Tag: Minister

LAHORE - Engr. Shaukat Ullah, Federal Minister for Sports, has said that the exit of the national team from the cricket World Cup at the semi-final stage should not dampen the hopes and spirits of the nation, as victory and defeat are part of the game. The minister was of the view that the team showed a commendable performance during the past one and half month and won accolades from the analysts and spectators from all over the world.
He said that Pakistani team topped its

KARACHI - Sindh Home Minister Dr Zulfiqar Mirza has ordered the IGP to investigate the reasons for the fire that destroyed the shops located in the historic Empress Market in Saddar area on Sunday.
He asked the IGP to form an investigative team to look into the reasons behind the fire, which engulfed over hundred shops. The minister also directed the IGP to figure out ways - in consultation with the city government - to provide the affected shopkeepers alternative places to run

ISLAMABAD - It took the PPP government three years to seek judicial review of the PPP founding chairman Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's case, although in his first address to parliament, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani had promised to bring a parliamentary resolution on the issue. In his first speech to the National Assembly after being elected unanimously, Prime Minister Gilani had asked the assembly to pass a resolution condemning Zulfikar's "judicial murder" - a rhetoric which was yet to

KARACHI - Sindh Home Minister Dr Zulfiqar Ali Mirza has given formal approval for bringing reforms in the policing system through a public-private partnership. An official statement on Monday said that Mirza has asked Home Affairs Consultant Sharfuddin Memon to convene a joint meeting with the Karachi Capital City Police officer (CCPO) and a non-governmental organisation (NGO) at the earliest. Mirza observed that the public-private venture is very much in line with the concept of

KARACHI - Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik warned the country's cricket team on Monday that they were being kept under a close scrutiny before Wednesday's World Cup semi-final against India because of the recent spot-fixing scandal.
"We are taking no risks now and we are keeping a close watch on the team for the semi-final because we don't want any more spot-fixing scandals," Malik told reporters.
Three Pakistan players have been banned for a minimum five years each

ISLAMABAD - Interior Secretary Chaudhry Qamar Zaman on Saturday took Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani into confidence on his forthcoming meeting with the Indian counterpart. He called Gilani at Prime Minister's House to seek guidance in connection with his meeting with the Indian counterpart. Proposed agenda of the scheduled meeting between interior secretaries of the two countries was also discussed during the meeting.

FAISALABAD - Punjab Minister for Food, Mines and Minerals Chaudhary Abdul Ghafoor Khan has said that elements involved in the menace of adulteration and hoardings should be dealt with strictly. He said this while talking to journalists at the residence of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz MPA and Parliamentary Secretary Nazia Raheel. He added that import and export policies must be reviewed to overcome the shortage of sugar and other essential commodities that often led to crisis. He said

LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has taken note of the fact that a number of retired officers are using official vehicles without authorisation while a large number of employees i.e. gardeners, drivers and police constables are also serving them. Similarly, the serving officers are using vehicles and services of such employees beyond their entitlement.
Punjab CM has directed that all administrative secretaries, heads of attached departments; autonomous,

LAHORE - Punjab Minorities Affairs, Human Rights and Women's Development Minister Kamran Michael assumed additional charge of the finance, planning and development departments according to a press release issued on Tuesday.

TOKYO - Japan's centre-left government on Wednesday named as its new foreign minister Takeaki Matsumoto, who hails from a powerful political family but faces tricky relations with the US, China and Russia. PM Naoto Kan picked the former banker and great great grandson of Japan's first prime minister because of his "capability, knowledge and to ensure continuity of diplomacy", said Kan's top spokesman Yukio Edano.
Matsumoto, 51, replaces Seiji Maehara, an outspoken security hawk

LAHORE - Aziz Ahmed Bilour, Federal Secretary Sports gave a comprehensive briefing to Engr. Shaukat Ullah, Federal Minister for Sports on Tuesday at Islamabad. The secretary apprised the minister about the working and functions of the Sports Ministry and its attached departments. The briefing included thorough details of the 47 on-going development projects across the country. Director General PSB, senior officers of ministry and PSB were also present during the meeting.
Talking

CAIRO - A new Egyptian interior minister took office on Sunday pledging to restore public confidence in the police a day after protesters stormed several state security buildings. The authorities meanwhile urged the return of documents taken by the protesters when they stormed the buildings in raids on Friday and Saturday, saying it was important they be returned to preserve "national security."
In an acceptance statement carried by the state MENA news agency, Mansur al-Issawi

QUETTA - Environment Provincial Minister Ghulam Jan Baloch from Balochistan National Party-Awami (BNP-A) was sacked from the provincial cabinet on Saturday on the request of the party leadership. Official sources said that the Chief Minister Nawab Muhammad Aslam Raisani took the decision on the request of BNP-A's parliamentary leader Mir Asadullah Baloch who was also agriculture minister. They added that the charge of Environment Ministry was assigned to party 's Social Welfare

KARACHI - The Federal Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh has warned against 'partisanship' on issues critical to national interest, while the government is determined to develop political consensus over "difficult economic decisions" including reformed General Sales Tax (GST) to fulfill its commitment with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He stated that the PPP-led government would opt for "other steps" to mitigate the immense politico-financial pressure, currently faced by

KARACHI - Sindh Food Minister Nadir Magsi may be famous as Karachi's best car racer, but he is also an agriculturalist - albeit one who makes his living by allegedly sowing poppy and guarding the cultivation with all his (mighty) force, Pakistan Today has learnt. Coupled with the fields, a number of factories also operate under the patronage and protection of Magsi - producing refined heroin that sells for millions of rupees in Sindh and Balochistan, well-placed sources in the

KARACHI - Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah approved the summary for merging 44 government departments into 28 on Friday, sources told Pakistan Today.
The Services, General Administration and Coordination Department of the provincial government recently proposed a summary for merging 44 existing administrative departments into 28 new ones to the chief minister. After the "right-sizing" of the federal cabinet, the Sindh government had also decided to shorten the cabinet by

ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Thursday announced that gas load shedding would end by the mid of March, adding that 1,100 megawatts (MW) of electricity were in the pipeline which would be inducted in the main system in the near future.
Talking to a delegation of the Federation of the Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), the prime minister said the government had already inducted more than 1,700 megawatts of additional electricity since coming into