The Nation News

Pakistan, India fail to stamp visa pact

Imran Mukhtar — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

ISLAMABAD – Pakistan and India failed to sign much anticipated liberalised visa regime as two-day interior/home secretary-level talks concluded on Friday.The pact meant for visa relaxations from both sides could not be sealed as Pakistan's interior ministry had not got necessary approval from the federal cabinet.However, both sides decided to establish a hotline between the home secretary ...

SC suspends Farahnaz as MNA over US nationality

Terence J Sigamony — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court Friday suspended Farahnaz Ispahani’s membership of the national assembly for having foreign nationality and barred her from participating in the house committees’ meetings and policymaking processes.The decision came as a three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry resumed hearing of a petition against the dual nationality of ...

Speaker’s ruling sent to SC office

Our Staff Reporter — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

ISLAMABAD - The ruling of Speaker National Assembly Dr Fehmida Mirza on the prime minister’s contempt case has been sent to the Supreme Court office, an official of the National Assembly Secretariat said on Friday.Dr Mirza on Thursday had issued her five-page ruling in reaction to the Supreme Court’s verdict in Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s contempt of court case. The ...

Mrs Haqqani to fight for ‘right’

Our Staff Reporter — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

ISLAMABAD – MNA Farahnaz Ispahani has said she will contest the suspension of her assembly membership through all legal and constitutional means available to her as a citizen of Pakistan.Commenting on the orders of the Supreme Court where her membership was suspended for holding dual nationality, she said: “I had instructed my lawyers to present true facts and that is what they did ...

Nawabshah bus firing leaves 8 dead

Agencies — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

NAWABSHAH – At least eight people were killed and 25 others sustained injuries when gunmen opened indiscriminate fire on a passenger bus on National Highway near Qazi Ahmed town on Friday."At least eight people were killed in the bus firing," said DIG Sanaullah Abbasi. He said the bus was going from Karachi to Attock. Two men boarded the bus just before Qazi Ahmad and later asked ...

Musharraf murdered my mother, says Bilawal

Special Correspondent — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

WASHINGTON - PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari says he holds former President Pervez Musharraf responsible for the murder of his mother Benazir Bhutto, as he himself vowed to play a larger political role in the next elections.‘He (Musharraf) murdered my mother ... I hold him responsible for the murder of my mother’, he said in an interview with CNN on Thursday evening. On another TV ...

Lal Masjid occupants were innocent: SC

Terence J Sigamony — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court ordered the Islamabad Police Friday to register FIR on the complaints of the legal heirs of the students, disappeared or killed during the Lal Masjid operation.The court directed the federal government to give compensation to the heirs of all the 103 people killed in the 2007 action. The court also sought the report from the judicial commission on the Lal Masjid ...

Court rejects Kazmi’s acquittal plea

Israr Ahmad — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

RAWALPINDI - Special Judge Central Mian Khalid Shabbir on Friday rebuffed the acquittal plea of former federal minister for religious affairs Hamid Saeed Kazmi and issued a short verdict, stating the trial was still in progress and the accused could not be acquitted.The court deferred the proceeding till May 30, saying the accused would also be indicted on that date.During the hearing, Federal ...

Khosa, Nizami discuss Nato supply

Our Staff Reporter — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

LAHORE – Punjab Governor Sardar Latif Khan Khosa called on TheNation Editor-in-Chief Majid Nizami at his residence on Friday. Matters relating to country’s political situation and Pakistan’s official stance on the Nato supplies came under discussion during the meeting which lasted for two-and-half hours.Praising Majid Nizami for his commitment with journalistic norms and his ...

Japan admits Pak role in terror war

Agencies — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

TOKYO - Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on Thursday acknowledged the immense contribution by Pakistan in the fight against terrorism and its important role in bringing stability to Afghanistan.Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, who called on the Japanese prime minister during her first bilateral visit to Japan, briefed him on the recent developments at the Chicago summit and ...

Diplomacy in Pakistan a demanding job: Munter

Online — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

ISLAMABAD - US Ambassador to Pakistan, Cameron Munter has termed the practice of diplomacy in Pakistan as the most demanding job stating that he was tired of the fast Pakistani media. Talking to a private TV channel, Cameron Munter said he would leave Pakistan within two months, prior to the completion of his tenure, as Pakistani media was very fast and it had made him feel ...

Shakirullah Jan acting CJ

Online — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

ISLAMABAD - Justice Shakirullah Jan has been appointed as acting Chief Justice of Pakistan as CJ Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry would leave for England on May 28 to receive international jurist award.

US bashes ‘biggest democracy’ for human rights abuses

Special Correspondent — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

WASHINGTON - The United States has come down hard on India’s poor human rights record, a country it often hails as the world’s largest democracy, by documenting numerous instance of grave abuses by Indian security forces, especially in the occupied Kashmir.“The most significant human rights problems were police and security force abuses, including extrajudicial killings, ...

US Senate panel blocks Pak mily aid

Reuters — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

WASHINGTON – Expressing frustration over the ties with Islamabad, a US panel moved on Thursday to block certain military aid payments to Pakistan until the defence secretary could certify Islamabad had reopened supply lines to Afghanistan and released a doctor Shakeel Afridi imprisoned for 33 years for helping the CIA locate Osama bin Laden."Our goal is to have good relationships ...

Hollande defends French exit from Afghanistan

AFP — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

KABUL - President Francois Hollande on Friday defended France's imminent exit from Afghanistan, saying 2,000 combat troops will leave in a coordinated withdrawal this year but vowing not to abandon the country.Hollande met French soldiers deployed in the volatile province of Kapisa and held talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai on his first visit to the country where French troops ...

Lawyers to file appeal against Dr Afridi’s conviction

AFP — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

PESHAWAR - Lawyers said Friday they would appeal the conviction for treason handed down by a tribal court to surgeon Shakeel Afridi recruited by US intelligence to help find Osama bin Laden.Afridi ran a fake vaccination programme designed to collect bin Laden family DNA from the compound in the town of Abbottabad, where the Qaeda leader was shot dead in a US raid in May 2011."We have ...

US envoy, former AJK PM discuss issues

Our Staff Reporter — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

ISLAMABAD - The US Deputy Ambassador, Richard Hoagland held a detailed meeting with former Azad Jammu and Kashmir Prime Minister and central leader of Pakistan People's Party AJK chapter Barrister Sultan Mehmood Chaudhary at his residence.According to a statement, during the detailed meeting, the resolution of Kashmir issue was discussed in the backdrop of current security situation in the South ...

10 dead as bus overturns

The Nation Monitoring — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

RAHIM YAR KHAN - About 10 passengers were killed while 25 hurt in a traffic mishap in Zafarabad on Friday.The incident happened on the National Highway when a speeding bus heading to Karachi from Fort Abbas overturned near Zafarabad. Initial reports revealed that the passenger coach overturned as the driver tried to avoid hitting a cyclist. As a result, ten people lost lives on the ...

Khuhro praises Fehmida’s ruling

Our Staff Reporter — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

KARACHI - Speaker Sindh Assembly Nisar Ahmed Khuhro has praised the Speaker National Assembly Dr. Fehmida Mirza for her ruling through which she had declared the charges against the Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani could not constitute grounds for his disqualification. Addressing a press conference at the committee room of Sindh Assembly on Friday, Speaker Sindh Assembly came down ...

Transporters demand action against bus attackers

Our Staff Reporter — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

KARACHI -Intercity public transporters on Friday blocked the MA Jinnah Road, protesting against the Nawabshah incident in which eight innocent passengers were gunned down and 16 others injured by armed attackers. The Sindh Air-Conditioned Bus Owner Association (SACBOA) held a protest and blocked the road in protest against the brutal killings. The transporters parked their vehicles on the ...

2 weekly offs: KU can save millions

Syed Jafar Aksari — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

KARACHI - By observing two-day weekly holidays (Saturday and Sunday) Karachi University (KU) will save Rs 72 millions annually on the daily expenditures, while one month delay in the implementation of two day weekly holiday notification may cause millions of rupees loss to the KU administration, The Nation has learned.A recent meeting of the Academic Council of University of Karachi, under the ...

MQM flays attack on Kohat-bound bus

Our Staff Reporter — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

KARACHI - The Muttahida Quami Movement Coordination Committee on Friday strongly condemned the firing on a Kohat-bound passenger bus in Qazi Ahmed town near Nawabshah. The committee expressed grief over the deaths in the attack, and termed the attack an act of barbarism. The committee warned that some elements in Sindh were conspiring to spark violence by creating acrimonies and ...

E-licence system across Sindh this month

Our Staff Reporter — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

KARACHI – Sindh Minister for Information Technology Muhammad Raza Haroon announced on Friday that an electronic driving licence system was being launched this month across the province. During a visit to a driving licence office branch in Korangi, the minister said this e-licence system was a part of the e-policing project that would be handed over to police by the next ...

Two new dengue cases surface up

Our Staff Reporter — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

KARACHI - Two more dengue cases were reported in the city on Friday, taking the tally to 50. In a statement, the Sindh Dengue Surveillance confirmed that two confirmed cases of dengue had surfaced in the city. Of a total 52 reported dengue cases, 50 have tested positive for the dengue virus.

PPP symbol of federation: Qaim

APP — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

KARACHI - Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is the only party that is a symbol of federation and also a source of strength for the federating units.This was stated by Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, who is also the provincial chief of the PPP. He was addressing the executive committee of the PPP Karachi Division at the CM House here on Thursday night.The meeting was attended by Taj Haider, ...

SA body for law against jirga-imposed marriages

Ramzan Chandio — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

KARACHI - The Sindh Assembly’s Standing Committee on Law, Parliamentary Affairs & Human Rights on Friday recommended to the government enact a law against the abhorrent custom of forced or compensation marriages, legitimised by tribal jirgas (to settle feuds).In its last session, the Sindh Assembly had, while referring a resolution tabled by PPP’s Humera Alwani to the committee, ...

Sindh’s case presented in befitting manner: CM’s spokesman

Our Staff Reporter — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

KARACHI - Spokesman for the chief minister said on Friday that Qaim Ali Shah presented the case of Sindh in a befitting manner in the National Economic Council meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. He said the chief minister highlighted the issues, problems, bottlenecks and hindrances in an effective way that was appreciated even by the premier. The spokesman further said ...

6 gangsters apprehended from Lyari

Our Staff Reporter — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

KARACHI - Six gangsters were apprehended from Lyari by the Sindh Rangers on Friday. According to sources, the arrested men belonged to the banned People’s Amn Committee. Six hand grenades, two kalashnikovs, five pistols, 950 bullets and a significant quantity of narcotics were seized from them. Hakim, Ameer Hamza, Murad Baloch, Waqar Pathan, Muzammil and Haider were being questioned by ...

9-month-old child abducted from NICH

Our Staff Reporter — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

karachi - A 9-month-old infant was kidnapped from the National Institute of Child Health on Friday. A burqa-clad woman took captive the nine-month-old infant from his 11-year-brother. The kidnapper deceived the boy and took the baby away. Police have registered a case against the unidentified abductor.dcc

Five fall prey to violence

Our Staff Reporter — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

KARACHI - Five people, including an activist of the Awami National Party, were gunned down in different incidents of violence on Friday.A vegetable vendor, Abdul Shakoor, was gunned down in Korangi industrial area. Police officials said unidentified gunmen, riding a motorbike, opened fire on him and fled. The body was shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for ...

Doctors vow to fight for rights

Our Staff Reporter — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

KARACHI - The Pakistan Medical Association Sindh chapter and Sindh Doctors Action Committee (SDAC) met at the Civil Hospital Friday.The meeting expressed concern over the unprecedented delay in posting orders of the doctors promoted from BPS 18 to BPS 19. The notification was issued in March and if the posting orders are not issued till May 31, the benefits will lost, it was observed in the ...

AKU awareness event on World No Tobacco Day

Our Staff Reporter — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

KARACHI – The Aga Khan University is organising a public health awareness event on May 31 on the occasion of World No Tobacco Day, the global theme for which is Tobacco Industry Interference. Experts will give presentations about health consequences of tobacco use, smoking cessation, tobacco control laws and their implementation, and tobacco industry tactics in promoting tobacco use. ...

NED body for amendments to admission policy

APP — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

KARACHI – The Academic Council of the NED University of Engineering and Technology Karachi which met here with its Vice-Chancellor, Engr. Abul Kalam, in the chair proposed some amendments in the institution’s admission policy.If approved by the NED University’s Syndicate the proposed amendments would be effective from January next year. The Registrar, Javed Aziz Khan, said ...

Scouts participate in Pak-India friendship camp

Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

KARACHI (PR) - PIA scouts contingent participated in Pakistan & Indian integration friendship camp in Sumbal Park, Islamabad. Provincial Secretary Malik Ajmal Khan was contingent leader. Deputy Chief Commission Pakistan scouts Mr Shahnawaz Rehman and Senior Assistant Provisional Commissioner PIA scouts Muhammad Shoiab Khan specially visited the opening ceremony. Pak Indian combine Youth ...

Special Children awarded

APP — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

KARACHI - Special children have created exemplary art works in AFYL greeting cards designing competition 2011 which was recently held in the city to promote creativity among the mentally challenged kids.Twenty art works were selected by the jury headed by a renowned art personality of the country Riffat Alvi, Director V. M. Art Gallery and faculty members. Students of IBP and KVTC were ...

Same procedure, different provisions

Sikander Shaheen — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

ISLAMABAD - The Election Commission of Pakistan is to proceed for de-seating Farah Nawaz Ispahani, upon the arrival of Supreme Court’s final judgement, following same legal course but different Constitutional provisions it is to follow on the probable disqualification of the Prime Minister. The Supreme Court on Friday suspended the Parliamentary membership, till the court’s final ...

NA Speaker acted in accordance with Constitution

APP — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

KARACHI – Special Assistant to Chief Minister Mian Raza Rabbani said Thursday that Speaker National Assembly Dr Fehmida Mirza acted in accordance with the Constitution by using her privilege.Giving his comments on the ruling of NA Speaker not to send the reference against Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to the Election Commission of Pakistan, he said that Parliament as well as the ...

FIA gets yet another boss

Imran Mukhtar — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

ISLAMABAD – In a delayed but much expected move, the government Friday removed Muhammad Javed Iqbal, the director general (DG) of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), from his post and appointed Fayyaz Ahmad Leghari as the new chief of the country’s key investigation agency. Earlier, Leghari was working as the Sindh Police IG till his removal till on June 13 last year. The ...

Wassan goes on extended leave

Online — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

KARACHI - Interior Minister of Sindh, Manzoor Wasan, has requested the Sindh government for extending his leave. According to a private TV channel, he flew abroad on a one-month long leave that started from April 25. Now, he has asked for prolonging his leave for another 15 days, sources said. Meanwhile, Manzoor Wasan’s close relative and SSP Thatta, Muhammad Ali Wasan has ...

Musharraf refutes Bilawal’s allegations

Online — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

KARACHI – Former president Pervez Musharraf on Friday rejected allegations against him after the son of slain Pakistan leader Benazir Bhutto said that ex-military ruler “murdered my mother”.Musharraf said that the killers of BB are included in the government but the government itself is not serious to catch them. He said that the federal and Punjab government is corrupt. ...

Nisar forwards three names to Committee for appointing as CEC

Our Staff Reporter — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

ISLAMABAD - Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly Ch.Nisar Ali Khan on Friday forwarded three names including Justice (Retd) Nasir Aslam Zahid, Justice (Retd) Fakhuruddin G.Ibrahim and Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan to Parliamentary Committee for consideration and confirmation of any one name as CEC. Ch.Nisar in his letter to Syed Khurshed Shah Chairman Parliamentary Committee on ...

Zardari rings Fehmida, lauds ‘brave decision’

INP — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

KARACHI : President Asif Ali Zardari has lauded National Assembly Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza for her ruling to back Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, calling it a ‘brave decision’. According to sources, Zardari telephoned her, saying that her decision would “help strengthen democracy in the country”.

PM takes notice of faulty dialysis machines

NNI — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

ISLAMABAD : PM takes notice of faulty dialysis machines ISLAMABAD (NNI) - Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani on Friday took notice of reports regarding out of order dialysis machines at Nishtar Medical Hospital Multan. He has directed the hospital management to look into the matter and immediately make the services operational for the dialysis patients.

Four die as electric wire falls on truck

Our Staff Reporter — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

QUETTA - At least four people including a woman of the same family were killed and over three dozen others sustained injuries when 11Kv line of electricity fell on a truck in Chatti area of Kalat district on Friday, some 160 kilometres southeast of Quetta. According to the Balochistan Levies, a truck carrying several people from Ratodero in Sindh was on its way to Quetta when came 11kv line of ...

Another BRSP kidnapped employee killed

Bari Baloch — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

QUETTA - Taliban kidnappers killed another abducted employee of Balochistan Rural Support Programme (BRSP) after not being paid ransom money. Six employees of BRSP were kidnapped by a group of armed men from Barshore area of Pishin district, about 70-kilometer away from Quetta, on December 13th, 2011 and they were shifted to Waziristan. The kidnapped BRSP employees included Bashir Ahmed, Abdul ...

Gen Kayani lauds strong Pak-UAE ties

Online — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

RAWALPINDI - Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has thanked the UAE Ambassador for the generous assistance and efforts to cement the abiding friendship between the people of the two countries. He expressed these views during his visit to Barrikot, Swat on Friday to inaugurate Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Bridge. The bridge which connects 15 towns and 45 ...

PML-N mulls strategy after Speaker’s ruling

Sajid Zia — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

LAHORE - PML-N is holding hectic consultations and mulling over a strategy after the Speaker ruled out disqualification of Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani as member of the National Assembly on the basis of which he is holding the office. With PML-N President Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif in the chair, the party high command met in Islamabad on Friday to work out the strategy after ...

Speaker’s ruling illegal, says Nasira

Our Staff Reporter — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

LAHORE - Former judge of the Lahore High Court Nasira Javed Iqbal is of the opinion that National Assembly Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza, while giving her decision on Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s conviction by the Supreme Court, has acted illegally, in a partisan manner, and is also guilty of contempt of court. “A plain reading of Article 63 (1) (g) shows that the speaker’s ...

Ijaz Shah interviewed by OBL panel

Maqbool Malik — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

ISLAMABAD - JAVAID-UR-RAHMAN - The inquiry commission on the Abbottabad operation Friday held interactive session with Brig (r) Ijaz Shah, whereas the expected statement of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani is still awaited. Referring to Gilani’s delayed statement, a senior member of the panel told TheNation that the interactive sessions with other important persons had already been ...

PPP, allies back Fehmida’s decision

Maqbool Malik — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

ISLAMABAD - While the ruling PPP and its allied parties have supported decision of National Assembly Speaker, Dr Fehmida Mirza about disqualification of PM Gilani as MNA, the main opposition party PML-N is engaged in finalising its counter-response. Well-placed parliamentary sources told TheNation on Friday that despite serious intra-coalition differences, PPP’s allied parties including ...