MIRPUR (AJK): Life in Mirpur city was shuddered to a halt by shutdown observed by all segments of civil society in protest against “intolerable” electricity overbilling. The call for the strike was given by Mirpur Protection Forum comprising a number of organizations representing people of all walks of life to register strong protest against inflated electricity bills served on consumers by the AJK State Electricity Department, Leaders of the Mirpur Protection Forum including its Chairman…
Posts published in December 2014
By Shahbaz Rana in The Express Tribune, December 16th, 2014. ISLAMABAD: Despite the government’s promise to complete the 969-megawatt plant in the next two years as part of its strategy to end load-shedding ahead of next general elections, the Neelum Jhelum hydropower project still faces a $475-million financing gap, threatening its timely execution. “It is very unfortunate that there is no financial close and the project is still facing a financing gap,” said Water…
BEIJING: A Chinese teenager executed after being convicted of murder and rape 18 years ago was declared innocent by a court Monday, in a rare overturning of a wrongful conviction. The 18-year-old, named Hugjiltu and also known as Qoysiletu, was found guilty and put to death in Inner Mongolia in 1996, but doubt was cast on the verdict when another man confessed to the crime in 2005. “The Inner Mongolia Higher People’s Court…
BEIJING – Authorities in China have demoted about 1,000 government officials with relatives abroad who refused to return home, state media said on Monday, in the latest clamp down in a sweeping anti-corruption campaign. The Communist Party leadership under President Xi Jinping has presided over the anti-graft campaign to shore up a ruling mandate shaken by suspicion that officials waste taxpayers’ money or use their positions for personal gain. Since his appointment last year,…
MANSEHRA: The Karakoram Highway, which was blocked for traffic on Saturday in protest against arrest of nine political and social activists, remained blocked on second consecutive day on Sunday, causing hardships for passengers stranded on both sides of highway. The Kohistan Police had arrested Mohammad Hassan, Mohammad Manzoor, Hifzur Rehman, Maulana Waliullah, Maulana Abdul Rehman, Abeedullah, Fazal Allai, Liaqat Ali and Abdul Jabbar after deputy commissioner Kohistan issued their arrest warrants under section 3 of…
By Hasnaat Malik in The Express Tribune, December 14th, 2014. ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has challenged the appointment of the Gilgit-Balistan chief election commissioner in the Supreme Court, claiming he is an “unsuitable” person for the job given his close ties with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz. With elections scheduled to be held around March 2015, PTI’s member of the National Assembly (MNA) Ghulam Sarwar Khan, local leader Akbar Hussain Akbar and Wahdatul Muslimeen…
ISLAMABAD: Khyber-Pakhtunkhawa (K-P) government fears that the powers supporting Dr Shakeel Afridi – who allegedly ran a fake vaccination campaign at the behest of the CIA to track down Osama Bin Laden – may try to rescue or kill him through a ‘covert or overt operation’. Quoting intelligence reports, the K-P government has informed the federal government that there is a severe danger surrounding Dr Afridi, who is currently facing imprisonment under Frontier Crimes…
MUZAFFARABAD – The AJK government has decided to form a high level task force headed by the Finance Secretary to formulate and implement enforcement strategies to plug leakages of revenue from the cigarette manufacturing units located in the region. Latif Akbar, Finance Minister, AJK, said this while speaking at a policy dialogue held in Muzaffarabad on illicit trade in tobacco sector of AJK. He said that in order to effectively improve government revenue collection there…
GILGIT: In Gilgit-Baltistan, the right man for the job is a woman. Tahira Yasub became the first woman superintendent in the region earlier this week. She was given her ranks by the inspector general and former chief minister Mehdi Shah in a ceremony on Thursday. “I am thankful to the government,” Yasub told The Express Tribune during a brief chat on Friday. A graduate in international relations from Karakoram International University, she has…
GILGIT: Former Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) chief minister Syed Mehdi Shah blamed Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) central government for adding to the woes of G-B since coming into power last year. “Sharif’s administration added to our problems,” alleged Shah while addressing a news conference at Gilgit Press Club on Thursday. He claimed the region was constantly ignored and deprived of legislative and economic cover. “Even the national airline resorted to foul play, what to talk of other…
Indian Kashmir refugee allowed to contest poll : report in The Express Tribune, December 13th, 2014.
MUZAFFARABAD: A full-court bench of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Muhammad Azam Khan gave a verdict in favour of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Secretary General Shah Ghulam Qadir on Friday allowing him to contest elections from the Neelum Valley. The court decision has opened the doors for all refugees from Indian Kashmir settled in Pakistan to contest elections in any constituency of AJK. The apex court gave…