Petrol import from India proposed

A Pakistani policeman stands guard in front of a petrol station in Lahore on April 26, 2011. India plans to export petrol and diesel to Pakistan to help its neighbour meet its energy needs and to open up a new market for Indian refiners such as giant Reliance Industries, a report said. ISLAMABAD: The petroleum ministry has proposed that the ‘most favoured nation’ (MFN) status be granted to India to facilitate import of petroleum products and export of cement and chemicals which would be a cost-effective proposition for both countries. A commerce ministry official said a summary prepared by the petroleum ministry on the matter would...

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Food inflation must be tackled in Asia: ADB chief economist

The ADB report said food price inflation in Asia of around 10 per cent in early 2011, could pull more than 64 million people below the poverty line of $1.25 a day if sustained.MANILA: Asia must tackle food price inflation aggressively to preserve economic gains and protect some of the world’s poorest people now that the region’s recovery has gathered strength, the Asian Development Bank’s chief economist said. In an interview coinciding with the issuing of an ADB report, Changyong Rhee acknowledged that food price rises, if left unchecked could generate instability. But he said Asian leaders were well aware of the danger and could take...

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Police arrests gang that threatened Zulqarnain

Cricketer Zulqarnain Haider. SIALKOT: Police on Wednesday arrested a gang of eight bookmakers, which was allegedly involved in threatening Pakistan cricket team’s wicket keeper Zulqarnain Haider, DawnNews reported.The city police also recovered a huge cache of ammunition, telephone sets and other suspicious objects from the suspects.SP Sialkot, Nasir Qureshi told DawnNews that the suspects were operating from a building located in the Sambrial area of the city where they had built secret rooms hidden behind wooden cupboards.Police also recovered around 250 telephone sets, satellite transmission equipment, mobile phones and records of...

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PML-N in bid to protect PPP from `blackmail`?

The PML-N will not offer its shoulders for removal of the PPP government, said sources. LAHORE: As a power-sharing deal between the People`s Party and the Pakistan Muslim League-Q is maturing, the PML-N has indicated that it may save the PPP-led government from “blackmail of its present and would-be allies” during the approval of the forthcoming budget. Sources told Dawn that a message to this effect had been conveyed through a go-between from Gujrat.A PPP leader from Gujrat had called on senior PML-N leaders here on Sunday, seeking some `serious steps` from the latter, anticipating the situation `worsening` with the PPP-Q League deal...

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Military ‘indirectly’ rejects US assault on army, ISI

The Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee meeting held at Joint Staff Headquarters on Tuesday.ISLAMABAD: In what appears to be a mild rebuke, the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee indirectly rejected on Tuesday Washington’s critical attacks against the army’s counter-terrorism efforts and said it fully trusted the strategy for fighting militancy.The JCSC, the country’s highest military coordination body, which meets quarterly and sets strategic direction of the armed forces, focused largely on the strained military and intelligence ties with the US, more specifically in the context of White House’s report criticising its campaign against Taliban...

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Indian delegation arrives, trade talks begin today

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani with his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh.ISLAMABAD: Commerce secretaries of Pakistan and India meet here on Wednesday in what has been described here as a new effort to expand bilateral trade. The talks have remained stalled since the Mumbai terrorist attacks about two years ago.During the two-day talks, a number of issues are expected to be taken up for furthering commercial ties, an area where the Indian side has been eager to take the dialogue ahead to any extent, despite there being no progress in other areas of concern like Siachen and Kashmir.Trade talks were part of the composite dialogue that...

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Nato kills 'number two most-wanted' in Afghanistan

 KABUL: Nato troops in Afghanistan said Tuesday they had killed a Saudi described as an "Al-Qaeda senior leader" who was their number two most-wanted insurgent in the country.The US-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) said Abu Hafs al-Najdi, also known as Abdul Ghani, was killed in an air strike in Kunar province, eastern Afghanistan, on April 13.ISAF said he was responsible for coordinating "numerous high-profile attacks".But spokesman Major Michael Johnson said he could not give details on the attacks for "safety and security reasons" and could not say who was number one on the most wanted list because of legal...

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