That's a sure sign of Islamism in full flow, isn't it? Already we know that some Pakistani outfits like LeT, LeJ, good Taliban & Al Badr are part of TSPA for many years now, and so is the Afghan Haqqani group. So, naturally it cross pollinates. In any case, they are all jihadists ultimately.RCase wrote:Now, non-state actors are behaving like state actors! AoA!
Punjabis are probably more susceptible to such BS that would make most other Indians gag !! I wish we had a PEW-like agency in India to validate my hypothesis.neerajmaurya wrote:Crossing borders: Why every Indian should visit Pakistan
how to make these kids differentiate between truth and falsehood?
http://www.dawn.com/news/1148311/crossi ... t-pakistan
As expected this is not on prime time news in Indo-Pak MSMFrom Pakistan to Bangladesh
Reuters
Over the past three years, manufacturers have faced numerous obstacles to smooth operations and profitability due to power shortages, security issues, and widespread corruption. - File photo
FAISALABAD: Tauseef Salamat, the owner of a Pakistani textile mill, grinned ruefully as he read a text message that reminded him to turn off the plant's natural gas supply for three days under a government programme to ration scarce energy resources or face a penalty.
These are tough times for Pakistan's once-thriving textiles industry. The long-running energy crisis along with security concerns in a country plagued by militancy and political violence have taken a heavy toll. Now it faces a new threat: competition from Bangladesh.
"Bangladesh also has energy problems but, unlike us, they are managing it and managing it well," said Salamat, whose company, Tauseef Enterprises, has 3,000 employees in Pakistan. "The energy crisis has increased the cost of doing business in Pakistan."
Indeed, Salamat has already voted with his feet. His enterprise now has more than 800 workers some 2,000 km (1,250 miles) away in what used to be the eastern wing of Pakistan.
Bangladesh is making a strong play to lure Pakistani textile businesses to relocate or expand to Dhaka, which split from West Pakistan and gained independence in 1971 after a bloody civil war and Indian intervention.
Its advantages are clear: not only does it share a common culture and history with Pakistan, it has more investor-friendly policies, cheaper skilled labour and, crucially, tax-free access to 37 countries, including the European Union, Canada and Australia.
The movement of textile business from Pakistan to Bangladesh is also evidence of an emerging trend in labour and capital movement in a globalising world: first there was a shift from the West to rapidly developing economies, now transfers are happening between frontier markets.
"There is a third wave of globalisation into frontier markets," said Frederic Neumann, chief Asia economist at HSBC in Hong Kong. "As some emerging markets climb up the value-added ladder, frontier markets are increasingly finding a competitive niche."
WORRYING TREND
Pakistan's textile industry accounts for 38 percent of workers in the manufacturing sector and over half of its exports, which stood at nearly $25 billion (15.3 billion pounds) in fiscal 2010/11.
Textile exports rose 35 percent to $13.80 billion in 2010/11, but that was mainly because of high cotton prices which are expected to come off. Indeed, exports fell by about 15 percent in July, the first month of the 2011/12 fiscal year.
The country is also beset with a Taliban insurgency, gang violence and ethnic tensions, which are a drag on the economy and a deterrent for investors.
About 300 people were killed in political and ethnic violence in July alone in Karachi, the country's commercial hub and a major base for the textile industry.
"They are trying to come to our country because investment in Pakistan is too risky," said a Bangladesh commerce ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to journalists.
"Foreign buyers are reluctant to place orders in Pakistan due to security concerns."
The energy crisis in Pakistan is also a major hindrance.
"Work in factories is closed for three days a week due to gas load-shedding, because of which the industry is working at 30-40 percent of its capacity," said Wasim Latif, chairman of the Pakistan Textile Exporters Association.
Bangladesh has its own power problems, facing up to 2,000 MW of shortages because of a gas supply crisis that forced a cut in power plants' output and growing domestic demand stemming from economic growth that has averaged 6 percent in recent years.
But it is taking steps to address the energy shortage. The government is aiming to triple power generation to 15,000 MW over the next five years, with plans for as many as 89 power plants to be built on a fast-track basis.
Meanwhile, Pakistan - beset by crises on multiple fronts - is struggling to tackle its energy troubles.
The country is facing a gas shortfall of nearly 2.0 billion cubic feet per day. Total electricity demand in summer months outstrips supply by 22 percent -- or about 6,000 MW -- during peak hours.
According to the Asian Development Bank 2011 report released in April, energy deficits are lowering Pakistan's real growth by at least 2 percentage points annually.
"Although power sector deficiencies (in Bangladesh) are still prominent, it is likely to ease in the coming months. On the whole, textile manufacturers of Pakistan are looking for new homes because of the domestic problems affecting their business, and Bangladesh could provide them with a better home," said Mustafa K. Mujeri, director general of the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies.
Bangladesh is also offering tax holidays of up to 10 years to foreign investors, as well as duty-free import of raw materials and repatriation of capital and profits.
Classified as a least-developed country, it enjoys duty-free export facility to 27 European Union countries, and 10 other developed countries, including Japan, Canada and Australia, under bilateral agreements.
Pakistan, on the other hand, faces higher tariffs in the EU and U.S. markets, putting its exports at a disadvantage. Pakistan has for years asked for access to the U.S. market, under the slogan "Trade, not Aid."
LOW LABOUR COST
It also has higher wages.
Bangladesh last year nearly doubled the minimum monthly wage for millions of workers in the garment industry to 3,000 taka (25 pounds), but pay is still low compared with those of competitors in China, India, Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia.
Pakistan's minimum wage is much higher, at a government-set 7,000 rupees (49 pounds), and some factories pay even more, says Latif from the Pakistan Textile Exporters Association.
Low labour costs have helped Bangladesh join the global supply chain for low-end textiles and clothing, manufacturing garments for international brands such as JC Penney, Wal-Mart, H&M, Kohl's, Marks & Spencer and Carrefour.
"Obviously, the investment climate in Bangladesh is better as a result of attractive incentive packages earmarked for foreign investors, a better political climate, relative social stability, and a promise to ensure required infrastructures including electricity, said Mujeri, who is also the former chief economist of Bangladesh's central bank.
There is no official data illustrating the business migration, but interviews with a string of Pakistani executives revealed that at least five companies already have or will soon be setting up operations in Bangladesh.
Salamat's company opened two units in Dhaka about three years ago, and it is now in the process of setting up a third.
"Good business in Bangladesh has encouraged us to further expand our operations there. We are overbooked," said Salamat, whose firm produces products for brands such as Adidas and Nike.
Masood Textile Mills, a large knitwear exporting company, is setting up a sewing plant in Bangladesh.
"There is no sign of any large-scale movement, but people are being pushed," said Latif. "It is not a comfortable choice."
Just so we don't confuse ourselves, from other reports, my understanding is that they were wearing Indian army uniforms.RCase wrote:Martiallaw!
Last week militants wearing army uniforms attacked an Indian army base near the border with Pakistan.
Bakis have plumbed a new low. Before it was regular military personnel that cavorted in mufti like tribals/lashkars/mujahadeen etc. Now, non-state actors are behaving like state actors! AoA!Last week militants wearing army uniforms attacked an Indian army base near the border with Pakistan, leaving 10 people dead in the worst militant violence inside the disputed state in more than a year.
Perhaps because this was published in 2011 ?Paul wrote: http://www.dawn.com/news/655674/from-pa ... bangladesh
As expected this is not on prime time news in Indo-Pak MSM
She was scared and expected to be treated badly. Instead, bakis made her feel good. In minds like hers, what makes them feel good personally is wonderful medicine for India.SSridhar wrote:^She is working as an 'international consultant' (whatever that means)? And, she gets taken in by the superficiality of it all without knowing the real history? It is the promise of future trips to probably more interesting locations around the world as part of Track II & III that, I think, is behind this lady's rather excited writing. She will certainly go places soon and reach the stage of WKKs who abuse our India. She shows promising signs.
No I say send more monkeys on tamasha to Pakistan. And then do a Doval on them and subvert them. Most of these folks barring some hardcore ones are useful idiots and ripe for use as expendable intelligence assets.SSridhar wrote:^She is working as an 'international consultant' (whatever that means)? And, she gets taken in by the superficiality of it all without knowing the real history? It is the promise of future trips to probably more interesting locations around the world as part of Track II & III that, I think, is behind this lady's rather excited writing. She will certainly go places soon and reach the stage of WKKs who abuse our India. She shows promising signs.
Well they are upholding the glorious traditions of the ultimate DIE onlee, Chacha Nehru.KLNMurthy wrote:SSridhar wrote: Self-centeredness and personal vanity driving policy is default mindset for DIE. Non-DIE Modi represents the change from this approach.
Question is that beyond Pindi Channa recipes, whether they receive any intelligence on their jaunts to Pakistan!Raja Bose wrote:No I say send more monkeys on tamasha to Pakistan. And then do a Doval on them and subvert them. Most of these folks barring some hardcore ones are useful idiots and ripe for use as expendable intelligence assets.SSridhar wrote:^She is working as an 'international consultant' (whatever that means)? And, she gets taken in by the superficiality of it all without knowing the real history? It is the promise of future trips to probably more interesting locations around the world as part of Track II & III that, I think, is behind this lady's rather excited writing. She will certainly go places soon and reach the stage of WKKs who abuse our India. She shows promising signs.
Yes, but it was tactically brilliant.SSridhar wrote:[url=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/new ... 378822.cms]
Actually Jinnah and Muslim League hated Nehru and Gandhi for not lying down and playing dead ie not deferring to Jinnah and Muslim League's demands despite all their incessant complaining to the British and all the hateful religious hysteria Jinnah and Muslim League stirred up.Raja Bose wrote:
Well they are upholding the glorious traditions of the ultimate DIE onlee, Chacha Nehru.
Guess how all those opium gets taken out of Afghanistan for export & sale?With a record 224,000 hectares under cultivation this year, the country produced an estimated 6,400 tons of opium, or around 90 percent of the world's supply. The drug is entwined with the highest levels of the Afghan government and the economy in a way that makes the cocaine business in Escobar-era Colombia look like a sideshow. The share of cocaine trafficking and production in Colombia's GDP peaked at six percent in the late 1980s; in Afghanistan today, according to U.N. estimates, the opium industry accounts for 15 percent of the economy, a figure that is set to rise as the West withdraws.
US leaders are big on conducting business based on personal rappo and what they perceive as their reading of other "leaders" - as to whether they are dependable / trust worth, etc. Such relationships go a long way compared to how high level diplomacy is conducted by India.Shreeman wrote:Prize for two weeks in the US for bad sherrif == 8 cutters (50M x 8 USD) == 51st state of USA (slumabaad)?
A cousin of mine in the early nineties, had visited Pakistan for a bi-lateral inter school hockey tournament. He came back with stories like the DIE in the article but also mentioned how they were 'tailed' almost always. So obtrusive and visible was the tailing that the family hosting a small part of the group actually approached the 'men' and requested them to at least spare school kids.RajeshA wrote:Question is that beyond Pindi Channa recipes, whether they receive any intelligence on their jaunts to Pakistan!Raja Bose wrote:
No I say send more monkeys on tamasha to Pakistan. And then do a Doval on them and subvert them. Most of these folks barring some hardcore ones are useful idiots and ripe for use as expendable intelligence assets.
-from YawnWASHINGTON: The US Congress has extended the Coalition Support Fund for Pakistan for a year but has also included some new conditions in its final budget proposals.
The fund reimburses US allies for the efforts they make in the war against terror.
The final budget proposal, however, clarifies that Pakistan cannot receive more than a billion dollars in a year from this fund.
Pakistan received $370 million from this fund in October this year. The annual imbursements are made in four instalments.
The final text, issued by the US Senate Armed Services Committee, shows that the support fund for Pakistan has been extended till US fiscal year 2015. The text includes both old and new restrictions.
Of the total amount of reimbursements and support authorised for Pakistan during fiscal year 2015, $300 million shall not be eligible for the waiver unless the US Secretary of Defence certifies to the congressional defence committees that Pakistan has “undertaken military operations in North Waziristan that have contributed to significantly disrupting the safe haven and freedom of movement of the Haqqani network in Pakistan.”
The secretary will also be required to certify that Pakistan has taken steps that have demonstrated a commitment to “ensuring that North Waziristan does not return to being a safe haven for the Haqqani network.”
Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act and every six months thereafter, the Secretary of Defence shall, in consultation with the Secretary of State, submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report on the nature and extent of bilateral security cooperation between the United States and Pakistan.
The report shall include, at a minimum, the following:
(1) A description of any strategic security objectives that the United States and Pakistan have agreed to pursue in cooperation.
(2) A description of programmes or activities that the United States and Pakistan have jointly undertaken to pursue mutually agreed security cooperation objectives.
(3) A description and assessment of the effectiveness of efforts by Pakistan, unilaterally or jointly with the United States, to disrupt operations and eliminate safe havens of Al Qaeda, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, and other militant extremist groups such as the Haqqani Network and the Quetta Shura Taliban located in Pakistan.
(4) A description and assessment of efforts by Pakistan, unilaterally or jointly with the United States, to counter the threat of improvised explosive devices and the networks involved in the acquisition, production, and delivery of such devices and their precursors and components.
(5) An assessment of the effectiveness of any US security assistance to Pakistan to achieve the strategic security objectives described above.
(6) A description of any metrics used to assess the effectiveness of programmes and activities described above.
The report shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex. The requirements in this section shall terminate on December 31, 2017.
URI: At least seven security personnel including a lieutenant colonel and one assistant sub inspector of police were killed in a fidayeen attack launched by Pakistani infiltrators at 32-field regiment in Uri sector of Baramulla district in north Kashmir in the wee hours of Friday.
Five terrorists have also been killed in the gunbattle.
[deleted]Peregrine wrote: Cheers
Ankar Ji and Formuites All :Ankar wrote:[deleted]Peregrine wrote: Cheers
SSridhar Ji :SSridhar wrote:Pakistan must pay for this and feel the pain, either through covert or overt actions.
Not a chance. He's coming to sign 'big ticket deals' for the audience back home. Each summit has 'deliverables' and they are negotiated and agreed to well in advance. So, unless NaMo agreed to this in advance, Obama won't even bring up the issue of Pakistan so as not jeopardize the deals.SSridhar wrote:Interesting CSF conditions.
[*]..... It may be true that Obama is coming to India to persuade India to cooperate in the 'larger interests' of the region.
So what deal needs to be made for America to support India in fragmenting Pakistan`?!Cosmo_R wrote:Not a chance. He's coming to sign 'big ticket deals' for the audience back home. Each summit has 'deliverables' and they are negotiated and agreed to well in advance. So, unless NaMo agreed to this in advance, Obama won't even bring up the issue of Pakistan so as not jeopardize the deals.SSridhar wrote:Interesting CSF conditions.
[*]..... It may be true that Obama is coming to India to persuade India to cooperate in the 'larger interests' of the region.
Peregrineji no one grudges using your cheers sign but that post looks like you are cheering our Army men getting killed though we know you didn't.Peregrine wrote:
Ankar Ji and Formuites All :
Should it cause you umbrage I will stop adding the "Cheers" Sign from all my posts AS IN THIS ONE.
James B Ji :James B wrote:Peregrineji no one grudges using your cheers sign but that post looks like you are cheering our Army men getting killed though we know you didn't.Peregrine wrote:
Ankar Ji and Formuites All :
Should it cause you umbrage I will stop adding the "Cheers" Sign from all my posts AS IN THIS ONE.
SSridhar wrote:Interesting CSF conditions.
[*]..... It may be true that Obama is coming to India to persuade India to cooperate in the 'larger interests' of the region.
Cosmo_R wrote:Not a chance. He's coming to sign 'big ticket deals' for the audience back home. Each summit has 'deliverables' and they are negotiated and agreed to well in advance. So, unless NaMo agreed to this in advance, Obama won't even bring up the issue of Pakistan so as not jeopardize the deals.
RajeshA Ji :RajeshA wrote:So what deal needs to be made for America to support India in fragmenting Pakistan`?!
Peregrine ji,Peregrine wrote:Give the US Forces a "Couple of Bases". But, of course, such a tilt will upset China and Russia "Big Time". How the Pakis keep getting Moolah from US, China and now Russia is something India needs to Learn.
simple solution : create a 50 km de-militirized zone in POK and along IB in J&K.partha wrote:3 major attacks by Paki pigs in 12 hours in Kashmir. Peaceniks are waiting to say "see, that's why you should talk to Pakistan". Hope Govt makes Pakis pay the price after J&K polls.
