Report in Global Times, May 25, 2017 at 21:43 China said it will spare no effort to rescue two Chinese citizens kidnapped by gunmen on Wednesday in Quetta, Pakistan. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lu Kang on Thursday confirmed at a daily briefing that two Chinese citizens were abducted by unnamed gunmen in Quetta Wednesday afternoon. China’s Embassy in Pakistan and Consulate-General in Karachi immediately activated their emergency response mechanism after learning of the kidnapping, Lu…
Posts published in May 2017
by SYED IRFAN RAZA in Dawn, May 26th, 2017 ISLAMABAD: Opposition members of the Parliamentary Committee on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) on Thursday registered their strong protest over the role of the committee and termed it a ‘useless’ body. Interestingly, only six out of 22 members of the committee attended the meeting held under the chairmanship of Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed. Leaders of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Shibli Faraz and Asad Umar lodged a…
Report in The Express Tribune, May 26th, 2017. RAWALPINDI: A top cop, responsible for policing a vast swathe of highways in the north of the country, on Thursday said that the government plans to recruit hundreds of additional police officials to cater to the increased traffic which is expected once the multi-billion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is complete. National Highways and Motorways Police (NHMP) North Zone Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Abbas Ahsan was speaking at…
Report in Dhaka Tribune, May 25, 2017 The Trump administration, in a proposed US State Department budget, has recommended the reduction financial assistance and military support for Bangladesh. The proposal has already been sent for the approval of Congress. In 2016, Bangladesh received $210m in funds from the US. However, the State Department has proposed to cut the amount to $138m for 2018. In addition, the proposed budget has recommended that the US stop all…
Report in The Daily Star, May 26, 2017 The Supreme Court authorities were taking down the statue of the Greek Goddess of Justice Themis on the SC premises in the wee hours today. Some five to seven workers were hammering at the base of the statue while four to five other people, including Mrinal Haque, the sculptor, were overseeing the work that began around 11:30pm yesterday. There was a pick-up parked nearby. Journalists were not…
By Rana Tanveer in The Express Tribune, May 26th, 2017. LAHORE: The Jain community is left bewildered over where to turn to free their temple from the clutches of illegal occupation by none other than the police. The Samandhi of Shri Atmaramji Maharaj, reformer of the contemporary Jain community, has been occupied by the force since 1984, or some 33 years. As the property is in police control, no members of the land mafia have…
by Nasir Jamal in Dawn, May 26, 2017 ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has cut direct and indirect losses to its economy on account of terrorism by slightly above 40 per cent to $3.88 billion (Rs407.21bn) in the first nine months of this fiscal year. Economic Survey 2016-17 attributes this to an improving security condition in the wake of ongoing military-led counterterrorism operations in the nation’s tribal regions and elsewhere. The latest survey, which has recorded the losses…
Xinhua report in Global Times, May 25, 2017 Police and other law enforcement agencies launched a search operation on Wednesday evening in Pakistan’s southwest city of Quetta and its adjoining areas to recover the two Chinese nationals who were abducted earlier in the day. Heavy contingent of police and other law enforcement agencies can been seen all over the city especially at the entry and exit points of the city and in the areas adjoining…
Report in Global Times, May 25, 2017 Armed men pretending to be policemen kidnapped two Chinese language teachers in the Pakistani city of Quetta on Wednesday, provincial officials said, an attack likely to raise concerns in Beijing about its huge investment plans. The Chinese embassy in Pakistan later confirmed the kidnapping of two Chinese nationals by unknown gunmen in the country’s southwest Quetta city. An official from the Chinese embassy told Xinhua that they are…
by Fawad Yousafzai in The Nation,May 25, 2017 ISLAMABAD – The CPEC long-term plan will cost hundreds of billions of dollars, much more than the $60 billion dollar estimated for the ongoing short-term plan. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project has been divided into three phases: short-term plan to be completed by 2020, mid-term plan to be completed by 2025 and long-term plan to be completed by 2030. “As per our estimates, the execution of…
By Zhao Yusha in Global Times, May 24, 2017 at 18:23 hrs A recent report about China’s “loneliest school,” which has just one teacher and one pupil, has pointed a spotlight on the dire situation of rural education in the face of massive urban migration. Xu Zefeng, the only teacher of Youcheng primary school in Central China’s Henan Province, who has been working there since 1982, told the Beijing Youth Daily that since he started…