Month: June 2024

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Sunak gives very personal speech at London temple

Rishi Sunak addressed worshippers and talked about the concept of Dharma as a guiding principle in his approach to public service, reports Asian Lite News

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak opened up about his Hindu faith, calling it a source of “inspiration and comfort” during a visit to a London temple on Saturday, accompanied by his wife, Akshata Murty.

On a stopover at the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir with days to go to the high-stakes UK elections, Sunak addressed worshippers and talked about the concept of Dharma as a guiding principle in his approach to public service.

“Now, I am a Hindu. And like all of you, I draw inspiration and comfort from my faith. I was proud to be sworn in as a member of parliament on the Bhagavad Gita,” Sunak said.

A self-proclaimed “proud Hindu”, he further said, “Our faith teaches us to do our duty and not fret about the outcome as long as one does it faithfully. That is what I was brought up to believe by my wonderful and loving parents, and that is how I try and live my life. And that is what I want to pass on to my daughters as they grow up. It is Dharma which guides me in my approach to public service.”

The UK Prime Minister also engaged in lighthearted moments with the gathering, especially after a priest remarked upon how he had “raised the bar” for children in the Hindu community as it was “no longer enough to become just a doctor, a lawyer, an accountant”.

“If my parents were here and you asked them, they would probably tell you that they would have preferred it if I had become a doctor or a lawyer or an accountant,” Sunak quipped, drawing laughter from the congregation.

He also joked with gathered worshippers about cricket results after India won the T20 Cricket World Cup, defeating South Africa. “Everyone happy about the cricket?” he asked, and the crowd responded with cheers and applause.

The visit to the Neasden temple came a day after Sunak expressed his “hurt and anger” over a racial slur made by a supporter of Nigel Farage’s right-wing Reform UK party as campaigning for the general election hots up in the final stretch.

Britain will vote next week in a snap election expected to end 14 years of Conservative rule. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative party is trailing by 20 points to Keir Starmer’s Labour party. Predictions suggest a historic defeat for the Conservatives and a record win for Labour. One survey says Sunak could lose his own seat.

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-Top News EU News Europe

Putin calls for resuming production of intermediate missiles

Putin’s statement comes amid rising tensions between Russia and the West over the conflict in Ukraine and concern about possible nuclear attacks…reports Asian Lite News

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday called for resuming production of intermediate-range missiles that were banned under a now-scrapped treaty with the United States.

The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty, or INF, which banned ground-based nuclear and conventional missiles with a range of 500-5,500 kilometers (310-3,410 miles), was regarded as an arms control landmark when Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and U.S. President Ronald Reagan signed it in 1988.

The U.S. withdrew from the treaty in 2019, citing Russian violations.

“We need to start production of these strike systems and then, based on the actual situation, make decisions about where — if necessary to ensure our safety — to place them,” Putin said at a meeting of Russia’s national security council.

Putin said Russia hadn’t produced such missiles since the 2019 treaty scrapping, but that “today it is known that the United States not only produces these missile systems, but has already brought them to Europe for exercises, to Denmark. Quite recently it was announced that they are in the Philippines.”

Since withdrawing from the treaty, the U.S. Army has moved forward with developing a conventional, ground-launched, midrange missile capability called the Typhon that would have been banned under the INF. The Typhon fires two Navy missiles, the Tomahawk Land Attack Missile and Standard Missile-6.

The last remaining arms-control pact between Washington and Moscow is the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which limits each country to no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and bombers. It’s set to expire in 2026, and the lack of dialogue on anchoring a successor deal has worried arms control advocates.

Putin’s statement comes amid rising tensions between Russia and the West over the conflict in Ukraine and concern about possible nuclear attacks.

In June, Putin spoke to executives from international news organizations about Moscow’s use of nuclear weapons.

“We have a nuclear doctrine, look what it says,” he said. “If someone’s actions threaten our sovereignty and territorial integrity, we consider it possible for us to use all means at our disposal. This should not be taken lightly, superficially.”

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-Top News EU News Europe

Clashes, arrests mark start of German far-right AfD congress

A further seven officers were also slightly injured in the clashes near the Grugahalle hall. The perpetrators fled the scene…reports Asian Lite News

Two police officers have been hospitalised after clashes with hooded protesters outside the congress of Germany’s far-right AfD, as the party met weeks after its record European Union election result.

About 1,000 police were deployed in the western city of Essen on Saturday, where demonstration organisers said 50,000 protestors marched towards the congress. The police have not yet provided figures.

Police said two officers, a man and a woman, who had been escorting a politician were seriously injured when protesters kicked them in the head after they fell to the ground and that they had to be hospitalised.

Brandenburg an der Havel, Germany: view down a wide street of historic buildings in the old town to the statue of the medieval knight Roland von Brandenburg outside the red-brick old town hall, a tall late Gothic building with arched doorways and windows and a tall, square clock tower.

A further seven officers were also slightly injured in the clashes near the Grugahalle hall. The perpetrators fled the scene.

“Several disruptive violent actions occurred in the Rüttenscheid quarter. Demonstrators, some of them hooded, attacked security forces. Several arrests were made,” police in the North Rhine-Westphalia region, where Essen is located, said on X.

A top regional official had warned that “potentially violent far-left troublemakers” could be among the protesters.

“We are here and we will stay,” said the AfD co-president, Alice Weidel, opening the two-day congress – which started half an hour late due to street blockades – and drawing sustained applause.

“We have the right, like all political parties, to hold a congress.”

Both Weidel and her co-president, Tino Chrupalla, were re-elected to lead the party for another two years.

“We want to govern, first in the east [of Germany], then in the west, then at federal level,” Chrupalla told the about 600 delegates.

Chrupalla said party membership had grown by 60% to 46,881 members since January last year. Some 22,000 people had joined while 4,000 had left.

“Despite all the harassment you have to endure as a member of the AfD, this is an absolutely sensational figure,” Chrupalla told the convention.

In early June, the AfD had its best EU election result since the party’s creation in 2013, winning 16% of the vote to take second place.

It was behind the main conservative CDU-CSU opposition bloc but ahead of the Social Democrats (SPD) – the party of the chancellor, Olaf Scholz – which is in power at the head of a troubled three-party coalition.

Buoyed up by a surge in immigration and a weak performance by Europe’s top economy, the party hit as high as 22% in opinion polls in January.

However, its support faltered amid a welter of scandals that mainly implicated its top EU election candidate, Maximilian Krah.

“I believe that the party has learned a lot in recent months and will be very careful when we put forward leading candidates in the future,” Weidel, who is standing for re-election, told the Politico news outlet on Thursday.

Krah initially faced allegations of suspicious links to Russia and China. He then sparked widespread anger by telling an Italian newspaper that not every member of the Nazis’ notorious SS was “automatically a criminal”.

The comments prompted the AfD to be expelled from the far-right European parliament group Identity and Democracy (ID), in which France’s National Rally and Italy’s League had been its partners.

While the AfD has sought to shift the blame for its recent woes on to Krah, there were signs of problems before. The National Rally had already distanced itself from the AfD after reports emerged in January that the German party had discussed the expulsion of immigrants and “non-assimilated” citizens at a meeting with extremists.

The reports caused shock in Germany and triggered weeks of mass protests. After the EU polls, the AfD ejected Krah from the delegation it sends to Brussels, but the ID group does not seem ready to readmit the party, leaving it searching for new partners. The congress comes before three key elections in September in states that once formed part of communist East Germany, and where the AfD has been topping opinion polls.

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-Top News Africa News

Terror attacks rattle Nigeria  

In one of three blasts in the town of Gwoza, a female attacker with a baby strapped to her back detonated explosives in the middle of a wedding ceremony…reports Asian Lite News

At least 18 people were killed and 19 seriously wounded in a string of suicide attacks in northeastern Nigeria on Saturday, emergency services said.

In one of three blasts in the town of Gwoza, a female attacker with a baby strapped to her back detonated explosives in the middle of a wedding ceremony, according to a police spokesman.

The other attacks in the border town across from Cameroon targeted a hospital and a funeral for victims of the earlier wedding blast, authorities said.

At least 18 people were killed and 42 others injured in the attacks, according to the Borno State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA).

“So far, 18 deaths comprising children, men, females and pregnant women” have been reported, said Barkindo Saidu, the head of the agency.

Nineteen “seriously injured” people were taken to the regional capital Maiduguri, while 23 others were awaiting evacuation, Saidu said in the report.

A member of a militia assisting the military in Gwoza said two of his comrades and a soldier were also killed in another attack on a security post, though authorities did not immediately confirm this toll.

Boko Haram militants seized Gwoza in 2014 when the group took over swathes of territory in northern Borno.

The town was taken back by the Nigerian military with help from Chadian forces in 2015 but the group has since continued to launch attacks from mountains near the town.

Boko Haram has carried out raids, killing men and kidnapping women who venture outside the town in search of firewood and acacia fruits.

The violence has killed more than 40,000 people and displaced around two million in Nigeria’s northeast.

The conflict has spread to neighboring Niger, Cameroon and Chad, prompting the formation of a regional military coalition to fight the militants.

Extremists from Sahel cross into Nigeria’s north

Extremist fighters who had long operated in Africa’s volatile Sahel region have settled in northwestern Nigeria after crossing from neighboring Benin, a report said Wednesday, the latest trend in the militants’ movements to wealthier West African coastal nations.

The extremists believed to be linked to Al-Qaeda have in the last year crossed over from Benin’s hard-hit northern region and settled in Kainji Lake National Park, one of Nigeria’s largest, where other armed groups have also gained access, according to the report by the Clingendael Institute think tank, which has done extensive research in the Sahel.

Residents close to the park said that the facility, which holds one of West Africa’s fast-declining lion populations, has been closed for more than a year because of security threats from armed groups attacking neighboring villages and roads.

“Before, it was like a tourism center (but) now, people find it difficult to pass through there,” said John Yerima, who lives near the park in New Bussa town. “You cannot enter that road (leading to the park) now. It is dangerous seriously.”

The security situation at the 5,300-square kilometer (2,000-square mile) park in Niger state and along the nearby border with Benin is “getting out of hand” and is “a much more explosive situation than we had anticipated,” said Kars de Bruijne, one of the authors of the report and a senior research fellow at the institute.

The “sustained presence” of the armed groups in the park is the first sign of a connection between Nigeria’s homegrown extremists that have launched a decadelong insurgency in its northern region, and Al-Qaeda-linked militants from the Sahel, the vast arid expanse south of the Sahara Desert, Bruijne said.

Their presence offers an opportunity for the extremists to claim large-scale success in both countries, already wracked by deadly attacks in recent years, he added.

Known as a global hot spot for violent extremism, the Sahel region’s worsening security crisis comes as military coups are toppling democratic governments. As the military governments struggle to contain the violence, they are increasingly severing security with traditional partners France and the United States and turning to Russia for support.

In northwest Nigeria, security analysts have in the past warned that the region’s remote territories, where the government is largely absent but have rich mineral resources and high poverty levels, present an opportunity for expansion for extremist groups that had operated mainly in the Sahel, as well as the Daesh group, whose fighters hold sway in the Lake Chad basin.

“A link between Lake Chad and the Sahel is a major opportunity for Al-Qaeda and Daesh to boast about their profiles as leaders of global extremism,” the report said.

There are also concerns from conservationists that the presence of armed groups in the park could further threaten the remaining lions whose populations have declined as a result of climate change and poaching.

“The security situation has become top of the list when it comes to the concerns about the lion populations in Nigeria,” said Stella Egbe, senior conservation manager at the Nigerian Conservation Foundation.

The Clingendael report said it is unclear what the motive of the Sahel extremists in the park is and what their relationship with other armed groups there will be. Security analysts say it offers opportunities for logistics and more influence amid booming illegal trade across the porous border.

“The Sahelian extremists potentially can try to use northwestern Nigeria as a place for fundraising, for logistics and to try to influence the extremist groups there as part of their own competition,” said James Barnett, a fellow at the Hudson Institute whose works in northwestern Nigeria were cited in the report.

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-Top News Africa News USA

Expanding extremist groups fuel worries for US, allies

(160116) -- OUAGADOUGOU, Jan. 16, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Soldiers of France and United States attend rescue campaign in Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou, Jan. 16, 2015. Twenty-three people have been killed and many others wounded after the Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) attacked the Splendid Hotel and took hostages there Friday. Security forces have freed 126 hostages and killed four attackers on Saturday. (Xinhua)

This is the first time that the chiefs of defense conference has been held on African soil. And it is the first time the U.S. joint chiefs chairman has visited a sub-Saharan country since 1994, when Gen. John Shalikashvili visited Rwanda and Zaire…reports Asian Lite News

Violent extremist groups linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group are growing in size and influence across Africa, fueling worries that as they improve their tactics they could attack the U.S. or Western allies.

U.S. defense and military officials described the threats and their concerns about growing instability in Africa, where a number of coups have put ruling juntas in control, leading to the ouster of American troops and a decline in U.S. intelligence gathering.

“Threats like Wagner, terrorist groups and transnational criminal organizations continue to sow instability in multiple regions,” Air Force Gen. CQ Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in opening remarks Tuesday at a conference of African chiefs of defense in Botswana. “I think we can all agree, what happens in one part of the world, does not stay in one part of the world.”

Wagner is the Russian mercenary group that has gone into African nations to provide security as Western forces, including from the U.S. and France, have been pushed out. The group is known for its brutality, and human rights organizations have accused its members of raping and killing civilians.

While Brown only touched briefly on the terror threat in the region, it was a key topic among others at the conference and spurred questions from military chiefs in the audience after his speech. They wanted to know what the U.S. could do to help stem the spread of insurgents in West Africa, the Gulf of Guinea and the Sahel.

This is the first time that the chiefs of defense conference has been held on African soil. And it is the first time the U.S. joint chiefs chairman has visited a sub-Saharan country since 1994, when Gen. John Shalikashvili visited Rwanda and Zaire.

A senior U.S. defense official said al-Qaida linked groups — such as al-Shabab in Somalia and Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin, known as JNIM, in the Sahel region — are the largest and most financially viable insurgencies. JNIM is active in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger and is looking to expand into Benin and Togo, which it uses as hubs to rest, recuperate, get financing and gather weapons but also has increased attacks there.

At the same time, the Islamic State group has key cells in West Africa and in the Sahel. The defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a threat assessment, said the Islamic State cells were getting increasing direction from the group’s leadership that relocated to northern Somalia. That has included how to kidnap Westerners for ransom, how to learn better military tactics, how to hide from drones and how to building their own small quadcopters.

A U.S. military airstrike in Somalia on May 31 targeted Islamic State militants and killed three, according to U.S. Africa Command. U.S. officials have said the strike targeted the group’s leader, but the defense official said Monday that it’s still unclear if he was killed.

Roughly 200 Islamic State insurgents are in Somalia, so they are vastly outnumbered by al-Shabab, which has grown in size to between 10,000 and 12,000.

The growth of the insurgent groups within Africa signals the belief by both al-Qaida and the Islamic State group that the continent is a ripe location for jihadism, where extremist ideology can take root and expand, the official said.

And it comes as the U.S. was ordered to pull out its 1,000 troops from Niger in the wake of last July’s coup and also about 75 from Chad. Those troop cuts, which shut down a critical U.S. counterterrorism and drone base at Agadez, hamper intelligence gathering in Niger, said Gen. Michael Langley, head of U.S. Africa Command.

Surveillance operations before the coup gave the U.S. a greater ability to get intelligence on insurgent movements. Now, he said, the key goal is a safe and secure withdrawal of personnel and equipment from both Agadez and a smaller U.S. facility near the airport.

Langley met with Niger’s top military chief, Brig. Gen. Moussa Salaou Barmou, during the conference, and said military-to-military communications continue but that it’s yet to be determined how much the new transitional government will deal with the U.S.

Currently, he said, there are about 400 troops still at Agadez and 200 near the airport.

But, he added that “as we’re in transition and resetting, we need to maintain capabilities to get enough intelligence to identify warnings of a threat out there.”

Langley said the U.S. is still trying to assess the militant groups’ capabilities as they grow.

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-Top News Arab News World News

Fighting for third day in north Gaza as thousands displaced

Explosions, air strikes and gunfire rattled northern Gaza on Saturday, the third day of an Israeli military operation that has uprooted tens of thousands of Palestinians and compounded what the UN called “unbearable” living conditions in the territory.

An AFP correspondent reported ongoing explosions from the Shujaiya area near Gaza City, with a resident saying bodies were visible on the streets.

Israel’s military on Saturday said its operations were continuing in Shujaiya where fighting “above and below the ground” left a “large number” of militants dead.

A resurgence of fighting in the area comes months after Israel had declared the command structure of Hamas militants dismantled in northern Gaza.

Last Sunday Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the “intense phase” of the war was winding down after almost nine months, but experts see a potentially prolonged next phase.

The Gaza war has also led to soaring tensions on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, leading Iran on Saturday to warn of an “obliterating” war if Israel attacked Lebanon.

The war started with Hamas’s October 7 attack on southern Israel which resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.

The militants also seized hostages, 116 of whom remain in Gaza although the army says 42 are dead.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 37,834 people, also mostly civilians, according to data from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza. It reported at least 69 deaths over the previous 48 hours.

Mohammed Harara, 30, said he and his family, young and old, felt as though they would become part of that toll.

He said they fled from their home in Shujaiya with nothing, “due to the bombardment by Israeli planes, tanks and drones” that they barely survived.

“We couldn’t carry anything from the house. We left the food, flour, canned goods, mattresses, and blankets,” Harara said.

Israel’s military on Friday said it was conducting “targeted raids” backed by air strikes against Hamas militants in the Shujaiya area.

The United Nations humanitarian agency OCHA estimated that “about 60,000 to 80,000 people were displaced” from the area this week.

AFPTV images on Saturday showed men moving belongings on a donkey cart. Some people were pushed in wheelchairs. Children walked with backpacks past piles of dusty debris.

“I saw a tank in front of the Shuhada mosque firing” at targets, said Abdelkareem Al-Mamluk. “There were martyrs in the street.”

On Friday Hamas and the armed wing of the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad both said they were fighting in Shujaiya.

Elsewhere in the coastal territory, the civil defense agency on Saturday said four bodies were pulled from an apartment after an Israeli strike in the central region.

Further south, in the Rafah area, witnesses reported dead and wounded after a new incursion by Israeli troops.

Tarek Qandeel, director of the medical center in Al-Maghazi, central Gaza, said the facility was seriously damaged in the bombing of a neighboring house, making it the latest Gaza medical facility affected by the war.

The United Nations, in a report on Friday that cited Gaza’s health ministry, said “about 70 percent of health infrastructure has been destroyed.”

Separately, a UN spokeswoman, Louise Wateridge, said by video-link that she had just returned to central Gaza after four weeks outside the territory.

“It’s really unbearable,” she said, describing a “significantly deteriorated” situation.

“There’s no water there, there’s no sanitation, there’s no food,” and people are returning to live in “empty shells” of buildings.

In the absence of bathrooms they are “relieving themselves anywhere they can,” Wateridge said.

The UN says most of Gaza’s population is displaced, but fallout from the war has also uprooted people on both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border, where Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement and Israeli forces have engaged in near-daily exchanges of fire.

Such exchanges have escalated this month, alongside bellicose rhetoric from both sides.

Israel’s military said plans for a Lebanon offensive had been “approved and validated,” prompting Hezbollah to respond that none of Israel would be spared in a full-blown conflict.

In a post Saturday on social media, Iran’s mission to the United Nations in New York said it “deems as psychological warfare” Israeli threats to “attack” Lebanon.

But it added such a move would lead to an “obliterating” war that could involve “all resistance fronts,” a reference to Iran-backed groups in the region.

Among those are Yemen’s Houthi militants, who have for months been targeting international shipping in the Red Sea area. The Houthis say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians.

On Friday the Houthis claimed a “direct hit” on a tanker in the Red Sea but a maritime security agency run by Britain’s Royal Navy reported no damage.

The US Navy has retaliated against Houthi targets for such attacks, and on Friday the US military said its forces had destroyed seven drones and a control station vehicle in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen over the previous day.

ALSO READ: UK submission to ICC could delay Netanyahu, Gallant warrants

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-Top News Arab News UK News

UK submission to ICC could delay Netanyahu, Gallant warrants

The British argument is that the Palestinian authorities cannot have jurisdiction over Israeli nationals under the accords, and so it cannot transfer that jurisdiction over to the ICC to prosecute Israelis, reports Asian Lite News

A UK submission of arguments at the international criminal court could delay a decision on the issuance of arrest warrants against the Israeli prime minister and defense minister for alleged war crimes in Gaza.

Judges at the ICC ruled on Thursday that the British government was allowed to submit legal arguments to judges mulling prosecutor Karim Khan’s request issued in May for arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant.

Court documents made public on Thursday showed that UK, as an ICC member state, filed a request with the court earlier this month to provide written observations on whether “the court can exercise jurisdiction over Israeli nationals, in circumstances where Palestine cannot exercise criminal jurisdiction over Israeli nationals (under) the Oslo Accords.”

The court already has an ongoing investigation, launched in 2021, into any alleged crimes within its jurisdiction committed on Palestinian territory and by Palestinians on the territory of Israel.

In the same year, judges ruled that the court did have jurisdiction after the Palestinian authorities signed up to the court in 2015, after being granted United Nations observer state status.

The decision, however, left a ruling on the interpretation of the 1993 Oslo Accords regarding Palestinian jurisdiction over Israeli nationals for a later stage in the proceedings.

The British argument is that the Palestinian authorities cannot have jurisdiction over Israeli nationals under the accords, and so it cannot transfer that jurisdiction over to the ICC to prosecute Israelis.

Experts told the Guardian newspaper on Friday that the decision to allow the UK to intervene on this issue might delay the arrest warrants case, though a former ICC official familiar with the 2021 case said the jurisdictional issues had been resolved and, if challenged, would be “dead on arrival.”

Mark Kersten, an ICC expert and criminal justice professor at the University of the Fraser Valley in Canada, said “it would beggar belief” if judges ruled Palestine “could not ask the court to address atrocities committed on its territories because of a moribund Oslo peace process.”

Danya Chaikel, an International Federation for Human Rights’ representative at the ICC, said Britain’s attempt to challenge ICC jurisdiction citing the Oslo accords was “deeply troubling and unjust.”

Clive Baldwin, a senior legal adviser at Human Rights Watch, also said the UK should not be “leading the charge for double standards in victims’ access to justice.”

A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said: “The UK believes that the court has not yet engaged with the impact and effect of the Oslo accords on jurisdiction in this case and we think it is imperative that they do so at any early stage of proceedings.”

ALSO READ: Israel Legalises Settlements, Palestine Condemns

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Fashion Lifestyle Woman

Aayushi Maniar: A Fashion Forward Couture Label From India With A Global Design Perspective

Aayushi Maniar’s inclination towards the love for clothes was discovered at a very young age and since then it’s been her dream to follow that passion and pursue her love for it. Aayushi Maniar began her design journey at Mod’ Art International & Istituti Callegari Milano, driven by a lifelong passion that was sparked during her childhood fascination with fashion. Her brand reflects this profound love, skilfully translating the beauty of nature through vibrant colors and the finesse of prints and embroidery. A feature by lifestyle columnist Riccha Grrover for Asian Lite International

She entered the industry as a styling assistant under renowned fashion stylist Allia Al Rufai, contributing to the styling of Bollywood celebrities such as Anushka Sharma, Nargis Fakhri, Yami Gautam, Shilpa Shetty, Raveena Tandon, Kangana Ranaut, and more. Today, her creations are embraced by celebrities and influencers like Masoom Minawala, Soha Ali Khan, Jonita Gandhi, Aanam C, Prachi Desai, among others, for a variety of festivals and occasions.

Established in 2016, the “Aayushi Maniar” label is celebrated for its masterful use of floral motifs and keen eye for color, with the breakthrough 2019 collection “Guldasta” defining her distinctive style. The brand’s uniqueness lies in establishing a dedicated space for floral enthusiasts who resonate with our designs. The breakthrough “Guldasta” collection in 2019 marked a defining moment, giving us a distinct floral signature. 

Embracing a global design perspective, our vocabulary is enriched by a myriad of influences, including diverse floral patterns like chintz, Indian, Moghul, botanical, and others. These inspirations converge to shape the creations, offering a reflection of worldwide artistic diversity.

Located in Pali Hill, Bandra, the flagship store offers a warm and inviting studio boutique experience where clients can explore exquisite outfits and indulge in personalized designs tailored to their individual preferences.

The label’s styles comprise fashion forward statement pieces like Cape tops, Pre draped sarees, Lehengas and Anarkalis. The aim is to keep traditional aspects with fresh and renewed perspective that is perfect for a modern woman, a new age bride or her entourage.

“I see the brand expanding its reach to a growing number of clients, becoming the preferred choice for every woman on her Mehendi or Haldi occasion. My goal is to capture this market and establish the label as the go-to for a festive and memorable bridal experience.” said Aayushi Mania, on talking about her future aspiration for her brand. 

Designer- Aayushi Maniar
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-Top News Asia News PAKISTAN

Baloch rights group amplifies voice in Geneva

The ongoing enforced disappearances in Balochistan are a stark example of serious human rights violations. Thousands of Baloch men, women, children, and elderly individuals have fallen victim to this persecution…reports Asian Lite News

The leaders and activists of the Baloch National Movement (BNM) are holding meetings with diplomats, international organisations, and academics in Geneva to intensify advocacy for the Baloch cause on the international stage against rights violations by Pakistan.

Niaz Baloch, the Deputy Coordinator of the BNM Foreign Committee and Member of BNM’s Central Committee posted on X: “Over the past two days, we had meetings with diplomats, international organizations, and academics. We discussed the challenges the Baloch nation is currently facing and sought support for our national movement. The response was positive and impressive.

Earlier, BNM chairman Dr Naseem Baluch raised the issue of enforced disappearances on social media. In a post on X, he said “In the modern era of the 21st century, forced disappearances have become an integral part of life for many Baloch people, filled with unbelievable horrors that we endure daily. Over the past fifteen years, this experience has not been a mere passage of time but a continuous series of agonizing, anxiety-ridden, and unjust moments. For the family and friends of Deen Muhammad Baloch, these years have been marked by terrible waiting and uncertainty.”

The ongoing enforced disappearances in Balochistan are a stark example of serious human rights violations. Thousands of Baloch men, women, children, and elderly individuals have fallen victim to this persecution.

“These disappearances not only violate human rights but also suggest that human life and dignity hold no value in the eyes of the Pakistani state,” said Baluch.

Dr Naseem highlighted that the silence of international justice institutions exacerbates this problem. “Why do these organizations, which are supposed to protect human rights and deliver justice, neglect their responsibilities? Their indifference and silence have granted the Pakistani state immunity, allowing the continued, unabated series of enforced disappearances,” he asked.

The BNM chairman emphasized that the Baloch nation is striving to alert the world to this cruelty.

He urged saying “We must stand up for the oppressed, who have been forced into this dark path without any crime. We need to do much more than our current efforts to recover the missing persons. The fight for justice for Dr Deen Muhammad Baloch and other forcibly disappeared Baloch individuals are not just the responsibility of his family and party but of all individuals. Our silence or indifference will turn our country into a symbol of pain and an unbearable place. We appeal to the international community and human rights institutions to fulfill their responsibilities and take notice of the atrocities committed in Pakistan. It is time for the international community to awaken and meet the demands of justice.”

The BNM continues to push for international attention and action regarding the human rights abuses and enforced disappearances occurring in Balochistan. (ANI)

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-Top News PAKISTAN Punjab

Pak rights body urges repeal of Punjab Defamation Act

The conversation on amending the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016 should also be revived. Finally, a law criminalizing enforced disappearances, used frequently to quell dissenting narratives, must be passed…reports Asian Lite News

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) on Friday organized a round table conference in Islamabad, raising their concerns about the Punjab Defamation Act.

The HRCP called upon the administration to repeal the act pushed through a defamation law to curb fake news, however, civil society, and journalists say that it infringes on freedom of press and expression.

HRCP in a statement said that it could build fears of a national firewall and greater censorship – the law’s real purpose is much more nefarious, aims to muzzle free speech and inhibit dissenting voices.

The event witnessed the participation of journalists, digital rights experts and civil society members who drew the state’s attention to receding civic spaces and democracy in the country.

During the event Law and Policy Expert Muhammad Aftab Alam while discussing the key loopholes of the Punjab Defamation Act 2024 pointed out that radical changes need to be made to the definitions of key terms such as ‘broadcasting’, ‘newspaper’ and ‘journalist’.

Moreover, journalist and researcher Adnan Rehmat mentioned that the law exceptionalised political and state elites and legalized discrimination. A member of the HRCP Farhatullah Babar mentioned that the law was yet another step in the militarization of the state and society, and tantamount to overwriting other laws, such as those governing the right to information.

Co-founder of Media Matters for (MMFD) Sadaf Khan pointed out a probable plan of the administration to install a national firewall and said this would broaden the scope of censorship by monitoring Internet traffic. “It was an ill-thought plan that had bred fear and mistrust,” she said. Furthermore, another MMFD member also added that such a move would have a serious economic impact on freelance work and online trading.

According to the HRCP statement academic and journalist Tauseef Ahmed Khan traced the history of censorship in the legacy media and chalked out a plan of action. Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists president Afzal Butt said that civil society must hold social media platforms accountable for blocking content on Kashmir and Gaza.

Former senator Afrasiab Khattak said that the establishment must be held accountable for its continuous overreach in such matters. Senior journalist Sohail Sangi added that the working conditions of media persons and press freedom were closely linked.

Further during the roundtable conference, the participants and experts of the various fields recommended repealing the Punjab Defamation Act at once, adding that ‘digital rights should be recognised in the Constitution’.

The conversation on amending the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016 should also be revived. Finally, a law criminalizing enforced disappearances, used frequently to quell dissenting narratives, must be passed.

HRCP co-chair Munizae Jahangir felt that journalists, lawyers and activists must unite and consolidate their demands before the Parliament. HRCP Islamabad vice-chair Nasreen Azhar agreed, adding that activists must be more organized in countering online disinformation.

HRCP secretary-general Harris Khalique in the conclusive statement mentioned that ‘A nexus between the political leadership, big business and the state establishment is apparent,’ he added. To combat such repressive tactics, all rights-based movements must come together to develop a charter of demands that can be presented to the Parliament. (ANI)

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