Romania’s PM designate holds talks to form government

BUCHAREST: Romania’s prime minister designate Mihai Razvan Ungureanu on Tuesday started talks on forming a new government.

Ungureanu arrived shortly after 0700 GMT at the government offices where the ruling coalition parties will discuss the new team.

Several key ministers should keep their jobs, according to political sources quoted by Mediafax news agency. They include Foreign Minister Cristian Diaconescu, European Affairs Minister Leonard Orban and Justice Minister Catalin Predoiu.

However, some changes are expected at the ministries of finance, economy and internal affairs, according to sources quoted by Mediafax.

Ungureanu, the head of the intelligence services since 2007, was designated prime minister on Monday by President Train Basescu after Emil Boc resigned following wide protests over austerity cuts.

He has 10 days to form his new team and win parliament’s approval.

His government will be made up of members of the ruling coalition parties: the Liberal Democrats (PDL), the Hungarian minority (UDMR) and the National Union for the progress of Romania (UNPR). AGENCIES

PPMA announces jobs for heirs of PIC victims

Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association Chairman Muhammad Asad Khawaja told News Trends that entire Pharma industry has regretted deaths due to medicines reaction.

 

Asad said that the PPMA will give jobs to the children of the deceased patients. He said that the association has devised a strategy to lift ban on Pakistani medicines.

 

The concerned people of Pakistani embassies in 60 countries importing Pakistani medicines will be contacted to avoid medicine import stoppage, he said.
 

New conspiracies hatched against us everyday: Zardari

 

Addressing the inaugural ceremony of ‘Waseela-e-Haq Sindh Programme’ in Karachi, Co-Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party and President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari, said that everyday a new conspiracy is hatched against us but, by the grace of God, we defused every conspiracy.

 

PPP government is creating a new middle class in Sindh through this programme, Zardari said. He said that we want that new generation would not face hardships which we have faced.  He said that right from the first day of presidency, I talked about trade instead of aid. Zardari also suggested the beneficiaries of WHSP to establish dairy farms.

 

Politics is our worship, he said, adding that we are in politics for the service of the people. Our politics is not dependent on votes, he said.

 

While talking about BISP, he said that we strengthened the economy through Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP).
When we designed this programme, he said, people criticized and showed their concern but now this programme is running successfully.

 

The president also asked CM Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah to solve the problems of PPP workers and to provide them jobs.
 

Formers stop cotton picking

In reaction to it formers stopped cotton picking, rendering thousands of women jobless. Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association continued their strike against the imposition of withholding Tax, due to which factory owners stopped buying cotton. This situation has endangered the jobs of millions of cotton-pickers. Ginners Association representatives say they will continue their strike until the withdrawal of the tax.

KESC decides to sack 4000 employees again

KARACHI: Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) has once again decided to sack at least 4500 employees.

It should be mentioned here that the dismissal of these employees was announced some time back; however, the decision was reversed thanks to the protest that last several days.

KESC has presented to Sindh High Court (SHC) a proposal worth Rs. 5.35 billion for the Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS) for 4000 employees, who will be paid up at least Rs. 700,000 and maximum Rs. 4.7 million.

KESC spokesman said the VSS will be announced on an appropriate time; however, the announcement of the scheme is contingent upon court’s permission.

Earlier also, these employees were sacked; however, they were restored to their jobs after KESC’s head office was besieged for at least one week. TrendPK

A Playground for every child in Pakistan

Pakistan is undergoing the largest wave of urban growth in its history.

Historically, cities have been the driving force in economic and social development. During the last half a century the population of Pakistan has grown about three, but urban Pakistan has grown by nearly six times, double the rate of population growth. In particular with the robust economic growth averaging 7 percent and availability of millions of new jobs created between 2000 and 2008, there has been rapidly increased rural to urban migration in Pakistan to fill the jobs in growing manufacturing and service sectors. The level of urbanization in Pakistan is now the highest in South Asia which was 36% in 2008. With over 5 million rural migrants each year, the population of Pakistani cities in exploding, and Karachi has now become the world’s largest city.

The increasing urbanization is causing problems for the social services in Pakistan, and has lead to rising of urban poverty. The illusion of plentiful and better job opportunities and a better quality of life is often shattered when people from rural areas move to urban cities and towns. However, some outcomes are severe strains on housing and health, water supplies as well as on the necessary environment management. The worst incidence of urban poverty can be spotted in large towns and cities. Poverty is now growing faster in urban than in rural areas. Millions of people live in urban slums, which are typically overcrowded, polluted and dangerous, and lack basic services such as clean water and sanitation. Urban air quality has deteriorated largely on account of growth in industrial activity, transportation needs and energy production. The growing demand of water, along with poor water resource management and mounting pollution levels contributes to water supply problems in and around cities. As number of people in urban area increases, so does the demand for food and hence for irrigation in agricultural areas close to cities.

In principle, cities offer a more favorable setting for the resolution of social and environmental problems than rural areas. Urbanization is associated with higher incomes, improved health, higher literacy, improved quality of life and other benefits. Cities generate jobs and income. With good governance, they can deliver education, health care and other services more efficiently than less densely settled areas simply because of their advantages of scale and proximity. While mega-cities have captured much public attention, most of the new growth will occur in smaller towns and cities, which have fewer resources to respond to the magnitude of the change. Often people who leave the countryside to find better lives in the city have no choice but to settle in shantytowns and slums, where they lack access to decent housing and sanitation, health care and education—in effect, trading in rural for urban poverty. The result is in terms of poor quality housing, lack of water supply and sanitation facility and lack of proper waste disposal facility leading to spread of communicable diseases.

This trend has made farm lands in urban areas to be used for residential purposes resulting to constantly shrinking of agriculture lands in Pakistan has become a cause of concern to farmers of the country as well as for other physical infrastructure development. Farm lands have been reduced in the wake of rapid population growth resulting mainly from immigration. The farmers fear that the growing trend of private builders purchasing the agricultural land for building residential colonies, complexes would lead to devastating situation of food crisis in coming years. The increased in population is also accompanied by a corresponding increase in the amount of waste generated in the form of sewage and solid waste which, if properly managed or disposed can create serious health and environment problems. If government agencies will not pay attention to this problem, then it is possible that in years to come, sufficient land might not be available for our next generation.

The most effective way to slow rates of urban growth is to reduce unwanted fertility in both rural and urban areas. Lowering poverty, empowering women and providing quality reproductive health services all influence fertility preferences and ability to meet them. Improving access to basic social and health services, including reproductive health care, for poor people in urban slums is also critical to breaking the cycle of poverty.
There is a need for the policy makers and planners to revisit the urban situation across the upland settlements of the country. The medium and small towns are expanding with appreciable pace in an unorganized manner. They need appropriate planning and policy intervention to accommodate the rising urban population.

Vast majority of people in rural Pakistan still depend on agriculture, for their livelihood. it is also the area with the most unemployment, underemployment, and poverty. No doubt, villages are in a state of neglect and under-development, with impoverished people, as result of past legacies and defects in our planning process and investment pattern. But the potential in rural Pakistan is immense. What if every village in the country is provided with basic amenities, like drinking water, electricity, health care, educational transport, communication and other facilities, with only a smaller population of the village engaged in agriculture and the remaining in other gainful occupations? When this happens Pakistan will turn into mighty country. The purchasing power of the rural population throwing enormous demand for goods and services will boost the national economy tremendously. The day will see the reverse migration of people from the urban slums back to the villages.

President Zardari signs Sacked Employees Reinstatement Bill

President Asif Ali Zardari has signed into law the Sacked Employees (Reinstatement) Bill 2010 during a special ceremony held here at Presidency on Monday, trendpk.Com Reported.

The signing ceremony was attended among others by federal ministers, members of parliament, federal secretaries and representatives of reinstated employees.

The bill was passed by National Assembly on October 7 and Senate on 10 November.

Addressing the gathering on the occasion, the President said he is pleased to have signed the bill and congratulated all the workers who have thus been reinstated in their jobs through an act of the parliament. He also felicitated parliament for passing the law and also the Minister for Labor and Manpower and all those who made it possible.

The President said, it is an auspicious day for all of us as today we have fulfilled yet another promise and commitment made by our Shaheed leader and the government with the workers.

He said worker and labour is the backbone of the countrys economy and Pakistan Peoples Party and that is why from the day of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, PPP has kept welfare of workers and labourers uppermost in its mind. He also said that Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto had promised the sacked employees of different organizations that they would be reinstated into their jobs.

Karachi: Governor Sindh takes notice of lengthy power outages

Federation of Pakistan Camber of Commerce and Industry has announced their support for the Wednesday strike announcement by their industrial sector of Karachi, Dunya News reported on Tuesday.
Whereas tomorrow all the industries of the cosmopolitan would observe strike against the lengthy power outages by KESC. On the other hand the Governor Sindh ha taken a serious notice of the issue and summoned all the concerned authorities and KESC officers tomorrow for an important meeting in the provincial governor house to resolve the issue.
KESC has refused to reduce the length of the power outages despite the announcement of strike by the industries of the city. According to the KESC sources, due to reduced supply of gas by Sui Southern Gas Pipelines Limited SSGPL it has become impossible for KESC to reduce the duration of load shedding in the industrial areas.
On the other hand the Governor Sindh Dr. Ishrat Ul Ibad Khan has taken serious notice of the power break downs and the consequent unrest amongst the masses. The Governor has summoned the concerned authorities and the KESC officers immediately to look into the matter.
The industrial unions of the industrial zones of Karachi, including those of S.I.T.E, North Karachi, Federal B. area, Landhi, Korangi and Super Highway, have announced a complete strike on Wednesday which was duly supported by the chairman of the federation Sultan Chawla in a press conference in Karachi. He also said that due to the planned one-day strike, atleast 10-12 billion rupess loss would be incurred in terms of production while atleast 1 billion would decrease from the tax receipts for the government. Sultan Chawla demanded from the government that the issue of these lengthy power outages should be resolved so as to save the jobs of almost 2 million workers and employees.

US soldiers can be demoralized by WikiLeaks docs: Morrell

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell says US did not ignore detainee abuse, following the release of classified military documents. The Pentagon decried the website’s publication of the secret reports, the largest security breach of its kind in US military history, far surpassing the group’s dump of more than 70,000 Afghan war files in July.
US officials said the leak endangered U.S. troops and threatened to put some 300 Iraqi collaborators at risk by exposing their identities. The bottom line is, our forces are still very much in danger here as a result of this exposure, given the fact that our tactics, techniques and procedures are exposed in these documents. And our enemies are undoubtedly going to try to use them against us, and making their jobs even more difficult and dangerous, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said. Working with Iraq Body Count, a group run by academics and peace activists that estimates Iraq casualties, WikiLeaks had calculated that the documents revealed about 15,000 previously unknown civilian deaths. Morrell spoke about casualties and the allegations made about US forces. WikiLeaks said it had edited out sensitive information and was confident the documents contained no detail that could lead to anyone being harmed. The Iraq war files, spanning 2003 to 2009, touched on other themes, including well-known US concerns about Iranian training and support for some Iraqi militias. More than 4,400 US soldiers have been killed since the start of the 2003 US-led invasion. All US forces are set to withdraw from Iraq by the end of next year.

US soldiers can be demoralized by WikiLeaks docs: Morrell

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell says US did not ignore detainee abuse, following the release of classified military documents. The Pentagon decried the website’s publication of the secret reports, the largest security breach of its kind in US military history, far surpassing the group’s dump of more than 70,000 Afghan war files in July.
US officials said the leak endangered U.S. troops and threatened to put some 300 Iraqi collaborators at risk by exposing their identities. The bottom line is, our forces are still very much in danger here as a result of this exposure, given the fact that our tactics, techniques and procedures are exposed in these documents. And our enemies are undoubtedly going to try to use them against us, and making their jobs even more difficult and dangerous, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said. Working with Iraq Body Count, a group run by academics and peace activists that estimates Iraq casualties, WikiLeaks had calculated that the documents revealed about 15,000 previously unknown civilian deaths. Morrell spoke about casualties and the allegations made about US forces. WikiLeaks said it had edited out sensitive information and was confident the documents contained no detail that could lead to anyone being harmed. The Iraq war files, spanning 2003 to 2009, touched on other themes, including well-known US concerns about Iranian training and support for some Iraqi militias. More than 4,400 US soldiers have been killed since the start of the 2003 US-led invasion. All US forces are set to withdraw from Iraq by the end of next year.

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