by Tariq Naqash in Dawn, Sept 28 MUZAFFARABAD, Sept 27: The Azad Jammu and Kashmir Council (AJKC) secretariat has made two appointments in blatant disregard to the recommendations of the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC). FPSC nominees have finally made a presentation to Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf for justice, it has been learnt. Interestingly, the controversial notification was issued by the AJKC on September 13, in spite of a resolution passed by four out…
Posts published in September 2012
by Tariq Naqash in Dawn, Sept 27 MUZAFFARABAD, Sept 26: The regional passport office in the AJK capital has been out of operation for almost two weeks, to the utter frustration of passport seekers from three AJK districts, but neither they nor the local officials know as to when this hitch would be removed, it was learnt here on Wednesday. According to visitors and insiders, a glitch in the server had rendered the passport office,…
Owing to the growing power shortage, Pakistan has asked India to give up its opposition to the Bhasha Dam, as this is preventing international donors like the Asian Development Bank from investing in the project. Whereas the successful influence of Indian lobbying is obvious, our own procrastination when it comes to such crucial ventures is also quite evident. Among one of the objections that New Delhi has come up with is that the dam would…
By Anwer Sumra in The Express Tribune, Sept 26 LAHORE: The Pakistan Agriculture Storage and Services Corporation (Passco) is facing a severe resource crunch in its food security operations because the Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) government is yet to pay the corporation Rs13 billion in dues since 2007, The Express Tribune has learnt. If the outstanding liabilities are not paid urgently by G-B, the corporation is likely to face bankruptcy during the next wheat procurement season –…
By Zafar Bhutta in The Express Tribune, Sept 26 ISLAMABAD: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has admitted that it is facing internal resistance to plans to finance the multi-billion-dollar Diamer Bhasha Dam because of a lack of consensus among donors. In a report submitted to the Ministry of Water and Power, water wing of the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) quoted ADB Director General Central West Asia Development Klaus Gerhaeusser as saying the bank…
ISLAMABAD, Sept 24 : The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AKJ) Council presented its Rs9.59 billion budget for the year 2012-13, here Monday, and the major expenditure amounting to Rs6.18 billion is the disbursement of income tax to AJK Government, while the development projects of AJK Council for current fiscal year is Rs1.91 billion. The Council budget was presented by Chaudhry Muhammad Mehboob, member AJK Council in the 47th session of the AJK Council, presided by…
The writer is a resident of Gilgit-Baltistan and currently is a Fulbright-Humphrey Fellow at the Protection Project of the Johns Hopkins University in Washington DC. NESTLED in the northern Karakoram-Himalayan region of the subcontinent, Gilgit and Baltistan remained a strategic part of Dogra-ruled Jammu and Kashmir prior to the territory’s self-generated independence in 1947-48. When a local group led by Col Hassan Khan of Kashmir’s Fourth Regiment in Gilgit revolted against Maharaja Hari Singh, the…
WRITING in the New York Times in August 2010, journalist Selig Harrison had said Pakistan was “handing over” Gilgit-Baltistan — where he discovered “an influx” of Chinese soldiers — to China. In the story headlined ‘China’s discreet hold on Pakistan’s northern borderlands’, Mr Harrison had reported “a quiet geopolitical crisis” in Gilgit-Baltistan where “Islamabad is handing over de facto control of the strategic” territory to Beijing. Harrison also discovered “22 tunnels” which were barred to…
NEW YORK: President Azad Jammu and Kashmir Sardar Yaqoob Khan was detained at the John F Kennedy International Airport after he landed in the city on Sunday. Sources said that as Sardar Yaqoob arrived in New York to attend the session of United Nations General Assembly, he was detained for two hours at the JFK airport by the immigration authorities and his close aide was still under detention at the airport. The incident has not…
By Shabbir Mir in The Express Tribune, Sept 23 GILGIT: The Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) government barred traffic on the road linking Ghizer to Chitral via the Shandur Pass on Saturday after the ministry of interior warned of a possible attack similar to the Babusar massacre on the route. “We cannot afford to allow traffic on the road due to security threats to passengers,” Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) G-B headquarters Ali Sher told The Express…
KOTLI: Azad Jammu Kashmir minister for local government and Hydel Power generation, Chaudhry Yasin has said that the under- construction Neelam-Jhelum hydro power project will complete in 2016 and it will generate 969MW of electricity. Speaking to a ceremony here, he said that this mega hydel project will also generate a huge annual income of Rs450 billion for federal and Rs20 billion for AJK governments. http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-2-133137-969MW-Neelam-Jhelum-power-project