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Posts published in June 2012

Resource crunch may stall dam progress: ADB

By Shahbaz Rana in The Express Tribune, June 29. ISLAMABAD: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has said that Pakistan’s limited financial resources may affect progress on Diamer-Bhasha Dam even if the international lending agencies extend the assistance for completion of the multi-billion-dollar project. The issue of counterpart rupee funding against the external loans was raised by Klaus Gerhaeuser, the director general for Central and West Asia department of the ADB during a meeting with finance…

Hurdle to Bhasha Dam: Edit in the Nation, June 28

For Pakistan already buffeted by tricky problems from all sides, there are ever new challenges to encounter. Now, as reported in the press, the Diamir Bhasha Dam that Pakistan wants to build on River Indus near Chilas, District Diamir, 165km downstream of Gilgit, has met with a snag. The World Bank that had earlier promised to provide finances for its construction, though on certain tough conditions, has expressed reservations about honouring its commitment on the…

Bank embezzlement: As life savings plummet to zero, septuagenarian down to a death-bed low

MIRPUR:  News of Muhammad Ibrahim’s life savings being usurped by half a dozen officials of Askari Bank Limited took its toll on elderly man on Monday. The 75-year-old Sangoat-born Kashmiri suffered a heart attack after being informed that his entire bank balance of Rs8.3 million has been zeroed as a result of embezzlements by six officials of Askari Bank Limited Mirpur branch. He is currently admitted in the intensive care unit of the state-run Kashmir…

Baba Jan likely to be released after 9 months: By Shabbir Mir in The Express Tribune, June 28

GILGIT:  A court in Gilgit has accepted the bail plea of a detained youth activist Baba Jan, who was imprisoned last year under the Anti-Terrorism Act for protesting over the killing of a man and son in Hunza. “He will be released from jail in about two days,” Advocate Ehsan Ali, the counsel for Baba Jan, told The Express Tribune on Wednesday. Jan, who is the chief organiser of Progressive Youth Movement, was among the…

SC orders suspension of IG Gilgit-Baltistan

ISLAMABAD, June 27: The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered suspension of Inspector General (IG) Police Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), Hussain Asghar. A three-member bench of the court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry hearing the hajj corruption scam passed the orders after it was informed that Hussain Asghar did not want to rejoin Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). Hussain Asghar was head of the investigation team probing hajj scam and was later appointed as IG of Gilgit-Baltistan…

The struggle continues: edit in The Nation, June 27

The statement by the spokesman of the Chinese Defence Ministry that Kashmir was a disputed territory was a result of the constant campaign mounted by the Pakistan government. The spokesman, who was speaking to a group of visiting Indian journalists, also said that China hoped that Pakistan and India would peacefully solve the Kashmir dispute. However, it would not escape the notice of careful observers that the spokesman did not mention the only realistic solution…

Endangered habitats: Biodiversity of Karakoram National Park in peril

By Shabbir Mir in the Express Tribune, June 27 GILGIT: Unchecked deforestation and hunting at the Central Karakoram National Park has threatened the biodiversity of Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B), experts said on Tuesday. The park which is spread over 10,000 square kilometres in five districts of G-B is a natural habitat for over 10 species of wild animals and 12 rare species of birds. Some of the endangered species include marmot, snow leopard, markhor, ibex, blue sheep,…

For the release of ‘innocents’: Protesters block Karakoram Highway for six hours

By Shabbir Mir in The Express Tribune, June 24 GILGIT: Protesters blocked the Karakoram Highway (KKH) for six hours in Nagar valley to demand the release of individuals wrongly detained by the police. The six-hour blockade of the main highway on Saturday left scores of travellers, including local and foreign passengers, stranded at Rakaposhi Point, a tourists spot between Gilgit and Hunza. Talking to The Express Tribune, a local resident of Nagar, requesting anonymity, accused…

2012-13 fiscal year: Gilgit-Baltistan unveils Rs19b budget

By Shabbir Mir  in The Express Tribune, June 26 GILGIT:  A total annual budget of Rs19.39 billion for the year 2012-13 was presented in the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly on Monday. As Finance Minister Mohammad Ali Akhtar read out the budget speech, an opposition legislator Nawaz Khan Naji stormed out of the house, terming the proceedings an exercise in futility.  On the other hand, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Janbaz Khan remained tight-lipped throughout the session. The…

The UN’s responsibilities: edit in The Nation, June 8

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillai told the National Assembly’s Kashmir Committee, which she met on Wednesday, that the UN will end the human rights abuses that are taking place there. This is an important acceptance that the illegal Indian occupation there has led to massive violations of human rights by Indian occupation forces, but it also skims over the fact that the Kashmir issue, while it has an important human rights dimension,…

Mirpuris demand basic facilities

MIRPUR: Visiting expatriates and local residents of Mirpur have demanded the government to provide them basic civic amenities. The locals have expressed concern over the lack of streetlights and hygienic drinking water facility in the city, which is arguably the most developed city of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), and have demanded that the government improve the dilapidated sewerage system. Locals said that even though lampposts were installed on the central Allama Iqbal Road three…