Indian-American actor-comedian Aziz Ansari has won Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy for Master of None at the 75th Golden Globe Awards here.

“I genuinely didn’t think I’d win because all the websites said I was going to lose. Also, I am glad we won this one because it would have really sucked to lose two of these in a row,” Ansari said in his acceptance speech at the gala on Sunday night.

“The only reason my acting is good in that show is that everyone else holds me up,” Ansari quipped before thanking the cast and crew of Master Of None, his parents and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

On the Netflix original series, Ansari not only stars as Dev Shah, the pasta-loving, cupcake show host, but also serves as co-creator, writer, and director.

This is Ansari’s second Golden Globe nomination and first win. He was previously nominated for in 2016 also for Master of None.

Born in Columbia, South Carolina, to a Muslim family from Tamil Nadu, Ansari started his career as a stand-up comedian and acted on television in the comedy series “Parks and Recreation”.

He then created the Master of None, based on his personal experiences.

This text from Mom was great. Congrats @azizansari! #GoldenGlobes pic.x.com/w06bW4TOFi

— Kal Penn (@kalpenn) January 8, 2018

Indian-American actor Kal Penn congratulated Ansari on his win via Twitter.

Around 160 requests a day were made in late 2017 to access pornography websites from computers within the Houses of Parliament, Britain’s Press Association (PA) reported on Monday.

A total of 24,473 attempts were made since last June’s general election from devices connected to the parliamentary network, according to data obtained by a PA Freedom of Information (FOI) request.

Prime Minister Theresa May is already reeling from a wave of sexual misconduct allegations in Westminster.

She was forced to dump minister and long-time friend Damian Green last month after he apparently misled police over claims pornography was found on computers in his Westminster office in 2008.

The parliamentary internet network is used by MPs, Lords in the upper house and their staff.

Authorities claim most attempts are not deliberate and point to a decrease in recent years.

Parliament blocked 113,208 attempts in 2016, down from 213,020 the previous year.

“All pornographic websites are blocked by parliament’s computer network,” a parliamentary spokesman told PA.

“The vast majority of ‘attempts’ to access them are not deliberate.

“This data also covers personal devices used when logged on to parliament’s guest Wi-Fi.”

US President Donald Trump spoke to his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron over the phone and discussed the Korean Peninsula and Iran, according to the White House.

Trump updated Macron on the developments of the situation on the Peninsula, underscoring the “international resolve to achieve the complete denuclearisation” of the Peninsula, Xinhua news agency quoted the White House as saying.

The two leaders also talked about the demonstrations in Iran.

Iran had earlier blasted the US’ stance on the demonstrations in the country, with its Ambassador to the UN Gholamali Khoshroo slamming the Trump administration’s attempts to intervene in the domestic affairs of the Islamic Republic.

Trump on Saturday said that he was willing to talk with Kim Jong Un and that he supports the upcoming talks between the two Koreas slated to take place on Tuesday.

A group of Indian-Americans and Balochs held a protest outside Pakistan embassy in Washington DC over the humiliation of death row prisoner Kulbhushan Jadhav’s mother and wife in Islamabad.

Holding banners and placards with #ChappalChorPakistan printed on them, the group demanded that the US put economic sanctions on the nation and also ‘donated’ several pairs of used shoes to the embassy.

“They (Pakistan) are shameless because they stole the chappal (sandal) of a woman (Jadhav’s wife) who was in distress. I hope they use these too,” said one of the protesters as he pointed towards a row of used shoes that were lined up outside the embassy.

“The way they (Jadhav’s mother and wife) have been treated is unacceptable to us,” added the protester.

India too had lambasted Pakistan for the manner in which the meeting between Jadhav and his wife, Chetankul and mother, Avanti were conducted on December 25, saying Islamabad “violated the letter and spirit of our understandings” over the meeting.

Ahead of the meeting, the two women were made to remove their mangalsutra, bangles and bindi and were not allowed to converse in their mother tongue Marathi.

Jadhav’s wife’s shoes were taken away and not returned. Pakistan later sent the shoes for forensic report to determine the nature of the suspected presence of a foreign object.

Meanwhile, the group of protesters also demanded that the US cutback all aid to Pakistan and put sanctions on it.

Balochs are the people of Balochistan, one of the four provinces of Pakistan that is fighting for independence. The province is divided into four princely states, which were forcefully acceded to Pakistan.

The magic of the FA Cup was on full, albeit controversial, display at the City Ground as Championship side Nottingham Forest edged holders 4-2 in a thrilling third round tie to send the Gunners crashing out of the competition at the first hurdle.

With Arsene Wenger serving a touchline ban for his ‘abusive comments’ towards Premier League referee Mike Dean, the North Londoners knew that the once great Forest would not make life easy for them.

Don’t miss: Majestic Manchester City ride late salvo to down Burnley

The Premier League giants rested several big names, fielding a starting XI with a mix of youth talent and fringe players and perhaps the lack of cohesion, especially at the back, cost them dearly as they found themselves trailing to Forest defender Eric Lichaj’s 20th-minute strike.

Arsenal’s back-three of Rob Holding, Per Mertesacker and Mathieu Debuchy was exposed time and again, with 18-year-old striker Ben Brereton constantly looking to run in behind the rusty defenders and coming close to scoring.

The Gunners, however, struck soon after via Mertesacker to level proceedings before Lichaj would score, in all probability, his most famous goal to give the hosts a vital lead heading into the interval.

Must read: Manchester United ride late goals to beat Derby County

The American defender struck a marvellous volley from the edge of the box and David Ospinia, who was having an outstanding game till then, was stranded as the ball flew into the top corner and with one half left, Arsenal were up against it and they knew it.

While Forest keeper Jordan Smith was a busy man, arguably Ospinia had been called into action more often, despite Arsenal’s monopoly over possession.

Forest, under caretaker-manager Gary Brazil, kept threatening with pace on the counter, with Brereton making a nuisance of himself.

The 18-year-old got a chance to get himself on the scoresheet when Rob Holding committed a foul in the box and the striker sent Ospina the wrong way to suggest an upset was very much on the cards with less than half an hour left in the tie.

Also read: Arsene Wenger banned for three games after outburst

Danny Welbeck reduced the deficit after a blunder by Smith in the 79th minute but the Gunners would gift Forest a second penalty.
Former Gunner Bertrand Traore was felled by Debuchy inside the box and what happened next incensed the away side.

Kieran Dowell stepped up to take the spot-kick but he slipped and clearly hit the ball twice enroute to scoring. After much deliberation, match referee Jonathan Moss ruled the goal was legal, much to the disbelief of Mertesacker and co.

Forest defender Joe Worrall was sent of in the dying stages but there was to be no miraculous comeback as the hosts held on for a famous win.

In the other FA Cup matches on Sunday, Tottenham Hotspur eased past AFC Wimbledon 3-0 thanks to a Harry Kane brace and a goal from Jan Vertonghen while Shrewsbury Town forced West Ham United into a replay with 0-0 draw. Elsewhere, League Two side Newport fashioned an upset to knock out Championship side Leeds United to make it a day of remarkable results.

Shaun Marsh (156) and Mitchell Marsh (101) took Australia to 649/7 declared in their first innings before reducing England to 93/4 in their second innings on the fourth day of the fifth and final Ashes Test here on Sunday.

England, who have already lost the series, trail the hosts by 210 runs and with only six wickets in hand, face a tough task of avoiding a 0-4 defeat.

Resuming the day at 479/4, both Shaun, overnight on 98, and Mitchell, overnight on 63, went on to register their second centuries of the series, adding 169 for the fifth wicket.

After declaring their first innings at 649/7, Steven Smith-led Australia took a 303-run first-innings lead at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Shaun was the first to get to his three-figure mark, adding the two runs required to bring up his sixth Test hundred. He drove spinner Moeen Ali through the covers in just the fifth ball of the day to bring up the mark.

England soon took the third new ball, but the brothers, happily settled in now, weren’t to be denied their rare opportunity to meet as unbeaten Ashes centurions mid-pitch.

Seamer Stuart Broad was hit for consecutive fours by Mitchell in his first two overs of the day. That fourth boundary took him up to 99, and the ran for a double off Tom Curran to complete the 100.

Mitchell let his guard fall, and was dismissed next ball when Curran jagged one back in. Tim Paine and joined Shaun, and the two then added a quick 52, the latter putting away boundaries almost every over.

His stand eventually came to an end, run out after Paine called him for a quick single. Starc followed suit after a quick 11, and Smith called his wards back in after Paine and Cummins added a brisk unbroken 52.

England, trailing by 303 runs, couldn’t get it going. Mark Stoneman (0) was trapped in frontof the wicket by Mitchell Starc in the third over the third over.

The partnership between Alastair Cook (10) and James Vince (18) then lasted just 17 deliveries before Cook was trapped lbw by spinner Nathan Lyon, while Vince ran out of luck after edging paceman Pat Cummins to Steve Smith at slips.

Captain Joe Root (42 batting) then came in and held up one end. He added 25 with Dawid Malan (5), who was dismissed by a lbw verdict in favour of Lyon.

Jonny Bairstow (17 batting) gave Root company till the end of the day.

Brief Scores: England first innings: 346 and 93/4 (Joe Root 42 batting; Nathan Lyon 2/31) vs Australia first innings: 649/7 declared (Usman Khawaja 171, Shaun Marsh 156, Mitchell Marsh 101, Steve Smith 83; Moeen Ali 2/170) on Day 4.

John Young, America’s “most experienced astronaut” who walked on the Moon during the Apollo programme and commanded the first space shuttle mission, has passed away, NASA said on Saturday.

Young died on Friday night following complications from pneumonia, Xinhua quoted the US space agency as saying. He was 87 years old.

“Today, NASA and the world have lost a pioneer,” acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot was quoted as saying. Young is the only US astronaut to go into space as part of the Gemini, Apollo and space shuttle programmes and the first to fly into space six times, said NASA.

Young made his first flight as an astronaut in 1965, joining astronaut Gus Grissom on Gemini 3, the first manned flight of the early NASA human spaceflight programme that helped the agency get ready for the Apollo moon landings.

Then, in 1966, he flew as Commander on Gemini 10, the first mission to rendezvous with two separate spacecrafts on the course of a single flight. He also orbited the Moon in Apollo 10 in 1969 and landed there in 1972 as Commander of the Apollo 16 mission.

In 1981, he served as Commander of STS-1, the first space shuttle mission, which some have called “the boldest test flight in history.”

Two years later, on STS-9, his final spaceflight, Young landed the space shuttle with a fire in the back end, according to NASA. He retired from NASA in 2004.

“Astronaut John Young’s storied career spanned three generations of spaceflight,” Lightfoot said, adding, “He was in every way the ‘astronaut’s astronaut. We will miss him.”

Style went hand-in-hand with activism at the 75th Golden Globe Awards here as a slew of celebrities flaunted all-black dresses as a silent protest against the spate of sexual harassment scandals that have rocked Hollywood. Putting out the message louder were black-and-white ‘Time’s Up’ pins.

Veteran actress Meryl Streep, who wore a bespectacled look with an off-shoulder dress, walked the red carpet on Sunday with National Domestic Workers Alliance director and award-winning activist Ai-jen Poo.

“I think people are aware, now, of a power imbalance, and it’s something that leads to abuse. It’s led to abuse in our own industry, and it’s led to abuse across the domestic workers’ field of work. It’s in the military, it’s in Congress, it’s everywhere.

“And we want to fix that. And we feel sort of emboldened in this particular moment to stand together in a thick black line dividing then from now,” Streep told Ryan Seacrest.

Actress Michelle Williams appeared in black with Tarana Burke, founder of the #MeToo movement, which spread all over social media as women spoke out against the sexual harassment they face in everyday life.

Amy Poehler arrived with Saru Jayaraman, president of Restaurant Opportunities Center United.

From Catherine Zeta Jones, Chris Hemsworth, Alicia Vikander, Kendall Jenner, Mariah Carey and Jessica Chastain to Nicole Kidman, Kit Harington, Mandy Moore, Heidi Klum and more — most stars stuck to the all-black dress, which robbed the red carpet of colour but not purpose.

Besides that was the ‘Time’s Up’ pin which was seen on the lapels and collars of stars like Justin Timberlake, Daniel Kaluuya, Ewan McGregor, Michelle Pfeiffer, William H. Macy, Joseph Fiennes, Nick Jonas and Ryan Seacrest.

It is part of the ‘Time’s Up’ campaign, an initiative created by several hundred actresses and female agents, writers, directors and entertainment executives to fight sexual misconduct across the country since revelations about alleged crimes by producer Harvey Weinstein.

To safeguard its customers from potential security bugs in chips, Google has deployed a novel chip-level patch across its entire infrastructure, resulting in only minor declines in performance in most cases.

“In response to the vulnerabilities that were discovered, we developed a novel mitigation called ‘Retpoline’ – a binary modification technique that protects against ‘branch target injection’ attacks,” Matt Linton, Senior Security Engineer and Pat Parseghian, Technical Programme Manager at Google wrote in a joint blog post on Thursday.

“We shared ‘Retpoline’ with our industry partners and have deployed it on Google’s systems, where we have observed negligible impact on performance,” the engineers added.

In addition, the tech giant has deployed “Kernel Page Table Isolation” (KPTI) which is a general purpose technique for better protecting sensitive information in memory from other software running on a machine.

“KPTI” has been deployed to the entire fleet of Google Linux production servers that support all of our products, including Search, Gmail, YouTube and Google Cloud Platform, the company said in a statement.

Earlier, Intel had confirmed serious security flaws in modern processors that could affect its computers released in the last two decades.

The chip-maker had said that the bug, if used for malicious purposes, has the potential to improperly gather sensitive data from computing devices and promised to fix the bug as soon as possible.

It added that the vulnerability, discovered by a British tech website, the Register, is not unique to Intel products.

It argued that “many types of computing devices – with many different vendors’ processors and operating systems – are susceptible to these exploits”.

Software major Microsoft has already issued emergency updates to supported versions of Windows that was part of a number of fixes that would protect against the processor bug in Intel as well as AMD and ARM CPUs.

Amazon was also reportedly working on security updates to their Cloud services and other products.

BSF troopers on Sunday seized nearly 20 kg of heroin along the India-Pakistan border in Punjab’s Gurdaspur district, BSF officials said.

The heroin, valued at nearly Rs 100 crore in the international market, was recovered near the Adhain border out Post (BoP) in Gurdaspur district, around 250 km from here, on Sunday.

A Border Security Force spokesman said that troopers noticed some movement along the international border near the electrified barbed wire fencing and challenged the suspected smugglers, but they managed to escape taking advantage of the dense fog in the area.

A search of the area later in the day led to the recovery of 19 packets, each of around a kg, of heroin hidden in a plastic pipe.

Following release of the Advance Estimate (AEs) of GDP and GVA for the economy for 2017-18, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare on Sunday said that the agriculture sector is estimated to register a higher GVA in the next financial year.

As per data released by the Central Statistics Office, the GVA of ‘Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing’ index for 2017-18 was estimated at 2.1 percent, compared to 4.9 percent in the preceding year.

The ministry has had a quick deliberation on the growth rate for the agriculture sector to strategize on ensuring that 2017-18 sees a much higher growth rate, said an official statement.

According to the statement, lower coverage of the area by August 2017 on account of the delayed onset of monsoons caused a poor reflection compared to the actual positive field situation by December, and despite a lower or negative share of crop sector in the GVA computation of Agriculture, based on August 2017 status, the growth rate still worked out to 2.1 per cent.

The ministry also said that it is also important to note that the Advance Estimate for the year 2017-18 comes on the back of a very robust GVA of 4.9 per cent in the previous year.

While coverage under different crops in Kharif as of August 2017 was below that of the previous year on account of delay in onset of monsoons in some parts of the country, good rainfall thereafter helped the ministry in increasing the area coverage in accordance with Kharif targets.

In terms of Rabi, the ministry said it was optimistic about achieving a high growth rate due to improvement in the performance.

“As on January 5, 2018, the area coverage under Rabi is 58.6 million hectares, which is very good progress. Considering that the Rabi sowing continues up to the first week of February, the total area under crops and resultant production will be very good,” it said.

Further, the ministry expects to consolidate the record production achieved during 2016-17, by focusing on higher productivity. The credit made available for the year 2017-18 is as high as Rs 10 lakh crore, compared to Rs 9 lakh crore in 2016-17.

Five employees of a bar-cum- restaurant were charred to death when a major fire broke out at Kumbaara Sangha building in Kalasipalya here in the early hours on Sunday, police said.

The incident occurred at 2:30 AM at Kailash Bar and Restaurant when the employees were asleep.

Police identified the victims as Swami (23), Prasad (20), Mahesh, all residents of Tumakuru, Manjunath (45) from Hassan and Keerthi (24) from Mandya.

“An incident of fire has occurred at Kailash Bar and Restaurant located in the ground floor of Kumbaara sangha building (in the vegetable market area). Fire and smoke was noticed by some persons at around 2.30 AM and fire services were pressed into action. Two fire tenders and one fire rescue vehicle attended to it and it has been doused,” a senior police officer said.

The cause of fire was unknown and was being investigated, he said.

Mexican marines exchanged gunfire with a group of gunmen in Mexico’s Baja California Sur state, leaving seven dead, officials said on Sunday.

The state’s Attorney General’s Office (PGJE) said the clash took place late on Saturday in the popular beach resort of Los Cabos, as the marines headed to a neighborhood in San Jose del Cabo, one of two towns that comprise the resort, to investigate the sound of gunfire.

On the way, the marines detected armed men riding in two vehicles, both with US license plates, in the road ahead of them and ordered them to stop, but they sped up in an attempt to flee while the occupants fired their guns.

As the chase continued, both vehicles eventually crashed into walls or barricades, though the four occupants of the second vehicle got out and continued to fire on the marines until they were killed.

Marines seized high-caliber weapons and vehicles in the operation.

The PGJE said it opened an investigation into the incident it said was “allegedly linked to criminal events that have taken place in the state.”

In late December, authorities found bodies hanging from bridges near Los Cabos, in a sign that violent crime sparked by rival drug trafficking organisations is plaguing the state.

Various press bodies including the Press Club of India, the Editors Guild, Indian Women’s Press Corps, Press Association and the Mumbai Press Club on Sunday condemned the lodging of FIR against The Tribune reporter who exposed vulnerability of the Aadhaar data.

The press clubs and journalists’ associations dubbed the FIR as “a direct attack on the freedom of the press” and demanded an immediate withdrawal of the case.

“The Press Club of India, Indian Women’s Press Corps (IWPC) and Press Association express their strong objection and condemnation at the registration of a FIR against a reporter of The Tribune by an officer of the Unique Identification Authority of India for writing a story exposing alleged loopholes in the system,” a joint statement by the three bodies said.

After a January 3 news report by The Tribune newspaper over breach in Aadhaar data with a headline “Rs 500, 10 minutes, and you have access to billion Aadhaar details”, the UIDAI has registered an FIR against the newspaper and reporter Rachna Khaira.

The FIR, lodged with the Cyber Cell of the Crime Branch, invokes serious charges under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), IT Act and Aadhaar Act.

The UIDAI on January 4 said its search facility for grievance redressal may have been “misused” but denied any breach or leak of Aadhaar data.

“If there is no breach, what is the offence they have supposed to have committed? Rather than addressing the loopholes which would actually ensure safety and security of the data and allay the general concerns about this, the UIDAI has chosen to persecute those whose actions appear to have been only in public interest, that is, drawing attention to the possibility of data insecurity before someone with ulterior motives is able to exploit them,” the statement said.

“We find the UIDAI’s move extremely intimidatory, obstructionist and inimical to the pursuit of free, fair and independent journalism. We demand that the complaint and the proceedings related to it should be withdrawn forthwith,” it said.

The Editors Guild of India, in a separate statement, said that is “deeply concerned” over reports that UIDAI had registered an FIR against the reporter of The Tribune who has been booked under IPC sections 419 (cheating under impersonation), 420 (cheating), 468 (forgery), 471 (using a forged document) and also under sections of the IT Act and the Aadhar Act.

“The Guild condemns UIDAI’s action to have the Tribune reporter booked by police as it is clearly meant to browbeat a journalist whose investigation on the matter was of great public interest. It is unfair, unjustified and a direct attack on the freedom of the press,” it said, demanding withdrawal of the police case and an “impartial investigation” into the matter.

The Mumbai Press Club too condemned the “unilateral action of the UIDAI for lodging an FIR” and underlined that the action “will be treated as nothing short of an attack on the privileges and rights of a free press”.

It also advised the “administration” to avoid a “clash with the Fourth Estate”.

“Mumbai Press Club demands an impartial inquiry on the Aadhaar data sale and take action against those involved in the data breach instead of taking action against the journalist who exposed it,” it said.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Sunday met with her Singaporean counterpart Dr Vivian Balakrishnan here and discussed bilateral and multilateral issues relating to the economic and strategic partnership, officials said.

The two leaders also discussed the enormous potential for cooperation between ASEAN and India, officials said.

They had discussions on bilateral and multilateral issues relating to the economic and strategic partnership, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in a tweet.

Swaraj addressed the Indian diaspora at the ASEAN-India Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) during which she reaffirmed India’s commitment to ASEAN. She also met delegates from the ASEAN countries attending the PBD.

Also read: Indian diaspora a platform for stronger ties with ASEAN: Swaraj

Balakrishnan said that the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) between ASEAN and six of its key partners including India is a historic opportunity to set up the world’s largest trade bloc.

If it comes to fruition, the RCEP would cover half of the world’s population and a third of its gross domestic product, he said.

“Economic integration is not just a mantra, but it is crucial for the mutual prosperity of the citizens of India and of ASEAN,” Balakrishnan told some 3,000 Indian delegates.

He pointed out that the potential was still untapped.

“There is a huge potential for growth in trade, tourism and many other fields (between India and ASEAN),” he said.

To grow ASEAN’s ties with India, Balakrishnan suggested more affordable flights, to encourage more businessmen and tourists to travel.

Smart cities in India and ASEAN could also connect with each other, the minister said.

He also called for better digital connectivity.

Earlier today, Swaraj said that India’s dialogue partnership with ASEAN has evolved into a strategic partnership and the Indian diaspora provides a platform for stronger ties with the grouping.

ASEAN, which comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, is India’s fourth largest trading partner, accounting for 10.2 per cent of India’s total trade.

India is ASEAN’s seventh largest trading partner. Trade is back on track and registered an eight per cent increase in 2016-17, as compared to the previous year.

New Delhi will host a commemorative summit on January 25 to mark the 25th anniversary of the Dialogue Partnership between India and ASEAN in which all the leaders of the bloc are expected to participate.

The electoral bonds mechanism is a substantial improvement in transparency over the present system and the government is open to suggestions to further cleanse political funding, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Sunday.

In a Facebook post, Jaitley said the conventional practice of funding the political system was to take donations as well as undertake expenditures in cash.

The sources are anonymous or pseudonymous. The quantum of money was never disclosed and the system ensures unclean money coming from unidentifiable sources.

“It is a wholly non-transparent system. Most political groups seem fairly satisfied with the present arrangement and would not mind this status-quo to continue.

“The effort, therefore, is to run down any alternative system which is devised to cleanse up the political funding mechanism,” Jaitley said.

Also read: Most parties trying to obstruct ‘transparent’ electoral bonds: Arun Jaitley

The finance minister had last week announced the contours of the electoral bonds, which will be sold by country’s latest lender SBI and will have a tenure of just 15 days.

The bonds are being pitched as an alternative to cash donations made to political parties.

Jaitley said the choice has now to be “consciously” made between the existing system of substantial cash donations involving unclean money and other transparent options like cheque, online transactions or electoral bonds.

“While all three methods involve clean money, the first two are totally transparent and the electoral bonds scheme is a substantial improvement in transparency over the present system of no-transparency,” he said.

“The government is willing to consider all suggestions to further strengthen the cleansing of political funding in India. It has to be borne in mind that impractical suggestions will not improve the cash denominated system. They would only consolidate it,” Jaitley wrote.

He said India, despite being the largest democracy in the world, has not been able to evolve a transparent political funding system in the last seven decades.

“The round the year functioning of the political parties involves a large expenditure… These expenditures run into hundreds of crores. Yet there has not been a transparent funding mechanism of the political system,” he said.

On the second death anniversary of her father and former Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday made a passionate appeal to India and Pakistan to resume parleys to end the ongoing bloodshed in Kashmir.

Addressing party workers who came in large numbers to pay homage to late Sayeed at his mausoleum in Dara Shikoh garden in Anantnag district’s Bijbehara town, Mufti said the present violence is only killing Kashmiris who die either as militants or policemen.

“Resumption of dialogue between India and Pakistan is the only way forward to end the bloodshed in Kashmir.”

The Chief Minister said her party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is playing a crucial role in safeguarding the interests of the people.

Many ministers and senior leaders of the PDP also paid their tributes.

Extra security arrangements were made to ensure that the function passes off peacefully.