Tag: Pakistan

BSF shoots down Pakistani drone carrying rifle, grenades near Jammu border
22Jun By Yusara AskariNo Comments
Asia

BSF shoots down Pakistani drone carrying rifle, grenades near Jammu border

A Pakistani spy drone loaded with a highly sophisticated rifle and seven grenades was shot down by the Border Security Force (BSF) in India’s Hirangar sector of Kathua district on Saturday.A patrolling party of 19 Batallion of the BSF found the 8x8 (from blade to blade) Pakistani drone flying near the international border in Hiranagar sector of Kathua district at around 5 am and shot 8-9 rounds to bring it down, the officials said.They said it entered into this side from Pakistan and such attempts have been made in various sectors over the past one year.The drone was spotted at an approximate distance of 250 meters from the International Border at Rathua village in the vicinity of Border Out Post (BOP) Pansar.A highly sophisticated rifle, two magazines, 60 rounds and seven grenades were th
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Kashmiri activists express concern over proposed amendments in Interim Constitution of PoK
22Jun By Yusara AskariNo Comments
Asia

Kashmiri activists express concern over proposed amendments in Interim Constitution of PoK

Kashmiri political activists have raised concerns over the proposed amendments in the Interim Constitution of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) by the Pakistani establishment saying that the 'unjust' law will give all authorities to directly-appointed officers from Pakistan, instead of the elected representatives in the illegally-occupied region.The provisions of the proposed 14th Amendment Bill in the Interim Constitution of PoK include laws which restrict any person to participate in political activity which does not believe accession with Pakistan.Activists have described it as a violation of the rights of “self-determination and fundamental human rights” of people of PoK."Pakistan has always imposed such laws through its facilitators on the people of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, which comp
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Gilgit-Baltistan Agriculture Minister among 118 new COVID-19 deaths in Pakistan
21Jun By Yusara AskariNo Comments
Asia

Gilgit-Baltistan Agriculture Minister among 118 new COVID-19 deaths in Pakistan

Minister for Agriculture in Gilgit-Baltistan Janbaz Khan has become the latest political figure in Pakistan to succumb to the deadly coronavirus disease.Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader, Janbaz Khan had been on a ventilator for four days, a doctor at Gilgit's city hospital - where the 64-year-old minister was admitted - was quoted as saying."He had a heart related disease, besides diabetes,” said the doctor. The minister is survived by two wives, five sons and four daughters.A total of 118 new COVID-19 deaths have been reported in Pakistan in the last 24 hours.As many as 5,358 new cases of coronavirus were reported in Pakistan, taking the tally of COVID-19 cases in the country to 162,973.So far five lawmakers, including two provincial ministers, have died in Pakistan due to the
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New coercive order spreading over Muslim society is not political, but intellectual
21Jun By Stuart WhiteNo Comments
Opinion

New coercive order spreading over Muslim society is not political, but intellectual

Professor Pervez Amirali Hoodbhoy, who holds a PhD in nuclear physics, and teaches physics and math at Lahore’s Forman Christian University, has been told that his contract will not be renewed in 2021. This happened in the same week the Punjab governor announced that all universities of the province would be required to teach the Holy Quran as a compulsory subject.Hoodbhoy objects to acts of state and society against reason. His book, Islam and Science: Religious Orthodoxy and the Battle for Rationality, explains the source of his trouble with the ideological state of Pakistan. It is not that he hates religion — he objects to acts of irrationality in the name of religion.He protested, however, when the Governor of Punjab Salmaan Taseer was murdered by his police guard when he defended a Ch
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Gwadar port contract is ‘confidential’, Pakistani federal secretary informs Senate panel
20Jun By Yusara AskariNo Comments
Asia

Gwadar port contract is ‘confidential’, Pakistani federal secretary informs Senate panel

Pakistan’s Senate standing committee on finance led by Senator Farooq Hamid Naek on Thursday was left shocked when a federal secretary declared that the contract governing affairs of the Gwadar port was “confidential” and its particulars couldn’t be disclosed publicly.The Senate panel on Wednesday had requested federal Secretary of Maritime Affairs Rizwan Ahmed to share copies of contracts and associated paperwork on award of contracts and sub-contracts concerning Gwadar free zone.In response, Ahmed said that the paperwork couldn’t be shared with the Senate committee chairman and skim out one paragraph from the settlement which says the contents of the settlement might be stored confidential.Senators Dr Musadik Malik, Ayesha Raza, Talha Mehmood and Ateeq Shaikh expressed their anger and di
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Decoding the real reasons behind Chinese aggression in South Asia
19Jun By Stuart WhiteNo Comments
Asia, Opinion

Decoding the real reasons behind Chinese aggression in South Asia

The Chinese diplomacy and military strategy are largely subservient to its idea of “Century of Humiliation”- the period between 1839 and 1939, when China lost a huge territory to Western colonial powers, Russia and Japan. Although, in the last three decades it has seen unprecedented growth and development, the insecurities in the Chinese assertions are more than evident.The ‘Xi Jingping era’ saw towering Chinese territorial and economic aspirations. The ambitious Belt Road Initiative (BRI), believed to be China’s attempt to assert its strategic footprints across the world, has also revealed the true nature of Chinese hegemonistic goals. The BRI is considered to be Xi’s personal indulgence in taking China and his leadership to the status of a global power never thought of before. This, howe
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Pakistan: Number of jobless people to reach 6.65m in 2020-21
18Jun By Yusara AskariNo Comments
Asia

Pakistan: Number of jobless people to reach 6.65m in 2020-21

Marred by economic instability and coronavirus outbreak, the number of unemployed people in Pakistan has been estimated to reach 6.65 million during the fiscal year 2020-21, compared to 5.80m of the outgoing financial year.According to the Labour Force Survey 2017-18, unemployment rate for the next year (2020-21) has been estimated at 9.56 per cent.Pakistan has the 9th largest labour force in the world which is increasing every year. During next year, the number of employed persons will increase to 69.2 million in 2020-21 from 62.1 million in 2019-20.The country is currently experiencing the phenomenon of unemployed educated people, particularly jobless graduates.The unemployment rate among degree-holders is almost three times higher than the other overall unemployed people. The reason beh...
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A China-India clash would be Xi Jinping’s grand mistake
18Jun By Stuart WhiteNo Comments
Opinion

A China-India clash would be Xi Jinping’s grand mistake

President Xi Jinping has moved forward with his plans to impose Beijing’s National security legislation and strip Hong Kong of its separate status given to it by the British. Xi’s action highlights China’s fundamental dishonesty and should give all states a good enough reason to not trust any agreement with the People’s Republic of China given that this was not a simple political deal but a formal Sino-British treaty ratified by both governments in which both agreed to allow Hong Kong to govern itself for 50 years, the basis of the so-called, “One China, Two Systems” policy.The ease of Xi’s take-over of Hong Kong and the lack of meaningful international reaction may have only whetted the Chinese leader’s appetite.The People’s Republic of China has long claimed Taiwan as an integral part of
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​ Pakistan bans political party critical of CPEC
17Jun By Our NewsroomNo Comments
China

​ Pakistan bans political party critical of CPEC

A political party, which is critical of financially dubious China's Belt and Road Initiative has been banned by Pakistan government.  Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz-Arisar (JSQM-A), a party based in the southern province of Sindh highlighted Pakistan’s the country's reliance on Beijing for political and economic support.Pakistan's interior ministry outlawed the JSQM-A along with two militant groups in the same province -- the Sindhudesh Liberation Army (SLA) and the Sindhudesh Revolutionary Army (SRA) -- citing "reasonable grounds" that the organizations have ties to terrorism.Pakistan has been regularly banning a variety of organizations, including al-Qaeda-linked jihadi militants as well as secessionist insurgent groups. The list however has expanded since the launch of the China-Pakistan Econom
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[South Asia] Proposed Pakistan dam can lead to disaster like Chernobyl
17Jun By Our NewsroomNo Comments
World

[South Asia] Proposed Pakistan dam can lead to disaster like Chernobyl

Pakistan is building is a 908 ft high RCC dam atop Central Asian fault-line, which can lead to another Chernobyl. The dam site has felt at least three hundred tremors in a month, which make the proposed dam as destructive as hydrogen bomb. Tow major quakes of seven plus magnitude were witnessed in the area recently.It is scary that Pakistan wants to make a world record by building the world’s highest Roller Compacted Concrete dam to store eight million acre feet (MAF) of water. Pakistan’s top engineer, Suleman Najib has warned “Review the dam. Its destructive power will wipe out everything on the Indus (river basin).”  Najib is the Convenor of Water Resources Development Council of Pakistan.  Yet, neither the all-powerful Pakistani Army, which is footing thirty percent of the bill through
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