DINA for the issue of April 11, 2013

	Thursday 11th April 2013 | Jumadi-ul-Awwal 29, 1434
The DAWN Internet News Alert (DINA) is a free daily news service from Pakistan’s largest English language newspaper, the Daily DAWN.
Time for filing of appeals over: Over 4,000 out of election race By Iftikhar A. Khan ISLAMABAD, April 10: Over 4,000 candidates for the upcoming polls are out of the race as their nomination papers have been rejected by the respective returning officers, revealed the data released by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday.	For suggestions and comments: Email: webmaster@dawn.com Website: http://dawn.com Fax: +92(21) 35693995 Karachi Stocks Up 9.74 Points: KARACHI, Apr 10: At the close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 18723.35, up 9.74 points. Forex Update : KARACHI, Apr 10: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at 99.0 to the US Dollar in the open market.
Removal of Mengal govt was a mistake: Shahbaz By Saleem Shahid QUETTA, April 10: Former Punjab chief minister and PML-N leader Shahbaz Sharif has admitted that removal of the Akhtar Mengal government by then prime minister Nawaz Sharif in 1998 was a mistake. Talking to newsmen on Wednesday at the residence of Akhtar Mengal, chief of the Balochistan National Party-M, Shahbaz Sharif said the decision was “very bad” and PML-N president Nawaz Sharif had already regretted it in public.
Ayaz Amir, Faisal Saleh re-enter fray By Malik Asad RAWALPINDI: Ayaz Amir and Faisal Saleh Hayat, two members of the erstwhile National Assembly who were casualties of articles 62 and 63 of the constitution, got back into the electoral race on Wednesday when election tribunals upheld their appeals against the returning officers’ decision of rejecting their nomination papers. A two-judge tribunal, which consisted of Justice Rauf Ahmad Sheikh and Justice Mamoon Rashid Sheikh of the Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi bench, allowed columnist and PML-N leader Ayaz Amir to contest election from NA 60, Chakwal.
PPP undecided about election strategy By Amir Wasim ISLAMABAD, April 10: The general elections are just a month away and the country’s largest political party — the PPP — still seems undecided about its campaign strategy. The dilemma being faced by the party that remained active in all the previous general elections was evident from the replies given by its leaders at a news conference at Zardari House here on Wednesday.
SC smells cover-up in CNG stations permit case By Our Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, April 10: The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) informed the Supreme Court on Wednesday that it had issued 1,471 licences of CNG stations between 2008 and 2012, but all the applicants had secured no-objection certificates before the caretaker government of Mohammedmian Soomro banned new gas connections to industrial and commercial entities. Not convinced with Ogra’s reply, a three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed said it appeared that efforts were afoot to cover up misdoings of the past.
Policeman shot dead in attack on polio team By Mohammad Jamal Hoti MARDAN, April 10: A gunman shot dead a policeman and injured another in an attack on a police team protecting women polio workers in Mardan’s Mosam Koroono area on Wednesday. The shooting was the latest in a series of attacks on people working on the UN-backed vaccination campaign. In December, gunmen killed nine women health workers carrying out polio vaccinations in Karachi and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
LHC sets aside Dasti’s conviction By Our Staff Correspondent MULTAN, April 10: The Multan bench of the Lahore High Court overturned on Wednesday the conviction of former MNA Jamshed Ahmed Dasti in a fake degree case and ordered his release. Sheikh Jamshed Hayat, the counsel for Mr Dasti, informed the court that the case against his client had been filed under sections 468, 471 and 200 of the Pakistan Penal Code and section 82 of the Representation of People Act.
Fata politics: the fear factor By Ismail Khan THE last time Noorul Haq Qadri went to his native constituency in Landi Kotal, in the Khyber tribal region, was some three and a half months ago. He has filed his nomination papers to seek re-election from NA-45 in the coming elections, but is not sure whether he will be able to run an election campaign. A leader of a moderate Sufi mystic party, Qadri has faced threats from militants and has moved his entire family to the safe environs of Islamabad and Lahore. “We couldn’t stay there, there were threats”, he says. “The security is not good. Leave aside candidates, even voters need courage to go out and cast their votes. We’re in something of a quandary; how to reach out to the voters?”
Zardari asks Punjab govt to ensure fair polls By Syed Irfan Raza ISLAMABAD, April 10: President Asif Ali Zardari urged the caretaker Punjab government on Wednesday to ensure free, fair and transparent elections in the province. He was talking to Punjab Governor Makhdoom Syed Ahmed Mehmood and Chief Minister Najam Sethi at the Presidency.
SC hears PkMAP plea: Details of Balochistan NFC fundssought By Nasir Iqbal ISLAMABAD, April 10: The Supreme Court asked the Balochistan government on Wednesday to submit details about the development funds it had received under the National Finance Commission (NFC) award since 2008 and the projects where these had been spent. Chief Secretary Babar Yaqoob Fateh Mohammad is also required to provide details of the finances received from other sources and where it had been used.
Obama phones Karzai WASHINGTON, April 10: US President Barack Obama on Tuesday spoke to Afghan President Hamid Karzai, for what officials said were regular consultations, three days after a Nato air strike killed 11 Afghan children. The White House announced the conversation, but would not divulge whether Mr Obama mentioned the strike, which caused the latest of a string of civilian losses that have greatly angered Mr Karzai and tested his relations with Washington.
‘Journalists given gifts from secret funds’ By Our Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court was astonished to learn on Wednesday that the federal information ministry had distributed gifts worth millions from its secret funds among a few journalists during the year 2011-12. “Were these gifts worth millions distributed among the journalists due to some national security issue?” asked a two-judge Supreme Court bench comprising Justice Jawwad S. Khwaja and Justice Khilji Arif Hussain.
Appointees of PPP govt continue to control state media By Khawar Ghumman ISLAMABAD, April 10: Hand-picked appointees of the PPP-led government continue to control the state media. The federal information ministry, which controls the Pakistan Television (PTV), Radio Pakistan, Associated Press of Pakistan and the Press Information Department, is being run by those who had worked under the former information minister and PPP’s chief spokesperson, Qamar Zaman Kaira.
Senate panel asks govt to name Irsa members By Khaleeq Kiani ISLAMABAD, April 10: The Senate Standing Committee on Water and Power has directed the government to notify appointment of two members of the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) within a week. A meeting of the committee presided over by Zahid Khan of the Awami National Party here on Wednesday was stunned to know that the posts of member Balochistan and federal in Irsa were lying vacant for more than two years and the one holding the post of chairman and federal member temporarily had gone abroad for training.
Ballistic missile test-fired RAWALPINDI, April 10: Pakistan conducted successful launch of the intermediate-range ballistic missile Hatf IV Shaheen-1 weapon system on Wednesday. The missile incorporates a series of improvements in range and technical parameters. It is capable of carrying nuclear and conventional warheads to a range of 900km, said an ISPR press release issued here.
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