Here is the blog of the Hasan the PTI correspondent and his wife, about their life in Pakistan.Anujan wrote:Both Indian journalists kicked out of Pakistan. Since they are not white -- like declan Walsh of NYTimes there is no outrage. Apparently people who wished them goodbye got calls from ISI.
http://dawn.com/news/1021493/pakistan-n ... ournalists
Just following up....SSridhar wrote:Indo-TSP Joint Business Council to Meet Today
Hooray ! India will get MNC status !!India will concede more and Pakistan will just promise to look into MNC status pleading that the new government has just come into being and it has to review the whole issue. In the interim, it will demand that India implements the liberalized visa, allow banks to open branches, renew cricketing ties etc. In its wisdom, Salman Kurshid and Man Mohan Singh, at the behest of the US-pasand INC High Command, order meeting Pakistan at more then the half-way mark by walking several more miles.The first meeting of the Indo-Pakistan Joint Business Council to be held in Islamabad on June 29 will have on its agenda discussions relating to grant of MFN (most favoured nation) status to India {What is there to discuss ? TSP has to simply grant it. Discussions have long benn held and got over with by early 2012} , import of petrochemicals and petroleum products, the TAPI (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India) pipeline project, and co-operation in infrastructure and information technology (IT).
In the backdrop of the establishment of a new democratic government in Pakistan, which has sent positive signals for improving relations with India, issues such as enhanced air and rail connectivity, a relaxed visa regime, and the creation of banking channels would also figure in the discussions. It is understood that the meeting will seek to lay down a roadmap for giving a push to economic engagement and further normalise trade relations between the two neighbours.
The issue of Pakistan increasing the list of items that could be traded through the land route, as promised way back in April 2012, will also figure in the talks. At present, 132 items could be traded through the road route at Wagah, and India and the business community from Pakistan are strongly pitching for increasing this limit substantially.
Pakistan knows that this is a sensitive time when the US will twist Indian arms because it needs Pakistan more and India less than ever before.
QUETTA: At least 20 people have been killed and several more casualties are feared in a powerful explosion near an Imambargah on Kirani road of Quetta’s Hazara town.
A police official who requested not to be named told Dawn.com on the telephone that 20 people were killed and at least 60 were injured in the blast. He said that the blast occurred in a crowded area. “We fear an increase in the number of casualties,” he said.
Babul Baloch, a rescue worker told Dawn.com that aid workers were not being allowed to reach the explosion site. He said that most of the aid workers were stranded on different streets leading to Hazara Town and Kirani road. “The blast seems to be a suicide attack,” Baloch said while quoting eye witnesses.
Para-military troops and police were dispatched in the area to control the situation. The initially injured were being taken to civil hospital Quetta for medical treatment.
Soon after the attack, people started aerial firing.
The late Jumma Arrival always bring the Double Kushkhabri. Kaffirs did this to Kaffirs ,No True Muslim Will ever evolve.The best way to save the lifes in Pakistan is to have few Dozens brave people voluntarily kill themselves on every high noon of Jumma to fulfill the quota and honor this millennium plus Sunnah.Anujan wrote:Many many shia hazaras bull cuttled. 20 was an early estimate. it is 35 and rising.Soon after the attack, people started aerial firing.
ISLAMABAD : As Pakistan’s economic managers vowed to protect national interest in its dealings with the International Monetary Fund, the international lending institution is said to have complained about “inconsistency of the country’s budgetary figures” and “ill-preparedness of the Pakistani team”.
The two sides refused to budge on their respective positions in their 10 days of negotiations, indicating that the prospects of reaching an agreement are slim, sources told The Express Tribune on Friday.
“The government is mishandling the IMF team that may cost it a new programme,” said one source. The government should immediately reconstitute its negotiating team to salvage the talks as a few days are left before the IMF team returns to Washington, he added.
Sources said that IMF was worried that the SBP was short of $3 billion of reserves that it showed as part of its reserves but borrowed from the commercial banks.
The Fund has serious issues with the SBP policy of defending the rupee by using already declining reserves. So far, it has used over $2 billion to defend the rupee. But the SBP governor was not ready to accept the argument, sources said.
Another concern was the inconsistencies in revenue and expenditure estimates, which are also not backed by any framework. The Fund was worried that how FBR would achieve its tax target of Rs2.475 trillion. The finance minister had told the National Assembly on Thursday that the IMF was seeking Rs275 billion in new taxes.
Dar said the IMF’s only concern was that the Rs2.475 trillion target might not be achieved without levying more taxes.
Pakistan’s Foreign Exchange Position on 21-Jun-2013 is :They added that the Fund was also worried about the impact of fiscal decentralisation as over 65% of taxes go to the provinces, limiting the ability of the federal government to implement fiscal consolidation plan of 2.5% of gross Domestic product for the next year.
Just like terrorism where international community wonders "Are Pakistanis aiding the terrorists or are they merely incompetent in tackling them or both?" Pakistani team has done the same thing vis-a-vis IMF negotiations.Peregrine wrote:New bailout in jeopardy : IMF, government stick to their guns
ISLAMABAD : As Pakistan’s economic managers vowed to protect national interest in its dealings with the International Monetary Fund, the international lending institution is said to have complained about “inconsistency of the country’s budgetary figures” and “ill-preparedness of the Pakistani team”.
So are they doing Peshawar bookkeeping and sialkot statistics out of malice or out of incompetence because the none of those cretins can do any math? Nobody knows. You decide.I have a better idea - wind up Pakistan. If there is no Pakistan how can there be terror attacks in Pakistan, hain? Then the elite from the erstwhile region of Pakistan can spend all their time analyzing Messi's game or even fight communal forces of India.Stopping terrorist attacks in Pakistan
Which subset of the Shias did you ask ? Why, the entire lot of Shias, irrespective of whether they are 12ers, 7ers etc.Gagan wrote:Which subsect of the Shias do these whaabis want to declare heretics - the 12ers?
Why the 12 ers? Any insight?
Anujan wrote:The last time negotiations went down the pakistan . . .
Biggest takleefKARACHI: The country’s cricket fraternity including former cricketers and administrators lamented the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) decision not to award Pakistan hosting rights for any of its events at least until 2023.
The governing body, in its annual conference in London last week, chalked out hosts for their global events from 2015 to 2023 and Pakistan was overlooked for all of its competitions including the qualifying tournaments till 2023.
India was given hosting rights of three major tournaments including the 2016 World Twenty20, the 2021 World Test Championship and the 2023 World Cup.
Suspended PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf had bid to host the 2018 World Cup qualifying event but the event was awarded to Bangladesh.
‘Decision unfair’
Another former cricketer and national team coach Mohsin Khan termed the lengthy isolation ‘unfair’.
“It’s a very long time. Pakistan is a major cricket nation with millions of enthusiasts. This game has become a part of our culture,” he said.
“The ICC should have given some options subject to improvement in situation in the next three to four years.
“Our government is working on it and there is hope that the situation will improve in the coming years.
“There is no denying that the current security situation is inappropriate but to isolate the country from any major events for a decade is absolutely unfair.”
Former PCB chief Khalid Mehmood, however, backed the ICC’s decision.
“It’s very unfortunate and sad for Pakistan cricket,” said Mehmood.
Reuters is reporting that the Laskar e Jhangvi (LeJ), a terrorist outfit adhering to the Sunni Deobandi school of Mohammaddenism, has taken credit for this demonstration of the IED Mubarak variant of the IEDology of Pakistan that targeted their Shia co-religionists. That would make this attack a case of Green on Green religion inspired Intra Mohammadden bloodletting with the “more pure” exterminating the “less pure” in the “land of the pure”:agastya wrote:Loud explosion heard in Quetta?s Hazara town - DAWN.COM
Loud explosion heard in Quetta’s Hazara town
QUETTA: At least 20 people have been killed and several more casualties are feared in a powerful explosion near an Imambargah on Kirani road of Quetta’s Hazara town.
A police official who requested not to be named told Dawn.com on the telephone that 20 people were killed and at least 60 were injured in the blast. He said that the blast occurred in a crowded area. “We fear an increase in the number of casualties,” he said.
Babul Baloch, a rescue worker told Dawn.com that aid workers were not being allowed to reach the explosion site. He said that most of the aid workers were stranded on different streets leading to Hazara Town and Kirani road. “The blast seems to be a suicide attack,” Baloch said while quoting eye witnesses.
Para-military troops and police were dispatched in the area to control the situation. The initially injured were being taken to civil hospital Quetta for medical treatment.
Surasena wrote:Ashin Wirathu: The Monk Behind Burma’s “Buddhist Terror”
By Jonathan DeHart
June 25, 2013 ………… {Snipped} ………………..
Before a large gathering who came to hear his thoughts on Burma’s Muslims – whom he called “the enemy” – Wirathu recently said: “You can be full of kindness and love, but you cannot sleep next to a mad dog.”
“Muslims are like the African carp,” he told Global Post. “They breed quickly and they are very violent and they eat their own kind. Even though they are minorities here, we are suffering under the burden they bring us.” ……………………… {Snipped} …………………
Jonathan DeHart is assistant editor of The Diplomat.
http://thediplomat.com/asean-beat/2013/ ... st-terror/
If you look at asprinzl's link, the news dates from 2010 actually. Methinks India should take the p1ss out of the Saudis and send a Mr. Mahalingam as the next ambassadorSSridhar wrote:^
Poor guy. For all you know, he may not physically match the attributes of his name !
Anyway, why did TSP try to send him to KSA when his nomination had been rejected by Kuwait & UAE earlier ?
.Yasir Qadhi was born in Houston, TX, to Pakistani parents. His father was one of the first Muslim immigrants to Houston, arriving in 1963, and helped found the first mosque there. Yasir grew up between Houston and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (where his father became a professor at the newly founded King AbdulAziz University), and eventually completed a B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering. It was during his undergraduate years that he decided to pursue a full-time career of Islamic scholarship, which led him to a ten-year stint at the University of Madinah, Saudi Arabia, where he completed a second Bachelors and his first M.A. (in Islamic theology).
The tragic events of 9/11 caused him to return to the States, in order to, as he puts it, ‘…build bridges of understanding between Americans and Muslims.’ He completed an M.A. and an M.Phil from Yale University and is currently completing his PhD from Yale.
Why can’t China or India can’t help us? Don’t they have a moral obligation to a neighbour in need? When they are so kind far away EU. China gave $43 billion, India $10 billion to bail out EU at the IMF. We need only $4.5 billion.
ISLAMABAD : The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has failed miserably to meet the outgoing fiscal year’s tax collection target, weakening Islamabad’s position as it enters a ‘make-or-break’ round of talks with International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a new bailout programme today (Monday).
According to provisional results compiled till Sunday, the board could only collect Rs1.92 trillion in taxes, falling short of the original collection target by Rs461 billion and the revised target by Rs87 billion. The previous parliament had originally approved a Rs2.381 trillion annual revenue target for 2012-13 (which ended Sunday as well), but the figure was revised to Rs2.007 trillion by the new government after it foresaw a significant shortfall.
The staggering shortfall has pushed Pakistan’s budget deficit to around Rs2.1 trillion – over 9% of gross domestic product – the highest ever in the country’s history. The initial collection results are even lower than the expectations of the visiting IMF team, which placed the figure at around Rs1.97 trillion.
According to finance ministry sources, the future of the Pakistan-IMF relationship hinges on today’s (Monday) policy level talks, where both sides will discuss the conditions for the new bailout. They lamented that FBR’s failure has not only robbed Pakistan of some leverage before the lending institution in this regard, but also strengthened its impression that next year’s revenue target of Rs2.475 trillion is ‘unrealistic’.
The detection of dangerous poliovirus P1 in a child of the North Waziristan Agency (NWA) has raised concern among the health authorities. According to details, type P1 virus has been detected in a nine-month-old child of Datakhel area of NWA.
CheersISLAMABAD : State of child health in Pakistan is among core national issues which call for immediate and serious attention.
Representatives of various international health organisations, who have over the years played a key role in assisting Pakistan to control outbreaks in the country, believe that the gap between reported and assessed cases, disintegrated and unreliable monitoring and observation systems have massively contributed to the outbreaks in Pakistan over the past five years.
The recent killing of ten foreign tourists at Mount Nanga Parbat should be seen in the context of this larger effort to economically strangulate and isolate the region. The sixteen murderers are all Takfiris and ten of them belong to Diamer district of Gilgit-Baltistan and six to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Many of them are suspected members of the Taliban which killed Shias on the KKH in 2012. The death of foreign tourists hurts the image of the peace loving people of Gilgit-Baltistan, their relationship with the international community, and the tourism which comes from the land’s beauty. This tourism plays a significant role in the meager economy of the locals. By targeting tourists near the KKH, the terrorists seek to further cripple and isolate the region in the larger effort to gain control.
Jaglot is a remote valley, may be Taliban is looking for better places to hide.The military’s complicity in the incident cannot be ignored. Despite its large footprint by way of check posts and stations throughout the area, militant training camps continue to function in Jaglote, Gilgit-Baltistan as reported by Dunya Television on June 24, 2013. Jaglote is very close to the location of the attack on the foreign tourists. Hamid Mir’s television show Capital Talk also noted the presence of Takfiri militant camps in Diamer and Kohistan districts. Ex-Inspector General of Police of Gilgit-Baltistan, Sarmad Saeed Khan, has advocated for military operations to eliminate such militant camps but was denied clearance to proceed.
