GILGIT: As China opened one of its biggest foreign policy initiatives since 1949 — the One Belt One Road (OBOR) summit in Beijing, which is being attended by heads of state and government of over 23 nations, including Pakistan, protests broke out in Gilgit-Baltistan against the ongoing construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project + under the Belt and Road initiative. Various students and political organisations including Karakoram Students Organisation, Balawaristan National Students Organisation,…
Posts published in “Day: May 15, 2017”
Report in Pamir Times, May 13, 2017 . Islamabad: The absence of Chief Minister Gilgit-Baltistan, Hafiz Hafeezur Rehman in the Pakistan delegation that went to attend OBOR events in China has drawn strong reaction in the region. University students, lawyers and other professionals, have equated his absence in the delegation as a continuation of Pakistan’s neglect of the strategic region that connects Pakistan with China, and through which the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor passes. Hundreds of…
Contradictory information is found following news that Rizwan Haroon, co-founder of an English medium school in the capital, is a “top militant” and he “sneaked into” the country from the UK. Citing intelligence sources, several media outlets yesterday reported that Rizwan is a militant leader listed by the home ministry and he entered the country through Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Thursday. The Daily Star got the same information from a source in an intelligence…
by Jane Cai, Catherine Wong & Wendy Wu in South China Morning Post, May 14 2017, 11:11pm Cash has been committed, promises have been made and leaders’ hands have been shaken. But for all the buzz in Beijing about China’s “Belt and Road Initiative”, scepticism still dogs the massive trade and infrastructure programme. The initiative, unveiled by President Xi Jinping in 2013, is touted as a visionary scheme to build infrastructure and expand trade throughout…
Report in South China Morning Post, May 15, 2017 The world’s second-largest economy dialed back a gear in April as authorities crack down on the nation’s swelling financial leverage. Industrial output rose 6.5 per cent last month from a year earlier, compared to 7 per cent seen by economists and 7.6 per cent in March Retail sales increased 10.7 per cent versus 10.8 per cent seen by analysts Fixed-asset investment excluding rural areas expanded 8.9…
By Riazul Haq in The Express Tribune, May 15th, 2017. ISLAMABAD: Asad Dastagir is a computer science student in 6th semester in one of the sub-campuses in Lahore and is uncertain about the future of his degree as the Higher Education Commission (HEC) has recently banned further admissions in the Global Institute Lahore with which the franchise is affiliated. Dastagir is not alone in passing through this agonising experience. Hundreds of other students are also…
Pak scene-Deradicalisation needs clarity: edit in DailyTimes, 15-May-17
Earlier this month, vice chancellors from 60 universities of the country huddled at the Higher Education Commission (HEC) head office to discuss ways to end intolerance and radicalisation in higher education institutes. The policy seminar at HEC was held in the wake of the unprecedented lynching incident of a student, Mashal Khan, at Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan. There was consensus among all attendees that universities needed to be made relevant to our social needs…