New Delhi: Indian Economist Dr Mohammed Nejatullah Siddiqui, who won the King Faisal International Prize for Islamic Studies in 1982, has passed away. He was 91.

Dr Siddiqui was born in India in 1931; he studied at the Aligarh Muslim University, and in Rampur and Azamgarh, reported The Hindustan Gazette.

A prominent Urdu and English writer, Dr Siddiqui had 63 works in 177 publications in 5 languages and 1,301 library holdings, as per the records of the WorldCat. His works have been translated into languages like Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Indonesian, Malaysian and Thai. Dr Siddiqui’s work, ‘Banking without Interest’, has been published in 27 editions in three languages between 1973 and 2000. It is held by 220 libraries in the world and is possibly the most widely read book by the writer.

The economist worked as associate professor of economics and an Islamic studies professor at the Aligarh Muslim University for a long time. He was also Emeritus Professor at the University. He was a professor of Economics at the King Abdul Aziz University of Jeddah, in the Center for Research in Islamic Economics. He was a Fellow at the Centre for Near Eastern Studies at the University of California, and a visiting scholar at the Islamic Research and Training Institute of the Islamic Development Bank in Jeddah.

He was also a member of the Central Council of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind.

The professor supervised several PhD theses at various universities of India, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria. Dr Siddiqui also served as editor or advisor for academic journals.

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Jaipur, May 15 (PTI): A BJP legislator was seen wiping his face with the national flag during a Tiranga Yatra held in Jaipur on Thursday, drawing sharp criticism from the opposition Congress, which termed the act "disrespectful".

The incident took place during the march taken out in honour of the Indian armed forces following the success of Operation Sindoor.

Balmukund Acharya, the MLA from Hawa Mahal assembly constituency, was seen using the tricolour to wipe his face as the rally passed through crowded markets and historic locations in the city.

A video of the act surfaced on social media, prompting criticism from Congress leaders, who accused the BJP of politicising patriotism while showing "utter disregard" for national symbols.

However, after realising his mistake, the MLA almost immediately switched to a regular piece of cloth to clean his face. Nevertheless, the moment has already drawn attention.

Reacting to the video, Congress leaders said on X, "Such behaviour during a rally meant to honour the Army and the national flag was 'insensitive' and 'disrespectful'."

There was no immediate comment from the BJP on the matter.

The Tiranga Yatra, which began from Albert Hall and concluded at Badi Chaupad, witnessed participation from Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma, Deputy CM Diya Kumari, BJP state president Madan Rathore and several senior party leaders.