DINA For the Issue of March 17, 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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March 17, 2012 Saturday Rabi-us-Sani 23, 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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Zardari's record fifth address to joint session today
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By Raja Asghar
ISLAMABAD, March 16: The stage was set for President Asif Zardari to become the first head of state to deliver a record fifth address to a joint sitting of the National Assembly and Senate on Saturday after the Presidency successfully persuaded the Muttahida Qaumi Movement to step back from its threat to disrupt the session.

The People's Party has built up the occasion as a democratic landmark in the country's chequered history...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/17/zardaris-record-fifth-address-to-joint-session-today.html


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Muttahida legislators to attend session
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Dawn Report
ISLAMABAD / KARACHI, March 16: Taking notice of reports about extortion menacing the business community in Karachi, President Asif Ali Zardari asked Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Friday to take measures against the scourge in coordination with the Sindh government.

The reports assumed seriousness when the MQM announced that its legislators would boycott a joint sitting of the two houses of parliament to be addressed by the president on Saturday...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/17/muttahida-legislators-to-attend-session.html


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Haqqani's counsel criticises judge's attitude: Bitter exchanges
mar proceedings
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By Malik Asad
ISLAMABAD, March 16: Friday turned out to be a day of bitter exchanges and allegations and counter-allegations as the judicial commission continued the cross-examination of Mansoor Ijaz, the American businessman at the centre of the memo case.

Mr Ijaz repeated his old allegations and levelled new ones about his interaction with former ambassador to the United States Husain Haqqani, and the latter's lawyer Zahid Hussain Bokhari at one stage stormed out, protesting that he was not being allowed to freely carry out the cross-examination...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/17/haqqanis-counsel-criticises-judges-attitude-bitter-exchanges-mar-proceedings.html


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SC wants man picked up last week produced in court on Monday
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By Nasir Iqbal
ISLAMABAD, March 16: The Supreme Court ordered the capital police chief on Friday to recover and produce before it a man who had been picked up in broad daylight last week in the presence of his family.

His counsel informed the court that the only crime of 24-year-old Omar Mahmood Wali was that he was supplying food to demonstrators demanding recovery of missing persons in Islamabad's Parade Ground...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/17/sc-wants-man-picked-up-last-week-produced-in-court-on-monday.html


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Balochistan govt to withdraw 28 cases against Brahamdagh
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By Saleem Shahid
QUETTA, March 16: The Balochistan government has decided to withdraw 28 cases registered in Dera Bugti district against Baloch Republican Party chief Nawabzada Brahamdagh Bugti.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik had announced last month that all cases against Mr Bugti, Nawabzada Hyarbyar Marri and other self-exiled Baloch leaders would be withdrawn...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/17/balochistan-govt-to-withdraw-28-cases-against-brahamdagh.html


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Obama phones Karzai: Accord to give main combat role to Afghans
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By Anwar Iqbal
WASHINGTON, March 16: US President Barack Obama and his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai agreed on Friday to give Afghan forces a leading role in combat operations in 2013, the White House said.

President Obama telephoned President Karzai in the wee hours on Friday, seeking clarity on the Afghan leader's demand that US forces pull out of Afghan villages...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/17/obama-phones-karzai-accord-to-give-main-combat-role-to-afghans.html


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Tendulkar scores century of centuries
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DHAKA, March 16: Sachin Tendulkar finally ended his year-long wait to score a record 100th international century against Bangladesh during the Asia Cup tournament on Friday.

However, his monumental achievement was marred by an upset five-wicket win by Bangladesh...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/17/tendulkar-scores-century-of-centuries.html


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Kidnapped American in its custody, says Al Qaeda
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DUBAI, March 16: Al Qaeda chief Ayman Al Zawahiri said on Friday that unless its demands were met, Al Qaeda would not release an elderly American development expert who was kidnapped from Lahore last year.

In a video uploaded on Internet, the Al Qaeda leader said: "By the grace of Allah, we, on our part, have captured the American Jew Warren Weinstein."..

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/17/kidnapped-american-in-its-custody-says-al-qaeda.html


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Gilani says he is not afraid of anyone
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Dawn Report
LAHORE/MULTAN, March 16: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani maintained the tempo of what has been described as a sort of political offensive and declared on Friday that he was not afraid of 'anyone' because "I am in politics".

And as if to elaborate what he meant he used an Urdu proverb to shed light on the problems he is facing. Roughly translated the proverb says that someone dealing in coal gets his hands blackened...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/17/gilani-says-he-is-not-afraid-of-anyone.html


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Relatives of hate crime victim get US citizenship
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WEST WINDSOR (New Jersey), March 16: The widow and daughters of a Pakistani immigrant killed by a white supremacist in a 9/11 revenge attack are now US citizens.

Wearing headscarves, Durreshahwar Hasan and three of her daughters took the oath on Friday in a ceremony at the New Jersey office of US Rep Rush Holt. A fourth daughter became a citizen last week...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/17/relatives-of-hate-crime-victim-get-us-citizenship.html


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'Osama wanted to attack Obama'
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WASHINGTON, March 16: Before his death, Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden had ordered his followers in Afghanistan and Pakistan to attack the aircraft of President Barack Obama, The Washington Post reported on Friday.

The report, which cited documents seized at the Abbottabad compound where Bin Laden was killed by US forces, said the Al Qaeda leader also sought to kill General David Petraeus, who then headed international forces in Afghanistan...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/17/osama-wanted-to-attack-obama.html


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13pc hike in Indian defence budget
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NEW DELHI, March 16: India raised on Friday its military spending to Rs1.93 trillion ($38.6 billion), a 13 per cent increase, to modernise the armed forces that are perceived as seeking a role beyond their vigil on China and Pakistan.

The budget hike, in real terms, amounts to $4.5 billion over the revised estimates for the fiscal ending March 31. Discounting this increase of over $1 billion, the hike comes to 17.6 per cent over $32.8 billion originally allocated...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/17/13pc-hike-in-indian-defence-budget.html


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SC to hear petition against jirga system
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By Our Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD, March 16: The Supreme Court will commence regular hearing on a petition moved by the National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) seeking a declaration that the jirga system in the country is inhuman and against the fundamental rights of citizens.

A two-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and Justice Tariq Parvez, which had taken up the petition of NCSW chairperson Anis Haroon and others, decided to issue notices to Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq as well as respondents, including secretaries of law and interior and chief secretaries of the four provinces and Gilgit-Baltistan...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/17/sc-to-hear-petition-against-jirga-system.html


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Shahbaz vows strong action against looters
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By Our Correspondent
GUJRANWALA, March 16: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said on Friday that rulers were violating the Supreme Court's order by refusing to write a letter to the Swiss government.

Addressing a public meeting in Wazirabad, he said looters of public exchequer would not be spared and they would be dragged on roads after his party's victory in the coming elections...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/17/shahbaz-vows-strong-action-against-looters.html


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Kharif sowing may be delayed for 15-20 days
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By Our Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD, March 16: The Indus River System Authority said on Friday that the coming Kharif sowing could be delayed for 15 to 20 days because of lower water flows in rivers and an unpredictable data about water availability. The Kharif sowing usually begin on April 1

In view of unreliable weather conditions and uncertain water availability, a technical committee of Irsa which met on Fiday could not take a decision. It will meet again on March 26 to decide about water projections and shortages on the basis of hydrological conditions prevailing on March 20...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/17/kharif-sowing-may-be-delayed-for-15-20-days.html


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Eight injured in bomb blast
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By Our Correspondent
PARACHINAR, March 16: A roadside bomb ripped through a Peshawar-bound bus coming from Parachinar on Friday, injuring eight passengers.

The remote-controlled device hit the bus in Charkhel area of the Lower Kurram on the Thall-Parachinar highway. Security forces cordoned off the area after the attack and took the injured, women and children among them, to the Combined Military Hospital in Thall...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/17/eight-injured-in-bomb-blast.html


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Pakistan team barred from meeting Kasab
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MUMBAI, March 16: An Indian official says a court has barred a Pakistani delegation from interviewing the man convicted of the 2008 terrorist attack in Mumbai and any of the witnesses in his trial.

The delegation came to India to gather evidence for use in the prosecution of seven militants on trial in Pakistan over the attack that killed 166 people...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/17/pakistan-team-barred-from-meeting-kasab.html


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Parliament to debate ties with US on Monday
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By Baqir Sajjad Syed
ISLAMABAD, March 16: Parliament will begin a debate on new terms of engagement with the United States on Monday.

"This particular subject (US ties) will be considered by parliament starting from 19th of this month," Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said at his weekly briefing on Friday...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/17/parliament-to-debate-ties-with-us-on-monday.html


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Karachi Stocks Down 153.95 Points:
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KARACHI, Mar 16: At close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 13297.12, down 153.95 points.
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Forex Update:
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KARACHI, Mar 16: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at 91.3 to the US Dollar in the open market.
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