Protesters storm PTV office in Islamabad, stop transmission

Protesters barged into the Pakistan Television (PTV) network office smashing cameras and entered the control room, a media outlet reported.
  
The protesters seemed to have faced no security obstacles. Over 800 protesters entered the building.
  
Army personnel reached the headquarters of the TV station and asked the protesters to leave the building immediately.
  
Later, protesters responded to the calls by army personnel and started to leave the PTV headquarters.
  
Thousands of supporters of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Tahir-ul-Qadiri are battling with the police since Saturday night to reach the front of the Prime Minister's House.
  
The clashes started when both Khan and Qadri asked their followers, camping in front of the Parliament, to shift the venue of protest to lawns of Premier's House.
  
Khan immediately denied that his party men were part of the protesters that had stormed the TV station.
  
"Whoever has entered the PTV headquarters are not our workers. I have not told any worker to proceed towards PM House or enter any building, the PTI chief said.
  
Khan added that whoever from his party entered the PTV headquarters will be removed from the party.
  
The protesters who stormed the PTV building were chanting slogans in favour of the Pakistan Army.
  
The demonstrators wrote Qadri's name on the walls of the PTV headquarters, a news channel reported.
  
Qadri asked his followers to vacate the building.

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Modi has opportunity to bring new energy to Indo-US ties: Royce

"Prime Minister Modi's historic victory has granted him a mandate unseen in decades. If Modi is successful, far more Indians will have an opportunity to unleash their abundant economic talent and potential, as Guajaratis have. He now has the opportunity to reinvigorate India's economy and bring new energy to US-India relations," Congressman Ed Royce said.

Royce, Chairman of the powerful House Foreign Relations Committee and former Co-Chair of the influential Congressional Caucus on India and Indian-Americans, in an oped to the ethnic India West newspaper wrote that he is optimistic that the mandate given to Modi will help India thrive economically, lifting countless people out of poverty.

Praising Modi for his Gujarat model of development, Royce said under his leadership, Gujarat, home to a mere five percent of the country's population, now accounts for nearly 25 percent of all Indian exports.

"Modi's election as prime minister comes at a time when India's economy could use a boost. Once enjoying a GDP growth rate near 10 percent, it is now growing at less than five percent each year. Inflation also remains high due to bottlenecks in production and infrastructure, preventing companies from growing," Royce said.

"Adding to these problems, India has one of the fastest growing workforces in the world, and is currently able to create only two million jobs per year for the 12 million people entering its workforce. To meet these challenges, a pro-business, pro-growth leader is needed," he wrote.

Royce said it is likely that Modi will focus on private enterprise, reduced bureaucracy and stronger trade ties with major partners.

"Importantly, Modi met with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on his first day as prime minister, stressing that the two sides could move trade ties immediately. These maneuvers should help jumpstart India's economy, but importantly, they will also place a much needed focus on improved trade," he said.

"Since 2001, US-India trade may have doubled every five years, but our economic relationship remains far below the scale of our markets. The value of US-India trade is still only one-seventh that of our trade with China, despite warm relations and numerous shared values. Modi's commitment to cut the red tape that has long plagued our trade relationship gives reason for hope that our economic partnership will flourish," Royce said.

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UN condemns rape and murder of two teenage girls in UP

"There should be justice for the families of the two teenage girls and for all the women and girls from lower caste communities who are targeted and raped in rural India. Violence against women is not a women’s issue, it’s a human rights issue," Resident Coordinator of UN system in India Lise Grande said.

UN Chief Ban Ki-moon too had called the recent incidents of violence towards women in India and Pakistan "appalling".

"In recent days we have also seen other tragic incidents in which women have been the targets of appalling violence – from Pakistan to India to California and Nigeria. The world will never find true peace and prosperity if half the population face discrimination and exploitation," Ban had said in remarks made to reporters in Toronto last week.

The UN system in India said ending violence against women and girls is a fundamental goal of the world body and assured its support to people across the country to do what it takes to ensure that every woman and every girl can live safely and with dignity everywhere.

"Every girl and woman should be able to live safely, feel protected and grow up free of violence," UN Women's Representative in India Rebecca Tavares said.

"Amongst the many actions that need to be taken, the UN encourages the speedier application of the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2013, including the establishment of the one-stop crisis centres. The justice system is key to addressing the problem," Tavares said.

Grande noted that many "progressive reforms and changes" have been put in place following the brutal gang-rape and murder of a young woman in Delhi in December 2013 but stressed the need for implementing the laws meant for the protection of girls and women.

"But having the laws in place are only one part of the solution – their implementation also matters as does changing mind-sets. Violence against women and girls is preventable, not inevitable. Sustained implementation of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), 2012 and the setting up of Special Courts and child friendly procedures for victims under 18 years of age are also key priorities," Grande added.

The latest brutal act of violence against the girls in UP also highlights the dangers girls and women all over India are exposed to due to the lack of toilets.

UNICEF's Representative to India Louis-Georges Arsenault said around 65 percent of rural population in India defecates in the open and women and girls are expected to go out at
night. "This does not only threaten their dignity, but their safety as well," Arsenault said.

Last week, UN had described as a ‘horrendous crime’ and strongly condemned the incident and stressed that all citizens should be protected by the law.

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