aljazeera
Iran is not pursuing war: Revolutionary Guards
chief
Iran is not pursuing war, the head of the
elite Revolutionary Guards said on Sunday, according to the Fars.“The
difference between us and them is that they are afraid of war and don’t have
the will for it,” Major General Hossein Salami said.Reuters
Eurovision goes ahead in Israel despite
pro-Palestinian protests
The Eurovision Song Contest finals got under
way in Tel Aviv, as Israeli police threw a high-security cordon around the
venue, amid pro-Palestinian protests urging fans to shun the event.Armed police
stood at elevated positions around the Expo Tel Aviv complex on Saturday night,
with patrol cars and police motorcyclists at junctions as fans passed through
metal detectors and multiple security checks.Pro-Palestinian groups including
the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement have called on artists and
the public to stay away from the 41-country international singing competition
to protest against Israeli policies and human rights breaches in the occupied
West Bank and Gaza.No finalists or broadcasters have pulled out, but the
organisers put security inside the hall in case activists tried to disrupt the
live televised final or performers held an on-stage protest.aljazeera
PA ‘ready to talk’ about confederation with
Jordan
Palestinian Authority (PA) has said that it is
ready to talk about the prospect of a confederation with Jordan, drawing fierce
condemnation from the Kingdom.The PA’s Ambassador to Moscow, Abdel-Hafeez
Nofal, said that the PA is “ready to talk about a confederal union” with
Jordan, Al-Resala newspaper reported yesterday.S ecretary General of the Jordanian
Popular Unity Party, Said Thiyab, condemned Nofal’s remarks, saying: “The PA’s
remarks about its readiness to talk about a confederation with Jordan
undermines Palestinian rights in favour of passing the deal of the century,”
referring to the long-awaited US peace plan slated to be released after
Ramadan.Thiyab stressed that Jordan’s stance regarding a confederation is
clear, referring to a statement by Jordan’s King Abdullah in which he said:
“There is no alternative to the two-state solution and the creation of an
independent Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its
capital.”middleeastmonitor
Sudan's military says talks to resume as
barricades removed
Sudan's military council has announced plans
to resume talks with protest leaders, paving the way for the two sides to iron
out differences over an interim body to steer the country towards democratic
elections.In a statement on Saturday, the Transitional Military Council (TMC)
said negotiations with the Alliance for Freedom and Change will resume on
Sunday.aljazeera
Australia's ruling coalition clinches election
victory
Australian PM Scott Morrison declared his
ruling coalition's victory following the general elections. As the counting is
still ongoing, the unofficial results show that Morrison's conservative Liberal
Party-led coalition-- which had been in power for 6 years -- received 41.6% of votes
so far.Liberal-National party coalition won 74 deputies in 150-seat House of
Representatives while the main opposition Labor Party secured to move 66 of
their deputies to the parliament by receiving 33.4% of votes.In the election, Green
Party won 1 deputy with 10.3 percent of vote, and the independent candidates
won 5 seats.“I have always believed in miracles,” Morrison said in his victory
speech.Anadolu
Bad news for Imran Khan, no oil and gas
reserves found off Pakistan shore
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s dream of
the cash-strapped country becoming self-sufficient in oil has been dashed after
no reserves were discovered in the Arabian Sea off the Karachi coast, media
reports said Sunday.The drilling work at Kekra-1 well in deep sea near Karachi
has been stopped after no oil or gas reservoir could be found, according to
Special Assistant to Prime Minister Khan on Petroleum Nadeem Babar.Pakistan was
hopeful of finding large oil and gas reserves in its territorial waters in the
Arabian Sea. US oil giant Exxon Mobil, Italy’s ENI and a couple other companies
were involved in drilling an ultra-deep oil well.Babar told Geo News that the
process of drilling up to more than 5,500 meters was completed on Kekra-1
(Indus G-Block) off the Karachi coast.PTI
Flash: views & NEWS
If Modi returns to power, he might have to
drop the Hindutva project: Tavleen Singh
What it means to be secular in India today,
with Harsh Mander
Viral video: Differently-abled man delivering
food in a hand-pulled tricycle is inspiring all online
In Lok Sabha elections campaign, we have seen
an abundance of everything except debates on policies: P Chidambaram
The General Elections Will Decide Bengal's
Future Political Destiny:Monobina Gupta
Dairy Farmer Killed for Being Muslim - No
Justice for Umar Mohammad:Newsclick
12 years of Makkah Masjid bomb blast: Justice
still denied
A new documentary examines how ‘viral videos’
spread hate against minorities
Compiled and edited by
Anwarulhaq (Released at: 6:30 PM)
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