Tag: Takes

LAHORE - In Punjab assembly's 22nd session Punjab Education Minister Mian Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman came under fire from opposition as well as government members on Monday for provincial government's new educational policy. Addressing the house the minister said that the government would review its policy relating to the rationalisation of the schools.
He said that the government had adopted rationalisation policy to run all small schools, which did not have proper staff or

LAHORE - Sardar Latif Khan Khosa was sworn in as the 27th Governor of Punjab on Thursday in an impressive ceremony that signalled the easing of tension between political allies in Punjab and the advent of reconciliatory politics in the province.
The ceremony was attended by top leaders of both the PPP and the PML-N, including Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Sardar Zulfiqar Khan Khosa, Rana Sana Ullah, Pervaiz Rashid and Pervaiz Malik.
The presence of PML-N

LAHORE - As many as fourteen people including a woman have died owing to cold weather during the first eleven days of January, hospital sources told Pakistan Today on Tuesday.
Police investigators have not been able to find the heirs of the deceased owing to which bodies are placed in the morgue, waiting for funerals. Homeless people are worst hit, as eleven of them were found dead from different main roads, parks and footpaths of the city.
According to morgue sources, these

COPIAPO - Qatari driver Nasser Al-Attiyah took the overall race lead after winning the eighth stage of the Dakar Rally, a 508km special on a 776km run through the Atacama desert from Antofagasta to here on Monday. The Volkswagen driver, runner-up last year, finished 6min 36sec ahead of teammate and defending champion Carlos Sainz from whom he takes the overall race lead following a battle through the lunar landscape of one of the driest places on earth. Al-Attiyah - who also won

KARACHI - The market closed down 39 points as index heavyweight OGDC suffered from massive profit taking dragging down other oil stocks with it. The KSE index closed at 12267.21 levels with the loss of 39.49 points while total volume stood at 90,451,627 along with the total value of 6,917,517,238.
OGDC slipped 2.2 percent, followed by marginal declines in PPL, while POL remained firm throughout the day and closed in the 'green' despite some profit taking towards the end of

LAHORE - The Lahore High Court (LHC) Administrative Committee chaired by LHC Chief Justice (CJ) Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry on Saturday initiated disciplinary proceedings against 14 judges including civil and additional district and session judges (AD&SJ). According to a notification issued by the LHC registrar, the administrative committee issued final show-cause notices for imposition of major penalty, removal from service, to six judicial officers including LHC AD&SJ Abdul Haseeb Sheikh,

DOHA - Roger Federer began the season which he hopes will see him add to his record 16 Grand Slam titles with a fighting win and a finish which took the roof off in the first round of the Qatar Open.
The tennis legend was forced to save three successive set points to get past Thomas Schoorel, an enterprising 21-year-old qualifier from The Netherlands, but then concluded the match amidst laughter and tumultuous applause for a shot which should get endless on-line video replays.

KARACHI - JS Global Capital Limited (JS Global) has appointed Muhammad Kamran Nasir as its chief executive officer, the company informed the Karachi Stock Exchange.
It said the new chief executive had taken the helm of the firm from January 1, 2011 this year and had replaced Nadir Rahman. However, the appointment of Nasir was subject to the KSE's nod.

BRUSSELS - After six months of failed attempts to put together a government, Belgium's political leaders this week take a fresh stab at ending the langage-divided nation's longest-ever crisis.
Socialist politician Johan Vande Lanotte, the latest in a string of special mediators appointed by King Albert II to end the impasse, on Monday issues a new proposal geared to bridge the gulf between the country's Dutch and French speakers. His blueprint for a compromise will be put to the

MADRID - Smokers stubbed out their cigarettes in tapas bars and restaurants across Spain as one of Europe's strictest anti-tobacco laws came into force on Sunday.
After a one-day amnesty granted for New Year's Day, the new law banning smoking in all bars, restaurants and public places - including even some outdoor areas - took effect at the stroke of midnight Saturday. It was a shock for many Spaniards for whom the cafe culture - lighting up with a few friends while enjoying a

ISLAMABAD - People from various walks of life participated in Aman Ittehad's peace rally and marched from the National Press Club to the Parliament House to express solidarity with those suffering from violence and repression.
The participants of the rally demanded that the government must take strict action against state and non-state actors that break the law and propagate or encourage militancy and extremism by their words or actions.
Addressing the participants, Ali

PARIS: Up to half a dozen children were being held hostage by a 17-year-old youth armed with two swords at a nursery school in the eastern French city of Besancon, the city's mayor said on Monday.
The young man took around 20 children hostage shortly after the kindergarten opened, but later released a dozen or so. "Around 14 children have come out and at the moment there are five or six still inside," Besancon Mayor Jean-Louis Fousseret told France Info radio. The

ISLAMABAD: A three-member Supreme Court bench will today take up a suo motu notice taken against loss of five precious lives in a car race in Rawalpindi, reportedly without permission from the district administration.
The bench will comprise Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Ghulam Rabbani and Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday while Punjab Provincial Police Officer (PPO), Rawalpindi Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner will appear before the court.
They

LAHORE: Justice Ijaz Chaudhry took oath as the chief justice of the Lahore High Court on Thursday and started working after taking charge of his office.
Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer administered the oath to the new chief justice at a ceremony held at the Governor's House. Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Punjab Assembly Speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal, Law Minister Rana Sanaullah, judges of the Lahore High Court and senior lawyers attended the ceremony.
Former LHC CJ Khwaja

LAHORE: The Pakistan cricket team started training at a camp here at the Gaddafi Stadium to prepare for the upcoming tour of New Zealand.
Former Pakistan captain Javed Miandad was seen giving tips to Shahid Afridi as PCB chairman Ijaz Butt ended all the rumours regarding the former batting maestro.
Pakistan is to play three twenty20 international, six one-day international and two Test matches during the tour.
Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Younis Khan, Shahid Afridi and

ISLAMABAD: A three-member Supreme Court bench will today (Monday) take up a petition by Jamaat-e-Islami's (JI) former chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad against the government's bid to purchase its sold out assets from the British Petroleum (BP) at inflated prices, which would cause a loss of $800-million to the national exchequer.
The bench consists of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Ghulam Rabbani and Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday. In compliance with the court's

ISLAMABAD: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl senator from Balochistan, Maulana Muhammad Khan Shirani took charge as the 13th chairman of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) on Friday.
The government had notified him as the new chairman on November 16. The government took five months to appoint the new CII chairman, as the six-year tenure of the former chairman Dr Muhammad Khalid Masud expired on June 14.
The present council consists of eleven members - Muhammad Sadeeq Hazarvi