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Posts published in August 2013

Push for peace: India-Pakistan tensions : edit in Dawn, Aug 26

ONCE again it is down to the leaders at the top. It is for Prime Ministers Nawaz Sharif and Manmohan Singh to find a way out of uncertainty. Precious lives have been lost in border firing incidents this month — with each side blaming the other. All these lives could have been saved provided there was in place a corrective system which swung into action at the first sign of tensions. Then again, that system…

Increased tension at the LoC: edit in The Nation, Aug 26

The line of control, where at places, it is just a barbed fence separating the two armies pointing guns at each other eyeball to eyeball, at times it takes either a small exchange of fire — sometimes resulting from misunderstanding — or a completely unexpected spoiler to trigger wider clashes. With the outbreak of hostilities, it is before some time that they are patched up and worse, sometimes they can take their own course. The…

Looking for peace on LoC : edit in The Frontier Post, Aug 26

Skirmishes between Pakistan and Indian forces on Sunday took another deadly turn when Indian Army resorted to intermittent shelling on villages in Nakyal sector, some 200 kilometres south of Muzaffarabad that left a woman dead and several others injured. Panic triggered amongst the civil population that evoked evacuation of over 50,000 from the areas. The woman is 5th Pakistani reported to have been killed in unprovoked Indian firing across the Line of Control since five…

Pakistan orders indefinite shut down of govt offices near LoC

MUZAFFARABAD: Amidst continuous unprovoked firing from the Indian Army across the Line of Control, Pakistan ordered complete shutdown of government offices near the area, Express News reported on Sunday. All the offices within 3 kilometres of the Line of control were ordered to be shut for an indefinite period. Earlier in the day, firing from Indian Army allegedly killed two women and wounded seven civilians in Kashmir, Pakistan authorities claimed. The two sides agreed to…

Land acquisition for Bhasha Dam by December

LAHORE – Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal has said that the Wapda has been asked to complete land acquisition for Diamar Bhasha Dam by December this year. He said that present government by constructing Kalabagh Dam cannot take any step which may lead to creating any issue relating to integrity of the country. Speaking at a function organized by Institution of Engineers Pakistan (IEP), he said that govt has to increase water…

Sardar Nazakat Ali joins PPP

KARACHI – The influential personality of Azad Kashmir, Sardar Nazakat Ali along with his supporters on Saturday announced joining of Pakistan Peoples Party. He made this announcement after meeting with Azad Jammu Kashmir Prime Minister Choudhry Abdul Majeed at party’s Media Cell near Bilawal House here the other day.   AJK premier welcomed Nazakat and his supporters in the party, saying the party will get strength in Azad Kashmir with his joining. To a question, he…

G-B Assembly: Resolution passed to condemn massacre of tourists, investigation officers

GILGIT: The Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) Assembly on Tuesday unanimously adopted a resolution jointly condemning the murders of foreign tourists at the foot of Nanga Parbat in June and of investigation officials probing the incident in Chilas town on August 6. The resolution was tabled by a lawmaker of the treasury bench, Syed Raziuddin, on the second day of the current assembly session chaired by Speaker Wazir Baig. It demanded strict punishment for the perpetrators who “brought…

ADB poised to fund Bhasha Dam, says VP

ISLAMABAD: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is on board and supportive of the construction of Diamer-Bhasha Dam. “We have now moved ahead and work to find a way to structure it and we are already looking at various models in this regard”, said Xiaoyu Zhao, Vice President (Operations-1) Asian Development Bank when he met the Finance Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar here on Tuesday, says a press release. Xiaoyu Zhao said that ADB is appreciative…

WB has agreed to finance Bhasha dam: Dar: By KHALEEQ KIANI in Dawn,Aug 21

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has claimed to have convinced the World Bank to finance the $14 billion Diamer-Bhasha dam. The willingness of a previously reluctant multilateral agency — the World Bank — to be part of a major transaction in Pakistan apparently marked a significant development towards launching of Pakistan’s top priority strategic project to overcome increasing energy and water shortages. The Asian Development Bank has also committed to become the lead finance manager…

AJK policeman arrested for links with Sikandar

by Shakeel Anjum  in The News, Aug 21 ISLAMABAD: The people engaged in the investigation of the Blue Area fiasco have arrested a head constable (HC) of Azad Kashmir Police who has links with Malik Sikandar, the gunman who kept the federal capital hostage for six hours on August 15. The sources claimed that HC Hassan Murtaza was an active member of a banned militant group and Malik Sikandar is also associated with the same…

Finance ministry approves Rs1.7b for AJK

ISLAMABAD – The finance ministry on Tuesday approved an immediate release of Rs1.7 billion as advance to Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) from its share so that it could tide over its problems. Chaudhry Abdul Majeed, Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, met Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar on Tuesday and discussed financial problems facing Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Chaudhry Abdul Majeed said that he was thankful to Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif for…