The BioWeapons Monitor 2012 contains country reports on BWC-relevant activities in eight states: Brazil, Germany, India, Japan, Kenya, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In-country authors collected and analysed relevant information that is distributed through this publication. The authors used open sources and actively sought information from government departments, research institutions, industry, scientific societies and other entities.

The problems facing the troubled province of Balochistan are complex and diverse. Author (Animesh Roul) examines the challenges, including the conflict between the province's nationalists and the state, that illustrate Pakistan's struggle for control of the region.

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The security situation in the Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) state of India has reached a new low in the past few months as militant organizations backed by Islamabad have stepped up a campaign of politically-motivated violence by targeting vital infrastructure in the region and attacking civil society members. The region’s status remains disputed by Pakistan, which refers to J&K as “Indian-occupied Kashmir.” In what seems to be a shift in terrorist tactics, the militants have begun focusing on soft targets such as workers, engineers and village-level political representatives.

Interview: Animesh Roul in an interview with “Rediff.com” discusses issues ranging from the Haqqani Network, the growing threat of the Indian Mujahideen to the Pakistan’s seriousness to resolve the 26/11 Mumbai attack case.

http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-can-pakistan-direct-…

It is no secret that the face of terror - the master mind - is the educated, sophisticated guy from your privileged neighbourhood. But there is a trend that increasingly portends a strong wave of political Islam in India: Even the cannon fodder is elite or middle class.

Ahmed Siddibaba, also known as Yasin Bhatkal, notorious for his various aliases such as ‘Saharukh Khan’, ‘Sivanand’, and ‘Dr. Imran’, is believed to be in charge of the IM terror group since the top leaders of the homegrown terror group have fled to Pakistan and to the Gulf region following countrywide crackdowns. For the first time, Yasin, the IM’s explosive expert, who facilitated terror acts but typically remained in the background, stepped into the limelight during investigations into a series of blasts that hit major urban centers such as Delhi, Bangalore, and Ahmadabad in 2008.

Nasiruddin Haqqani (a.k.a. Dr Khan), was born in Nika district of Paktika Province, Afghanistan sometime in the year 1972. Unlike his illustrious warlord father and notorious brothers and relatives, Nasiruddin Haqqani maintains a relatively low public profile. Yet, he has maintained a responsible position in the hierarchy.

To make things worse for the already stressed Islamabad administration, the hardcore Taliban factions under the banner of Tehrik-e-Talban Pakistan (TTP) reemerged from a brief period of quiescence, initiating a series of violent acts against security forces with the ultimate aim to dislodge the democratically elected government and establish a Taliban style Islamic Emirate in Pakistan. Presently, the TTP’s anger is largely directed towards the Pro-NATO/US policy of Pakistan’s government.

 "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.