
Pakistani celebrities' social media accounts remain blocked in India
On Wednesday, the Instagram accounts of certain Pakistan actors such as Mawra Hocane, Saba Qamar, Ahad Raza Mir, Yumna Zaidi, and Danish Taimoor beifely appeared to be accesible to the Indian audience.
This significant development sparked outrage on social media. However, as of Thursday morning these accounts continue to be withheld in India.
Upon searching for their accounts, users can see a message: 'Account not available in India. This is because we complied with a legal request to restrict this content.'
However, the YouTube channels of Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Akhtar and entertainment channels like Green TV entertainment are still available for viewing in India.
However, prominent Pakistani actors, such as Fawad Khan, Mahira Khan, and Hania Aamir, are still not accessible to Indian users on Instagram, as their accounts remain blocked.
India had banned social media accounts of several Pakistani actors and cricketers after they reportedly spewed Anti-India content after India's Operation Sindoor, which was launched on May 7 in response to a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam that claimed 26 lives. Operation Sindoor was followed by an intense military confrontation between India and Pakistan that lasted around four days.
Earlier in April, India had announced a ban on 16 Pakistani YouTube channels for spreading provocative and communally sensitive content and misinformation against India, its Army and security agencies in the backdrop of the tragic Pahalgam terror incident in Jammu and Kashmir.
The significant action followed the recommendations of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). These channels were found to be disseminating false and unverified information related to India's national security, foreign relations, and public order. Collectively, they had a significant viewership. (ANI)
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Time of India
20 minutes ago
- Time of India
$565m credit line for Maldives, talks on free trade pact
PM Modi and President of the Maldives Mohamed Muizzu (Pic credit: AP) The turnaround in India-Maldives ties in the past 10 months - following the acrimonious removal of Indian military personnel from the strategically located country - seemed complete as India announced a fresh $565 million line of credit (LoC) for the Indian Ocean neighbour and signed an agreement to reduce its annual debt repayment burden by 40%. As President Mohamed Muizzu hosted PM Modi for the latter's first visit to the country under his presidency, receiving Modi at the airport, both sides affirmed their commitment to a bilateral investment pact and a free trade agreement, for which the terms of reference were finalised. Seven MoUs and agreements were signed. Muizzu had invited Modi as the guest of honour for the Maldivian independence day celebrations. India had extended an $800 million LoC in 2019 under the previous pro-India Maldivian Democratic Party govt but on this occasion the LoC is in Indian currency (Rs 4,850 crore). PM: India & Maldives will soon finalise an investment treaty The president said after his meeting with Narendra Modi it will be used for priority projects in defence, healthcare, education and housing. Foreign secretary Vikram Misri said Muizzu reiterated the Maldives's condemnation of the Pahalgam attack. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like They Were So Beautiful Before; Now Look At Them; Number 10 Will Shock You Reportingly Undo Muizzu has been seen as a pro-China leader in the past because of his association with the India Out campaign while in the opposition, and his insistence on driving out Indian military from the archipelago after taking over as president in Nov 2023. Muizzu travelled to India in Oct last year for an official visit, during which he said Maldives would do nothing to hurt India's security interests and would prioritise the relationship. The leaders then launched a Comprehensive Economic and Maritime Security Partnership to resuscitate the relationship. Modi said India is proud of the fact that it's Maldives's most reliable partner and that for India, it's always friendship first. "To give a new impetus to our development partnership, we have decided to provide a line of credit of $565 million, or approximately Rs 5,000 crore, to Maldives. It will be used for projects related to infrastructure development in line with the priorities of the people of Maldives," said Modi, calling the relationship older than history and as deep as oceans. One of the agreements signed is expected to bring down Male's annual LoC debt repayment from $51 million to $29 million. Modi said that both countries will soon finalise a bilateral investment treaty and their target now is "from paperwork to prosperity", adding a local currency settlement system under discussion will facilitate trade. There was focus on defence and security cooperation as the new defence ministry building built with Indian assistance was inaugurated. Asked whether there was any discussion about China, Misri said in a press briefing that India continued to work very closely with the Maldives on any issue that might "impinge on not just our security but our common security in this region that we share". Modi will participate in the independence day celebrations on Saturday and meet political functionaries. The visit saw the leaders virtually inaugurating a roads and drainage system project in Addu city and six high impact community development projects in other cities.


Time of India
27 minutes ago
- Time of India
DRDO tests missile fired from drone
NEW DELHI: Flight-trials of an advanced precision guided missile launched from an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), which can be fired in plain and high-altitude areas during day and night, have been successfully conducted by DRDO. The UAV-launched precision guided missile or ULPGM-V3, which is an enhanced version of the ULPGM-V2 missile developed and delivered by DRDO earlier, was tested at the National Open Area Range at Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh. "The ULPGM-V3 is equipped with a high-definition dual-channel seeker that can strike a wide variety of targets. It has a two-way data link to support post-launch target/aim-point update," an official said on Friday. The missile is equipped with three modular warhead options, including an anti-armour one against modern tanks and infantry combat vehicles equipped with rolled homogeneous armour with explosive reactive armour. The other two are a penetration-cum-blast warhead with bunker-bursting capabilities and a re-fragmentation warhead with "a high lethality zone". Calling it "a major boost" to India's defence capabilities, defence minister Rajnath Singh congratulated DRDO and its industry partners, MSMEs and start-ups for the development and successful trials of the ULPGM-V3 system. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like No annual fees for life UnionBank Credit Card Apply Now Undo "This success proves that the Indian industry is now ready to absorb and produce critical defence technologies," he added. The missile is jointly developed by the DRDO labs like the Research Centre Imarat, Defence Research and Development Laboratory, Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory, High-Energy Materials Research Laboratory, Integrated Test Range and Defence Electronics Research Laboratory. The UAV, in turn, has been indigenously developed by start-up Newspace Research Technologies, Bengaluru. "DRDO is actively pursuing integration of ULPGM weapons with long-range and high endurance UAVs from several other Indian companies," the official said.


Time of India
36 minutes ago
- Time of India
Just 50 air-launched weapons pulverised Pak, says IAF vice-chief
NEW DELHI: Less than 50 air-launched weapons fired by India at airbases and radar sites in Pakistan during Operation Sindoor compelled the western adversary to come to the negotiating table and sue for peace, IAF vice chief Air Marshal Narmdeshwar Tiwari said on Friday. "We have discussed a lot about the cost-benefit, especially of air power. There is no greater example I think than what we did in Operation Sindoor. Less than 50 weapons can bring the adversary to the talking is an example that needs to be studied and will be studied (by scholars)," Air Marshal Tiwari said, speaking at an interactive session during an aerospace power seminar here. Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, in turn, said the armed forces need to maintain "very high" operational readiness round-the-clock and throughout the year because Operation Sindoor "still continues", while stressing that "there are no runners-up in war". Noting that the rapid advances in technology and the ongoing geopolitical churn have ushered in "a third revolution in warfare", the CDS said the Indian military needs "information warriors, technology warriors and scholar warriors" geared for multi-domain operations. It is essential for the military to learn both 'shastra' (warfare/weapons) and 'shaastra' (knowledge), he said. Though Air Marshal Tiwari did not specify the weapons that were used during the May 7-10 hostilities, IAF deployed Sukhoi-30MKI, Rafale and Mirage-2000 fighters to launch BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles as well as Crystal Maze-2, Rampage and Scalp missiles for the calibrated pinpoint strikes on the Pakistani airbases and radar sites, a few of them close to nuclear facilities as well as command and control structures The IAF vice chief also said manned systems like fighters "still have a huge advantage" over unmanned systems like drones, in terms of the "compellence" and "coercive diplomacy" to be imposed on an adversary, and will continue to do so for some time. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Dig Into the Data and Decide: Is Nvidia Still a Core AI Play? Seeking Alpha Read Now Undo "We are giving too much importance to unmanned systems. While they have a place and relevance in modern warfare, but the kind of weight of attack, the intelligence required, the kind of damage they can have to see whether they balance with what manned aerial systems bring to the table," he said. Different speakers at the "Capstone" seminar organised by the Centre for Air Power Studies and College of Air Warfare stressed the need for India to "prioritise" the development of aerospace power, which was "not escalatory" but "a strategic and effective tool for escalation control" as was witnessed during Operation Sindoor. "Operation Sindoor underlined the speed, reach and flexibility of airpower. We established escalation dominance over Pakistan," said a speaker. Others pointed out that India had drawn a new red line for Pakistan by stressing it will not be dissuaded by the western adversary's nuclear blackmail and continue to give cross-border kinetic responses to terror attacks in the future as well.