Mar 08
“They took my son. They were fully loaded with guns and hand grenades. All Pakistan police know about this, and the British Council”. It was that quote from the UK Press Association (http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5hi4ksQXtPVQRbBjRKRJs8poAhyxA) that first awakened me to this story. The same quote also appeared online in the Sheffield Telegraph, The Independent and the BBC. It was obviously a misunderstanding of the father’s quote: he meant the British Consul. (The British Consul is responsible for heping British citizens abroad and, in my experience, often does some heroic deeds on their behalf. The British Council is the UK’s cultural relations organisation, for which I work. Confusing, but we’ve had the name long enough for it to be a recognisable world brand.)
What sort of terrorist or criminal is callous enough to kidnap a 5-year old child, I wonder? Kidnaps are usually carried out to order and are carefully-planned in advance. The victim needs to be captured with the minimum fuss and handed on to the client as quickly as possible, perhaps via a number of intermediaries to minimise the risk of being traced. This would not appear to be the case here. The family were abused and robbed at gunpoint before the criminals fled with the child. They have since issued a ransom demand of £100,000. Continue reading »
Tagged with: Current Affairs • News • Pakistan
Mar 03
By Zahid U Kramet
The penny appears to have finally dropped. Diplomatic niceties aside, the media in the United States, at least, have concluded that the positions India and Pakistan have adopted on their differences are much too hardened to be resolved bilaterally.
Two of the most influential journals in America, the New York Times and the Christian Science Monitor, independently ran editorials on February 26 highlighting this fact while openly calling for US intervention.
The New York Times editorial, titled “India and Pakistan (Barely) talk”, argued for “nudging the two sides harder”. Meanwhile, the Christian Science Monitor in “Obama and India-Pakistan talks: US can be a better go-between” argued that the US could”certainly do more to push the two back to the negotiation table”.
The exploratory talks held between India and Pakistan’s foreignsecretaries on February 25 in Delhi were in any case not expected to amount to much. Held at the urging of American officials they were meant to serve as an ice-breaker. The ice was broken.
The softer positions adopted by India’s Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and Pakistan’s Salman Bashir were initially indicative of a thaw developing. Rao observed that the talks were “a first step towards rebuilding trust” with the promise to “stay in touch”. Continue reading »
Tagged with: India • Pakistan
Mar 01
First Pakistan-made cell phone would be available in the market within a year, Secretary of the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecom Naguibullah Malik has said.
Talking to APP, he said: “Dialogue with China and British companies in this regard is underway and the first made-in-Pakistan mobile handset would be available in the market within a year.” To a question, he said the government was taking all possible measures to boost the IT sector. The secretary said the government was well aware of the problems being faced by the IT sector. “We will address all the problems of the IT sector,” he added.
Malik said for the promotion of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector, there was a need for reaching a consensus among the government, IT industry, Telcos and academia to devise effective strategies for the best utilisation of available opportunities. He said focus on the IT and Telecom education, research, entrepreneurship and local industries could boost the ICT sector.
Source: TheNews
Tagged with: Industry News • Pakistan • Tech News • Technology
Feb 18
Today is a historic day for PAF and entire nation. Another major milestone was achieved and the first Squadron of JF-17 Thunder formally joined Pakistan Air Force on Thursday. A ceremony for the formal induction of JF-17 Thunder aircraft was held at one of the PAF’s operational bases. Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman, Chief of the Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force was chief guest on the occasion.
The Chief of the Air Staff addressing the Airmen congratulated the nation and the PAF personnel on the momentous occasion.
“The formal induction of JF-17 aircraft in the PAF is in line with our resolve to face all challenges with poise and self-confidence. The PAF has invested in the force multipliers like the Air-to-Air refuellers, UAVs and AEW&C aircraft to enhance our capacity and capability to undertake complex operations,” he said.
“These new state-of-the-art inductions make it imperative that we train hard and prepare well to induct and integrate the new systems professionally and safely. The achievements of PAF leave no doubt in my mind that we are immensely capable and, as a team, can set and achieve still higher standards”.
He futher said that Pakistanis are a peaceful nation with no aggressive designs and want to maintain peace with honour in our region. We are inducting new systems to keep pace with technology and maintain credible conventional balance of force, without which peace cannot be ensured in South Asia,” he said. Continue reading »
Tagged with: PAF • Pakistan
Feb 09
THE discovery of three American soldiers among the dead in a suicide bombing at the opening of a girls’ school in the northwestern Pakistan town of Dir last week reignited the fears of many Pakistanis that Washington was set on invading their country.
Barack Obama has banned the Bush-era term “war on terror” and dithered about sending extra troops to Afghanistan, but across the border in Pakistan, the US president has dramatically stepped up the covert war against Islamic extremists.
US airstrikes in Pakistan, launched from unmanned drones, are now averaging three a week, triple the number last year. “We’re quietly seeing a geographical shift,” an intelligence officer said.
Victims trapped in the rubble after a suicide bombing at the opening of a school for girls in the northwestern Pakistani town of Dir last week
For the past month drones have pounded the tribal region of North Waziristan in apparent retaliation for the murder of seven CIA officers in Afghanistan by a Jordanian suicide bomber working with the Pakistani Taliban.
Last week America launched its first multiple drone attack, according to Pakistani security officials. Eighteen missiles were fired from eight unmanned aircraft in Dattakhel village, killing 16 people. Continue reading »
Tagged with: Blackwater • Current Affairs • Pakistan
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