The writer is a former group captain of PAF, who also served as air and naval attaché at Riyadh. Currently, he is a columnist, analyst and host of programme Defence & Diplomacy on PTV. Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), formerly known as the Northern Areas, is part of the unfinished partition plan of the subcontinent, when Pakistan and India gained independence from British Raj in 1947. Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Indian Held Kashmir (IHK) and GB comprise…
Posts published in January 2013
Private Iranian firm may lay gas pipeline in Pakistan: By Zafar Bhutta in The Express Tribune, Jan 10 ISLAMABAD: Iran has designated a ‘clean’ private company, which has not been placed under US sanctions, to take a direct contract for laying a pipeline in Pakistan under the Iran-Pakistan gas supply project for which Tehran is extending a $500 million loan. The two countries have already signed an initial agreement on the loan, but the accord…
AJK’s first woman DC takes charge today by Tariq Naqash in Dawn, Jan 8 MUZAFFARABAD, Jan 7: The first woman deputy commissioner in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) assumes the charge of her challenging assignment in a difficult area on Tuesday. This is being described by the government as another step towards women empowerment in the region. Tehzeebun Nisa, a BPS-18 officer of AJK’s management group, said she felt proud of the distinction and would…
NAB probes ‘irregularities’ in GB recruitments GILGIT, Jan 7: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has started investigation into alleged irregularities in appointments made in various departments of Gilgit-Baltistan. “We have been asked by NAB to provide all details, including the copies of appointments made by various departments, so as to scrutinise the process to see if any irregularities were committed during the recruitments,” a senior official of the AGPR told Dawn on Monday on the…
Gilgit-Baltistan in limbo; by Syed Ansar Hussain in Dawn, Jan 8 The writer is a resident of Gilgit-Baltistan. EVEN after six decades, the people of Gilgit-Baltistan continue to suffer in constitutional limbo despite their unconditional accession to Pakistan. In spite of efforts to integrate with Pakistan, the people of the region have been repeatedly ignored and deprived of their fundamental rights such as the right to vote, representation in the National Assembly and Senate etc.…
Gilgit-Balitstan govt facing delays in release of funds By Peer Muhammad in The Express Tribune ISLAMABAD: The Gilgit-Balitstan (G-B) government is facing difficulties due to delays in release of its budgetary allocations from the federal government. The G-B government wants development and non-development funds given in two equal installments for the whole financial year whereas the centre is releasing these on a quarterly basis, said G-B Finance Minister Mohammad Ali Akhter while talking to The…
100,000 tons wheat to Iran by early Feb ISLAMABAD – Grain exporter Seatrade Group of Pakistan said it will start shipping 100,000 tons of wheat to Iran by the end of January or early February, one-tenth of the original tender agreed in August. Iranian wheat imports are usually handled by the private sector but the Iranian government had to step in and help with purchasing this year because of the disruption to trade financing caused…
Stay within limits, GB CM tells media men SKARDU: PPP leader and Chief Minister of Gilgit-Baltistan Sayed Mehdi Shah warned the national and local media men that they should remain within limits, as he was not dependent on media coverage by them. He lashed out at the journalist community while addressing a ceremony to mark the anniversary of PPP founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto at the Aiwan-e-Iqbal in Skardu on Saturday. After the statement of the…
UN resolutions on AJK still stir controversy MUZAFFARABAD, Jan 5: Rallies were held in Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK) to mark the January 5, 1949 UN Security Council resolution on Kashmir, which gave the Kashmiri people the right, through adult franchise, to either chose India or Pakistan. Although it was never implemented. Some groups in AJK out rightly reject the resolution, while others support it. Activists of pro-independence National Students Federation (NSF) held a rally here…
‘Jihad can resolve Kashmir issue’: by Tariq Naqash in Dawn, Jan 6 MUZAFFARABAD: United Jihad Council chairman and Hizbul Mujahideen ‘supreme commander’ Syed Salahuddin said on Saturday that those calling for settlement of the Kashmir issue through peaceful means were in fact deceiving the innocent Kashmiris, adding that an armed struggle was the only way to resolve the dispute. Addressing a press conference, he said that experience of the past 65 years should convince any…
$3.5bn expected from US for Diamer-Bhasha dam: by Khaleeq Kiani in DAWN, Jan 3 ISLAMABAD, Jan 2: As electricity shortage increased to about 5,000MW on Wednesday despite reduced winter demand, the United States has agreed to provide $3.5 billion for the $14.5bn Diamer-Bhasha dam project. The ministry of water and power informed the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Water and Power that the government had been requested to postpone the payment of $4.5bn interest during…