Tag: Govt

LAHORE - Justice Nasir Saeed of the Lahore High Court Thursday, hearing a petition against possible grant of the presidential pardon to blasphemy convict Aasia bibi, reproached Deputy Attorney General Nasim Kashmiri for hiding facts from the court regarding the government's plan on the issue.
The judge was hearing four identical petitions filed by Shahid Iqbal, Nasir Rasool and others seeking the court's orders for stopping the government from granting the presidential pardon to

ISLAMABAD - The government and the opposition on Thursday expressed unity to protect national sovereignty and pledged that no foreign power would be allowed to dictate Pakistan.
"It is a wrong perception that the US would dictate us when and where to launch operation... the nation will take a decision on this issue... the government will not compromise on national security and integrity," Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said in the National Assembly while responding to a point

ISLAMABAD - In a bid to keep the JUI-F engaged, the government is following a stick-and-carrot policy to pull the party back into the coalition government.
"On one hand, the government has given a green signal to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to move against former housing minister Rehmatullah Kakar to put pressure on the JUI-F, while on the other, no step has been taken to accept the resignations filed by JUI ministers Attaur Rehman and Rehmatullah Kakar," a source

ISLAMABAD - Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-F chief Fazlur Rehman criticized the government policy over the Islamic laws, and said that the government posed serious threat to sharia, a private TV channel reported on Thursday.
Giving his remarks at the National Assembly, the JUI-F chief said that the decisions today were being made on foreign pressure. Fazl said that his party joined the government for the Islamic legislation, and all including President Asif Ali Zardari assured of the

BAGHDAD: Iraq's new cabinet held its first meeting on Wednesday, a day after a parliamentary vote ended months of political deadlock, but now must address the public's real concerns -- security and services.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki "met this morning with his ministers to tell them that his three top priorities are security, public services, especially electricity, and relations with neighbouring countries," Ali Moussawi, an adviser to Maliki, told AFP.
In separate

ISLAMABAD: The issue of leakage of over 3000 tonnes of hazardous chemicals from underground stores during recent floods, raised by United Nations and in a press report, is now going to be investigated by the Ministry of Environment.
A preliminary report containing the UN findings as well as clippings of the press report has already been handed over to the prime minister's office. UN findings were presented at the climate moot held in Cancun, Mexico last month, and revealed that

KARACHI: The Sindh government has allocated lands in different divisions of provincial headquarters, including Karachi, for allotment of plots to the families of army officers and government servants who died in the war against terror.
Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah has recently approved a summary for earmarking 300 acres of land in Karachi and 100 acres in each divisional headquarter for the families of martyrs.
In pursuance of the decision, the provincial government

ISLAMABAD: The government has put on hold the increase due in power tariff and petroleum prices as it has received intelligence reports suggesting that the increase might spark countrywide protests.
A source told Pakistan Today that the intelligence agencies had told the government that further increase in power and petroleum prices would lead to protests, which could worsen the law and order situation across the country.
"The increase in tariff has been put on hold for the

ISLAMABAD: In what seems to be a pre-emptive attempt to block the possible alliance of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) for overthrowing the Balochistan government, a threatened and perturbed Balochistan Chief Minister Aslam Raisani on Tuesday rushed to meet JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman.
Fazl, however, assured Raisani that he had no such plans and did not want to form a coalition with the PML-Q in Balochistan. "Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain

LAHORE: A concerted effort on the government and political parties' part can bring Dr Aafia Siddiqui back, International Justice Network Executive Director Tina Foster, the attorney representing Aafia's family, said in a press conference at the Lahore Press Club on Tuesday. She said US administration will have to listen since they had arrested her in Pakistan and had deported her illegally.
The US did not have the right to imprison her thousands of miles away from her family and

LAHORE: Former Federal Minister for Industries, Production and Special Initiatives Jahangir Khan Tareen while talking to a select group of journalists on Tuesday has said that political policies are not a threat to the present government but bad management of the economy could hit it hard. He believed that the current political system was stable enough but the way present rulers were handling the economy was creating a potential threat. He predicted that inflation could rise by 20

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) are in the process of evolving a strategy on how to take over Balochistan by overthrowing the Pakistan People's Party-led government, Pakistan Today has learnt.
According to a PML-Q source, PML-Q President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, in his recent meetings with JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman, proposed the latter to form a coalition government in Balochistan.
Majority: "Chaudhry Shujaat told

LAHORE - The Punjab government is urging killing of blasphemy convict Aasia Bibi before more developments occurred in the issue, participants of the All Christian Parties Conference led by Pakistan Christian Democratic Alliance Chairman Bishop Yaqoob Paul said on Sunday.
Around 25 Christian parties participated in the conference. The conference demanded immediate repeal of Section 295-B and C of blasphemy laws, as these laws did not apply on minorities. The conference also agreed

ISLAMABAD - The PPP-led government on Saturday continued its efforts to patch up with the JUI-F, as Interior Minister Rehman Malik and ANP President Asfandyar Wali separately called on Fazlur Rehman to convince him to rejoin the government.
A JUI-F source told Pakistan Today that Fazl politely said no to both of them. He said both leaders listened to the JUI-F's apprehensions and concerns and assured the party that it would be redressed at the earliest. The source said instead of

ISLAMABAD - With the government's efforts to woo JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman failing, President Asif Ali Zardari took the initiative himself and met Fazl after seeing off Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao at the Presidency on Saturday.
However, according to private TV channels there was no breakthrough in the two-hour-long meeting as Fazl continued to stick to his stance. After the Chinese PM left, President Zardari reportedly asked Fazl to stay back for a meeting, apparently to

LAHORE - The Aashiyana Housing Project (AHP), backed by the Punjab government, is all set to turn into a housing scam, as mystery prevails over the procedures for the project despite the announcement of its inauguration.
As yet, there has been no notification about the project, land acquisition, land transfer, the number of plots and expression of interest for the development of the infrastructure of the AHP. The Punjab government announced the scheme with high-profile publicity

BAGHDAD - Hussain al-Shahristani will be reappointed Iraqi oil minister when a new cabinet is unveiled on Monday, senior officials said, keeping in place the architect of plans to turn Iraq into a top global oil producer.
Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari, a Kurd, also will remain at his post but a final selection of a new finance minister had not yet been made, sources close to Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said.
Shahristani, a Shi'ite, led the oil ministry as it