"Pretty Damn Impressive": Omar Abdullah's Praise For New Parliament Building



International Desk, Barta24.com
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Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah praised the new Parliament building terming it "pretty damn impressive".

In a tweet, Omar Abdullah said, "Setting aside the brouhaha about the inauguration for a moment, this building is a welcome addition. The old Parliament House has served us well but as someone who has worked there for a few years, a lot of us often spoke amongst ourselves about the need for a new & improved parliament building. Better late than never is all I'll say & this one looks pretty damn impressive."

PM Modi will dedicate the new Parliament building to the country on May 28.

Meanwhile, slamming the opposition parties' call for boycotting the inauguration of the new Parliament building by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, several leaders and activists from Jammu and Kashmir on Friday extended support to the inauguration while also describing the opposition's decision as "childish and trivial".

Speaking to ANI, socio-political activist Adil Hussain said, "The new parliament building is the temple of democracy. It is a very proud thing for all of us, for all Indians including the Opposition. In the last 70 years, we did not have such leadership. If you see the ratings worldwide, Prime Minister Modi's rating is 78 whereas US President Joe Bidden's rating is only 43. The Opposition has expressed issues but we do not think that this is such a big issue. Politics should not happen on this."

Meanwhile, Ghulam Nabi Azad's party Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) spokesperson, Firdous, said, "This is not such a big issue as the Opposition has been portraying. This is simply childish behaviour by the opposition parties. This new Parliament building has a vision. It is a great move by PM Modi to inaugrate the Parliament. An agenda should not be made out of this."

He said that the inauguration should be welcomed with "open arms" and disrespecting the Prime Minister by boycotting the event is not right.

"As a spokesperson of the party, I believe the inauguration should be welcomed with open arms. After all, he is our Prime Minister. Disrespecting the Prime Minister is not right. We must respect the move. Earlier Prime Ministers including Rajiv Gandhi also inaugurated the building in the Parliament. This is not new," the DPAP spokesperson added.

Notably, at least 21 opposition parties have decided to boycott the PM's decision to preside over the inauguration ceremony instead of President Droupadi Murmu.

The opposition said that the inauguration of the building without President Droupadi Murmu "insults the high office of the President, and violates the letter and spirit of the Constitution".

Meanwhile, amid the boycott call by the opposition, the Centre has received a confirmed list of 25 political parties, including some which are not a part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), that will participate in the inauguration ceremony.

Apart from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), several parties in the NDA including AIADMK, Apna Dal, the Republican Party of India, the Shinde faction of Shiv Sena, NPP, and NPF have confirmed their attendance for the function on Sunday.

Several neutral parties, including Biju Janata Dal, TDP, and YSRCP will also be present for the inauguration.

Amongst the opposition parties, Shiromani Akali Dal and Bahujan Samajwadi Party and JDS will attend the function on Sunday.

Source: NDTV

   

We are ashamed to look at the development of Bangladesh: Pakistan PM



International Desk, Barta24.com, Dhaka
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Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif praised the economic progress of Bangladesh and said that they are ashamed to look at the development of Bangladesh.

According to a report by Pakistan-based media Dawn on Thursday (April 25), Shahbaz Sharif said this in a view exchange meeting with business representatives at the Sindh Chief Minister's residence in Karachi on Wednesday (April 24).

He said that before independence, Bangladesh i.e. East Pakistan at that time was considered a burden to the country. But they have made tremendous progress in the growth of industrialization.

Shahbaz Sharif said, I was very young when...we were told that it was a burden on our shoulders. Today you all know where that burden has reached (in terms of economic growth). And now when we look at them, we feel ashamed.

Currently, Bangladesh is ahead of Pakistan in almost all indicators of the socio-economic sector.

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Mass arrests could not stop anti-Israel protests at American universities



International Desk, Barta24.com, Dhaka
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US universities have erupted in protest over Israel's military operation in the Palestinian-besieged Gaza. This pro-Palestinian movement is being suppressed even after mass arrests. Rather, as the days go by, the protests are spreading.

The news agency Reuters reported that police made mass arrests at Atlanta's Emory University amid protests. A graduation ceremony at the University of Southern California was canceled due to the protests.

Emory University officials said protesters not affiliated with the college entered campus grounds early Thursday morning. When they refused to leave, the police used chemical spray to disperse them.

According to CBS News, about 108 people were arrested at Emerson College in the city on Wednesday night local time. Earlier in the evening, 93 people were taken into police custody from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California.

Anti-Israel protests have spread to dozens of US universities within a week of starting at New York's Columbia University.

Meanwhile, a clash between protesters and police took place at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas. Later, authorities said that 34 people were arrested from there. These new arrests came after massive arrests of protesters at Columbia, Yale and New York universities.

Students gathered Wednesday (April 24) to protest at the University of Southern California's Alumni Park. At this time they were stopped by the riot police. Protesters were told to leave within 10 minutes by an announcement from a police helicopter. However, the students who remained at the scene were arrested for trespassing.

The protests at the University of Southern California were reportedly peaceful at first. Later the tension spread with the presence of the police. Protesters threw water bottles at the police when they tried to arrest a woman. At this time, they kept shouting slogans - 'Let him go'. Besides, they surrounded the police officers and shouted slogans like 'I want the liberation of Palestine'.

It should be noted that on October 7, the Palestinian independence organization Hamas entered Israeli territory and carried out an ambush. 1200 people were killed. Because of this, since that day, the Israeli forces continue to attack Gaza indiscriminately. 34 thousand 305 Palestinians were killed in the Gaza Strip in the attack that lasted for more than six months. Apart from this, there is a severe humanitarian crisis due to lack of food, water and medical equipment.

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Iran is cracking down on women who don't wear Hijab



International Desk, Barta24.com
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Iran is cracking down on women and girls who don't wear Hijab. The country has started a new campaign named 'Noor' from last April 13. Since then, the implementation of the Hijab law has started to become stricter.

Iran has strict laws on wearing the Hijab. Strict action is taken against those who break this law.

Some videos of women being assaulted have gone viral on social media. In them, it is seen that women who go out without Hijab are forcibly picked up in cars by the members of the 'Morality Police'.

A video shows a mother and daughter walking through Tehran's busiest square in the capital. At that time, they were surrounded by five female and two male members of the police. When they tried to evade arrest, they were violently beaten and taken into a car.

Dina Ghalibaf, a female student at Tehran's Shahid Beheshti University, wrote on the micro-blogging site X that she was barred from boarding the metro. When she insisted, she was taken to a room. She claimed that she was beaten and sexually harassed there.

The student was arrested a day after making such a post and taken to Evin prison.

British newspaper The Guardian spoke to some of those arrested. One of them told the media that eight members of the police surrounded her last Saturday. At that time, she was called "prostitute", "naked American prostitute" and insulted her. Apart from this, the young woman claimed that men also touched her during the arrest.



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Boeing incurs huge losses after door open incident



Special Correspondent, Barta24.com, Dhaka
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Boeing lost a huge amount of money due to the opening of the doors of the Boeing aircraft of Alaska Airlines in mid-air. US aircraft manufacturer Boeing reported a loss of US dollar 343 million in the first quarter of this year (January-March).

An unused door on an Alaska Airlines Boeing Max 9 collapsed moments after takeoff from Portland, Oregon last January. Although the Alaska Airlines plane was able to land safely in this incident, questions about Boeing's safety have been raised around the world.

As a result, Boeing reduced the production of the aircraft according to their target. As a result, Boeing is forced to pay huge losses in the first quarter of this year.

After the Alaska Airlines incident, the United States Aviation Agency ordered the grounding of 171 Boeing Max 737 aircraft. In the wake of the incident, Boeing's chief immediately admitted the mistake and promised to fix the problem with 100% transparency. But even this did not save the end. Boeing's CEO was eventually forced to resign.

In order not to cut the heat of this incident, a former Boeing engineer recently talked about the manufacturing defects of the Dreamliner 787. He recommended grounding all Dreamliner aircraft worldwide. In this incident, the safety of Boeing was questioned again.

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