CSS Newspaper of Pakistan

Oct 17- Daily Summary

2011-10-17T11:32:00.002+05:00

Daily Summary News and Analysis Details on www.cssnewspaper.blogspot.com

NY Times: Iran Reacts to Pressure From America

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, promised on Sunday that Iran would deliver “an unforgettable response” to any “improper actions” from the United States over an alleged Iranian plot to kill the Saudi ambassador to the United States. (Details)

The Economist: Post-revolutionary Tunisia – Moving Ahead

Frustration and uncertainty persist, but the country is heading the right way. Compared with the other upheavals across the Arab world this year, Tunisia’s is still the runaway winner. Since the country’s dictator, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, with his greedy wife, Leila Trabelsi, flew off into a Saudi twilight on January 14th (Details)

Tunisians to vote in historic post-revolution polls

TUNIS: Tunisia, which launched the “Arab Spring” when its outraged citizens ousted a seemingly entrenched dictator in January, again takes the lead with a historic vote Sunday for the drafters of a new constitution. (Details)

Fasih Bokhari takes over as NAB chief

ISLAMABAD: Former chief of Pakistan Navy, Admiral (retd) Fasih Bokhari, was formally notified as chairman of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) (Details)

Afghan provincial intel chief targeted in bombing

KABUL: A suicide bomber attacked a car carrying a provincial head of Afghanistan’s intelligence agency on Monday, wounding the spy and killing a child in the north of the country, police said. (Details)

Bolivians rebuke Morales in judicial ballot

LA PAZ: Most Bolivians who voted in Sunday’s election to choose the country’s top judges cast invalid ballots in what would be a stinging rebuke for President Evo Morales, according to unofficial partial results. (Details)

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‘Islam and democracy are not contradictory’

TUNIS: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan made the case for “Islam and democracy” on Thursday in Tunisia, where moderate Islamists modelled on his own party are tipped to win landmark October polls (Details)

No small matter By Hajrah Mumtaz

MOST people would, at least initially, tend to shrug the matter away. Concerns about people’s ability to question the great and the good in government? (Details)

Corporate fraud: Every good boy deserves fudged profits

JIALAN WANG has a fascinating post up (via Kevin Drum, via Tyler Cowen) on apparent telltale mathematical evidence that corporate accounting fraud is a gradual upward trend over the past 30 years. The great thing is, she seems to have compiled this (Details)

The Egyptian military's 'pseudo coup' By Juliette Kayyem: Global Public Square

Last Spring, when the world was heralding the events in Egypt, many of us speculated about whether the Egyptian Army's steady hand would mark the beginnings of a pseudo-coup. I never liked the idea that America's interest in supporting the revolutionaries in the street could be so easily placated (Details)

Honoured for what? By Huma Yusuf

I HAD barely been at university for two weeks when the buzz began: Nelson Mandela, then president of South Africa, was coming to campus to receive an honorary degree. (Details)

Poverty in Pakistan By By M. Zaidi

IN Pakistan’s scenario, where approximately two-thirds of the people live in rural areas, rural poverty is a major destabilising factor. Authoritative studies have documented rising poverty levels with a decreased capacity (Details)

Rate spread and SBP’s task By Muhammad Yaqub

COMMERCIAL banks play a key role in the mobilisation of financial savings and the financing of economic activity through financial intermediation between savers and borrowers. (Details)

This Middle East power struggle could kill off the Arab spring by David Hearst: Guardian UK

The Iran 'terror plot' drama involves four players who have much to lose from Arab self-determination. Let's hope they fail (Details)

Oct 15 - CSS A&N

2011-10-15T10:04:00.002+05:00

Analysis & News Summary – Oct 15

Report Urges Obama to Freeze Pakistan Aid

WASHINGTON: An influential US think-tank urged the Obama administration on Friday to freeze its aid to Pakistan until the country took actions against perpetrators of the US Embassy attack in Kabul and helped shut down the Haqqani network. (More)

Draft of New Visa Accord with India Finalised

NEW DELHI: The Joint Working Group of Pakistan and India finalised a draft of a new visa agreement after examining modalities for streamlining visa procedures at a two-day meeting that concluded here on Friday.(More)

British Defense Chief Liam Fox Resigns- Washington Post

LONDON — Britain’s hawkish defense minister, Liam Fox, resigned Friday amid a mounting conflict-of-interest scandal, vacating his job at a critical juncture in British military planning and dealing a blow to Prime Minister David Cameron’s government. (More)

BBC: Italy PM Silvio Berlusconi wins confidence vote

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has won a key confidence vote in parliament, sparked by questions over his handling of the economy and personal scandals. (More)

United Nations Rights Head Warns Of 'Civil War' In Syria – Al-Jazeera Intl

International community urged to take immediate action as UN's estimated death toll since protests began exceeds 3,000. (More)

US to send troops to Uganda to help fight LRA rebels

US President Barack Obama has said he is sending about 100 US soldiers to Uganda to help regional forces battle the notorious Lord's Resistance Army. (More)

British unemployment rockets to 17-year high

LONDON: Britain's jobless total has hit a 17 year-high, data showed Wednesday, stoking fears of a new recession and denting government hopes that the private sector can compensate for massive cuts in state jobs. (More)

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The war that established no new doctrine By Simon Tisdall

THE Libyan war, which began in earnest in February and edged towards a ragged conclusion on Thursday in the dusty, blood-specked alleyways of Sirte, was, in its most hyperbolic aspect, a victory for democracy, freedom, and the Arab spring. (More)

Fighting the dengue epidemic By Prof Dr Arif Nawaz

Dengue fever has continued to haunt mankind for the last several centuries with historical accounts of this disease from Africa which are between five to six hundred years old. The first outbreaks of dengue fever reached Asia, South America and Africa concurrently in the 1780s. Now this disease (More)

Dawn Editorial - Crime and terrorism + Polio Cases

MILITANCY and terrorism in Pakistan is a hydra-headed monster. Experience has shown that even when the security forces achieve success in one area, their efforts do not succeed in killing the monster (More)

Looking for heroes By Shada Islam

GROWING up, there was no dearth of heroes. My father was certainly one. Even now, 11 years after his death, I still marvel at his intellect, admire his vision and chuckle at his jokes. My quest for other heroes — and heroines — has been less successful, however. (More)

Power politics Irfan Husain

YOU may not win an election by providing regular electricity, but you can easily lose one by failing to.

At the last general elections in 2008, the ruling PML-Q got hammered because of its failure to add to the national grid (More)

The making of the modern maulvi By Ajmal Kamal Tribune Opinion & Analysis

Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi opposed the Khilafat movement so fiercely that he was willing to sacrifice his life for the cause of opposing it. His Malfoozat have the following entry concerning the events. “During the peak days of the Tehreek-e-Khilafat, fiery people were in a state of great rage. There was fire all around. Matters came to such a pass (More)

What America needs to do By Ali Ezzatyar / Shahpur Kabraji

When its highest ranking military officer declares a major ally to be the potential sponsor of multiple terrorist attacks, including a 20-hour-long assault on a US embassy, the US has a problem. When it turns out that the same (More)

Some suggest staying away from Obama’s Wars by Imran Ali Teepu

Gazetted officers of the federal government receive a book from the Cabinet Division’s Services Club every year – for a price – to stimulate their minds. (More)

Imp: Turkey’s renewal By A.G. Noorani - Analysis

NEARLY nine years in office as prime minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, leader of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) has already carved his name in history by his domestic and foreign policies. (More)

News and Analysis

2011-10-14T12:48:00.007+05:00

Daily Summary News & Analysis (Details also available on www.cssnewspaper2.blogspot.com)

US urged to avoid verbal assaults, finger-pointing

ISLAMABAD: In what is seen here as a serious attempt to repair the dent in relations caused by serious allegations emanating from Washington, America’s special envoy Marc Grossman said here after wide-ranging talks. (Details)

US to continue pressure on Pakistan for positive role: Clinton

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has reiterated that US would continue to mount heavy pressure on Pakistan for positive role in war on terror, Geo News reported. (Details)
Govt announces relaxation in CNG loadshedding

ISLAMABAD: While warning the country that the shortage of gas would get severe this summer, the government on Friday announced reduction in the loadshedding of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). (Details)

Hina Khar to represent Pakistan at world’s biggest business forum

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar will be among the handful of those distinguished women participants, who will speak at one of the world's biggest meeting of the private sector and heads of the government scheduled in Perth, Australia later (Details)

Judiciary checks arbitrary exercise of power, says CJ

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry said on Thursday that judiciary as an institution could never be independent unless individual judges remained impartial. (Details)

Only religious parties can stop America, says Fazl

QUETTA: Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-F (JUI-F) Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Thursday said the coalition of religious parties was the need of the hour and its only them that can stop US from its ‘nefarious designs’ (Details)

Reuters: US not sincere about Afghan peace: Haqqanis

ISLAMABAD: The United States was not sincere about peace in Afghanistan when it signalled it would remain open to exploring a settlement that includes the Haqqani (Details)

Business- Guardian: BP to expand North Shttp://cssnewspaper2.blogspot.com/2011/10/very-important-guardian-how-barack.htmlea oilfields

• Cameron backs £4bn plan for 'new Atlantic frontier' • Greenpeace warns of oil spills and rising emissions. BP faced fresh condemnation from environmentalists on Thursday after it got the go- (Details)

AlJazeera: Gaddafi 'being tracked by satellite'

Libya's National Transitional Council says that Muammar Gaddafi, the country's toppled leader, is in the southern desert region of the country, and that it is only a matter of time before he is captured. (Details)

The Guardian: Dominique Strauss-Kahn attempted rape inquiry dropped

Prosecutors say they have evidence ex-IMF chief sexually assaulted young French writer, but he will not face charges (Details)

UK’s Liam Fox faces fresh questions on Sri Lanka links

Defence secretary, UK, accused of running 'maverick foreign policy' in Sri Lankan Development Trust dealings involving Adam Werritty (Details)

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IMP- Guardian: How Barack Obama went from cool to cold

Barack Obama's measured approach won him the White House. So why do supporters think he lacks the 'fierce urgency of now'? (Details)

The selfish state By Cyril Almeida

CRISES erupt, the government fire-fights, things settle back down: we’ve seen it a million times before, right? At least that’s what logic traced on the historical record suggests. It’s always been the same, always will be the same. The unofficial motto of Pakistan is, onwards to the next crisis. And yet, it’s hard to shake off the feeling that maybe, just maybe, something different is (Details)

Aiders and abettors by Kamran Shafi

The Deep State is not alone in its enterprise of trying to fool all of the people all of the time for its own ends: it is aided and abetted by various and varied ‘elites’, most of whom have either occupied positions of high authority in government; are media ‘stars’ (Details)

The pact of Hudaibya By Nilofar Ahmed

SOME time after the migration of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and his followers to Madina, the Makkans banned the entry of the believers in Makkah, even for the purposes of Haj or umrah. (Details)

IMP: Democracy’s failure? By S. Akbar Zaidi

THE new conventional wisdom is that democracy has failed in Pakistan. Yet again. It seems so obvious to everyone that this is now the overwhelming, unquestioned, uncontested consensus. (Details)

IMP: Crisis in ties with Afghanistan By Khalid Aziz

RECENTLY, President Hamid Karzai signed a strategic partnership agreement with India in New Delhi. Among other things, it provides for the training of Afghan army officers in India. (Details)

The Economist: A Swedish October surprise

LIBERIANS have voted in the first domestically run poll since the end of a bloody civil war in 2003. Queues snaked around schools and churches converted into polling (Details)

Punjab most violent province for women: Report - Tribune

Punjab is the most violent province in Pakistan, or so the data collected by Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in 70 districts across the country suggests.(Details)

13 October Daily News & Analysis

2011-10-13T11:49:00.007+05:00

Daily Summary News and Analysis Details on www.cssnewspaper2.blogspot.com

US cannot abandon Pakistan relationship: Clinton
WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday the United States cannot abandon Pakistan but that the South Asian nation must help solve Afghanistan’s difficulties or it will “continue to be part of the problem.” (Details)

With new threats, US Army must reinvent itself: Panetta

The US Army won’t be fighting conventional wars against columns of tanks in the future and will have to prepare for new threats from cheaper high-tech weaponry, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Wednesday. (Details)

Cabinet comes up with old formula to cope with power crisis
The federal cabinet again approved on Wednesday a formula to resolve the energy crisis that has failed earlier — two weekly days off, business closure at sunset and staggering of industrial holidays — to overcome increasing electricity shortfall during peak hours. Details)
Pakistan faces threat of water scarcity

By Amin Ahmed: ISLAMABAD: The United Nations has placed Pakistan among the ‘water hotspots’ of Asia-Pacific region, saying that the country is facing major threats of increasing water scarcity, high water utilisation, deteriorating water quality and climate change risk. (Details)

Ban on fissile material production opposed

UNITED NATIONS: Some powerful states had changed the strategic environment of the South Asian region, Pakistan complained to the world body on Tuesday and said it opposed banning production of fissile material used as fuel for nuclear weapons. (Details)

Ten killed in slew of attacks targeting Iraq police

BAGHDAD: Iraqi officials say 10 people have been killed in a string of attacks targeting security forces in Baghdad. Two police officials say a suicide attacker blew himself (Details)

Alleged plot to assassinate Saudi ambassador: Biden warns Iran of ‘serious consequences’

WASHINGTON, Oct 12: US Vice President Joe Biden warned Iran on Wednesday that it would have to face ‘serious consequences’ for allegedly plotting to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States. US President Barack Obama called the plot a “flagrant violation” of US and international law but allowed his deputies to do most of the talking. (Details)

Clinton calls Iran plot ‘dangerous escalation’

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday denounced an alleged Iranian plot to kill the Saudi ambassador in Washington as a ‘dangerous escalation’ by Tehran and called for international condemnation. (Details)

Millions suffer as BlackBerry disruptions enter third day

NEW YORK, Oct 12: A three-day disruption to BlackBerry services spread to North America on Wednesday, frustrating millions of users of the Research In Motion (RIM) devices just two days before rival Apple’s new iPhone 4S goes on sale. (Details)

‘He gave joy and pleasure to millions of music lovers in India and abroad’
MUMBAI: The Indian singer and composer Jagjit Singh, who won generations of fans by reviving the traditional genre of “ghazal”music, died on Monday in a Mumbai hospital at the age of 70. (Details)

Kidnapped journalist returns

MIRAMSHAH, Oct 12: A journalist kidnapped by suspected militants about two months ago reached home here on Wednesday, after a deal was struck between the kidnappers and a jirga, sources said. (Details)
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Civil war in Syria? By Gwynne Dyer
BACK in 1989, when the communist regimes of Europe were tottering towards their end, almost every day somebody would say `There`s going to be a civil war.` And our job, as foreign journalists who allegedly had their finger on the pulse of events, was to say: `No, there won`t be.` (Details)
Drainage crisis in Indus basin By Azhar Lashari
THE recent floods in Sindh have triggered a debate in the media about the role of the Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD) in exacerbating the disaster in the south-eastern districts of the province. Much has been said and written about how the LBOD, meant for the drainage of excessive irrigation water from Nawabshah, Sanghar and Mirpurkhas districts into the Arabian Sea, has turned out to be a recurring cause of flood disaster since the 1999 cyclone in (Details)
After the SC verdict BY I.A Rehman

AS expected the Supreme Court decision on the killings and disorder in Karachi has had a mixed reception. While most commentators have welcomed the court`s (Details)
Movement in the making By Hina Mahmood

Approaching Zuccotti Park, the sound of drumbeats in the air, I could see hundreds of protesters, picketing on its lawns, a few blocks from Ground Zero in New York. (Details)

THE INDEPENDENT : Robert Fisk: Democratic governments don't deal with terrorists – until they do

In three decades, the Israelis have freed 7,000 prisoners in return for 19 Israeli prisoners (Details)

12 Oct 2011 Top News and Analysis- CSS Newspaper

2011-10-12T12:30:00.001+05:00

12 Oct Daily Summary News and Analysis Details on www.cssnewspaper.blogspot.com

US open to Afghan peace deal including Haqqani: Clinton

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday signalled that the United States remains open to exploring a peace deal including the Haqqani network (Details)

Guardian UK: Pakistan's madrasa reform 'stalls'

A majority of Pakistanis are in favour of English language teaching being introduced into the country's madrasa schools, according to a recent survey carried out by Gallup Pakistan. (Details)

US making strategic bet on India

WASHINGTON, Oct 11: The future of world politics will be decided in the Asia-Pacific region, not Afghanistan or Iraq, and the United States will be right at the centre of the action, (Details)

CNN: Syria opposition gains regional backers

(CNN) -- International powers put more heat on Syria's government Tuesday, as a new umbrella opposition group gained key backers(Details)

BBC: Ukraine ex-PM Yulia Tymoshenko jailed over gas deal

David Stern in Kiev says the verdict has been criticised by the EU and Russia. A judge ruled the ex-prime minister had criminally exceeded her powers when she signed a gas deal with Russia in 2009. (Details)

Gulf News: Netanyahu seeks to legalize outposts built on private Palestinian land

Instruction issued under pressure from the right in response to state's decision to demolish several outposts built on private Palestinian land. (Details)

Guardian UK: Iranians charged in US over plot to assassinate Saudi ambassador

US claims elements of Iranian government directed bomb plot with alleged involvement of Mexican drug cartel (Details)

CNN: U.N. peacekeepers killed in Darfur

(CNN) -- Three United Nations peacekeepers were killed in an ambush in a camp for displaced people in Sudan's Darfur region, the global body said Tuesday. (Details)

CNN: Myanmar begins prisoner release

(CNN) -- Myanmar has begun the release of what it said will eventually be more than 6,300 prisoners under a mass amnesty. Among the inmates freed by noon Wednesday, 70 were political detainees, (Details)

US ‘fighting a war’ in Pakistan: Panetta

WASHINGTON: Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said Tuesday the United States is waging “war” in Pakistan against militants, referring to a covert campaign the CIA steadfastly refuses to publicly confirm. (Details)

14-year jail proposed for damaging oil, gas pipelines

ISLAMABAD, Oct 11: The National Assembly`s Standing Committee on Petroleum and Natural Resources approved on Tuesday amendments to the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill 2011, making oil and gas theft a non-bailable offence (Details)

Zaka appointed PCB chairman

ISLAMABAD, Oct 11: The government appointed on Tuesday Zaka Ashraf as chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board. (Details)

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The burden of bans by Rafia Zakaria

AS September gasped its last, something unprecedented happened in the French town of Meaux, located about 25km from the heart of Paris. (Details)

Repairing frayed ties By Michael O’Hanlon

AFTER a year of calamitous turns in the relationship between Washington and Islamabad, many Americans are wondering how this troubled alliance can possibly be repaired. Even more may be wondering how we can (Details)

The burka debate by Zubeida Mustafa

IT is a debate that is unending and can go on ad infinitum. The object of this global controversy is the contentious hijab that has had as many supporters as detractors. The arguments draw references from religion, culture, social norms, human rights and (Details)

CNN Article: Zakaria: How Obama can overcome the down economy

I talked to John King the other day about President Obama's reelection strategy in this down economy. Take a look at the video above and/or the transcript below: (Details)

11 October: CSS Newspaper - Current and Pakistan Affairs

2011-10-11T11:41:00.005+05:00

Brief Summary- Details Available at www.cssnewspaper2.blogspot.com

Financial Times: Beijing intervenes to help stabilize banks

High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. The Chinese government will boost its stakes in the country’s largest banks, as it attempts to shore up slumping financial stocks and to restore investor confidence. Central Huijin, the domestic arm of China’s sovereign wealth fund, (Read More)

Cairo killings raise heat on military: FT

Dressed in black, Teresa Youssef crouched sobbing and banging on the wooden coffin adorned with a large photograph of a young man, outside the morgue at the Coptic Hospital in Cairo. “Get up, Mina,” she cried, to the 20-year-old in the coffin who was killed by a bullet which burst his lungs. “He was a lion. He had no weapon but he defended us when we were attacked.” (Read More)

World News - Torture at Afghan prisons commonplace: UN

KABUL: Afghanistan’s intelligence agency and police force have been “systematically” torturing detainees including children at a number of jails, in breach of local and international laws, a United Nations report said on Monday. Scores of people told the UN that the National Directorate of Security (NDS) and the Afghan National Police had physically or mentally abused (Read More)

Lal Masjid deputy cleric likely to face the chop: LAHORE: Maulana Aamer Siddique, the second-in-command (Naib Khateeb) at the Red Mosque (Lal Masjid) in Islamabad, is believed to be in the process of being expelled from his post in the coming days as a penalty for visiting Iran, sources familiar with the matter told (Read More)

Unanimous NA move on power crisis

ISLAMABAD: After a six-day debate, the National Assembly unanimously decided on Monday to set up a special house committee to examine the causes of power shortages and recommend remedies even though the government said there were hardly any outages now after it tackled the recent crisis that provoked nationwide protests. A motion adopted by the house on a proposal from the (Read More)

PPP leaders discuss SC verdict

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan People’s Party leadership discussed on Monday the Supreme Court’s verdict on the law and order situation and target killings in Karachi and decided to ask all political parties, particularly those in the ruling coalition, to expel militant elements from their ranks. (Read More)

Taseer murder case: Ex-LHC chief justice to defend Mumtaz Qadri

LAHORE: Lahore High Court’s former chief justice (retd) Khawaja Muhammad Sharif will defend Mumtaz Qadri, the self-confessed murderer of slain Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer, before the Islamabad High Court. Qadri has filed an appeal against his death sentence given to him by an Anti Terrorism Court in Rawalpindi (Read More)

Egypt probes deadly sectarian clashes, first victims buried

CAIRO: Egypt’s military rulers ordered a speedy probe into clashes which killed 25 people, mostly Coptic Christians, as the cabinet held crisis talks and thousands attended the funerals of 17 victims.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) “tasked the government with quickly forming a fact finding committee to determine what happened,” in a statement read on state television Monday as world (Read More)

Lyari peace committee to be revived, says Mirza

KARACHI: Former Sindh home minister Dr Zulfikar Mirza announced on Sunday that the Lyari peace committee, popularly known as People’s Amn Committee, would be revived and said it would now play a more active role for people’s welfare. (Read More)

Cricket Australia slams “outlandish” match-fixing allegations

MELBOURNE: Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland says claims made in a London court over Australian match-fixing are ”outlandish and made by a person of dubious repute.” On Monday, the player agent at the centre of the Pakistan spot-fixing allegations, Mazhar (Read More)

Tribal women blamed for inducing fear among children: Research

PESHAWAR, Oct 10: A University of Peshawar researcher on Monday blamed women from Khyber Agency, especially in Bara tehsil, for inducing fear among their children to teach them discipline. “Mothers tell them to go to sleep otherwise dreaded militant commander Mangal Bagh will show up and (Read More)

A different paradigm by Kaiser Bengali

THE 18th Amendment and the seventh NFC Award have now placed responsibility for development in the provincial domain. However, the provinces appear to be unprepared to shoulder the responsibility. Provincial development planning is limited to putting together a disparate collection of schemes. There is little in terms of determining the relationship of one scheme to another. Resultantly, there is no overall direction to the development process. There is, thus, an abject need to introduce formal planning processes at the provincial level. (Read More)

Can Sindh change? By Meer M. Parihar

THE article ‘Will Sindh change?’, written by Zubeida Mustafa and published in this space several weeks ago, raises the question of changing the power structure in Sindh. Her assumptions are based on her interaction with some social activists working in rural Sindh’s (Read More)

Dar win theory and Pakistan By Asha’ar Rehman

IT is not often that all-rounder Abdur Razzaq escapes mention in the description of a scene he is present in. But here was Razzaq in the news picture last week, his participation in collecting donations in Lahore for Sindh`s flood victims going rather unnoticed. It was a former cricketer with just a handful of first-class wickets and a batting average of around 11 per (Read More)

The youngest casualties by Bina Shah

WAR has raged between the Pakistani Army and Taliban forces for several years now, spilling over from the tribal areas and Swat into the plains and cities of Pakistan. As a result, Peshawar, Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi have all borne the brunt of attacks on security targets, with Pakistan’s children being the most affected by the conflict. Karachi-based psychologist Ishma Alvi explains the psychological effects of the war on terror (Read More)

Who is this mysterious lady? By Javed Nusrat

For more than ten days a lady with elitist connections is reportedly being harassed by the Lahore Police. Alleged to have kidnapped a foreigner for ransom, her case is now before an anti-terrorism court. Instead of focusing on her defence through legal means, the said lady continues to insist, almost hysterically, that (Read More)

10th October 2011: CSS News and Analysis Current Affairs

2011-10-10T12:03:00.000+05:00

CSS Summary: News and Analysis

Egypt forces clash with Copt protesters, 24 dead

CAIRO: A curfew was imposed overnight in Egypt’s capital after 24 people, mostly Coptic Christians, died in clashes with security forces in the deadliest violence since President Hosni Mubarak’s fall.

More then 200 people were injured in fighting that erupted during a protest by Copts on Sunday, prompting a curfew in central Cairo, said official statements broadcast on public television. (Read More)

Ex-naval chief Bokhari named to head NAB

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari named on Sunday Admiral (retd) Agha Fasih Bokhari, former chief of Pakistan Navy, as chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to fill the office lying vacant for several months and make the country’s premier accountability organisation functional. (Read More)

Kurram groups sign accord to open key highway

Parachinar: After about three years, rival factions again signed a peace agreement here on Sunday to restore peace in Kurram Agency after the government promised to provide security on the main highway in the region.

Under the accord which was first signed in Murree in October 2008, the Thall-Parachinar road would be made safe for travel for local people and internally displaced people would be rehabilitated in their areas. (Read More)

Asian shares rise after France-Germany agreement

HONG KONG: Asian shares began Monday on a high after France and Germany said they had agreed a plan to support Europe's banks, while US jobs data also provided some lift.
However dealers remained cautious after Wall Street finished last week with a loss and Fitch downgraded the debt ratings of Italy and Spain.
Hong Kong gained 0.66 percent in the first few minutes, Sydney gained 1.20 percent, Seoul was 1.10 percent higher and Shanghai, (Read More)

Anti-Gadhafi fighters make gains in Sirte

SIRTE: Libya’s revolutionary forces seized a convention center Sunday that had served as a key base for fighters loyal to Moammar Gadhafi in the fugitive leader’s hometown, as they squeezed remaining regime loyalists in the besieged coastal city.

The inability to take Sirte, the most important remaining stronghold of Gadhafi supporters, more than six weeks after anti-Gadhafi fighters seized the capital has stalled efforts by Libya’s new leaders to set a timeline for elections and move forward with a transition to (Read More)

Euro lifted in Asia by France-Germany plan

SINGAPORE: The euro rose above $1.34 in Asia on Monday after France and Germany vowed swift action to shore up Europe's struggling banks, analysts said.
The single European unit bought $1.3450 in the morning compared with $1.3375 in New York late Friday, while it sat at 103.20 yen from 103.10 yen.
The greenback traded at 76.75 yen from 76.73 yen.
The euro fell below $1.34 late (Read More)

Nuclear disarmament and the youth: View from India - Dawn Blog

President Obama’s Prague speech, in which he laid the foundations of a renewed quest for a world free of nuclear weapons, was greeted around the world with both awe and skepticism. Analysts all around the world dissected his words, ruminated over his intent and commented on his vision, I found the speech intriguing for completely different reasons. When President Obama said that the goal of nuclear (ReadMore)

China factor in Afghanistan

THE signing of the India-Afghanistan Strategic Partnership last week reaffirmed the establishment’s narratives about Pakistan’s real concerns across its western border: it’s not about militancy or instability, but about Indian hegemony.

The timing of the pact (Read More)

Pemra protects the sacred cows

Irfan Husain

ACCORDING to a news report in the Guardian covering the recently concluded annual Conservative Party conference in Manchester, Prime Minister David Cameron bumped into the newspaper’s political cartoonist, Steve Bell. At this chance encounter, the British PM asked: “Steve, when are you taking the condom off my head?”

This seemingly bizarre query was in reference to (Read More)

Is circular debt the real issue?

By Salman Khalid and Kamal Munir

PAKISTAN has been facing a series of power crises over roughly the last two decades. However, since 2007, the situation has deteriorated rapidly.

As a result of severe electricity shortage, industry, commerce and agriculture have all taken serious hits with the country’s growth prospects dimming significantly. At the same time, residential consumers have had to endure over eight-to-12-hour blackouts in major cities. The situation is even worse in rural (Read More)

Terrorized Silence

by Baber Sattar

If you are an “aashiq-e-Rasool” (devotee of the Prophet), should you be able to get away with murder? Can we, as a society, justify the cold-blooded murder of Salmaan Taseer by Mumtaz Qadri, merely because this killer believed he was discharging a divine duty? Can a citizen be allowed to execute another summarily in pursuit of a self-defined higher ideal of ‘justice’ not recognised by law, and can such logic be inducted as a valid justification for murder? Isn’t that the story of all psychopaths who pose a threat to society? Must we become apologists for vigilantism and crimes perpetrated in the name of religion (Read More)

9 Oct 2011: CSS News and Analysis

2011-10-09T13:02:00.005+05:00

Summary

(More Detailed News and Analysis for CSS on www.cssnewspaper2.blogspot.com)

Huge discount rate cut surprises market

The State Bank on Saturday threw a pleasant surprise by chopping off its policy rate by 150bps above the market expectations, but analysts critical about the huge cut in view of changing of base-year to show declining inflationary trend. (Read More on Cssnewspaper2)

UK review identifies Afghan civil war risk

LONDON: A British government review of the Afghan conflict is to warn that there are “significant risks” of civil war or a Taliban takeover of the south and east of the country after Nato withdraws its combat troops at the end of the 2014. (Read More)

Guardian UK: Youth joblessness highest since Tories last in power, new figures to reveal

The number of unemployed young people has passed the million mark, according to statistics to be published this week. More than a million young people are now unemployed, the highest number since the Conservatives were last in power, government figures to be published this week are expected to reveal. (Read More)

Article @ Gurdian UK: Euro crisis spreads and puts the world economy at risk

When G20 finance ministers meet in Paris next weekend, the stakes will be enormous for both Europe and the world (Read More)

Guardian UK Sleep easy, war criminals By Michael Mansfield

Israel has violated innumerable UN resolutions and international laws over the past 50 years without any sanction being incurred – whether legal, economic, political or military. Most blatant is its disregard for the overwhelming opinion of the international court of justice in The Hague, which in 2004 declared the erection of (Read More)

UK helps Israel evade international justice

LONDON: Israel has violated innumerable UN resolutions. If you add the illegal occupation of Palestinian territory, continued extension of illegal settlements, forced evictions and house demolitions, requisition of water resources, Gaza blockade and illicit use of cloned passports to facilitate (Read More)

French socialists’ primary race catches public eye

PARIS: It was billed as a fight to the death between egotists: a savage war of vengeful ex-partners, secret pacts, crash-diets and televised slanging matches.
But the French Socialist primary race to choose a leftwing challenger to Nicolas Sarkozy in next year`s presidential election has (Read More)

Sarah Palin will neither run for presidency nor avoid spotlight

WASHINGTON: Conservative diva Sarah Palin won`t appear on the 2012 presidential ballot but will remain on the national stage, revealing in her star power as the race to the White House heats up, analysts say. (Read More)

Mourners shot at Tamo funeral, Syria dissidents meet

Syrian security forces killed at least two mourners and wounded several others when they fired on the funeral of murdered Kurdish opposition figure Meshaal Tamo on Saturday, activists said.
Dissidents, meanwhile, lobbied in Cairo for recognition of their newly (Read More)

More Syria deaths as dissidents urge Assad isolation

DAMASCUS: Thirty-eight people were killed in clashes in two days in northwest Syria, a rights activist said on Sunday, as dissidents meeting in Brussels called for the isolation of President Bashar al-Assad.
“Thirty-eight people were killed in shootings in the region of Jisrash Shughur, (Read More)

Virus affects drones system

WASHINGTON, Oct 8: A computer virus that captures the strokes on a keyboard has infected networks used by pilots who control US drones flown on the warfront, according to a magazine report.
Wired magazine reported that the spyware (Read More)

Ties with Pakistan vital to security, says US

WASHINGTON: Ties with Pakistan remained vital to US national security, the White House said on Friday as the State Department pledged to continue to work with Islamabad to defeat terrorism.
“The cooperation we have with Pakistan is extremely important in terms of our national security objectives, in terms of protecting Americans, in terms of taking the fight to Al Qaeda,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told (Read More)

Measures taken to execute SC order, Qaim tells Zardari

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari seemed keen on the implementation of a Supreme Court judgment concerning the state of law and order in Sindh, especially Karachi, when he met top provincial functionaries and the government’s legal wizards on Saturday.
The president had convened the meeting “to know about the steps (Read More)

Killing the messengers by Ardeshir Cowasjee

WE Pakistanis are determined never to learn from history. Our leaders deem ignorance to be bliss and choose to pay no attention to what the world thinks of them or of our country.
Pakistan is more isolated internationally than at any time since 1971. That year, for those of us who care to remember, the country lost
(Read More)

View from US: Mystery of the missing chapters By Anjum Niaz

Zamir Niazi would not know that 25 years since his book, The Press in Chains, was first published, it would cause an uproar today. The journalist embodying a frail frame, a soft voice, with pen and paper as his weaponry, challenged the ruling dictator Zia by exposing his press censorship and antipathy against free
(Read More)

Bid for UNSC seat By Munir Akram

EVEN as the latest crises in relations with the US and Afghanistan preoccupy Pakistan’s policymakers, a scheduled event at the current UN General Assembly, with significant portents for the country’s national interests and international image, deserves their full attention — the election to a two-year Asian seat on the UN Security Council.
Membership of the Security Council — even for the two-year non-permanent seat — has several advantages: (Read More)

7 October: News & Analysis

2011-10-08T23:51:00.002+05:00

OCTOBER 7, 2011: Friday - Important News and Analysis Items

SC blames federal, Sindh govts for Karachi bloodshed

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court announced on Thursday an overarching judgment on the law and order situation and target killings in Karachi and criticised both the federal and Sindh governments for their failure to ensure peaceful economic activity in the city. It termed the “unimaginable brutalities” a result of a turf war aimed at keeping socio-political control over the city. (Read More)

Apple ‘genius’ Steve Jobs dead

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 6: Apple founder and visionary Steve Jobs died on Wednesday from cancer aged just 56, a premature end for a man who revolutionised modern culture and changed forever the world’s relationship to technology through inventions such as the ipad and iphone. (Read More)

Pakistanis alone did not create Haqqanis: US

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said that the Pakistanis have a point when they say that Pakistan alone did not create the Haqqani network, which is now killing American soldiers in Afghanistan.

Also on Sunday, the former US military chief, Admiral Mike Mullen, said that attacks on US soldiers in Afghanistan had caused him to blame Pakistan for backing the militants who were behind those attacks. (ReadMore)

Steve Jobs told us what we needed before we knew: By Guardian UK

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Steve Jobs saw the future and led the world to it. He moved technology from garages to pockets, took entertainment from discs to bytes and turned gadgets into extensions of the people who use them. (Read More)

Military ruler says Egypt in a critical phase

CAIRO: Egypt’s military ruler said on Thursday the country was going through a critical period, particularly on the security and economic fronts, and called for national unity to achieve a democratic state under civilian rule.Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, delivering a televised address to mark the 1973 war against Israel, also said disagreements and mistrust have plagued the period following the uprising that ousted former President Hosni Mubarak in February. (Read More)

India may rue the day it backed Afghan regime

NEW DELHI: India’s decision to underwrite and, in effect, guarantee Hamid Karzai’s feeble Afghan government is not wholly lacking in logic. In a strategic pact signed on Tuesday, the two countries pledged to co-operate on trade and counter-terrorism, and Delhi agreed to train and equip Afghan security forces. With US and Nato forces edging towards the exit in 2014, it follows that Delhi, the region’s military and economic (Read More)

Syria: threat of armed uprising grows

BEIRUT/WASHINGTON: An armed insurrection inside Syria looks set to gather momentum after the failure to pass a UN resolution against president Bashar al-Assad’s regime, according to dissidents in two key Syrian cities. (Read More)

Nato says Libya mission not to end soon

BRUSSELS, Oct 6: Nato ministers said on Thursday that the bombing campaign in Libya, now in its seventh month, will continue until armed resistance to the new pro-western regime ceases.

US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta — speaking at a meeting of Nato defence ministers dedicated mainly to Afghanistan and Libya (Read More)

Afghanistan urged to ‘demonstrate responsibility’

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan urged the Afghan authorities on Thursday to demonstrate responsibility in the complex situation in the region. “At this defining stage when challenges have multiplied, as have the opportunities, it is our expectation that everyone, especially those in position of authority in Afghanistan, will demonstrate maturity and responsibility. This is no time for point-scoring, playing politics or grandstanding,” Foreign Office spokesperson Tehmina Janjua said at a press briefing (Read More)

LPG price drops by Rs12 after PDL suspension

ISLAMABAD: The price of liquefied petroleum gas has declined by Rs12 per kg across the country as the Petroleum Development Levy (PDL) imposed on LPG has been suspended by the Lahore High Court.

Analysis and Opinions

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Family planning and Islam - By Asghar Ali Engineer

MANY people, especially women, have asked me if family planning is permissible in Islam. They say the imams and ulema say the Quran prohibits family planning and quote a verse which says, “And kill not your children for fear of poverty — We provide for them and for you. Surely the killing of them is a great wrong” (17:31). (Read More)

An electrifying failure by Sakib Sherani

THE acute power crisis gripping Pakistan’s cities, towns and villages is a colossal failure of governance. Given that it is estimated to cost three to four per cent of GDP a year in direct costs alone (such as output loss), larger than the estimated losses from terrorism, the power crisis is by far the biggest constraint facing the economy — and has been for three years, if not more.

However, its pernicious effects have spread far beyond the economy, as it tears into the social fabric and the daily routine of 20 million Pakistani households each and every unrelenting day (and night). (Read More)

The IK factor By Cyril Almeida

IT looks and sounds almost biblical. Pestilence has descended on Lahore, swaths of the country have plunged into darkness, life as we know it may be coming to an end soon.

Thank God for the politicians and comic relief.

Less ‘après moi, le déluge’ — after me, the deluge — and more ‘nous sommes le déluge’ — we are the deluge — our pols are up in arms again. (ReadMore)

Implementing the resolution By Khali Aziz

AN initial salvo relating to Pakistan’s alleged links with the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network was fired on Sept 12 by US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta who threatened that the US would attack the Haqqani network if Pakistan failed to act.

Later, Adm Mike Mullen, the most senior US military leader, poured more oil on the fire by remarking at a special hearing in the US Senate: “….the Haqqani network [is] a potent part of the insurgency battling American forces in Afghanistan”, and a “veritable arm” of Pakistan’s ISI. (Read More)

8 October, 2011; Saturday: News Items for the Day

2011-10-08T20:39:00.001+05:00

Yemen president says ready to quit within days

SANAA: Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, in the face of more than eight months of street protests demanding his ouster, said on Saturday he is now ready to step down within days.

“I don’t want power and I will give it up in the coming days,” the veteran president said in a televised speech during which he launched a tirade against his opponents. (Read more)

Kabul demands more US pressure on Pakistan

KABUL: The Kabul government on Saturday demanded that Washington increase pressure on Pakistan to act against insurgents using its soil to attack Afghanistan, saying Afghans were running out of patience.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai held talks with US regional envoy, Marc Grossman, in Kabul just days after President Barack Obama warned Pakistan there were “some connections” between its intelligence services and extremists. (Read more)

Seven more die of dengue in Lahore

LAHORE: Another seven people including five women died of dengue fever in different hospitals on Saturday, raising the death toll to 205 in the city.

Dengue cases are on the rise and patients with high fever flocked to hospitals in the provincial metropolis.

Today, 60-year-old Mukhtaran Bibi of Baghbanpura, Mrs Iqbal (61) of Temple Road and Arooj of Dharampura lost their battle against dengue at Services Hospital while under treatment Rabia (24) of Kot Khawaja Saeed, Aliza (7) and Saeed of Bahawalpur died at Mayo Hospital. (Read more)

Opinions / Editorials

Ideology and intolerance

Irfan Husain

MOHAMMAD Ali Jinnah visualised the state of Pakistan as “a homeland for the Muslims of the subcontinent”.

Sadly, he did not specify precisely which sect of Muslims he had in mind. Although a Shia himself, he did not have a sectarian bone in his body.

Indeed, he was secular to the core, and this was the philosophy he bequeathed to the state he had created virtually single-handedly. This was a bequest we tore up even before he was laid to rest.

So as we witness the ongoing massacre of Hazara Shias (Read more)

Common enemy, not goal

By Shada Islam | From the Newspaper

LIKE the rest of the world, I’ve had the dubious pleasure of watching the long-running US-Pakistan soap opera/relationship plunge to new lows over recent weeks.

True, it made good headlines and certainly the cast of characters is interestingly colourful. Tough, gun-toting generals, shifty security officials, ruthless terrorists and — a new addition — a beautiful and classy woman, crowded on to an already very full stage, jostling for attention. (Read more)