Nominations for Senate polls unveiled

TrendPK.com

ISLAMABAD: Nominations of the hopefuls for around the corner Senate elections were surfaced on Sunday whereby PML-N shortlisted seven candidates, four contenders from PPP while PML-F nominated Syed Muzaffar Hussain from Sindh, reports TrendPK.

The nomination papers will start to be submitted from Monday.

According to the announcement issued from PML-N, M. Hamza, Zulfiqar Khosa, Rafique Rajwana and Zafarullah Dhandlah were nominated on general seats from Punjab. Ishaq Dar will be hopeful for Technocrat slot and Kamran Michael will be contesting for minority seat. Nuzhat Aamir Siddiqui has been named to contest on women seats from N-League.

On the other side, PPP has announced four candidates to run for Senate polls from Punjab including Babar Awan, Aitzaz Ahsan, Aslam Gill and Khalid Qureshi.

Babar Awan and Aitzaz Ahsan form legal team of the government while Aslam Gill is the former president Lahore of PPP and Khalida Qureshi belongs to Muzaffargarh. TrendPK

PML-Q names candidates for Senate polls

TrendPK.com

LAHORE: The Pakistan Muslim League-Qaid-e-Azam (PML-Q) has announced names of candidates it is fielding in upcoming Senate elections, TrendPK reports.

According to the statement issued on Sunday by the PML-Q, a PPP ally, Muhammad Hamza, Saradar Zulfiqar Khosa, Rafique Rajwana will contest on general seats.

Ishaq Daar will contest on the seat of technocrats, while Nuzhar Amir Siddiqui and Kamran Michal will contest on the seats reserved for women and minorities, respectively.

Other PPP allies, MQM and ANP, have also finalized their candidates for the Senate polls expected next month. TrendPK

Malik says ready to brief Senate on Balochistan package

TrendPK.com

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Rehman Malik says he is ready to brief the House over progress made so far regarding implementation of Aghaz-e-Haqooq Balochistan package.

Speaking at Senate today (Friday), Malik accused foreign interference of creating unrest in Balochistan.

Many countries of the world don’t want Balochistan to be part of Pakistan, he said.

He said neither army nor paramilitary frontier corps are deteriorating law and order situation

Any third power is behind the unrest, he added.

He said that 85 percent implementation has been made on Aghaz-e-Haqooq Balochistan package.

He said no airbase would be allowed to be used for NATO supplies. TrendPK

Oil sheds 30 cents towards $114

SINGAPORE: Brent crude slipped towards $114 on Monday, weighed down by a stronger U.S. dollar and the risk that a sovereign debt default by Greece could tip the euro zone in to a demand-sapping recession.

However, losses were limited by escalating tension between Iran and the West, which threatens to disrupt supplies from the world’s fifth-largest crude oil exporter.

Front-month Brent crude fell 30 cents to $114.28 a barrel by 0317 GMT, snapping four straight days of gains. Brent rose 2.8 percent last week to settle near a three-month peak on Friday, after a positive U.S. jobs report fueled hopes of stronger demand in the top petroleum-consuming nation.

U.S. crude was down 59 cents at $97.24 a barrel, after posting a loss of 1.73 percent last week.

“There’s still not much confidence over the euro zone economies, and that is limiting upside from strong U.S. data and the tensions in Iran,” said Ken Hasegawa, a commodity derivatives manager with Newedge Brokerage in Tokyo.

Coalition parties in Greece, which is at the centre of Europe’s two-year old debt crisis, must tell the European Union by Monday whether they accept the painful terms of a new bailout deal worth 130 billion euros in order to avoid a disorderly default.

The greenback strengthened against a basket of currencies after the euro softened ahead of the Greek deadline, making dollar-denominated commodities like oil more expensive when purchased in other currencies.

“One of the key risks in the European situation is the possibility that Greece will not achieve agreement to the austerity measures being required of them,” said Ric Spooner, chief market analyst with CMC Markets in Sydney.

IRAN SUPPORTS
Oil prices remain supported by growing tensions in the oil-producing region of the Middle East, as Iran continued to threaten military action in its increasingly volatile stand-off with world powers over its nuclear ambitions.

Iran’s deputy Revolutionary Guards commander said on Sunday Tehran will target any country used as a launchpad for attacks against its soil, days after the country’s supreme clerical leader threatened reprisals for the West’s new ban on Iranian oil exports. AGENCIES

Scandal blow puts Manmohan Singh govt in danger

NEW DELHI: There is no clamor for an early general election in India, but the latest blow dealt to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over a massive corruption scandal raises the risk that his wounded government could fall well before its mandate runs out in 2014.

Singh is unlikely to quit following last week’s Supreme Court order for 122 telecoms licenses to be revoked, a deeply embarrassing ruling that accused the government of “virtually gifting away an important national asset at throwaway prices.”

According to Sanjaya Baru, a former media adviser to the 79-year-old prime minister, Singh has seriously considered stepping down at times during the turbulence of the past 12 months but has plodded on out of loyalty to the ruling Congress party.

Few really know the prime minister’s mind. Indeed Singh’s public silence on many matters is the butt of internet jokes, one of which has his frustrated dentist telling him: “You can open your mouth now, I’m your dentist.”

Even if Singh did go, he has several ambitious colleagues who could step in to lead Congress into the next elections, hoping that they can shake off the unpopularity that has closed in on the party since it won a second five-year term in 2009.

There was some rare relief for the government on Saturday, when a court cleared Singh’s interior minister of signing off on the sale of the mobile network licenses, which may have cost the public exchequer up to $36 billion in lost revenues.

Buoyed by this ruling — which kept the blame for short-changing the nation from spreading across Singh’s cabinet — the Congress party is most likely to try to limp on, just as it did through 2011.

Last year it survived the detention of a minister over the telecoms scandal, country-wide protests over corruption, flip-flopping by fickle regional parties in its coalition, and dismay over a policy paralysis as economic growth was skidding. It even blundered into an embarrassing legal face-off with the country’s army chief over his date of birth and retirement.

The question now is whether it can ride out 2012 too.

“BETS ARE ON”

Two looming events could decide that: the first is a month-long election in the politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh that gets under way this week, and the second is the budget session of parliament in March.

“Ever since the (telecoms) scandal blew sky high in October 2010 … the regime in Delhi has acquired the traits of a rubber band that stretches and shows great elasticity but is yet to snap,” the current affairs weekly Outlook said in a cover story.

“Everyone’s waiting and bets are now on as to whether this government will survive the budget session,” it said. “The Manmohan regime may be too much of a liability for regional parties (in the coalition) to carry the burden for much longer.”

Congress is expected to fare better in the Uttar Pradesh poll than last time, when it won a mere 22 of the state assembly’s 403 seats, in part thanks to the tireless campaigning of Rahul Gandhi, scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty that has ruled India for most of its six decades of independence.

But if there is only a modest improvement in its seat tally, Congress will be further weakened.

This may encourage the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to go on the offensive. Coalition partners that Congress relies on for a parliamentary majority could also be tempted to desert it during the budget session in March.

If the government fails to win enough support in parliament for its 2012/13 Finance Bill in mid-March, then, under the constitution, it must resign, which could trigger a mid-term election.

“How many members of parliament want an election now? There’s no mood for it. The BJP doesn’t want one because they are not sure that they can come to power,” said one political insider, who asked not to be named. “But accidents can happen.”

One coalition partner that could be tempted by an early election is Mamata Banerjee, a firebrand who leads the Trinamool Congress party. Congress relies on the 19 parliament seats that Banerjee’s West Bengal-based party brings to the ruling coalition, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), but at times Banerjee has seemed to be its fiercest opponent and there is a risk that she could pull her support from the government.

If that were to happen, Congress may turn to the Samajwadi Party, which is expected to emerge first or second in the Uttar Pradesh election, to join and rescue its coalition.

Many in Congress see 41-year-old Rahul Gandhi as the answer to the party’s troubles. If he delivers a strong result in the Uttar Pradesh election, pressure could mount on him to take the reins of the party sooner than his current long-game plan.

“If Congress does remarkably well in Uttar Pradesh, if he can claim there’s a Rahul wave, many would say that this is one way of liberating themselves from this (telecoms) controversy,” the insider said. “The argument would be: here’s a young man bringing votes back to the party and now it’s time to give the younger generation a chance.”

Senate, NA to take up 20th Amendment Monday

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ISLAMABAD: Upper and lower houses of the Parliament – National Assembly and the Senate – are all set to debate the 20th Constitutional Amendment in Monday’s respective sessions to be held this evening, TrendPK reports.

The government has issued a six-point agenda of the session, according to which bill of the 20th Constitutional Amendment would be tabled in the NA.

Sources said the Pakistan Peoples Party-led government had accepted three out of four demands of its ally, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-e-Azam (PML-Q),  for support the bill in the lower house.

However, the opposition’s proposals for an acting government set up are yet to be agreed upon. TrendPK

US Muslims face rising discrimination: official

WASHINGTON: American Muslims face a rising tide of religious discrimination in U.S. communities, workplaces and schools nearly a decade after the Sept. 11 attacks, a congressional committee heard Tuesday.

Evidence of growing anti-Muslim bigotry, aired at a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing, poses a challenge for President Barack Obama as his administration works to foster good relations with American Muslims and secure their help against the threat of home-grown terrorism.

But the challenge is compounded by remarks by public officials and others in prominent positions that have inflamed public debate and threaten to facilitate discrimination, according to witness testimony.

“We continue to solicit and receive the support of many Muslim Americans who love this nation and work with our government to protect it,” said Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, who chaired the proceedings.

“At the same time, many law-abiding Muslim Americans face discrimination and charges that they’re not real Americans simply because of their religion.”

Senator Lindsey Graham, the panel’s top Republican, sounded a more hawkish tone, saying he supported Muslim rights but calling on Muslim Americans to do more to protect the United States from attack.

“Get in this fight,” Graham said. “You’re going to have to help your country, probably uniquely compared to anyone else, understand what’s going on and fight back. The front lines of this war are in our own back door and our own neighborhoods.”

Thomas Perez, the assistant U.S. attorney general for civil rights, told the panel that anti-Muslim sentiment has brought a surge last May in the number of federal discrimination cases involving zoning boards and other local authorities that have acted to prevent mosques from opening in their communities.

That comes on top of more than 800 incidents of violence, vandalism and arson against people believed to be Muslim, Arab or South Asian, that the Justice Department has investigated since the Sept. 11 attacks.

Perez said there has been a 150 percent jump in workplace discrimination against Muslims, often over religious dress and worship schedules, while Muslim youth can often become the victims of school yard bullying.

“In each city and town where I have met with (Muslim) leaders, I have been struck by the fear that pervades their lives,” Perez told the panel.

Muslims have also witnessed a fierce debate over a Florida minister’s threat to burn a Koran, as well as efforts in half a dozen U.S. states to ban the use of Muslim religious law on the pretext of a threat to the American legal system.

Perez praised Obama and former President George W. Bush for using the presidential pulpit to speak out eloquently against anti-Muslim sentiment. But witnesses complained that not all public servants have followed suit.

“In the last several months, anti-Muslim rhetoric has reached a disturbing new level. Prominent religious, military and even political leaders have joined the fray, feeding fear and hysteria,” said Farhana Khera, a former Senate aide who now heads a group called Muslim Advocates.

Durbin became embroiled in a spat with Peter King, the Republican chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, who held a controversial hearing on radicalization in the U.S. Muslim community earlier this month.

King blasted Durbin’s proceedings in the media as an exercise in political correctness that would “perpetuate the myth that there is a serious anti-Islam issue in this country.”

Durbin responded with a veiled reference to controversial remarks attributed to King and Newt Gingrich, a former Republican House speaker now considering a bid for the White House.

“A leading member of Congress stated bluntly: ‘There are too many mosques in this country.’ A former speaker of the House falsely claimed: ‘America’s experiencing an Islamist cultural political offensive designed to undermine and destroy our civilization’,” said Durbin, the Senate’s No. 2 Democratic leader.

“Such inflammatory speech from prominent public leaders creates a fertile climate for discrimination,” he added. AGENCIES

Khanani and Kalia: FIA chief questions suspects’ acquittal

ISLAMABAD: The Director-General of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Waseem Ahmed on Saturday said exonerating suspects in the Khanani and Kalia case was questionable.

Ahmed was speaking before the Senate’s Standing Committee on Interior chaired by Senator Talha Mehmood. The FIA chief also alleged that a large sum of money was used for the release of the accused, saying that there was enough proof of their involvement in money laundering. “You will be surprised to know how many days they spent in jail and how many days in the hospital,” the FIA chief said.

He added that the prime minister’s son had paid Rs8 million as custom duty for importing a vehicle and the notification for the import of the bulletproof car was issued by the interior ministry.

Waseem said that the FIA is currently conducting inquires in 35 different key cases. By the end of April, all inquiries will be completed, he said. He claimed that in the last four years the agency had only handled immigration duties and corruption cases were dealt by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), but now many corruption cases have been handed over to the FIA. “The FIA should be fully authorised to procure documents to expedite inquiries,” he said.

Presently around 1,032 positions are lying vacant in the FIA, which is one of the reasons for delays, he said. Ahmed further claimed that the salaries and incentives given to FIA officials are much less than that given to provincial police personnel. No efficient officer from any other departments is ready to work in the agency, he said, adding that “possibly political pressure is one of the reasons for not advertising vacancies.”

The committee unanimously recommended to immediately fill vacant positions, and said the interior ministry will be asked to bring salaries at par with provincial police officials.

Meanwhile, the senate committee said there were irregularities in the Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) and directed the department to plug loopholes in revenue collection.

Earlier, FBR officials told the committee that an inquiry was under way against an official from the FBR’s intelligence wing in Karachi, who had illegally using an imported vehicle owned by another citizen.

The committee was also informed that the health ministry has registered 16, 500 drugs during the last two and half years, which is higher than the total number of drugs registered in the past 60 years. The committee has asked for a report on the sudden increase.

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.

Senate Passes 19th Amendment Bill

ISLAMABAD, trendpk: The draft of the 19th amendment in the constitution will be placed before the Senate today for approval.

Advisor to the Prime Minister on inter-provincial coordination Senator Mian Raza Rabbani who is heading the constitutional reforms committee of the Parliament and author of the 18th and 19th constitutional amendments will pilot the bill in the Senate today after Question Hour.

The session wold be held at Parliament House at 1030am this morning.

It is expected that Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani will also be present when the Senate would resume its sitting in the Parliament House. He will later address the upper house of the Parliament.

The senate session will be adjourned sine die after the Bill is approved. It should be mentioned here that National Assembly has already adopted the 19th Amendment.

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