DINA for the Issue of March 20, 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 20, 2012 Tuesday Rabi-us-Sani 26, 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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Nepra chief quits amid controversy over tariff
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By Khaleeq Kiani
ISLAMABAD, March 19: Amid an ongoing legal controversy over electricity tariffs, National Electric Power Regulatory Authority's chairman Khalid Saeed submitted his resignation to the prime minister on Monday.

Nepra Registrar Syed Safir Hussain confirmed that Mr Saeed had tendered his resignation for personal reasons. He claimed that since Mr Saeed's appointment order became effective on Jan 1, 2009, his four-year tenure, under Section 3(5) of the Nepra Act, was to end on Dec 31 this year...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/20/nepra-chief-quits-amid-controversy-over-tariff.html


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Joint sitting on US ties begins today
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By Raja Asghar
ISLAMABAD, March 19: Parliament will break new ground when it meets on Tuesday to frame guidelines about the future of Pakistan's strategic ties with the United States.

A joint sitting of the National Assembly and Senate, summoned by President Asif Ali Zardari to begin at 11am, comes after a long wait for review of a relationship that has come under immense strains for months over incidents like the killing of Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad last May and a deadly American helicopter strike on a Pakistani military post near the Afghan border in November...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/20/joint-sitting-on-us-ties-begins-today.html


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Balochistan speaker wants army included in dialogue
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By Saleem Shahid
QUETTA, March 19: The Speaker of Balochistan Assembly, Mohammad Aslam Bhootani, has said the army has a role in matters concerning the province and, therefore, it should be included in negotiations with estranged Baloch nationalist leaders.

Talking to newsmen here on Monday, he said negotiations with the nationalist leaders would not be fruitful unless all stakeholders, including the army, were included in the process...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/20/balochistan-speaker-wants-army-included-in-dialogue.html


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SC urged to refer case to parliament
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By Nasir Iqbal
ISLAMABAD, March 19: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani is refusing to budge an inch on the issue of writing letter to the Swiss authorities to reopen corruption cases which also involved President Asif Ali Zardari. In a reply to the Supreme Court on Monday, he said the state of Pakistan could not surrender its president for trial by a foreign magistrate.

In a two-pronged defence, Mr Gilani said the president could not be tried in a foreign court and that the issue of president's immunity was of public concern and, therefore, it should be referred to parliament...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/20/sc-urged-to-refer-case-to-parliament.html


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Illegal detention not to be tolerated, warns court
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By Our Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD, March 19: The Supreme Court warned again on Monday that it would not tolerate illegal detention of any person, but asked the authorities concerned to deal with delinquents strictly in accordance with the law if they were found involved in any offence against the state or the nation.

A three-judge Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had taken an application of Omar Mahmood Wali who had been picked up in broad daylight on March 10 in the presence of his family...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/20/illegal-detention-not-to-be-tolerated-warns-court.html


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WHO alerts govt to polio outbreak in KP
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By Iftikhar A. Khan
ISLAMABAD, March 19: The World Health Organisation has warned of an imminent risk of polio outbreak in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

In a letter to the provincial chief secretary, WHO Representative in Pakistan Dr Guido Sabatinneli pointed out that almost the entire Bara tehsil of Khyber Agency had no vaccination campaigns since September 2009, and hence had the most persistent outbreak of polio cases ever seen in Pakistan in such a circumscribed area...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/20/who-alerts-govt-to-polio-outbreak-in-kp.html


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Curfew in Miramshah: Three killed by shelling, 2 in clash
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By Pazir Gul
MIRAMSHAH, March 19: Intense shelling by security forces left three people dead and 42 others, including women and children, injured in North Waziristan on Sunday night and Monday and a curfew was imposed in Miramshah.

According to officials, two militants were killed and three security personnel injured in overnight clashes near Miramshah...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/20/curfew-in-miramshah-three-killed-by-shelling-2-in-clash.html


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Relations with US: 'Parliament package may add new roadblocks'
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By Anwar Iqbal
WASHINGTON, March 19: The Pakistani parliament is holding a joint session in Islamabad on Tuesday to finalise recommendations for rebuilding US-Pakistan ties.

"The parliamentary package could add new roadblocks, especially if it includes a demand to end drone attacks," said two former US ambassadors — Teresita C. Schaffer and Howard B. Schaffer — in a joint piece they wrote for the Foreign Policy news site...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/20/relations-with-us-parliament-package-may-add-new-roadblocks.html


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Decision on access to Osama widow deferred
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By Malik Asad
ISLAMABAD, March 19: A local court deferred on Monday its decision till March 26 on a petition by a brother of the Yemeni wife of slain Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden seeking access to his sister.

The prosecution told the court that Osama's family had illegally entered the country from Afghanistan...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/20/decision-on-access-to-osama-widow-deferred.html


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India and Pakistan among top arm importers
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STOCKHOLM, March 19: Asia leads the world when it comes to weapon imports, according to a study released on Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri).

Globally the volume of international transfers of major conventional weapons was 24 per cent higher in the period 2007-11 compared to the 2002-06 period, the report said...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/20/india-and-pakistan-among-top-arm-importers.html


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Hashmi made PTI president
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By Amjad Mahmood
LAHORE, March 19: Veteran politician Javed Hashmi has been made president of Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf.

This was announced by PTI chairman Imran Khan at a press conference here on Monday. He said the decision had been taken by the party's central executive committee. On the occasion, Pakistan Democratic Party of late Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan announced its decision to merge into the PTI. PDP chief Nawabzada Mansoor Ali Khan and other leaders were present at the press conference...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/20/hashmi-made-pti-president.html


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Five die in Tirah blast
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By Our Correspondent
LANDI KOTAL, March 19: Five people were killed in a Tirah valley bomb blast carried out by a rival militant group, Lashkar-i-Islam, on Monday.

Sources said the remote-controlled bomb, placed on the back of a mule, was detonated when the quadruped got close to a Taliban bunker in Doa Thoe area...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/20/five-die-in-tirah-blast.html


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65pc electricity deficit leads to 16-hour outages
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By Ahmad Fraz Khan
LAHORE, March 19: Power deficit for common consumers shot up on Monday to almost 65 per cent, forcing the Ministry of Water and Power which now controls electricity distribution to resort to up to 16 hours of loadshedding even in urban areas.

According to an official of the Pakistan Electric Power Company, "it is a total panic situation." He denied that the company had "anything to do with power management now"...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/20/65pc-electricity-deficit-leads-to-16-hour-outages.html


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Karachi Stocks Down 219.40 Points:
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KARACHI, Mar 19: At close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 13077.72, down 219.40 points.
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Forex Update:
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KARACHI, Mar 19: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at 91.5 to the US Dollar in the open market.
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