Pakistan:PM owes apology

Did Pakistani PM Gillani grope Sherry Rehman?

or is he just a liberal Prime Minister?
Watch the clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttxc9wLX75o

The charismatic, competent, dynamic, beautiful, smart and intelligent, Sherry Rehman is one of the rising stars of the Pakistan Peoples Party but also of Pakistan. We endorsed her for the post of Prime Minister this time. She is now the Information Minister. That job could not have gone to a better person.

If what is shown in these pictures is true, we condemn it in the strongest terms, and the PM of Pakistans owes our horo a profound and profuse apology. Ms. Sherry Rehman should not have to endure this sorty of male chauvanistic prigishness.

Food for thought: Benazir's assassination

THE CIA connection… BENAZIR BHUTTO’S ASSASSINATION WAS PRE-PLANNED: THE ZIA MODEL WITH A TWIST: THE GREAT GAME CONTINUES: When the Elephants dance, the grass gets crushed. The continued CIA involvement in Pakistan. Another Pakistani leaders falls to an international game between the USA, and China and Russia, and Pakistanis again pay the price.

Profiles:The first desi in the Oval Office?

Sex Scandal of the century!

Hillary’s Lesbian lover-Huma Abedin?

Did Huma Abedin get paid $700,000 for consulting fees or for hot lesbian sex with Hillary

Huma was born in Michigan to an Indian father and a Pakistani mother. She interned at the White House in the mid-90s and graduated from GW. If she goes on to become Chief of Staff it is entirely possible that she could broker a lasting peace in South Asia by helping to end the Kashmiri conflict. I’m just saying, if I was at the negotiation table I’d commit to any concession she proposed. Let’s give peace a chance.

The Times of London was the first paper to report on the Huma Abedin / Hillary Clinton lesbian rumor. What do you want to say to the Times editor?Do you believe the rumors: Are Hillary Clinton and Huma Abedin lesbian lovers?

Pravda: The official pre-election campaign has not started in the United States yet, but the unofficial version of it full of rumors and slander is in full swing already. Candidates running for presidency in the USA have been defamed in all possible ways. Anonymous emails, regular mail letters, leaflets stuck on buildings and underneath windshield wipers accuse the candidates of most grievous sins imaginable.

Yes, this is just like a Clinton

A major sex scandal story involving one of the leading presidential candidates is believed to be soon published by the LA Times, Big Head DC has learned. Details are slowly trickling in through people who’ve heard about the story.

World Politics: The CIA connection

..waiting for the other shoe to fall?…its in Xinjiang China

Worldwide press wrote six years ago that Iraq and Afghanistan was mere foreplay. The real target was China as defined in one of the most popular article The CIA connection….. The events of the past few weeks have shown that to be true. After a decade of RAW involvement in Tibet, the Indians now wating for the other shoe to fall in China.

The other shoe of course has been created, trained and polished in India’s Airforce base in Tajikistan. Has India been thrown out of Tajikistan? Why was Russia angry at India? All American and Indian media has now jumped on the bandwagon on Tibet and Xinjiang

India vs. Pakistan–Gwador vs. Chabahar. Spy vs. Spy: Kabul, London, Delhi, Islamabad and Swat. Taliban prepare for Spring. This story will continue. After the attempted destabilization of Pakistan, now the forces will concentrate on Iran and China.

April 17, 2008, Restive Xinjiang: China’s Next Trouble Spot After Tibet? By REUTERS Filed at 8:10 p.m. ETKHOTAN, China (Reuters) - The two young women trying on headscarves at a dusty market stall have heard of the recent unrest in Tibet’s capital Lhasa, but they say the same could never happen here in China’s border region of Xinjiang.

China confronts its Uyghur threat By Elizabeth Van Wie Davis
A suicide bomb attempt on a plane from the restive western region of Xinjiang in China en route to the home of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing highlights a key security dilemma for Beijing: the Olympics have become a stage to showcase political grievances and a challenge for the host to combat violent political agendas.

While the Tibetan riots capture the attention of the Western media, Chinese officials say Uyghur militants are entering the far western province of Xinjiang - particularly across the isolated Pamir Mountains in the south that separate China from Tajikistan and Afghanistan - from training camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The well-funded and well-schooled militants allegedly obtain money and plans directly from sponsors and from their involvement in smuggling opium and heroin from Central and Southeast Asia.

Pakistan is one of several key locations for militant diaspora communities and has also seen the assassination of Chinese nationals by Uyghurs. For instance, three Chinese nationals working just outside of Peshawar were killed and another seriously wounded as militants fired at the Chinese nationals from two cars, while fellow militants in the third car filmed the action shouting religious slogans; the film was sent to Chinese authorities by Uyghur militants warning that attacks would continue against Chinese in Pakistan if it did not change its policy in Xinjiang.

Pakistani officials suggest that nearly a thousand Uyghur militants from Xinjiang region have made their way to Waziristan [3], not far from where US intelligence agencies believe Osama bin Laden is sheltered.

But both Interpol and the International Olympic Committee have said thus far that they are satisfied with China’s security preparations, and the incidents so far indicate a tangible threat and a real counter effort.

Olympic 2008: A photo essay.

Olympic Torch Comes to Pakistan after 44 Years

After a gap of 44 years, the Olympic torch has arrived in Pakistan. From Muscat, it was brought to Islamabad on a chartered plane.

Thousands of troops and police guarded the ceremony at a sports stadium in Islamabad after organisers slashed the planned route to ward off pro-Tibet demonstrations and the threat of militant attacks.
The security on the torch's first stop in Asia before August's Beijing Games came as Pakistan tries to protect China, its closest ally, from further embarrassment after protesters disrupted the early legs of the worldwide tour.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani put aside their political differences and grimly held the torch together after it was lit.
Youngsters waved Pakistani flags and cheered as the flame was brought into the stadium on a traditional horse-driven chariot. The army band played to herald the arrival of the torch.
"It is an honour for us, all Pakistanis, to be an intrinsic part of this tremendous journey and to host the Olympic torch," Musharraf said at a ceremony after the end of the relay.
Former squash star Jahangir Khan completed the relay, which involved around 60 people running laps around the stadium.

Officials said there was no indication of a specific threat but security was tight because of the presence of Muslim separatists from China's northwestern Xinjiang region in Pakistan's troubled tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.
Pakistan and China are close political, military and commercial allies. But two militant attacks here last year targeted Chinese workers.
China's hopes of winning international prestige by sending the Olympic torch through 135 cities across five continents ahead of the August 8 opening of the Olympic Games have already been severely dented.
The early stages in London and Paris were overshadowed by demonstrations against Beijing's crackdown on protests in Tibet and the third stage in San Francisco was also drastically curtailed and seen by relatively few people.

Pakistan: Stardust

Pakistan’s new PM is a big fan of Aishwarya

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s new Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani is a big fan of Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai and melody queen Lata Mangeshkar.

“While in prison, I used to watch all of Aishwarya’s movies on my laptop besides listening to Lataji’s songs. And let me admit that I am a great fan of Aishwarya Rai now,” Gillani, a die hard romantic, told a private news channel.

Gillani, who belongs to a family descended from a Sufi saint, became a Lata fan when he was jailed in 2001 after being arrested by Mushaarraf on charges of misusing his position as Speaker of the National Assembly to make irregular appointments.

The 55-year-old former minister chose prison over offers from President Pervez Musharraf’s regime to be freed in exchange for cutting off ties with the Pakistan People’s Party.

With the new Prime Minister’s fondness for Bollywood’s actresses and musicians, Pakistanis hope to see more Indian films making their way to their entertainment-starved country.

Pakistan: Economy

World Bank might cut Pakistan’s aid

The World Bank is considering reducing financial assistance to Pakistan as uncertainty in the country is hindering development initiatives, a private TV channel reported.

Dawn News quoted sources as saying that the World Bank was concerned about the security situation and political turmoil, and their impact on the economy, and was therefore considering diverting some of its financial assistance towards other developing countries.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is also putting their portfolio for Pakistan on halt until after elections. World Bank and ADB teams have already stopped visiting project sites countrywide after security advisories. daily times monitor

Pakistan: Energy crisis.

Haj 2008: India

Indian Haj pilgrims will get better facilities: Ahamed

The 157,000 Indian pilgrims visiting Saudi Arabia for Haj this year can look forward to streamlined arrangements in terms of accommodation and other services, Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed has said.

Announcing the new initiatives, he said the pilgrims coming through the Haj Committee of India will be accommodated in tents within traditional boundaries of the city of Mina, the base camp for the pilgrimage. In previous years, pilgrims were put in tents which they complained were outside Mina. Ahamed also announced that the pilgrims would be allowed to carry a 'zamzam' water (holy water) can of 10 litres with them on their return journey at no additional cost. The Minister signed the 2008 Haj agreement with Saudi Haj Minister Fouad Al-Farsy in Jeddah.

The pact maintains the quota for India at 157,000, the same as last year, though New Delhi pressed for an increase by 15,000. Some 110,000 will come through the Haj Committee and the rest through private tour operators. "We have requested Saudi government to increase our quota by 15,000 this year so that maximum number of applicants could be accommodated. The Saudi authorities are actively considering our request.

If we get the additional quota it will be distributed among tour operators," Ahamed said. The Minister said the Indian mission in Jeddah is fully geared up to make this year's pilgrimage smooth. Haj Committee pilgrims will be put in exclusive Indian-only tents in Mina equipped with all necessary facilities, he said. Air India and Saudi Arabian Airlines will lift the pilgrims from 17 embarkation points in India.

Business: Pakistan

Pakistan emerges a market winner

It is widely accepted that despite the US recession and a slowdown in developed markets, the world economy will continue to grow, with the prospects favouring major developing countries such as Brazil, Russia, India and, above all, China.

The tricky part is that it doesn't appear to be the case. The real winners are countries like Pakistan - so far this year's best-performing emerging market, with bags of untapped potential as political stability returns to the country.

Indexes have their limitations but they can identify trends and changes in investing patterns. In this period of global uncertainty they are also one of the few yardsticks we have for comparison. A glance at the Dow Jones Islamic Market Industry indexes, for example, finds that everything - from basic materials and consumer goods through financials, healthcare, industrials, energy, IT, telecom and utilities - is down so far this year by between one per cent and nearly 12 per cent.

Similarly, virtually all country or region specific Islamic indexes in the Dow Jones stable, like their conventional counterparts, are in negative territory by substantial margins. In fact, Pakistan is only joined by the Kuwait and Taiwan Islamic Market Indexes in outperforming the Dow Jones Industrial Average this year. We may be seeing the first sign of cooling of investor sentiment towards emerging markets.

Pakistan is firmly bucking the trend. This year, the Karachi Stock Exchange 100 has gained 7.4 per cent, making it the best performer among major emerging markets indexes. Similarly, the Dow Jones Wilshire Pakistan Index is up 7.8 per cent and the Dow Jones Islamic Index for Pakistan up a comparable 7.62 per cent, as of March 25.

Comparison

Compare that with India's Sensex which has tumbled 20 per cent this year and China's Shanghai Composite that has dropped 31 per cent. Similarly, the Dow Jones Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) 50 Index is down 16.5 per cent this year with the Islamic BRIC Index going further downhill by 17.68 per cent.

In fact, the most dramatic decline this year has been in the Dow Jones Islamic Market China Offshore Index, which has tumbled by a hefty 30 per cent, closely tailed by the conventional China Offshore 50 Index, down by 25.38 per cent.

February's elections and the recent swearing in of Pakistan's new Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani are a major step in restoring longer term political stability to the country. But the economic indicators were there even before these events. While reporting of bombings and assassinations have been making the headlines, broad-based economic growth in Pakistan has averaged about 7.5 per cent over the last five years. Market capitalisation of the Karachi Stock Exchange is $75 billion while Pakistan's GDP in 2007 totalled $145 billion.

Pakistan has also been singled out by the Investors Chronicle as one of the seven hottest emerging markets, along with Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Egypt, the UAE, Bangladesh and Nigeria, and is seen as offering tremendous investment opportunities exceeding those of other emerging markets.

That's not to say that Pakistan's economic potential will not once again be overshadowed by turbulent and violent politics or succumb to a global turndown. Right now, however, the indexes are telling us investors are taking a bullish view.