Police, army turn terror on Jaffna University students

Police, army turn terror on Jaffna University students 11/29/2012 Students wearing black bands were staging the protest rally opposite the university main entrance around 11 am when hundreds of police and military personnel attacked them with poles, wires and cables, seriously wounding at least seven of them. Two Jaffna journalists who were covering the rally were also attacked, while four students were taken into to military custody during the clash.Academic sources of the Jaffna University told the JDS that the students were “engaged in a peaceful rally to protest the military raid on the ladies hostels on Heores’ Day when the police,...

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Casting doubts: Afghan Taliban reject Kabul Ulema moot

Casting doubts: Afghan Taliban reject Kabul Ulema moot The Afghan Taliban have rejected an upcoming conference of religious scholars, proposed during the Afghan peace envoy’s Islamabad visit last month, maintaining it was nothing short of ‘clear American intrigue’. “While it appears that this gathering has been convened by the Kabul administration, the real players behind it are the Americans,” read a Taliban policy statement on Thursday.“They want to survey Afghan religious scholars’ opinion regarding the 11-year jihad,” the statement maintained, adding, “This is clear American intrigue… they want to use the Ulema to clear their own...

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Pakistan puts MFN status for India on backburner

Pakistan puts MFN status for India on backburner Pakistan is set to miss the target of granting India the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status by December 31, 2012 due to vested interests, officials alleged. The next possible cabinet meeting will be held on January 2, 2013 and the issue of granting MFN status to India is not on the agenda, the officials conceded. They further added that Pakistan has also missed the deadline of December 15, 2012 to abolish the negative list.However, officials believe that right wing groups, backed by the agriculturist lobby, were opposing the MFN status to India. If the process is delayed by another month,...

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India, Lanka, Maldives to cooperate on maritime security

India, Lanka, Maldives to cooperate on maritime security India, Sri Lanka and Maldives will soon sign a trilateral agreement on maritime cooperation to pool resources and share data in the region for better control over the territorial waters, and detect suspicious movements. Revealing this at the maritime security seminar, Galle Dialogue, here, Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa said that Sri Lanka, India and the Maldives have recently been working on a trilateral agreement for cooperation in carrying out surveillance, anti piracy operations and in curbing illegal activities including maritime pollution. A key aspect of...

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