The Baloch House

http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/this-man-gave-up-a-successful-business-to-run-ancient-silk-road-from-hamburg-to


German management consultant Kai Markus (centre) being helped across the finish line by friends at the Shanghai International port on Dec 16, 2017. PHOTO: AFPPUBLISHEDDEC 17, 2017, 3:37 PM SGTFACEBOOK47TWITTERWHATSAPPEMAILSHANGHAI (AFP) - The world today is enough to make some people want to get up and just run to the ends of the Earth, so that's what Kai Markus decided to do.Troubled by what he sees as growing bigotry and division in the world, the German management consultant gave up a successful business to run the ancient Silk Road from Hamburg to Shanghai in a Quixotic quest to show that we are all one.Nine months, eight countries, 12,000 km and two fractured heel bones later, Markus hobbled across a symbolic finish line in Shanghai on Saturday with a feeling of mission accomplished."OK, the world is turning crazy, you have to do something," the …

http://www.herald.co.zw/china-from-the-treasure-fleet-to-one-belt-one-road/


December 18, 2017 Features, Opinion & AnalysisTom Clifford Correspondent
The One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative is not China’s first attempt at global outreach. Before Colombus and his three ships discovered what would become the Americas, China had the greatest seagoing fleet in the world, up to 3 500 ships at its peak.The US navy has 430 vessels in its fleet.In the 15th Century, Chinese shipyards were building vessels five times the size of those being built in Europe.But by 1525 the “Treasure Fleet” had been destroyed.In one of those fascinating “what if” moments in history the fleet was burned or left for scrap.Voyages to the unknown were halted.China was on the cusp of circumnavigating the globe decades before the Europeans.At a pivotal time, the Ming Dynasty lost its nerve, culminating in a period of decline that resulted in national humiliation in the 19th and 20th centuries.To use the vernacular, …

Brookings.eduKadira PethiyagodaWednesday, May 17, 2017The Silk Road Summit, covering China’s One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative, is as much about celebrating Beijing’s rise as the 2008 Olympics were. For the first time in the history of the Westphalian system, Asian and other non-European heritage countries are not only ascending to central places in the global order, but are refashioning its structure.Unprecedented in size and scope, China’s infrastructure project promises investments of around $1 trillion (though only $50 billion has been spent so far), covering countries accounting for 60 percent of the world’s population and one-third of global GDP (though this includes critic of the plan, India). All this occurs at a time when Western global leadership is hamstrung by internal rifts. If policymakers are to respond to China’s global thrust, they must understand the factors behind it and reflect on some of the conventional wisdom that has placed the West at a disadvantage in cer…

DECEMBER 16, 2017 AT 2:30 PM CETI know I can! I know I can (make it from Zhengzhou, China to Europe)! Source: DPASource: imageAs the joint owner of Hellmann Worldwide Logistics, Klaus Hellmann has strong business ties with China. But the relationship is also personal: Mr. Hellmann’s wife is Chinese, and his family-run firm ran roughly 100 freight trains between Europe and Asia over the past year. On their way east, some 22,000 containers are loaded to the brim with electronics, cars, machine parts and chemical products; on the way back, they’re transporting mainly textiles and raw materials.It takes about 18 days for the 10,000-kilometer trip through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus and Poland, about half as long as a ship needs to go from Europe to China. “The railway route offers German firms a great chance to connect with new markets,” Mr. Hellmann says. Other members of the Mittelstand, the small- and medium-sized companies that form the backbone of the country’s economy, are getting o…

https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2017/12/18/cpec-to-transform-pakistan-into-asian-tiger-by-2030/
DW Focus

National8 HOURS AGO BY MIANABRAR

Planning minister likely to announce long-term plan todayISLAMABAD: Pakistan and China have approved a Long Term Plan (LTP) for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) eying to develop and expand Pakistan’s economic base, infrastructure, industry, agriculture, trade, information technology and tourism on modern trends to help transform the country into an ‘Asian Tiger’ by the year 2030.Minister for Planning & Development Ahsan Iqbal is all set to announce the CPEC Long Term Plan today at the Planning Commission. However, Pakistan Today has been able to acquire a copy of the LTP exclusively, to share main features of the plan with its readers in advance.🔴According to the final document, Pakistan and China would shape up the feasibility of constructing the “2+1+5” tourism spatial structure in Pakistan, which includes two centres, one axis and f…

https://www.efsas.org/commentaries/new-york-attack-and-the-south-asian-connection/
New York attack and the South Asian connectionA 27-year-old Bangladeshi born lone wolf terrorist detonated an improvised low-tech explosive device inside a busy New York City subway transit hub on the 11th of December 2017, injuring himself and four other people and setting off panic during the morning rush hour. The incident in the heart of Manhattan caused chaos, which led to major evacuations of commuters from the biggest and busiest bus terminal in the world that accommodates more than 65 million passengers a year.Officials report that the suspect, later identified as Akayed Ullah, was an ISIS adherent and attempted the attack in the name of the terrorist organization, telling investigators that he was acting in response to Israeli actions in Gaza, as he was overwhelmed with rage over the killings of Muslims around the world.The device, which he attempted to set off, was a 30-cm long pipe that contai…

https://www.efsas.org/commentaries/new-york-attack-and-the-south-asian-connection/
New York attack and the South Asian connectionA 27-year-old Bangladeshi born lone wolf terrorist detonated an improvised low-tech explosive device inside a busy New York City subway transit hub on the 11th of December 2017, injuring himself and four other people and setting off panic during the morning rush hour. The incident in the heart of Manhattan caused chaos, which led to major evacuations of commuters from the biggest and busiest bus terminal in the world that accommodates more than 65 million passengers a year.Officials report that the suspect, later identified as Akayed Ullah, was an ISIS adherent and attempted the attack in the name of the terrorist organization, telling investigators that he was acting in response to Israeli actions in Gaza, as he was overwhelmed with rage over the killings of Muslims around the world.The device, which he attempted to set off, was a 30-cm long pipe that contai…

http://moderndiplomacy.eu/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=3453:takeaways-from-the-7th-jcc-meeting-on-cpec&Itemid=137

 BY ASIAMAQSOOD DEC 16, 2017South AsiaChina and Pakistan have been working to promote the construction of the CPEC project through sustenance of Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC). According to the available in formation on the official websites of the CPEC, there are five working groups which include long-term planning, energy, transportation infrastructure, industrial cooperation and Gwadar Port.JCC deals with the overall planning and coordination while the above mentioned working groups are responsible for the detailed planning and implementation of the projects under CPEC.Since Aug 2013,seven JCC meetings have been held to review the progress on CPEC. The first ever meeting of JCC on CPEC was held in Islamabad on Aug 28, 2013 which symbolized the joint efforts of both countries to promote the implementation of the relevant work on the key areas of inf…

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pakistan-attack/twin-suicide-bombers-attack-church-in-pakistans-quetta-ahead-of-christmas-killing-eight-idUSKBN1EB08E


GULYOUSAFZAI, Asif ShahzadQUETTA/ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Two suicide bombers attacked a packed Christian church in southwestern Pakistan on Sunday, killing at least eight people and wounding up to 45 before one of them blew himself up and police killed the other, officials said.The gunmen wearing explosives-filled vests stormed the church in Quetta city when Sunday services had just opened, exploding a suicide vest and shooting at the worshippers, said Sarfraz Bugti, the home minister of Baluchistan province.SPONSOREDPolice guards at the church exchanged fire with the attackers before they could enter the main sanctuary, said provincial police chief Moazzam Jah. He said two women were among those killed.“There were nearly 400 people inside the church, but the attackers couldn’t get inside the services,” Jah said. “We killed one of them, …

ANI | Updated: Dec 17, 2017 00:24ISTLondon [UK], Dec 17 (ANI): The exploitation of resources due to the multi-billion dollar China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project is resulting in vulnerable ecological consequences, an environmentalist has warned.Talking about the environmental and ecological impact of CPEC at a panel discussion held at the Royal Asiatic Society in London, Dr Troy Sternberg, an environmentalist from the Oxford University, said the landscape, where the construction of the CPEC is proposed, will be one of the main challenges for the Chinese multi-billion dollar project as one has to deal with physical limitations.The panel discussion was organised by the European Foundation for South Asian Studies (EFSAS), a global leading independent, EU accredited think tank, based in Amsterdam, on Friday, consisting of reputable scholars affiliated with various academic institutions including Oxford University, Birmingham University and SOAS University of London, deliberated…

BLF Activities Published by “Ashoob” from the statements of BLF spokesperson Gwahram Baloch issued in Electronic and Print Media.During the month of November 2017, 23 attacks were carried out on Pakistani forces. More than 31 soldiers were killed including an intelligence officer, dozens of soldiers injured, 8 military vehicles destroyed. 2 attacks carried out on Pakistan army’s construction company Frontier Works Organization (FWO) working on China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects, 20 (FWO) personnel were killed. 1 attack carried out on Pakistan Military backed religious extremist group, 1 militant of ISIS affiliated terrorist organization killed and several got injured. Blew up a Chinese Mobile Network Tower.Seven Baloch freedom fighters of BLF embraced martyrdom in month of November in fighting with Pakistani armyNovember 9, 2017: MunnawarIqbal s/o IqbalSajidi and M. Akbar in Bazdad area of Kolwah, district AwaranNovember 17, 2017: Younus Taokali aka Talaar in Buleda dist…

BLF Activities Published by “Ashoob” from the statements of BLF spokesperson Gwahram Baloch issued in Electronic and Print Media.During the month of November 2017, 23 attacks were carried out on Pakistani forces. More than 31 soldiers were killed including an intelligence officer, dozens of soldiers injured, 8 military vehicles destroyed. 2 attacks carried out on Pakistan army’s construction company Frontier Works Organization (FWO) working on China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects, 20 (FWO) personnel were killed. 1 attack carried out on Pakistan Military backed religious extremist group, 1 militant of ISIS affiliated terrorist organization killed and several got injured. Blew up a Chinese Mobile Network Tower.Seven Baloch freedom fighters of BLF embraced martyrdom in month of November in fighting with Pakistani armyNovember 9, 2017: MunnawarIqbal s/o IqbalSajidi and M. Akbar in Bazdad area of Kolwah, district AwaranNovember 17, 2017: Younus Taokali aka Talaar in Buleda dist…

BLF Activities Published by “Ashoob” from the statements of BLF spokesperson Gwahram Baloch issued in Electronic and Print Media.During the month of November 2017, 23 attacks were carried out on Pakistani forces. More than 31 soldiers were killed including an intelligence officer, dozens of soldiers injured, 8 military vehicles destroyed. 2 attacks carried out on Pakistan army’s construction company Frontier Works Organization (FWO) working on China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects, 20 (FWO) personnel were killed. 1 attack carried out on Pakistan Military backed religious extremist group, 1 militant of ISIS affiliated terrorist organization killed and several got injured. Blew up a Chinese Mobile Network Tower.Seven Baloch freedom fighters of BLF embraced martyrdom in month of November in fighting with Pakistani armyNovember 9, 2017: MunnawarIqbal s/o IqbalSajidi and M. Akbar in Bazdad area of Kolwah, district AwaranNovember 17, 2017: Younus Taokali aka Talaar in Buleda dist…

“The Chinese have come very smoothly, they have reached the warm waters,” HasilBizenjotold Reuters. “What they are investing is less than a peanut for access to warm waters.”