Tag: Tells

ISLAMABAD - Dissatisfied with the government's dilly-dallying, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Thursday decided not to give even one day to it beyond the announced 45-day deadline for the implementation of the reforms agenda.
At a meeting chaired by Nawaz Sahrif, who was also briefed by the PML-N team on the negotiations with the government, the party decided not to panic but agreed to wait for the expiration of the deadline before taking any extreme step.
A

ISLAMABAD - Expressing reservations over the way the country was being governed and parliament being run, the opposition on Monday asked the government to ensure the supremacy of parliament so that other institutions could stay out of the driving seat.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and PML-Q unanimously demanded the government to make parliament meaningful. Faisal Saleh Hayat said Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh in his recent statement had levelled charges of bribery on

MELBOURNE - Rafael Nadal has some practical advice for rising Australian teen Bernard Tomic if he is to realise his enormous potential and become a future top-liner in men's tennis.
The 18-year-old Tomic, ranked 198 places below the world number one, was far from overrun in a daunting night match on Rod Laver Arena, keeping the heavily perspiring Nadal on court for 2hr 30min before he went out fighting, 6-2, 7-5, 6-3.
Asked what Tomic had to do to take the next big step,

KARACHI - The Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) has pinned the permanent reinstatement of over 4,000 workers on a Rs 1.79 per unit tariff increase as well as government institutions clearing the power utility's outstanding dues, Pakistan Today has learnt.
Other demands forwarded by the KESC include the provision of cheaper electricity from WAPDA and ensuring the smooth supply of natural gas from the Sui Southern Company (SSGC), sources told Pakistan Today.
Much of

ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Thursday grilled the management of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) for messing up the affairs of the national carrier and directed the PIA managing director to set the organisation's house in order.
A source informed Pakistan Today that the prime minister also asked the PIA management to quash rumors about the airline's alleged agreement with a Turkish airline for sharing its routes.
The PIA MD informed Gilani that

LONDON - Based on a treasure trove of royal letters, appointment cards and photographs, a new book on the remarkable life of Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue fills many of the gaps left by the hit film "The King's Speech." Lionel's grandson Mark Logue was consulted for the script of the movie, starring Colin Firth as the stammering King George VI and Geoffrey Rush as his elocution coach, widely tipped for Oscar glory at the Academy Awards next month.
His involvement

ISLAMABAD - Noted nuclear scientist and member of the Planning Commission, Dr Samar Mubarakmand, on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that Pakistan had the capability and expert staff to explore, mine and refine the natural reserves of gold and copper at Reko Diq in Balochistan.
A three-member bench of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Ghulam Rabbani and Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday was hearing petitions against the lease of Reko Diq gold and copper reserves to a

ISLAMABAD - The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) was reprimanded and told off by the National Assembly Standing Committee on Health on Tuesday, who called for cancellation of probe into the locally produced interferon injections and condemned the Ministry of Science and Technology for referring the case to FIA in the first place.
The committee members warned the ministry of science that if any action is taken by FIA against Riazuddin Sheikh, the scientist who had achieved a

LAHORE - Punjab Health Secretary Fawad Hassan Fawad has directed the officers of the Health Department to take effective measures to make the routine immunization and anti-polio campaign a success and achieving hundred percent results.
He directed to post sanitary inspectors, vaccinators and sanitary patrols in out reach areas and after that ban be imposed on transfer/posting of these officials.
In the light of these directions, Health Punjab Director General Dr Muhammad

WASHINGTON - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has asked Pakistan to cut its energy subsidies, saying they were crippling the country's economy
Calling the energy subsidies "inefficient and untargeted", IMF spokeswoman Caroline Atkinson said these subsidies were consuming a large part of the country's budget. She said the bulk of energy subsidies were being cornered by the people of a higher income group and large companies, adding that the government should make efforts so

ISLAMABAD - Frank J Ruggiero, the acting US special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, on Friday urged Pakistani authorities to accelerate anti-terrorism efforts in the country's Tribal Areas, saying it was vital for the success of the counter-terrorism campaign in Afghanistan.
The US special representative called on Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Kayani at General Headquarters. The visiting dignitary remained with him for some time and discussed matters of mutual

ISLAMABAD - Interior Minister Rehman Malik has advised PPP parliamentarian and former information minister Sherry Rehman to leave the country if she wanted to keep safe from religious extremists.
A source told Pakistan Today on Thursday that Malik telephoned Sherry, who is also in the middle of the controversy over blasphemy laws, to leave the country at the earliest because "fanatics are hell bent to take her life due to her views on blasphemy laws". Malik cited intelligence

ISLAMABAD - The financially-strapped government has been rendered incapable of establishing an infrastructure bank to meet the ever-rising financial needs because of its commitment with International Monetary Fund (IMF), Secretary Finance Waqar Masood Khan informed the Senate Standing Committee on Finance on Wednesday.
He was replying to complaints by the senators that the rolling back development finance institutions (DFIs) was a major impediment in the country's

ISLAMABAD - A delegation of ANP senators met Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Friday, asking him to tell his ministers that senators were not someone to be trifled with.
"We have told the prime minister that his ministers do not give us due respect and do not take the business of the Upper House seriously. They do not consider the Senate worth-while," Haji Adeel told Pakistan Today after the meeting.
Adeel said the delegation asked Gilani to announce a development

LAHORE - The International Monetary Fund has issued a stern warning to Pakistan to take measures to cut its spiralling budget deficit, according to a senior Pakistani government official, the Wall Street Journal reported.
In an official letter to the government, the IMF warned that the state of the nation's economy was far worse than previously realised and urged immediate fiscal belt-tightening measures, said the official, who has seen the missive, the paper said. A spokesman

ISLAMABAD - Highlighting the government's policy statement on blasphemy law, Minister for Religious Affairs Khursheed Shah on Wednesday told the National Assembly that the government had no intention to amend or repeal blasphemy law.
The minister also made it clear that the bill by Sherry Rehman seeking amendment in the blasphemy law was her private member bill and the government would not support any such amendment. "It is the government's prime duty to ensure

ISLAMABAD - The National Assembly was informed on Wednesday that due to government's efforts, the country saw a downward trend in cases of domestic violence and only 5,404 such cases were registered in the years 2009 and 2010.
In response to a question, Minister for Human Rights Mumtaz Alam Gillani told the House that in 2008, the cases of domestic violence were far more than those registered in two following years.
"In order to curb the offense, the government is creating