‘Less troops, more drones is new US defense policy’

 

The plan, to be unveiled by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Thursday and in budget documents next month, calls for a 30% increase in the U.S. fleet of armed unmanned aircraft in the coming years, the Wall Street Journal quoted defense officials as saying.

 

It also foresees the deployment of more special-operations teams at a growing number of small “lily pad” bases across the globe where they can mentor local allies and launch missions.

 

The utility of such tools was evident on Wednesday after an elite team—including members of Navy SEAL Team Six, the unit that killed Osama bin Laden—parachuted into Somalia and freed an American woman and Danish man held hostage for months.

 

The strategy reflects the Obama administration s increasing focus on small, secret operations in place of larger wars. The shift follows the U.S. troop pullout from Iraq in December, and comes alongside the gradual U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, where a troop-intensive strategy is giving way to an emphasis on training Afghan forces and on hunt-and-kill missions.
Defense officials said the U.S. Army plans to eliminate at least eight brigades while reducing the size of the active duty Army from 570,000 to 490,000, cuts that are likely to hit armored and heavy infantry units the hardest. But drone and special-operations deployments would continue to grow as they have in recent years.

 

At the same time, the Army aims to accentuate the importance of special operations by preserving light, rapidly deployable units such as the 82nd and the 101st Airborne divisions.

 

“What we really want is to see the Army adopt the mentality of special forces,” said a military officer who advises Pentagon leaders.

 

The new strategy would assign specific U.S.-based Army brigades and Marine Expeditionary units to different regions of the world, where they would travel regularly for joint exercises and other missions, using permanent facilities and the forward-staging bases that some advisers call lily pads.

 

Marines, for example, will use a new base in Darwin, Australia, as a launch pad for Southeast Asia, while the U.S. is in talks to expand the U.S. presence in the Philippines—potential signals to China that the U.S. has quick-response capability in its backyard, defense officials said.

 

Yet many of the proposed bases will be secret and could temporarily house small commando teams, the officials said.

“There are going to be times when action is called upon, like Tuesday night, when it will be clearly advantageous to be forward deployed,” a military official said, referring to the Somalia operation. “On the other hand, most of the time it will help you to be there to develop host nation or regional security.”

 

The Pentagon still will invest in some big-ticket items, including the F-35 stealth fighter, as a counterweight to rising powers, including China—although the department is poised to announce this week that it is going to slow procurement of the new plane, said defense officials.

 

Ufone Launches UPayments

Ufone one of the leading telecom operators in Pakistan recently launched its Mobile Financial Services under the name of UPayments.

UPayments allows Ufone customers the freedom to pay their utility bills wherever they are directly from their handsets. Ufone customers can also buy Ufone airtime for their prepaid accounts and pay their Ufone Postpay bills. In order to use this service all one needs is an HBL account. Ufone customers will have the ease to check their HBL account balance as well as view their HBL mini account statements directly on their Ufone.

UPayments is a USSD based service hence it is extremely customer friendly and has no handset limitation. One of the unique selling points for UPayments is that the customers can avail all these banking services while roaming anywhere in the world with Ufone’s vast International Roaming network. This is the first time in Pakistan that customers are being offered mobile banking services via USSD when traveling around the globe.

Mr. Akbar Khan Chief Marketing Officer Ufone said, ‘The launch of UPayments gives Ufone’s customers the ease to pay their bills no matter where they are’. ‘This is just the start to many other features to come which will eventually allow Ufone’s valued customers to use their handsets for all banking transactions’ he added.

Govt. made Rs. 69 billion from petroleum products, FBR informs PAC

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: The government made Rs. 69 billion in just four months from sales tax and customs duty of petroleum products. During the current fiscal year during the period of July-October, tax earnings increased by Rs. 30 billion. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) received these details on Tuesday.

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) told PAC that apart from the Petroleum Development Levy (PDL), during the period of July-October, Rs. 69 billion had been received under sales tax and custom duty from petroleum products, while Rs. 428 billion had been received under pure taxes in the same

period.

The FBR added that the policy regarding sale of seized goods has been revised. Under the new policy, confiscated weapons would be sold to government institutes only and other general items would be sold through Utility and CSD stores

Sugar price still above Rs. 100 per kg in Faisalabad

Staff Report

FAISALABAD: The price of sugar has yet not been reduced in Faisalabad and still it is being sold above Rs. 100 per kg in the shops and markets.

According to details, during last many days an artificial shortage of sugar has started in the markets of the city while local authorities’ made all sales points are usually closed within two hours after end of the daily supplied sugar.

The local people desperately circle daily, around the Utility Stores and the sales points, in a vain hope to get some sugar on the reduced rates.

The troubled and annoyed people of Faisalabad have demanded the government to take an immediate action for the removal of the artificial sugar shortage, created by the sugar hoarders, as they desperately need it to mix with the milk to feed their children. Trend Pk

Sugar crisis deepens in Pakistan, price climbed to Rs. 130 per kg

Staff Report

SAHIWAL: The sugar crisis has deepened further in Pakistan as the price, in different parts of the country, has climbed to Rs. 130 per kilo gram on Tuesday.

According to market sources, the sugar price in Sahiwal and Khanewal has been mounted to a record high level of Rs. 130 per kg. In Lahore, it is being sold on Rs. 105-110 per kg but sugar is not available on the majority of the shops and Utility Stores.

In other cities, including Mianwali, Vehari, Okara and Toba Tek Singh, sugar is costing Rs. 110-120 per kg.

The shopkeepers of Islamabad and Rawalpindi are selling sugar on Rs. 111 per kg. In Quetta, being sold on Rs. 115 and in Peshawar it is available on Rs. 120 per kilogram. Trend Pk

Sugar price mounts up by Rs.20 per kg in Hyderabad

Staff Report

HYDER ABAD: The price of sugar has been mounted up by Rs.20 per kilogram, in just last twenty days, in the second largest city of Sindh, Hyderabad.

Earlier, just twenty days back the sugar was being sold on Rs.70 per kg and currently it has gone up to Rs.90 per kg in Hyderabad.

The sugar hoarders have also turned active while the poor and the middle class people have been severely troubled by this stunning price hike of the sugar.

The majority of Utility Stores have also stopped providing subsidized sugar to the local residents which creates more problems for the commoners.

The troubled residents of Hyderabad have demanded that the on going sugar price hike shall be controlled immediately and a permanent stability shall be brought in prices. SAMAA

UNSC reduces prices of 200 food items

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: The Utility Stores Corporation (USC) has reduced the prices of 200 food items by 10 percent as per the orders of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, said sources on Thursday.

According to sources, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has ordered to decrease the prices of food items at all utility stores to ease the miseries of the common man during the month of Ramazan.

USC has reduced the prices of several food items including ghee, cooking oil, pulses, milk, dates and other edibles.

Sources said the government will provide utility stores a subsidy of Rs. 5 billion over the reduction of food prices. SAMAA

Every family will get 5 kg sugar from utility stores

ISLAMABAD: The Managing Director of Utility Stores Corporation Muhammad Arif said subsidy of Rs 3 billion would be given at different edible items during the month of Ramzan.

While talking to Geo News, Muhammad Arif said that every will get at least 5 kg sugar at subsidies rates. Replying to a question, MD Utility Stores said utility stores will provide maximum facility to public during Ramzan.

This year’s Ramazan to see 3 different rates of sugar

KARACHI: Sugar will be sold at three different rates to the people during this year’s holy month of Ramazan.

For the first time in the country’s history, government will supply sugar at two different rates while the third rate will be the one prevalent in open market at which people will have to buy sugar after failing to get it at the previous two rates. The third rate will be Rs70 a kilogram or more.

So this Ramazan will witness people struggling to get sugar at Rs55 after standing in long queues before the Utility Stores and in case of failure they will have to head toward ‘Sasta Bazars’. The third and final option will be the open market where they will be sure to get the commodity but at highest rates.

This year’s sugar production was 1.2 million tones less than the country’s requirement. It was in this context that the government decided to import the commodity.

WB satisfied at Pakistan’s economic growth

WASHINGTON: Expressing satisfaction over the economic growth of Pakistan, the World Bank (WB) has nodded for release of second trench of loan worth $14.60 corore, Geo news reported Thursday.

The second trench of loan will be spent on development of irrigation system, water management projects and reconstruction of Jinnah Barrage.

In a press conference held in Washington, WB officials said Pakistan showed promising progress in economic growth.

The press release said Pakistan will be provided with loans for forty years to write off on easy conditions along with 10 years of grace period.

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