Pakistan

Following two tragic airline accidents in less than two years, several near-misses and regular flight delays, the Civil Aviation Authority has said it will carry out inspections on all passenger airplanes being used by private airlines. While the move is a welcome one, it remains to be seen how thorough these checks will be and if any irregularities and technical problems are found with the planes, how the CAA will deal with them. The aviation body...

A passenger airplane belonging to Bhoja Air has crashed near Chaklala Air Force Base in Rawalpindi. At least 127 people are feared dead as a result of the crash, according to the Ministry of Defence. Were you at or close to the site of the accident? Do you have any details regarding the plane crash? Dawn.com requests its readers to share any information regarding the tragic accident that they may have.

An attack on the Bannu Central Prison, which led to the escape of 384 inmates, has been termed as the biggest jailbreak in Pakistan’s history. The prisoners managed to escape following an audacious attack, carried out by 100 militants, blew up the prison’s gates and left the security personnel helpless. Security agencies, including the police and local paramilitary forces have been blamed for the brazen attack. Following the attack, details emerged...

Pakistan and the United States are expected to commence the rebuilding of their mutual ties when Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani meets President Barack Obama on the sidelines of a nuclear safety summit in South Korea next week. The two leaders are expected to discuss the issues of drone strikes, the attack by US Nato forces on a Pakistani check post on November 26 and new taxes on transport of goods for coalition forces in Afghanistan. While the...

Although March 8, 2012 marks International Women’s Day, the constant deterioration of women’s rights and safety of women in Pakistan negate the ideology of marking the celebrations planned for the day. Despite the formulation of the women protection bill, which supposedly protects women from honour killings, underage marriages and acid attacks, incidents of such abhorrent nature are evidently ubiquitous. On this Women’s Day perhaps we should...

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), on Wednesday, launched a text-messaging service for voter-detail verification, along with announcing a three-week extension for registration and corrections. By sending their National Identity Card (NIC) number (without hyphens) to the number ‘8300,’ users can find out if they are registered to vote and their voting area. “The ECP is using state of the art SMS technology to facilitate over 80 million...

With the recent trip of Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad and Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai, Pakistan’s ties with its two Western neighbours seem to be strengthening. “The presidents of the three countries, at their summit, agreed to bolster their counter-terrorism and counter-narcotics cooperation despite bitterness during bilateral parleys between Pakistan and Afghanistan over allegations related to Taliban,” a report in this...

In the ever-changing scenario in the memogate scandal case, Mansoor Ijaz has reportedly refused to come to Pakistan and appear in court. Ijaz has based his decision on ‘unsatisfactory’ security arrangements and that the government is interfering in the security plan. This latest development has created furore amongst politicians, diplomats, analysts and the media – as they all voice their opinion on the case. While one cannot take away from...

In a strongly worded speech in the parliament, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Thursday that the military is subservient to the parliament and will remain so. The PM’s remarks came amidst growing rumours that a military coup was on the cards, posing threats to the current government. Dismissing such rumours, Gilani said “I want to make it clear today that conspiracies are being hatched here to pack up the elected government.” Responding...

Sindh High Court has denied Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf permission to hold its December 25 rally at Quaid-e-Azam’s mausoleum in Karachi. According to the policy of the Mazar Management Board, the body responsible for the governance of the mausoleum, holding a rally within the 10-foot radius of the mausoleum is not permitted. The SHC has, therefore, ordered the PTI to contact local authorities for arranging an alternate location for the rally. In response,...