Tag: Year

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan is unlikely to import sugar this year because the country will have enough stocks to meet domestic requirements, Food Minister Nazar Muhammad Gondal has said. Pakistan imposes no import duty on white sugar and the government in September waived a 25 percent duty on raw sugar to encourage the private sector to import the sweetener after fears August floods would reduce the 2010/11 crop to 3.2 million tonnes.
But Gondal said that initial estimates suggest the

FAISALABAD - The opening month of the New Year was a terrible month for the citizens of Faisalabad, in general, and for the city police, in particular, as the crime figures continue to grow. It was a bad start for the people and the police, but not bad for the beneficiaries of the crimes i.e. dacoits, wanted criminals and robbers.
According to reports, there were 1,364 incidents of crimes in which cash, jewellery and valuables worth Rs 50.05 million were robbed, stolen and

LAHORE - On special instructions by President Asif Ali Zardari, the Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL) announced the year 2011 as the year of national poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz. PAL is now making arrangements to commemorate the 100th birthday of Faiz. President Zardari is also taking interest in PAL's activities regarding the celebrations of the Faiz year and has asked Fakhar Zaman, Chairman of PAL, to brief him about the arrangements taken in this regard.
President Zardari has

ISLAMABAD - The parliament was informed on Monday that the deteriorating law and order situation coupled with gas and power shortages had led to the closure of 307 industrial units in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and 14 in Balochistan last year.
Responding to queries during the question hour, Minister for Industries and Production Mir Hazar Khan Bajarani admitted that power and gas shortages and the worsening law and order situation, besides disputes of industries with banks over loan

ISLAMABAD - Four Supreme Court judges will be retiring this year after attaining the age of superannuation. These judges are Justice Raja Fayyaz Ahmed, on May 31, 2011, Justice Javed Iqbal, retiring on July 31, Justice Mahmood Akhtar Shahid Siddiqui on October 13 and Muhammad Sair Ali on December 11.
Besides these judges, two ad-hoc judges Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday and Justice Ghulam Rabbani will also retire on February 18 and October 19, respectively. Three of these judges

SPORTS THIS WEEK - 2011 might just be the year of Novak Djokovic. For a start, Djoker, as he is called, helped his native Serbia win the Davis Cup. He has now bundled out Roger Federer in the semi-finals of the Australian Open in no uncertain fashion.
In one of those rare encounters, one saw Roger outhit and outmanoeuvred by a younger, faster opponent, one who has removed the one kink in his armour that kept him from reaching the very top. Djokovic never had a serve to match the

MADRID - The Spanish cycling federation (RFEC) has decided to suspend Tour de France champion Alberto Contador for one year over his failed doping test in last year's race. "Alberto Contador has received today a notification of a one-year ban proposal by the competition committee of the Spanish federation," said a statement released by the rider's spokesman Jacinto Vidarte on Wednesday.
Contador, who has threatened to end his career if he is punished, has 10 days to appeal the

ISLAMABAD - Taliban violence and religious extremism grew in Pakistan in 2010, with the government doing little to improve the situation and often making things worse, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.
In its World Report 2011, the New York-based rights organisation said militant violence was fostered by the passive acceptance of persecution of religious minorities and had active help from some elements of the intelligence agencies.
"Taliban atrocities aren't happening in a

OSLO - A young asylum seeker who was crowned "Norwegian of the Year" after writing about her life as an illegal immigrant faces expulsion back to Russia after being arrested in Oslo on Monday, police said.
Madina Salamova, who under the pseudonym Maria Amelie wrote an acclaimed book entitled "Illegal Norwegian" about her life undercover, had been living illegally in Norway since her family's final asylum request was denied in 2004. "She was arrested Monday morning when she came"

LAHORE - The Pakistan Boxing Federation has announced the year-long activities for Pakistan boxers who will participate in 14 international events from February to October.
The events include Asian and AIBA junior World Championship, Asian Elite Men's Championship, AIBA World Championship and Sub-continent Boxing matches in India while the PBF will host second Shaheed Benazir Bhutto International Boxing Tournament in May at Karachi.
PBF President Doda Khan Bhutto expressed

KARACHI - Pakistan has emerged as one of the countries with the highest rate of breast cancer mortality rate with around 40,000 deaths a year, Dr Jo Anne Zujewski said on Thursday.
She was delivering a lecture on 'Breast Cancer Awareness' at local hotel, arranged by the US Consulate General Karachi for journalists working for the print and electronic media.
Zujewski is head of the Breast Cancer Therapeutics in the Clinical Investigation Branch of the Cancer Therapy

LAHORE - Around 641 women out of 2,670 failed in initial driving license tests while the City Traffic Police issued licenses to 2,029 women in 2010. Traffic police spokesman said that a large number of women had applied for obtaining driving licenses but during initial tests conducted at the Thokar Niaz Baig Centre under supervision of Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Ali Iftikhar Jaffry, only 2,029 women succeeded. He said that the traffic police have chalked out a comprehensive

NEW DELHI - More than 17,000 Indian farmers committed suicide in 2009, a seven percent rise on the previous year, according to new government figures. The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) study titled "Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India" revealed the rise without attributing causes, with the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh the worst affected. Many farmers, particularly in the southern and western states listed, were pushed further into debt in 2009 after

Islamabad - Former president General (r) Pervez Musharraf is planning to return to Pakistan this year, Online learnt from sources on Sunday.
Sources said after consultations with Chaudhry Shahbaz, Member of the National Assembly Sehezada Mohuddin, former MNA Pervez Ali Shah, Dr Sher Afgan Niazi, Maj Gen (r) Rashid Qureshi, Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif, and Chaudhry Fawad, Pervez Musharraf has decided to return to Pakistan.
According to close aides of the former president,

KARACHI - The Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Youth Development Programme (BBSYD) has imparted training to over 61,000 youths and through the 2010-2011 Phase-III, around 50,000

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan and China have agreed on a joint action plan to observe 2011 as Pakistan-China friendship year and will focus on a wider people-to-people interaction in addition to bilateral contacts between the two governments through exchange of delegations and troupes.
The year 2011 was declared as Pak-China friendship year during the recent visit of Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao to Pakistan on the completion of 60 years of the diplomatic relations between Pakistan

In sport and otherwise, 2010 served up a whole lot of memorable moments, both joyous and saddening. Here one attempts to take a look at what is in the offing in sport for 2011.
The ICC World Cup 2011 starts off in the first quarter of the year, with India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka jointly playing the role of the tournament hosts. While the 50-over game is far less predictable than the tradition format of Test cricket, there are some teams that boast of a stronger hand at the