Tag: Set

BRUSSELS - European Union leaders agreed on Thursday to create a permanent financial safety net from 2013 and the European Central Bank moved to increase its firepower to fight the debt crisis that has rocked the euro zone.
But at Germany's insistence, the 27 leaders said the long-term crisis-resolution mechanism, to be added to the EU's governing treaty, could only be activated "if indispensable to safeguard the stability of the euro as a whole". They also decided there was no

KARACHI: The Sindh government has acquired 20,000 acres of land in Thatta and Badin to set up crab and shrimp farms - a plan aimed at consolidating the dwindling fishing industry, which is suffering due to a ban on fish imports from Pakistan, and helping fishermen capitalise on market opportunities in Karachi.
This was disclosed by the provincial Fisheries Director General Ghulam Mohammad Mahar while addressing a seminar organised by the Indus for All Programme, WWF-Pakistan.

KARACHI: Following the devolution of Federal Zakat and Ushr Ministry under the 18th Constitutional Amendment, plans are underway to establish the Sindh Zakat Administration, Pakistan Today has learnt.
Sindh's Zakat & Ushr Department has a forwarded a summary to the Law Department for vetting of the proposed legislation required for setting up the authority, as well as the approval of chief minister, sources told Pakistan Today.
Prior to the devolution of the Zakat ministry

LAHORE: Pakistan is likely to host Bangladesh in a full home series next year, it was learnt Wednesday. As part of the ground breaking for international teams return to Pakistan, Bangladesh would most likely send their junior team or A team to tour Pakistan first. Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt met Bangladesh cricket officials in Dhaka on the sidelines of the ACC meeting and discussed the possibility of Bangladesh visiting Pakistan in 2011.
It has been learnt that

LAHORE: Load shedding is all set to return from the last week of December as canals would be closed from December 26 causing hydel power generation to fall sharply while supply of gas to power stations would also be affected, Pakistan Today learnt on Monday.
Sources said there would be at least four to six hours of load shedding from the last week of this month, as electricity generation would be reduced from 20 to 25 percent, adding that water release in the canals would also

BRUSSELS: The European Union is set Monday to slap sanctions on Ivory Coast's Laurent Gbagbo and any of his allies who dig in and refuse to recognise defeat at the polls last month.
A draft statement seen by AFP, penned by ambassadors of the 27-nation bloc and to be endorsed later in the day by foreign ministers, calls for a visa ban and a freeze on assets "against those obstructing peace" and "threatening the proper outcome of the electoral process."
These measures, it

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Sunday announced to launch civil disobedience movement in the country, if the government imposed General Sales Tax (GST). Addressing a protest demonstration at Aabpara Chowk against GST, price hike and unemployment, Imran said that his party would resist against the imposition of GST.
He said that the Pakistan People's Party and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz were the two sides of the same coin and had same agenda 'to plunder national

LAS VEGAS: Britain's Amir Khan plans to wake up American boxing fans to his skills on his Las Vegas debut on Saturday by turning out the lights on Marcos Maidana's title dreams.
Khan will defend his World Boxing Association super-lightweight title against the Argentine mandatory challenger in what is expected to be the first step toward unifying titles in the division.
Khan, 23-1 with 17 knockouts, will face Maidana, 29-1 with 27 knockouts, for the right to tackle the winner

Bret Michaels is readying himself for his upcoming heart surgery in January - he's taking new medication and feeling "positive" about the operation.
The 'Poison' star is booked in to go under the knife to repair a hole in his heart and his doctors have implemented a strict new medical regime ahead of the procedure. Michaels admits he found the idea of a heart operation terrifying at first, but he's now feeling much calmer about the looming surgery.
He tells, "I got to tell

KARACHI: A likely rise of eight percent in international coal prices due to supply concerns will encourage local manufacturers to raise their prices. Coal is an essential raw material in cement production. This rise comes at a time when there is a 12 percent monthly decline in domestic cement sales in November.
The international coal prices have shot up to $117 per tonne recently since December 1, due to supply concerns arising due to floods in Australia, the world's biggest

MUMBAI: Indian cotton prices may rise this week as exporters are seen ramping up purchases to ship maximum fibre to beat a mid-December government deadline, dealers said. India, the world's second biggest producer and exporter of the fibre, had allowed exports of 5.5 million bales from November 1, but it has to be shipped before December 15.
"Exporters will remain active in the spot market to fulfill their export obligations.
They are struggling to buy the required quantity

LAHORE: The Federal government on Monday was issued a notice for December 23 in relation to a petition filed in the Lahore High Court seeking a stay order to stop government from tabling blasphemy laws amendment bill in the parliament.
The petition filed by Muhammad Nasir stated that the parliament had no right to amend the blasphemy law. Nasir's counsel said the federal government was planning to table a blasphemy law amendment bill in the parliament and this was against the

LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif has announced to set up model Sasta Bazaars in Lahore, Kasur, Sheikhupura, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Rawalpindi and Bahawalpur for providing quality meat, fruits, vegetables and daily use items to the people at one place.
He directed Secretary Industries to submit a final plan with regard to setting up model Sasta bazaars within one week and the work should be started on the project immediately. "This project will be

KARACHI: The newly established Sindh Bank will establish 50 branches across the country, said CEO Bilal Shaikh on Saturday. He revealed that 70 percent of the branches will be set up in Sindh and the rest in commercial hubs of other provinces. "Initially we will have five branches in this month, three in Karachi, one in Hyderabad and one in Naudero, Larkana," he elaborated.
Shaikh indicated that Sindh Bank will have branches in each of the 23 districts, 10 will be in other

ISLAMABAD: Board of Investment (BOI) Chairman Saleem H Mandviwalla on Saturday termed the president's visit to Sri Lanka very fruitful and stressed his belief that both countries would boost the level of bilateral trade from the current $300 million to $1.0 billion within a very short time.
According to a statement of the BOI issued here, Saleem H Mandviwalla was part of the delegation that visited Sri Lanka and the trip was meant to remove any hurdles to enhanced commercial and

ISLAMABAD: PML-Q likeminded group leader Kashmala Tariq's bid to dislodge chairperson of the Standing Committee on Finance Fauzia Wahab of the PPP is likely to end in a disappointment, as most of the committee members are unwilling to support Kashmala.
It has become a routine that whenever the committee meets, Kashmala is seen coming with an agenda to attack Fauzia. She has been successful in winning the support of PML-N members - Khwaja Asif and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi - but

ISLAMABAD: A formal request seeking a three-month extension in the ongoing $11.3 billion stand-by arrangement programme will be soon made to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), an official source informed Pakistan Today on Friday.
The source said there was no chance that the government would abandon the standby arrangement programme and would endeavour to complete it as agreed with the IMF. The three-month extension was already inbuilt in the exiting programme and its approval