Posts published in “Day: March 17, 2016”

Despite Sartaj Aziz’s reassurance that the Afghanistan–Taliban peace process will be back on track in the “next few weeks” observers continue to be skeptical, as there is little objective evidence to support that statement. After the news of Mullah Omar’s death derailed the Murree talks, infighting and power struggles have consumed the Taliban ranks and finding a willing leader that speaks for most of the militant group has been near impossible. Recent developments suggest the…

Russia and Tajikistan have launched ‘large-scale’ military drills near Afghan border. The ex-Soviet allies practice defending a possible spillover of militants from Afghanistan. “Joint groups of paratroop forces from Tajikistan and Russia are being airlifted to possible points of incursions by terrorist groups on the Tajikistan-Afghanistan border.”  Faridun Makhmadalizoda, a spokesman for Tajikistan’s defense ministry said. Around 50,000 Tajik and 2,000 Russian troops are taking part in the drills which would continue for six days…

The Ministry of Defense (MoD) has launched an investigation regarding the alleged shipment of the spare parts of armored vehicles and helicopters from Afghanistan to the neighboring Pakistan. A statement by MoD said the Afghan armed forces have seized the containers which were allegedly shipping the spare parts to Pakistan. The statement further added that the confiscated spare parts do not belong to the Ministry of Defense and were apparently belonging to the coalition forces.…

Afghanistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Mahmoud Saikal raised the issue of cross-border incursions by Pakistan during a debate by United Nations Security Council on Afghanistan. “We welcome the growing voice of reason within Pakistan calling for a change in the right direction. In light of that, we want an immediate end to regular incursions along the Durand Line, which cannot and will not be tolerated by Afghanistan,” Saikal said. Saikal further added “In…

Pakistan likely has been dragging its feet on bringing the Afghan Taliban to the negotiation table with Afghan government. A Pakistani news agency says that Islamabad is reluctant to host face-to-face meeting between Afghan government and Taliban and therefore it has informed Kabul to remain in direct contacts with Taliban’s Qatar office in this regard. This comes as a decision was made in the fourth Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG), formed by peace negotiators from Afghanistan,…

LANDIKOTAL: Officials of the Pakistan Army and civil administration Wednesday visited Torkham border where they were briefed about security arrangements. Sources said the senior army official along with Khyber Agency Political Agent Khalid Mehmood reached the army garrison by helicopters. They then drove to the Afghan border and witnessed security arrangements there. The army officials were briefed about security situation at Michini checkpost located on hilltop. Extraordinary security measures were taken in Torkham border town…

Karachi:  Ten months ago, the Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC) of 52-year-old Qamar-ul-Hasan, a resident of Landhi’s Majeed Colony, expired and the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) refused to renew his registration as a Pakistani citizen. Since then, Hasan has been unemployed because everywhere he goes, the potential employers demand an identification document. In fact, Hasan is among thousands of other residents of Majeed Colony where migrants from East Pakistan came to settle in…

The writer,an expert on Chinese civil society, is currently working on a project to promote open government information in China. As China’s anticorruption campaign enters into its fourth year, the importance of inspection teams in catching corrupt officials has become obvious. In the past few years, more than half of the corruption cases investigated by the Communist Party’s internal watchdog, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), have been discovered through inspections, the commission announced…

China’s annual legislative meetings, known as the lianghui, have been underway in Beijing for the past week. While the big decisions typically get made by a small circle of top leaders behind closed doors, the meetings also provide a venue for delegates from across China to contribute their ideas on charting the country’s development – and each year, a few delegates raise some ideas that are decidedly outside the box. Here are five proposals that…

Beijing: As China’s rubber-stamp parliament gathered in central Beijing for its annual, heavily stage-managed meetings this past fortnight, some of their attention may well have strayed toward unrest in a small coal town in the country’s north-east. Hundreds of miners in Shuangyashan have staged large protests after provincial officials denied in their meetings in Beijing that the state-run Longmay Group  owed employees months of backpay. In many respects, the struggling coal company shapes as a…