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Pakistan sulking: No traditional exchange of sweets on Eid at Wagah-Attari border between BSF and rangers

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistan sulking: No traditional exchange of sweets on Eid at Wagah-Attari border between BSF and rangers

It has been a week since India stripped Article 370 and brought in a bill to bifurcate Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories. However, troubled Pakistan has not been able to digest the setback yet.

The traditional display of bonhomie between Border Security Force (BSF) and Pakistan Rangers, border guarding forces of India and Pakistan respectively, was missing on Monday at Attari-Wagah border after Pakistan Rangers declined to receive sweets and exchange greetings with BSF to mark the religious occasion of Eid.

BSF’s deputy inspector general, BS Rawat was quoted as saying, “Pak Rangers conveyed us that they will not receive sweets or exchange greetings on the occasion of Eid.”

Personnel of the border guarding forces have traditionally exchanged sweets on religious and national festivals of the two countries, however, there have been various occasions in the past when this tradition has been dithered.

In June last year, on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr, BSF had refused to accept sweets and exchange greetings with Pak Rangers in protest against the killing of four BSF personnel including an assistant commandant rank officer by Pakistani Rangers along the international border in Jammu’s Ramgarh sector. Before this BSF had refused to follow the border tradition on January 26, 2018, the Republic Day due to continuous violation of ceasefire by Pakistan.

However, this time the refusal has come from Pakistan, which seems to be completely rattled after the abrogation of Article 370. India’s decision to repeal Article 370 and bifurcate Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories, left Pakistan completely unnerved with it’s Prime Minister Imran Khan calling a special session of parliament and launching an all-out campaign against India at all possible levels.

Besides threatening India by saying that “incidents like Pulwama are bound to happen again” Imran Khan had in a National Security Council meeting decided to severe trade between the two countries, downgrading bilateral diplomatic ties with India. The Wagah border was also closed and bus services were suspended by Pakistan.

Pakistan has decided to declare August 15 (India’s Independence Day) as ‘Black Day’ to protest against the action taken by India vis-a-vis Jammu and Kashmir. Along with these, they also expelled Indian envoy to Pakistan.

Along with this, Pakistan PM also directed the diplomats to open all channels to propagate their anti-India narrative. Spooked by India’s grit, Pakistan had also closed down its airspace for India-bound flights and flights operating from India.

Amongst the series of ineffectual decisions taken to protest against India’s audacious move of abrogating the provisions of Article 370 and bifurcating the state into two union territories, Pakistan had also announced that it will permanently discontinue Samjhauta Express train services.

Moreover, last week, Pakistan went on to ban Indian films from its cinemas to which the India film industry reacted by saying that the move does not make any difference to India and that it is Pakistan’s loss.
However, such foolhardy decisions taken by Pakistan will ultimately affect the parody nation and not India as Pakistan’s import from India is much more than India’s import from Pakistan.

Uttar Pradesh: Vehicle carrying Kanwaris pelted with stones in front of Idgah during Eid Namaz, several injured

OpIndia Staff
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Uttar Pradesh: Vehicle carrying Kanwaris pelted with stones in front of Idgah during Eid Namaz, several injured

Another incident of attack on kanwaris have emerged, this time from Budaun in Uttar Pradesh. An incident of stone-pelting on Kanwaris took place in Islamnagar area in Budaun when they were near an Idgah while returning with holy water.

According to reports, when a tractor-trailer carrying Kanwaris were passing near an Idgah during the Bakrid Namaj, some miscreants attacked the vehicle with stones. It is reported that Kanwaris were attacked for driving the tractor and playing music on the vehicle during Namaz.

Seeing the imminent danger, the tractor driver sped away from the place to protect the passengers. But the miscreants followed the vehicle for around 2 kilometres on the Budaun Bisauli road and surrounded it near Nai Basti forcing it to stop. There the attackers started pelting stoned on the Kanwaris, which caused injuries to several persons.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZKvMl612QY]

The attackers attacked the police also who had reached the spot, forcing them to escape. Women police constables had to take shelter in the office a petrol pump to protect themselves from the attackers.

After the attack, Kanwaris and other people blocked the Bisauli road protesting against the incident. Senior district and police officials from Badaun and Sambhal districts reached the spot with police reinforcement and brought the situation under control. They were able to convince the Kanwaris to lift the road blockade which continued for several hours.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URpBCthanOM]

The Kanwaris also alleged the driver of the police station is also a culprit in the incident, and the driver has been suspended by the police.

Anti-Hindu bigoted American analyst calls Rana Ayyub an ‘ISI agent’, apologises and proceeds to insult Hindus instead

OpIndia Staff
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Anti-Hindu bigoted American analyst calls Rana Ayyub an ‘ISI agent’, apologises and proceeds to insult Hindus instead

American anti-Hindu bigoted analyst Christine Fair has called Indian journalist Rana Ayyub an ‘ISI stooge’.

It all started with this now-deleted tweet.

Christine Fair insinuating whether she tweets for ‘lifafa’

Rana had wished Eid Mubarak and put out special prayers for Kashmir. To that, Fair asked her why she is not putting out special prayers for Balochistan, Pashtun and the Kashmiris where Pakistan has illegally occupied Kashmir. She questioned Ayyub why no ‘special prayers’ for the Afghans being slaughtered by ‘your’ (presumably implying Pakistan Army) and ISI through their Taliban goons.

To that Fair was pointed out that Ayyub is an Indian and hence Fair should be ashamed of herself for insinuating that Ayyub speaks like a Pakistani.

Christine Fair insinuating that Rana Ayyub is an ISI stooge

In another now-deleted tweet, Fair pointed out that she does indeed know that Ayyub is an Indian but ‘if she tweets like an ISI stooge…’ Soon those who disagree with Ayyub ended up supporting Fair. However, Fair soon realised that she and Ayyub have a common enemy: Hinduism. She deleted her tweets and apologised to Ayyub while still maintaining that Ayyub’s integrity as a journalist is questionable.


Fair’s hatred for Hinduism can be inferred from the casual ‘gaushala’ and ‘cow’ jibe, which is something even the Pulwama terrorist who killed 40 CRPF soldiers in February this year, mentioned in his video which was released post the attack. He hated people who drink cow urine. Fair, too, casually brings in cow jibe because apparently easiest way to call out bigotry is more bigotry.


And of course, Lord Ram is a ‘shmuck’.


And frequent jibe on BJP supporters who had prefixed ‘Chowkidar’ prior to the 2019 General Elections.


When Fair thought she was losing her identity as a Hindu-hater for attacking Ayyub, she quickly deleted her tweets and apologised to her for calling her an ISI stooge. Though she did maintain that Ayyub’s credentials are a journalist are questionable. Well, at least that is one thing we could agree on with the bigoted Fair. Recently, the Supreme Court had trashed Ayyub’s book ‘Gujarat Files‘ and said that it is based on surmises, conjectures and suppositions.

She has placed emphasis on her religion and showed her hypocrisy when journalist Bhupendra Chaubey refers to Aligarh murderers who were accused of brutally murdering a toddler, as ‘Muslim men’. However, Rana who pompously censured Chaubey for citing religious identity of the perpetrators had herself insinuated the assaulters who had raped a nun in Bengal of being supporters of RSS espousing the ideology of Hindutva. Rana had mentioned in her article how the RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and Subramanian Swamy’s utterances have acted as a catalyst for their supporters to attack the minorities. Towards the end, Rana alludes that the attack on the nun was not by the infiltrating Bangladeshis but by the followers of the RSS. It was later found out that the attack was indeed carried out by a Bangladeshi infiltrator and not by the ‘indoctrinated’ youths of the Hindutva fronts.

She also had an epic meltdown when her arch nemesis Amit Shah was made the Union Home Minister.

‘Liberals’ are working with Pakistan and undermining Indian interests, we can no longer ignore it

K Bhattacharjee
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‘Liberals’ are working with Pakistan and undermining Indian interests, we can no longer ignore it

In an era of hyperbole, we ought to be careful enough not to contribute to the cacophony of wild ideas. However, when a pattern becomes too obvious, it is foolishness to ignore what is right before our eyes even if we do wish to believe it to be true. Such are the circumstances we find ourselves in when we consider the narrative surrounding the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A.

What has become obvious since 5th August is the concerted attempt by the Congress party and the liberal ecosystem to slander the government over the matter. Not merely that, efforts have also been made to jeopardize a sensitive situation. Without considering Kashmiri politicians such as Shah Faesal who are indulging in incitement quite openly, even the senior leadership of the Congress party has been toeing the Pakistani line.

Over time, the rhetoric hasn’t calmed down. In fact, the Congress party has only been escalating matters. Former Union Minister, P. Chidambaram, said on Monday that the BJP had abrogated Article 370 only because there was a Muslim majority in Kashmir. Digvijay Singh opined that India could lose Kashmir.

Former Congress President and son of the current party president, Rahul Gandhi, expressed concern over violence in Kashmir despite repeated assertions by the Indian government that the situation in the Valley was peaceful. Pakistan picked up the statement to further their twisted narrative on the issue.


Priyanka Gandhi, too, jumped on the matter. Significantly, she used the occasion of Eid to peddle her agenda. Her tweets were directly in contrast to the prevailing mood in Kashmir where people were celebrating Eid peacefully.


Imran Khan’s language, too, appears to be taken straight out of the liberal playbook. The very same words could have been tweeted by a liberal and people wouldn’t have been surprised.


How many liberals have advocated for a plebiscite in Kashmir? We certainly have politicians and prominent activists who never lose an opportunity to advocate for the same. In fact, it was just revealed by Abdul Basit that Shobaa De had written an article advocating for the same under the influence of Pakistani establishment. Consider this tweet by the Pakistani Prime Minister. How is it any different from what liberals have been advocating? Consistent with the Pakistani stand, liberals never care to mention the fact that for a plebiscite to occur, Pakistan must vacate PoK and China must vacate Aksai Chin.


Furthermore, neither of them addresses the issue of the genocide of Kashmiri Hindus. It’s an undeniable fact that the Kashmiri Muslim community monopolized the Kashmiri narrative by committing genocide and forcibly altering the demography of Kashmir. A plebiscite in a situation where one community has altered the demography in its favour by committing genocide is nothing short of an atrocity, that Kashmir is Indian land and no plebiscite in necessary to establish that is another matter. However, our liberals fail to address this matter, playing right into the hands of the Pakistani establishment.

It’s not only politicians who appear to be toeing the Pakistani line. Prominent media outlets, too, have been furthering the Pakistani narrative. Some have even received public endorsement from Pakistanis. The Quint, for example, quite unashamedly peddled Khalistani propaganda. The Pakistani establishment has been using NDTV’s coverage of the matter to further their interests.

Unfortunately, the signs have been visible for a long time. The bells should have started tolling when senior Congress leader went to Pakistan and sought their support to remove Prime Minister Modi from office and help Congress return to power. When Pakistan quoted the Quint, Karan Thapar and Praveen Swamy to brand Kulbhushan Jadhav a ‘RAW spy’ at the International Court of Justice, we should have paid more attention. When Navjot Singh Sidhu, then a Minister in the Punjab Cabinet, had gone to Imran Khan’s swearing-in ceremony and hugged the Pakistan Army’s chief after which his photo with a Khalistani terrorist had gone viral, these questions should have been asked.

Now, former Pakistani High Commissioner to India, Abdul Basit, has claimed that he had approached ’eminent’ journalist Shobhaa De for an article on Burhan Wani and had succeeded in influencing her enough to write an article to a tune of his preference. He was presumably referring to an article where Shobhaa De had asserted that a referendum should be held in Kashmir to resolve the matter once and for all.

How much evidence is proof enough of collaboration between the Pakistani establishment and liberals in India? How much more evidence do we need to assert that certain sections in India have been collaborating with Pakistan to undermine Indian national interests? These sections are not merely limited to Kashmir but often operate within the heart of Delhi. As dangerous as it sounds, and as much as we would like to deny such a thing, we can no longer afford to turn a blind eye to it.

Pakistan deploys fighter jets along forward bases in Skardu near Ladakh, India keeping close watch

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistan deploys fighter jets along forward bases in Skardu near Ladakh, India keeping close watch

As the situation along the border continues to remain tense after India abrogated Article 370, a rattled Pakistan has started moving its military equipment to the forward bases along the Ladakh border. A C-130 transport aircraft carrier of Pakistani Air Force was seen transporting equipment to the Skarduairbasee opposite to the India Union Territory of Ladakh.

According to the ANI report, the equipment that was moved to the forward air bases in Skardu maybe supporting equipment for carrying out fighter aircraft operations. The sources reveal that the government of India is closely monitoring the situation and keeping a close eye on the movement of Pakistanis across the border.

Pakistan reportedly owns some old C-130 aircraft procured from America a long time ago.

The sources believe that Pakistan might be moving a fleet of its Chinese made JF-17 fighter jets to the forward air base of Skardu that provides considerable aid to its army operations against India along the Jammu and Kashmir Line of Control. The Intelligence agencies are keeping a close watch across the length and breadth of Pakistan after India’s decision to repeal Article 370 evoked a sharp response from Pakistan.

On Monday last week, August 6, India took a momentous decision of abolishing Article 370 and bifurcating Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories. Pakistan has since then been trying to internationalise India’s internal reorganisation and desperately pleading international organisations and countries to pressurise India into taking back the decision.

The United Nations Security Council had snubbed Pakistan by turning down its repeated entreaties to mediate in the Kashmir issue between India and Pakistan. Citing the Shimla Agreement signed between India and Pakistan, the UN chief claimed that the United Nations has no jurisdiction over Jammu and Kashmir issue and that the two country are supposed to resolve it bilaterally.

Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti get in a nasty fight over BJP, authorities forced to house them separately: Report

OpIndia Staff
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Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti get in a nasty fight over BJP, authorities forced to house them separately: Report

Former Jammu & Kashmir CMs Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, who have been placed at Hari Niwas Palace under preventive detention, allegedly got into a nasty spat centred on BJP. The two have been placed at the government guesthouse after their detention last week by the administration. The fight between the two former chief ministers allegedly got so stormy that the authorities were forced to shift them to separate houses, reports Times of India.

The ministers reportedly got into an argument on who allowed BJP to find a foothold in the Valley. “Both were accusing each other of getting BJP into Jammu and Kashmir. At one point, Omar shouted at Mehbooba, taunting her and the late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed for aligning with BJP between 2015 and 2018,” an official of the hospitality and protocol department said on condition of anonymity.

PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti allegedly retaliated to Omar Abdullah’s barb with her distasteful riposte. “She reminded Omar that his father Farooq Abdullah had an alliance with BJP under Atal Behari Vajpayee. She told him loudly, ‘You were even junior minister for external affairs in the Vajpayee government’,” the official said.

She allegedly went on to blame Omar’s grandfather Sheikh Abdullah for J&K’s accession to India in 1947.

On realising that the argument between the two was taking a serious turn, the authorities concluded that separating them would be the best option, the official said.

While the administration shifted Omar to what he described as “a splendid hut” owned and maintained by the forest department in Chesmashahi, at the foot of Mahadev Peak, Mufti remained at Hari Niwas Palace.

Both the leaders had been detained by the Jammu and Kashmir police as a preventive measure on August 5. They, along with several political leaders of the state were already under house arrest since the previous night. The government had taken these precautionary measures to prevent any law and order situation as the separate status enjoyed by Jammu and Kashmir was withdrawn by abrogating provisions of Article 370 and abolishing Article 35A on August 5. The government also bifurcated the state into two union territories, Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.

An order addressed to Mehbooba Mufti by the executive magistrate of Srinagar had said that activities of Mehbooba Mufti are likely to cause serious law and order situation and breach of peace of tranquillity of the state. The order also said: “it appears that the former CM and others are about to meet and proceed in a procession, which will create further law and order problems”. It was speculated that Mufti was trying to leave her residence to arrange a protest.

After the presidential order changing the state’s status was tabled by Home Minister in Rajya Sabha, Mehbooba Mufti had posted a series of tweets strongly opposing the move. She had claimed that with the Articles gone, the accession of Jammu and Kashmir had become null and void. Omar Abdullah had also issued similar statements in media.

Meanwhile, the officials confirmed that the former CMs, among the 100-odd leaders of mainstream political parties who were detained, were being provided food “in accordance with the jail manual and their status”.

If Hindus try to settle in Kashmir, they should not be alive for a single moment: Pakistan endorses genocide on live TV

OpIndia Staff
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If Hindus try to settle in Kashmir, they should not be alive for a single moment: Pakistan endorses genocide on live TV

An ‘intellectual’ from Pakistan has endorsed genocide against Hindus in Kashmir following the abrogation of Article 370. A video has gone viral in which self-proclaimed Pakistani intellectual Tariq Pirzada, who often willingly participates in Indian channel debates presumably for extra money, can be seen instigating Kashmiri Muslims to resort to genocide against Hindus if they settle in Kashmir. He further added that Indians have illegally ‘occupied’ Kashmir just like Jews occupied Palestine.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFDMfw4wXE8?start=1243]

“If any Hindu tries to settle down in Kashmir, we Pakistanis appeal to the Kashmiris to not allow Hindus to be alive for even a single minute. The Indians have occupied your lands (Kashmir) similar to Jews, who have occupied Palestine. The situation in Kashmir is far worse than Palestine,” said Tariq Pirzada.

Pirzada went to advise the Pakistan establishment that they should now openly support the secession of Kashmir from India. Further resorting to war-mongering, Pirzada stated that he was hopeful that Pakistan Army will support the Kashmiris on the ground in their fight against the Indian state following the abrogation of Article 370.

Following India’s historic move to strip Article Article 370, which granted a separate status to Jammu and Kashmir state and a subsequent bill aimed to bifurcate the state into two Union Territories, Pakistani establishment seems to have lost their mental balance as they are now pushing Kashmiri Muslims to resort to committing genocide against Hindus.

The devastation that swept the Pakistanis following India’s audacious move has caused them severe humiliation, pushing them to reveal their inherent genocidal tendencies against Indians, especially Hindus.

Pakistan, which has a history of butchering Bengalis in East Pakistan, the native Baloch in Baluchistan and Pashtun tribe in their Northern frontiers, is now attempting to inflate the hatred against Hindus, the contempt which already exists in the valley.

In the 1990s, the terrorist state of Pakistan had joined hands with the local Kashmiri terrorists to commit genocide against the Kashmiri Pandits. With the loss of face in Kashmir, Pakistan has been trying to commit a similar genocide against Hindus by inciting the local population to pick up arms against the Indian state, particularly Hindus.

Earlier, a large number of Pakistanis were taken aback by the Indian government’s decision to abrogate of Article 370, resorted to hate-mongering and exposed their genocidal tendencies in social media.

Shockingly, the fear-mongering and hate campaign of Pakistani got resonance in the India’s so-called secular-media, as some of them toed the Pakistani establishment line to keep the pot boiling in Kashmir. A clip from the controversial news channel NDTV was used by Imran Khan’s party in Pakistan to portray that Kashmiris were unhappy about the effective abrogation of Article 370 and were eager to express it.

Not only that, Pakistanis anchors are using Indian politicians’ opposition to Jammu and Kashmir’s separate status ensured by Article 370 and the bifurcation for governance efficiency in their shows to afford credibility to their bluster.

Pakistani news channel Geo TV also showed objections held by the Congress politicians and other opposition leaders repudiating the central government’s stand vis-a-vis Jammu and Kashmir. The Pakistani news channel showed Congress senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad’s proclamations that BJP had murdered the constitution of India.

Bangladesh says cattle smuggling from India reduced by 96% in the last few years

OpIndia Staff
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Bangladesh says cattle smuggling from India reduced by 96% in the last few years

Cattle smuggling has been a lucrative form of illegal trade along the India-Bangladesh border and becomes particularly prolific as the festival of Eid comes closer. However, there has been a sharp fall in the number of cattle illegally smuggled to Bangladesh from India.

Data revealed last month at an inter-ministerial meeting in Bangladesh chaired by minister Ashraf Ali Khan says that the cattle smuggling along the 4096-km India-Bangladesh border has come down by over 96 per cent.

Due to the persistent efforts of the BSF along the border, and due to the self-sufficiency in meat production attained by Bangladesh, the cattle imports and the illegal entry of sacrificial animals from neighbouring India and Myanmar have dropped considerably, confirmed officials in Bangladesh.

Cattle smuggling has dropped almost by half since 2016. Detailed figures reveal that in 2016 about 1,28,440 cattle heads were seized, while the figure dropped to 83,378 in 2017 and 51,592 cattle heads in 2018.

Moreover, earlier, the number of illegal entry of Indian cows was 2.4 to 2.5 million annually, however, reportedly, only 92,000 cows had entered Bangladesh in 2018.

The effective crackdown on cattle trade in the country is believed to have affected this illegal trade. Nevertheless, this vicious cycle of cross-border cattle smuggling along the India-Bangladesh border has snowballed into a major challenge for the BSF which always remains on the receiving end.

Last month, in one of the cruellest method of cow smuggling, the BSF had recovered cows with IED (improvised explosive devices) tied around their necks. The IEDs were allegedly aimed at the BSF troops who would try to intercept the cow smuggling and catch the smugglers. A fortnight prior to this, a BSF jawan had lost his hand after cattle smugglers from Bangladesh hurled bombs at him.

However, the border districts of West Bengal are only the portals of the illegal trade to Bangladesh. Cattle smuggled through all over the country reportedly are smuggled through the porous India-Bangladesh border in Bengal and other eastern states. The five districts Bengal from Sunderbans to Malda, spanning over 915 km of Indo-Bangladesh border, see most of the smuggling.

In a similar incident, two Muslim cow smugglers had mowed down a police constable, Prakash Meshram and injured two others after they tried to stop these cattle smugglers near Warora in Maharashtra earlier this year.

Mukesh Ambani announces India’s biggest FDI deal, free HD LED TV and 4K set-top boxes for Jio Fibre subscribers

OpIndia Staff
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Mukesh Ambani announces India’s biggest FDI deal, free HD LED TV and 4K set-top boxes for Jio Fibre subscribers

Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani made several landmark announcements while addressing the shareholders at the 42nd Annual General Meeting of the company. He presented a future roadmap of the company across several sectors such as oil, telecom, software, retail etc.

The biggest announcement defying all the talk of economic slowdown was the announcement of India’s largest foreign direct investment deal ever. Mukesh Ambani informed that Saudi Aramco will acquire a 20% stack in the oil-to-chemicals (OTC) division of Reliance Industries at an enterprise valuation of $75 billion. Aramco also signed a long-term supply agreement with RIL, and will supply 5,00,000 barrels of crude oil per day to Reliance’s Jamnagar Refinery. Saudi Aramco is one of the largest oil companies by revenue in the world, and is estimated to be most profitable company.

Reliance will create a special purpose vehicle comprising of the twin refineries in Jamnagar and its petrochemical business, where Aramco will pick up 20% stack.

The Reliance Chairman also announced the much-awaited commercial launch of the Jio Fiber service, the wired broadband service of Jio, which will be launched on 5th September. He said that minimum speed on the fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) service will be 100 mbps, and it will go upto 1 gbps. He mentioned that the minimum speed is higher than the average broadband speed in the US at 90 mbps. The tariff for Jio Fibre will range from ₹700 to ₹10000 per month. Apart from broadband internet, Jio Fibre will offer free voice calls to any Indian mobile and fixed-line operator, while unlimited internet calling to US and Canada will be available at ₹500 per month.

Jio fibre services will be bundled with Jio HomeTV service. Mukesh Ambani also announced that those consumers who subscribe to Jio Forever Plans, the long-term annual plans of Jiio Fibre, will get an HD/4K LED TV and a 4K set-top box free as a welcome offer. Complete detail of tariff and terms and conditions of the service will be announced on 5th September. Jio Fibre was announced in August last year and at present, it is available as a preview service in select cities. Mukesh Ambani informed that the Jio wireless service is already 4G+, and it is ready for 5G services.

Isha and Akash Ambani demonstrate Jio set top

He also introduced a disruptive service in the entertainment sector, Jio First Day First Show. Under this service, new movies will be available on Jio TV on the same day they are released on theatres.

Reliance also announced several enterprise services and announced a tie-up with tech giant Microsoft in this regard. Jio and Microsoft will set up new cloud data centres in India, and both will jointly offer Microsoft’s flagship Office 365 service to enterprise customers, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said via video conference during the RIL AGM. Microsoft will bring its Azure Cloud platform to Jio Network. “Together, we will offer a comprehensive technology solution from compute to storage to connectivity and productivity for small and medium size businesses everywhere in the country”, Nadella said. He added that the partnership will launch new data centres in India.

Mukesh Ambani said that that the company will support startups by offering cloud technology and connectivity for free. 80% of investments by start-ups go into cloud solutions, Jio will provide that connectivity free to all start-ups in India, he said. Startups will be able to sign up on Reliance Jio website to avails this service. He also informed that Jio will offer connectivity plus application services to small and medium businesses at ₹1,500 per month, which is one-tenth of the current market rate.

Talking about the retail business of Reliance, Mukesh Amani announced the launch of New Commerce, and retail partnership platform. New Commerce will transform unorganised retail into organised retail, and it is meant to revolutionise 3 crore kirana stores in India. He said that percent point of sale solution is integral to Reliance Retail’s business strategy, which is a $700 billion business opportunity.

Making an important announcement, Mukesh Ambani said that he supports PM Narendra Modi’s call to develop Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, and the company is ready to help people in these regions in all their developmental needs. He informed Reliance will announce developmental initiatives for the region in the coming months.

Mukesh Ambani presented an ambitious future of the company, saying he is confident of growing at 15% per year over the next 5 years. He also said that RIL has set a target to be a zero debt company within the next 18 months, and Jio and Retail will be listed within the next 5 years.

Does Pakistan realize they are also the laughing stock of the Muslim world?

Abhishek Banerjee
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Does Pakistan realize they are also the laughing stock of the Muslim world?

This just in. The Saudis are going to invest in a 20% stake at an enterprise value of $75 billion and it’s going to be India’s biggest FDI deal.

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The Saudis are smart. They are rich. They know how to stay rich. And they want to get richer.

That’s why they invest in India.

Meanwhile, Pakistan, the self appointed protector of the Muslim world, is trying to make a mark by starving itself of tomatoes after cutting off trade with India.

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Other counter measures announced by Pakistan to India’s move on Article 370 include : muted Eid celebrations today, watering down their own independence day celebrations on Aug 14 and observing “black day” on Aug 15. Other ideas on the table include “unsubscribing” Indians on Youtube. This is not a joke. Actually, it literally isn’t. I suspect several Indian “liberal” youtubers might lose a lot of subscribers if Pakistanis go ahead with their threat.

In the meantime, as Pakistan has cut off a trade with India and deprived itself of tomatoes, the smart Saudis have invested billions of dollars.

The message from the world is clear : nobody takes Pakistan seriously, least of all the Muslim world. The Pakistanis are at liberty to make fools of themselves.

In the last few years, we have seen a definitive change in the attitude of the world towards India. India  can now pull off surgical strikes across the LoC, or even airstrikes on terrorists across the border and no nation dares object. This is partly due to the realization that Pakistan has nothing to give anybody except terrorism. The other part is due to the large and forever growing economic influence of India.

The indifference of the Muslim world would sting Pakistan that much more. Because they like to talk about being the only nuclear power in the Muslim world. And imagine how the Muslim world looks up to them for protection.

Would you believe that the Pakistani Air Force tried to intervene in the 1974 Yom Kippur War between Israel and its Arab neighbors? Neither Israel nor the Arabs even noticed their presence.

So that’s what Pakistan is. Sort of like Spiderman. You know, if Spiderman couldn’t run fast, couldn’t climb buildings nor had any other kind of superpower.

Fifty years ago, in 1969, a weak India led by Indira Gandhi had begged to join the OIC, the international organization of all nations in the Muslim world. This humiliating episode ended with India being refused entry at the insistence of Pakistan. In fact, King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, King Hussein of Jordan and the host King Hassan of Morocco jointly apologized to Pakistan for even considering having Indians around. In their apology to Pakistan, they blasted us Indians as crafty and conmen.

Now I am happy that India never joined the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC). And I am ashamed that we were humiliated and sent out, called crafty and conmen. Everything about that episode was a disaster.

What a difference fifty years have made. Among many other things, Narendra Modi has ensured that the Muslim world siding with India over Pakistan has avenged that humiliation.

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