BRISBANE: Out of form senior batsman Younis Khan denied on Wednesday tweeting a plan to retire from one-day internationals after the ongoing World Cup, saying he was working hard to come good for his team. A tweet from a supposedly official Younis account on Tuesday said he was going to retire from white-ball cricket after the World Cup and continue to play Tests.
TAPI, CASA 100 projects to spur regional development: envoy
ISLAMABAD, FEB 24 (DNA) – Ambassador of Afghanistan to Pakistan Janan Mosazai has said Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India (TAPI) pipeline project and Central Asia-South Asia (CASA) 1000 projects would usher in new era of development in the region besides bringing peace and prosperity to especially Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The Afghan ambassador expressed these views while giving an exclusive interview to DNA on Tuesday.
He said, there was a dire need to bring energy from the Central Asian region to the South Asia because the latter is an energy-deficient region. Both in Afghanistan and Pakistan demand for energy has increased considerably, therefore, projects such as TAPI and CASA 1000 have acquired added significance.
The TAPI project was initially conceived keeping in view needs of the energy-deficient countries, but unfortunately owing to turmoil in some of the regional countries, lack of agreement and understanding among countries involved and the role of large multi-national companies that had to be brought on board to accomplish this multi-billion dollar project, it was delayed for a long time. It is said that the TAPI is the longest planned pipeline project in the world.
The ambassador said, the encouraging aspect was that there exists a wholesome understanding and agreement between both the buyer countries including Afghanistan, India and Pakistan and the seller country Turkmenistan, to accelerate the pace of work on the project for export of the natural gas to the South Asian region.
While Afghanistan needs the natural gas it is also ready to act as a transit country. In the recently held steering committee meeting there was an agreement to see an early selection of multi-national company as the leader of the consortium, which we hope will happen in the near future, paving way for further progress on the project.
“Once we successfully complete the legal and contractual process, I am fairly optimistic that the project would be completed sooner rather than later”, he added.
To a question the said, this project will have massive impact on the region because once in place, it would usher in a new era of progress besides giving an added impetus to business activities.
It may not be possible to give a time frame for completion of the project at this particular stage, nevertheless one should hope people of the region would start reaping benefits of this project in the short term. We are holding next meeting of the steering committee in March this year in Kabul in order to review the progress since the last meeting held in Islamabad and what needs to be done in the coming days.
“We do not foresee a major security concern for the TAPI project because this project will follow the Highway 1 route which is generally considered quite safe and secure allowing thousands of vehicles to ply on this road every day”.
Additionally, we will ensure security of the pipeline by deploying well trained security personnel along the route. Moreover, we plan to engage the communities through which the pipeline will pass so that not only they benefit from the project but must also take care of it. In a nutshell, security will hopefully not be a major issue for TAPI project, the ambassador added.
To yet another question, he said, “I must say here that security is an issue for both Afghanistan and Pakistan and the region at large”.
We have been bearing the brunt of terrorism, extremism since long. We direly need to tackle this menace for the safety and security of the region. This is a rare moment of opportunity right now since we have established a government of national unity in Afghanistan, Ambassador Janan concluded.=DNA
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India’s largest slum transforms into art gallery
Dharavi in Mumbai, India, one of the largest informal settlements in the world, has recently been transformed into a contemporary art festival, reported The Wall Street Journal (WSJ). The Dharavi biennale, which was a two-year process leading to the exhibition this year, is now in its second edition and showcases installation and performance art in the Dharavi slum where nearly a million people reside and work over an area of 217 hectares (535 acres). Over two years, residents of Dharavi have participated in workshops at the Dharavi workspace and gallery, the Colour Box, with mentoring from professional artists and experts to prepare for the show titled,’Alley Galli Biennale’.
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict: Origins, Present Status andLegal Aspects
By Dashgin Shikarov
Historical background.
The Nagorno-Karabakh region of the Republic of Azerbaijan is part of the geographical area called Garabaghthatfrom ancient time was part of different Azerbaijani states.The Gulustanand Turkmanchay peace treaties of 1828 and1813respectively signed between Russia and Iran made Northern Azerbaijan a part of Russia. After these treaties a rapid mass resettlement of Armenians in the Azerbaijani lands took place and the subsequent artificial territorial division emerged. The WW-I also contributed to increase in number of Armenians in the South Caucasus. From 1828 to 1911 alone, more than one million Armenians were resettled from Iran and Turkey in the region, and 350,000 Armenians appeared there in 1914-1916.
Italy suspends operations at Libya embassy
ROME: Italy said on Sunday it was pulling out staff from its embassy in Libya and suspending operations there because of mounting insecurity in the troubled country. The move came as Rome reiterated its willingness to lead a multinational force to tackle the growing jihadist threat in Libya, a former Italian colony. In total, about 100 Italians were being evacuated by ship from the north African state, foreign ministry sources said. The ministry said the embassy — the last Western mission to remain open in Libya — has “suspended its activities because of the worsening security situation”. But it said in a statement that “essential services” would continue.
Malam Jabba is fast emerging as winter tourist resort of Pakistan
By Miangul Abdullah
SWAT, FEB 08 (DNA) -Looking like an opaque pellet on the faint blue countenance of the sky, the mighty sun is retreating against the rising glamour of the white snow face. Its setting frail yellow rays behind shattering clouds are shying away to shove apart the sky-high mountains rears.
For the nature lovers, this would be a perfect view in the spellbinding beauty of Malam Jabba. The gigantic sky-touching mountains would elevate them to spiritual journey, far beyond materialistic realms, where they can find reprieve from the cares of the world.
Pakistan, Tajikistan pledge to work hand in hand DNA
On 23 December 2003, the United Nations General Assembly at its 58th session adopted resolution A/RES/58/217, initiated by the Republic of Tajikistan. In accordance with the resolution, the period 2005 – 2015 was declared as the “International Decade for Action “Water for Life”. The main goal of the Decade was to promote efforts to fulfill international commitments made on water and water-related issues by the year 2015. Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif participated in the conference with a high level delegation. Both sides signed a joint communiqué on the occasion, text of which is reproduced for readers interest.
ZARB-E-AZB AND THE FUTURE OF NORTH WAZIRISTAN
Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable.(John F. Kennedy)
By Nuzhat Nazar
Pakistan has turned out to be a very fragile state, probably is ranked at 10th number of annual Failed States Index which is quite alarming. Sectarian violence, group grievances, refugees and internally displaced persons due to different calamities i.e. Earth quakes, floods and terrorism etc, attacks on minority groups especially in Baluchistan, political rifts/disputes and ill conceived/planned/failed peace talks between Government and Taliban all considered to be the reasons of this brittleness.
Our Judicial System Requires Revamping
Abdullah Gul
Pakistan was pushed into the inferno of war on terror by the imperialist USA after 9/11 with ill-intentions. While roots of terrorism were identified in Afghanistan, the war was surreptitiously diverted into FATA, and then into other parts of Pakistan. All this time debate kept raging among Pakistanis whether it was US war or ours. Irrespective of this debate, the fact is that law enforcing agencies have been fighting the menace with all their strength and energy under the ‘do more’ mantra, but despite their best efforts, terrorism could not be bottled. Today, terrorism is found in every nook and corner of the country and no one is safe. While Pakistan fought the war on terror diligently and sacrificed the most, it was mistrusted, ridiculed and punished the most by the one that imposed this war upon Pakistan. The ISAF has returned home but has left behind festering cancer of terrorism unhealed.
