New York, November 10: Works of post-Independence Indian and Pakistani masters will be featured in an art show titled “In Search Of The Vernacular”, opening here Thursday at the Aicon Gallery.
Featured in the exhibition are the works of M.F. Husain, Jamini Roy, Anjolie Ela Menon, Bikash Bhattacharjee, Abanindranath Tagore, Nandalal Bose, Sadequain, F.N. Souza, Jagdish Swaminathan, S.H. Raza and Laxman Goud.
Islamabad, November 10: A spokesman of Pervez Musharraf said on Monday that a statement by Pakistan’s former military ruler has been misinterpreted by the Indian media and was not being presented in the correct context. Musharraf said in an interview with CNN on Sunday that there is “ingress of the ISI in every terrorist group”.
“Always, in every group, there is an ingress of the ISI. And that is the efficiency, the effectiveness of the ISI. You must have ingress, so that you can influence all organisations,” Musharraf told CNN.
Peshawar, November 09: At least three people were killed and five injured Monday when a suicide bomber struck at a police checkpoint in this northwestern city of Pakistan, a day after a powerful blast left 13 people, including the city mayor, dead.
The suicide bomb attack at the police checkpoint on Peshawar’s Ring Road killed three people and wounded five, Dawn quoted police officials as saying.
“It was at a police checkpoint,” said police officer Khursheed Khan. The bomber was travelling on a rickshaw when the explosion took place.
Peshawar, Nov 09: A suicide bomber in a rickshaw detonated his explosives near a group of police constables in northwest Pakistan’s main city of Peshawar on Monday, killing three people, police said.
The attack was the latest in a weeks-long string of strikes that have killed more than 300 people and appear aimed at distracting the government from its offensive against the Taliban in the South Waziristan tribal region. Security forces have been the primary targets.
Islamabad, November 09: Islamabad has strongly rejected a report that the US has been negotiating a deal with the Pakistani military about the security of the South Asian country’s nuclear arsenal.
The Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in statement on Sunday that the nation’s nuclear materials are completely safe and secure.
“Nor will Pakistan, as a sovereign state, ever allow any country to have direct or indirect access to its nuclear and strategic facilities. Any suggestion to this effect is simply preposterous,” the statement read.
Washington: Acknowledging that there is “an ingress of the ISI in every terrorist group”, former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf has alleged Afghanistan is under influence of Indian intelligence agencies and he has documentary evidence against it.
“Afghan intelligence, Afghan president, Afghan government. Don’t talk of them. I know what they do. They are, by design, they mislead the world. They talk against Pakistan, because they are under the influence of Indian intelligence, all of them,” Musharraf told CNN in an interview yesterday.
Islamabad, November 08: Defying hardliners and the Taliban, models clad in off-shoulder and backless gowns wowed audiences during Pakistan’s first fashion week, which was “bigger, better and sexier” than anything seen before.
The Karachi Fashion Week, which was postponed twice because of security fears, finally got underway last week with 30 top models sashaying down the ramp in short, off-shoulder and midriff showing dresses designed by the country’s top 30 designers.
The venue of the four-day event — Marriott Hotel — was guarded by the paramilitary Pakistan Rangers.
Islamabad, November 08: Law enforcement agencies in Pakistan arrested nearly 200 people Sunday in a search operation carried out in the capital and near the city of Rawalpindi, Online news agency reported.
It was not immediately clear if the arrests are related to the Nov 2 bomb blast in Rawalpindi that killed 34 people.
Karachi, November 08: Pakistan’s traditionally lavish weddings have lost their sparkle this matrimonial season thanks to rising prices of gold and festive essentials in a limping economy overshadowed by Taliban attacks.
The colourful celebrations normally span three to five days and attract 500 to 1,000 guests, pushing the cost for the hard-hit lower middle class to between 300,000 and one million rupees (3,600-12,000 dollars).
“It has become too expensive. Everything is expensive.
Islamabad, November 08: A blast ripped through a busy market on the outskirts of Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar on Sunday, causing several casualties, police said.
“We don’t know the nature of the blast but there are many casualties. There may be a few deaths,” said Shah Sawar Khan, a police official in Matni area where the blast took place.
Islamist militants have unleashed a campaign of bomb and suicide attacks in Pakistan in recent weeks in retaliation for a major offensive launched by security forces in their main bastion, South Waziristan, on the Afghan border.
Islamabad, November 07: Pakistani troops have killed 12 Taliban militants in the ongoing operation in country’s northwest, the army said Saturday.
Five soldiers, including two officers, were also injured in the clashes that took place in three militant strongholds in South Waziristan – a remote, mountainous district that is located near the Afghan border.
Parachinar, November 07: Pakistani soldiers killed at least 11 militants during overnight gunbattles in three Taliban strongholds, intelligence officials said Saturday.
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak with the media, said that while the Pakistan military has taken control of two of the strongholds — Sararogha and Ladha — there were still occasional clashes with militants. The army was still battling for full control of Makeen, which they call the “nerve center” of the Pakistani Taliban.
Islamabad, November 07: Pakistani troops pushing deeper into South Waziristan yesterday razed the house of the militant leader Baitullah Mehsud, killed by a US drone strike this summer, as they assaulted the last of three Taliban strongholds.
Troops struck the village of Makeen, a major militant base and home town of the former Taliban leader. Officials said his house was destroyed in symbolic revenge for the hundreds of people killed by the Taliban. The soldiers are said to have met little resistance.
Islamabad, November 06: Pakistani security forces have fought their way into Makeen, which is the stronghold of the country’s Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud, during the ongoing operations against terrorists in South Waziristan.
The security forces have successfully entered Makeen area, Geo News reported Friday.
Five hideouts were destroyed and two militants were killed in a fierce battle.
Fighter jets, gunship helicopters and heavy artillery pounded the positions of the militants.
Islamabad, November 06: The leader of the Taliban urged his fighters to stand fast against a military offensive in tribal South Waziristan, warning them in an intercepted message that cowards will go to hell.
Pakistani forces launched an offensive in mid-October to crush the Taliban in the semiautonomous region along the Afghan border that is believed to be the main stronghold of the militants and their al-Qaida allies.
Islamabad, November 06: Gunmen on a motorbike on Friday wounded an army brigadier and soldier in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad before escaping in the third such attack in two weeks, officials said.
The officer and a soldier were shot while travelling in a jeep through the I-8 residential neighbourhood, police officer Mohammad Azhar told AFP.
“Two gunmen riding on a motorbike opened fire on the jeep. Two people in the jeep were wounded. They were taken to hospital,” Azhar said, giving no further details.
Islamabad, November 06: A calendar showing portraits of Taliban suicide bombers and children involved in terror activities has been found during the army assault in South Waziristan, a media report said Friday.
Security forces found the calendar showing portraits of suicide bombers from a madrassa in Spankai area during Operation Rah-e-Nijat Thursday, Geo News reported Friday.
According to security officials suicide bombers were trained in Spankai area.
Karachi, November 05: Forced to sit out this year due to PCB’s no to their participation, Pakistani cricketers are all set to return to the Indian Premier League’s third season as the Board has decided to give them the go ahead for competing in the cash-rich Twenty20 tourney.
Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ejaz Butt said the PCB would not object to its players taking part in the lucrative league and has conveyed this to IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi during a meeting in India.
Attari (Amritsar), November 05: The bodies of two Pakistani nationals, including that of a heart patient who died recently, were today handed over here by the BSF to Pakistani Rangers.
Sabir Ahmed (28), a resident of Lahore, had arrived India by the Lahore-Delhi Friendship Bus on October 23 on a 45 day-visa for undergoing a heart bypass surgery but died at the Escort Hospital in Delhi yesterday.
The other one was that of 30-year-old Shehbaj Azam Khan, who had been lodged in prison after Rajasthan police arrested him on charges of illegally entering the country in May, 2007.
Islamabad, November 05: At least four people were killed and four injured in a suspected US drone attack in North Waziristan, a media report said Thursday.
The attack was carried out by a suspected US unmanned spy plane on Norok tehsil of Mir Ali in North Waziristan Agency (NWA) late Wednesday night, Geo News reported.
According to sources, the identity of the dead and the wounded was yet to be ascertained.
Islamabad, November 05: Taliban leader and radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah has been wounded and has been surrounded by security forces, a minister has said.
North West Frontier Province Minister Bashir Ahmed Bilour said the head of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban (TTP) in Swat, Fazlullah, was injured and has been surrounded, Online news agency reported Thursday.
Bilour told a TV channel that top leadership of TTP Swat has either been arrested or killed and the situation in 80 percent of Swat was normal.
Islamabad, November 05: Taliban leader and radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah has been wounded and has been surrounded by security forces, a minister has said.
North West Frontier Province Minister Bashir Ahmed Bilour said the head of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban (TTP) in Swat, Fazlullah, was injured and has been surrounded, Online news agency reported Thursday.
Bilour told a TV channel that top leadership of TTP Swat has either been arrested or killed and the situation in 80 percent of Swat was normal.
Islamabad, November 05: Taliban leader and radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah has been wounded and has been surrounded by security forces, a minister has said.
North West Frontier Province Minister Bashir Ahmed Bilour said the head of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban (TTP) in Swat, Fazlullah, was injured and has been surrounded, Online news agency reported Thursday.
Bilour told a TV channel that top leadership of TTP Swat has either been arrested or killed and the situation in 80 percent of Swat was normal.
Islamabad, November 05: An unusual delay in the arrival of migratory birds this winter can be attributed to the war on terror, a Pakistani official has said, adding “their route has been disturbed”.
Delay has been noticed in the arrival of migratory birds which come to Sindh around this time of the year.
Sindh Wildlife Department (SWD) officials observed that the number of these migratory birds has been decreasing for the past few years and “the war on terror has been cited as the major reason for this”.
Wana, November 04: At least 11 militants were killed during the operation of security forces in tehsil and Kanogoram Ladha in the tribal region of South Waziristan.
The forces have also destroyed a center for militants in the area.The troops engaged in search operation in the strategic village of Nawazkot along with a search and clearance operation in the Taliban stronghold Sararogha.