China’s yuan gains IMF reserve status

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced that China’s currency, the yuan, will join the fund’s basket of reserve currencies.

Currently just the US dollar, the euro, the yen and the pound are in the group.

The IMF said the yuan “met all existing criteria” and should become part of the basket in October 2016.

The yuan will now make up part of the IMF’s Special Drawing Rights (SDR) – an asset created by the IMF which serves almost as a currency.

It is used for transactions between central banks and the IMF, and is used to decide the currency mix that countries like Greece, for example, receive when the IMF provides financial aid.

The last change made to the basket was in 2000, when the euro replaced the German mark and the franc.

Read more » BBC
See more »  http://www.bbc.com/news/business-34957580

Mani Shankar Aiyar embarrasses India in Pakistan; says remove Modi government to solve issues

By PTI

NEW DELHI: Former Union minister and Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar today stoked a fresh controversy by reportedly saying, during a panel discussion on a Pakistani news channel, that Prime Minister Narendra Modi needs to be removed if talks between the two nations have to resume. The Congress leader’s comments evoked sharp response from BJP and RJD, with the saffron outfit saying Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi should react to this ….
Read more » The Economic Times

Kashmir has never been part of India: Arundhati Roy

we give below a very relevant piece of news in connection with Arundhati Roy and her stand on Kashmir. Our organization was always of the opinion that Kashmir has been forcibly acquired by India and the people’s revolt there is justifiable. We have been writing articles and booklets for the last two decades elaborating the history of the Kashmiri people. The situation has come to such a state that immediate step has to be taken to free the people of Kashmir. [ref to appeal in www.srai.org dated 19 September, 2010] .About a hundred thousand people have been killed by army and hundreds are still missing in this small valley with a population of about 70 lakhs. If we take the stock from the year 1953, more than 2 lakh inhabitants of the Kashmir valley have been killed or are simply erased by the Indian army. Is this a free country? Can we still call Kashmir a part of our Nation?

We are with Arundhati Roy and demand justice for the common people of Kashmir.

Prabir Ghosh, General Secretary
Science & Rationalist Association of India

Read more: The FreeThinkers

I am Paris. We are Paris. Peace march for Paris victims in Karachi

KARACHI: Activists of rights groups and civil society gathered at the Teen Talwar traffic intersection in Clifton on Sunday and marched on the French consulate to express solidarity with the victims of the Paris attacks. The rally called ‘peace march’ was organised by the Sindh Secular Forum and other civil society organisations in the city.

Read more » DAWN

No, you are not in Europe, you are very much in Karachi

Burnes Road re-envisioned by architecture students

BY SHAZIA HASAN

KARACHI: Pretty stone buildings with stained glass windows and wooden jharokhas overlooking clean open pathways with roadside restaurants and fruit, sweets and snack kiosks. No traffic, no pollution, just a nice open space to walk or if you feel like it, sit down and relax on benches or enjoy the delicacies on the offer.

No, you are not in Europe, you are very much in Karachi; in fact, this is Burnes Road! This is how fourth year architecture students at the Indus Valley School of Arts and Architecture (IVSAA) changed the food street at Burnes Road, well, at least as a part of their class project, if not in reality.

Read more » DAWN

Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) gets a Sindhi chair, to launch certificate courses soon.

By PTI

NEW DELHI: The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has established a Sindhi chair for promotion of research in the language and will soon be offering certificate courses.
The varsity had earlier this week signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Council for Promotion of Sindhi Language (NCPSL) under the aegis of HRD Ministry to establish the Sindhi Chair at IGNOU headquarters in the capital.

Read more » The Economic Times
See more » http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/education/ignou-gets-a-sindhi-chair-to-launch-certificate-courses-soon/articleshow/49597797.cms

Today, I wish Pakistan and India could be more like Canada

Dear Pakistan and India,

Today was a beautiful day in Canada. The sun was shining bright, and it was a warm day in the cold month of November. The temperature in my city was 20 degrees centigrade. Warmer still were the temperatures of hearts in Ottawa where our new handsome Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, whom you loved when he relished biryani in a mosque or performed bhangra with the desi community, was taking the oath of office along with 30 other ministers. Half of these ministers are women.

Read more » The Express Tribune

Shahrukh lives in India, but his soul is in Pakistan – BJP leader

BJP leader Vijayvargiya attacks Shah Rukh Khan, says his soul in Pakistan

By PTI 

NEW DELHI: Senior BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya on Tuesday attacked Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan over his “extreme intolerance” comment, saying his “soul” is in Pakistan though he lives in India and also painted him as an “anti-nationalist”.

The comments by Vijayvargiya, a BJP general secretary and a former state minister, came notwithstanding the refrain of top BJP leaders in the recent weeks that insensitive comments should be avoided by partymen. Vijayvargiya is one of the party strategists for the Bihar assembly elections.

READ ALSO:
SRK says there’s “extreme intolerance” in country

“Shah Rukh lives in India, but his soul is in Pakistan. His films make crores here but he still thinks India to be intolerant,” he said in a series of tweets amid mounting concerns over the “climate of intolerance” in the country.

Read more » The Times of India
See more » http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/BJP-leader-Vijayvargiya-attacks-Shah-Rukh-Khan-says-his-soul-in-Pakistan/articleshow/49649200.cms?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=TOI

More » DAWN
http://www.dawn.com/news/1217428/

India’s Arundhati Roy returns National Award

NEW DELHI: Renowned South Asian writer Arundhati Roy on Thursday issued a statement explaining her decision to return the 1989 National Award she received for Best Screenplay, saying, “I want to make it clear that I am not returning this award because I am ‘shocked’ by what is being called the ‘growing intolerance’ being fostered by the present government.”

She goes on to clarify her statement: “‘Intolerance’ is the wrong word to use for the lynching, shooting, burning and mass murder of fellow human beings.

Read more » DAWN

Fascism is coming in India — By Justice Markandey Katju

I believe that some kind of fascism is inevitably coming in India. in which democracy, freedom of speech and of the press, and civil liberties will all be totally suppressed.

Consider the facts :

1. The present Indian government came to power on high expectations with the slogan of ‘ vikaas ‘ or development. This meant, or at least was perceived as, millions of jobs for the youth, industrial growth benefiting businessmen and others, and general prosperity for the public.

2. We are now one and a half years since the new government came to power, but one can see no traces of vikaas ( see my articles ‘ The Shape of Things to come ‘, ‘ Vikas ‘, ‘Healthcare in India’, ‘ Malnutrition in India ‘, ‘Unemployment in India;, ‘ The Trickle Down Theory ‘, ‘ The Dream has evaporated ‘ etc on facebook and my blog justicekatju.blogspot.in ), but only stunts like Swatchata Abhiyaan, Ghar wapasi, Good Governance day, Yoga Day, etc. In these articles I have demonstrated that under the economic policies being pursued by this government there is bound to be further economic recession and further unemployment, malnutrition, lack of healthcare, farmers’ suicides and poverty, though a handful of big businessmen may benefit. Prices of essential foodstuffs like dal and onions have already gone through the roof, and will in all likelihood shoot up higher

3. Consequently this government will become increasingly unpopular day by day, as people, especially the youth, get disillusioned and realize that they were befooled and taken for a ride by our superman who promised a paradise and Shangri-La in India with his accession to power, but have left people in the lurch.

4. This disillusionment and disenchantment, coupled with the terrible economic hardships and distress the Indian people are facing, with rising prices, rising unemployment, widespread malnutrition, farmers suicides, etc, is bound to lead to widespread popular agitations, disturbances, and turbulence all over the country

5. To deal with these, attempts will first be made, as they have already been made, to divide the people on communal lines, and blame minorities for the problems, as Jews were blamed by the Nazis. One may recall that fascist regimes came to power in Germany and Italy in the 1920s and 1930s because of massive unemployment and soaring inflation in those countries and the consequent popular agitations.

6. These steps, however, will prove ineffective after a short time as food and jobs are more important to the people than religion. Then harsh measures will be employed by the Government, in other words, some kind of Emergency which we witnessed from 1975-1977, in which all civil liberties, freedom of speech and of the press, and all vestiges of democracy will be suppressed.

7. What form this fascism will take is difficult to predict, but to my mind fascism is inevitable in India in a year or so.

Courtesy: Siasat.com
Read more » http://www.siasat.com/news/fascism-coming-india-justice-markandey-katju-863492

— – – – –
More » BBC urdu
http://www.bbc.com/urdu/regional/2015/11/151103_india_fascism_inevitable_mb

Pakistan donates planeload of wheat to Afghanistan

BY IRFAN HAIDER

ISLAMABAD: On special instructions of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and as a gesture of goodwill and solidarity with brotherly people and the Government of Afghanistan, the Government of Pakistan donated a planeload of wheat to Afghanistan on 30 October 2015 to help mitigate the food shortage in Afghanistan.

Pakistan’s Ambassador to Kabul handed over the donation to Afghan Deputy Minister/Deputy Chairman of the Afghan National Disaster Management Authority (ANDMA), Mr. Aslam Sayas, at Kabul Airport in the presence of other Afghan officials.

The Afghan officials thanked the Government of Pakistan for the generous donation.

Read more » DAWN
See more » http://www.dawn.com/news/1217218/

Hazro: A small Pakistani town of mandirs and gurdwaras

By ZULFIQAR ALI KALHORO

Archeologist Dr Ahmad Hasan Dani, in one of my frequent meetings with him, remarked that Potohar is an open-air museum of history. The entire landscape, stretching from Rawat to Taxila and Katas, is dotted with remarkable monuments.

Dani’s remark inspired me to explore the Potohar region. It was during one of my expeditions that I traveled to a small town named Hazro – a tehsil of the Attock district, Punjab, and was instantly smitten.

Formerly a fortified town with four gates, Hazro is home to many temples,gurdwaras and havelis believed to have been built during the Sikh and British era.

Read more » DAWN
See more » http://www.dawn.com/news/1214362/