Oct 15 - CSS A&N

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)

============  ============  **** ANALYSIS **** ============  ============

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)

10th October 2011: CSS News and Analysis Current Affairs

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)