Transgenders not allowed to vote, observers barred in Pakistan
Lahore, July 25 : For the first time in Pakistan's political history, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP)gave the duty of "observers" during polling to members of the transgender community. However, on Wednesday in Lahore they were not allowed to vote and in Peshawar they were barred from entering polling stations.
"There are reports that voters from the transgender community in Lahore are not being allowed to cast their ballot in male polling stations," Dawn reported.
According to Express News, at least 25 transgender observers were barred from entering polling stations across Peshawar in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa despite being issued the accreditation cards by the ECP.
The transgender community has informed the poll panel of the provincial police's behaviour but no action has been taken yet.
"Transgender Election Day Observer (EDO) was stopped by security forces at Afghan Colony despite having ECP accreditation card," the report said.
Members of the community are not only voting in the 11th general elections but also contesting. Five transgender candidates are in the fray.
At the onset of the election campaign, 13 transgender candidates filed their nomination papers for the contestable constituencies in both the national and provincial assemblies. But nine were forced to drop out due to lack of funds.
Unlike women and religious minorities, transgenders do not have any reserved seats in parliament or the provincial houses.
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Indian startup's 'Drishti' satellite launched aboard SpaceX rocket
New Delhi (PTI): Bengaluru-based space start-up GalaxEye's Mission Drishti satellite was launched on Sunday aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket from California.
Mission Drishti is the world's first OptoSAR satellite, integrating electro-optical (EO) and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors into a single operational platform, according to the company.
While EO sensors capture high-resolution images during sunlight and clear skies, SAR sensors provide all-weather and all-time images, using radar pulses.
In a statement, Suyash Singh, founder and CEO of GalaxEye, said, "With the satellite (Mission Drishti) now successfully in orbit, our immediate focus is on completing its commissioning. As we move through this phase, we are already witnessing strong global interest in the differentiated datasets enabled by our OptoSAR payload."
The satellite will help address long-standing limitations of conventional systems and enable more reliable and consistent data acquisition across diverse environmental conditions, the company said.
As a dual-use Earth observation satellite, the mission will support use cases across defence, agriculture, disaster management, maritime monitoring, and infrastructure planning.
The satellite is also expected to complement India's broader initiatives, including the 29 active Earth Observation satellites outlined in ISRO's recent annual report.
The launch came after five years of indigenous research and development, and extensive environmental testing and performance validation of the Mission Drishti.
In a statement, Lt Gen AK Bhatt (Retd), director general of Indian Space Association (ISpA), said, "GalaxEye has achieved what only a few global players have, which is seamlessly combining optical and SAR capabilities on a single platform to enable persistent, all-weather intelligence."
What stands out is not just the technology, but its broader impact on how downstream applications will increasingly define value in the space economy, particularly in Earth observation, where timely, decision-grade insights are critical," he added.
ISpA is the premier industry association of space and satellite companies in the country.
Union Minister Jitendra Singh also took note of the Mission Drishti launch, saying the development marked a significant milestone in India's space journey.
In a post on X, the minister said, "The successful launch of the world's first OptoSAR satellite, and the largest privately-built satellite in the country, reflects the immense potential of our young innovators driving nation-building."
GalaxEye aims to scale up Mission Drishti to a constellation of 10 satellites by 2030, developing a robust and sovereign Earth observation infrastructure for India.
