"Banning foreign defence contractors is a loss for both country and firms: Experts": Times of India, August 09, 2012

"This is a lose-lose situation for both the companies banned from bidding contracts and the country, which is heavily dependent on foreign countries for purchasing arms and defence technologies," said New Delhi-based Deba Ranjan Mohanty, who is currently the vice-president of Society for the Study of Peace and Conflict.

The US biodefence programme continued to remain covert until the advent of ProjectBioShield in 2003, which was pursued overtly with government sanctions. Project BioShield became a law in July 2004. Under the Project, efforts have been made to develop and make available effective drugs and vaccines to protect civilian population against any biological and chemical weapon attacks.

At a time when questions are being raised about Saudi Arabia’s tacit support for the global Salafist movement, recent developments have displayed the Kingdom’s new-found seriousness in fighting terrorism, especially that emanating from South Asia. These developments include the deportation of a top Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative and the detention of a wanted Indian Mujahideen (IM) suspect.

Afghan Taliban’s campaign against female education and empowerment is well known. This campaign reached new heights when unidentified poison attacks occurred targeting several girls schools located in Kapisa and Parwan provinces in April-May 2009. These attacks involved poisonous chemical substances and the victims had complained of headaches, nausea, vomiting, itching in the eyes following exposure. Again, in mid 2010, incidents of poisoning came to light in the Afghan capital, Kabul including in Esmati High School. Similar incidents have been noticed in 2012 as well.

Throughout the history of warfare attempts have been made to use chemical agents as weapons of war. Most attempts were unsuccessful until the growth of the chemical industry during the latter-half of the 19th century. By the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the first military chemical agents were already in the
arsenals of the major powers.

[CBW Magazine, July-Dec 2011]

India: Kashmir: On the Way Back? (Co-authored with Athar Parvaiz)

Kashmir/New Delhi | In May of this year, four Kashmiri candidates passed India’s prestigious civil service examination. But what sparked celebration all across the region was the rare feat achieved by one of them, Shah Faisal, who topped the examination with the best score. This was the first time that as many as four Kashmiri youth had qualified for India’s civil service – and that one of them excelled above all others was the icing on the cake.

http://chalkboard.tol.org/india-kashmir-on-the-way-back

Known for his Saudi Salafist links, idolization of Osama bin Laden and for keeping close liaisons with Mullah Omar and other Taliban leaders in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, Abdur Rahman Makki is one of the founding members of Markaz Dawa-wal-Irshad (MDI). MDI is the parent body of Pakistan based terrorist-linked charity Jamaat-ud Dawa (JuD) and its militant wing, the deadly