The Amnesty International has asked the authorities to repeal draconian laws, including Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and Public Safety Act (PSA) from the Indian Held Kashmir (IHK).
Saptarshi Mandal and Sahana Basavapatna, members of the visiting Amnesty team, said in a media interview in Srinagar, “Our idea to come here was to build on the work that Amnesty International had already done in 2010. Our focus was on the PSA and the amendments to the act and the implications that it would have in held Jammu and Kashmir”, Kashmir Media Service reported. The team, which is on a 12-day visit to the occupied Kashmir Valley to take first hand account of the human rights situation, said, “We have studied the contentious AFSPA. There are no conclusions that we can share with anybody as yet but there will certainly be an outcome.
It will come in due course of time when research paper is complete.” Asked about the AI’s call to repeal PSA and AFSPA, the members said, “We stand by what Amnesty International had said about the abrogation of PSA and AFSPA from Jammu and Kashmir.” They said during last ten days they had met a cross section of people, mostly families, lawyers and human rights groups in the Valley. The team also visited the illegally detained Hurriyet leader Masarrat Aalam Butt’s home and had discussions on his detention with the family members. The team was informed that during last two decades, Masarrat was booked 23 times under the draconian PSA and despite several court orders, he had not been released.
Malaysian firm to upgrade Karachi-Hyderabad Highway : The Malaysian construction firm, Binapuri Holdings, will upgrade the Karachi-Hyderabad Highway to a motorway at the cost of Rs 24.93 billion on Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) basis in three years. The National Highway Authority (NHA) signed a concession agreement with the Malaysian company in January for the upgradation of four-lane Karachi-Hyderabad Super Highway to a six-lane motorway. The contractor is bound to achieve financial close within six months of signing the agreement.
The 136-kilometer motorway will have seven interchanges, two service areas and sixteen toll plazas. The NHA in 2011 had advertised for an open competition among the interested parties for the construction of the motorway.
Several companies, including NLC, BINAPURI Holding Malaysia, EOBI, SAMBO, CRBC China and a Turkish construction company submitted their proposals.
After detailed financial and technical evaluation, the proposal of M/s Binapuri Holding was accepted and the NHA Executive Board awarded the contract to the company on BOT basis with concessionaire period of 28 years, including three-year construction period.
