Subject: South Asia Daily: Pakistan Will Likely Top Polio Record; Taliban Bomber Targets Army Bus, Kills 3; Modi Wields Broom to ‘Clean India’
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Date: Thu, 2 Oct 2014 08:53:57 -0400 (EDT)

Pakistan Will Likely Top Polio Record; Taliban Bomber Targets Army Bus, Kills 3; Modi Wields Broom to ‘Clean India’

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Pakistan Will Likely Top Polio Record; Taliban Bomber Targets Army Bus, Kills 3; Modi Wields Broom to ‘Clean India’

Pakistan Will Likely Top Polio Record; Taliban Bomber Targets Army Bus, Kills 3; Modi Wields Broom to ‘Clean India’

 <p>  <b>Pakistan</b>  </p><br><p>  <i>Bonus Read: "In al  Qaeda attack, lines between Pakistan military, militants blur," Syed Raza  Hassan and Katharine Houreld (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vbin.15hw/VC1KY8PoRjjjjB2MA14fd style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">Reuters</a>).</i>  </p><br><p>  <i>Pakistan set for  record number of polio cases</i>  </p><br><p>  Pakistani health officials reported on Thursday that, with  three more confirmed cases of polio, the country is inching closer to breaking  a 14-year record for the highest number of cases in one year (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vbin.15hw/VC1KZMPoRjjjjB2RA6afc style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">Dawn</a>,  <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vbin.15hw/VC1KZMPoRjjjjB2WAd5bd style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">ET</a>).  The new cases, reported on Wednesday, brought the total number of confirmed  polio cases in 2014 to 187, just 14 cases away from a record of 199, which was  set in 2000. The number of cases this year is also double that of 2013, when 72  cases were recorded. A senior official at the World Health Organization in  Islamabad suggested the number of polio cases in Pakistan would likely cross  200 by the end of the year.  </p><br><p>  Pakistan is one of only three countries where polio is still  endemic -- Afghanistan and Nigeria are the other two -- but national and  international efforts to stamp it out have been hard hit in recent years by  attacks on vaccination teams. According to Pakistan's <i>Dawn</i> newspaper, some 59 people, including health workers and the  security officers protecting them, have been killed in militant attacks on  vaccination teams since December 2012.  </p><br><p>  <i>Seven killed in  Peshawar bomb blast</i>  </p><br><p>  At least seven people were killed and another six were  wounded in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, on Thursday  when a bomb aboard a passenger bus exploded (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vbin.15hw/VC1KZMPoRjjjjB2bAf4de style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">RFE/RL</a>).  According to police officials, the explosives had been placed under a passenger  seat on the bus and exploded as the vehicle headed from the capital to the town  of Hangu (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vbin.15hw/VC1KZMPoRjjjjB2gA8d10 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">AFP</a>,  <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vbin.15hw/VC1KZMPoRjjjjB2lA2068 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">AP</a>).  No one has claimed responsibility for the incident, though some officials  speculated that it had been a targeted attack (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vbin.15hw/VC1KZMPoRjjjjB2qA80eb style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">Dawn</a>).  </p><br><p>  The incident occurred one day after two unidentified  attackers threw hand grenades at a school located some 20 kilometers (about  12.5 miles) northeast of Peshawar, killing a female teacher and injuring two  female students (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vbin.15hw/VC1KZMPoRjjjjB2vAa69b style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">Dawn</a>).  </p><br><p>  <i>Zakaullah appointed as  new Chief of Naval Staff</i>  </p><br><p>  Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain promoted Vice Admiral Muhammad Zakaullah to the rank of  Admiral on Thursday, and appointed him as the country's new Chief of Naval  Staff (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vbin.15hw/VC1KZMPoRjjjjB20A5050 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">Dawn</a>,  <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vbin.15hw/VC1KZMPoRjjjjB24A7349 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">ET</a>).  Zakaullah will replace Admiral Asif Sandila, who is retiring, and is expected  to assume command of the Pakistani navy on Oct. 7 at a ceremony in Islamabad.  </p><br><p>  <b>Afghanistan</b>  </p><br><p>  <i>Bonus Read: "A  Strategic Scorecard for Afghanistan," Christopher D. Kolenda (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vbin.15hw/VC1KZMPoRjjjjB2-Abf43 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">SouthAsia</a>).</i>  </p><br><p>  <i>Taliban bomber targets  army bus in Kabul, kills three</i>  </p><br><p>  Three people were killed and at least seven more were  wounded in Kabul on Thursday when a Taliban suicide bomber targeted an Afghan  army bus, just one day after two similar attacks killed 11 and wounded more  than 20 (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vbin.15hw/VC1KZMPoRjjjjB3DA96ca style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">AP</a>,  <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vbin.15hw/VC1KZMPoRjjjjB3IAa271 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">BBC</a>, <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vbin.15hw/VC1KZMPoRjjjjB3NA5501 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">RFE/RL</a>).  Afghan media outlets reported that all of the victims were soldiers, though  international news sources didn't distinguish between military and civilian  casualties (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vbin.15hw/VC1KZMPoRjjjjB3SAa5a5 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">Pajhwok</a>,  <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vbin.15hw/VC1KZMPoRjjjjB3XA413a style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">TOLO  News</a>). Reuters noted that it was the "fourth high-profile attack in the  capital since Monday when the new president [Ashraf Ghani] was sworn in" (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vbin.15hw/VC1KZMPoRjjjjB3cA1d52 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">Reuters</a>).  </p><br><p>  The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the three attacks  targeting the army soldiers, and spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid "told the French  News Agency [on] Wednesday that the militants were sending a 'clear message' to  the Afghan government for its signing of a long-delayed security deal with  United States [on Tuesday], and that they would increase attacks" (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vbin.15hw/VC1KZMPoRjjjjB3hA0211 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">VOA</a>).  According to Reuters, Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar also "urged Afghans  to wage jihad to establish an Islamic rule in Afghanistan, calling the election  a 'publicity stunt.'"&nbsp;  </p><br><p>  <i>Ghani reopens graft  investigation</i>  </p><br><p>  On Wednesday, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani "ordered fresh  investigations into a $850 million fraud case that nearly brought about the  collapse of the country's largest commercial bank in 2010," saying that: "The  time for action has come, and as we had pledged, the fight against corruption  will be done in a thorough and systematic way" (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vbin.15hw/VC1KZMPoRjjjjB3mAffa0 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">RFE/RL</a>,  <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vbin.15hw/VC1KZMPoRjjjjB3rA0eb3 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">Pajhwok</a>).  At the time, Afghan courts were criticized for imposing light sentences on  those convicted in the case, said to be one of the world's largest fraud  schemes, and for granting immunity to then-President Hamid Karzai's brothers  and one of his vice presidents (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vbin.15hw/VC1KZMPoRjjjjB3wAf963 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">BBC</a>). The <i>New York Times</i> noted that the move was  meant to reassure Western donors that Afghanistan would not be a bad  investment, especially as the case has proven to be a "major sticking point for  donor nations and the International Monetary Fund" (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vbin.15hw/VC1KZMPoRjjjjB31A200f style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">NYT</a>).  </p><br><p>  <i>-- Bailey Cahall</i>  </p><br><p>  <b>India</b>  </p><br><p>  <i>Modi wields a broom for his 'Clean India' campaign</i>  </p><br><p>  Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi joined millions of  schoolchildren, officials, and ordinary people on Thursday to clean public  buildings, parks, and streets, as he launched his "Swachh Bharat" (Clean  India) campaign (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vbin.15hw/VC1KZMPoRjjjjB36A13e8 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">Livemint</a>,  <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vbin.15hw/VC1KZMPoRjjjjB3_A9e4d style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">BBC</a>). Modi  launched the campaign in New Delhi to coincide with Mahatma Gandhi's birthday  on Oct. 2. Speaking to a large audience near India Gate in New Delhi, Modi  said: "I urge every one of you to devote at least one hundred hours every  year, two hours every week, towards cleanliness" (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vbin.15hw/VC1KZMPoRjjjjB4EA64df style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">NDTV</a>).  About four million federal government staff and schoolchildren all over the  country answered Modi's call by taking up brooms and dusters. It was the first  time that employees were called to work on a government-declared holiday.  </p><br><p>  Modi also kicked off his "Clean India" social media  challenge, where users can upload "before and after" videos of people cleaning  an area on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, and naming or  tagging people to do the same (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vbin.15hw/VC1KZMPoRjjjjB4HA3ce0 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">Indian  Express</a>). Modi -- <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vbin.15hw/VBmmo8PoNTz3Nsx4A7ddf style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">@narendramodi </a>--  tweeted a "Why Clean India" picture, and then, after cleaning a street, posted  a "My Clean India" picture. After that, he invited nine other people to join  the campaign by posting a picture before and after cleaning a street, and then  inviting nine more people to join the campaign.  </p><br><p>  <i>Pakistan violates ceasefire, India retaliates</i>  </p><br><p>  The Pakistan Army reportedly violated a ceasefire on  Wednesday, and fired at Indian posts on the Line of Control (LoC) -- a military  boundary between the Indian- and Pakistani-controlled parts of Kashmir -- in  the Poonch district in the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vbin.15hw/VC1KZMPoRjjjjB4OA9d78 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">NDTV</a>,  <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vbin.15hw/VC1KZMPoRjjjjB4TAe1ab style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">Indian  Express</a>). In response to the firing, an Indian Army officer said:  "Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked firing and mortar shelling in  three forward areas along [the] LoC in Jammu and Kashmir today," and further  elaborated: "Due to the provocation, the Indian troops appropriately  responded" (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vbin.15hw/VC1KZMPoRjjjjB4YAb3b4 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">IBNLive</a>).  The cross-border firing took place after nearly a month of peace on the LoC.  India and Pakistan have fought three wars since the two countries were  partitioned in 1947, and two of them were over Kashmir.  </p><br><p>  <i>Indian boxer bags a gold in the Asian Games</i>  </p><br><p>  Indian boxing icon Mary Kom became the first Indian woman  boxer to win a gold medal at the Asian Games -- a multi-sport event held every  four years amongst athletes from Asia -- on Wednesday, after she defeated  Kazakhstan's Zhaina Shekerbekova in the women's flyweight final (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vbin.15hw/VC1KZMPoRjjjjB4dAfbab style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">BBC</a>). After her  victory, Kom, a five-time world champion, said: "It was very important to get a  gold medal.... I dedicate it to all my country" (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vbin.15hw/VC1KZMPoRjjjjB4iAb267 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">WSJ</a>).  Kom, a mother of three children, grew up in a village in Manipur, located in  northeastern India. Earlier this year, a Bollywood biopic was made about her  childhood.<b><i>&nbsp;</i></b>  </p><br><p>  While Kom was celebrating her gold medal, L. Sarita Devi, an  Indian lightweight boxer, refused to accept her bronze medal after losing a  semifinal round at the Asian Games (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vbin.15hw/VC1KZMPoRjjjjB4nAabfb style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">NDTV</a>,  <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vbin.15hw/VC1KZMPoRjjjjB4sAf155 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">Indian  Express</a>). At the awards ceremony, a sobbing Devi refused to wear her bronze  medal, and handed it to the silver medalist, Jina Park of South Korea. Devi  later said: "This is for you and all Korea, because you only deserve a bronze"  (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vbin.15hw/VC1KZcPoRjjjjB4xAf814 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">Times  of India</a>). Devi lost to Park in the semifinals on Tuesday in what was  allegedly an unfair decision, biased towards South Korea, the host country.  After the match, India lodged an official protest with the technical jury team  of the Amateur International Boxing Association. Also, India's chief coach Blas  Iglesias Fernandes protested calling the decision "a clear case of a  pre-determined judgment."  </p><br><p>  <i>-- Neeli Shah and Jameel Khan</i>  </p><br><p>  <i>Edited by Peter  Bergen.</i>  </p><br> 

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