Tag: Issue

GENEVA - The US could play a key role in allaying Pakistan's fears about India by getting involved in a solution to the Kashmir dispute, a senior Pakistani diplomat said on Friday. Pakistan's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Zamir Akram, said attempts by India and Pakistan to negotiate a settlement were derailed after 2006 by Hindu or Muslim "extremist" groups in each country.
"Unfortunately the momentum has been lost," he told journalists. When asked what single

LAHORE - The proxy attendance issue remained the hot topic during the Punjab Assembly (PA) session on Friday, as Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Member of the Punjab Assembly (MPA) Sanaullah Mastikhel exchanged hot words with Unification Bloc Member Sheikh Allauddin over the issue.
The heated arguments created a tense situation in the assembly, as PA Speaker Rana Iqbal's ruling was violated thrice but both the treasury and opposition benches did not notice it. The speaker

LAHORE - MPAs' attendance issue in the Punjab Assembly remained hot in the assembly's session on Thursday. Majority of the members, during the full day proceedings, declared it as a 'humiliation' and Sanaullah Masti Khel walked out from the assembly in protest.
Provincial Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Rana Sanaullah Khan on a point of order informed that the matter was brought into Punjab chief minister's notice and he had allowed the purchase of Bio Matrix System to

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 - SM Zafar, lawyer for PCO judge Justice Sayed Zahid Hussain, on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that all objectives could be achieved through the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) under Article 209, thus the court should not have issued contempt of court notices to PCO judges, adding that the constitution scheme should be respected. He said in the United Kingdom, contempt of court notices be issued to subordinate judges, not to superior courts' judges.
Zafar said in the

KARACHI - The government has not decided to amend the blasphemy law; some parties are politicising the issue for their vested interests, Federal Religious Affairs Minister Khursheed Ahmed Shah said on Thursday.
Speaking at a press conference at the Pakistan People's Party Media Cell, Shah said he was a responsible representative of the government and had already clarified the government's position on the floor of the National Assembly that the government does not intend to bring

KARACHI - The State Bank of Pakistan will start issuing banknotes bearing the signature of SBP Governor Shahid Kardar with effect from January 3, 2011 from the field offices of SBP Banking Services Corporation.
According to an SBP statement, the banknotes bearing signatures of Kardar' predecessors shall continue to remain in circulation as Legal Tender.

KARACHI - President Asif Ali Zardari has said that lawmakers and ministers of the Pakistan People's Party should refrain from issuing hostile statements against coalition partners, and expressed hope that misunderstandings between the partners would soon be resolved.
During his meeting with the ministers, advisers and the lawmakers at the Bilawal House, and later talking to Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, President Zardari said reservations expressed by the MQM were being

KARACHI: Pakistan's exports to Greece have fallen by 10 percent during the last eight months, while a further decline is expected due to, what the sources call, the unresolved issue of 'double taxation' in shipping and air transport links with Athens.
Beside the taxation issue, the decrease in Greek demand for consumer goods is another reason for the decline in import from Pakistan, sources told Pakistan Today.
According to sources, Pakistan has serious reservations of

KARACHI: Founder-Editor of Pakistan Today Arif Nizami has said he will raise the issue of jobs quota for the sons and daughters of hawkers in the media organisations in the country.
"I will raise this issue through articles and my influence to provide quota of jobs for the sons and daughters of the hawkers," Arif Nizami said in a meeting with the representatives of the hawkers association in Karachi.
The meeting had been arranged to brief the representatives of the hawkers

KARACHI: The unwillingness by Pakistani banks to accepting letters of credit (LC) of Iranian banks is badly hurting Pakistani exports to the neighboring country.
Local banks are refusing to accept LCs of even those Iranian banks which do not fall under United Nations (UN) or United States sanctions, sources told Pakistan Today on Tuesday.
According to sources, the UN and the US have imposed a ban on five major banks as part of a sanctions regime on Iran for alleged illicit

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board has issued stern directives to the national team and team management to refrain from making comments on the scandalous issue of match-fixing.
It has been learnt the PCB clearly directed team manager Intikhab ALam, coach Waqar Younis and captain Shahid Afridi not to talk on the issue and if there was a question posed before them they should avoid commenting on the subject. Pakistan has been at the centre of attention in the cricketing world

LAHORE: Injustice against teachers would not be tolerated and the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) would table a bill on the board of governors (BoG) issue and police torture of teachers and students in the Senate, PML-Q President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain said on Monday. He made these remarks while talking to journalists after meeting a delegation of the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of teachers and students. He said that the Punjab government had no respect for the teaching

LAHORE: As the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) are criticising the Punjab government for introducing the board of governors (BoG) and teachers and students are protesting on roads, the future of introducing four-year BS Hons programmes in 26 public-sector colleges of Punjab remains a big challenge for the besieged Punjab government, Pakistan Today has learnt.
As a last ditch effort to calm down the protesting teachers and students who

KARACHI: Sindh Chief Secretary Ghulam Ali Shah Pasha and Sindh Rehabilitation Minister Haji Muzaffar Ali Shujra on Sunday jointly presided a meeting to review the task of issuing Watan Cards to the flood survivors.
In the meeting, database processing was discussed. It was decided that the vacancies of mukhtiarkars would be filled in accordance with the rules and regulations with the view to expedite the task of distributing Watan Cards to the genuine flood survivors.
It was

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q) President Senator Chaudhry Shujaat Hussian has announced that PML-Q will raise the issue of the missing Ali Ayaz Fakhri, son of the prominent artist Jameel Fakhri, in the senate while talking to reporters at Jameel Fakhri's residence.
He urged the government to take immediate measures for the recovery of Ali Ayaz, who has been missing in the United States for 20 months, and suggested that Pakistani Ambassador in the US Hussian Haqani needed

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Monday directed federal government to raise at international forums the issue of hosting blasphemous material against prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and Holy Quran on Facebook and other websites. Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry passed the instructions directing ministry of foreign affairs and ministry of information technology to submit a detailed report till next date of hearing about the steps taken to stop display of derogatory contents against Islam on