Incitement to mutiny: Officers accused of influencing Brig Ali’s trial

The family of an army brigadier, who was arrested on charges of inciting mutiny and plotting attacks on the army headquarters, has alleged that the military brass is influencing his court martial proceedings.
Talking to the BBC, a younger brother of Brig Ali Khan said that his elder brother was not being allowed to meet his civil attorney, making the family believe that the court martial proceedings would not be transparent.
Malik Bashir said that he and his lawyer, Asad Manzoor Butt, arrived at the Sialkot garrison to see Brig Ali with a prior permission from the authorities but the counsel was not allowed to see his client.
The military authorities insist that only a military-appointed defence counsel can see Brig Ali. “This is violation of rules and we are considering consulting civil courts against this behaviour,” he said.
Brig Ali was taken into custody from his office in the GHQ on May 6. Meanwhile, investigations were being carried out against him for his alleged links with Hizbut Tehrir extremist group.

According to the charge sheet, Brig Ali is accused of inciting mutiny against the civilian government and plotting with some military officers and civilians to attack the GHQ. He had tried to take support from the chief of the Triple-One Brigade and some other officers.
Bashir alleged that some senior army officers were using delaying tactics in initiating the court martial proceedings against his brother. He added that according to rules, formal proceedings of the Field General Court Martial should have started immediately after the framing of the charge sheet. “The prosecution does not have any evidence against my brother and they are just dilly dallying and taking revenge.”
Bashir said his family has been serving the military for 60 years and wanted to solve the issue within the army. “But these injustices are forcing us to take the case to civil courts, though this is not our priority,” he added.
Bashir requested the army brass to refrain from influencing the proceedings of the Field General Court Martial and allow Brig Ali a fair trial. He said if the military authorities did not influence the court, he was quite sure his brother would prove innocent.

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KESC Showcasing Mega Projects at UAE Expo 2011

Karachi Electric Supply Company participated in the “Magnificent 7 - UAE EXPO 2011,” organized by the UAE Consulate at the Karachi Expo Centre between Nov. 30 and Dec. 2, 2011. The event was aimed at highlighting the contributions made by UAE multinationals

towards the socio-economic development of Pakistan and to further promote business ties between the two countries by exploring additional avenues and opportunities of mutual cooperation and collaboration in the potential sectors. The event was visited by the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani and the UAE Trade Minister, along with many other high profile personalities to strengthen the bridge between Pakistan and the UAE. KESC successfully used the forum and showcased its current under-development projects. The opening ceremony provided an opportunity for the top management to come in contact with the UAE Trade Minister and senior delegates. Mr. Tabish Gauhar, CEO KESC, spoke at the conference and made a presentation tittled “KESC – Past, Present and Future” to the audience comprising government dignitaries, investors and other stakeholders. KESC fully capitalized on its Gold Sponsorship throughout the event by means of a powerful and attractive display of branding at stalls and showcasing of 3 different special projects, using an effective and versatile range of marketing and communication tools. Three project that were showcased: 1) The Bio Gas Project – offering potential of power generation capacity of up to approximately 22MW through recycled biodegradable waste which will contribute to a cleaner and greener environment. 2) Thar Coal Project - Tapping Thar coal for initial power generation capacity of 300MW (Overall 1200MW). 3) Bin Qasim Power Plant II (560MW) - A unique and significant addition to KESC’s power generation capability in terms of capacity, thermal efficiency and the magnitude of capital injection by Abraaj Group. KESC attracted an audience of approximately 3,500 individuals comprising top businessmen, foreign delegates and key stakeholders from various corporate concerns, who interacted with the special projects team. The event was an overall success and also helped KESC in achieving its strategic objectives.

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UK visit: Khar expected to meet Clinton in London

Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar is expected to meet US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during her visit to London, sources told The Express Tribune.
The expected meeting will be a positive sign for the two countries as both of them were keen to normalise relations, the source said.
Khar reached London on Monday for a three-day visit in which she will hold meetings with her British counterpart William Hague and other high officials. She will also brief the UK officials on the recently concluded trilateral conference involving, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan in Islamabad. Khar will also reportedly ask the British officials to influence the US to end drone strikes.
Meanwhile, official sources have revealed that diplomatic ties between Pakistan and the US are improving behind the scenes. It has been decided by Islamabad, Kabul and Washington to reactivate the trilateral conference between the three countries, the source claimed.
Khar and Clinton are expected to discuss Nato supplies to Afghanistan, among other issues.
The meetings could defuse tension, which was highlighted recently when Islamabad refused to host Marc Grossman, the US special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, who wanted to visit Islamabad last month. The State Department had said that Grossman wanted to visit Pakistan but owing to the tense relations between the two countries, he was refused meetings. The State Department’s spokesman, while making this disagreement public, had said that the US wants better relations with Pakistan.
Officials in the ministry of foreign affairs expect Pak-US relations to be fully normalised by March. Pakistan has already softened its stance on Nato supplies to Afghanistan through Pakistan, as supplies through Pakistani airspace are fully open.
Islamabad, despite its tense relations with Washington, is facilitating US-Afghan Taliban talks in Qatar, the source said. “Pakistan had encouraged talks between Taliban and United States at the request of Washington. Apparently Pakistan has been sidelined by Washington in its talks with the Taliban but the actual situation is not as it appears,” the source added.

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Electricity projects on top of Ahmadinejad’s agenda

“Pakistan attaches high priority to its relations with Iran,” said Minister for Water and Power Syed Naveed Qamar, add-ing that the three projects would help ease energy crisis. - File photo

ISLAMABAD: Talks between Pakistan and Iran during the forthcoming visit of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will mainly focus on cooperation in energy sector.

“Pakistan and Iran have agreed to complete at fast pace projects for importing electricity to enhance bilateral relations in the field of trade, energy and economy,” Iranian Ambassador Alireza Highighlian told Minister for Water and Power Syed Naveed Qamar here on Tuesday.

At present three electricity import projects are under way, the first of them is of 35MW which will be enhanced later to 70MW.

While matters relating to importing 100MW have been finalised and the project is ready for groundbreaking, the two countries have moved forward on another 1,000MW project.

The issue of tariff for the projects is in negotiations stage.

The ambassador said he was satisfied with the pace of progress, adding that Iran was keen to invest in various other projects.
The minister said that cooperation in various fields of economy would enhance bilateral relations.

“Pakistan attaches high priority to its relations with Iran,” he said, add-ing that the three projects would help ease energy
crisis.

“Pakistan is also encouraging Iranian investment in infrastructure projects,” he said.

The visit by the Iranian president would open up new avenues of cooperation, he added.

Ambassador of Tajikistan Zubaidullu Zabaidov also called on the Minister for Water and Power and discussed Casa-1000 project about import of 1,000MW electricity from that country through Afghanistan.

The Tajik ambassador stressed the need for introducing direct flights from Pakistan to Tajikistan in order to boost trade and tourism.

He invited the minister to participate in the Regional Economic Conference for Afghanistan to be held in Tajikistan next month.

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Ahmadinejad leaves Tehran for Islamabad’s trilateral meeting

Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has departed for Pakistan to take part in a tripartite summit on regional cooperation and developments.

The two-day Islamabad summit will open on Friday with the participation of the Iranian president and his Afghan and Pakistani counterparts Hamid Karzai and Asif Ali Zardari. 

We hope that the Islamabad meeting would take bigger steps toward the promotion of regional cooperation and the restoration of peace and stability in the region, President Ahmadinejad told reporters before departure on Thursday. 

He said that all solutions put forward by extra-regional countries failed to contribute to the restoration of stability in the region. 

Iran’s chief executive said that foreign interference and military presence have aggravated the situation and called for a regional solution to re-establish security in the region. 

Ahmadinejad said that the people of Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan need to join hands to confront insecurity, terrorism as well as plots hatched by enemies to sow division among regional countries and dominate the region. 

The two previous trilateral meetings were held in the Iranian capital, Tehran. 

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Pakistan Wins International Cyber Drill between 28 countries

Pakistan Wins International Cyber Drill

Pakistan has marked victory in International Cyber Drill Competition, the competition was based on tricks and techniques regarding “Cyber Security and how to secure systems from hackers and hack attacks”. Pakistan took part in the drill for the first time and beaten experts from 28 other countries.
Ammar Jaffri, President at Pakistan Information Security Association ” Pakistan took part in this cyber drill for the first time and won”.
President at Pakistan Information Security Association was founded in 2005 to educate people on immediate response on hacking attacks. Four members from Pakistan Information Security Association and four students from National University of Sciences & Technology (NUST) took part in the drill and successfully blocked hacking attacks from different hackers.

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MQM delegation attend wedding ceremony of Arif Alvi's daughter, met PTI Chairman Imran Khan

A delegation of MQM attended wedding ceremony of PTI Secretary General Arif Alvi's daughter, today. The delegation includes Member of MQM Coordination Committee Waseem Aftab, Minister Health Sindh Dr. Sagheer Ahmed and its MNA Waseem Akhtar. The delegation also met Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Imran Khan and its senior leader Javed Hashmi. Leaders of both the parties exchange good will messages.

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Marvi rejected PTI's Media secretary post

 

Appointment of Ms. Marvi Memon as the Central Information Secretary Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.

I am pleased to appoint Ms. Marvi Memon as the Central Information Secretary of PTI wuth immediate effect.
Ms. Memon would report directly to the Chairman. She would be overall incharge of all information and media management operations of the party including the Central Media Cell based in Islamabad. All provincial Information secretaries as well as spokespersons would perform in coordination with the Central Information Secretary.
In addition to her responsibilities as the Central Information Secretary, Ms. Memon would also be the Member of the Parliamentary Board to be set up to select the PTI candidates for the Nation and Provincial Assemblies.
In order to streamline the media and information related operations, Ms. Memon would be fully authorized to restructure the entire media and information related PTI management and operations structure at the Central and Provincial levels. She would also manage all national and international youth, think tank, policy related wings to contribute to the information analysis gathering, producing, disseminating and projecting effort for PTI including quick response teams.
All media related expenses would be incurred from a separate bank account to be established to manage the  information and media management operations. The media bank account would be operated jointly by the Finance Secretary and the Central Information Secretary.

Imran Khan

Chairman

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf

25-11-11

On other hand PTI officials remarks on facebook as follows.

"After that all Drama by Marvi Memon on Sana Bucha Show , atlast we have seen that letter. Letter has cuttings on it, its not on letter head of PTI, so it looks very much a draft letter and not the finalized version.
There were some negotiations with Marvi Memon and some draft letter might also be issued but then Khawja Saad Rafiq approached Marvi and things did not went well between Marvi and PTI and no final letter was issued to her.Now she is using that draft version for her stunts and luckily she has services of Sana Nawaz Bucha Sharif. "

 

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Deficits pose big challenge, warns SBP

The State Bank of Pakistan. — File Photo

KARACHI: The State Bank kept the policy interest rate unchanged at 12 per cent on Saturday, saying the real challenge lay in financing the fiscal and external current account deficits.
The Governor of SBP, Yaseen Anwar, explained the difficulties being faced by economy as well as problems in monetary management during a media briefing where he announced the monetary policy for the February-March period.
The SBP expects the average inflation in 2011-12 (FY12) to range between 11 and 12 per cent, implying an uptick during the second half of the current fiscal.
The central bank chief said inflationary pressures had not eased significantly. There were indications of underlying inflationary pressures. For instance, the number of CPI items showing year-on-year inflation of more than 10 per cent was significant and mostly belonged to the non-food category, he added.
The SBP said it had been providing substantial liquidity on an almost permanent basis, but it carried risks for effectively anchoring inflation expectations in the medium term.
From July 1 to Feb 9, Rs230 billion had been supplied by State Bank.
The government has so far borrowed Rs444 billion from the banking system, including Rs197 billion from State Bank, an amount considerably higher than the yearly financing requirements of Rs293 billion envisaged in the FY12 budget, said Yaseen Anwar.
The provisional estimate of fiscal deficit for the first half of FY12 (July-Dec 2011), from the financing side, shows a deficit of Rs532 billion, or 2.5 per cent of GDP.
Over the past 10 years, the deficit has always been higher in the second half of a fiscal year by at least 0.5 per cent of GDP.
“Containing the FY12 fiscal deficit close to the government’s revised target of 4.7 per cent of GDP would be difficult,” the State Bank governor said.
BIG CHALLENGE: The SBP said the real challenge was to finance the projected external current account deficit.
“Incorporating a steady flow of workers’ remittances, the external current account deficit is expected to remain in the range of $3.5 billion to $5.5 billion, or 1.5 to 2.4 per cent of GDP,” said Yaseen Anwar.
The risks to external payments position have also increased due to worsening terms of trade, fragile global economic conditions, and continued paucity of financial inflows. In addition, $1.1 billion is to be repaid to the IMF during the second half of 2011-12.
The SBP’s foreign exchange reserves have already declined to $12.2 billion from $14.8 billion since July 1. Similarly, the rupee-dollar exchange rate has depreciated by 5.2 per cent in FY12 so far, he added.The possibility of limiting the deficit to the lower side of the range is mainly contingent upon the realisation of Coalition Support Fund, $800 million, and the proceeds from the auction of 3G licences, estimated to be around $850 million, he added.
The actual net capital and financial inflows during the first half of FY12 was only $167 million due to decline in both the direct and portfolio investments and shortfalls in official flows.
“Assuming that all the official flows contemplated by the government are realised – $500 million from the issuance of euro bonds, $800 million from the privatisation proceeds of PTCL, and budgeted loans from international financial institutions – the net capital and financial inflows could increase to $3.8 billion by June 2012,” said Mr. Anwar.
The SBP said the credit growth to private sector would remain weak. “All of the fresh credit disbursement in first half FY12 was utilised to meet the working capital requirements, which implies that a significant part of this credit will be retired in second half of the year,” said the Governor.
The full year expansion in credit to the private sector is expected to remain weak for yet another year in FY12 despite interest rate reductions.
“Though, tax collections in first half of the current fiscal grew by 27.1 per cent the full year target of Rs1952 billion still seems ambitious,” he said.

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Army chief accountable for drone attacks: Dr AQ Khan

ISLAMABAD - Renowned nuclear scientist Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan on Wednesday said that the army chief was answerable for the US drone attacks inside Pakistan because he has taken an oath for safeguarding the borders of the country.
"If India attacks Pakistan then will the army chief retaliate or wait for the permission of the rulers," Dr AQ Khan questioned.
Talking to media persons here, he said Pakistani rulers are virtually the slaves of the US, adding that Pakistan People's Party (PPP) while voting against Syria in the United Nation Security Council (UNSC) even did not consult China.
DR. AQ Khan lamented that the PPP has forgotten that Basharul Assad's father was the only person who supported Bhutto when the entire world left him alone.
Commenting on the distribution of laptops by the Punjab government among the students, he said that this scheme will face the fate of Yellow Cabs Scheme, adding that laptops will be found more in markets and less with the students.
DR AQ Khan said that if Punjab government wants computerization then Shahbaz Sharif should open new computer centres in the province.

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Pakistan signs pact with Google to promote tourist sites

Under the agreement, Google Inc will promote historical and tourist sites on the internet, particularly Google Maps, to promote worldwide awareness about Punjab Province's heritage.

Pakistani authorities and Google have signed an agreement to use Google Maps to promote historical and tourist sites across the country's most populous province of Punjab. The Punjab provincial government and Google Inc yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation in  information technology at the Arfa Karim Software Technology Park in Lahore.
Under the agreement, Google Inc will promote historical and tourist sites on the internet, particularly Google Maps, to promote worldwide awareness about Punjab's heritage.
Punjab Tourism Department Secretary Allah Bakhsh Malik and Google Asia's William Fitzgerald signed the MoU as per a PTI report.
Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said access to the historical and tourist sites of Punjab through Google would promote awareness about modern and ancient Lahore and the province's historical and cultural heritage.
The Punjab government is implementing a programme on information technology and measures are being taken for the speedy computerisation of land records, he said.
Sharif urged Google Inc to extend assistance for this project.
"There are a number of projects of the Punjab government about which Google Inc can provide information to the people of the world," he said.
Fitzgerald said interaction between the Punjab government and Google Inc in information technology was a good beginning.

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Nawaz Sharif says No consensus on 20th amendment without independent EC

Chief of his own faction Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Muhammad Nawaz Sharif has categorically said that the government could not evolved consensus on 20th amendment unless it meets his party’s demand of independent election commission. He was talking to media in Bahawalpur on Wednesday. While replying to a query, former prime minister said that he supported formation of Bahawalpur province as it had nothing to do with ethnicity. When asked to comment on Prime Minister Gilani's remarks that Bahawalpur province was not viable, Nawaz said Gilani could not stick to his remarks. He said that general election should be held as earlier as it could be because it was in the interest of the government.

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Pakistan talks with Nato, Afghan forces

This is the first meeting between the three forces after the deadly US airstrikes on a Salala checkpost that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers on Nov 26 last year.—File Photo

RAWALPINDI: Representatives of the Pakistan Army held a meeting with the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and the Afghan National Army at a border coordination centre in Torkham on Wednesday, DawnNews reported.
The Pakistan Army was represented by Director General Military Operations Major General Ishfaq Nadeem Ahmed.
According to a statement by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the meeting was held in an effort to improve coordination between the three forces.
“The meeting is part of a tripartite engagement to discuss and improve various coordination measures on Pak-Afghan border,” said the statement.
This is the first meeting between the three forces after the deadly US airstrikes on a Salala checkpost that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers on Nov 26 last year.

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7,000 kg whale shark docks in Karachi Fish Harbour

In what is believed to be one of the biggest catch in the high seas, Pakistani fishermen have caught a giant whale shark - about 36 foot long and weighing over 7,000 kg.
The fishermen bought the giant fish to the Karachi Fish Harbour and claimed to have found it dead in the open sea. Though some experts believed that the shark might have been killed after it got entangled in a net, The Dawn daily reported.


Pic/AFP
The whale shark was taken out of the channel with the help of two cranes amid rapturous applause by hundreds of onlookers.
"I have bought the fish, which usually has no significant commercial value, with the help of my friends just to appreciate the efforts of the fishermen who deserve some reward after spending an entire day in the open sea," Haji Qasim, who said he bought the fish for Rs 2 lakh, was quoted as saying by the daily.
The authorities, he said, had allowed him to keep the fish at the harbour for at least three days for public viewing. "Then I will sell the meat to the people running poultry meal business," he said.
The shark was spotted floating unconscious in the sea ten days ago, around 90 miles away from shore, another daily reported.
The Daily Mail of London reported that the largest confirmed whale shark was 41ft long but it is thought they can grow to considerably greater lengths. The shark is found in tropical waters and lives for around 70 years. They feed mainly on plankton, microscopic plants and sometimes small fish.
The whale shark, a gentle giant of the seas, does not pose a significant danger to humans - and in the past some have even allowed swimmers to hitch a ride on their fins, it reported.

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