DINA for the issue of January 04, 2012

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D A W N I n t e r n e t N e w s A l e r t
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January 04, 2012 Wednesday Safar 9, 1433
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The DAWN Internet News Alert (DINA) is a free daily news-service
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(c) Pakistan Herald Publications (Pvt.) Ltd., Pakistan - 2012

The link at the end of each extract can be used to access the
complete story on DAWN - the Internet Edition.


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Implement NRO verdict by 10th or face action
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By Iftikhar A. Khan
ISLAMABAD, Jan 3: The Supreme Court warned the government on Tuesday of action against the institutions concerned if its verdict on the National Reconciliation Ordinance issued in December 2009 was not implemented in a week — by Jan 10.

The court had declared the NRO void and dismissed a subsequent review petition filed by the federation...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/01/04/implement-nro-verdict-by-10th-or-face-action.html


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Taliban office in Qatar a positive development, says US
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By Anwar Iqbal
WASHINGTON, Jan 3: The White House and the State Department welcomed on Tuesday a decision to open a Taliban political office in Qatar, saying that it would provide an address for negotiations with the insurgents Washington has been fighting for more than a decade.

"We welcome any step along the road of the Afghan-led process towards reconciliation, mindful of the fact that the standards for reconciliation have not changed, and the conditions, rather, that insurgents who are willing to lay down their arms and reconcile, must meet in order to be accepted by the Afghan government and by us," said Press Secretary Jay Carney when asked if the White House saw this as a positive development...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/01/04/taliban-office-in-qatar-a-positive-development-says-us.html


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New provinces' cause gets noisy boost in NA
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By Raja Asghar
ISLAMABAD, Jan 3: Out of the blue, demands for new provinces, which envision to split some of Pakistan's existing units vertically and horizontally and could become a major campaign issue in the next election, got a big sentimental and noisy boost in the National Assembly on Tuesday, overshadowing an upsurge of protests against gas shortages.

After some noisy and unruly scenes over a demand from the government-allied Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) for an immediate debate on a resolution moved by it for the creation of at least two new provinces by splitting the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani too joined the fray and came out with his strongest support to date in parliament for the cause of a proposed Seraiki province in southern Punjab and what he called other "smaller provinces"...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/01/04/new-provinces-cause-gets-noisy-boost-in-na.html


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Two killed, 28 injured in Peshawar explosion
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By Ali Hazrat Bacha
PESHAWAR, Jan 3: Two people were killed and 28 others injured when a bomb exploded in the basement of a multi-storey plaza on the main University Road on Tuesday.

Cantonment Circle SP Dr Mian Saeed Ahmed said one man died on the spot and the other in hospital...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/01/04/two-killed-28-injured-in-peshawar-explosion.html


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Significant decline in suicide attacks in 2011
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By Amir Wasim
ISLAMABAD, Jan 3: Pakistan saw a significant decline in suicide attacks in 2011 and their number went down to 45 from 68 in 2010 and 87 in 2009.

According to the 'Security Report 2011' of Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS), 676 people, mostly civilians, were killed and 1,462 injured in suicide attacks last year. More than half of these attacks (27) took place in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), claiming the lives of 449 people, says the report which will be formally released on Wednesday...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/01/04/significant-decline-in-suicide-attacks-in-2011.html


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Punjab AG opposes reopening of Bhutto case
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By Our Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD, Jan 3: The top legal officer of Punjab has opposed the plea made in a presidential reference seeking to revisit the murder trial of former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

In a 73-page plea submitted in the Supreme Court on Tuesday, Advocate General Mohammad Anis Khatana said that the present position of law as it existed in Pakistan had no room for finality of a judgment to be disturbed through a presidential reference...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/01/04/punjab-ag-opposes-reopening-bhutto-case.html


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Pak-Iran gas pipeline to violate sanctions: US
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By Our Correspondent
WASHINGTON, Jan 3: The United States said on Tuesday that a gas pipeline project Pakistan was negotiating with Iran could violate US restrictions on major financial deals with Tehran and Washington was already discussing this issue with Islamabad.

At a briefing at the State Department, spokesperson Victoria Nuland also said that a bill President Barack Obama signed into law on Saturday would not lead to an automatic suspension of US aid to Pakistan...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/01/04/pak-iran-gas-pipeline-to-violate-sanctions-us.html


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Commission seeks access to Osama papers
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By Syed Irfan Raza
ISLAMABAD, Jan 3: The Inquiry Commission on the Abbottabad operation has called upon the government to give access to 187,000 documents and letters of Al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden which were found from the three-storey house raided by US Navy SEALs in Abbottabad on May 2, a source close to the commission told Dawn on Tuesday.

The source said the commission believed that these documents were in custody of Inter-Services Intelligence and were written in Arabic and English languages. It has also been learnt that the process of translation of Arabic language documents has begun and it might take two to three months...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/01/04/commission-seeks-access-to-osama-papers.html

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Pakistan, US resume cooperation on Afghan reconciliation process
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By Baqir Sajjad Syed
ISLAMABAD, Jan 3: Pakistan and the US, after weeks of strained ties, have resumed cooperation on Afghan reconciliation process as a prelude to full normalisation of ties.

While ISI chief Lt Gen Shuja Pasha's visit to Qatar last week for unannounced discussions with US officials on the Afghan peace process gave a whiff of impending thaw in bilateral ties, the sped up process for redefining the contours of relations bears clear indications that the estranged allies were set for another embrace...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/01/04/pakistan-us-resume-cooperation-on-afghan-reconciliation-process.html


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Karachi Stocks Up 120.03 Points:
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KARACHI, Jan 03: At close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 11402.04, up 120.03 points.
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Forex Update:
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KARACHI, Jan 03: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at 90.4 to the US Dollar in the open market.
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