Pakistan to ban all cultural exchanges with India: Report
Islamabad: Pakistan has decided to ban all cultural exchanges with India, including all kinds of joint ventures between the entertainment industry of the two countries after India revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, a media report said on Friday.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Thursday launched a national slogan 'Say No to India', Dawn newspaper reported.
"All kinds of Indian content have been stopped and Pemra [Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority] has been directed to step up its vigilance along with actions against the sale of Indian DTH instruments," said Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Firdous Ashiq Awan.
Earlier this week, India revoked Article 370 to withdraw the special status to Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated the region into two Union Territories --Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh.
Pakistan termed the Indian action as "unilateral and illegal", and said it will take the matter to the UN Security Council. Awan said that the deception of cultural exchange was polluting the minds of Pakistani youth.
She said that the National Security Council had decided to establish a group and Pakistan would fight the "Hindutva ideology" from all fronts.
The group will be the cluster of all relevant ministries to fight against the Indian designs at required forums.
"The external communications will be dealt with by the ministry of information, the Foreign Office and the Inter-Service Public Relations (ISPR) as per nature of information," Awan said.
She said in the current situation, the clash between Indian and Pakistani cultural and social values were imminent and it was the media's responsibility to come to the forefront to defeat Indian "cultural invasion".
The government has also banned the screening of Indian films in the country's cinemas.
"No Indian film will be screened in any Pakistani cinema. Drama, films and Indian content of this kind will be completely banned in Pakistan," Awan tweeted.
Films and cultural relations are the first to get affected when there is tension between the two countries and it is not for the first time that Pakistan has banned Indian films.
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Hospital wall collapse: CM orders suspension of executive engineer; kin of victims get solatium
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday ordered the immediate suspension of an executive engineer for the Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital wall collapse that claimed the lives of seven people, during a high-level review meeting at Vidhana Soudha.
A compensation of Rs 5 lakh, as announced by the CM Siddaramaiah, was distributed to the families of seven victims who lost their lives in the tragedy on Wednesday evening, which occurred due to heavy downpour with gusty winds and hailstorm.
The meeting of municipal commissioners of the five corporations, chaired by the chief minister and attended by Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, focused on fixing accountability and examining lapses that led to the tragedy.
"Why was soil dumped in a way that damaged the wall? Why did you not monitor this?" Siddaramaiah asked, pulling up hospital authorities during the meeting.
A statement from the chief minister's office said that the CM ordered the immediate suspension of the executive engineer of the Karnataka Health Systems Development Project (KHSDP).
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He also questioned the hospital authorities, asking why they failed to monitor the dumping of soil that weakened the structure.
The chief minister directed that a notice be issued to the head of the Hospital.
During the meeting, Siddaramaiah said the rains had caused extensive damage in the city, with over 250 trees uprooted.
The Chief Minister instructed officials to take necessary measures before the onset of the monsoon to avoid untoward incidents.
Commissioners of all five municipal zones in Bengaluru have been asked to take precautionary steps, including trimming dry and dangerous tree branches, the CMO said.
Siddaramaiah also directed them to get the silt cleared from stormwater drains to prevent flooding, and that immediate action be taken to remove debris and fallen branches from roads.
Further, he instructed that barricades be placed at underpasses where water stagnates and restricts public movement.
The Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) Chief Commissioner M Maheshwar Rao said in a statement that Shivajinagar MLA Rizwan Arshad distributed compensation cheques of Rs 5 lakh each to the families of the deceased on Thursday.
Seven people, including a six-year-old girl, were killed and seven others injured when the compound wall collapsed amid heavy rain, strong winds and a hailstorm on Wednesday evening.
Police said the victims, comprising three from Bengaluru, two from Kerala on a study tour and one each from Uttar Pradesh and Assam, had taken shelter near the wall when it suddenly gave way, trapping them under the debris.
The chief minister questioned officials over the dumping of soil near the wall despite knowing it could weaken the structure, and directed that a notice be issued to the head of Bowring Hospital.
Siddaramaiah, who had visited the spot soon after the incident along with senior officials, reviewed the situation and ordered a detailed probe into the collapse.
