By   Syed Shamsuddin Quite propitiously, there appears to be a smooth sailing in the context of a peaceful transition from the incumbent government to the second caretaker govt. Eyes are now fixed at the prospects of electing the third government, reminiscent of the nascent democratic dispensation specific to GB. The second caretaker Chief Minister Mir Afzal Khan – a retired senior police officer – was sworn in on 24th in the wake of completion of 5-year term of the outgoing PML-N government, led by Chief Minister Hafiz Hafeezur Rehman. Raja Jalal Hussain Maqpon, Governor Gilgit-Baltistan, administered the oath. It is to be recalled that the first caretaker government intervening the PPP government of Syed Mehdi Shah and Hafiz Hafeez Ur Rehamn’s PML-N governments was headed by Sher Jehan Mir which lasted for about six months (2014-5). Syed Mehdi Shah became the first Chief Minister of Gilgit-Baltistan in the wake of GBLA elections held in pursuance of and in conformi

By   Syed Shamsuddin  QUITE INDUBITABLY, the introduction of the ATM facility countrywide aimed at dispensing of and extending cash and other allied banking services mechanically/electronically has been highly facilitative and hence is commendable in that the system that remained in vogue earlier was tiresome and irksome because of a dilatory process being resorted to at the respective bank branched when an account-holder would visit them for a simple transaction. Procedurally, a cheque had to be filled in and presented for its processing from one counter to the other until its being okayed and passed ultimately on to the cash counter. Indeed, the transition to online services and the ATM facility as currently available has eased all this as the insertion of the card and swiftly doing the password enables the card holder to draw amounts instantly in addition to seeking other allied services electronically. This became all the more facilitative in the case of pensioners who general

By   Syed Shamsuddin   INDEED the smooth-sailing transition to the 2nd caretaker government upon completion of its term by the outgoing PML-N government augurs well. It would certainly pave the way in the like manner, for the polls in a congenial atmosphere to get the process going equally smoothly.  The prospective elections for GBLA will be 3rd election holding promise of an uninterrupted continuity since the very first government formed after the general GBLA elections in the wake of promulgation of Gilgit-Baltistan Governance Order, 2009. Governor Gilgit-Baltistan Raja Jalal Hussain Maqpon administered oath to the caretaker Chief Minister Mir Afzal Khan the day before after he latter’s selection and appointment was notified by the federal government vide notification as follows: “Pursuant to Article 48-A(2) of the Government of Gilgit-Baltistan Order, 2018, the Chairman of the Gilgit-Baltistan Council in consultation with the incumbent Chief Minister, Gilgit-Baltistan, the