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Sherry says drone campaign counterproductive WASHINGTON
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N an effort to repair ties between Washington and islamabad, Ambassador to the United States Sherry Rehman on Thursday asked for greater US trade access for her country. She also stated Pakistan’s position on American drone strikes, claiming they are counterproductive and reverse gains made in their relationship. in an opinion piece, the Pakistani envoy sought the new US
Congress’s help in materializing the elusive trade initiative whilst underlining Pakistan’s commitment to the fight against terror. The ambassador also highlighted to American lawmakers the elected government’s democratic and antiterror achievements over the past five years. “i appreciate US Ambassador to Pakistan Richard Olson’s words that al Qaeda has largely been eliminated in the region due to joint Pak-US efforts, and hope that this will trigger a more meaningful conversation on ending U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan,” she wrote in a
News 09 Good or bad, all terrorists will be eliminated: Qamar
piece posted by The Hill Congressional daily. She also addressed the case for enhanced trade access to the US market. The envoy pointed out that think tank studies have shown that the impact of greater market access to Pakistan on US jobs will be negligible while the economic impact on the Pakistani side will be enormous. “it will spur economic activity, generate employment, give the country’s enormous youth cohort an avenue to earn a living, and above all, give ordinary Pakistanis a stake in an enduring Pakistan-US relationship,” she said. ISLAMABAD: Defence Minister Syed Naveed Qamar on Friday said consultation over the caretaker setup would be held with the opposition on March 17 and no such talks were possible before that date. Talking to reporters outside the Parliament House, he said there was no such thing as “good or bad Taliban” and all terrorists should be eliminated. The minister said Pakistan had so far released 26 Taliban prisoners. Qamar said the Abbottabad commission’s report was being reviewed, after which it would be decided whether to make the report public or not. He said the establishment was not backing Tehreek-e-Minhajul Quran (TMQ) chief Tahirul Qadri, adding that it was Qadri’s right to protest, however, nobody could be allowed to violate the constitution. inp
Indian women thrash Congress leader for raping woman
peshaWaR: activists of the pakhtunkhwa Civil society network on friday offer fateha for the seven nGO workers gunned down in swabi a couple of days ago. INP
Economic growth should be top priority in next decade: survey ISLAMABAD
Violence claimed 6,059 lives in 2012, says report terrorists blew up 116 schools in KP and fAtA last year g Says targeted killings in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa surged by 42 percent g
ISLAMABAD
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A survey carried out by Gallup Pakistan shows that 42 percent of Pakistanis believe that economic growth should be the most important goal of the country for the next 10 years. A ‘nationally representative’ sample of men and women from across the four provinces was asked about what the goals for Pakistan should be for the next decade. in their response, 42 percent claimed that a high level of economic growth is the most important goal for the country whereas 38 percent believe having strong defence forces is a major goal. Around 14 percent believed the most important goal is giving people more say in how things are done at their jobs and in their communities and only 5 percent believe that the most important goal is to try and make the cities and countryside more beautiful. The study was released by Gilani Foundation and carried out by Gallup Pakistan, the Pakistani affiliate of Gallup international. The recent survey was carried out among a sample of 1,200 men and women in rural and urban areas of all four provinces of the country during October 4 to 19, 2012.
During 2012, Pakistan continued to suffer under different types of violence, including target killing, bombings and drone attacks, which resulted in death of as many as 6,059 people in the country. According to the data compiled by a think-tank, Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), revealed that almost 15 percent decline in violence was noticed during 2012 as compared to 2011. The report said that in total 389
bombings and suicide attacks that took place in the county in 2012 as many as 937 people were killed, including 709 civilians, 130 security persons and 102 militants. While in 56 landmine explosions some 65 people were killed in 2012. Similarly, 49 drone attacks were conducted on Pakistani soil which claimed 345 lives in last year. The study also informed that approximately 1,564 people were killed in 1,324 incidents of target killings in Karachi and various areas of Balochistan, whereas 618 bodies were found from across the country in 2012.
in Karachi alone, as many as 991 people were dead in 791 violent attacks. Among these, 917 were civilians and 74 security forces officials. Similarly, target killings in KP surged by 42 percent with police, paramilitary and prominent political personalities being prime targets. As a whole, 6,059 persons died during 2012, as a result of 2,536 incidents of violence. likewise, some 309 rocket and mortar attacks were also reported during 2012 due to which 263 people, including 117 security forces personnel, lost their lives. The report also read that terrorists had blown up some 116 schools in KP and FATA.
ASSAM: While india continues to mourn the death of the Delhi gang-rape victim and demand for stringent anti-rape laws have grown louder, a senior Congress leader, accused of rape, was beaten up badly by angry women in a remote village in Assam. The Congress leader, identified as Bikram Singh Brahma, was publicly beaten up by angry villagers, particularly women, when he admitted to raping a local woman some time back. irked with his confession, a group of women then assaulted, slapped and stripped the Congress leader in full public view. The visuals of this shocking incident was also aired on the local news channel. The man has been detained by the police and an investigation into the case has begun. The case comes as an embarrassment for the ruling Congress government in the state and may even cast a shadow on the approaching panchayat elections. inp
Wave of severe cold, dense fog to continue for next 24 hours ISLAMABAD: The Metrological Department on Friday forecast that the wave of severe cold would continue over the northern parts of Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and GilgitBaltistan during the next 24 hours The Met Office said dense foggy conditions would continue to prevail in plain areas of Punjab, including islamabad, Peshawar, Dera ismail Khan, Sukkur and larkana divisions, adding that mainly cold and dry weather was expected in most parts of the country. However, cloudy conditions with light rain/snowfall were likely in Malakand division. inp
Indian patients take shelter in public toilets NEW DELHI Online
On the coldest day in Delhi, many patients were forced to sleep in a public toilet outside the All india institute of Medical Sciences (AiiMS), the biggest hospital in india, local media reported on Thursday. Amongst those who took shelter in the toilets was a 6-year-old child who
had lost both his eyes due to cancer and has been coming to the hospital for treatment since the past three years from Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh. Since the child had not been given a bed, he had to face the bone-chilling cold with his father, every night in a public toilet. The father-son duo however, is not alone in the suffering. With temperatures in the indian capital dipping
drastically, about 20 homeless people take shelter in this public toilet every night. They cook their food and sleep there and most of them are getting their relatives treated in AiiMS. The Delhi government has arranged about 150 shelters for the homeless, but with around 300,000 people on the streets of Delhi, all shelters are already saturated. These people outside AiiMS say
they would rather stay on the footpath or this toilet than the government-run shelters, due to the extremely unhygienic conditions and congestion there. last year too, public toilets had been used as a shelter by the homeless patients and their relatives. The police had then removed the homeless from there, but with nowhere to go, the cold has forced them to take shelter there yet again.
Saturday, 5 January, 2013