Pulwama Attack: Noida's first evening 'Raahgiri' postponed

Noida's first evening Raahgiri, which was scheduled for Saturday, has been postponed to February 23 in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack, officials said Friday. At least 42 CRPF personnel were killed on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 80 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district that also left many critically wounded. "Words cannot express the grief shared by the nation on the terror attack in Pulwama," officials of the Noida Authority and the Noida Traffic Police said.

Raahgiri Day is India's first sustained vehicle-free citizen initiative that began in Gurugram, and has been successfully running there since its inception in 2013.

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"To share the grief and honour our brave CRPF jawans who were martyred on February 14, this Saturday's 'Sunset Raahgiri' is cancelled," they said in a statement.

Noida was set to introduce Sunset Raahgiri from 5 pm to 8 pm on Saturday, after demands from the people to change the event's timings.

A total of 18 states, and more than 70 cities, have conducted Raahgiri Days until now.

The main objective of the event is to promote sustainable transport creating awareness about Road Safety, Citizen Health and inclusive city development. Since February 3, the event has been held twice in Noida.

More than 2,500 Central Reserve Police Force personnel, many of them returning from leave to rejoin duty in the Valley, were travelling in the convoy of 78 vehicles when they were ambushed on the Srinagar-Jammu highway at Latoomode in Awantipora in south Kashmir.  

India has also withdrawn "Most Favoured Nation" or MFN status accorded to Pakistan. Most favoured nation (MFN) is the level of treatment accorded by one state to another in international trade. It is basically accorded to ensure non-discriminatory trade between all partner countries of the WTO. The WTO is the only global international organisation dealing with the rules of trade between nations.

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On Friday, India summoned Pakistan High Commissioner Sohail Mahmood and issued a ‘very strong demarche’. New Delhi has demanded ‘verifiable action’ against Jaish-e-Mohammed. Indian Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale conveyed that Pakistan must take immediate and verifiable action against Jaish-e-Mohammed and that it must immediately stop groups or individuals associated with terrorism operating from its territories.