N-deal throws open new avenues for Pakistan : Latest News , Pakistan News Today.

N-deal throws open new avenues for Pakistan

 

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan welcomed on Tuesday the historic deal between Iran and world powers on Tehran's controversial nuclear program and called for expeditious implementation of the pact.
"I think it is very good progress in that direction and from our point of view we have a large number of possibilities of energy, Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline and a number of other projects which were affected by the sanctions," Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs and National Security Sartaj Aziz said.
Answering a question at a press briefing at the Foreign Office, he said that following the lifting of sanctions Pakistan would move quickly to begin implementing the energy agreements.
"So as soon as the sanctions are lifted we can very rapidly start the implementation of those agreements and at the same time trade possibilities will expand; right now there are lot of payment difficulties between Iran and Pakistan and more importantly Iran's integration in the region in terms of economy will also lead to political advantages," Mr Aziz said.
He expressed the hope that Iran's return to the mainstream would also "promote unity of the Muslim Ummah" by addressing the underlying sectarian issues.
"Pakistan welcomes the important comprehensive nuclear agreement reached between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the P5+1," the Foreign Office said in a statement on the deal signed in Vienna.
With the conclusion of the deal after more than a decade of complex negotiations the focus has moved to its implementation.
Under the agreement, Iran will allow the International Atomic Energy Agency access to verify compliance to the restrictions placed on its nuclear program and in return sanctions will be lifted.
"We look forward to the expeditious and smooth implementation of the provisions of the comprehensive nuclear agreement by all its signatories," the FO said.
It recalled Pakistan's consistent support for a negotiated settlement of the nuclear issue.
"As a neighboring country, we have also reiterated that reciprocal confidence-building measures relating to Iran's nuclear program auger well for peace and security in our region," the FO said.
The deal represents a major opening for Pakistan to benefit from the new business opportunities that would emerge once the Iranian economy is unshackled.
Economists believe Iran's re-entry into global economy would create business opportunities worth tens of billions of dollars for both local and foreign companies.
Pakistan will particularly be interested in finalizing its gas pipeline deal and other energy agreements that have long been held up because of the crippling sanctions. Pakistan's cement industry can also benefit from the new situation.

Ref: Dawn July 15th, 2015

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Kolkata's Writers' Building refit plagued by problems 

KOLKATA: It was home to the army of colonial bureaucrats who ran India, so it was perhaps inev-itable that the original 18th-century plans for Kolkata's Writers' Building would be found buried under reams of paperwork. "We even wrote to the British Library in the hope that some of the drawings might have been preserved there," says architect Madhumita Roy as she talks through some of the problems her team has faced trying to restore one of India's most iconic buildings to its original glory. "They were able to provide photographs of the building's facade from the early 1880s but they said that copies of the original plan were not avail-able," she told AFP. "And when we had almost given up hope, these three drawings surfaced in our public works department under volumes of drawing plans for various other buildings in the city." The discovery was a rare piece of good news in a project that is more than a year behind schedule and has drawn widespread criticism in the eastern metropolis of Kolkata. The red-brick complex dates back to 1776 when Warren Hastings, the first governor general of British-run India, commissioned Thomas Lyon to construct a building that would serve as the offices and living quarters for the East India Company's legions of clerks, known as writers. The East India Company was the defacto ruler of India until a revolt in the ranks of its private army in 1857. The writers stationed in what was then India's capital shaped the lives of tens of millions. Over the years, a host of extra wings and adornments were added, including the Greek-style stat-ues of goddesses on the roof which symbolize everything from justice to agriculture.
Capital shifts
Although the British shifted the capital from Calcutta (now called Kolkata) to New Delhi in 1911, the building known simply as Writers' con-tinued to serve as the administrative headquarters of the massive state of Bengal. It enjoyed a new lease of life after India gained independence in 1947 as home to the government of the state of West Bengal but slowly fell into dis-repair and was blighted by several fires. When current Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee ordered a $30 million refit in 2013, work was only supposed to take around six months. The aim was to revamp the interior, prune the building of later additions and restore courtyards which had been used as car parks or dumping grounds to their former glory. Banerjee and her government relocated in October 2013 to a nondescript office block on the other side of river Hooghly in the twin city of Howrah, expecting to be back in Writers' within the year. But the process of clearing the building—home to around three dozen different departments —took many months more than anticipated. And while some work was able to start last year, Roy, who heads the architecture department in the city's Jadavpur University, said the quest to find the original master plan caused major delays. The documents were finally unearthed in May this year in the public works department, one of a handful of offices to have stayed put. But the project soon encountered more turbulence when civic groups recoiled at the plans to demolish the newer wings.
Bulldozers move in
"We have decided to keep the main building and all the five blocks intact since they are part of the heritage structure, but we will raze all the other eight blocks which have been built in the post-independence era," explained Roy during a tour of the renovation work. When notices were posted last month stating "this block/building will be demolished", there was an immediate backlash. Anger intensified when bulldozers began reduc-ing part of the structure to rubble, a move campaigners say lacked approval from the city's con-servation watchdog. "Writers' is listed with the civic body as a Grade I heritage structure," said Subrata Sil, director of the city's Heritage Conservation Committee. "The state public works department did not seek prior permission for carrying out renovation or alteration work," he said. Surya Kanta Mishra, leader of the state's main opposition Communist party, said the "renovation plan is flawed" and made no mention of what it intended to do with some of the building's key features. West Bengal urban development minister Firhad Hakim insisted the work would be handled sensitively. "Writers' is one of British India's earliest, grand-est and most important structures. Its restoration is a challenge to our government." Roy agreed that the sensitive nature of the work meant that it would be some years yet before bureaucrats could move back in. "Opposition from some quarters has slowed down the work but we are determined to restore the glory of this iconic heritage structure," Hakim said.—AFP

THE red-brick Kolkata's Writers' Building dates back to 1776 when Warren Hastings, the first governor general of British-run India, commissioned Thomas Lyon to construct a building that would serve as the offices and living quarters for the East India Company's legions of clerks, known as writers.

Ref : Dawn News Pk 14-07-2015

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PTI questions election of 'defaulter' Sharif brothers : Latest News , Pakistan News Today.

PTI questions election of 'defaulter' Sharif brothers 

By Dawn News Reporter 
 
LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Chairman's political adviser Ejaz Chaudhry has asked how the Sharif brothers contested general elections 2013 when they were loan defaulters. He said that Shahbaz Sharif had claimed that the Sharif family settled Rs5.22 billion loans, mark-up, cost of fund and other charges by December 2014. In a statement issued here on Monday,Mr Chaudhry also asked from which source the Sharif brothers got those Rs5.22 billion when Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif owned Rs1.842bn and Rs142.2m assets, respectively, as per the Election Commission of Pakistan record. The nation wanted to know why the 10-year-old loans were settled by the Sharif brothers within six months after assuming power in the Centre, lie questioned.
He said the entire Pakistan knew that Sharifs had been corrupt for decades and they did not want NAB to challenge their corruption. "If NAB position stands validated, the prime minister and his brother should be sent behind bars for lying to the nation," he said. PTI leader Dr Yasroin Rashid said Shahbaz, who used to promise stern action against Asif Ali Zardari and his companions over corruption and wanted to rip open their bellies and drag them in the streets to make them return looted money, was him-self soaked in corruption. She said Shahbaz's son Hamza was preaching that corruption was bound to happen in Pakistan and NAB had no authority to question their corruption. She said the entire status quo had started ganging up against NAB be it Sharif brothers or Asif Zardari. National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq was worried and wanted to file a reference against NAB because NAB was challenging his masters, she added. She said Ayaz Sadiq held a very high office which demanded him to stay neutral and above the fray of party politics.
TAREEN: PTI central organizer Jahangir Tareen has demanded accountability across the board, including against the prime minister and Punjab chief minister. Speaking at an If tar dinner hosted by PTI chairman's political adviser Abdul Aleem Khan for party workers and supporters in Lahore on Monday, Tareen said the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had set an example of catching the big fish found involved in corruption. He said the KP government had had arrested its two ministers on corruption charges. "A country cannot be put on the right path until and unless stringent accountability is done across the board:' he said. Tareen said the P11 would contest the upcoming elections in each and every street and reach to the masses at their doorstep. PTI Punjab Organizer Chaudhry Sarwar claimed the PML-N was di& tributing huge development funds to its MPAs as well as its ticket holders who had lost elections against the PTI and other opposition party candidates to rig the local body elections. He said the PTI would write a letter to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to lodge a protest against the use of public resources for "pre-poll rigging" in the upcoming elections. He said the ECP must ensure holding transparent and fair elections. Sarwar said the PTI would also demand deployment of Rangers during polling in the elections. Aleem Khan said he had headed the party's Lahore district in its crucial times. During the last two years, he said the PTI had remained on the roads and fulfilled all the tasks given by the party chairman.

Ref: Dawn News 14-07-2015

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NAB staff perturbed over onslaught : Latest News Pakistan News Today

NAB staff perturbed over onslaught 

Ex-employee for probe into authority's affairs
By Zulqernain Tahir 

LAHORE: Some officials of the National Accountability Bureau believe the PML-N government may use the same tactics the PPP did to stop it from pursuing 'high profile' cases. However, a former employee says a judicial oversight committee should be constituted to investigate NAB's 'dubious affairs' since 2008. The NAB has come under a lot of criticism from the PML-N big guns for submitting a list of 150 mega scams involving Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, former president Asif All Zardari, ex-premiers, minis-ters and top bureaucrats. "As long as NAB is cooperating with the government in burying its corruption cases it will be allowed to do its job. But if the bureau goes after such mega corruption scandals under the court's order then certainly the government will make its life diffi-cult," the former employee said. Retired Brig Farooq Hamid, who served NAB till 2009 as director investigation, told Dawn on Monday that a judicial investigation into the NAB affairs from 2008 should be car-ried out to know as how many impor-tant inquiries against big fish were closed, how many dubious plea bar-gains were finalized, how many refer-ences were lost and on top of that how many acquittals were engineered. Mr Hamid said the NAB's perfor-mance during the last seven years or so needed to be scrutinized to see where it extended favours to save big guns and where it victimized people at the behest of those at the helm. "A judicial oversight committee comprising a judge from each high court in the province should look into the NAB affairs. A joint parlia-mentary committee should be authorized to make the selection of new independent NAB chairman," he suggested. Brig Hamid said at present the NABhad become 'National Acquittal Bureau' or National Dry Cleaning Bureau' because the powerful used it in shelving the cases against them. "Both the PML-N and PPP earlier had pledged to form an independent accountability bureau but both back-tracked after coming to power." The NAB's credibility has been in question since its inception in 1999. Pervaiz Rashid alleged that the NAB was used as a tool by former president retired Gen Pervez Musharaf to intimidate and harass
opponents in the past. Even today the NAB is being accused of covering up the corrup-tion of the ruling elite and victimiz-ing its opponents. Questions are also being raised on the NAB's prosecution. On the other hand, some NAB officials Dawn spoke to said the way the PML-N stalwarts like Speaker Ayyaz Sadiq and Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid targeted the bureau after the report of 150 mega scams submitted in the apex court it seemed that the govern-ment might come tough on it in days to come (if it reopened the cases against the ruling elite). The PPP after coming to power had reduced the NAB budget for the 2008-09 by 49 per cent as part of its plan to strangle it. "The PML-N government may take similar steps if the NAB goes against its wishes," an official apprehended.

Ref: Dawn News 14-07-2015

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Latest News - Pakistan India News Today

Pakistan, India set to revive Track II dialogue 

Kashmir and other outstanding issues will be taken up for discussion
By Baqir Sajjad Syed 

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and India are set to revive their Track-II dialogue for discussions on Kashmir and other outstanding issues. "The two sides have agreed to revive flack-II dialogue to explore ways of resolving issues that have been lingering on for a long time and need to be resolved in order to give peace a chance:" Adviser on Foreign Affairs and National Security Sartaj Aziz said at a press conference on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's meeting with his Indian counterpart Narendar Modi on July 10 on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit in Ufa, Russia. Details of the revived Track-II will be worked out by the two countries through diplomatic channels. This will be a second attempt under the Sharif government. Soon after his election, Prime Minister Sharif had initiated the Track-II by appointing Ambassador Shahryar Khan as his point man for the purpose. Not much could then be achieved till the change in government in Delhi after last year's elections. The two sides will now give a fresh start to the informal dialogue. The Track-II — an unofficial dialogue involving private individual, mostly retired officials, to resolve conflicts — has long been part of the peace process. between Pakistan and India and complemented the official dialogue. Although Mr Aziz insisted that Kashmir would always be part of the formal dialogue, it appeared from his press talk that substantive discussions on Kashmir would be held at the Track-II and this issue would be pushed down the list of priorities at the official track. "The July 10 meeting provided an opportunity to identify some areas where the two countries could pro-mote cooperation right away in order to reduce tensions and hostility," Mr Aziz said and went on to list maintenance of peace and tranquility along the Line. of Control and Working Boundary; and the discussions on each others concerns over terrorism as the few things that the two sides would seek to immediately deliver. The meetings agreed in Ufa include a dialogue between the two countries' national security advisers on terrorism and talks at the level of directors general of the Indian Border Security Force and Pakistan Rangers and the military operations on enforcement of ceasefire along the LOC and Working Boundary. The planned interactions clearly don't include a dialogue on Kashmir whose
mention was also found missing from the joint statement. Mr Aziz downplayed the absence of Kashmir in the joint statement and said: "Issues cannot be resolved by mentioning them in joint statements, but by holding dialogue on them. Our pol-icy on Kashmir is very clear." He said Pakistan would continue to extend political, moral and diplomatic support to the Kashmiris. He said one of the objectives achieved through the meeting in Ufa was to reduce tensions and create an environment for a meaningful dialogue. "The July 10 meeting was not the formal start of a dialogue process but it served an important purpose to achieve an understanding that both neighbors must reduce tensions and hostility in order to constructively engage in a structured dialogue on all issues of bilateral and regional interest, including the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir," he said. On the Mumbai trial case, he said the reference of "additional information" was recognition of the need that more information was needed to expedite the trial. Sharing his assessment of the Ufa talks, Mr Aziz said: "Neither should we be beating drums for having achieved a breakthrough nor look at them as very bad. It was, however, a good beginning and lot would depend on what happens next."

Ref : Dawn News Dated 14-07-2015

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TWO NEW POWER UNITS COMPLETED AT GUDDU (NEWS UPDATE)

 TWO NEW POWER UNITS COMPLETED AT GUDDU:-
Prime minister highlights efforts to end load shedding.

GUDDU: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said on Monday that long hours of load-shedding which people had been facing for 10 years had also seriously undermined the country's progress in all areas. Addressing a gathering here after inaugurating two units of 243MW- each at the Guddu thermal power plant, he said the government was trying to enhance efficiency of the existing power plants, expedite work on ongoing projects and set up new plants under the public-private partnership to over-come the energy crisis.

He expressed the hope that with sustained efforts the problem of load-shedding would soon be over. He said a third unit would be operational in May which would increase the current capacity of the Guddu power plant from 1,655MW to 2,402MW. He said the three units were part of the combined cycle plant and would add another 747MW to the national grid. He said early completion of the project, seven months ahead of schedule, had saved Rs58.6 billion which was almost equal to the amount spent on the project. The prime minister regretted that slow pace of work on projects in the past had hampered progress but hoped that measures being taken by the government would bring about a positive change. A number of power projects are under way and efforts are being made to add 21,000MW to the national grid over the next eight years. 

He praised China's Harbin Electric International Company for completing the Guddu project ahead of deadline. Pakistan and China are jointly working on several power projects and the latter promised investment of billions of dollars in the power sector. Mr Sharif also praised the water and power ministry, GENCO Holding Company and Central Power Generation Company of for fast tracking the project. He said he and Sindh Chief Minister Qaim All Shah would soon inaugurate work on Lahore-Karachi motorway.
He said his government had cleared Rs500 billion of circular debt and given incentives to independent power producers. He said 6,600MW would be generated at the Gadani Power Park with the assistance of local and foreign investors. A coal-fired plant of 1,320MW is being set up in Jamshoro with the help of the Asian Development Bank and feasibility report is under way for similar plants in Lakhra, Port Qasim and Thar.

He said work on 1,410 MW extension-IV and 1,320 MW extension-V at Tarbela and 4,500 MW at Diamer Bhasha dams had been initiated. The private sector is investing in power projects at Soki Kinari, Karot and Kohala. The prime minister announced three months bonus for workers of GPCC and GPCL. The event was also attended by Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid, Water and Power Minister Khawaja Asif and Minister of State for Water and Power Abid Sher.

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