Bharat Rakshak

The Pakistani Taliban’s revelation that its fighters, drawn from various countries, have joined the Syrian rebels in battling President Bashar Al-Assad’s forces points to Syria becoming a theatre of global jihad.

Quoting Taliban commanders in Pakistan, Reuters reported that hundreds of fighters joined the opposition combating the Syrian army. The report said the purpose of the exercise was to establish closer links with al-Qaeda’s central leadership.{I can't understand this proposed proximity to AQ's central leadership when that leadership exists in Af-Pak itself. Why go to Syria all the way ? The Taliban have for long been part of AQAM. People like Qari Saifullah Akhtar or Ilyas Kashmiri (before his death), have been the core of the Punjabi Taliban and AQ as well}

Figting group

In Syria, the Taliban has been operating with groups such as the al-Qaeda linked Jabhat al-Nusra, whose fighters have been drawn from neighbouring countries such as Libya and Tunisia, forming a nucleus of fighters in the Levant that can mutate in the service of global jihad.

Analysts say outfits such as the al-Nusra, the al-Qaeda in Iraq and a number of other extremists groups have organised themselves under the Syrian Islamic Front (SIF) umbrella group, forming the most potent fighting core of the Syrian opposition.

According to Reuters, Taliban fighters had gone to Syria to fight alongside their “Mujahedeen friends”. “When our brothers needed our help, we sent hundreds of fighters along with our Arab friends,” said one senior Taliban commander. He added that the group would soon release videos demonstrating the “victories” recorded by the group in Syria.

“Since our Arab brothers have come here for our support, we are bound to help them in their respective countries and that is what we did in Syria,” another commander was quoted as saying. “We have established our own camps in Syria. Some of our people go and then return after spending some time fighting there.”

Peregrine wrote:Pakistan’s Latest War : Pakistan versus its non-state violent actors (VNSA)

Imagine, we have been in a state of war for more than ten years and are yet to identify our enemy.

SSridhar wrote:

Peregrine wrote:Pakistan’s Latest War : Pakistan versus its non-state violent actors (VNSA)

From the above link,

Imagine, we have been in a state of war for more than ten years and are yet to identify our enemy.

Farrukh Saleem is generally good, for a Pakistani. But, how can he say the above ? Pakistan knows its enemy. Has known it for decades now.

As Musharraf used to say, 'identify the root cause and eliminate it'. Now, that root cause takes Pakistanis right to its neighbour, India, the hegemonic daemon. For over six decades now, the Pakistanis have been pursuing the objective. What is wrong with that ? Why is Farrukh Saleem calling the very tools of the state as enemies now ?

THE government should seriously look into the offer by a Chinese company to help turn around the collapsing Pakistan Railways. In an interview with a Pakistani wire service, a senior official of Sinotec Song Shuangping stated that his company had a “plan to steer the decades-old railways system out of the crisis and make a profitable entity”. The plan suggests strengthening of the existing railway tracks and usage of electric locomotives to reduce the travelling time and significantly save the railway’s expenditure on running its trains. The Chinese company, which has been working on different power projects in Pakistan for the last 10 years, says the train network can later be extended up to the Gwadar port for the transportation of goods to other parts of the country. If implemented, it should reduce the country’s oil import bill, decrease the heavy traffic load on the highways, provide swifter and economical travel facility to the passengers, and, importantly, increase profitability. The president of the company met Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif during his recent visit to China. It is hoped that the government will also explore the possibility of Chinese cooperation for the revival of the railway when a delegation of the company visits Pakistan next month.

Brad Goodman wrote:Railway turnaround: Chinese company’s offer

THE government should seriously look into the offer by a Chinese company to help turn around the collapsing Pakistan Railways. . . . The Chinese company, which has been working on different power projects in Pakistan for the last 10 years, says the train network can later be extended up to the Gwadar port for the transportation of goods to other parts of the country.

Brad Goodman wrote:Railway turnaround: Chinese company’s offer

The Chinese company, which has been working on different power projects in Pakistan for the last 10 years

Brad Goodman wrote:Railway turnaround: Chinese company’s offer

THE government should seriously look into the offer by a Chinese company to help turn around the collapsing Pakistan Railways. In an interview with a Pakistani wire service, a senior official of Sinotec Song Shuangping stated that his company had a “plan to steer the decades-old railways system out of the crisis and make a profitable entity”. The plan suggests strengthening of the existing railway tracks and usage of electric locomotives to reduce the travelling time and significantly save the railway’s expenditure on running its trains. The Chinese company, which has been working on different power projects in Pakistan for the last 10 years, says the train network can later be extended up to the Gwadar port for the transportation of goods to other parts of the country. If implemented, it should reduce the country’s oil import bill, decrease the heavy traffic load on the highways, provide swifter and economical travel facility to the passengers, and, importantly, increase profitability. The president of the company met Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif during his recent visit to China. It is hoped that the government will also explore the possibility of Chinese cooperation for the revival of the railway when a delegation of the company visits Pakistan next month.

.... and pigs will fly

LAHORE: More people in Pakistan are buying smartphones, requiring a 3G network for fast data connections that add functionality to their devices. But the problem is -- no 3G network exists in the country.

On three occasions under the previous government, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority tried to auction 3G licences. However, it failed every time.

The billion-dollar opportunity was lost because political conditions were not conducive.

Pakistan: Update. According to a report in the Pakistani newspaper, Dawn, the Interior Ministry said provincial authorities throughout Pakistan deny that militants have left the country for Syria. However, three Pakistani intelligence officials based in the tribal region bordering Afghanistan, as well as militants themselves, said the fighters leaving Pakistan for Syria include members of Al Qaeda, the Pakistani Taliban and the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (a Sunni terrorist group).


The report said that one group of 70 fighters was sent in the last two months. A second group of 40 is preparing to leave. One group reportedly is fighting with the al Nusrah Front, which is allied with al Qaida.


Comment: The Free Syrian Army denied that Pakistanis are fighting in Syria. According to a Pakistani who is preparing to depart for Syria, the Syrian fight against the Shiite Asad government has become more urgent than the fight against the Pakistani government.

This is a recent development whose impact is not apparent in Pakistan or Syria. Thus far, the Nawaz Sharif government has had no clear success in coping with terrorist attacks in Pakistan. However, Pakistani intelligence could be encouraging or facilitating the export of fighters to Syria in order to help improve security conditions in Pakistan's northwest. They have done so in the past, notably just before the collapse of the Taliban government in Afghanistan in 2001.

Pakistan will import 58 diesel electric locomotives, costing Rs 19.40 billion from an American company under a new deal to improve Pakistan Railways performance, well placed sources told Business Recorder. The government has placed an order with the American company, Caterpillar, to supply 58 locomotives, sources said, adding that the delivery would start in November 2013 and would complete by June 2014.

While commenting on the deal of 75 locomotives with a Chinese company, an official said that the matter was in the Court, but the Railways Ministry on June 5 blacklisted the company over its failure to fulfil the contractual obligations against the subject contract. Lahore High Court (LHC) in its last hearing declined the request of the Chinese company to withdraw its petition against contract termination by the Pakistan government for supply of 75 locomotives.

ISLAMABAD: The much-trumpeted project to purchase 150 locomotives from foreign companies this fiscal year has been abandoned, as Federal Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique has decided to manufacture new engines locally and repair the old ones to save the department from getting more loans.

nageshks wrote:http://abna.ir/data.asp?lang=3&Id=440805More green vs greener love.

The rumour mills are working overtime with regard to who leaked the Abbottabad Commission report. They say it's come from Mr Bean's office, via a middling official invoking plausible deniability, "unbeknownst" to his boss. A generally unquoted part of the Al-Jazeera report goes thus: "The Commission investigated the case of Saeed Iqbal, a retired Pakistan Army Lt Colonel who was once assigned to the ISI, who visited one of bin Laden's neighbours as many as three times in the months leading up to the raid. Iqbal was driving a bulletproof vehicle, and took several photographs from the roof of the neighbouring house. Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha, then DG ISI, testified that Iqbal had been retired 'on disciplinary grounds' and had established a private security business. He 'disappeared' according to the ISI, two days after the operation to kill bin ote]Laden on May 1, 2011. His profile according to Lt-Gen Pasha 'matched that of a likely CIA recruit'."

Pakistan’s foreign office has denied reports regarding the presence of Pakistani Taliban militants in Syria, saying “no militant has left the country... Pakistani officials will never allow them to do so”

Brad Goodman wrote:ju take that

Smartphone sales on the rise in Pakistan despite lack of 3G network

LAHORE: More people in Pakistan are buying smartphones, requiring a 3G network for fast data connections that add functionality to their devices. But the problem is -- no 3G network exists in the country.

THE eldest of four Pakistani gang rapist brothers has admitted lying at trial and apologised to his victims but said he thought he had a right to rape the "promiscuous" teenage girls.

Brad Goodman wrote:ju take that

Smartphone sales on the rise in Pakistan despite lack of 3G network

LAHORE: More people in Pakistan are buying smartphones, requiring a 3G network for fast data connections that add functionality to their devices. But the problem is -- no 3G network exists in the country.

On three occasions under the previous government, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority tried to auction 3G licences. However, it failed every time.

The billion-dollar opportunity was lost because political conditions were not conducive.

anupmisra wrote:Pakis deny reports of Taliban cell in Syria. So far so good but this next statement takes the cake:

Pakistan’s foreign office has denied reports regarding the presence of Pakistani Taliban militants in Syria, saying “no militant has left the country... Pakistani officials will never allow them to do so”

So the spokesman is basically admitting that the tellibunnies are under the control of the paki government. Apparently, the bearded ones need permission to leave the country.

Pakistan: The government announced it will hold an election for president on 6 August. The election commission said in a statement Tuesday that candidates can submit their nomination papers until 24 July.

Comment: Presidential elections are indirect by an electoral college composed of all the members of the four provincial parliaments and the members of the national parliament. The people do not elect the president because the government is parliamentary and the president is a ceremonial figurehead, now that Musharraf's presidential system has been scrapped and parliament restored. The significance of the election is not related to national policy or strategy. Those are now the responsibility of the prime minister and his cabinet in cooperation with parliament. Outgoing President Zardari was strongly tempted to retain as much of Musharraf's power as he could, but was blocked by the members of parliament. The significance of the election is that Zardari will no longer have immunity from prosecution for money laundering and other crimes. The Swiss criminal actions will resume and the Supreme Court of Pakistan will ensure Zardari is brought to justice.

partha wrote:

anupmisra wrote:Pakis deny reports of Taliban cell in Syria. So far so good but this next statement takes the cake:

Pakistan’s foreign office has denied reports regarding the presence of Pakistani Taliban militants in Syria, saying “no militant has left the country... Pakistani officials will never allow them to do so”

So the spokesman is basically admitting that the tellibunnies are under the control of the paki government. Apparently, the bearded ones need permission to leave the country.

What morons

anupmisra wrote:Pakis deny reports of Taliban cell in Syria.

Pakistan’s foreign office has denied reports regarding the presence of Pakistani Taliban militants in Syria, saying “no militant has left the country... Pakistani officials will never allow them to do so”

A senior commander who sits on the shura of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) said there was no tactical shift

rejected suggestions they were sending fighters to Syria, saying some have gone there independently but the movement’s focus remained on Pakistan

mainly Arabs and Central Asians

we have far better targets in the region

Arifa, a mother of two, has been stoned to death on the orders of Panchayat (a tribal court) for possessing a cell phone. She was executed on 11 July in the district of Dera Ghazi Khan in Punjab province. The victim was stoned to death by her uncle and relatives on the orders of Panchayat after she was found to have a mobile phone.

The incident is a clear reflection of the total collapse of the rule of law in the country

The BBC may be on a mission to project a softer image of Pakistan ahead of the crucial 2014.

A_Rai wrote:India’s move on rice to hurt Pakistan

....Pakistan exported rice worth $1.756 billion in July-May period in 2012-13 as against $1.908bn over the corresponding period last year, reflecting a decline of over seven percent.

The impact of the trade distorting subsidy was not limited to Pakistan’s exports of rice because Thailand and Vietnam were also no more the first two exporters of the world as this position was taken over by India. India has already taken number one position in exports by releasing stocks which are highly subsidised.

.........

Contrary to this, government of Pakistan came out of the business of rice export two decades ago and the rice exports have become a steady source of foreign exchange for the country and the whole business was carried out the private sector.

Experts says it was a need of the time, that Islamabad should uphold WTO disciplines to protect Pakistan rice exports worth 2bn dollars and invest in research, pest eradication, storage, improvement in yield and develop varieties which consume less water.