Ban on Pillion Riding in Karachi to Continue
Karachi, trendpk: The duration of ban on pillion riding in Karachi has come to an end today but provincial Minister for Interior Affairs has decided to extend this duration till Chehlum. Notification for this extension might be issued today.
In order to avoid any sort of terrorist activities, a ban on pillion riding in most of the major cities including Karachi was imposed during the month of Muharram. A notification was issued by Ministry of Interior, Sindh, for ban of pillion riding under the act 144 from 2nd December 2010 till 19th December 2010. However the provincial Minister for Interior Affairs has announced to extend this ban till Chehlum but no notification in this regard has been so far issued. According to the sources of Ministry of Interior, a notification can be issued in this regard today. Earlier to this, a ban on pillion riding in Karachi was lifted on 23rd November 2010. This ban on pillion riding has also been lifted in Islamabad and Rawalpindi.
US, UK universities return 13 degrees sans verification
KARACHI: The US and UK universities have sought undertakings of degree holders for verification of degrees of 13 parliamentarians which they refused to submit to Higher Education Commission (HEC).
The above universities had to return degrees of 13 parliamentarians, seeking undertakings of degree holders, HEC sources said.
Now the HEC will approach Election Commission of Pakistan for the required undertakings.
Sources have disclosed that degrees of Israrullah Zehri, Humayun Aziz Kurd and Salman Mohsin are bogus. Moreover, degrees held by Mazhar Hayat and Shama Parveen have also been declared invalid.
PML-Q for talks on Kashmir, trade with India
LAHORE: The Punjab Assembly opposition leader Chaudhry Zaheer ud Din Khan (PML-Q) said Pakistan must talk on Kashmir, water and trade simultaneously with India.
Talking outside assembly building here today, he criticized the government for signing a trade agreement with Afghanistan.
The opposition leader also supported the extension in Gen Kayani”s service.
He suggested to improve the prosecution department and sought increase in salaries of Rescue 1122.
Court extends Hameshs remand for 11 days
Lahore Accountability Court extended Hamesh Khans physical remand for another 11 days on Saturday.
Hamesh, who is the principal accused in Bank of Punjab money scam, was brought to the court in an armoured car. NAB contended in the court that more time is needed to grill the accused and as such the extension in remand was sought. Hamesh replied in negative when the court asked him whether he was abused.
The court extended the remand for another 11 days and adjourned the case till June 9.
Decision for COAS extension will be made by PM: Mukhtar
Minister of Defence Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar has said that Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani will decide upon the extension of army chief.< br>Federal Minister for Defence welcomed the Chinese Defence Minister General Leong at Chaklala Airbase, Rawalpindi. Pakistan Armys contingent gave the guard of honour to the respectable guest. Talking to media at this occasion, Ahmed Mukhtar said that three defence pacts will be made with China, which also includes funds to acquire defence equipments and provision of training airplanes. He also said that China is helping Pakistan regarding the civil nuclear technology pact.
Judiciary allowed Dasti to contest polls, says Gilani
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani said the government will look into the matter relating the extension in the term of the Army Chief, as and when the time approaches.
The statement of Federal Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar was quite inopportune and uncalled for; and he should not have given the statement, he said while talking to the senior journalists.
Responding a query about the election of Jamshed Dasti, the PM Gilani said it was judiciary which allowed him to contest the election.
Replying a question over pardon accorded to Federal Interior Minister Rehman A Malik, he said Malik was pardoned, as the court awarded him the sentence in his absence, adding that it is not appropriate for any government to send its Home Minister to jail.
Gilani however stressed the government will accede to and act upon the SC’s verdict whatever is given in the original case.
All the issues with the apex court would be amicably resolved, he hoped reinforcing there is no confrontation among the institutions.
Return Of IDPs To Start In April: Corps Commanders
Displaced people of South Waziristan will start returning back to their homes in the first week of April. Corps Commanders have finalised the schedule.
The meeting of Corps Commanders held at General Headquarters in Islamabad under the chairmanship of COAS General Kayani.
The meeting mulled over the war against terrorism, professional affairs of the military and return of IDPs of South Waziristan.
Lahore High Court Decision On Lakhvi
Lahore High Court has reserved the decision on transfer of Mumbai attack’s accused Zakiur Redman Lakhvi’s case from Rawalpindi to an anti-terror court in Lahore.
Federal and provincial governments assured the court of Chief Justice Khawaja Sharif to provide full security to accused Lakhvi and his lawyer Khawaja Sultan. Advocate Sultan told the court that the government was pressursing the judge in Pindi court. He maintained that Indian intelligence agencies are following them so their lives are under threat.
The high court upheld the verdict and the decision would be announced tomorrow.
Tenure Of DG ISI Extended For One Year
Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani on Tuesday extended service of Director General Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), Lieutenant General Shuja Pasha, for one year. Summary in this regard was sent to the Prime Minister 15 days ago which was accepted.
He had informed the viewers about his extension one month ago. Pasha was scheduled to retire from service on March 18, 2010.
Top UK General Says Afghanistan Army In Morale Crisis
February 28, 2010 by Trend PK
Filed under World News
The head of the army has warned that British troops are facing a crisis of deteriorating morale on the home front that risks undermining the war in Afghanistan.
In a confidential draft memo prepared for ministers, General Sir David Richards, chief of the general staff (CGS), said that recent cuts to the defence budget are having a “cumulative and corrosive effect on our soldiers and their families”.
Cuts to housing, shortages of training equipment and even the cancellation of sports events between soldiers’ tours of duty were making them and their families feel “undervalued”, the army chief wrote.
The leaked memo will be seized on by the Tories as opening a new front in the tussle between army chiefs and ministers over the politically sensitive issue of defence cuts.
It echoes the row last year when Richards’s predecessor, General Sir Richard Dannatt, stepped down after speaking out about equipment shortages as well as poor pay and conditions. It later emerged that government figures had tried to smear him over his expenses.
A senior military commander emphasised yesterday that it was not Richards’s intention to criticise ministers: “He’s not whingeing. He’s simply trying to flag up what he believes is a vital issue that needs their urgent attention.”
In the memo to the defence board, which comprises ministers and service chiefs, Richards shifts the focus of criticism from the war effort in Afghanistan to the treatment of troops on their return home.
While there had been “significant progress” on the front line, Richards said, the treatment of soldiers when they returned for 24 months between tours is so poor that it is threatening to undermine the war effort.
Marked “restricted”, the memo reports a summary of an internal “poll” of 5,000 soldiers and their families at units in Britain, Germany and Cyprus over the past four months.
The survey was discussed at the executive committee of the army board this month. Its results appear to be so alarming that Richards decided to alert ministers to its key findings. “My greatest concern … is the deteriorating experience of soldiers and their families … between tours which, the [survey] team reports, is disaffecting attitudes, damaging morale and risks undermining our ability to sustain the campaign . . .” he wrote.
“We need our soldiers to be ready, mentally and physically, to endure repeated tours in Afghanistan, in a harsh environment, with the real prospect of significant casualties each time. “To maintain the necessary morale and cohesion, they must see tangible signs between tours that they and their families are valued.”
Top UK General Says Afghanistan Army In Morale Crisis was first posted on March 1, 2010 at 12:54 am.
