Friday, July 6, 2012
US drone kills nine militants in Pakistan
Pakistan: Shia pilgrims killed on way to Iran
Dunya TV REPORTING
Veena Malik stops traffic
http://www.brecorder.comTraffic came to a standstill in Bangalore yesterday not due to any accidents or demonstrations, but due to the presence of our very own Veena Malik. Bollywood’s golden girl was shooting at a bus station for her first Kannada film ‘Dirty Picture: Silk Sakkath Maga.’ Production on the film commenced last week and it was the first time outdoor scenes were being shot. The filmmakers had informed local police, and employed security personnel to shoot the scene but still the crowd managed to get out of control. Malik’s presence was kept under wraps but remained no more a secret when the masses caught a glimpse of the star and recognized her immediately. People started congregating on the spot, for a chance at the mere sighting of the Pakistani star, making it impossible for security personnel to manage the crowd. Several fans even broke down barriers just to talk to her. But Malik didn’t let that dampen her spirits and seemed to enjoy the attention. She later remarked “this response is unbelievable,” flashing a smile and signing autographs as she made her way around. This is the second time the controversial superstar has been mobbed by crazed fans. The first time was at a beach in Fiji.
1977 military coup: Zia’s coup observed as black day across country
The Express Tribune
PAKISTAN:Floods damaged 10,407 educational institutes
APPThe unprecedented floods in last two years has damaged a total of 10,407 educational institutions in around 90 affected districts of the country. Of the total damaged schools, 3741 are fully destroyed and 6,666 are partially damaged. Moreover, around 32,000 teachers and 1.04 million students have been affected by the floods. According to report of Society for the Rights of the Child(SPARC), Sindh faced the largest destruction as a total number of 5,655 educational institutions are affected. While in Punjab, 2,817 schools were destroyed, followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Balochistan, FATA, AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) with 915, 557, 176, 194 and 81 number of schools being affected respectively. The report manifests that the two worst affected provinces in terms of numbers of schools destroyed are Sindh and Punjab,whereas 18.5 % and 8.8% of the pre flood educational facilities have been damaged or destroyed. This is followed by 12.9% and 5.6% of pre-flood facilities damaged in Balochistan and KP. Talking to APP, Child Coordinator SPARC, Shaista Kiran said the total damage and loss for Pakistan's educational institutions has been estimated at Rs26,464.3 million. She said Sindh is considered as being the most affected with figures amounting to Rs13,354.9 million followed by Punjab with Rs7,881.3 million and KP with Rs2,859.5. Damage and loss in Balochistan is Rs775.5 million, and for AJK, FATA and GB, it is Rs842.3 million, Rs414.8 million and Rs336.2 million respectively
Karachi lawlessness: 1257 killed in just 6 months: HRCP
http://www.statesman.com.pkDespite the tall claims of government and police there is no respite in the targeted killings of Karachi, as according to the data of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) targeted killings and other crimes claimed at least 1257 lives in Karachi during last six months from January to June, 2012. According to statistics compiled by HRCP Karachi chapter, a total of 1257 are killed in the city during first six months of 2012, with 972 fall prey to targeted killings, which is 77% of the total killings, on different grounds including sectarian, personal enmities, bomb blasts, Lyari Gang War and abduction. While during first six months of 2011, the figure was 1138. According to HRCP report, a total 972 people were targeted killed, of them 135 gunned down were political activists, 27 shot dead in sectarian killings, 84 in Lyari gang war, 160 abducted and killed, two burnt to death, 42 killed by robbers, 87 killed due to enmity, 39 dead bodies found, seven security guards, four died in prison, eight in bomb blasts and 11 in Karo Karo (honour killing). Of total 972 targeted killings, the HRCP figure shows that 366 people with no political affiliation are killed this year in first six months while 250 killings were reported during the corresponding period of last year. According to the statistics, women killed during the same period include – 24 by relatives, 12 by unidentified culprits, 13 targeted killed, four were set on fire, four each killed by robbers, burnt to death and Lyari gang war, 12 on pretext of Karo-Kari and one each killed by stray bullets, drug addiction and in bomb blasts. Of the total 99 killings related to law enforcement agencies, 48 killed in police encounters, 44 policemen were gunned down in different incidents, three killed in police custody, three soldier/paramilitary and one person killed by soldier/paramilitary. Of the 64 children killed in different incidents, 11 killed by stray bullets, seven targeted killings, seven falling into canal/drains, five abducted and killed, six abducted, raped and killed, four Lyari gang war, five by robbers, five on grounds of personal enmity, seven newborn dumped, two killed after ransom payment, two on railway track while one by soldier/paramilitary.
Pakistan: 50pc state-run schools lack basic facilities, 400 non-functional
www.statesman.comAround 50% of state-run primary schools are deprived of basic facilities of education, while still over 400 schools are non-functional due to various reasons in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. This was said by Sameena Imtiaz, executive director PEAD foundation here on Tuesday while addressing a seminar on "Education Policy", organized by Peace Education and Development (PEAD) foundation in collaboration with Action Aid. She said according to annual report 2011-12 of Education Management Information System as many as 45% male and female primary schools do lack electricity, bathrooms, boundary walls and availability of clean drinking water for students. Besides others, the seminar was attended by Hamid Naveed, DG director coordination Education Sector Reforms Unit KP, Shagufta Gul, principal of a private school, Tariq Hayat, programme manager PEAD, representatives of civil society and relevant stakeholders. Sameena Imtiaz further added out of over 27 thousand schools, about 400 educational institutions are not operational while according to Labor Force Survey 2009-10 literacy rate in the province is about 50% including 70% male and 32 female literacy rate. She stated drop out rate from nursery to class 5th is around 45% in the province. Hamid Naveed remarked Teacher Training Information Management System (TTIMS) and Parents Teacher Council networking system is being introduced to enhance the teacher's skills and performance and to make ensure the community participation particularly parents in growth and improvement of education system. He said ESRU has enhanced the administrative and financial role of PTC in the school management system, adding we are working on reviving and developing education sector plan and developing lesson plan according to 2006 drafted curriculum. Hamid Naveed further stated that government was focusing to increase female literacy rate and intend to spend more than 70% resources of annual development program 2012. Under the "Stury Da Khyber Pakhtunkhwa" scheme 63% packages are offered to girls while Rokhana Kur Education Program over age persons would be enrolled in schools. For establishment of probable 500 schools, one billion rupees are allocated for next fiscal year. He stressed on the need of role of civil society particularly parents for improvement of educational system. Other speakers said after 18th amendment people should get its benefits and government should make ensure adhering policies pertaining to education.
Zardari shocked over burning of blasphemy accused
Dunya NewsPresident has expressed profound grief over the incident of burning of a man alive in Bahawalpur. President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday expressed profound grief and shock over the harrowing incident of burning of a man alive in Bahawalpur district after pulling him out of a police station. Expressing shock, the President directed the Advisor to the Prime Minister on Interior to conduct an inquiry into this unfortunate incident and submit the report to the Presidency immediately. The President said that no one should be allowed to take law into in his own hands no matter what the crime is. The President also directed the concerned to dispense justice according to the law in this case. The man, who was burnt alive, was reported to be mentally unstable and was accused of blasphemy.
Long road ahead in US-Pakistan ties after NATO deal
http://www.businesslive.co.za/Pakistan and the United States are set to resume broader talks on security cooperation, militant threats, aid and other issues in the wake of an agreement to reopen supply routes into Afghanistan, Pakistan's envoy to Washington said on Thursday.But bridging underlying differences that strained U.S.-Pakistani ties close to the breaking point will be daunting as the allies remain at odds over how to handle the twin threats of the Taliban in Afghanistan and militants in Pakistani tribal areas. The agreement reached this week prompting Pakistan to reopen NATO supply routes into Afghanistan, clinched when U.S. President Barack Obama's administration ceded to months of Pakistani demands to apologize for the U.S. air attack that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers last November, was a relief for both countries. "I certainly think it opened the door to many other issues," Ambassador Sherry Rehman told Reuters in an interview. "There's a long road ahead, but both sides can use this opportunity to build a path to durable ties," she added. After U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton apologized in a phone call to Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, Pakistan permitted trucks carrying NATO supplies to cross into Afghanistan for the first time in more than seven months. This was a boon for NATO nations that had been paying 2-1/2 times as much to bring supplies in through an alternate route. While NATO will not pay any new fees for shipping supplies into Afghanistan, Washington will give Pakistan at least $1.2 billion owed it for costs incurred while fighting militants. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said no specific commitments were made to increase military or counter-terrorism activities for Pakistan, but there was a 'good faith agreement' to continue talks on those issues. ALL ABOUT THE APOLOGY "A number of other things became stuck with all this," the official said. "It was never a money haggle or a transactional deal," Rehman said, speaking during a visit to Islamabad where she helped usher in the arrangement ending the months-long deadlock. The death of the 24 soldiers inflamed public opinion among Pakistanis already angered by U.S. drone strikes, the presence of CIA personnel in Pakistan and other issues. "We're a very hospitable people but we don't like being taken for granted - that was the public sentiment," she said, stressing why the apology was so vital. "You had 24 boys draped in flags ... that's not something that was going away from the public domain. At every level this percolated up and down" Pakistani society. While the breakthrough is welcome news for both sides, a harmonious road ahead is unlikely. Issues that have inflamed bilateral ties persist, including U.S. accusations that Pakistan harbors militants and meddles in Afghanistan, Pakistani chafing at U.S. drone strikes and fears on both sides that Pakistan's western neighbor will revert to chaos after most NATO troops leave by the end of 2014. Pakistan has long complained that the United States has overlooked its contribution to the fight against militants - scores of al Qaeda fighters were apprehended in Pakistan with American help - and the threat Pakistanis themselves face. Late last month, more than 100 fighters loyal to Pakistani Taliban leader Fazlullah snuck across the Afghan border and staged an ambush inside Pakistan. Several days later, the fighters released a video of what they said were the heads of 17 ambushed soldiers, along with their identification cards. It was a chilling reminder of the threat militants based in Afghanistan pose to Pakistan - the mirror image of the situation that fuels U.S. complaints about Pakistan, and a threat that would be sure to become more serious if Afghanistan were to slip back into civil war. The United States repeatedly has pressed Pakistan to pursue the Taliban and its allies, especially the Haqqani network, which it blames for a series of high-profile attacks in Afghanistan. Last month, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said the United States was reaching the limits of its patience with Pakistan over what it deems as foot-dragging on militants. Rehman said that most of al Qaeda has been decimated with Pakistani cooperation, and that Islamabad would go after foreign fighters linked to other militants according to "Pakistan's priorities" and time frame. The immediate military priority was combating insurgents who target Pakistani security forces and civilians, she said. "We are going after our own right now - foreign fighters and militants who are on our soil, who are attacking us. If there is someone beheading me I am going to go after him first." Rehman said Pakistan stood to pay a high price if the NATO project in Afghanistan does not produce a stable country, in part because instability is likely to spill over the two countries' porous border. "For Pakistan, the stakes in Afghan stability are very high," Rehman said.
PPP in the line of fire
DAILY TIME
Riaz Ali Toori
PROTECT NATO SUPPLIES FROM ‘GHARIAT BRIGADE’ ATTACKS
Pakistan: Duel nationality blues
EDITORIAL:Frontier PostWhat else could be the intent of tinkering with the double nationality law if not to enable a select clutch of beneficiaries to keep holding on to their parliamentary memberships and ministerial jobs? The very contention of the law minister that the amended dual nationality law will be applicable to 16 countries alone indeed says it all. This, the knowledgeable people insist, would cover all those parliamentarians and ministers who the government wants to protect from being disqualified under the double nationality law as it exists now. They are even naming names of the potential beneficiaries. Indeed, the excuse the official hierarchs are trotting out for this legislative ambush is all obscene. Pakistan may be having double citizenship agreements with those 16 countries. But those deals provide only that their citizens and the Pakistani nationals could have two citizenships simultaneously. But that doesn't postulate that they would also be entitled to the parliamentary memberships and public offices. In fact, these positions are open only to the citizens holding the citizenship of only their own country, not to those in possession of double nationality. The reason is simple. In the case of double nationality, the element of conflict of interest creeps in inevitably, influencing its holder's acts in the public sphere. Not only on issues of foreign policy but even in internal matters, including economic affairs and business and trade. This could be visualised from the anecdote of a minister's reaction to the Kerry-Lugar law enacted by the US Congress for aid to Pakistan. The enactment was hinged on a set of disgraceful conditionalities that almost gave an incisive role to the US administration in our internal defence and security matters and reduced this country virtually into the status of colony of the United States. It stirred widespread anger across the cross-section of our polity. Yet the minister statedly penned down a laudatory resolution thanking the American administration and congress for this enactment profusely and brought it to the cabinet for adoption. But since the public backlash was too severe to the enactment to adopt the resolution, the minister had to be ticked off by the prime minister and he dropped it grudgingly. Indeed, the double nationality could only be anathema to the acute sensitivity of defence and security spheres. Even as one doesn't doubt the patriotism of a double citizenship holder, one cannot take chances in these spheres, so vital are these to the nation's security and stability. While the cabinet routinely is taken into confidence on highly sensitive security affairs and secrets of top confidentiality are made known to it, even the parliament's members at times are made privy to them. One may be hard put to recall how many times over these past four years or so have the parliamentarians been given in-camera security briefings, apart from the select parliamentary committees, in full house of the two chambers separately as well as collectively by the top military leadership and intelligence top echelons. With members of double nationality sitting both in the parliament and in the ministerial cabinets, one can never be sure of the confidentiality of information of highly-sensitive secrets divulged in those briefings not being breached and leaked to alien powers. Indeed, foreign powers and intelligence agencies are not unknown for planting their moles in other countries in ministerial cabinets as well as in other segments of polity, including legislatures. This is quite a known fact; and not infrequently respectable-looking figures the world over have been discovered to be the moles of foreign powers. In our case, a highly-regarded finance minister of late Ayub Khan's cabinet was latterly found to be on the US payrolls. He would often pass on the sensitive information divulged in the cabinet meetings to his contacts in the US embassy here. So, one has to be very wary of this double nationality. Voting right to the holders of double citizenship is all right. In our case, this is all the more imperative, when our overseas citizens have traditionally been a big contributor of foreign exchange to our cash-strapped exchequer. But one cannot take any risk at all with our national security. The doors of our parliamentary membership and ministerial slots certainly cannot be opened up to the double nationality holders. If they want to be in those places, they must renounce their foreign nationality. That is a must. And the government is well advised to review its act and withdraw the bill to amend the double nationality law.
Militancy: A progressive voice for tribal women silenced in targeted attack
The Express Tribune
This file photo shows Farida Afridi working in her office. PHOTO: FILEIn Farida Afridi’s death, women from the tribal belt have lost a fierce fighter. Farida, belonging to the Afridi subtribe Kokikhel, was targeted on Wednesday morning at 6.30am when she left her house in Tehsil Jamrud Ghundi Kali for her office in Hayatabad. “She was cornered by motorcyclists who shot her and she died on the way to Jamrud hospital,” said witness Abid Ali. Farida was 25. Along with her sister Noor Zia, Farida was committed to social change and economic emancipation for women from the platform of a welfare organisation called the Society for Appraisal and Women Empowerment in Rural Areas (SAWERA). Both women were among the founding members of the NGO and had a Masters degree in Gender Studies. Due to tribal customs and traditions, women in the area remain mostly restricted and unable to achieve their true potential, but Farida broke all barriers and relentlessly worked for women’s development. “We have lost a great member of our team,” said Lal Jan, the technical advisor of the organisation. To increase women’s involvement in the social and economic sphere, a few educated and aspiring women, including Farida who was still in school at that time, established SAWERA in 2004. The NGO works for the rights of women and children’s rights in the tribal belt. Farida had three sisters and four brothers and she was the second eldest. She belonged to a poor family that had no personal enmity, Lal Jan said. In an interview for The Express Tribune published in September 2011, Farida had said: “The government is oblivious to the general attitude of tribesmen towards women and the extent of inequality in our patriarchal society. This pushed us to start a struggle for their empowerment.” The sisters faced tough resistance when they told their family about the path they had chosen for themselves. “We told our parents that we would work in accordance with our religious and cultural traditions, assuring them that we would never let the family honour suffer because of our line of work. Finally, they agreed,” Noor had said. Syed Afzal Shinwari, project coordinator in Community Appraisal and Motivation Program (CAMP), said that SAWERA started small but is now an influential organisation. “Because of this brutal act, women in Fata will be discouraged to work and development will come to a halt,” he said. Condemnation “Both government and security agencies will be sleeping and people like Farida, Zartif Khan, Khan Habib Afridi and Mukarram Khan Atif will be mercilessly killed. We, the participants of civil society organisations in Peshawar, strongly condemn this tragic death and vow to raise our voice against this tyranny and brutality at the hands of anti-state elements who have been given a free hand to kill people from the civil society,” civil society group Strengthening Participatory Organisaion said in a statement. The End Violence Against Women/Girl alliance in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Fata also condemned the murder. Farida’s struggle and efforts towards the empowerment of tribal women will never be forgotten.
Thursday, July 5, 2012
NATO's transition in Afghanistan an 'organised challenge'
Pakistan:Hillary Clinton's $100 Million a Month Apology
By Adam Martin | The Atlantic WireSecretary of State Hillary Clinton
Obama launches first 2012 campaign bus tour, announces trade action against China
http://news.yahoo.comPresident Barack Obama kicks off his first bus tour of the 2012 campaign on Thursday with news meant to cheer struggling Rust Belt voters: His administration is taking on China over an allegedly unfair trade practice. Hours before the president was due in Ohio, the White House sent reporters a Toledo Blade report that the Obama administration would take aim at Chinese duties on some American-made cars and SUVs "including the Toledo, Ohio-made Jeep Wrangler." (Eerily excellent timing.) The World Trade Organization (WTO) complaint will accuse China—a frequent election-year villain blamed for lost American manufacturing jobs—of improperly imposing duties on about $3.3 billion of American exports, the Blade reported. A victory could see China rescind the duties. Beijing says the fees are a legitimate response to the American auto industry bailout championed by Obama, which China calls an unfair government subsidy. The WTO complaint could also give the president another opening to hit Mitt Romney, who famously opposed the bailout in stark terms. Ohio is home to a vast auto-parts manufacturing sector that benefited from the auto industry rescue.Obama was expected to hit his Republican rival at stops in Maumee, Sandusky, Parma, Akron, East Liverpool and finally Pittsburgh—his only Pennsylvania stop —before returning to Washington Friday night. The Romney campaign is bracketing the Obama visits with appearances by high-profile surrogates. And ahead of Obama's appearance in Maumee, two small planes could be seen in the sky bearing pro-Romney messages. Obama won Ohio and Pennsylvania in 2008 and hopes to capture them again in November on the road to securing the 270 Electoral College votes he needs to get a second term. Ohio has 18 electoral voters; Pennsylvania has 20. A Quinnipiac University Swing State Poll released last week showed Obama leading Romney 47 percent to 38 percent in Ohio, and 45 percent to 39 percent in Pennsylvania. The president's two-day trek began with a bit of good news on the economic front: The Labor Department reported that the number of people seeking unemployment benefits slipped to the lowest level in six weeks. Come Friday, all eyes will be on the latest jobs numbers. The economy is the top issue on voters' minds and Obama's most serious vulnerability. Ohio and Pennsylvania both had unemployment rates of 7.3 percent in May—below the national average of 8.2 percent. Obama's approach has been to blame "headwinds" beyond his control, like the European debt crisis; accuse Republicans of stalling his jobs program; and warn voters that Mitt Romney's economic policies are the same ones that fueled the 2007-2008 meltdown. He has also taken a sharply personal tack, pointing to Romney's wealth and bank accounts in Switzerland and elsewhere to paint the former Massachusetts governor as out of touch with average Americans. Obama has painted himself as a fighter for the middle class—an argument buttressed Thursday with the well-timed news about action against China. "As we have made clear, the Obama administration will continue to fight to ensure that China does not misuse its trade laws and violate its international trade commitments to block exports of American-made products," U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said as he formally announced the move. "American auto workers and manufacturers deserve a level playing field, and we are taking every step necessary to stand up for them. This is the third time that the Obama administration has challenged China's misuse of trade remedies." The Toledo Blade reports: The duties cover more than 80 percent of U.S. auto exports to China, or about 92,000 vehicles. They add 15 percent to the price of an imported Jeep Wrangler or Detroit-made Jeep Grand Cherokee, 21.8 percent to a Buick Enclave and Cadillac CTS produced in Lansing, and 4.1 percent to an Acura TL sedan made by Honda of America Manufacturing Co. at Marysville, Ohio.
Poisonings' at Afghan girls' schools likely mass hysteria - not Taliban, says report
http://www.telegraph.co.uk
A spate of apparent poisonings at girls' schools across Afghanistan is probably outbreaks of mass hysteria rather than a Taliban plot, according to the most comprehensive study yet of the phenomenon.
By By Ben FarmerThe World Health Organisation (WHO) working with the Afghan government has investigated attacks for more than three years but found "no conclusive evidence of deliberate poisoning". Thousands of girls have been taken ill at schools in that time, in incidents of mass fainting and vomiting. Pressure has mounted on Hamid Karzai's government to stop the apparent attacks as their frequency has increased in recent months. Pictures of girls being carried to ambulances, or hooked up to drips in provincial hospitals, have become an increasingly common sight. The symptoms are always short-lived. The incidents have been widely interpreted as a campaign by the Taliban or other insurgent hardliners to crackdown on girls' education. The Taliban have denied this. The WHO's preliminary findings put the body at odds with the Afghanistan's security forces who say they have become convinced the attacks are genuine and have arrested numerous suspected poisoners. Seven were arrested on Tuesday and several were said to have confessed already. Security officials have blamed neighbouring Pakistan and said the poisonings were an attempt to destabilise Afghanistan and weaken its future. The poisoning of school water tanks, or the use of a gas or noxious liquid have all been suggested as potential weapons. Many girls reported smelling a strange odour before they were overcome. However an analysis given to The Daily Telegraph of 32 such incidents, all but two at girls' schools, casts significant doubt on the poisoning theory. The WHO said it and the Afghan ministry of public health were "taking every step to address this menace in the interest of public health." "According to preliminary findings, incidents' analysis and the prevailing situation, Mass Psychological Illness is the most probable cause," a statement said. A child psychologist has been drafted in to study the incidents, sources added. Poisoning could not be ruled out without further tests, but after examining more than 200 laboratory samples of blood, urine and water so far, there was "no conclusive evidence of deliberate poisoning found". The fact that few teachers had been taken ill also argued against mass poisoning. Academics who have studied mass hysteria say it has occurred before in war zones, where tensions and uncertainty are high. Similar cases were reported in the Palestinian territories in 1983 to Soviet Georgia in 1989 and Kosovo in 1990. Peter Kinderman, professor of clinical psychology at the University of Liverpool, said: "People do follow the crowd in lots of ways and we are social animals. "When it comes to these mass anxiety attacks, there have been many throughout history." If people were already worried by rumours of gas attacks and someone nearby began to appear ill, then others could soon panic, hyperventilate and become ill themselves. "They symptoms can be very convincing because in a sense they are real," he said. Earlier smaller investigations by the Nato coalition have also undermined suggestions of poisoning. In April the coalition was called in to test water supplies after girls were taken ill at a high school in Takhar province. "Results concluded that naturally occurring bacterial contamination was responsible. No toxins were found in the water," said Brian Badura, a spokesman in the coalition's Kabul headquarters. Police said they remained convinced at least some of the attacks were genuine. The seven alleged poisoners held this week in Sar-e Pul province had employed a schoolgirl to take a chemical spray into class, said Siddique Siddiqi, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior. "We have initial proof these people were involved and we have confessions," he said. The hospitalisation of thousands of female students has had a devastating effect on education in several areas, as parents have kept their children from classes. Following two incidents in Ghazni, south west of the capital, schools were allegedly closed and 36,000 students stopped going to school for some time. "The uncertainties about the cause of these incidents and growing rumours have had a significant impact on education, and especially girls' education," the WHO said.
Pakistanis fall below acceptable dietary line
DAWN.COMThe food security situation in Pakistan has worsened over the past four years, resulting in a drastic increase in the proportion of population falling below the minimum acceptable level of dietary consumption, according to a United Nations report. According to the United Nations Millennium Development Goals report for 2012, two-digit inflation and high food inflation significantly decreased the purchasing power of people, especially the poor. The report expressed fears that Pakistan was lagging behind the target of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger and indicators show that the target would not be achieved by 2015, the deadline for achieving MDGs. The report expressed concern over a number of factors that have contributed to under-achievement against most of MDGs. These include the slow economic growth or less than three per cent over the last three to four years. With a labour force increasing at a rate of 3.2 per cent, the slow economic growth is not creating sufficient jobs for the new entrants to the labour market. Besides poverty and unemployment issues, the income inequality in the country has always been on the rise. The share of consumption of the lowest quintile is currently 9.6 per cent against 40.3 per cent for the highest quintile. There also exist widespread gender inequalities. The share of women in wage employment is the slowest in South Asia and Pakistan is not an exception to it. Additionally, there are regional pockets where status of development is worst than other areas. Notwithstanding the challenges, the report said, there are a number of opportunities to build on. The increase in the share of provinces in NFC award and the 18th Amendment for decentralisation of governance at the provincial level will help development partners to work more closely with the end beneficiaries. According to the report, Pakistan adopted 18 targets and 41 indicators against which the progress is measured. However, time series data against only 33 indicators were available.Of the total 33 indicators, progress on 20 indicators is lagging behind, slow on four indicators, on track three indicators, off-track one indicator while targets against five indicators have been met. On a total of five indicators, Pakistan is either ahead or has achieved the target. With regard to access to improved water source, Pakistan achieved the target when three sources of improved water, tap water, hand pumps and electric motor propelled water, are taken into account.However, the Pakistan MDG report of 2010 has not included ‘electric motor’ in the category of improved water source which makes the status at around 63 per cent against the 92 per cent. According to the report, Pakistan has made some progress in combating HIV/Aids, malaria and other diseases; and promoting gender equality and women empowerment. However, progress rate is slow and additional efforts will be needed if the targets are to be achieved by the 2015 deadline. On a positive note, the report recognised that Pakistan has one of the highest ratios of women parliamentarians in South Asia. While bullish on the success recorded, the MDG report warns that the 2015 deadline is fast approaching and in order to achieve outstanding goals, governments, the international community, civil society and the private sector need to intensify their contributions.
ANP expresses reservations over dual nationality amendment bill
The Express TribuneExpressing reservations on the amendment bill for the dual nationality law, the Awami National Party has said that the law should only be applicable for presidents, prime ministers, the army leadership and judges, Express News reported on Thursday. Haji Adeel, a central leader of the government allied ANP, presented the party’s stance when he was contacted by President Asif Ali Zardari. He said, “If such laws are not enforced, then people like Mansoor Ijaz can also become the president of Pakistan one day.” Earlier on Wednesday, the federal cabinet had approved amendment bills pertaining to dual nationality and contempt of court laws. It was ordered in the cabinet session that the dual nationality amendment bill be brought before the National Assembly for discussion and approval.
AT LAST SUPPLY ROUTE FOR NATO REOPENED
Pakistan Contempt law being amended: Govt move to clear judicial hurdle
Pindi all set to observe July 5 as black day against Zia rule
Daily Times
JULY 5TH,BLACK DAY IN THE HISTORY OF PAKISTAN
July 5 a black day in history
FRONTIER POSTShazia Marri strongly condemned the long dictatorial tenures in the history of Pakistan and expressed confidence in the political forces to ensure sustained democracy in the country. In her statement recalling 5th July 1977, Marri termed the date as black day in the history of Pakistan. She further said the dictator who toppled the democratically elected government and plunged the country into darkness, forgot that ideology cannot be trampled upon. Shazia Marri stated that General Zia was a ruthless dictator who usurped power and callously removed Pakistan's first directly elected Prime Minister. She said he was a General who, by murdering Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, killed the hopes of millions across the country and around the world. "Zia's regime was opposed by all stakeholders of society, with a very courageous role played by the journalists of Pakistan. They courted arrests from all corners of the country. But the General believed in absolute tyranny.", Marri lambasted. In her statement, Shazia Marri paid greatest tributes to Begum Nusrat Bhutto and Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto who carried forward the mission of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto alongwith the die hard workers of Pakistan Peoples Party. "Peoples Party is a political party that follows the ideology of Shaheed Bhutto.", Marri said. She also applauded the role of President Asif Ali Zardari for fighting against all odds in order to protect the democratic traditions and strengthen the will of the people of Pakistan. Shazia Marri said that nations who have leaders like Shaheed Bhutto can never fail and would continue to triumph against all odds.
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Pakistan's Blasphemy: Mob burns man alive for burning Holy Quran
The Express Tribune News Network
Two plots are kosher but only for Pakistan’s Supreme Court judges
Let Us Build Pakistan
President Zardari terms July 5 black day of history
Pakistani Film ‘Lamha’ Gets a Spot at New York Film Festival
http://www.brecorder.comLamha, a Pakistani feature film is going to be screened at the New York City International Film Festival (NYCIFF). The entire cast and production is excited and hopeful for its chances to win awards at the event. The Film Producer and CEO of Bodhicitta Works, Meher Jaffri said that out of some 3,000 film entries, Lamha is one of 100 films short-listed for the festival. Besides, the film has also been nominated in Best Producer, Best Director, Best Writer and Best Actors Awards categories. NYCIFF is an annual event held at Times Square, New York and runs alongside NY Film Market, the only film market in the US East Coast. Jaffri said, “The Festival Director, Roberto Rizzo has written good comments for the film which is not only encouraging but also increases the chances of film getting good response.” Lamha (publicized as Seedlings in English internationally), starring Mohib Mirza, Amina Sheikh and Gohar Rasheed, is a production of Meher Jaffri and Summer Nicks. The film has been directed by a new talent Mansoor Mujahid. Jaffri told the media that the story penned by Producer Nicks, “is a Pakistan-based story, encompassing human interests and does not carry any political or social agenda. However, some upcoming projects by the company would be based on current affairs.” The musical score of the film has been composed by Usman Riaz, a young musical prodigy and 2012 TEDGlobal Fellow while Zoe Viccaji has given vocals for the music. Other songs comprise of classical songs of Mehdi Hassan that have been used in their original form. It is to note that Riaz and Viccaji have also been nominated for Lux Style Awards in their respective categories this year. The NYCIFF will take place from August 9 to August 16 this year. The film is scheduled to be released in Pakistan by late fall.
Syria welcomes Geneva final communique
Video: Pervez Musharraf talks to Reuters
Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf tells Reuters’ Op-ed Editor James Ledbetter that the reason for the change in his country’s relationship with the U.S. lies in America's deep ties with India.
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Saudi Female Athletes Fear Crackdown After Summer Games
http://olympics.time.comWhile Olympic leaders and human rights advocates are encouraged by signs that Saudi Arabia may bow to pressure and send female athletes to the Summer Games, women athletes in the ultraconservative kingdom are worried about a backlash at home. Under pressure from the International Olympic Committee to end the tradition of sending men-only teams to the Olympics, Saudi Arabia said on Monday it will allow women who qualify to compete at the London Games. The announcement came as the leadership’s favored candidate, equestrian Dalma Rushdi Malhas, was ruled out of the Olympics — sending officials on a hunt for other female athletes they could include on the Saudi team and avoid IOC sanctions a month before the start of the games. Women who play soccer and basketball in underground leagues around Saudi Arabia support those efforts, yet they also fear the hardline Muslim leaders will punish them for being pressured by the West and will crack down on women’s clandestine activities after the Olympic flame goes out in London. “We have to wait. I am afraid of their reaction, if we push too hard,” said Rawh Abdullah, a captain of a female soccer team in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. “We risk being shut down completely, and I do not want to reach a dead end because of impatience.” Also, she added, she and her teammates simply “are not ready to compete on such level” because they cannot train properly. Abdullah has given up her career as a teacher to run the all-women soccer club Al Tahaddi, Arabic for challenge. Since 2006, when the club was established, 25 team members meet four times a week to play after turning one of the players’ gardens into a field. The 28-year-old Abdullah, who serves as a coach and the captain on the team, charges each member 1,300 riyals ($350) annual fee to play. The money she gets covers players outfits, balls, makeshift goals, some fitness equipment and partly also trips to the port city of Jeddah or Dammam to play exhibition games or matches in the clandestine women’s league. There are no written laws that prohibit women from participating in sports, but women are not allowed into stadiums, and they cannot rent athletic venues. There is no physical education for girls in public schools, and no women-only hours at swimming pools. The few gyms that admit women are too expensive for most to frequent. Women cannot register sports clubs, league competitions and other female-only tournaments with the government. They are banned from entering all-male national trials, which makes it impossible for them to qualify for international competitions, including the Olympics. Female athletes like Abdullah fear that sending inadequately prepared athletes to the London Games could do more harm than good to their cause of making sports “part of our lifestyle” and achieve change for millions of women, who’s public lives are severely restricted in the kingdom. “If they do well, it will be OK, but if they have weak performance, they will turn to us, and say, ‘See, you pushed, you went, and you lost. You shamed us,’” Abdullah said. “When we are prepared in four years’ time, and they have to send us, we can say to them: ‘You want me to go and represent my country? Now train us. Give us facilities to use and coaches to work with, and we will make you proud,’” Abdullah said in an interview with The Associated Press. Saudi Arabia is the home of Islam’s holiest shrines, and women bear the brunt of their nation’s deeply conservative values. They are often the target of the unwanted attention of the kingdom’s intrusive religious police, who enforce a rigid interpretation of Islamic law and make sure that men and women do not mix in public. Besides being barred from driving, women are not allowed to vote, and they cannot be members of the Cabinet. They cannot travel either, be admitted to the hospital or take a job without permission from a male guardian. King Abdullah has taken modest steps to reform and modernize the oil-rich nation since he ascended the throne in 2005. He has faced staunch opposition from the hardline members of the royal family and the all-powerful clerics on each proposal he’s made toward easing restrictions on women. Ahmad Salem al-Marzooqi, the editor-in-chief of Shesports.net, an online magazine that aims to cover men’s and women’s sports events in the kingdom, said women need to obtain basic rights that are equal to those of men in Saudi Arabia before they can compete for their country abroad. “We are looking for ways to achieve rights for women inside Saudi Arabia,” al-Marzooqi said. “It’s a conflicting situation,” he said on the Olympics campaign. “If they send some to participate, it may be good for the future, but it’s definitely not good for the present situation. There will be side effects.” Rights groups claim a lot has to change for women in Saudi Arabia to convince international sporting community that the leadership in the conservative kingdom is — according to Monday’s announcement from the country’s embassy in Britain — “looking forward to its complete participation in the London 2012 Olympic Games.” Human Rights Watch said the statement is intended to appease international criticism ahead of the games as gender discrimination in Saudi Arabia remains “institutional and entrenched.” The New York-based group warned the IOC against becoming “complacent because one or two Saudi women are allowed to compete in the London Olympics.” “The fact that so few women are ‘qualified’ to compete at the Olympic level is due entirely to the country’s restrictions on women’s rights,” said Minky Worden, director of global initiatives for the New York-based group. Saudi officials have repeatedly suggested they’d allow Malhas, the equestrian, who won a bronze medal in showjumping at the 2010 Youth Olympics in Singapore, to compete at the London Games. But the International Equestrian Federation said Monday the 20-year-old athlete has failed to qualify after her horse was sidelined by injury and missed a month’s work during the qualifying period. Female athletes in judo and in track and field are considered possibilities for the games, sports officials familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press speaking on condition of anonymity because talks on a special arrangement for the Saudis are ongoing. IOC President Jacques Rogge has said he is “optimistic” that Saudi Arabia will send women athletes, even though talks with the kingdom are “not an easy situation.” Saudi officials, who have publicly adamantly opposed sending women to London had left open a possibility that women, studying abroad would be able to compete outside of the team as independent athletes. However, that option was quashed after pressure from human rights groups and the IOC. It was also criticized by Saudi-based athletes like Abdullah. “It’s a pity for us. We play sports in Saudi Arabia, but they get to compete abroad because our country does not want to give us a chance to prove ourselves,” Abdullah said. “Do I have to leave my country to show what we can achieve?” Most Saudis cannot afford to study abroad, she added. Besides, she is convinced she needs to stay if she wants to make a difference. “If I don’t achieve our goal to play and compete at home for me and for my team, then I will for those who will play after us,” Abdullah said. Read more: http://olympics.time.com/2012/07/02/saudi-female-athletes-fear-crackdown-after-summer-games/#ixzz1zeMruJn5
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