NEPRA asked to take action against KESC

Federal Minister for Water and Power Syed Naveed Qamar has directed the NEPRA to take action against KESC for creating a crisis situation in Karachi. Talking to media in Islamabad, Qamar said that the ministry has other options, along with NEPRA Act, to take action against KESC.

He said that the country will face 2,500 MW shortfall in spite of full supply of oil and immediate halt in loadshedding was not possible but unscheduled loadshedding would be curtailed.

Saudi prince alleges embezzlement in Pakistan Haj Scheme

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: Saudi Prince Bandar Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud has pointed out financial irregularities in Pakistan Haj scheme, Trend Pk reported Wednesday.

The Saudi prince, in a letter to Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, accused the Federal Religious Affairs Ministry of funds’ embezzlement.

Under the Hajj scheme, the pilgrims were charged more for the residences rented by the ministry near Mecca and Madina, the letter states.

The Prince said that the ministry rented residences for pilgrims during Haj for 3,400 to 3, 600 Saudi riyals while the prices are actually around 1,500 riyals, adding that he had offered lower rates to the ministry but his quotation was rejected.

The Supreme Court has taken suo motu notice of the issue and the apex court has asked for a reply from the ministry within 15 days. Trend Pk

Saudi prince alleges embezzlement in Pakistan Haj Scheme

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: Saudi Prince Bandar Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud has pointed out financial irregularities in Pakistan Haj scheme, Trend Pk reported Wednesday.

The Saudi prince, in a letter to Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, accused the Federal Religious Affairs Ministry of funds’ embezzlement.

Under the Hajj scheme, the pilgrims were charged more for the residences rented by the ministry near Mecca and Madina, the letter states.

The Prince said that the ministry rented residences for pilgrims during Haj for 3,400 to 3, 600 Saudi riyals while the prices are actually around 1,500 riyals, adding that he had offered lower rates to the ministry but his quotation was rejected.

The Supreme Court has taken suo motu notice of the issue and the apex court has asked for a reply from the ministry within 15 days. Trend Pk

France gives $1.4 m for Pakistan flood affectees

PARIS: France will grant $1.39 million (1.05 million euros) in aid to the severely-flooded regions of Pakistan, the French foreign ministry has said.

”France decided to increase to 1.05 million euros its humanitarian aid for populations affected by floods in Pakistan,” meida quoted the ministry as saying in a statement.

The aid would be distributed to many humanitarian organisations working in Pakistan, including a 350,000-euro food aid through the World Food Programme.

Heavy rains over the recent weeks have caused one of the worst flood situations in Pakistan, leaving over 1,500 people dead and over three million homeless.

France gives $1.4 m for Pakistan flood affectees

PARIS: France will grant $1.39 million (1.05 million euros) in aid to the severely-flooded regions of Pakistan, the French foreign ministry has said.

”France decided to increase to 1.05 million euros its humanitarian aid for populations affected by floods in Pakistan,” meida quoted the ministry as saying in a statement.

The aid would be distributed to many humanitarian organisations working in Pakistan, including a 350,000-euro food aid through the World Food Programme.

Heavy rains over the recent weeks have caused one of the worst flood situations in Pakistan, leaving over 1,500 people dead and over three million homeless.

Qaeda fighters kill 5 police in Baghdad

BAGHDAD: Al-Qaeda fighters killed five policemen at a Baghdad checkpoint on Tuesday and planted the black flag of the terror network”s front group in Iraq, an interior ministry official said.

The flag-planting was the second such move in less than a week and comes as concerns mount that Iraq”s security may be deteriorating after the government said more people died in violence in July than in any month since May 2008.

“Around 5:30 am (0230 GMT), men with silencer pistols shot dead five policemen at a checkpoint in Mansur neighbourhood before planting the flag of the Islamic State of Iraq,” the ministry official said.

Eight human heads found near northern Mexico roadsides

TORREON: Eight human heads were found early Tuesday in four separate places near roadsides outside the northern Mexico city of Durango, the local prosecutor”s office said.

Police found the heads within the space of two and a half hours due to anonymous tip-offs, “but had not identified the victims, nor located the bodies,” said a statement from the Durango state prosecutor”s office.

The victims were males thought to have been aged between 25 and 30, the statement said.

The tip-offs said that two human heads had been dumped on each of three roads out of Durango city.

Workers cleaning a traffic island found the remaining two on a road leading north to the industrial city of Gomez Palacio.

The attorney general on Sunday accused officials at a prison in Gomez Palacio of releasing inmates to carry out drug-related killings. Those included three massacres, which left 35 dead this year in neighboring Torreon, in Coahuila state.

Seven Polish soldiers wounded in Afghanistan

WARSAW: Seven Polish soldiers were wounded in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday when a roadside bomb blew up as their armoured vehicle passed, the Polish defence ministry said.

“In the south of the province of Ghazni, the rebels attacked a Polish patrol with an explosive device planted on the side of the road,” the ministry said in a statement.

The soldiers were evacuated by helicopter to a hospital at a base in Ghazni. Two were in serious but stable condition.

Poland has 2,500 troops in the international force battling the Taliban in Afghanistan and is due to raise their number to 2,600 by the end of the year.

Nineteen Polish soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since Poland first sent troops there in March 2002, including three since June 12.

Fake degrees could lead to mid-term elections: Munawar

LAHORE: Amir Jamat-e-Islami Munawar Hassan Friday said court decisions on fake degrees come sooner than later the same may lead to quicker mid-term elections.

He said this while talking to media men here at Mansoora on the occasion of some of the Tehreek-e-Insaf’s workers coming into the folds of JI.

The JI Amir said the parliamentarians becoming ineligible for having fake degrees should be banned for life from contesting elections. It is also the responsibility of political parties to abstain from giving party tickets to those who deceive the people, he added.

He said the government should stand firm in front of IMF and advised the people not to give additional tax.

Police recovers 2 bombs near railway tracks in Hyderabad

HYDERABAD: Police recovered and defused two local made bombs near a railway tracks in Qasimabad on Friday while the search for the third bomb is underway, Geo News reported.

The up and down railway traffic has been stopped at Kotri and Hyderabad railway stations, as police searches continues for the third bomb.

Police said the bombs recovered weigh 4 kilograms.

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