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Pakistan retains the safety valve

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By K.N. Pandit

“Officially, the central bank holds $8.14 billion (£4.65 billion) of foreign currency, but if forward liabilities are included, the real reserves may be only $3 billion – enough to buy about 30 days of imports like oil and food”, wrote the Daily Telegraph of London about Pakistan in its issue of October 6, 2008.

US’ observers on Pakistan make no secret of a grave situation developing there, which the present government in Islamabad calls the legacy left by Pervez Musharraf who quit the office of President last month. The situation has been complicated by the financial crisis worldwide and its inevitable impact on Pak economy despite tall claims that the economy of the country is not in peril.

Armed clashes with the Taliban-Al Qaeda insurgents in Waziristan, growing nexus between Afghan refugees and the Taliban operating on Paki-Afghan border, and growing crescendo of Pakistani terrorist outfits have all made a mess of administrative dispensation.

Observers predict a dismal future or near future of Pakistani State.

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Non-Violent Peace Brigades: How Fast Can We Move?

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Written by René Wadlow, 30 September 2008.

I envision an international ideal of service awakening in an emerging class of people who are best called evolutionaries. I see them as soldiers, as youth, and as those who have soldier spirit within them. I see them come together in the name of people and planet to create a new environment of support for the positive growth of humankind and the living earth mother.

Their mission is to protect the possible and to nurture the potential. They are the evolutionary guardians who focus their loving protection and affirm their allegiance to people and planet for their own good and for the good of those they serve. They are pioneers, not palace guards. – Jim Chanon, First Earth Battalion

The United Nations General Assembly has designated October 2 as the International Day of Nonviolence. October 2 is the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. For Gandhi, non-violence was at the center of his philosophy and actions. Thus it is appropriate to mark the day with an analysis of one aspect of non-violent action: the role of peace teams as observers in conflict situations.

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