'Pakistan's poverty level jumps to 11-year high amid govt claims of economic revival'

IANS | February 23, 2026 3:04 PM

New Delhi, Feb 23 (IANS) While the Pakistan government claims that the country’s economy has been revived from the brink and is now stable, the harsh reality is that poverty has climbed to an 11-year high of 29 per cent and income inequality is at levels not seen in nearly three decades, according to an article in the Pakistani media.

Indian Muslim clerics, Javed Akhtar condemn Taliban over code allowing wife beating

IANS | February 23, 2026 2:40 PM

Lucknow, Feb 23 (IANS) Prominent Muslim clerics in India have sharply condemned the Taliban’s new penal code in Afghanistan that reportedly legalises domestic violence, calling it a blatant misuse of religion and a violation of Islamic principles. The law, which allows husbands to beat wives “without causing bone fractures or open wounds” and punishes women with imprisonment if they visit their parents without permission, has sparked outrage among religious leaders and civil society.