By Tariq Naqash in Dawn
MUZAFFARABAD, June 5: An official body dealing with the reconstruction of Muzaffarabad has taken exception to the alleged dumping of earth into River Neelum by a Chinese construction company, something which is being committed with impunity by many other contractors for long notwithstanding its hazardous impact on environment on the one hand and life of Mangla Dam on the other.
When contacted by Dawn on Wednesday, Brig (retired) Shiraz Baig, project director of Muzaffarabad City Development Project (MCDP), confirmed that he had sought explanation from the China …

By Babar Dogar in The News, Apr 28
LAHORE: Former foreign minister Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri has disclosed that the agreement on Kashmir, worked out through back-channel diplomacy, was an interim one, and was subject to review after 15 years.
Talking to The News here on Tuesday in the backdrop of ‘Aman Ki Asha’ – a joint venture of the Jang Group of Pakistan and The Times of India, Khursheed Kasuri claimed the Pakistani and Indian sides at that time had the realisation that in view of the history of Jammu and Kashmir …

Former foreign minister Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri’s startling disclosure that a solution to the Kashmir problem had been worked out under the Musharraf government and that all that was required was a signature on the relevant documents is rather unexpected and opens up all kinds of new possibilities. While there had been talks on the issue that contributes most to continued tensions between India and Pakistan, we had not known a solution was so tantalisingly close. The information offered up by Kasuri, at a seminar organised as part of the Jang …

By Zulfiqar Ali Khan in The Dawn, apr 25
HUNZA, April 24: The rise in temperature coupled with glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) from the Ghulkin-Hussaini glacier have increased the water inflow in the lake formed on Hunza River due to the devastating landslide of Jan 4 at Atabad Hunza.
According to experts, the daily water inflow in the lake spreading over 13km has reached to 2,500 cusecs with a daily water level with an average of 2.5 feet. The level of the lake has crossed 289 feet at the barrier point.
According …

By Tariq Naqash  in The Dawn, Apr 25MUZAFFARABAD, April 24: Azad Jammu and Kashmir Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider said on Saturday that recommendations of the Supreme Judicial Council calling for removal of non-functional chief justice Reaz Akhtar Chaudhry were binding on the AJK Council chairman — the prime minister of Pakistan.
“Some elements are conspiring to get the SJC recommendations held in abeyance to create unrest in AJK, but I hope that Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani will not let their nefarious designs succeed,” he said while talking to delegations …

By Babar Dogar & Ranjan Roy in The News, Apr 24
LAHORE: Former foreign minister Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri has said the solution to the Kashmir dispute is just a signature away once India and Pakistan decide to pull the file from the rack.
While addressing the concluding session of the two-day seminar — held as part of the ongoing Aman ki Asha campaign, launched by the Jang Group and Times of India — and later talking to The News and the Times of India here on Friday, the former foreign minister revealed …

By Usman Manzoor in The News, Apr 24
ISLAMABAD: The AJK Supreme Court has set the “historic wrong” committed by its deposed chief justice on Friday when it dismissed a petition against the Supreme Court of Pakistan, declaring AJK a separate country. Because of this very petition, a reference against the AJK deposed CJ Riaz Akhtar Chaudhry was filed and proceedings were initiated against him in the Supreme Judicial Council where he was found guilty of blasphemy, subversion of the constitution and misconduct. The SJC has forwarded its …

The Daily Times
LAHORE: Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK) President Raja Zulqarnain Khan and Prime Minister (PM) Raja Farooq Haider have decided to accept the Kashmir Council’s decision about dysfunctional AJK chief justice Riaz Akhtar Chaudhry, a private TV channel reported on Sunday.
Zulqarnain and Haider made the decision during a meeting held in Muzaffarabad to discuss the ongoing judicial crisis, the channel reported without quoting any official from the AJK.
It is pertinent to mention here that one of the two supreme judicial councils currently working in the state has dispatched its decision …

RAWALPINDI, April 17: The Azad Kashmir Supreme Court Bar Association here on Saturday demanded AJK President Raja Zulqarnain to resign, saying lawyers would not support his steps regarding reappointment of removed chief justice of Supreme Court.
In a convention arranged at the District Bar Association, Rawalpindi, the AJK lawyers’ representatives passed a unanimous resolution asking the president to resign and sought action against Justice Reaz Ahmed Chaudhry in accordance with the recommendations of Supreme Judicial Council of AJK.
In the resolution, the lawyers urged Prime Minster Yousaf Raza Gilani to take action …

By Usman Manzoor in The News, Apr 16
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) of Azad Jammu and Kashmir has unanimously recommended removal of deposed chief justice of AJK Riaz Akhtar Chaudhry on the charge of blasphemy, transgression of powers and subversion of the constitution.
The 86-page recommendations of the AJK SJC, a copy of which is available with The News, clearly state that the deposed CJ violated the constitution, committed blasphemy and was found guilty of gross misconduct.
These recommendations have been sent to the AJK Council chairman who happens to be …