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Pakistan elections marred with suicide attack -25 killed in Quetta

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Pakistan elections marred with suicide attack -25 killed in Quetta

Polling in progress for National Assembly and Provincial Assemblies

In a bid to sabotage elections in Pakistan, a suicide bomber killed twenty-five people and injured several others in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan in Pakistan. Polling is in progress for national assembly and provincial assemblies.

According to Geo News “At least 25 persons were martyred and 30 others injured in the suspected suicide attack in Quetta’s Eastern Bypass area”.

However, official Associate Press of Pakistan (APP) report does not speak of any death due the attack. It said, “At least ten people were injured in a blast explosion near Temir-nu-polling station at Eastern Bypass area of Quetta on Wednesday.”

APP, quoting police sources, said that the blast was occurred when people were standing in row to cast their votes near polling station. The injured were shifted to civil hospital for medical aid. Law enforcement agencies reached the site and cordoned off it and started investigation.

Read More:Pakistan: Hafiz Saeed’s JuD to contest elections in 2018

Meanwhile polling began on Wednesday morning at 85,058 polling stations amid tight security arrangements across the country for the General Election-2018. The 10-hour polling that started at 8:00am will continue without any break till 6 pm.

Pakistan elections marred with suicide attack -25 killed in QuettaThe police teams are patrolling in sensitive areas all across the country to avoid any untoward incident. Enthusiastic citizens were seen lined-up outside their polling stations before start of the polling process.

Political leaders from different parties began casting their votes as Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shehbaz Sharif cast his vote in Model Town, Lahore while Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Asad Umar cast his vote in NA-54 constituency of Islamabad.

Read More: Ousted Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif sentenced to 10 years in prison

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam’s (JUI-F) Maulana Fazl-Ur-Rehman , National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq ,Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Syed Khursheed Shah, Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) founder Mustafa Kamal and  Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) leader Dr Farooq Sattar cast their votes in their respective constituencies. This report was written around the lunch time.

The election commission has established around 85,058 polling stations and 244,687 polling booths, besides deputing a total of 819,119 polling staff. There are 105,955,409 registered voters while 11,673 candidates are contesting elections. Of them 3,428 are for National Assembly while 8,245 are for provincial assemblies. Pakistan National Assembly has 272 seats.

Read More: Pakistan: PML-N distances from Nawaz Sharif Mumbai terror remarks

Most of the opinion polls suggest an overall Pakistan Muslim League (N) lead with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) being the close second. PML-N is led by Shehbaz Sharif, the younger brother of ousted PM Nawaz Sharif while PTI is headed by cricketer turned politician Imran Khan.

There have been allegations of pre-poll rigging being conducted by judiciary, military and intelligence agencies to sway the election results in favour of PTI and against PML-N. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari led Pakistan Peoples’ Party is expected to remain distant third.

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Kamala Harris vs Donald Trump: Voting begins in United States

Over 82 million Americans have opted for early voting to cast their ballots for Donald Trump or Kamala Harris.

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Kamala Harris vs Donald Trump: Voting begins in United States

The Voting for the 2024 US presidential election has begun in the eastern time zone in America. Following months of intense campaigning by Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and her Republican challenger Donald Trump, Americans will vote to choose their next president.

Reportedly, the first ballots were cast in the minutes after midnight (US time) in a tiny New Hampshire township along the US-Canada border. Over 82 million Americans have opted for early voting to cast their ballots for Donald Trump or Kamala Harris. Several pollsters have predicted a neck-and-neck contest, which brings the focus on the swing states to decide the fate of the presidential election.

Notably, in the United States, most states have a very clear preference for either the Republican or Democratic candidate. With this, only seven key swing states namely Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina will decide the result. Winning the majority of these aforesaid swing states is often essential for candidates aiming to secure the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency.

In this election, Pennsylvania has emerged as the biggest prize between the two candidates. With the most electoral votes (19) than any other battleground state, Pennsylvania could possibly determine whether Donald Trump or Kamala Harris clinches the White House.

On the last day of campaigning, Republican nominee Trump and Democratic nominee Harris criss-crossed key battleground states and delivered closing remarks. Former President Donald Trump, who is seeking a return to power, held rallies in North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Michigan while Vice President Kamala Harris addressed supporters in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania.

Earlier in 2016, Donald Trump managed to make inroads in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, the three Great Lakes states that make up the blue wall or a Democratic stronghold. Nonetheless, in the 2020 US Election, US President Joe Biden wrested the states back to the Democratic camp.

Notably, to win the presidency, a candidate needs a majority of electoral votes of 270 out of 538.

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Amid India-Canada diplomatic tensions, Justin Trudeau shares video of his Diwali celebrations

This comes a day after India expressed its concern over the reports of cancelled Diwali celebrations in Canada.

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Amid the ongoing diplomatic tensions between Canada and India over the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Sunday shared a video of his Diwali celebration on social media platform X.

Sharing a 44-second video of his Diwali celebrations on social media, the Canadian Prime Minister wrote, “Happy Diwali! So many special moments shared celebrating with the community this week.”

This comes a day after India expressed its concern over the reports of cancelled Diwali celebrations in Canada.

The Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Saturday, while addressing the media over Canada’s serious allegation against Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Nijjar, said it was unfortunate that the prevailing atmosphere in Canada has reached high levels of intolerance and extremism.

In the video, Prime Minister Trudeau showed off some colorful religious threads on his wrists, explaining that he received them during visits to three Hindu temples in Canada recently. He called them symbols of “good luck” and “protection,” adding with a smile, “I’m not taking them off until they fall off”.

Trudeau was also seen interacting warmly with the community, celebrating the festival, and enjoying delicious Indian sweets like jalebis, which he jokingly said he would “save for the team.”

On November 1, Trudeau posted on X, “Happy Diwali! Today, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, and Jain families will celebrate the triumph of light over darkness with festivities, candles, diyas, and fireworks. Wishing you all joy and prosperity during this special time.”

Addressing a press conference in Delhi, Jaiswal said India condemns the recent allegations made by the Canadian government against Shah that he was purportedly involved in the killing of Nijjar and called it “absurd and baseless”.

Jaiswal also said that India had summoned the Canadian High Commissioner on Friday to protest in the strongest terms for the references made to the Union Home Minister of India before the Committee by Canada’s Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister David Morrison.

On Tuesday, Morrison claimed that Shah orchestrated a campaign of violence, intimidation, and intelligence-gathering aimed at Sikh separatists on Canadian soil. He informed members of Canada’s national security committee in Parliament that he had confirmed Shah’s name to The Washington Post, which was the first to report the allegations. However, Morrison did not provide details on how Canada became aware of Shah’s alleged involvement.

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India, China complete disengagement in Depsang, Demchok at LAC after 4 years standoff

The Indian Army said that coordinated patrolling will start soon by both sides, and the ground commanders will continue to hold talks.

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India, China complete disengagement in Depsang, Demchok at LAC after 4 years standoff

In a significant development, India and China have completed the disengagement exercise in the Depsang and Demchok friction points at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh. The troops of both the countries are now verifying the vacation of positions and removal of infrastructure.

Reportedly, the Indian Army said that coordinated patrolling will start soon by both sides, and the ground commanders will continue to hold talks. The two sides will exchange sweets for Diwali tomorrow.

Earlier, Foreign secretary Vikram Misri announced that New Delhi and Beijing reached an agreement to disengage in the remaining friction points at LAC in eastern Ladakh. After the agreement, the two countries began troops disengagement at the two friction points at Demchok and Depsang plains on October 23.

India-China relations worsened because of the Chinese troops’ aggression along the Line of Actual Control, the de facto border, in April 2020. It further deteriorated on June 15, 2020, after 20 Indian soldiers died in the line of duty thwarting the Chinese offensive in the Galwan Valley. New Delhi had said India’s bilateral relations with China will normalise only after the situation at the LAC returns to what it was before May 2020.

Reports said that the Indian Army and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) have pulled back their forward-deployed troops and equipment from the two flashpoints, and have also dismantled temporary structures that had been built during the four-year-long standoff.

The Indian soldiers will resume their patrolling in areas that had been cut off because of the PLA’s presence. Nonetheless, the disengagement in Depsang and Demchok will not lead to the creation of buffer zones.

Both the countries had disengaged from Galwan Valley, Pangong Tso, Gogra (PP-17A) and Hot Springs (PP-15) areas and created buffer zones. Speaking to a newspaper publication, Lieutenant General Vinod Bhatia (retd), a former director general of military operations said that the disengagement at Depsang and Demchok will facilitate patrolling by both sides in a coordinated manner, and in the agreed upon frequency and strength of the patrolling parties.

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