Initially, executions in Pakistan were carried out for terrorism related charges. However, in the wake of the Peshawar tragedy, the government of Pakistan decided to lift the moratorium on the10th. of March of this year and reinstated the heinous punishment for all death penalty offences. The PPP lead coalition government in 2008 placed a moratorium on executions following pressure on the government by the European Union and human rights’ groups. On the 21st.of April, 17 inmates were executed in Pakistan, the highest number of executions in a single day since reversing of the country’s self-imposed ban on the death penalty in December after the Peshawar massacre that took more than 140 innocent lives. The prisoners were executed in ...
June 25, 2015 at 11:18 am | News Desk
Dr DAll had taken strikingly different journeys to violent extremist activity. People follow a pathway into radicalization, terrorism and terrorist organizations. Apparently the first stage involves an awareness of oppression. The second stage marks recognition that the oppression was social and therefore not unavoidable. The third stage is an impetus or realization that it is possible to act against the oppression. Ultimately, some conclude that working through or within the system to reform or improve it is not going to work and that self-help by violence is the only effective means for change. Based on an analysis of multiple militant extremist groups, there do appear to be some observable markers or stages in the processes that are c...
June 22, 2015 at 4:21 pm | News Desk
My forefathers fled to these shores with a vision of religious freedom. The right to it was purchased with blood and this fervently embraced freedom is the cornerstone of our Constitution. The words still leap off the page; though now dead, the witnesses still speak. Their thoughts are codified in the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights. The dry ink of the signatories flows like liquid satin through my veins. I champion this freedom. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof….” This treasure known as freedom of religion is a summation of its parts. Man is a moral agent with free will. But free will is also extended to those who choose not to celebrate nor particip...
June 22, 2015 at 4:04 pm | News Desk
In the contemporary world, economy is treated as a religion. The time has gone when the superpowers had large arsenals and extensive colonies. This is the era of economic independence and self-reliance. Currently, the nations which are economically independent, sovereign and self reliant are dominant. The story behind the success of the Western powers, China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and other fast progressing countries is their economic independence and self- reliance. But unfortunately, the situation in Pakistan is totally reversed. Although Pakistan is rich in natural resources, it is very poor in management. Sixty seven years have passed since the inception of the country but none of its systems has been developed properly. In Pak...
June 22, 2015 at 2:13 pm | News Desk
Under an agreement reached among provinces and federal government at a high-level national meeting on National Climate Change Policy Implementation Committee (NCCPIC), each of Pakistan's five provinces will create its own committee to take action on climate change policy and report back by May 5 on how they intend to take action on both reducing climate-changing emissions and supporting adaptation to climate change impacts. It was also agreed during the meeting that climate change sections also would be established in the federal planning commission and provincial planning and development (P&D) departments for smooth coordination among the federal and provincial governments on climate change and climate funding. “Such plans will be ...
June 22, 2015 at 1:56 pm | News Desk
Life is not something that simply happens to you. It happens for you and through you, only when you recognize and utilize its hands-on magic The fundamental Law of Creation is something which applies to every soul that is manifested on this planet. Inescapable, it is also a beautiful and necessary part of life. Seen most commonly as a mysterious way for the universe to approve or deny the possibility of something, the Law of Creation is actually operational through your own hands, heart, and mind. Understanding the basic premises of the Law of Creation can help you to decide what your true purpose is and inspire you to actually live it. However, the law dictates that you must be present in your own life, taking responsibility for yo...
June 18, 2015 at 5:21 pm | News Desk
INTRODUCTION: Investigations and other related enforcement activities including off-site and on-site surveillance and inspections are potent weapons in the regulatory arsenal of law enforcement agencies globally. Investigations are made either for detailed examinations or to find out facts. Regulatory and law enforcement agencies can effectively accomplish their statutory mandate if they exercises their investigative authority prudently and professionally. Financial and white-collar crimes have increased tremendously in recent years. Investigators and law enforcement personnel need to be well-equipped in combating such crimes. An investigator shall have the ability to elicit facts from evidences and witnesses in a fair, impartial, law...
June 17, 2015 at 5:45 pm | News Desk
India's external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), has long faced allegations of meddling in its neighbors' affairs. "India has always used Afghanistan as a second front against Pakistan. India has over the years been financing problems in Pakistan", said Chuck Hage, the defense secretary (2013-2015), in a written speech at Oklahoma's Cameron University in 2011. Chuck Hagel had served on the US Senate Intelligence Committee before becoming the Pentagon chief. Since, Narendra Modi took over as the prime minister, RAW has stepped up its covert war against Pakistan. Prime Minister Modi appointed Ajit Doval, a well-known hawk, as his National Security Advisor. In the 1990s, Mr. Doval served as an undercover RAW agen...
June 16, 2015 at 9:53 pm | News Desk
The much anticipated visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping and approval of the International Monetary Fund’s sixth tranche and above all the return of foreign buyers put the stock markets on an upward trajectory in April as the KSE-100 index gained more than 3700 points during the month. However, it could not come up to expectations due to main events that took place and saw a weak-ending in the last week. The visit of the Chinese President to Pakistan, the signing of various MOUs by both the countries, investment friendly policies of the government and induction of more companies at the stock exchange have created positive impacts on Pakistan’s stock exchange which is now on the highest level of its history. Moreover, investment in ...
June 10, 2015 at 1:13 am | News Desk
Over the course of the past eighteen months relations between Australia and Indonesia has steadily deteriorated. It’s a relationship that has historically been a challenging one for Australia for a variety of reasons, but the recent fissures are in reality more driven by the rise of populist leaders in both countries with a penchant for xenophobic dog whistling. From an Australian perspective, the outlook for our partnership with Indonesia looked like heading into rough waters as soon as the country elected the Liberal-National coalition in September of 2013. This was due to the fact that Tony Abbott, the Coalition’s leader and now Prime Minister, had as one of the few pillars of his campaign a commitment to "turn back the boats." ...
June 10, 2015 at 1:06 am | News Desk
Pakistan’s construction of two nuclear reactors with the help of China has created media hype in Western capitals. The two reactors, each having a capacity to provide with 1,100 megawatts of electricity to national energy grids are being built in Karachi. Notwithstanding the opposition, Pakistan’s civilian nuclear energy programme is destined to meet the severe energy crisis of Pakistan. Contrary to other states, Pakistan has a small nuclear power program with 725 MWe capacity but it had been planning for quite some time to increase it substantially. Since the 1950s, the concept of the peaceful use of nuclear energy has emerged and on December 20, 1951 for the first time, electricity was produced through nuclear energy at the Ex...
June 10, 2015 at 1:01 am | News Desk
A meeting of the English Speaking Union (ESU) was held at the residence of its member, Khalid Malik and nearly all members attended the event. The Secretary General of the Union MuzaffarQuereshi moderated the proceedings. The Spanish Ambassador to Pakistan, His Excellency Javier Carbajosa Sanchez was the chief guest. Welcoming the gathering, ESU President Retired Major General Masud Akram began by thanking Mr Malik for his generous offer to host the occasion. He then spoke of his aims to make the ESU a more vibrant and well known organization. He said that the Union promotes mutual advancement of education of the English-speaking peoples of the world, respecting their heritage, traditions and aspirations, the events and issues ...
June 10, 2015 at 12:53 am | News Desk
“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest”. ~Benjamin Franklin Over the past few years, governors, policymakers and other elected officials are having to cut education spending due to immense budget deficits. Within Pakistan, Balochistan comprises 44% of land and only 5% of the total population. The indicators including weak development, low literacy rates and huge poverty levels, making Balochistan different from the rest of the province The government has been struggling for the last six years to endorse education but it still stands behind the other provinces. The educational system in Balochistan is categorized by low primary school enrollment, lack of access to secondary education, a shortage of middle and secondary...
June 10, 2015 at 12:46 am | News Desk
Initially, executions in Pakistan were carried out for terrorism related charges. However, in the wake of the Peshawar tragedy, the government of Pakistan decided to lift the moratorium on the10th. of March of this year and reinstated the heinous punishment for all death penalty offences. The PPP lead coalition government in 2008 placed a moratorium on executions following pressure on the government by the European Union and human rights’ groups. On the 21st.of April, 17 inmates were executed in Pakistan, the highest number of executions in a single day since reversing of the country’s self-imposed ban on the death penalty in December after the Peshawar massacre that took more than 140 innocent lives. The prisoners were executed in...
June 10, 2015 at 12:39 am | News Desk
In a budget dominated by the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, Pakistan plans to allocate upwards of $14 billion in total development spending for fiscal year 2016, though remarkably only 20% of that will be financed by foreign lenders. The Annual Plan Coordination Committee (APCC) met on May 26, approved a Rs1,418 billion national development programme for the fiscal year that ends June 30, 2016, an allocation that is up 20% from the outgoing fiscal year’s budget. Foreign lenders will finance 20% of the national development programme and provide Rs283.4 billion loans during fiscal 2016. For the federal development budget, this ratio goes higher to 31%, mainly due to projects that are part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CP...
June 10, 2015 at 12:36 am | News Desk
China is going to partake in shaping our lives in a big way in the future. Despite being the third largest country in the world, China has remained shrouded in mystery, and for several centuries in the past, little was known about it. It was generally thought to be a fabled land, like we find in fairy-tales, hard to get at but still very real. Part of China’s seclusion from the rest of the world was because the Chinese had virtually no interactions with the nations outside its territory, and yet they were the inventors of some of the greatest inventions like papermaking, the compass, gunpowder and printing which changed the face of the earth. In days of antiquity i.e several centuries before the birth of Christ, China had excelled in mec...
June 10, 2015 at 12:23 am | News Desk
Pakistan Rupee Exchange Rate