Pakistan citizens continue to leave India via Attari, plead for leninecy from Indian govt
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Pakistani citizens continue to leave India following the Indian government's decision to cancel all their visas who are currently in the country in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack , which killed 26 Indian tourists.The Pakistani nationals who are currently returning via the Attari border are pleading for leniency from the Indian government, stating that they are being punished due to the Pahalgam attack.A Pakistani national, Mufzala, said that she is from Muzaffarabad and has been married in Baramulla for the past six years. She said that her two kids were born in India and were staying here legally through a long-term visa. She added that the terrorist attack in Pahalgam was a terrorist activity, but why are others suffering because of it?"I am from Muzaffarabad, and I got married in Baramulla 6 years ago. Both my kids were born here. We were staying here legally through a long-term Visa. We have been filing our application for the last 3 years, but it has never been accepted. The day before yesterday, we were suddenly asked to leave the country. What happened in Pahalgam was a terrorist activity. Innocents have lost their lives in the attack. The terrorists should be punished...Why are we suffering because of this? We want to go back to our home...", she told ANI.Another Pakistani national stated that he had entered India on a 45-day visa but was now being asked to leave after only seven days. He further noted that the incident that occurred in Pahalgam was not right."I came to India with a 45-day Visa. It has just been 7-8 days, and the Govt is sending us back. I came here to meet my relatives. They asked us to leave due to the incident in Pahalgam. Whatever happened there is not right", he said.The terror attack, which claimed 26 lives in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam, was one of the deadliest attacks in the region since the 2019 Pulwama strike, which claimed the lives of 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans.
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It is noteworthy that the delay in India's case — 6 years — is much longer than in most other countries (including India's neighbours such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka). • Explaining the delay, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) spokesperson posted the following on X: 'Covid disrupted all sectors, including education. Around 30 lakh enumerators are needed for the Census and most of them are primary school teachers. Conducting the Census post-Covid could have disrupted primary education immensely.' • One, the caste census, or the collection of caste data along with all the other data. Two, the possible usage of Census 2027 data for the purposes of delimitation, which is essentially an exercise that will entail rebalancing the state-wise share of Lok Sabha seats based on population. Most of the southern states, which were more effective in population control over the past 50 years, stand to lose electoral representation relative to northern states, which failed to control their population growth as effectively. • At one level, the fact that caste and delimitation are heavily politicised, warn some demographers, may vitiate the quality and credibility of the Census data. This may happen as people attempt to tweak their answers on questions (such as caste and language etc.) in a manner that, in their view, suits their politics instead of providing an unbiased response capturing the reality. • The national Census provides the fundamental statistical basis for all other types of surveys and analysis in the country. The Census isn't just the complete enumeration of all Indians. Rather, it is as complete an image of India as possible, as it collects data on age, gender, family status, economic status, unemployment, language, education, disability, migration — the list is pretty long. • In other words, the Census is a reality check for the country — a look in the mirror without which a self-portrait is not possible. In providing all this information for each Indian, the Census not only tells the story of how India changed in the past 10 years — in this case, the past 16 years — but also gives clues to how it might change in the next decade. Do You Know: The Census forms the basis of all future surveys and policymaking. • Inflation control and Interest rates-To be sure, retail inflation rate captures the rate at which the general price level in the economy went up from one year to the next. This rate, in turn, is based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and how much it rose over the past year. The CPI is essentially a basket of goods and services that retail consumers 'consume'. The index allocates different weights to different goods and services and then maps how prices of these components move in a weighted fashion. Food articles, for instance, have a weight of 46% in the total index. This is another way of saying that 46% of all the money spent by a common Indian is spent on food items. • A Census — say Census 2011 — provides one clear image of India at one specific point in time. That distribution of people — quality of their lives, their economic status, their migration patterns etc. — provides the base for all future surveys such as the consumption survey for government or the many of the market surveys done by private companies trying to figure out whether there is going to be more demand for cars ( and if so, what kind of cars) in rural India in the next 5 to 10 years. • Migration, Urbanisation and Governance-Migration, for instance, is one of the least understood variables. Often, population projections are based on fertility (birth rate) and mortality (death rate) assumptions. But there is a third variable that can, and often does, change the population of a village, city or state — that's internal migration in the country. Other Important Articles Covering the same topic: 📍The Census of 1931 ECONOMY For first time in 6 years, CPI inflation likely to have fallen below 3% in May Syllabus: Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development Mains Examination: General Studies III: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment. What's the ongoing story: India's headline retail inflation rate may have fallen below 3 per cent for the first time in just over six years in May 2025, with food prices again expected to drive down the overall trajectory even though vegetables became somewhat more expensive last month compared to April 2025. 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Bank of Baroda's Essential Commodities Index, for instance, declined 0.6 per cent year-on-year last month – the first time the index has fallen since January 2019. • While the headline inflation rate is seen falling for the seventh month in a row in May 2025, core inflation – which measures the year-on-year price change for non-food-non-fuel items in the CPI basket – is seen edging up to around 4.2 per cent. • Core inflation, seen as an indicator of underlying demand pressures, has gradually risen since the middle of 2024, when it stood at 3.1 per cent. According to Nomura economists Aurodeep Nandi and Sonal Varma, the recent uptick in core CPI inflation should be looked through. • While the outlook for inflation is benign – the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) last week cut its forecast for the current fiscal by 30 basis points (bps) to 3.7 per cent – the pace with which prices of certain food items are falling is decreasing. 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The 'base year' for the current series of indices is 2012. In other words, the price index is given a value of 100 for 2012 and changes from these price levels are then calculated to arrive at inflation rates for each good or service. • The CPI has six main components, each with differing weights and many more sub-components within them. The main components are—Food and beverages, Pan, tobacco and intoxicants, Clothing and footwear, Housing, Fuel and light and Miscellaneous (services such as education, health care etc.) • Among these, food articles currently weigh 45% of the total index. The second-biggest component is that of miscellaneous services. Within the food category, cereal prices are the biggest factor — they account for 9.67% of the total CPI. This means that a spike in prices of food articles like cereals, vegetables, milk and pulses tends to have the biggest impact in raising consumer inflation. 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- Hindustan Times
PM Modi's meeting with Canadian PM important opportunity to reset relationship: MEA
NEW DELHI: The upcoming meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Canadian counterpart Mark Carney on the margins of the G7 Summit is an opportunity to reset bilateral ties based on mutual respect and sensitivity to each other's concerns, the external affairs ministry said on Thursday. India-Canada ties rapidly deteriorated after former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau alleged in September 2023 that Indian government agents were linked to the murder of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. India had dismissed the charge as 'absurd' and accused the Canadian government of giving safe haven to separatists and radical elements that posed a threat to Indian diplomats. Modi and Carney had their first phone conversation on June 6, when the Indian prime minister accepted an invitation to attend the outreach session of the G7 Summit to be hosted by Canada in the resort of Kananaskis on June 15-17. 'We believe that the forthcoming meeting between the two leaders on the sidelines of the G7 Summit will offer an important opportunity to exchange views on bilateral and global issues, and to explore pathways to reset the relationship based on mutual respect, shared interests and sensitivity to each other's concerns,' external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a weekly news briefing. He didn't go into details of the concerns of both countries and said India's views on 'some of these issues have already been shared publicly in considerable detail'. Besides accusing the Canadian side of not doing enough to rein in Khalistani elements that threatened Indian diplomatic facilities and diplomats, New Delhi had also said the previous Trudeau administration was providing space to secessionist and radical forces inimical to Indian interests. When Carney called Modi last week, the leaders had an 'opportunity to reflect on the India-Canada relationship and the way forward', Jaiswal said, in an apparent reference to the cratering of relations over the past two years. India and Canada, Jaiswal noted, are 'vibrant democracies bound by shared democratic values, a steadfast commitment to the rule of law, and vibrant people-to-people ties'. A readout issued by the Canadian Prime Minister's Office on the phone call between Modi and Carney said at the time that 'there was agreement to continued law enforcement dialogue and discussions addressing security concerns'. The Indian readout on the conversation had made no reference to this issue. Jaiswal responded to a question on the Canadian reference to a dialogue on security concerns by saying that there were existing mechanisms between Indian and Canadian law enforcement agencies that have 'discussed issues of mutual security concern over a period of time'. He added, 'This engagement is likely to continue.' The trial of four Indian men arrested for alleged involvement in the killing of Nijjar is currently underway in Canada. At the same time, both sides have shown interest in discussing the activities of trans-national criminal gangs, including elements with ties to Khalistani separatists. The planned meeting between Modi and Carney is being seen as the first real opportunity in almost two years to repair bilateral ties. Besides the deep people-to-people ties between India and Canada, the Carney government is interested in forging stronger economic ties with India in the face of strained relations with the US due to the trade policies of the Donald Trump administration. Carney has defended his decision to invite Modi to the G7 Summit following criticism of the move by Sikh groups in Canada. He has said India is central to several supply chains, and that the decision to invite Modi was made after consulting other G7 member countries. India is the fifth largest economy and at the heart of a crucial supply chains, he said. India's presence is 'essential' when the G7 countries address key issues such as security, energy, the digital future and critical minerals at the summit, he added. 'There are certain countries that should be at the table for those discussions,' Carney said. Among the priorities listed by Canada for the G7 Summit are strengthening security, countering foreign interference and transnational crime, building energy security, accelerating the digital transition, and fortifying critical mineral supply chains.
