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02 News
Monday, 21 January, 2013
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Bill for creation of Bahawalpur province to be presented in NA ISLAMABAD: A Bill to create a new province comprising 3 divisions of South Punjab has been finalised for presentation in the National Assembly (NA). The new province, which is named as Bahawalpur province, will constitute 3 divisions including Dera Ghazi Khan, Multan and Bahawalpur. The bill will be presented in the next session of NA and government has geared up the pace of contacts with other political parties to solicit their support on the creation of the new province. The PPP-led government is of the opinion that the new province will not be created on an ethnic basis but will be carved out keeping in view the local and regional administrative requirements. When contacted by the government on the matter, PML-N raised objection on the bill saying it supported creation of the province but had an objection on the name of the province. Advisor to Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Senator Sardar Zulfiqar Khosa, said PML-N was in favour of restoration of Bahawalpur province but it had differences on the name of the new province. ONLINE
Mumtaz Bhutto says he will contest polls against Faryal TANDO ADAM: Former Sindh chief minister Mumtaz Bhutto on Sunday announced that if Faryal Talpur, sister of President Asif Zardari, contested elections from Larkana, he would contest against her. At a press conference at the residence of Ghulam Mustafa Marri, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader said he had been away from parliamentary politics for 16 years but oppose the election of Faryal. Bhutto said despite strong opposition by the people of Sindh against the dual local government system, the rulers did not pay heed to their voice. He said the people have been left with no alternative but to stage a long march like that of Dr Tahirul Qadri to get their voice heard. He said he had tried to awaken nationalists of Sindh for 26 years but could not succeed and only then he decided to join the PML-N. He said he made it clear to the PML-N leadership that controversial projects like Kalabagh Dam should not be constructed unless all the provinces give their consent in this regard. INP
Seven people killed in Karachi violence Seven people have been killed in target killing incidents in Karachi on Sunday, a private TV channel reported. Unidentified gunmen killed three people near Banaras Pull. Police said the deceased were fater and son along with a neighbour. Fear spread throughout the area after the incident took place. In Orangi Town, one person was shot dead while another was killed in Mehran Town after being fired on. Two people were injured after being shot in Memon Goth. The injured were rushed to hospital where one of the wounded succumbed to his injuries. Separately, one man was killed in Buffer Zone after being shot. MONItORING DESk
NA, Senate to meet today ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly and the Senate will be called in session at the Parliament House at 4pm today (Monday). Sources said the sessions are expected to be fiery in view of the political temperature following the long march by Tehreek Minhajul Quran chief Dr Tahirul Qadri. They said it was expected that the government will announce the election date during the session to pacify the political temperature and to give opposition parties a sense of satisfaction following the Lahore Declaration on Wednesday that demanded the government announce the election plan without delay. The sources further said the incidents of killings in Quetta and Khyber Agency and the resultant protests at Alamdar Road and Governor House in Peshawar would also be taken up by the opposition parties. INP
LAHORE: Members of the civil society and students protesting against Bara and Balochistan killing incidents outside the Lahore Press Club on Sunday. INP
Pakistan angered at videogame depicting country as terror haven
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AKISTANI shopkeepers are boycotting two new video games which they say portray the country as a failed state, riddled with terrorism and where security forces are in league with al-Qaeda. Both Medal of Honor: Warfighter and Call of Duty: Black Ops II are first-person shooter games, where players take on the persona of an American special forces agent and feature ultra realistic graphics. Terrorism and the role of local security forces are hugely sensitive subjects in Pakistan, which has barely recovered from the shock of discovering that Osama bin Laden was hiding in plain sight, barely 30 miles from Islamabad. All Pakistan CD, DVD, Audio Cassette Traders and Manufacturers Association President Saleem Memon said he had written to members ordering them not to stock the controversial games after receiving dozens of complaints. “The problem is that there are things that are against Pakistan and they have included criticism of our army,” he said. “They show the country in a very poor light,” he added. The latest instalment of the Medal of Honor series opens with American Navy Seals coming ashore in Karachi docks on a mission to destroy a black market arms shipment. But when
their detonation sets off a second, bigger explosion they realise they have stumbled on a much bigger terrorist plot, sparking a global manhunt. A chaotic car chase through the city follows amid warnings that the ISI-Pakistan’s intelligence agency-is on the way. Memon added there was a danger children would be brainwashed into thinking foreign agents were at war inside Karachi, possibly leading them into the arms of militants. “These games show a misleading idea of what is happening in the city. You don’t get the CIA all the way through Grand Theft Auto,” he said. The game was developed with help from Seal Team Six, including one member who was on the covert raid to kill Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad in 2011. That mission-along with the arrest of a CIA agent, Raymond Davis, for shooting dead two men in Lahore-prompted a fresh wave of conspiracy theories in Pakistan about foreign agents roaming the country at will. At the same time, the country is frequently accused of double dealing, allowing insurgent groups to maintain havens in its border lands despite being a US ally in the war against al-Qaeda and the Taliban. The second game, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, features a mission in Pakistan to gather intelligence on a Nicaraguan narco-terrorist. Although shops in all of Pakistan’s major cities have been told of the ban, the game was still available on Friday in shops crammed with pirated CDs in Islamabad.
Olson assures Malik of assistance to law enforcement officials
ISLAMABAD: US Ambassador to Pakistan Richard Olson on Sunday met Interior Minister Rehman Malik and exchanged views on bilateral ties and security situation in the country, particularly in FATA. The US ambassador lauded excellent security arrangements by the interior minister on the occasion of long march. He also praised the minister for security arrangements for embassies and diplomats. He said the US praised the sacrifices and contributions made by Pakistan in the war on terror. He said the US would extend all necessary assistance and equipment to help Pakistani law enforcers to check incidents of suicide attacks and bombings. Malik said Pakistan was doing its best to improve law and order but it had its limitations. He said due to a shortage of resources the law-enforcement agencies were handicapped. He welcomed the envoy’s assurance for the equipment and hoped that this would help in nabbing the miscreants. INP