National

NEWS ANALYSIS
The Supreme Court did not strike down any articles or clauses of the 18th constitutional amendment and without disposing of the petitions, adjourned the case till January 2011, referring Article 175A, which relates to the appointment of the judges to the parliament for a review under the guidelines given by the top court.
In its interim order which, according to senior lawyer Hafeez Pirzada can also be called a judgment, the Supreme Court only discussed

ISLAMABAD
Pakistan has asked the World Bank (WB) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to provide $3 billion in additional financing instead of diverting the funding by reprioritising the existing projects for the country, State Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar said on Thursday.
Addressing a press conference, the minister said that project loans already approved by both institutions were in the pipeline and their reprioritisation could affect the

ISLAMABAD
Pakistan on Thursday played down the US demand for a military offensive against militants in the tribal North Waziristan Agency, saying any decision on the vital issue would be taken keeping in view the country's own interests.
Addressing a weekly press briefing, Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said, "We have our own strategy to deal with militancy and terrorism and will do whatever will in our own national interest."
Asked about the US demands for a

WASHINGTON
The US on Wednesday told Islamabad that "existential threat to Pakistan is not India, the existential threat to Pakistan involves extremism within its own borders".
It also said Pakistan, India and Iran could play a "constructive role" in a regional solution to Afghanistan. "We have made no secret of the fact that we've told Pakistan clearly that we believe that the existential threat to Pakistan is not India, the existential threat to Pakistan involves extremism

KARACHI
The Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) on Thursday decided that no military operation would be carried out in the Karachi city to control the recent spate of violence, after Online news service reported earlier in the day that the president and the prime minister had decided in principle to give a green signal to a selective offensive in Karachi to control the spiraling violence that has so far killed over 100 people.
Online quoted

LAHORE
The United States and Pakistan have informally discussed the possibilities of a civil nuclear deal, US Special Envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke said on Thursday, according to TV reports.
Holbrooke said that the meeting of the Pakistani delegation, which is in
Washington for the strategic dialogue with the Obama administration, had a very productive meeting with the US president. The special envoy said the US administration had sought the

ISLAMABAD
A 17-member Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry on Thursday asked parliament to review Article 175A - new mechanism of appointing judges under the 18th Amendment - but stopped short of scrapping the amendment.
"We would like to refer to parliament for reconsideration, the issue of appointment process of judges to the superior courts," said the judgement read out in English by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. The bench however held

PESHAWAR: The livestock, dairy and poultry sectors have suffered a loss of over Rs 7 billion in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
However, the government has not provided any compensation yet. The Ministry of Livestock has completed its preliminary survey, with the support of its district field offices and local administrations in the flood affected areas and has compiled its complete report of both direct and indirect losses to the livestock, dairy and poultry sectors.
The report

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Environment will take up the matter of the allocation of the Houbara Bustard hunting areas to foreigners with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Prime Minister.
A source in the Ministry of Environment told Pakistan Today that for several years the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was allocating Houbara Bustard hunting areas to foreigners, particularly to the sons of Arab royal families, without taking permission from the Provincial Wildlife Department

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has summoned 12 lawmakers, including a federal minister for livestock and dairy development, today (Thursday) before its special committee to defend their positions in the fake degree cases.
An ECP official said that Livestock and Dairy Development Minister Mir Humayun Aziz Kurd had been sent a final notice to appear before the committee. Other parliamentarians summoned include Nasim Nasir Khawaja, Shumaila Rana, Seemal Kamran,

ISLAMABAD: The failure of the government to provide key agricultural inputs on time for flood-affected farmers and rehabilitation of the damaged canal infrastructure pose a major threat to the upcoming Rabi crops, official sources said.
The government estimates to achieve 24 million tonnes of wheat production next year. However, agriculture experts fear a massive decline in production, between 18 to 20 million tonnes against an annual wheat demand of 22 million.
The farmers

ISLAMABAD: The tax returns of former president Pervez Musharraf could not go public on Wednesday due to the legal controversy over handing and taking over of the record between the officials of Federal Board of Revenue and the Auditor General at the Public Accounts Committee meeting.
The legal row between FBR and AGP high-ups enraged PAC member Khawaja Asif who walked out of the meeting, saying the former president was calling shots from London and the officials of FBR and AGP

LAHORE: The declining prospects of the Kisan Supplies Services (KSS), a failed financial venture initiated by the Jamaat-e-Islami, has put question marks over the credibility of the JI leadership, which is battling hard to contain damages and even get rid of the whole project that ruined the financial lives of many stakeholders.
About 15 years ago, JI initiated a business venture in the name of "Kisan Supplies Services". The project was started with an initial paid-up capital of

QUETTA: The Baloch Student Organisation-Azad (BSO-A) announced to 'conditionally' end its three-day long boycott of local and national dailies on Wednesday evening after receiving assurances from the Balochistan Editor Council and representatives of news channels that the province's issues will be highlighted in their papers and convey their grievances to their respective headquarters.
The Quetta Press Club (QPC) facilitated the meeting between BSO-A spokesman Salam Sabir and

PESHAWAR: Four people, including three security personnel, were killed and seaveral others injured when militants attacked a security convoy in Khyber Agency on Wednesday.
The convoy, which was on way to Fort Saloop, was attacked in Qambar Khel town using an improvised explosive devise (IED). Three security officials were killed and another three injured.
The bodies and the injured were taken to Combined Military Hospital Peshawar. Little before the attack, a militant

LAHORE: Former president Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday said he did not see a political party or a leader in Pakistan to be able to tackle the problems that Pakistan is facing.
In an interview with the Houston Chronicle, Musharraf said, "I do need financial support, and I would ask the American Pakistani diaspora to support me ... because I see darkness in Pakistan."
He hopes to retake the country's leadership, and he is actively campaigning - in Texas. Musharraf has a set of

ISLAMABAD: One will hardly find many in Pakistan who spent 40 years in mainstream politics, held important positions and are still remembered as honest, visionary and above all men of integrity.
Born in Choti Zereen, a village of Dera Ghazi Khan district, on May 29, 1940, during the British Raj, Sardar Farooq Leghari breathed his last on October 20 after suffering a cardiac arrest. He belonged to a political family that had been active on the political scene of the sub-continent