Terroristan - 29 September 2017

[Peregrine]

The ticking population bomb

Pakistan is now the world’s fifth most populous country with a population of 207 million, depicting a 2.4% annual growth since 1998. Seemingly, the country’s family planning approach has failed to create a serious dent in the population growth. Many blame ‘deep-rooted religious beliefs’ and cultural impediments. But apparently that’s not true.

Let’s look at other countries. India and Bangladesh have a population growth rate of 1.2% and 1.1%, respectively. But what’s happening in other Muslim countries? Iran, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia have growth rates of 1.2%, 1.5% and 2.2%, respectively. We have outpaced them all.

Let’s dig a bit deeper. Future population growth depends on fertility rates, depicting average number of children born alive to a woman during her lifetime. Pakistan’s fertility rate stands at 3.8, according to the Demographic and Health Survey 2012-13. And there is not much difference across provinces, with Punjab at 3.8 and Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa at 3.9. Balochistan does have a higher fertility rate of 4.2 but due to small population size, it has little bearing on our national fertility rate. India and Bangladesh, on the other hand, have fertility rates of 2.4 and 2.14, respectively, whereas Iran, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia are at 1.68, 1.93 and 2.71, respectively.

Even more interestingly, if it were not because of our poor healthcare service delivery, our population growth would have been even higher. Average life expectancy in Pakistan is merely 66 years, as compared to 72 for Bangladesh, 74 for Malaysia and Saudi Arabia and 75 for Iran. If we somehow improve our life expectancy to Bangladesh’s or Iran’s level, our population growth rate would be way higher at present fertility rates.

How can fertility rates be lowered? Through increasing contraceptive prevalence rates (CPR), which depict percentage of women who are currently using at least one method of contraception. According to the last reported figures, CPR in Pakistan stands at 35% amongst married women of reproductive age, compared to an average of almost 53% for South Asia and 77% for Iran.

Data shows that 99% of ever-married women and 95% of ever-married men in Pakistan are aware of at least one modern method of family planning. While the uptake of contraceptives is definitely a challenge, the real problem is poor access.

One in every five women wants to space her next birth or stop childbearing entirely but is not using contraception, depicting a very high unmet need. Assuming that married women of reproductive age represent 16% of total population, there are 6.6 million women with unmet need out of a total 33+ million. Adding 3.3 million more using traditional contraceptive methods, we can very well understand that a large part of our failure can be attributed to non-availability of services. Even if we only focus on this segment of 10 million women with clear demand, we can easily exceed India’s CPR and significantly reduce our population growth.

A Population Council report on low modern contraceptive use in Pakistan and neighbouring countries blamed ‘supply-side factors, including poor access to services and lack of counselling and technical knowledge of unmotivated providers’ as primary reason behind low uptake of contraceptives.

Given our poor track record with family planning, there is a need to adopt out-of-the-box approaches. Punjab is the first province to realise the limitations of existing family planning service delivery and has established Punjab Population Innovation Fund to address the unmet need in rural, poor and un-served areas. Other provinces need to follow suit.

Looking at past trend, we’ll touch 450+ million by 2050 but even if we assume that our growth has slowed down to 2%, we’d still be at 400 million. A large population base with a high growth rate is a ticking bomb. It’s high time to acknowledge this.

Note : Terroristan's Real Population Figure : Pakistan unable to control population growth despite huge spending - Muzammil Ferozi Daily Times 11-07-17

As per sources the recent census in Pakistan the population has crossed 300 million while Karachi's population is 30 million.

Cheers

[Prem]

The ticking population bomb

Pakistan is now the world’s fifth most populous country with a population of 207 million, depicting a 2.4% annual growth since 1998. Seemingly, the country’s family planning approach has failed to create a serious dent in the population growth. Many blame ‘deep-rooted religious beliefs’ and cultural impediments. But apparently that’s not true.
Note : Terroristan's Real Population Figure : Pakistan unable to control population growth despite huge spending - Muzammil Ferozi Daily Times 11-07-17

As per sources the recent census in Pakistan the population has crossed 300 million while Karachi's population is 30 million.

Cheers

We have been calculating Pokluation for almost 2 decades. Nafri is some where between 260-280 Millions and growth rate is not 2.4 but over 3 %. we will have more than 500 million Paki by 2040 and such Paki achievement will coincide with India completing desired dam network in North and interlinking of rivers all over India.

[ArjunPandit]

will have more than 500 million Paki by 2040 and such Paki achievement will coincide with India completing desired dam network in North and interlinking of rivers all over India.

true population control devices for them would be
1. Artillery
2. Air dropped bombs
3. Nuclear bombs
present inside india. Such a large population can not be sustained with a debt ridden economy fueled by steroid of religious fundamentalism

[Peregrine]

X Posted on the Analyzing CPEC Thread

Pakistan rejection of China’s dam aimed at showing OBOR in line with global rules

NEW DELHI: Pakistan’s rejection of China’s offer of aid for the Diamer-Bhasha dam and its reported appeal to Beijing to exclude the project from China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPECBSE -4.45 %)— which is part of the One Belt One Road initiative—may be a part of strategy to showcase to the world that globally established rules are being followed for projects financed by China under OBOR.

Islamabad was increasingly finding it difficult to get financing from other international bodies for the Diamer-Bhasha dam in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) because of its location in the disputed territory. In this context, Pakistan’s move could be diversionary tactic as the critics of OBOR, including India, have questioned the nature of Chinese funding for the mega connectivity initiative. India’s other key objection to OBOR is based on the fact that part of it--CPEC--passes through PoK.

In fact, New Delhi had lodged protests with both China and Pakistan over the Diamer Bhasha dam and other Chinese-funded project's in PoK, even before those projects were brought under OBOR.

Given the nature of Sino-Pak relations, Pakistan would not risk snubbing Beijing. In the recent past, Pakistan has accepted Chinese funds for several other dam-related projects. Moreover, any move to sideline China from the Diamer-Bhasha project could also impact CPEC, and Islamabad cannot risk that, according to analysts who follow Sino-Pak ties.

CPEC has often been billed as the flagship project under OBOR to help Beijing find an alternative route for critical supplies in case sea routes in SE Asia are chocked by the US, and China will keep no stone unturned to put OBOR in place.

Pakistan has cited tough conditions by Chinese companies as reason for rejecting the offer of help in the dam project.

Incidentally, international lenders had also linked serious conditions to the provision of funding, and the project cost had reached $14 billion against the original estimate of $5 billion.

Cheers

[Peregrine]

20 people killed in Khairpur road accident

KHAIRPUR: At least 20 people were killed and several injured in a road accident near Khairpur this morning. The accident took place when a truck fell on a passenger van near Shah Hussain bypass.

According the Police officials, the van driver attempted to overtake the truck on Tehari Bypass but ended up slamming into the vehicle.

The injured were shifted to Khairpur hospital from where 12 of the bodies were handed to their families.

In 2014, on Theri bypass, at least 59 people were killed while 18 others were injured when a passenger bus collided head-on with a goods truck near Khairpur.

Cheers

[Peregrine]

14 killed as passenger van hits landmine in Kurram Agency

PESHAWAR: At least 14 people were killed when a passenger vehicle struck a roadside bomb in Gudar area of Central Kurram Agency early Tuesday.

The blast tore through the heavily-loaded pickup truck in the Godar area of Kurram tribal district early in the morning, Irfan Ali, a local administration official in the area told AFP. The deceased included five women and four children.

“An anti-tank mine was buried on the roadside and hit a pick-up van,” a political administration official told The Express Tribune. “It was a rutted path in an area that is at a distance,” he added.

Nine others, including four Khasadar officials, were critically injured in the explosion. The injured were shifted to a nearby hospital.

The military’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations, said a special Mi-17 helicopter has been sent to Parachinar to bring the injured to Peshawar for treatment.


A list of the victims released by the hospital. This list does not include victims who died on the spot.

IS Khorasan and TTP-JUA have both claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Kurram tribal district is known for sectarian clashes between Sunnis and Shias who make up roughly 20 percent of Pakistan’s population of 200 million, and it has also been a stronghold for the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan as well as its factions.

Last month, at least 28 people were killed and 100-plus wounded when a suicide bomber detonated a car ‘rigged with explosives’ outside an Imambargah in a busy marketplace in the main town of Kurram tribal region. The grisly violence sparked angry protests by local residents in Parachinar, the administrative headquarters of the agency, which is prone to sectarian violence. Jamaatul Ahrar, a splinter group of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, claimed credit for the deadly bombing in Parachinar, which came less than two months after a bomb ripped through the main vegetable market in the same city on January 21.

PM condemns attack

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, along with his brother Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, strongly condemned the attack in Kurram Agency on Tuesday.

Expressing grief over the loss of precious lives, the premier prayed for the blessing of departed souls. He directed relevant authorities to extend maximum support for the treatment of the injured and expressed sympathies with the bereaved families. (WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM APP)

Cheers

[Peregrine]

Cheers

[anupmisra]

On one hand:
Given the nature of Sino-Pak relations, Pakistan would not risk snubbing Beijing. In the recent past, Pakistan has accepted Chinese funds for several other dam-related projects.

However, on the other hand:
Pakistan has cited tough conditions by Chinese companies as reason for rejecting the offer of help in the dam project.

The above two positions do not jive. Were the conditions for investments in the other dams not the same as the Diamer-Bhasha dam? Something else happened that forced the chini investment to pull back from the Diamer-Bhasha dam project.

[anupmisra]

We have been calculating Pokluation for almost 2 decades. Nafri is some where between 260-280 Millions and growth rate is not 2.4 but over 3 %. we will have more than 500 million Paki by 2040 and such Paki achievement will coincide with India completing desired dam network in North and interlinking of rivers all over India.

If there is one image that speaks volumes, about the impending disaster that is waiting to happen in pakiland, is this one:

Most pakis live along and rely on the Indus, Jhelum, Ravi, Satluj and Chenab rivers. With their total dependence on these river waters and the aquifers for daily sustenance, the ever exploding paki population (500 million by 2040?) will rely on lesser and lesser available water supply.

Another Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro are waiting to happen.

[Bart S]

On one hand:
Given the nature of Sino-Pak relations, Pakistan would not risk snubbing Beijing. In the recent past, Pakistan has accepted Chinese funds for several other dam-related projects.

However, on the other hand:
Pakistan has cited tough conditions by Chinese companies as reason for rejecting the offer of help in the dam project.

The above two positions do not jive. Were the conditions for investments in the other dams not the same as the Diamer-Bhasha dam? Something else happened that forced the chini investment to pull back from the Diamer-Bhasha dam project.

The point that the article is making is that this is all a drama in collusion with the Chinese to convince international lenders (who perhaps have turned down funds due to wastage of money on ridiculous CPEC projects - it would in reality amount to funding the Chinese if you think about it) that they are creditworthy. Something that the Pakis regularly do to fool the Americans wrt Taliban etc (and often with Indian govts of the past too), perhaps they are trying it on the finance front now.

[nandakumar]

Why would international lenders change their mind now? Nothing on the ground has changed for the project to become viable for international lenders. The article was just one of those with click bait headlines.

[anupmisra]

Why would international lenders change their mind now? Nothing on the ground has changed for the project to become viable for international lenders. The article was just one of those with click bait headlines.

As far as I know, project level lending is restricted to only chini banks on any SeePak project. The contractors are required to raise that debt, who will of course first pay the chini subcontractors and suppliers, and themselves. Pakis confuse these loans as investments. Besides, name sake equity investments are by chini-backed institutions only, who do not need to show where the money is coming from and how the money is being used. It stays in chinisthan-based accounts. It is the paki sponsors (a component of the sponsor equity) - therefore, passive general partners (GP) with no day to day management responsibilities - who must show the money. This where the pakis are already reneging. No money, no honey!

Besides that, the pakis as GPs, and at the bottom of the pecking order, must guarantee a return to the chinis after the chinis have paid their contractors and themselves as part of preferred equity. These guarantees come as sovereign guarantees (not bank guarantees). Paki treasury is, therefore, liable.

In other words, paki land (highways, damns, SEZs, toll booths) are all up for grabs as guarantees and the chinis would love the pakis to default on their debt and investment obligations. "Loan to Own" has a new standard in national gullibility built on avarice.

Diabolical, isn't it? Love it!

[anupmisra]

The State buckles in to the religious right. And, not a peep from the mard-e-momeens at TSPA.

Islamabad protesters given more time by govt to reconsider protest

Tehreek-i-Khatm-i-Nabuwwat, Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah (TLY) and the Sunni Tehreek Pakistan (ST)

The protesters had occupied the Faizabad Bridge which connects Rawalpindi and Islamabad through the Islamabad Expressway and Murree Road, both of which are the busiest roads in the twin cities.

The deadline for ending the sit-in is now Nov 23

The Islamabad administration did not conduct an operation against the protesters on my orders, because I do not wish for any unrest

The dragging on of the protest "is the result of the administration's complicity and incompetence", Justice Siddiqui said.

That's right. Don't want any "unrest". One lal masjid "incident" is enough for one lifetime.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1371715/islam ... er-protest

[anupmisra]

The new and revised old SeePak. Note the "Border for Radiation Region" in yellow dashed line!!! Also note the future use of b'lochistan and Pok.



https://www.dawn.com/news/1371720/what- ... -look-like

[anupmisra]

Taliban Khan and JIU - the twain has finally met. Khan is out of the closet.

Imran, Sami form election alliance

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami (JUI-S) Ameer Maulana Samiul Haq on Sunday agreed to work out a joint strategy for the general elections scheduled for next year, the local media reported.

Speaking on the occasion, the PTI chief said the elimination of corrupt elements was a must for the progress of the country. He said there was intellectual and ideological convergence between him and Haq. Imran expressed his gratitude to the JUI-S leader for supporting the initiatives the KP government had taken so far for promotion of Islamic principles. He said his party wanted religious seminaries to stand on their feet.

Haq said he greatly valued the government initiatives with regard to propagation of Islamic ideals.

https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/246247 ... n-alliance

[Peregrine]

Spending goes unchecked as country becomes addicted to debt

ISLAMABAD: Read newspaper editorials and expert articles on the current situation and you may get no clue what actually happened to Pakistan’s economy over the past two years.

A closer-to-reality picture emerges when attention is paid to state spending and the sources required to sustain such fabulous spending. Whether Ishaq Dar or any other guy sits in the finance ministry, such mindless state spending cannot count on domestic resources.

The present politico-economic turmoil is rooted in a drastic increase in federal and provincial spending since the 1980s when General Ziaul Haq charted out a policy to make external sources of financing as the main source of budget. He relied primarily on this money source.

Later, the civilian era of 1988-99 was troubled by the twin issues of terrorism. The US-led coalition got active in the region and policies for economic reforms were put on the back burner. The drift from domestic funding sources to external assistance was faster in that era. And then, there was no going back.

Addiction to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) got deeper in the national politico-economic circles and bowing to its stronger conditions for reforms was no longer a political snag.

General Musharraf championed the cause of “Pakistan First” while seeking more money under the US Coalition Support Fund and spent amounts to shape up his political strength. He insisted that he was different from General Ayub Khan and General Zia, but continued the same policy of banking on external resources. Thereafter, the advancing wheel could not be turned back, though the slogan of “Breaking the Begging Bowl” got even louder. The addiction to external debt became stronger with the claim that Pakistan was meeting IMF conditions successfully.

This was a symptom of political and economic collapse whereas Dar was hoping against hope. He gave several arguments to emphasise that the national economy was being managed well and was on its way to touch higher growth rates.

He dismissed the idea that the economy was reeling from the impact of misspending and over-spending as well as meeting additional budgetary requirements through expensive loans.

He always spoke about growing foreign currency reserves of the central bank and the shrinking current account deficit. However, the gap between domestic cash resources and federal-provincial spending was widening and the only source to bridge that deficit was costly debt that mounted and forced Pakistan to keep paying the mark-up, leave alone the debt.

A latest IMF report puts Pakistan in the category of states that have “outstanding” balance of payments. Its website says “when a member has overdue financial obligations outstanding for more than three months, the amount of such arrears will be shown in this section.”

The World Bank has this to say: “Growing fiscal and external imbalances have eroded the hard-earned gains in restoring macroeconomic stability in the last three years and they could affect the country’s growth prospects if not addressed.

“The fiscal deficit expanded to its highest level during the last three years as revenue mobilisation weakened and expenditures rose at both provincial and federal levels. Simultaneously, the external account deteriorated sharply due to a widening trade deficit and a fall in international remittances.”

These remarks may not move public finance managers in Islamabad as the addiction to debt has gone deeper.

Corruption has pervaded the tax structure, development projects, public procurement and even the social service structure because of the overspending culture.

Revolutionists call for stopping the extravaganza, not a change in the political class. Those who demand a change in the political class may be supporters of overspending and corruption. They better raise the slogan against expensive debt seeking and for revising the policy of debt-driven budget.

I must say that debt is not forbidden in the state mechanism if used for development. Addiction to budgeting based on debt is forbidden, especially for the state that prefers external resources to domestic ones. Domestic resource development is never the priority of policymakers that bank on external resources. Spending within limits is the panacea for states that are in preliminary stages of politico-economic evolution.

Do Pakistan’s public finance managers realise that? They cannot. They are born in a culture of debt and corruption. Once the policy of restricting spending is adopted, loans will only be spent on development, pulling Pakistan out of the corrupt procurement and contract culture.

Cheers

[Prem]

will have more than 500 million Paki by 2040 and such Paki achievement will coincide with India completing desired dam network in North and interlinking of rivers all over India.

true population control devices for them would be. Artillery. Air dropped bombs. Nuclear bombs

720 Shilkas firing in straight line will be best antidote to Poak granted visa for Yamloke.

[Vips]

Would not take any chance. Have a back up of horizontally lined and chain ammo fed HMG pickets of BSF every 50 meters to prevent the vermins from coming in.

[SSridhar]

The new and revised old SeePak. Note the "Border for Radiation Region" in yellow dashed line!!!

What the he!! is that ?

[anupmisra]

The new and revised old SeePak. Note the "Border for Radiation Region" in yellow dashed line!!!

What the he!! is that ?

No idea. It goes along the Indian border and continues well into al chinisthan.

[Guddu]

Looks like an autocorrection by the word processing program...irrigation ? but that too does not make sense. Sorry hard to understand paki logic.

[saip]

When India drops a nuke on Islamabad that is how far the radiation will reach.

[arun]

UK victory over India at ICJ suits Pakistan

^^^ Fervent prayer of the Mohammadden Terrorism Fomenting Islamic Republic of Pakistan that UK’s Christopher Greenwood beats India’s Dalveer Bhandari for a place on the International Court of Justice, comes to naught:

UK loses its seat at International Court of Justice for first time after candidate withdrawn

[pankajs]

The new and revised old SeePak. Note the "Border for Radiation Region" in yellow dashed line!!!

What the he!! is that ?

More a catchment kind of concept me thinks. Like with a river the map is trying to lay out the catchment area that will feed from and into the CPEC roadway.

[SSridhar]

When India drops a nuke on Islamabad that is how far the radiation will reach.

[Manish_P]

Terroristan being Rapeistan

An unspoken ordeal: Rape and 'forgiveness' in Pakistan's madressahs

A tally of cases reported in newspapers over the past 10 years of sexual abuse by clerics and other religious officials came to 359

In 2004, an official disclosed more than 500 complaints of sexual assaults against young boys in madressahs. He has since refused to talk.

“There are thousands of incidences of sexual abuse in the madressahs,” he says. “This thing is very common...I am not sure what it will take to expose the extent of it. It's very dangerous to even try.”

[abhijitm]

The new and revised old SeePak. Note the "Border for Radiation Region" in yellow dashed line!!!

What the he!! is that ?

i still confujed. not understanding theory of radiation region.

[anupmisra]

What the he!! is that ?

i still confujed. not understanding theory of radiation region.

I think it is a transliteration error from chinglish to pinglish. Probably denotes the "area of economic impact"- hence "radiating effect" of economic gains on the region's momeens from chini benevolence.

But I could be way off base (my kufr genes have not been mongrelized yet).

[Vips]

Pakistan refuses to allow free use of yuan for CPEC projects.

Pakistan has refused to allow free use of the Chinese yuan on the lines of the US dollar in the country as officials from the two nations met to decide on a long-term developmental plan under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). (Last vistages of resistance before the inevitable turning into chinese colony)

The meeting of senior officials from Pakistan and China yesterday decided to formally move ahead despite hurdles and finance at least three special economic/industrial zones (SEZs) and some important rail, electricity and road projects.

The Dawn reported quoting a senior government official that Pakistan was not ready to allow the Chinese yuan (renminbi) for free use in Gwadar or its treatment on a par with the US dollar in the country and this was disappointing for the visiting Chinese officials. (Time to ask the jernails to take over the local radio and TV statons?)

He said the use of yuan for common use in any part of Pakistan or exchangeable like dollar has to be on a reciprocal basis.

The official also said the issue would be discussed again for some kind of institutional arrangement at the CPEC Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) meeting today to be co-chaired by Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal, who is also minister for planning and development reforms, and Wang Xiaotao, vice chairman of National Development and Reforms Commission (NDRC) of China.

The official said the USD 3.5 billion Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) project was also unlikely to be cleared for inclusion in the CPEC at this stage because of some unsettled issues between the two countries. The project is likely to be dropped for now.

Informed sources said the two sides appeared to have settled issues relating to $8.5 billion Karachi-Lahore- Peshawar Railway Line.

The discussions were positive and the two sides are also expected to sign agreements on actively promoted power projects.

They also agreed to include road projects such as the much-talked-about western route between Gwadar, Nawabshah, Zhob-D I Khan-Hakla under CPEC besides Karakoram Highway (KKH) in Gilgit-Baltistan.

[Peregrine]

X Posted on the Terroristan Thread

‘Pakistan was not properly prepared for CPEC’

KARACHI: Pakistan’s renowned economist Kaiser Bengali was amused to hear repeated praise of socialism from Chinese Council General in Karachi Wang Yu and later told him that socialism is a ‘dirty’ word in Pakistan, during a moot, “CPEC – Prospects, Challenges and Way Forward”, held here Thursday at National Institute of Management (NIM).

“Mr Wang Yu repeatedly praised socialism in his speech. I may tell him Socialism is considered a dirty word in Pakistan. People here may not be able to digest that socialism could bring such great changes in the society,” Bengali said.

Earlier, Yu literally showered praises repeatedly on ‘Socialism of Chinese Characteristics’ for the success of China. He also said that Pakistan and China have had helped each other in the past on different occasions and were iron brothers.

Bengali, although acknowledged Chinese for their immense progress in the international arena, however he was critical about CPEC and even said that a feasibility report, doing a cost and benefit analysis, was never prepared by Pakistan authorities. “No cost and benefit analysis has been done. Environmental impact of CPEC has also not assessed, which is mandatory by law,” Bengali said. “I have questioned many government officials about the duty distribution of the Gwadar Port but never got an answer. However, what I have come to know, is that Pakistan would receive only nine per cent from it.”

“It is the duty of our government to provide security to all the people coming to Pakistan either for work or tourism. All foreign people are our guest. However, if the expenses on security of those people, which will be borne by Pakistan, exceeds which would be received from that nine per cent duties then what is the use of CPEC for Pakistan?” questioned Bengali.

“I am not against CPEC and I don’t doubt China’s intention. But what I want to say is that we have not prepared properly for CPEC and not bargained well because of incompetency of our government,” he said. He also highlighted the issue that if Chinese products are offloaded in Pakistan in between Kashgar to Gwadar then it would destroy local industries.

He added that the money coming in Pakistan from China under the umbrella of CPEC was either loans or FDI and Pakistan would have to pay back as interest and profit respectively in dollar terms, increasing outflows. It would be a huge burden on Pakistan’s economy, which is already enduring a huge pressure on its deteriorating Balance of Payment (BOP).

Parliamentary Committee on CPEC Chairman Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed said that China could have chosen Iran or Myanmar instead of Pakistan to achieve what it has planned to do through CPEC.

“When US President Donald returned from a visit of China, a journalist described him as a humbled leader of a ‘declining’ super power,” Mushahid said. He added that China has become a hub of innovation and said that it possessed 202 super computers as compared to USA’s 143 super computers. “Shanghai has become New York.” He stressed on the big picture of CPEC and added that the concept of South Asia has been enhanced from few countries and now China and Central Asian countries have also become a part of a ‘Greater South Asia’.

Mushahid said that the inefficiency on government’s part should not be considered as the outcome of CPEC. “One cannot hold CPEC liable for inefficiency on the part of the government. If there is water shortage in Karachi or Gwadar, then it is not the outcome of CPEC. It has been the responsibility of the administration. CPEC will solve those problems in times to come,” he said. He said that no one was willing to invest in Pakistan either western countries or Middle East and it was China, which right away planned to invest $46.2 billion in Pakistan, which has now increased.

“I am also against culture of secrecy and all the information should be made public. We have to be transparent. Culture of secrecy is not the answer,” he said. Mushahid also criticised bureaucracy and elite class in Islamabad and asked them to shift their lenses to Asia. He alleged that Pakistan’s bureaucracy has been inclined towards the West and was unable to understand that 21st century belonged to Asia.

He said that Pakistan would observe a surge in cement production from 45 million tons in 2015 to 70 million tons in 2019. In 2015, Pakistan was producing 7.1 million tons and it would be producing 12 million tons in 2019. “Around 60,000 Pakistani people have been employed in CPEC related projects and another 22,000 Pakistani students are studying in China and out of that 5000 are studying on government scholarships,” he added.

He further said that China could be a market for our agricultural products. “Our dates are better than the Middle East’s dates. China could be our target market.”

He further said that CPEC consisted of a number of projects. The exact number was 39. There was a different feasibility for each of the project. There are FDIs and government’s soft loans, with an interest rate of 1.5 to 2 per cent. And then there are also grants (gift) from China.

Sindh Information Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah, Peshawar Chamber of Commerce and Industries President Zahidullah Shinwari, Infrastructure Development and CPEC in Punjab Advisor Zahir Shah, Chamber of Commerce and Industries President Mufassar Ata Malik, District Council Gwadar Chairman Babu Ghulab and Sindh Abadgar Board Hyderabad Vice President Mehmood Nawaz Shah also spoke on the occasion.

Cheers

[Peregrine]

Seven ways India can rescue Pakistan

Pervez Hoodbhoy: Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharaff offered him the Sitara-i-Imtiaz, the third highest honour in the State of Pakistan, but Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy, 61, refused it. A Pakistani scientist, essayist, and political-defence analyst, Hoodbhoy is a professor of nuclear physics and heads the physics department at Quaid-e-Azam University. A strong and avid supporter of nuclear disarmament, non-nuclear proliferation and the peaceful use of nuclear technology in Pakistan.

Mani Shankar Aiyar: A former Indian diplomat with 26 years of service in the Indian foreign services, Aiyar resigned from the IFS in 1989 to join politics. He has been elected as Congress M.P from Mayiladuthurai in 1991 and 2004. He has served has Union Cabinet Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas and Sports Minister. Most recently, he was Minister of Panchayati Raj Minister until he lost his seat in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. He is a well-known political columnist and the author of Pakistan Papers and Remembering Rajiv, and has edited a four-volume publication, Rajiv Gandhi's India.

How bizarre is it to sit in the comfortable confines of a Goan hotel and discuss ways to save Pakistan? Not ways to counter, restrain or engage the nation – but to save it from itself, in a way. Or that both the Pakistani and the Indian panelist agreed on every point, including the fact that Pakistan did indeed need to be saved, and that its most likely saviour is India.

"Pakistan is in deep trouble," said Hoodbhoy, tracing its woes to 1981 when the very idea of Pakistan changed from that of a Muslim state to a Islamic state. The islamization of Pakistan has since continued apace. "Pakistan is losing its South Asian roots. It's being Arabized," said Hoodbhoy, "You can see it in what we say for goodbye. We now say 'allah hafiz' not 'khuda hafiz." And in that small change is a world of loss.

But how can India save Pakistan? The starting point, according to Shankar Aiyar, is facing two important facts: "Pakistan is an irremovable geographical fact. Pakistan is also an irreversible historical fact."

Next is understanding the root cause of the hostility of the Pakistani state. Pakistan is not a failing or failed state," said Shankar Aiyar, arguing that it is precisely this need to impose unity on a divided, fragmenting nation that makes the state authoritarian. But to maintain it's authority, it needs an 'other,' and that 'other' is India. "The consequence of a failing Pakistan is a state that would attack the 'other' to save its own nation." Bring it ON! Terroristan's Millions will not be able to enter India as India MUST BUILD A WALL ON ITS BORDER WITH TERRORISTAN AND BANGLADESH!

Hoodbhoy echoed the same thought in another way: "We have to accept in Pakistan that the two-nation theory has run its course. Moving forward, our idea of the nation has to be more inclusive."

But what we must remember – and quick to forget – claims Shankar Aiyar is that the Pakistani state has largely failed to persuade the Pakistani people. There remains a huge constituency for friendship which we need to work with, as opposed to responding to the constituency of hatred.

Following this logic, what India has to do is pull the rug from under the feet of the authoritarian Pakistani state. "Our response to Pakistan has to be asymmetric. To turn the other cheek," said Shankar Aiyar, "We need to give more than we expect." To discard the idea of reciprocity and create a blitzkrieg of goodwill." India can do all this-that-or the other by DONATING MSA to Terroristan with the Proviso that he will never be re-admitted into India!

The seven steps Shankar Aiyar outlined include the following. One, return to the Musharraf / Manmohan Singh proposal to create a borderless Kashmir -- where the LOC is rendered irrelevant – as a precursor to a borderless subcontinent. Two, agree to maintain "uninterrupted and uninterruptable dialogue" that will remain unbroken and regular, irrespective of terrorist attacks or any other calamity. Three, introduce a visa regime similar to Nepal and remove all restrictions of pilgrimages. As Hoodbhoy agreed, the isolation of the two peoples strengthen the constituencies of hate.

The fourth remedy is to ensure a full and free media exchange, including and not limited to movies, TV channels and newspapers. Five, an open investment regime without any barriers to trade. Six and seven involve standing together on the international stage to push for the expansion of the UN Security Council and launch a joint initiative for global nuclear disarmament.

Sounds naïve and unrealistic? As Shankar Aiyar is quick to remind us, the current European Union would have sounded as impossible a hundred years ago. Much like the French and Germans who fought and killed each other for centuries, we too can live together in "South Asian Union. The European Union is CHRISTIAN. Terroristan is Muslim and the Eternal Enemy of India.

Or so insist the erudite peaceniks in Goa.

Cheers

[Bart S]

http://www.timesnownews.com/india/video ... mmu/129748

SHAMELESS! Pakistan uses 'mujra party' to raise funds for Kashmir

In a shameless act, the president of the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, Masood Khan, has been seen in a video watching 'mujra' during an event in London.
What's shocking is that at the same event, the PoK president lectured the guests on the alleged atrocities in Jammu and Kashmir and even collected funds for the so-called 'Kashmir cause'.

[Pathik]

14 killed as passenger van hits landmine in Kurram Agency

PESHAWAR: At least 14 people were killed when a passenger vehicle struck a roadside bomb in Gudar area of Central Kurram Agency early Tuesday.

The blast tore through the heavily-loaded pickup truck in the Godar area of Kurram tribal district early in the morning, Irfan Ali, a local administration official in the area told AFP. The deceased included five women and four children.

“An anti-tank mine was buried on the roadside and hit a pick-up van,” a political administration official told The Express Tribune. “It was a rutted path in an area that is at a distance,” he added.

Nine others, including four Khasadar officials, were critically injured in the explosion. The injured were shifted to a nearby hospital.

The military’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations, said a special Mi-17 helicopter has been sent to Parachinar to bring the injured to Peshawar for treatment.


A list of the victims released by the hospital. This list does not include victims who died on the spot.

IS Khorasan and TTP-JUA have both claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Kurram tribal district is known for sectarian clashes between Sunnis and Shias who make up roughly 20 percent of Pakistan’s population of 200 million, and it has also been a stronghold for the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan as well as its factions.

Last month, at least 28 people were killed and 100-plus wounded when a suicide bomber detonated a car ‘rigged with explosives’ outside an Imambargah in a busy marketplace in the main town of Kurram tribal region. The grisly violence sparked angry protests by local residents in Parachinar, the administrative headquarters of the agency, which is prone to sectarian violence. Jamaatul Ahrar, a splinter group of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, claimed credit for the deadly bombing in Parachinar, which came less than two months after a bomb ripped through the main vegetable market in the same city on January 21.

PM condemns attack

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, along with his brother Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, strongly condemned the attack in Kurram Agency on Tuesday.

Expressing grief over the loss of precious lives, the premier prayed for the blessing of departed souls. He directed relevant authorities to extend maximum support for the treatment of the injured and expressed sympathies with the bereaved families. (WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM APP)

Cheers

Notice how list of bumm blast victims is given as list of bum blast onlee on the letter. wont be surprised if that list longer than a victim list

[Pathik]

The seven steps Shankar Aiyar outlined include the following. One, return to the Musharraf / Manmohan Singh proposal to create a borderless Kashmir -- where the LOC is rendered irrelevant – as a precursor to a borderless subcontinent. Two, agree to maintain "uninterrupted and uninterruptable dialogue" that will remain unbroken and regular, irrespective of terrorist attacks or any other calamity. Three, introduce a visa regime similar to Nepal and remove all restrictions of pilgrimages. As Hoodbhoy agreed, the isolation of the two peoples strengthen the constituencies of hate.

The fourth remedy is to ensure a full and free media exchange, including and not limited to movies, TV channels and newspapers. Five, an open investment regime without any barriers to trade. Six and seven involve standing together on the international stage to push for the expansion of the UN Security Council and launch a joint initiative for global nuclear disarmament.
Cheers

how did MSA not mention removal of Modi as a starting point, baffling.

[RCase]

The new and revised old SeePak. Note the "Border for Radiation Region" in yellow dashed line!!!

What the he!! is that ?

As the only Islamic atimi takat in the world, this is the Pakistani pipe dream of using 'tactical' nuclear weapons (imported from WeePecker country via SeePeck), without invoking 'strategic' destruction by kufr enemy country. The 'border for radiation region' is the limit of the radiation from it's tactical nukes. Hence India cannot use Cold Start doctrine as Pakistan itself will be a victim of tactical nuclear weapons and no other country would have suffered more as a result of nuclear weapons than Pakistan. (Obviously the world has to recognize Pakistan's quarbania and give them more aid).

Now the wily brahmin-banias in enemy country will be asking how can you restrict the radiation to the border line? Answers have been provided by Strategic Analist Chacha on Paki TV that Pakistan has the technology to do a dhamka to reverse the wind direction at the border!

[Vips]

^^ How come MSA did not ask for compulsory fasting by all Indians during Ramzan and also Namaaz to be done by all citizens of India ?
The Bloody B A S T A R D.

[SSridhar]

Or, is it a 'cordon sanitaire' of a djinn-supplied radiation belt curtain around their borders that they can deploy instantaneously to protect China's assets in CPEC if the kufr army does a Cold Start ?

[anupmisra]

Entire Karachi has been turned into garbage: SC

The Supreme Court on Tuesday took notice of the unplanned road projects and digging in different areas of the city and observed that the entire city had been turned into a giant garbage heap.

The court observed that all the debris of the underpass is lying at a public park near the Punjab Colony and the underpass project had not been completed.

https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/247131 ... garbage-sc

[chetak]

Seven ways India can rescue Pakistan

Pervez Hoodbhoy: Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharaff offered him the Sitara-i-Imtiaz, the third highest honour in the State of Pakistan, but Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy, 61, refused it. A Pakistani scientist, essayist, and political-defence analyst, Hoodbhoy is a professor of nuclear physics and heads the physics department at Quaid-e-Azam University. A strong and avid supporter of nuclear disarmament, non-nuclear proliferation and the peaceful use of nuclear technology in Pakistan.

Mani Shankar Aiyar: A former Indian diplomat with 26 years of service in the Indian foreign services, Aiyar resigned from the IFS in 1989 to join politics. He has been elected as Congress M.P from Mayiladuthurai in 1991 and 2004. He has served has Union Cabinet Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas and Sports Minister. Most recently, he was Minister of Panchayati Raj Minister until he lost his seat in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. He is a well-known political columnist and the author of Pakistan Papers and Remembering Rajiv, and has edited a four-volume publication, Rajiv Gandhi's India.

How bizarre is it to sit in the comfortable confines of a Goan hotel and discuss ways to save Pakistan? Not ways to counter, restrain or engage the nation – but to save it from itself, in a way. Or that both the Pakistani and the Indian panelist agreed on every point, including the fact that Pakistan did indeed need to be saved, and that its most likely saviour is India.

"Pakistan is in deep trouble," said Hoodbhoy, tracing its woes to 1981 when the very idea of Pakistan changed from that of a Muslim state to a Islamic state. The islamization of Pakistan has since continued apace. "Pakistan is losing its South Asian roots. It's being Arabized," said Hoodbhoy, "You can see it in what we say for goodbye. We now say 'allah hafiz' not 'khuda hafiz." And in that small change is a world of loss.

But how can India save Pakistan? The starting point, according to Shankar Aiyar, is facing two important facts: "Pakistan is an irremovable geographical fact. Pakistan is also an irreversible historical fact."

Next is understanding the root cause of the hostility of the Pakistani state. Pakistan is not a failing or failed state," said Shankar Aiyar, arguing that it is precisely this need to impose unity on a divided, fragmenting nation that makes the state authoritarian. But to maintain it's authority, it needs an 'other,' and that 'other' is India. "The consequence of a failing Pakistan is a state that would attack the 'other' to save its own nation." Bring it ON! Terroristan's Millions will not be able to enter India as India MUST BUILD A WALL ON ITS BORDER WITH TERRORISTAN AND BANGLADESH!

Hoodbhoy echoed the same thought in another way: "We have to accept in Pakistan that the two-nation theory has run its course. Moving forward, our idea of the nation has to be more inclusive."

But what we must remember – and quick to forget – claims Shankar Aiyar is that the Pakistani state has largely failed to persuade the Pakistani people. There remains a huge constituency for friendship which we need to work with, as opposed to responding to the constituency of hatred.

Following this logic, what India has to do is pull the rug from under the feet of the authoritarian Pakistani state. "Our response to Pakistan has to be asymmetric. To turn the other cheek," said Shankar Aiyar, "We need to give more than we expect." To discard the idea of reciprocity and create a blitzkrieg of goodwill." India can do all this-that-or the other by DONATING MSA to Terroristan with the Proviso that he will never be re-admitted into India!

The seven steps Shankar Aiyar outlined include the following. One, return to the Musharraf / Manmohan Singh proposal to create a borderless Kashmir -- where the LOC is rendered irrelevant – as a precursor to a borderless subcontinent. Two, agree to maintain "uninterrupted and uninterruptable dialogue" that will remain unbroken and regular, irrespective of terrorist attacks or any other calamity. Three, introduce a visa regime similar to Nepal and remove all restrictions of pilgrimages. As Hoodbhoy agreed, the isolation of the two peoples strengthen the constituencies of hate.

The fourth remedy is to ensure a full and free media exchange, including and not limited to movies, TV channels and newspapers. Five, an open investment regime without any barriers to trade. Six and seven involve standing together on the international stage to push for the expansion of the UN Security Council and launch a joint initiative for global nuclear disarmament.

Sounds naïve and unrealistic? As Shankar Aiyar is quick to remind us, the current European Union would have sounded as impossible a hundred years ago. Much like the French and Germans who fought and killed each other for centuries, we too can live together in "South Asian Union. The European Union is CHRISTIAN. Terroristan is Muslim and the Eternal Enemy of India.

Or so insist the erudite peaceniks in Goa.

Cheers

It begs a much deeper investigation as to who is the actual progenitor of the MMS musharaff "peace" plan being touted by the commies and liberals. Their divisive agenda is shadow bound and unclear but it is not in India's interest to even consider such motivated proposals. The very minute borders are opened, India loses forever any control it had over the cashmere situation and the jehadis would have achieved what they can never achieve by force of arms, the vital freedom and capability of uninterrupted and uninterruptable demographic change. that the eyetalian is mixed up in all this goes without saying.

why would any country, especially one as strong as India, foolishly agree to continue talks even in the face of continued vicious terrorist attacks from the very country that it is "negotiating and talking" with??

All such attacks are only designed to nudge the talks in a particular and specific desired direction with pre set results and binding conditions and this unprincipled coercion should be acceptable to India??

blitzkrieg of goodwill?? and that too, one sided and ONLY from India?? Sounds like a new name for diplomatic diarrhea and national suicide or death by excessive and compulsive cooperation.

The pakis are now suffering from an information deficit that they never had to contend with before as our plans and negotiating positions were deliberately leaked to them via traitorous kandle kissers and their lootyens cocktail circuit cohorts obtained from greedy, tame and aspiring baboo(n)s from concerned govt departments.

gift wrapped johnnie walker in various hues, as befitting the status of baboo(n) is the preferred currency.

[abhijitm]

damm this radiation region. jaguar vein was easier puzzle to solve. We only had to scratch brain. Now I even scratched balls.. but nothing.

may be cpec is like nuking pakiland and knocked down regions are radiation region.