Pakistan summons Indian diplomat over border firing
Islamabad, Aug 19 : Pakistan on Saturday summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner J.P. Singh and condemned the "unprovoked ceasefire violations" by the Indian forces along the Line of Control (LoC) in its administered Kashmir, resulted in the death of a civilian.
The Foreign Ministry said that a 65-year-old man was killed while a boy was injured in Indian firing on August 18 in Dana Sector along the LoC.
"The Indian forces along the Line of Control and the Working boundary are continuously targeting civilian populated areas with heavy weapons," Director General at the South Asian desk of the Foreign Ministry Mohammad Faisal who summoned the Indian diplomat said. Faisal also serves as spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Giving update of the cross-LoC shelling, the Foreign Ministry said in 2018, the Indian forces have carried out more than 1,900 ceasefire violations along the LoC and the international border, resulting in the deaths of 31 innocent civilians while injuring 122 others.
"This unprecedented escalation in ceasefire violations by India is continuing from the year 2017 when the Indian forces committed 1970 ceasefire violations," he said in a statement.
The spokesman said the "deliberate targeting of civilian populated areas" is indeed deplorable and contrary to human dignity, international human rights and humanitarian laws.
"The ceasefire violations by India are a threat to regional peace and security and may lead to a strategic miscalculation," Faisal told the Indian deputy high commissioner.
Pakistan and India had declared ceasefire in 2003, however, both accuse each other of skirmishes.
The spokesman urged the Indian side to respect the 2003 ceasefire arrangement, investigate this and other incidents of ceasefire violations, and instruct the Indian forces to respect the ceasefire, in letter and spirit and maintain peace on the LoC and the Working Boundary.
He urged that the Indian side should permit UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan to play its mandated role as per the UN Security Council resolutions.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
