DINA for the issue of January 06, 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 06, 2012 Friday Safar 11, 1433
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The DAWN Internet News Alert (DINA) is a free daily news-service
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DAWN.

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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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PPP hints at early general election
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By Syed Irfan Raza
ISLAMABAD, Jan 5: Amid speculations that the coalition government may be wrapped up or face a 'big blow' before Senate elections scheduled for March 11, the Pakistan People's Party leadership decided on Thursday to hold them in mid-February, a senior party member told Dawn.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the PPP's core committee, jointly presided over by President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani at the Presidency...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/01/06/ppp-hints-at-early-general-election-2.html


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Aitzaz, Dar helped forge accord
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By Amjad Mahmood
LAHORE: Backdoor contacts between the PPP and the PML-N are reported to have played a role in the former's decision to hold Senate and general elections ahead of the schedule.

Officials privy to the contacts said that Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan of the PPP and Senator Ishaq Dar of the PML-N played the main role in this connection. Their last meeting in which details were finalised was held on Tuesday, the sources told Dawn...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/01/06/aitzaz-dar-helped-forge-accord.html


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PPP, PML-N to gain most seats in Senate polls
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By Amir Wasim
ISLAMABAD, Jan 5: The ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP) stands to gain most and four parties to lose all in the forthcoming Senate elections, reveal calculations done by Dawn on the basis of party positions in the national and provincial legislatures.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Awami National Party, ruling the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, also are set to gain significantly but the representation of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) in the new Senate is expected to remain unchanged...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/01/06/ppp-pml-n-to-gain-most-seats-in-senate-polls.html


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Taliban kill 15 captive Constabulary personnel
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By Haji Pazir Gul
PESHAWAR, Jan 5: Militants have killed 15 Frontier Constabulary personnel in North Waziristan to avenge, in the words of a Taliban spokesman, the death of one of their 'commanders' in another tribal area at the hands of security forces.

According to a security official, the 15 personnel guarding the boundary between the tribal region and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had been taken hostage on Dec 23 in a pre-dawn attack by militants on their post in Mullazai area of Tank district...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/01/06/taliban-kill-15-captive-constabulary-personnel.html


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Red Cross doctor kidnapped in Quetta
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By Saleem Shahid
QUETTA, Jan 5: A senior official of the International Committee of the Red Cross was kidnapped from the Chaman Housing Scheme here on Thursday.

"Yes, one of our health officials, Dr Khalil Diale, has been kidnapped by armed men at around 1.35pm," said an official at the ICRC's Quetta office...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/01/06/red-cross-doctor-kidnapped-in-quetta.html


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US senators 'troubled' by treatment of Haqqani
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By Anwar Iqbal
WASHINGTON, Jan 5: Three leading US senators urged Pakistan on Thursday not to make former ambassador Husain Haqqani a "political tool" in the conflict between the country's civilian and military establishments.

In a statement issued in Washington, Republican Senators John McCain and Mark Kirk and independent Senator Joe Lieberman advised Pakistan to resolve the issue swiftly and in consistent with its civilian rule of law...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/01/06/us-senators-troubled-by-treatment-of-haqqani.html


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NA discussion on new provinces turns messy
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By Raja Asghar
ISLAMABAD, Jan 5: Tear up Punjab in three and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in up to four: This is what some lawmakers seeking new provinces thought would be a panacea for regional deprivations as a debate in the National Assembly made a controversial start on Thursday, with the main Pakhtun nationalist party walking out rather hearing calls for a disintegration of its heartland.

Sentiments seemed to prevail over rules as the discussion sought by the government-allied Muttahida Qaumi Movement was allowed even without a resolution sponsored by it, demanding creation of at least two new provinces, being formally moved and put on the day's agenda, though it was orally agreed in a so-called "sense of the house" taken on Tuesday with the backing of the ruling Pakistan People's Party and a personal go-ahead from Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/01/06/na-discussion-on-new-provinces-turns-messy.html


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Pakistanis smoke away Rs200bn
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By Shahid Iqbal
KARACHI, Jan 5: Despite no promotional campaign, attraction for cigarettes remained stable as Pakistanis burned Rs200 billion on smoking in fiscal 2011.

The startling cigarette production figures, provided by the State Bank of Pakistan in its latest statistical bulletin, show the number of cigarettes produced in the fiscal 2011 increased over last year...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/01/06/pakistanis-smoke-away-rs200bn.html


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SC threat to revoke Babar's licence
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By Iftikhar A. Khan

ISLAMABAD, Jan 5: Irked by comments made by Senator Babar Awan, a Supreme Court bench hearing the Bhutto presidential reference issued on Thursday a second show-cause notice in 24 hours to the former law minister and asked him to explain why his licence to practise in the apex court should not be cancelled.

"We are the issuing authority and have the powers to cancel licences as well," Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry observed before issuing the second notice...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/01/06/sc-threat-to-revoke-babars-licence.html


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Pagara taken to London by air ambulance
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By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Jan 5: Pakistan Muslim League (Functional) chief Pir Pagara was taken to London on Thursday by a special air ambulance, along with his physician and family members, for treatment of his infected lungs.

According to sources in Kingri House, he was given clearance by a medical board on Wednesday to undertake the journey. His son Pir Sadruddin Shah Rashdi was already in London to make necessary arrangements in a private hospital...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/01/06/pagara-taken-to-london-by-air-ambulance.html


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US restores map showing Kashmir as disputed
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WASHINGTON, Jan 5: The United States has reinstated a State Department map of South Asia, which shows Jammu and Kashmir as a disputed territory.

An earlier map, which was removed on Wednesday, showed the territory as integrated with India and Pakistan and not as a disputed land...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/01/06/us-restores-map-showing-kashmir-as-disputed.html


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Karachi Stocks Down 159.94 Points:
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KARACHI, Jan 05: At close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 11202.03, down 159.94 points.
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Forex Update:
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KARACHI, Jan 05: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at 91.3 to the US Dollar in the open market.
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