Media institutions, schools, Taliban’s next target in Pak

September 24th, 2009 PITTSBURGH - Indian Ambassador to the United States Meera Shankar said on Thursday that India will pursue reform of the governance structure of international financial institutions and changes in the international financial architecture so that they reflect the contemporary world. Speaking to the media here on the eve of the G-20 Summit, Shankar said the voice of the new emerging market economies have to be accommodated and international financial institutions must reflect the existing world.

September 9th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The Pakistani cabinet has approved a new education policy Wednesday after deliberating on the subject for four years, the Online agency reported. Education Minister Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani said all federal and provincial educational institutions were consulted before finalising the policy.

July 14th, 2009 KUALA LUMPUR - In a bid to monitor the standard of teaching of the Tamil language in schools across Malaysia, a national co-ordinator for Tamil schools should be appointed, Tamil Youth Bell Club president S. V. Lingam has said.

July 4th, 2009 LAHORE - Pakistan intelligence agencies have warned that the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud may target Chinese nationals in the country, as he has dispatched disabled teenage suicide bombers for the purpose. The Interior Ministry has issued a circular warning to all the concerned authorities about the threat.

June 19th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Top cleric and rector of the Darul Uloom Waqf (Deoband), Maulana Salim Qasimi, has denounced the Taliban for its unIslamic viewpoints and actions, saying that the banned outfit does not qualify for any affiliation with Jama'at Deoband. "It is totally against Islam to blow up the barber shops, education organizations and tombs," said Qasimi.

June 19th, 2009 PESHAWAR - Taliban militants have blown up two schools in Bajaur tribal agency in northwest Pakistan, a media report said Friday. The militants have destroyed dozens of schools in the area in the recent past.

June 1st, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The Pakistan Army has made further ground into the Taliban stronghold, and has reportedly entered the Kalam region. According to a statement released by the ISPR, security forces have killed at least 45 more extremists in the South Waziristan Agency, supposedly a Taliban throttlehold region.

May 27th, 2009 KARACHI - After establishing its control over a major part of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) in Pakistan, the Taliban is looking to expand its control over other parts of the country , making women its prime target. In an attempt to spread panic among the people, especially females, the Taliban is now threatening young women in Karachi.

May 21st, 2009 PENANG - Penang Deputy Chief Minister Prof Dr P. Ramasamy has said that the Penang Government is ready to allot land for Tamil schools in Malaysia.

May 7th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The Taliban's 'nebulous' shadow is looming far beyond its strongholds, threatening large sections of the citizenry, particularly women, and is almost impossible to control, an editorial in a leading Pakistani English daily said Thursday. Another editorial said the ideology the Taliban sought to impose 'makes the worst excesses of fascist dictatorship pale by comparison'.

April 28th, 2009 KARACHI - The Taliban has reportedly warned co-education institutions in Karachi to close down or face consequences, spreading panic among colleges and schools in the city. Various educational institutions, including schools, colleges and universities have received threatening letters and phone calls from the Taliban.

April 10th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Security was tightened in this Pakistani capital Friday following threats from terrorists that they would target parliament and international schools, prompting the US embassy here to suspend consular services for the day. 'The intelligence agencies, in their report, informed the government about the planning and activities of a terrorist outfit, warning of attack on international chains of schools, especially British and American, and the Parliament House,' The News reported, quoting sources in the interior ministry.

January 24th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The Pakistani Army and paramilitary forces have been deployed at some schools in the picturesque but restive Swat Valley in the country's northwest where, bowing to a Taliban diktat, some 400 private schools have discontinued girls' classes, depriving more than 40,000 students of their basic right to education. Additionally, 84,248 girl students of state-run institutions are unlikely to attend school due to the fear of Taliban militants, who now control the entire area, despite the resolve of the local administration to reopen the schools March 1.

January 19th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistani parliament Tuesday condemned militants for destroying scores of schools, most of them for girls, in the restive northwestern Swat district. Information Minister Sherry Rehman submitted the resolution in the lower house of the bicameral parliament following the bombing of five more schools in the conflictive valley over the weekend.

January 15th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Bowing to a Taliban diktat, some 400 private schools in the picturesque but restive Swat Valley in Pakistan's northwest have discontinued girls' classes, depriving more than 40,000 students of their basic right to education. Additionally, 84,248 girl students of state-run institutions are unlikely to attend school due to the fear of Taliban militants, who now control the entire area, despite the resolve of the local administration to reopen the schools March 1, The News reported Friday.