Pak's Senate Chairman cancels UAE visit as PM Modi honoured by Gulf nation
Islamabad: Pakistan's Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani on Sunday cancelled his official trip to the UAE, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi was honoured with the Gulf nation's highest civilian award during his visit to the country, according to a media report.
Sanjrani was scheduled to visit the UAE from August 25 to August 28 with a parliamentary delegation on the invitation of the UAE government. His delegation was to hold meetings with the UAE parliamentarians and government officials, Geo TV reported.
He, however, decided to cancel the trip as Pakistan vehemently supports Kashmiri people, the channel said, citing a statement from the Senate Secretariat.
Prime Minister Modi was honoured with the 'Order of Zayed', the UAE's highest civilian award, on Saturday as a mark of appreciation for his efforts to boost bilateral ties between the two nations.
Modi thanked the UAE government for the honour and dedicated the award to the skills and abilities of 1.3 billion Indians. The UAE in April had announced to confer the country's highest award on Modi.
Tensions between India and Pakistan spiked after India abrogated provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution to withdraw Jammu and Kashmir's special status and bifurcated it into two Union Territories, evoking strong reactions from Pakistan.
India has categorically told the international community that the scrapping of Article 370 was an internal matter and also advised Pakistan to accept the reality.
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Momo seller dies by suicide in Jalpaiguri after name omitted from voters’ list
Jalpaiguri (WB): A momo vendor in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri town died by suicide on Tuesday, with family members alleging that he had been distressed after his name was removed from the electoral rolls following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.
According to IANS the deceased is identified as Gouranga De, who lived in a rented house with his wife and their son, under Ward 11. Police discovered the body on Tuesday morning and sent it for post-mortem.
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According to his family, De had been casting his vote for nearly four decades and they said his name did not appear in the 2002 voter list. De was subsequently called for a hearing during the recent revision process. Family members stated that he submitted the documents and information available with him at the time.
After the final electoral roll was published on February 27, De’s name was found to have been omitted, with “deleted” marked against it. His relatives and neighbours said he had been anxious since learning about the removal.
His landlord said De repeatedly expressed concern about what would happen to him after his name was struck off the list. “He was worried ever since his name was removed. He kept asking what would happen to him. The body was recovered this morning and now what will happen to this family?” he said.
De’s wife told local reporters that he did not have parents or grandparents and was therefore unable to furnish additional supporting details beyond the documents he had already submitted during the SIR hearing. She said the omission left him deeply upset.
Chairman of Jalpaiguri Municipality, Saikat Chatterjee, visited the family after receiving information about the incident, terming it unfortunate and called for accountability.. He was quoted by The News Minute as saying that De had approached him after finding his name missing from the list. Chatterjee had assisted him in submitting Form 6 online.
(Assistance for overcoming suicidal thoughts is available on the state’s health helpline 104, Tele-MANAS 14416.)
