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Showing posts from August, 2012

FC, intelligence agencies responsible for enforced disappearances: HRCP

By: Haroon Baloch Title of published fact-finding mission's reporter 2012 -  By Haroon Baloch The fact-finding team of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has a stance in its report on Balochistan issue that Frontier Corps (FC) and intelligence agencies are behind enforced disappearances in the province and circumstances have worsened following failures in punishments or probes in a consequential manner. HRCP has issued the report in Islamabad on August 30th, formulated on the facts the coordinators of HRCP Core Group reported from 21 districts of Balochistan. A 14-member fact-finding mission comprising of Chairperson HRCP Zohra Yusuf, provincial vice-chairpersons Tahir Hussain Khan (Balochistan), Sher Muhammad Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) and Amarnath Motumal (Sindh), Executive Council members Asma Jahangir, Zahoor Ahmed Shahwani and Habib Tahir, journalists Arifa Noor and Amir Mateen, novelist Muhammad Hanif and academic Prof. Azizuddin Ahmed, Secretary Gener...

Kamra airbase under attack by terrorists

By: Haroon Baloch Kamra: Attackers bombed inside the base -  Photo: Social Media ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Air Force Base Minhas, Kamra , strategically one of the most important air bases of Pakistan, had come under attack by the heavily loaded terrorists disguised in air force uniforms, which resulted in killing of a security official and injuring one squadron leader while guarding the base. Terrorists also succeeded in partially damaging surveillance aircraft - Saab 2000.  Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, in a very important speech of independence day on 14th August in Kakul Academy had called for national unity in the battle against terrorism and said no state can afford a parallel system or a militant force. One-day before COAS General Kayani's statement, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta stated that Pakistan had assured us to instigate operation in North Waziristan agency and in this regard, he discussed the operation details with General...

Crazy jubilation of Independence

By: Haroon Baloch ISLAMABAD: Although prevailing crises in country did not allow majority to celebrate 66th day of independence on August 14th, but enthusiasm of youth in major cities was worth seeing. They celebrated country's independence day in a crazy way. Islamabad: Crazy youth gathering at Faizabad junction to  commemorate 14th August - Photo: Haroon Baloch   Islamabad: Faizabad leads Expressway to Grand Trunk  road for Lahore in the east and Peshawar in the west -  Photo - Haroon Baloch Islamabad: Biking in a crazy way on Expressway is their  hobby - Photo: Haroon Baloch Islamabad: One wheelers break all rules without any  hesitation  in the name of independence  - Photo: Haroon Baloch Islamabad: One-wheeling claims dozens of lives every year  in Pakistan - Photo:  Haroon Baloch Islamabad: One wheelers proudly push themselves into  danger - Photo: Haroon ...

Disaster in slow motion: The retreating Himalayas: food security at stake

By: Haroon Baloch  Glacial meltdown in the Himalayan region is not caused solely by global warming – it is as much a product of  human activities in the region. PHOTO: Express Tribune.  If the unprecedented rate of glacial retreat in the South Asian region is not checked, countries in the area are likely to turn highly food-insecure. Pakistan’s latest Climate Change Policy clearly indicates that freshwater resources in Pakistan are dependent on snow and glacial melting and monsoon rains; both of which are highly sensitive to climate change. In 2000-2001, the country faced severe food scarcity because of lower-than-average rainfall. The worst ever drought in its history hit Pakistan, with the Balochistan and Sindh provinces suffering the most. The famine affected around 1.2 million people in 26 districts; 127 people died in Sindh due to dehydration and severe water shortages, whereas in the Nushki district in Balochistan, which had not received a singl...

Alishba fights to resolve conflicts from society

By: Haroon Baloch ISLAMABAD: A group of you ng Christians, from a slum area of federal capital, is struggling to mitigate on social evils and uplift of their community. Alishba Yousuf, 17, an enlightened mind among others in the group writes stage plays particularly on resolving conflicts and promoting religious harmony in the society. 

German media clueless on monetizing online content

By: Haroon Baloch I could recall William Wordsworth's following lines during the well-intended study tour of five cities: …once on those steeps, I roam at large and have in mind, The landscape, as if still in sight, The river glides, the woods before me wave…  Kassel, Horst Seidenfaden, Editor-in-Chief HNA. For me the tour was also an opportunity to travel across German countryside – got pleasure and piece of mind from nature, lush landscapes spread across miles with dancing windmills in the middle, and horses running in the fields. Purpose to travel between Berlin, Hamburg, Munster, Kassel and Frankfurt was to get an idea about relatively immature online and multimedia industry via different media outlets in Germany. Hence, we visited seven media houses; both publications and electronic media, and focused on practical aspects of new media.     For publications e.g. Der Stern in Hamburg and Hessische/Neiderschasische Allgemeine (HNA) ...