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Afghan Government Marks First 100 Days; Pakistani President Signs Military Courts Amendment; Indian Coal Strike Enters Second Day

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Afghan Government Marks First 100 Days; Pakistani President Signs Military Courts Amendment; Indian Coal Strike Enters Second Day

Afghan Government Marks First 100 Days; Pakistani President Signs Military Courts Amendment; Indian Coal Strike Enters Second Day

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<i>Event Notices: “Undercover Jihadi,” a discussion with Mubin Shaikh and Dr. Anne Speckhard, TODAY, 9:00 – 10:30 AM (</i><a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c725dy5.1q8k/VKqZLEmOUt1bB6_XA9226 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank"><i>New America</i></a><i>); “Algeria and the Sahel in the Arab Spring Aftermath,” FRIDAY, 12:15 – 1:45 PM (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c725dy5.1q8k/VK042kmObGGG8bouA0dae style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">New America</a>).</i><br />
<br />
<b>Afghanistan</b><br />
<br />
<i>Bonus Read: “Heroin addiction spreads with alarming speed across Afghanistan,” Pamela Constable (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c725dy5.1q8k/VK042kmObGGG8bo5A7132 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">Post</a>).</i><br />
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<i>Unity government marks 100 days in office</i><i> </i><br />
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Afghanistan’s national unity government marked its first 100 days in office on Tuesday, but the ongoing deadlock over filling open cabinet positions has frustrated voters, a majority of whom now disapprove of President Ashraf Ghani’s efforts. According to <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c725dy5.1q8k/VK042kmObGGG8bpHA4c14 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">a new poll</a> conducted by the country’s <i>TOLO News</i> and ATR Consulting, the number of people who are “very satisfied” with Ghani’s performance fell from 59.9 percent to 27.5 percent during the government’s first few months in office (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c725dy5.1q8k/VK042kmO-0e-04deAe07b style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">TOLO News</a>). The majority (32 percent) of the poll’s respondents were “not satisfied at all” with the president’s progress; a similar number of participants were “very hopeful” that Ghani and CEO Abdullah Abdullah would be able to cooperate moving forward.<br />
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While a number of the promises Ghani made before taking office in September 2013 remain “untouched,” a few media outlets did give him credit for hitting the ground running (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c725dy5.1q8k/VK042kmONKQNpo9PAf959 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">Pajhwok</a>, <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c725dy5.1q8k/VK042kmONKQNpo9RAed73 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">BBC</a>). Shortly after being sworn in, Ghani signed the Bilateral Security Agreement with the United States and the Status of Forces Agreement with NATO, enabling foreign forces to remain in the country to train Afghanistan’s soldiers. He also reopened the <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c725dy5.1q8k/VC1KZMPoRjjjjB3sAca36 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">Kabul Bank embezzlement case</a> and has been actively trying to rid the government of corrupt officials. Observers are concerned, however, that the fact many government ministries are being run by caretakers could “fuel the Taliban insurgency after most foreign troops have withdrawn from the country and handed over security responsibilities to Afghan forces” (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c725dy5.1q8k/VK042kmONKQNpo9iA2c9c style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">RFE/RL</a>).<br />
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<i>Several wounded in Taliban suicide attack on police training center</i><br />
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At least three Afghan police officers and two civilians were wounded in the eastern city of Khost on Wednesday when Taliban fighters attacked a local training center (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c725dy5.1q8k/VK042kmONKQNpo9oAc3b9 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">Pajhwok</a>, <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c725dy5.1q8k/VK042kmONKQNpo90Ac06c style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">RFE/RL</a>, <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c725dy5.1q8k/VK042kmONKQNpo-FA892b style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">TOLO News</a>). According to reports, one militant detonated an explosives-laden vehicle in front of the facility; two bombers wearing suicide vests then entered the center and exchanged gunfire with police before detonating their explosives.<br />
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The incident happened shortly after Taliban gunmen ambushed a convoy of construction workers in northern Baghlan province, killing six people -- including the company’s owner -- and kidnapping three others (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c725dy5.1q8k/VK042kmONKQNpo-WA5cce style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">Pajhwok</a>, <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c725dy5.1q8k/VK042kmONKQNpo-gA833b style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">VOA</a>). Elsewhere in Nangarhar province, a judge was killed in the provincial capital, Jalalabad, when a bomb attached to his car exploded as he was dropping his children off at school; all three children were wounded, one critically (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c725dy5.1q8k/VK042kmONKQNpo-oA51fe style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">Pajhwok</a>). No one has claimed responsibility for the incident.<br />
<br />
<b>Pakistan</b><br />
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<i>Hussain signs amendment establishing military terrorism courts</i><br />
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Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain signed the 21st Constitutional Amendment Bill into law on Wednesday, officially approving the creation of special military courts to try suspected militants (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c725dy5.1q8k/VK042kmONKQNpo-vA5ad7 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">Dawn</a>, <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c725dy5.1q8k/VK042kmONKQNpo-2A92e7 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">ET</a>, <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c725dy5.1q8k/VK042kmONKQNpo--A1f6e style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">VOA</a>). The bill passed both houses of parliament unopposed on Tuesday, though a number of lawmakers abstained from voting. The amendment is one of several measures the government has taken since the Taliban attacked an army school in Peshawar in December, killing 145 people, mostly children. The courts are expected to help speed up the trials of alleged terrorists.<br />
<br />
Yet despite the shocking attack in Peshawar, the <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c725dy5.1q8k/VK042kmONKQNpo_EA7ce8 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies</a> (PIPS) reported on Tuesday that the country actually saw a 43 percent drop in the overall number of suicide attacks in 2014, as compared to 2013 (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c725dy5.1q8k/VK042kmONKQNpo_JA9284 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">ET</a>). According to a new security report released by the organization, around 1,700 people were killed and more than 3,100 were injured in nearly 1,200 terrorist attacks last year – all decreases from 2013. Of Pakistan’s provinces, only one, Punjab, saw an increase (8 percent) of reported terrorist attacks.<br />
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<i>Two militants hanged in Multan</i><br />
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Pakistan hanged two men sentenced to death by an anti-terrorism court in the southern city of Multan early Wednesday morning, bringing the total number of executions since the government’s moratorium on capital punishment was lifted in December to nine (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c725dy5.1q8k/VK042kmONKQNpo_QA6389 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">RFE/RL</a>). Pakistani media outlets reported that both men were members of the banned militant group Sipah-e-Sahaba and had been found guilty of murder in 2002 (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c725dy5.1q8k/VK042kmONKQNpo_YAd74f style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">Dawn</a>, <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c725dy5.1q8k/VK042kmONKQNpo_kA19e6 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">ET</a>). Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif lifted the ban on the death penalty after last month’s attack in Peshawar.<br />
<br />
<i>-- Bailey Cahall</i><br />
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<b>India</b><br />
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<i>Indian coal workers continue strike</i><br />
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An ongoing strike by Indian workers in state-run coal mines entered the second day on Wednesday, after talks with India’s federal government failed (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c725dy5.1q8k/VK042kmONKQNpo_uA2a49 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">BBC</a>, <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c725dy5.1q8k/VK042kmONKQNpo_9A0de0 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">Bloomberg</a>, <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c725dy5.1q8k/VK042kmONKQNppAKAf2f6 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">Livemint</a>, <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c725dy5.1q8k/VK042kmONKQNppASAa5df style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">WSJ</a>). A total of five unions -- representing approximately 3.7 million coal workers employed with the state-run Coal India Ltd. -- have called for a five-day strike to protest as the government opens the coal industry to the private sector. In an effort to boost the country’s economy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened the coal industry to the private sector in October 2013. The unions, however, have opposed any kind of privatization in the coal sector.<br />
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The strike is expected to affect 75 percent of India's daily production of 1.5 million tons of coal. The strike, the biggest walkout since the 1970s, may result in blackouts across India as 42 of the 100 power plants that run on local coal have supplies that, as of Jan. 1, will last less than seven days. Although India is one of the largest coal producers in the world, the country has not been able to meet its consumer demand for electricity.<br />
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<i>Indian politician’s wife’s death ruled a murder</i><br />
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Indian police in New Delhi said on Tuesday that Sunanda Pushkar, the wife of former Indian parliamentarian Shashi Tharoor, was murdered, almost one year after her body was found in a hotel room (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c725dy5.1q8k/VK042kmONKQNppAbA18ad style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">Indian Express</a>, <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c725dy5.1q8k/VK042kmONKQNppAkA99cc style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">NDTV</a>, <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c725dy5.1q8k/VK042kmONKQNppAtAe541 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">WSJ</a>). B.S. Bassi, the New Delhi police chief, said that Pushkar’s death was "not natural and was due to poisoning," and the poison “was either given orally or injected into her body” (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c725dy5.1q8k/VK042kmONKQNppA4Aaf05 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">BBC</a>). Tharoor, a former minister in the Congress party government, former senior United Nations official, and author, said: “Needless to say I am anxious to see this case is investigated thoroughly and continue to assure the police of my full co-operation.” Pushkar was found dead in a five-star hotel in New Delhi on Jan. 17, 2013.<br />
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<i>U.S.-based economist appointed new vice chairman of NITI Aayog</i><br />
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The Indian government has appointed U.S.-based economist and college professor Arvind Panagariya as the first vice-chairman of NITI Aayog, a newly-created agency that came into being on Jan. 1, according to news reports on Monday (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c725dy5.1q8k/VK042kmONKQNppBBAfc14 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">Economic Times</a>, <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c725dy5.1q8k/VK042kmONKQNppBMAe625 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">Indian Express</a>, <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c725dy5.1q8k/VK042kmONKQNppBUAef4e style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">NDTV</a>). NITI Aayog replaces the 65-year-old Planning Commission, an institution that formulated India's Five-Year Plans. Panagariya holds a Ph.D. from Princeton University and is currently a professor of Economics and the Jagdish Bhagwati Professor of Indian Political Economy in the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University in New York City. Panagariya was the chief economist at the Asian Development Bank and has also worked for the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organization, and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.<br />
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<i>-- Neeli Shah</i><br />
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<i>Edited by Peter Bergen.</i><br />
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SHAH MARAI/AFP/Getty Images<br />


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