Posts published in March 2016

PESHAWAR: The authorities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have approached Islamabad to take up with the Afghan government the issue of extortion calls that have created a serious law and order problem in the province, particularly the provincial capital. An official requesting anonymity told The News that the KP authorities had sent a letter to the then secretary interior Shahid Ahmad Khan on January 14 and again to the incumbent secretary on February 23. The letter, the…

Former Governor of Herat province, Sayed Fazlullah Wahidi, terms his kidnapping in one of the secure areas of Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan, as questionable. Wahidi, at a joint press conference with the speaker and members of the Wolesi Jirga (Lower House of Parliament), called on government to investigate his kidnapping. Wahidi, who was held hostage for two weeks in Pakistan, was released four days ago. “It is clear that some powerful people were…

The writer is a freelance columnist. On February 3, an avalanche hit an army post in a forward location at the Siachen glacier burying 10 soldiers, including a JCO. According to India’s Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, so far 915 people have lost their lives in the last 32 years in Siachen, which comes down to about 28 lives every year. In India’s Rajya Sabha, Janata Dal (United) member K.C. Tyagi voiced concern over the death…

THE Indo-Pakistan relationship is notoriously unpredictable and susceptible to the mood swings of both establishments.  In this world of high politics and deft diplomacy, the plight of fishermen of one state caught in the other country’s waters is particularly miserable, and hardly figures on officialdom’s list of priorities.  As reported in this paper, 20 Indian fishermen were arrested over the weekend by the Maritime Security Agency for fishing in Pakistani waters.  Their vessels have also…

The writer, an expert on Chinese civil society, is currently working on a project to promote open government information in China. As China’s anticorruption campaign enters into its fourth year, the importance of inspection teams in catching corrupt officials has become obvious. In the past few years, more than half of the corruption cases investigated by the Communist Party’s internal watchdog, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), have been discovered through inspections, the commission…

The case of a Beijing judge gunned down late last week — the latest in a slew of physical attacks against the profession — has triggered horror and introspection among China’s legal community, which is already facing problems of morale. According to the Supreme People’s Court’s verified Weibo account, Ma Caiyun, 38, was shot and killed on Friday by two attackers. One of the attackers, the court said, was an individual whose post-divorce property settlement…

ISLAMABAD – Iranian President Hasan Rouhani will lead a high level delegation to Pakistan this month to strengthen bilateral relations, diplomatic sources said yesterday. Sources told The Nation that the visit of President Rouhani has been agreed and dates are being finalised. This visit will be undertaken in the current month (March). He will be leading a high level delegation that also includes senior military officials. According to the sources, the visit was due for…

ISLAMABAD: Following the lifting of sanctions, Iran President Hassan Rouhani is set to visit Pakistan by the end of this month to push for the Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline project. The project was to be commissioned in December 2014, but work was stalled after sanctions were placed on Tehran. Officials now say that there are hopes that the project could be implemented. The Iranian president will take up the issue during his visit to Islamabad,…