Tag: Govt

SINGAPORE - Pakistan has resumed wheat exports for the first time in three years, selling cargoes to Bangladesh and Myanmar and more deals are likely as the nation takes advantage of rising global prices and surplus stocks at home, following last year's bumper harvest. The deals come as fears of global food inflation grow, with devastating floods damaging crops in Australia, forecasts of US corn inventories sliding to uncomfortable levels and dry weather hampering production in

ISLAMABAD - In compliance with the directions of the Supreme Court, the government has decided in principle to formulate a legislation to ensure that any person arrested by intelligence agencies is detained under the law. The government has also decided to establish a tribunal to deal with the cases of missing persons.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Thursday chaired a meeting at the Ministry of Interior to discuss the implementation of the recommendations contained in the

LAHORE - Vegetable exporters have not received a great deal of relief from the federal government, as Islamabad has only allowed the export of onion with contracts settled before January 4. A six-member delegation of vegetable exporters and traders has left for Islamabad to voice their demands.
Lahore Anjumane-e-Arthian (a vegetable traders' body) President Chaudhry Muhammad Ejaz told Pakistan Today that the federal government had allowed the export of onions, which had been

BEIRUT - Lebanon was plunged into political turmoil on Thursday as a caretaker government stepped in after Hezbollah ministers and their allies quit over a probe into the murder of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri. The hard-won unity government of Prime Minister Saad Hariri -- son of the slain leader -- collapsed on Wednesday after months of wrangling between the premier and the militant group Hezbollah over the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon. The move thrust the country into its worst

karachi - All Pakistan Newspaper Society expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani for accepting its requests in a meeting in Islamabad. Hameed Haroon, President APNS had told the PM that APNS was going to establish an office in Karachi and needed Rs 50 million from the government, also requesting the PM to lay the foundation stone of the building. PM agreed to both these requests and said the amount will be paid in two installments. The APNS delegation also asked the

ISLAMABAD - The government has decided to settle the issue of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) imports within the current month, Pakistan Today has learnt.
If the present proposal of awarding tender to the already selected bidder for short term supplies was not approved, a fresh bidding process would be initiated immediately, official sources told the paper.
It has been decided that if the Economic Coordination Committee of the cabinet failed to evolve a consensus on the

ISLAMABAD - The Austrian oil and gas giant OMV has informed the government about the completion of its deal to takeover the Malaysian state owned oil and gas company, Petronas's exploration and production operations in Pakistan.
According to official sources, OMV General Manager Dr Elmar Colins furnished this information to the Petroleum Minister Syed Naveed Qamar during a meeting on Wednesday.
Pakistan has serious reservations over the exit of Petronas, as its public

KARACHI - The federal government has borrowed Rs 240 billion from the scheduled banks in order to meet budgetary expenditures from July 2010 to Jan 1, 2011 and escape public criticism.
Total budgetary borrowings of the federal government aggregated to Rs 408 billion, Rs 168 billion from the State Bank of Pakistan and Rs 240 billion from the scheduled banks, Pakistan Today learnt on Tuesday.
The federal government has basically changed the mode of borrowings and switched to

KARACHI - The Sindh government has established a new cell to take over the responsibilities of the public-private partnership unit being run by the Finance Department after failing to ensure that development schemes are properly implemented
The main objective of establishing the new cell is to achieve the goals, which the government had set, sources told Pakistan Today.
A few months ago, Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah had directed the additional chief secretary

LAHORE - Pakistan People's Party's Senior Minister Raja Riaz has said that PPP will not initiate any step that can destabilise the coalition government in the province. While talking to the journalists along with visiting ministers from Khyber Pakhtunkhwah here on Monday, at the slain governor's grave, Punjab Senior Minister said that his party would take every action in national interest and he added that PPP's leadership had ordered to stop any act that could destabilise the Punjab

KARACHI - The fast-expanding Takaful industry, which has proved to be an engine of growth in Islamic countries like Malaysia, appears to be a long neglected sector in Pakistan.
Whereas some 40 to 42 conventional insurance firms are faced with a negative growth given the ongoing economic recession and its indirect trickle-down effect on the insurance sector, the Islamic insurance industry is growing in Pakistan so rapidly that Pak-Qatar Family Takaful (PQFT) has exhibited a growth

LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Sunday said his government had written a letter to the federal government seeking a judicial inquiry into the Governor Salmaan Taseer's assassination. He said he hoped that the federal government would approach Islamabad High Court for formation of a commission.
He was talking to reporters after visiting an under-construction forensic lab near Thokar Niaz Beg. He said the family of Salman Taseer would be provided complete security.

ISLAMABAD - As the deadline by PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif approaches expiration, the PPP leadership is still undecided over whether to respond to the charter of demands and how.
The party has decided to keep mum over the issue for the time being and would respond to the PML-N's charter of demands after the deadline of January 10. "First, the government is so far undecided whether or not to respond to the issue. And if the government has to respond, should it be in an affirmative or

LAHORE - The cash-stripped Punjab government, already facing an overdraft of more than Rs 22 billion, is passing on its financial brunt to contractors, even the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO), engaged in the Lahore Road Rehabilitation Programme (LRRP) Phase II since 2008, Pakistan Today has learnt. CM's Secretariat sources told Pakistan Today that with advent of 2011, the Punjab government assured all contractors including the FWO to improve their payments system for development

ISLAMABAD - Lawmakers on Thursday advised the government to handle the blasphemy law issue with great care and prudence, as an immature decision could translate into a religio-political turmoil in the country, giving religious fanaticism a new lease of life.
Akram Masih Gill of the PML-Q said the blasphemy law was being misused and needed certain amendments. He asked parliament and the judiciary to play their role in this regard, failing to which would result in loss of identity

ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Thursday announced the withdrawal of the recent increase in petroleum prices, reverting them to the values as on December 31.
Following the reversion, petrol will be sold at Rs 72.96 per litre, HOBC at Rs 86.67 per litre, HSD Rs 78.33 per litre, and Kerosene Oil at Rs 70.95 per litre.
This was the second successive retreat by the lame duck government on economic issues due to immense pressure by its coalition partners and

KARACHI - The imposition of a ban on the export of onions to India through land route will help to lower the domestic prices of the commodity. Welcoming the decision, the office bearers of All Pakistan Fruit and Vegetable Exports, Imports and Merchants Association (PFVA), have said that the unchecked export of onion through the Wagha border was causing the price hike in the domestic markets.
Speaking to Pakistan Today PFVA former Chairman Waheed Ahmed revealed that soon after the