PTA between Pakistan, Turkey much awaited

KARACHI: The Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) between Pakistan and Turkey is under technical discussions for more than three years. Both the governments should move fast ahead by resolving the technical issues to materialise the PTA. 

Zakaria Usman President Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) at interactive session of Pakistan-Turkey Business Council of FPCCI said the bilateral trade between Pakistan and Turkey would be further developed by the implementation of the decisions of Istanbul Forum 2014 held in Turkey. Though the balance of trade is in favour of Pakistan but statistics show the volume of trade have been reduced to $621.5 million in 2013 as compared to $1.2 billion in 2011.

Those opposing Modi will have to go to Pakistan, says BJP leader Giriraj Singh

Despite a spirited intervention by the Election Commission – when it recently banned election speeches in UP by Narendra Modi aide Amit Shah and SP strongman Azam Khan for divisive statements – hateful, intimidating and threatening poll rhetoric is showing no signs of ebbing. BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi addresses a public rally in Lakhimpur. (Shadab Raza/ HT photo)

Only on Friday, Giriraj Singh, a BJP leader from Bihar told an election rally in Jharkhand: "Those who want to stop Narendra Modi from becoming prime minister will have no place in India in the coming days. They will only have place in Pakistan."

Pakistan plans huge desert solar park

For years Pakistanis have sweated and cursed through summer power cuts, but now the government plans to harness the sun's ferocious heat to help tackle the country's chronic energy crisis.

In a corner of the Cholistan desert in Punjab province, power transmission lines, water pipes and a pristine new road cross 4,000 hectares of parched, sandy land.

The provincial government has spent $US5 million ($A5.35 million) to put in place the infrastructure as it seeks to transform the desolate area into one of the world's largest solar power parks, capable one day of generating up to 1,000 megawatts of electricity.

Pakistan library named ‘bin Laden,’ as memory fades

ISLAMABAD: Most didn’t notice the new library at this Islamic seminary for girls near Pakistan’s capital, until locals saw the paper sign in Urdu posted on its wooden door: “Library of Osama bin Laden, the Martyr.”

Cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz, a radical preacher who runs the Jamia Hafsa madrassa, wanted to honor the memory of the al-Qaida leader, killed in a May 2011 raid by U.S. Navy SEALs on his hiding place in Abbottabad, a garrison town about 125 kilometers (75 miles) north of the capital, Islamabad.

How Easter is celebrated across Pakistan

A day before Easter, Sumaira Kafue set off for her hometown to celebrate the festive occasion with her family. But unlike hundreds of Christians who travel to their hometowns in Punjab, Sumaira instead heads off for rural Sindh. In Mirpurkhas, where the 22-year-old’s family and six other Christian families live, they all claim to be natives of the province and call themselves Sindhi Christians. “People are surprised when I tell them that I am a Sindhi Christian. Everyone has heard of Punjabi Christians but not of Sindhi Christians,” muses Sumaira.

The young woman, who works in a house in Karachi, says that her ancestors belong to Sindh and have lived there all their life. However, her father married a Punjabi Christian.

Pakistan Horti-Fresh Processing approves SOP: HWT to serve exporters as Common Facility Centre

Pakistan Horti-Fresh Processing Hot Water Treatment (HWT), a joint venture of the Pakistan Horticulture Development and Export Company (PHDEC) and Durrani Associates, is ready to serve the exporters as Common Facility Centre. The Board of Directors of Pakistan Horti-Fresh Processing (Pvt) Ltd has approved Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to facilitate mango exporters of the country. 

According to a spokesperson of the PHDEC, Pakistan Horti-Fresh Processing (Pvt) Ltd has been established as Joint Venture between Durrani Associates and PHDEC through funding from Export Development Fund (EDF). The purpose of the project is to meet SPS requirements of importing countries of mango and other horticulture products, quarantine pest management, post-harvest disease management and improved produce quality and shelf life.

Pakistan among best performing stock markets in world: MSCI

KARACHI: Positive news on the economic front and aggressive foreign buying has led Pakistan among the top performing markets in the world during April, as according to MSCI, whose benchmark indices are widely followed by investors, Pakistani market gained 10 percent so far in April, analysts said on Saturday.

Among 12 countries in Asia as defined by MSCI, the Pakistani market has so far generated highest return in dollar terms during April, they said.

Pakistan will have to act against Taliban

KARACHI: Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah, while talking in Geo programme ‘Aaj Kamran Khan Kay Sath’, said that an organised network of terrorists involved in sectarian terrorism had been busted in Lahore and its members arrested. The objective of the network was to trigger Shia-Sunni riots and to spread terror in the country.

Brigadier (R) Saad Mohammed said in the programme that Pakistan would have to ultimately act against the Taliban. MQM’s Faisal Sabzwari said that hundreds of party activists had been implicated in false cases.

Road accident kills 36 in southern Pakistan

KARACHI, PAKISTAN: Pakistani police say a passenger bus has rammed into a disabled flatbed trailer parked on the side of a highway in the south, killing at least 36 people, including 17 women and children. Police officer Zia Soomro says the bus was headed north near the town of Pannu Aqil when it hit the truck early Sunday. He also said 20 people were injured in the crash. He said some of the injured were admitted in serious condition to the town hospital and that the death toll could increase.

Soomro said the accident's cause is unclear. He said one track of the road is closed at the site due to construction work. Bad road infrastructure, poor driving and massive disregard for traffic rules often cause such accidents in Pakistan.

Giriraj Singh reprimanded by BJP for 'Modi critics go to Pakistan' statement

Godda: After BJP leader Giriraj Singh on Saturday sparked a controversy by saying that the party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi baiters should go to Pakistan, his party distanced itself from the statement.

According to reports, the Bihar leader has been told by BJP leader Rajnath Singh to refrain from making such comments that hurts party's poll prospects and stoke any further row. Meanwhile, Congress today jumped on the chance to attack the BJP and slammed Giriraj's comments saying they were inflammatory. 

The Congress party also said that the it will take the matter with the Election Commission and demanded that Singh be jailed. "EC must take cognizance of this and send Giriraj Singh to jail for his statement," Congress leader Meem Afzal. 

Karachi: Two Pakistani UN staff members kidnapped by gunmen

Islamabad: Gunmen have kidnapped two men working for the U.N. Children's Fund from Pakistan's southern city of Karachi, police said Saturday. Image for representation only (courtesy: PTI) The two Pakistani men were on their way to a bus terminal to pick up some relatives when they were taken, the police official said. The men were taken on Thursday night, he said. So far, no ransom call had been received, he said, and it was unclear who was holding the men. The police officer asked not to be named since he was not authorized to speak to the media. A spokeswoman for the U.N. Children's Fund, also known as UNICEF, was not available to comment. The port city of Karachi is Pakistan's financial heart and home to 18 million people. Many neighbourhoods are considered Taliban strongholds, including the area of Shorab Goth, which is near where the men were taken. In February, gunmen kidnapped three Pakistani men working for the U.N.'s World Health Organisation in the northwestern town of Tank. They are still being held. Pakistan is plagued by kidnapping gangs. Foreigners and wealthy Pakistanis are frequently targeted and kidnappings are reported on a near-daily basis. Current hostages include an American aid worker, the son of a former prime minister, the son of a former provincial governor, and many professionals such as doctors and lawyers. Militant groups such as the Taliban often use such kidnappings to raise money for their insurgency. The Taliban have been fighting for years to overthrow the democratically elected government and impose strict Islamic law on the country of 180 million people.

Pakistan, China begin two-week joint military exercise

ISLAMABAD: A two-week joint military exercise between the armies of Pakistan and China began today near the garrison city of Rawalpindi. 

" Peace Angel 2014" would certainly pave the way for further cementing the existing bilateral relations between armies of the two countries, a statement issued by the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) said. 

The statement added that the joint exercise was aimed at sharing mutual experience and information in the medical field through a comprehensive training programme in a near real-time environment. Pakistan Army's Major General Hamayun Aziz, and senior Colonel Liu Agiou of China's People Liberation Army represented their respective nations in the opening ceremony. 

Flags of both countries were hoisted and national anthems played to mark the start of the military exercise. The exercise has been particularly designed within the scope of disaster relief operations caused due to massive floods and terrorist attacks on relief camps. It would also provide an opportunity to exchange latest technological advancements in the field of medicine to improve medical operations during times of war and peace.

High line losses a big challenge for Pesco

PESHAWAR: Containing high line losses has turned out to be a big challenge for the Peshawar Electric Supply Company.

Recently, state minister for water and power Abid Sher Ali threatened suspension of electric supply from 11 feeders in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa over high line losses.

A senior Pesco official told Dawn that the federal government should conduct a survey to know why the people were illegally using hooks for electricity.

KP still unwilling to allow launch of Malala’s book

PESHAWAR: The Taliban militants’ fear continues to hinder the launch of girls education campaigner Malala Yousafzai’s book in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The government had stopped the launch of ‘I am Malala’ in Peshawar two and half months ago in the wake of the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan’s threat of attacks against bookshops selling the book.

“We’d reached the relevant people in Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government for permission to launch the book, but to no avail. PTI chairman Imran Khan had tweeted he was at a loss to understand why the book’s launch had been stopped in Peshawar. However, the PTI government in the province isn’t ready to allow us to launch the book,” Khadim Hussain, director at the Bacha Khan Education Foundation, told Dawn on Tuesday.

Abuse of power: NAB gets 10-day custody of Mardan DSP

PESHAWAR:  The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa obtained a 10-day physical remand of a serving DSP in Mardan for allegedly possessing assets worth millions of rupees.

DSP Rajab Ali, a former Hayatabad police station SHO, was produced before Accountability Court Judge Tariq Yousafzai for obtaining a physical remand amid tight security.

NAB Special Prosecutor Lajbar Khan told the court the former SHO accumulated millions of rupees by violating his authority. The Peshawar High Court (PHC) had earlier ordered an enquiry against the officer as many complaints of misuse of power had been received against him.

Plan is run under NEAP in consultation with provincial govts

Peshawar: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Department Friday clarifying the news of handing over of the polio eradication campaign to the Army, said that in the meeting held at GHQ, no such decision of handing over of the polio eradication campaign to army was made. 

Technical Focal Person Chief Minister’s Monitoring Cell Chief Minister Secretariat Peshawar Dr Imtiaz Ali Shah said the press has misquoted the press release of ISPR. 

He said polio eradication has been declared a national emergency. The programme is being run under National Emergency Action Plan (NEAP) for Polio Eradication developed in consultation with all Provincial Governments. 

Shortage of doctors affects health services in Mansehra

MANSEHRA: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has left the people of Mansehra at the mercy of private clinics and doctors as half of the sanctioned posts of doctors and specialists are lying vacant in the district for the last many years.

“Though we are trying to provide better health services to people, the district health department is not authorised to fill the vacant posts or appoint doctors,” said Dr Naeem Awan, the acting district health officer, Mansehra, when contracted on Saturday.

People panic as drones fly over Hangu

HANGU: The low flight of the US drones created panic among the residents of Hangu district in southern part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Saturday.

The spy planes were seen flying in the area of Doaba and Thall tehsil of the district early in the day.

It was the first flight of drone in the Hangu district after a break that was apparently due to the peace talks that led to the ceasefire between the Taliban and government negotiations teams.

The CIA-operated spy planes had carried out an attack in Thall tehsil of Hangu district in November 2013 and hit amadrassa leaving nine people dead. Those killed were mostly Afghan refugees.

One of those killed in the drone strike was Maulvi Ahmad Jan of the Haqqani network.

Attack on Hamid Mir condemned

PESHAWAR: The journalists in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Saturday condemned the attack on Hamid Mir and announced to stage protest today. The Khyber Union of Journalists and Peshawar Press Club would hold demonstration today to condemn the incident. The Crimes and Terrorism Journalists Forum (CTJF) has also condemned the attack. Through a statement, CTJF president Javed Aziz Khan and condemned the attack on Hamid Mir and asked the government to unearth the attackers involved in the incident. The CTJF also demanded the government to provide security to the journalists as well as media houses.

Meanwhile, the Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) also condemned the firing attack on senior anchorperson of Geo News Hamid Mir in Karachi. In a joint statement, QWP head Aftab Sherpao and party’s parliamentary leader in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Sikandar Sherpao expressed deep sorrow over the cowardly attack on Hamid Mir. They prayed for the speedy recovery of the senior newsman and extended sympathy to his family.

KP governor to cut Fata House cost by Rs200m

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s new Governor Sardar Mehtab Ahmad Khan has said he was planning to reduce by at least Rs200 million the cost of the Fata House in Islamabad by making changes in its design and facilities.

Talking to The News, he said he had asked the concerned officials to reconsider the plan for the Fata House to keep the project small and reduce the construction costs. “We need to scale down the project as the money should be spent on the people of the tribal areas instead of grand buildings,” he argued.