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 …

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 …

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 …

The News International
While some of the events seen recently in Azad Kashmir parallel those seen in the Federation of Pakistan, the situation in the territory has quickly become even more chaotic. We have two chief justices presiding over cases, a deadlock between the president and the prime minister on the issue and an infuriated judiciary which says the CJ deposed by the acting president on the advice of the PM can only be restored by the Supreme Judicial Council. In the meanwhile the acting CJ too continues to perform …

By Zeeshan Javaid in the Daily Times, April 7
ISLAMABAD: A 12.08-kilometre lake formed by a massive landslide in Hunza valley is threatening to sweep through the area, wipe out villages and endanger 45,000 people who live downstream, but there is no chance of bursting of the lake, Daily Times learnt on Tuesday.
Sources told Daily Times that the lake’s depth has reached 251.25 feet, while average water level in the water mass rises 1.4 feet near the lake barrier on a daily basis.
According to sources, …

ISLAMABAD: Experts fear that the landslide-affected people of Atta Abad, Hunza may suffer losses due to a potential outburst of an artificial lake formed as a result of a massive landslide in Hunza River.
These concerns were brought forward during a conference organised by Sungi Development Foundation and Gilgit-Baltistan Human Rights Advocacy Network (HRAN) at the National Press Club to understand and disseminate the correct picture of the natural disaster that hit and killed at least 13 persons in Atta Abad.
Referring to the artificial lake, an expert from the Geological Survey …

By Zulfiqar Ali Khan
HUNZA, Feb 28: Parts of a major bridge on the Hunza river on the Karakoram Highway have been submerged by an overflowing lake formed by a landslide on Jan 4.
Sources told this correspondent on Sunday that the bridge, said to be the largest on the highway, had developed cracks and was closed, cutting off Gojal valley from the rest of the country.
Experts are fearing that in the event of the bridge collapsing the land link between Pakistan and China would be snapped because an under-construction alternative …

The writer is an advocate of the high court
Mangla Dam was built between 1961 and 1967 primarily to increase the amount of water that could be used for irrigation from the flow of the Jhelum and its tributaries. It was constructed pursuant to the Indus Water Treaty and with funding from the World Bank.
The core trench of Mangla Dam is 10,300 feet long and 454 feet high with a reservoir of 253 square kilometres. On its impounding in 1967, the Mangla Dam had an original gross storage capacity of 5.88 …