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Saudi nuclear weapons ‘on order’ from Pakistan

Saudi Arabia has invested in Pakistani nuclear weapons projects, and believes it could obtain atomic bombs at will, a variety of sources have told BBC Newsnight.

While the kingdom’s quest has often been set in the context of countering Iran’s atomic programme, it is now possible that the Saudis might be able to deploy such devices more quickly than the Islamic republic, the BBC reported.

Earlier this year, a senior NATO decision maker told BBC Newsnight that he had seen intelligence reporting that nuclear weapons made in Pakistan on behalf of Saudi Arabia are now sitting ready for delivery.Read More »Saudi nuclear weapons ‘on order’ from Pakistan

NADRA plans to facilitate e-voting in next elections

The National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) has planned to facilitate e-voting and interactive electronic thumb-voting in the next general elections, sources in Nadra said.

The Nadra has issued over two million Smart Cards during last ten months, adding that the Nadra continues to process Smart Cards without any break.

Sources in Nadra disclosed that the Nadra authorities have shown serious concern over a wrong impression published in various sections of the press on October 29, 2013 that the Islamabad High Court (IHC) has ordered ban on the issuance of Smart Cards. In fact, a division bench of the IHC on October 28, 2013, has ordered Nadra to maintain status quo about procurement of Smart Cards prior to October 9, 2013 decision till final disposal of appeal.Read More »NADRA plans to facilitate e-voting in next elections

Governor Punjab launches public liaison website

Punjab Governor Ch Mohammad Sarwar launched his official website on Thursday to expand his liaison with people by including the online medium for increasing his interaction with masses.

This website www.governor.punjab.gov.pk was formally launched as a means to post updates regarding governor’s activities, statements, policies and stance on various issues.

The inaugural message from Governor on the website was for promoting provision of clean drinking water to school children.Read More »Governor Punjab launches public liaison website

Challenge of wasteful passions

Article written by Mr. Zafar Hilaly, published in “THE NEWS” on 30th October 2013

James Stewart thought that he was successful if he played the part and the acting didn’t show. Well, there was precious little on view except acting during Nawaz Sharif’s Washington visit. As for the ‘acting’, that too was below par.

According to the script Obama was supposed to express his appreciation for Pakistan’s role in combating terrorism while looking Sharif in the eye. But he couldn’t bring himself to do that. He looked everyone else in the eye except Sharif, thereby prompting one wit to tweet: ‘it looks like Obama prefers to be somewhere else, with someone else’.Read More »Challenge of wasteful passions

How fear of Qaeda hurts US more than Qaeda

David Rohde:  Three disclosures this week show that the United States is losing its way in the struggle against terrorism. Sweeping government efforts to stop attacks are backfiring abroad and infringing on basic rights at home.
CIA drone strikes are killing scores of civilians in Pakistan and Yemen. The National Security Agency is eavesdropping on tens of millions of phone calls worldwide – including those of 35 foreign leaders – in the name of US security.
And the Department of Homeland Security is using algorithms to “prescreen” travellers before they board domestic flights, reviewing government and private databases that include Americans’ tax identification numbers, car registrations and property records.
Will we create a Minority Report-style Department of Precrime next?Read More »How fear of Qaeda hurts US more than Qaeda

SMS to 9988 to know passport status

Islamabad: Directorate General of Immigration and Passports has launched a short messaging service (SMS) to help the applicants track their passports and get them easily.

The applicants can find their documents by sending an SMS, containing their tracking number to 9988, whereby the automated system would respond with the information containing the status of their passport.

“It is one of the key milestones in easing the process of receiving passports as the hassle for an individual to visit the passport office repeatedly has been removed and one can confirm the status of his/her passport status through SMS service,” said Director General (I&P) Sikander Sultan Raja.Read More »SMS to 9988 to know passport status

Eight nuclear states possess 17,270 nukes

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The 2013 report of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has revealed that eight nuclear countries—the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan and Israel possess a total of approximately 17,270 nukes including operational warheads, spares, those in both active and inactive storage and intact warheads scheduled for dismantlement.

According to SIPRI, at the start of 2013, the eight afore-mentioned nuclear states had possessed approximately 4,400 operational nuclear weapons, of which nearly 2,000 have been kept in a state of high operational alert.Read More »Eight nuclear states possess 17,270 nukes

COUNTERING TERRORISM

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          ALI SUKHANVER

     Whenever we discuss the role of law enforcement agencies, particularly with specific reference to the continuous wave of terrorism in Pakistan, we simply ignore the reality that the role and responsibility of the law enforcement agencies is absolutely different from that of the intelligence agencies. And not only in Pakistan but all over the world, this difference in the working of law enforcement agencies and the things assigned to the intelligence agencies is very much obvious. An intelligence agency simply gets the information and passes it to the law enforcement agencies which work under the direct command of the local civil administration. If an intelligence agency fails in acquiring prior information regarding any terrorist activity, the agency must be taken to task; but in the   situation otherwise, that intelligence agency must not blamed of inefficiency.Read More »COUNTERING TERRORISM