Yekaterinburg—The eight- month long
Pakistan-India stalled peace process got a fresh
lease of life as President Asif Ali Zardari and
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met here on
the sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation
Organisation (SCO). The two sides agreed that
the foreign secretaries of two countries would
meet in near future at the mutually convenient
dates.
Lahore—A tax free budget for the fiscal year
2009-10 with total outlay of 489.83 billion
rupees has been presented in Punjab Assembly
(PA) while Rs 175 billion have been earmarked
for development works.
Budget was announced by Punjab finance minister
Tanveer Ashraf Kaira here Tuesday. A sum
of Rs 54.52 billion have been allocated for law
and order, Rs 21.77 billion for health sector
and Rs 22.38 billion for education sector while
Rs 7.50 billion will be spent on Food Stamp
scheme, Rs 14. 20 billion on food stamp scheme,
R s 2 billon on green tractor scheme and Rs 4
billion will be earmarked for allowing subsidy
on atta, he indicated. .
Peshawar/islamabad—Amid government order to
military authorities to go for a decisive action
against militant commander Baitullah Mehsud and
his net work in South Waziristan Agency, the
security forces and the militants loyal to
Baitullah were reported locked in pitched
battles in parts of the agency on Tuesday. A
number of militants hideouts were reportedly
pounded by the PAF planes on Tuesday morning.
On the other hand the Inter Services Public
Relations (ISPR) said, more than a dozen
insurgents were gunned down in Dir and Swat
during the last 24 hours as the Operation Rah-e-Rast
continued. Those killed included a militant
commander as well as an expert of making
suicidal jackets.
Karachi —The government has allowed security
clearance to 16 exploration blocs out of 25
concessions resulting in restart of drilling
after a lapse of 8 years at the Sui gasfield,
the largest discovery to date, is the key
highlight on the natural gas front of the year
2009.
According to informed sources, deep horizons in
the Sui field are believed to have untapped
reserve potential as the recent officla
documents estimated a reserve potential of up to
1tcf on the field or 17% of current reserves.
Islamabad—The anti-Iranian Government militant
group, Jundullah allegedly based in Pakistani
Balochistan is said to have reached an
understanding with Al-Qaeda leaders to join
hands against Pakistan and Iran. According to
insiders a known Baluchi businessman, Abdul
Malik Rigi who is wanted in Iran for several
terrorist attacks which resulted in dozens of
deaths has recently met with some unknown Al-Qaeda
leaders in the region.
Yekaterinburg—Leaders of the Shanghai
Cooperation Organization (SCO) concluded their
annual summit on Tuesday with calls for
constructive dialogues and enhanced cooperation
to tackle regional and international issues. The
leaders exchanged views in depth on a wide range
of regional and international issues, according
to a joint communique released after the summit.
Karachi—Pakistan is planning to hedge some of
its oil purchases soon to guard against volatile
international prices, a government economic
official said on Tuesday. Pakistan, which
imports about 80 percent of its oil, spent $8.01
billion on imports of crude oil and petroleum
products from last July to April, down 7.58
percent from the year-ago period.
