Transfer of 5 ministries to provinces in 2 days: Rabbani

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination Mian Raza Rabbani has said that a notification about the transfer of five ministries from center to provinces will be issued in a two-day time.

Addressing a news conference in Islamabad today (Tuesday), he said that not a single worker of these ministries would be sacked.

He said that a separate division would be set up under the Cabinet Division to run the organizations of these ministries in Islamabad.

He said that cabinet has approved transfer of Arms Act, Lottery, Capital Gains Tax and some other bodies to provinces.

Under the 18th Amendment, higher education and curriculum would be the responsibility of provinces.

“Dr. Ata ur Rehman gave a new role to Higher Education Commission (HEC) with the patronage of Pervez Musharraf in violation of the rules,” he said. TrendPK

Egypt President Announces New Govt

Breaking News

CAIRO: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak swore in a new Cabinet on Monday, replacing one dissolved as a concession to unprecedented anti-government protests.

In the most significant change, the interior minister — who heads internal security forces — was replaced. A retired police general, Mahmoud Wagdi, was named to replace Habib el-Adly, who is widely despised by protesters for brutality shown by security forces.

Still, the new Cabinet is unlikely to satisfy the tens of thousands of protests who have taken to the streets in cities across Egypt the past week demanding the ouster of Mubarak and his entire regime.

When Mubarak announced the dissolving of the previous government late Friday and named his intelligence chief Omar Suleiman as his vice president, protesters on the streets rejected the move as an attempt by Mubarak, Egypt’s authoritarian ruler of nearly 30 years, to cling to power.

The new line-up of Cabinet ministers announced on state television included stalwarts of Mubarak’s regime but purged several of the prominent businessmen who held economic posts and have engineered the country’s economic liberalization policies the past decades.

Many Egyptians resented to influence of millionaire politician-moguls, who were close allies of the president’s son, Gamal Mubarak, long thought to be the heir apparent.

In the new Cabinet, Mubarak retained his long-serving defense minister, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, and Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit.

The longest-serving Cabinet minister, Culture Minister Farouq Hosni, was replaced by Gaber Asfour, a widely respected literary figure.

Egypt’s most famous archaeologist, Zahi Hawass, was named state minister for antiquities, a new post.

SC moved for disqualification of Rehman Malik

ISLAMABAD: A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court on Friday for disqualification of Interior Minister Senator Rehman Malik over wrong recitation of the Holy Quran (Surah Ikhlas), TrendPK.com News reported.

Tariq Asad Advocate contended in his plea that Senator Rehman Malik wrongly recited Surah Ikhlas three times during the cabinet meeting.

He asserted that Malik did not qualify for the senate seat, as he has no knowledge of the basic teachings of Islam, therefore, he should be disqualified under article 62 and 63 of the constitution.

Sindh ministers stopped outside Quaid’s mausoleum

KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah on Saturday ordered an inquiry into alleged highhandedness of security personnel with some members of his cabinet at the gate of Quaide-e-Azam mausoleum.

According to media reports, some provincial ministers had to face an embarrassing situation after they were not allowed by security guards to enter the mausoleum for about 15 minutes over security reasons.

Although the ministers produced their identity cards, however, adamant security staff refused to give any concession.

Taking notice of the incident, Chief Minister Shah asked Karachi police chief to submit a report. TrendPK

Cabinet committee rebukes release of WikiLeaks

In the meeting of Defence Committee of the Cabinet (DCC) under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, the participants condemned the release of WikiLeaks cables and called it an attempt to spoil the image of Pakistan. Strategy of PMs Afghanistan visit was also finalized in the meeting.

The PM was briefed about the overall situation in Swat and North Waziristan and Kashmir issue also came under discussion. The committee demanded to solve Kashmir dispute as per resolutions of the UN. It emphasized to establish peace in Afghanistan as early as possible. The PM congratulated Army Chief and General Wyne and lauded efforts of Pak army to contain terrorism in the country.

Indian Media Stars Caught up in Corruption Scandal

NEW DELHI: India’s feisty media claim to be guardians of national democracy, but a scandal involving high-profile journalists and telephone taps has given the country its own WikiLeaks-style controversy.

At the centre of the storm is India’s best-known television journalist, Barkha Dutt, who is accused of acting as a power broker in negotiations involving big business and the government over allocation of cabinet seats.

Tapes recorded by the police have emerged as part of a major row over the cut-rate sale of mobile phone licences in 2007-2008 which is estimated to have cost the treasury as much as 40 billion dollars in lost revenues.

Transcripts of the 104 tapes, many of which have been printed by two news magazines, have brought question marks over the reputations of Dutt, veteran newspaper columnist Vir Sanghvi and other big media names.

The tapes are a treasure trove for close followers of New Delhi’s interwoven media, business and political scenes.

A number of them, which record the conversations of about 30 journalists, date back to 2009 when the re-elected Congress party was patching together its current coalition government.

Dutt and Sanghvi are heard in separate conversations discussing who should be in the cabinet with influential lobbyist Niira Radia, who was pushing for A. Raja, a south Indian regional politician, to be reinstated as a minister.

As telecom minister before the election, Raja had supervised the sale of the lucrative 2G phone licences at knock-down prices — which is now emerging as potentially one of the biggest corruption cases in Indian history.

Radia worked as a lobbyist for two of India’s biggest industrialists: Mukesh Ambani, head of Reliance Industries, and Ratan Tata, whose conglomerate’s interests include phone operator Tata Teleservices.

Since the leaks, Tata has gone to court to try to stop any further dissemination of the tapes, saying disclosure of Radia’s “purely personal” telephone conversations with him violated his right to privacy.

Critics have accused Dutt and Sanghvi of acting like deal-makers rather than journalists in their chummy conversations with Radia about the cabinet’s makeup.

Raja was reappointed as telecom minister despite controversy over the 2G telecoms sale. He has since resigned, but denies any wrongdoing.

“What they seem to have done is fall into the trap that beguiles well-known journalists, of thinking that they are important players rather than observers on behalf of their readers and viewers,” commented Indian publisher T.N. Ninan.

Both Dutt and Sanghvi have denied any improper dealings with Radia or that they acted as go-betweens for her and the Congress party.

Dutt, who is famous for her combative interviewing style on the NDTV news channel, has for once found herself on the defensive.

On Tuesday night, she appeared on the channel for a special programme, and was quick to apologise for “an error of judgement,” but she argued that the criticism amounted to a personal smear campaign against her.

Sanghvi, normally an outgoing character, this week announced he was taking a break from his influential column for the Hindustan Times newspaper “to do some thinking.”

The tapes draw in some of India’s most famous people.

One relates to a bitter feud between Mukesh Ambani and his younger brother Anil over the carve-up of the corporate empire left to them by their father who died without a will. Sanhgvi is heard on tape apparently offering Mukesh Ambani a “rehearsed” TV interview.

The tapes, which cover thousands of hours of conversation, were recorded during a police income tax investigation in which Radia’s lines were tapped for 300 days.

The magazines, Open and Outlook, which printed the tapes admit the recordings were “selectively leaked” and say they have no clue about their source or the motivation behind their release.

Radia, who heads Mumbai-based Vaishnavi Corporate Communications, has made no comment directly on the licence sale but has accused the media of “spreading stories of misinformation and malice” about her and her company.

The telecoms scandal has led to paralysis in parliament as the opposition has blocked all business for weeks demanding a cross-party investigation.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who normally manages to stand aloof from India’s political fray, was also drawn into the controversy after he was asked to explain his “alleged inaction” over the licence sales by the Supreme Court.

Cabinet to endorse transfer of five ministries to provinces

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Cabinet is meeting today to accord its formal approval for transfer of five ministries from centre to provinces.

Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, the chief ministers of all four provinces, federal ministers and top officials will attend this cabinet meeting.

According to sources, ministries of Local Bodies, Zakat & Ushr, Special Measures, Youth Affairs and Population Welfare will be handed over to provinces.

In addition, it will consider recommendations of the Constitutional Reforms Committee regarding appointments of judges in top judiciary. Trend Pk

Reformed GST not to affect common man

ISLAMABAD: Information and Broadcasting Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira has said the Reformed General Sales Tax (RGST) which is aimed at broadening the taxation net base would not affect lives of the common people

Talking to media after attending the launching of series of programmes on Faiz Ahmed Faiz here at Radio Pakistan he said, that GST reform was the part of budget document presented this year, but was delayed for more deliberations with different stakeholders.

The Reformed GST has also been approved by the Cabinet and Council of Common Interests (CII), he recalled.

The minister said that all the chief ministers have agreed on GST reforms in the meeting of the CCI.

He said the government was aware of the problems of common man and implementation of RGST would not disturb their routine life, rather burden would be shared with those who are capable of

Israeli govt seen accepting new settlement freeze

JERUSALEM: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will probably win narrow approval from his coalition government for a U.S. proposal to extend a freeze on West Bank settlement building, Israeli political sources said on Sunday.

The Palestinians halted peace talks after the 10-month Israeli moratorium on settlement construction expired in September. The Obama administration has offered Israel diplomatic and defence perks to renew the freeze for 90 days.

Netanyahu, who visited the United States last week, convened his cabinet to outline the proposal, which he said was still being drafted with the Americans. Once ready, it would be put to a vote in Israel’s 15-minister security cabinet, he said.

“In any event, I insist that any proposal meet the State of Israel’s security needs, both in the immediate term and vis-a-vis the threats that we will face in the coming

We Support Indiscriminate Accountability: PM Gilani

News Trends: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has said that the government endorsed transparent and indiscriminate accountability.
Addressing the National Assembly, the PM rejected the perception that the government is against the people while the Opposition is not, saying that the people should themselves realize which policy is better for them.

Accountability Bill was the first thing our government brought, the PM maintained, adding that we are for indiscriminate accountability. He lamented that accountability was not transparent during the previous regimes. He alleged the Opposition of targeting one institute and that also on purpose. Reply to Nawazs letter would certainly be sent after return of President Zardari, the PM told the NA. Referring to the interception of ministers cars at Shahra-e-Dastoor, the Premier said no such incident took place even the minster named are not confirming it; I even talked to the COAS regarding the issue. Regarding the IMF loan issue and the conditions set by the organization, Gilani said that I did take the Cabinet on board in this respect. About reformed GST Bill, he said that only MQM had some reservations over it who contacted the Finance Minister to get them addressed. He said that all the four Chief Ministers approved the RGST Bill. The provinces asked the federation to give Rs 160 billion in aid for the flood victims, Reformed GST is the only way to help the flood victims, the PM asserted.

Earlier, while addressing the NA, Chaudhry Nisar maintained that even the House was not taken on board vis–vis RGST Bill let alone the allies.
He said that the PM did announce to consult us all but he did not. He warned those at the helm against anti-public decisions.

Next Page »