Posts Tagged ‘Mirpur’

Gilani assures full support to Kashmiris

MIRPUR (AJK) – Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani Monday said Pakistan would continue extending ideological, political, moral and diplomatic support to Kashmiris in their just and principled struggle.
“The government is taking keen interest in speedy progress and prosperity in all sectors of life in Azad Jammu and Kashmir,” Gilani added while addressing a mammoth public meeting at …

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Loser wins seat near PM

ISLAMABAD – A senior PPP leader who reiterated his commitment to stay loyal to the  party and its leadership even after being defeated in the recent Senate elections as a result of ‘deception’ by some party legislators was rewarded by the prime minister on Monday.
Prime Minister Gilani announced at a ceremony in Mirpur Aslam Gill’s appointment as his special assistant …

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India face Lanka test in Asia Cup

MIRPUR  – Desperate to restore their battered reputation after the recent debacle in Australia, title holders India would be hoping for a positive start to their campaign in the Asia Cup when they take on Sri Lanka on Tuesday.
The Asia Cup will provide India a chance to make amends for their dismal performance in the tri-series in Australia where they won just three out of eight …

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Misbah in danger of over-rate ban

DHAKA  – Misbah-ul-Haq has become the latest captain under threat of a one-match suspension for maintaining a slow over-rate, after Pakistan fell two overs short of their target in the opening game of the Asia Cup, against Bangladesh in Mirpur. Misbah was fined 40% of his match-fee for the offence while the rest of the players were docked 20%, but Misbah will face a suspension if his side …

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PM appoints Aslam Gill Special Assistant

Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Monday appointed Aslam Gill as his special assistant, defeated in the recent Senate polls from Punjab. He would enjoy the status of state minister.
Addressing a public meeting in Mirpur, the Prime Minister said that some of their own members had cheated with Aslam Gill. “The party knows how to honour its supporters, it was being investigated who betrayed …

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Two mega projects to be opened today

MUZAFFARABAD, March 11: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani will visit Mirpur on Monday to perform the groundbreaking of two mega projects.

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Via DAWN.com

A black day: Musharraf’s frontal assault on judges remembered

The high court and district bars of Islamabad and Rawalpindi hoisted black flags on the call of the Punjab Bar Council. They also held meetings to denounce the act publicly. In Rawalpindi, lawyers staged a protest outside court premises and held a rally near Katchery Chowk.

The lawyers’ bodies also held separate meetings at their respective bars and passed resolutions to condemn the much-derided act of the former military dictator.

President Lahore High Court (LHC) Rawalpindi Bench, Sheikh Ashan expressed solidarity with the judiciary and praised the role of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry who had refused to obey illegal orders.

“Today the judiciary is independent and the credit goes to lawyers, civil society, and the media. They have all played a constructive role for its restoration,” he added.

Peshawar event

A convention was held at the bar room of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) to mark a black day in the city.

A number of lawyers, including PHC Bar Association President Khwaja Muhammad Khan Garha, were present. Chief Justice of PHC Justice Dost Muhammad Khan was the chief guest.

Justice Khan paid tributes to lawyers for their nationwide struggle and untiring efforts for the restoration of judiciary.

Khan said that despite limited resources, lawyers stood firm and boycotted courts for two years.

Karachi protest

A joint general body meeting of the Sindh High Court Bar Association (SHCBA), Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBAP), Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) and Sindh Bar Council (SBC), which was held here on Friday to mourn the 2007 incident, turned into a forum to criticise the shortage of judges in the Sindh High Court.

Delivering scathing criticism, PBC Vice Chairman Akhtar Hussain, who is an old PPP stalwart, said the present government is not committed to the country or democracy.

“Legal organisations are raising the issue again and again, but this should not be considered a negative act by the judiciary. Instead, criticism is aimed at compelling decision makers to solve issues on top priority,” Hussain said.

The bar has the right to express concern when the provincial high court is functioning at one-third of its sanctioned strength. Lawyers do not have any objection about the judicial commission, but the present procedure of appointment of judges needs to be amended, he added.

SCBAP President Yasin Khan Azad said that instead of appointing judges on ad-hoc basis, the appointment should be on a permanent basis so they can provide justice without fear.

Hyderabad event

Court activity remained suspended in all the judicial districts in Hyderabad and Mirpurkhas division and at the High Court of Sindh Hyderabad Circuit Bench.

Lahore rally

Addressing lawyers at the Aiwan-e-Adl, Lahore Bar Association President Choudhary Zolifqar Ali said some people distributed sweets when a dictator took over the country, but the lawyers’ movement proved that patriots are still alive.  (Obaid Abbasi, Umer Farooq, Zeeshan Mujahid and Z Ali contributed to this report)

Published in The Express Tribune, March 10^th, 2012.

PM’s Polio Cell report: Vaccination drive in 67 districts ‘unsatisfactory’

The evaluation was of the post-polio campaign scenario – the campaign was held from January 30 to February 1 this year. The report declared 67 districts unsatisfactory in terms of covering the required percentage of children.

In the first two months of 2012, 12 polio cases have been reported including two from Quetta, two from Khyber Agency, one from North Waziristan, one from Mirpurkhas, one from Hyderabad, one case from Peshawar, one from Lakki Marwat, one from Dera Ismail Khan, one from Kohat and one from Jhang.  A continuing rise in polio cases indicates an alarming trend, especially considering Pakistan is one of the last two countries in the world where the virus is still endemic.

Balochistan’s underperformance

According to the analysis, one of the areas that has underperformed the most is Balochistan, where polio campaign coverage was below 95%, rendering the campaign incomplete.

Member National Assembly Asiya Nasir, from Balochistan, said there were a number of factors behind the disappointing performance in the province, while talking to The Express Tribune. Many of the remote areas in the province remained uncovered during the campaign, she explained, saying polio teams had no access to them. In addition, the communities in these remote areas have little access to information on the importance of polio vaccinations. Myths continue to circulate, as does propaganda, about vaccination schemes.

The problem goes deeper than this, however. It’s not merely a question of geography – the volunteers are unable to access far-flung areas because they’re underpaid and do not receive the funds necessary for the arduous travel procedure. Nasir added that one way of addressing the problem of access is recruiting more female volunteers from the local population, in order to overcome cultural obstacles in the polio campaign.

Shockingly, she revealed that “In Balochistan it is on record that children between the ages of 10 and 12 were made part of the polio campaign team. Their own hygienic condition was unsatisfactory and they carried polio vaccines in water coolers,” she said.

Officials remain apathetic too. Many, Nasir said, run polio ‘campaigns’ while sitting in their offices.

Sindh coverage

In Sindh, more than 20% of union councils in Dadu, Kambar, Sanghara and Tando Muhammad Khan had unsatisfactory polio coverage, below 95%. Independent evaluation of Karachi indicated the same rate in union councils in Bin-Qasim, Gadap, Gulberg, Jamshed, Korangi, Lyari, Liaquatabad, North Nazimabad, North Karachi, Orangi, Saddar, Shah Faisal and SITE.

Talking to The Express Tribune, MNA from the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) Fozia Ejaz Khan said that polio campaigns were mainly run through media coverage, which was not enough. Another problem, she said, was that storage facilities for polio vaccines were very poor.

Other areas

Areas in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) marked with red flags were Khyber, Kurram, Mohmand,  North Waziristan, Tank, Frontier Region (FR) Lakki, FR Kohat and FR Peshawar

More than 20% of union councils in Abbottabad, Bunir, Lower Dir, Upper Dir, Hungo, Lakki Marwat, Malakand, Mansehra and Torgarh had sub-optimal results. In Punjab, more than 10% of union councils in Gujrat, Hafizabad, Jehlum, Lahore, Nankana Sahib, Rahimyar Khan and Sahiwal were marked as unsatisfactory where immunisation coverage was below 95 %.

In Gilgit-Baltistan, more than 20% of union councils in Astore, Diamir, Ghizar and Skardu showed unsatisfactory results.

Capital’s performance

Ironically, even the capital of Pakistan suffers from unsatisfactory polio coverage. Around 52% of union councils in the area indicate lack of appropriate polio campaign coverage.

Talking to The Express Tribune, a polio campaign official summed up the problem succinctly, saying that if the government failed to cover the capital sufficiently, then what could one say about the entire country, especially the remote areas?

The cell responsible for the evaluation has urged districts to prepare well for the next round to be held from March 12 to 14, 2012 in 68 districts. DCOs have been requested to lead the preparatory phase to achieve the desired results.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 7^th, 2012.

Low water level in reservoirs due to cold weather: Wapda

MIRPUR:  In response to a news item appeared in a section of Press, Wapda has stated that no water loss can happen between Tarbela and Chashma, however, water downstream of Tarbela, at times, can reduce marginally due to earlier low outflows and dry river bed. Wapda sources told APP on Tuesday night that the availability [...]

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Via DAWN.com

Playing it safe: Laying down the law

The heads of all unregistered private educational institutions have been directed to get their institutions affiliated  with the AJK BISE within the stipulated time frame, AJK BISE sources said on Saturday.

“Failure to register with the board will ensure that students of unaffiliated institutions will be ineligible to appear in annual examinations conducted by the BISE”, the sources declared.

The board has also strictly directed registered private educational institutions to visibly display the registration number concerning its affiliation with BISE on the signboards of their respective educational institutions.      The board also advised the parents of students to take care about the credibility of private educational institutions before seeking admission for their children in unregistered schools and colleges.

AJK BISE swung into action after discovering that over 50 per cent of private-sector educational institutions were operating without getting formal approval from the government.

The board also cautioned institutions to refrain from illegal activities, otherwise their registration could be cancelled, the sources
said.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 4^th, 2012.

Senate elections: PPP finalises Senate candidates from Sindh

Reportedly, a deal has been struck between the PPP and its coalition partners over the distribution of seats in the upcoming elections.

Out of 12 seats, seven will be given to PPP, four to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and one to the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F).

Dr Karim Khwaja, a PPP candidate who had applied for two Senate seats, withdrew his nomination papers for the technocrat seat and will contest the elections on the general seat.

Other PPP candidates whose names have been finalised include Raza Rabbani, Saeed Ghani, Mukhtiar Ahmed, Kareem Khawaja, Hafeez Shaikh, Hari Ram Kishori Lal and Muddassir Sehar Kamran.

Meanwhile, leaders of the PML-Q (Likeminded) are crying foul. Talking to The Express Tribune, PML-Q (Likeminded) Senator Ghaffar Qureshi said that PPP leaders, including Federal Minister Khurshid Shah, had approached Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim to withdraw candidates from the elections, but the latter turned down his request.

He added that under the reconciliation policy, they can only support the government’s initiatives, but will not withdraw from their constitutional right to contest elections.

He further said that during the last Senate elections, the PPP had promised to back one of their candidates in these elections.

“Instead of supporting a candidate from our party, the PPP leaders insist [that we] withdraw. We have refused them,” he said.

Qureshi, who belongs to the Mirpurkhas district and is going to retire on March 12, has applied for another term.

“I have not only the support of a few PPP members, but MPAs of other parties will also vote for me,” he said.

“There is polarisation within the ranks and files of PPP in Sindh.  We have talked to leaders of National Peoples Party as well.  My victory is obvious in the election,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 23^rd, 2012.

Shootout: Two policemen, bandit killed

The Abbottabad District Police Officer said that the slain policemen were patrolling the area when an encounter with bandits led to the shootout. The two policemen, before succumbing to their injuries, also killed a bandit while attempting to defend themselves.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 23^rd, 2012.

No possibility of change without exercise of right of ballot: Kaira

MIRPUR: Secretary Information Pakistan Peoples Party and former federal minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira said that vote is the only way for bringing about any change in the country. “There is no possibility of any change in the country without the exercise of the right of franchise,” Kaira said while speaking as [...]

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Via DAWN.com

Neelum-Jhelum to complete soon

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MIRPUR (APP) – Construction work of Muzaffarabad-based 969 MW Neelum-Jhelum Hydroelectric project will be completed soon.
The construction work will be completed with amount of $2.16 billion, the sources said here Monday.
The Neelum-Jhelum project will generate power around 5.15 billion units annually. It would help to meet the shortage…

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Pakistan beat Bangladesh in 2nd ODI by 76 runs

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Despite a magnificent maiden hundred by Nasir Hossain, Pakistan recorded second consecutive victory against Bangladesh to win the series of three One-day Internationals 2-0 here at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on Saturday. Nasir scored exact 100 runs in 155 balls with a six and eleven fours but…

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7-star Anisa sinks Pakistan in final

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DHAKA (Agencies) – West Indies women completed a thumping 130-run win against Pakistan women in the final of the Women’s World Cup Qualifiers in Mirpur.
West Indies chose to bat and put on 250 for five, driven by a hard-hitting career-best 95 from Deandra Dottin. The top order all…

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Taliban asked to lay down arms

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MIRPUR (AJK) – Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Saturday asked the Taliban to lay down their arms besides refraining from playing in the hands of the enemy.
He urged the Taliban to give children pen and book instead of suicide jackets.
Speaking as chief guest at the inaugural ceremony of…

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