NEWS-COMMENT
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U.S. resumes drone campaign in Pakistan

 12 January, 2012 06:25:00
Pakistan army chief Kayani is not against drone strikes, which for him, are no more than outsourcing security drill in Waziristan. His anti-American plank is more a reaction to CIA planting hundreds of Raymond Daviess to keep tabs on ISI, and to CIA using Ambassador Haqqani for visas to these Davies without GHQ knowledge. This the reason why Americans have shown no undue concern over the coup rumours and give the impression of going along with the Pakistani concerns....
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Aung San Suu Kyi agrees to enter by-elections to Parliament

 06 January, 2012 05:50:00
Things have changed in Myanmar since November last when the ballot was held to give the regime a sartorial make over. President Thein Sein not only acknowledged recognised Aung San Suu Kyi as the voice of the people which cannot be ignored but also surprised the world by freeing the media and trade unions. Yet, Suu Kyi’s decision to accept Thein Sein’s word at its face value and join Parliament has not gone down well with her followers. They have every reason to suspect the motives and planks of the rulers, who, they believe, are new only in name....
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Pakistan charges Iranian border guards with murder

 03 January, 2012 02:45:00
The incident brings upfront the drug trafficking that takes place through porous Pakistan Baluchistan which is adjacent to the opium belt of Afghanistan. The Iranian regime is very tough with drug traffickers unlike Pakistan where there is a nexus between official agencies (army formations, frontier guards and local police) and drug syndicates that operate from their perch in Karachi....
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Pakistan's Supreme Court orders probe into Memogate

 31 December, 2011 12:54:00
The Memo-gate has its origins in May when President Zardari sent a SOS to Washington to deliver a pep talk to Gen Kayani. And in the failure of the Memo authors to factor in the reality that Washington doesn’t enjoy any special leverage with Rawalpindi after Operation Geronimo. Also that Gen Kayani and his GHQ Shura have scripted a new equation with Pentagon by cashing in on the American concerns and vulnerabilities in what is essentially an election year for President Obama....
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PAKISTAN

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Pakistan's Nuclear Quest Amidst Growing Safety Concerns

 12 November, 2011 01:00:00
Pakistan has turned to its all-weather friend to secure what the USA has denied to it in terms of N-parity with its South Asian nuclear neighbour. And the Chashma complex is China’s first nuclear energy plant project abroad, and CNNC cast it as a launching pad for expanding into the global market....
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The Exiled Pakistani Warrior

 03 November, 2011 03:20:00
His theme is always brief: hate and anger towards the US, the West and India, not always in that order. He has appeared on all major US TV channels and the BBC more than once and almost every month one or two leading newspapers in the West publish interviews with him. The media in Pakistan has never shown veneration towards him but today it dutifully keeps the readers posted up-to-date with Musharraf speak....
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Pakistan Makes No Progress on Madressah Reforms

 19 October, 2011 06:25:00
The number of registered religious schools in Pakistan stands at 10,973. Success of Madressah reform hinges on syllabus and integration with the mainstream school education. On both counts, Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Syed Khurshid Shah does not hold out any hope. ...
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Al-Qaeda’s “nerve center” lies in Pakistan, ‘remains dangerous’.

 31 August, 2011 05:45:00
ISI is a part of the army and reports to the army chief. Many heads of ISI have gone on to become army chiefs. Present army chief Pervez Kayani was heading the ISI just before his elevation. And the ISI chief of the day, Lt Gen Pasha, is Kayani’s close confidant and has been rewarded with an extension. So much so projecting the ISI alone as the fall guy is no more than a good academic exercise. It doesn’t whitewash the reality that there is a second front in the war on terror in the heart of Pakistan's security forces....
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MYANMAR/CHINA

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Myanmar: Rohingyas wary of reforms

 13 January, 2012 08:40:00
Rohingyas are quite skeptical of the changes in Myanmar that have become a toast of the liberal circles. According to them, there is no change in the conditions that had forced them enmass to flee the country....
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Aid flows begin to aid orphan

 04 January, 2012 06:30:00
With the government true to its pledge of undertaking political reform, donors are reassessing their planks and planks. They are, however, taking care not to draw any link between aid flows and political changes which include letting Nobel laureate Aung Saan Suu Kyi register her party and stand for elections. ...
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West comes to accept Myanmar on its terms

 18 November, 2011 08:50:00
Only through dialogue and constant interaction will it be possible to change the course of events in the 21st century. Vietnam yesterday and Iraq today are shining examples of the failure of policy prescription based on satellite imagery. ...
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SR Talks:Scaled Much Heights, Made Much Progress

 19 January, 2012 10:05:00
The Delhi talks between India’s National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon and China’s State Councillor Dai Binggou were carefully calibrated. Both sides took some special steps to build up the right atmosphere for the talks....
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China, India to hold talks on border issues on Jan 15

 12 January, 2012 10:30:00
More than New Delhi, it is Beijing which has a vested interest in making the dialogue meaningful and productive. It is therefore heartening that Dai Bingguo has acknowledged that gaps in understanding persisted between the two neighbours, which together had presented to the world Panchasdeel – the five principles that should guide relations between countries in the present day...
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SRI LANKA: New Hopes For Reconciliation....?

 19 December, 2011 08:25:00
Despite its very clearly pronounced shortcomings, hope is not lost on LLRC report. Some sections of the North, which was traumatized and victimized during the Eelam War, see the recommendations as the first step towards reconciliation. The report will enable the country to address accountability issues and concerns on human rights...
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Bangladesh reads riot act to Pakistan, Demands apology for 1971 genocide

 21 November, 2011 08:15:00
If the Pakistani leadership expected Bangladesh to wave the green flag on EU tariff concessions, it could be either because of rank arrogance that dates back to the days of Yahya Khans and Zulfikar Ali Bhuttos or outright ignorance of history and global trade. If flood devastation in the textile belt of Sindh in 2010 was the reason for EU bending its rules, Bangladesh has a stronger case for such a relief since it is visited by devastating floods year- after-year. ...
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Bhattarai visits Delhi

 24 October, 2011 06:35:00
Nepal’s second Maoist Prime Minister met “friends, comrades and gurus (teachers)” from the Indian Socialist and Communist parties at various functions organised in Delhi. He said Marxists and Maoists are "very dogmatic and sectarian" in their approach, while he personally lays emphasis on the need for assimilation of various thoughts arising from a people's movement....
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Singh for upswing in Indo- Bangla ties

 01 September, 2011 08:10:00
‘Selling out to India’ is a charge that political parties often fling at each other in Bangladesh, which makes it difficult to take big decisions in the bilateral relationship….India is often tardy in the implementation of its promises. It took a special thrust form the top leadership to remove the glitches in implementing the decisions taken for disbursing the line of credit. The Indian government will have to work hard to show the gains of connectivity within a short period or the mood of optimism in the bilateral relations can dissipate and become a political football in Bangladesh’s fractious politics....
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Afghanistan: US drawdown plan will slow down

 08 December, 2011 10:00:00
This is not the first time when the ground view from Kabul differed with the strategists close to President Obama. Both Gen. Stanley McChrystal and Gen. David Petraeus, who preceded Gen Allen, differed with the plans of their supreme commander in Washington. .....Obama’s race for a second term in the White House will be fought as much on his domestic achievements as overseas ‘actions’- a category that will see the Afghan war become a political football in the November 2012 election....
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US Drone Over Iranian Airspace

 05 December, 2011 10:30:00
By the time the 2012 US presidential election scene warms up Iran and Afghanistan may become hotly debated foreign policy issues to the apparent relief of the Democrats, who would love the focus to shift from domestic economy. The sanctions are beginning to bite Iran, which is the world’s third largest crude exporter. Yet, sections of American political class and media find the sanctions “not going far enough.” ...
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Karzai moves closer to Delhi

 09 October, 2011 01:45:00
Afghanistan's Strategic Partnership Agreement with India is the first one to be signed; similar agreements with the US and the EU are under negotiation. The agreement aims to boost trade, security and cultural links.. It is a reaffirmation of India’s commitment to the reconstruction and development of Afghanistan according to the wishes of the Afghan people; it was a commitment that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had reiterated in his address to the Afghan Parliament in May this year....
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Uncertain future for Yemen with no formal sign of Saleh’s exit

 01 December, 2011 03:10:00
There is no denying that Al-Qaeda has expanded its reach in Yemen, making the local off-shoot, the most dangerous of al-Qaeda’s many franchises. Zinjibar, a port city in the Gulf of Aden is under its influence. Anarchy will give it the cover to carry out deadly attacks and even hamper the freedom of shipping in the Bab El Mandeb Straits, through which more than 3 million barrels of oil pass through every day....
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Ballot in Egypt amidst continued turmoil

 28 November, 2011 01:00:00
Elections are an important step towards ushering in functional democracy. This truism need not necessarily be true in the case of Egypt where a reality check shows that the downfall of President Mubarak has not resolved any of the socio-economic and political issues staring at the people. Hopes pinned on the military as “protector of the revolution” and “caretaker of a democratic transition” are also being shattered amidst indications that the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood is the likely beneficiary of disillusionment. ...
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Jordan is Boiling

 27 November, 2011 04:00:00
The uprising in Syria has created a new challenge for the Jordanian regime. And Inside Jordan, the opposition – both that of the Muslim Brotherhood and that coming from the supposedly loyal southern tribes and towns – is sizzling...The prestige of an international jurist as prime minister is seen by the King as an asset in trying to convince the Jordanians that the government will fight corruption and become more transparent says the author Oded Eran...
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Khusrau, a great pillar of 14th century Persian literature.

 02 January, 2012 01:44:00
One of the most prolific genres composed by Khusrau are the pahelis, riddles that children of the subcontinent grow up enjoying. Deeply influenced by the spiritual philosophy of Like his master, Hazrat Nizamuddin, Khusrau believed in tolerance and affection between people of separate faiths. Khusrau loved Hindustan, India, with all its fragrant flowers, fruits, vegetables, trees and animals and likened it to Paradise writing, ‘The heavens said that of all the countries which have come out of the earth, it is Hindustan that has achieved the height of excellence’....
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Roshan Chiragh Dilli: Bright Lamp of Delhi

 11 October, 2011 11:55:00
Delhi has been traditionally known as ‘Baees khwaja ki chaukhat’, the threshold of 22 Sufi Masters. The Chishti Sufis draw their spiritual lineage from Hasan of Basra, who was initiated by the Prophet’s son-in-law, Imam Ali. ...There is a belief that Prophet Muhammad gifted some of his personal possessions, including a cloak and prayer carpet, to the elders of the Chishti Order. These sacred relics came to the sub-continent with Khwaja Gharib Nawaz of Ajmer,...
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Shah Alam of Gujarat

 04 August, 2011 09:40:00
The Sufis of Gujarat were responsible for the cultural integration of the people of the state. The Sufis spoke to people in their own language and sought to share the pain, tribulation and joy of the people. ...
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