DINA for the issue of April 13, 2013

	Saturday 13th April 2013 | Jumadi-us-Sani 2, 1434
The DAWN Internet News Alert (DINA) is a free daily news service from Pakistan’s largest English language newspaper, the Daily DAWN.
Sharifs’ security cover be trimmed: ECP By Iftikhar A. Khan ISLAMABAD, April 12: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has moved to seek withdrawal of extraordinary official security cover being provided to PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shahbaz Sharif.	For suggestions and comments: Email: webmaster@dawn.com Website: http://dawn.com Fax: +92(21) 35693995 Karachi Stocks down -50.27 Points: KARACHI, Apr 12: At the close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 18714.28, down -50.27 points. Forex Update : KARACHI, Apr 12: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at 99.1 to the US Dollar in the open market.
Courts find appointments illegal: Chiefs of PTV, SECP, USC get the axe By Nasir Iqbal & Malik Asad ISLAMABAD, April 12: The superior judiciary has ordered the sacking of three executives in the Securities and Exchange Commission, Pakistan Television and the Utility Stores Corporation after declaring the appointments illegal. And curiously enough, a former chief of PTV saw his own appointment held unlawful after the court acted on his petition against his successor and incumbent.
Gilani’s two sons, brother get PPP tickets By Syed Irfan Raza ISLAMABAD, April 12: The PPP announced on Friday the names of its candidates from south Punjab for 33 seats of the National Assembly and 72 of the Punjab legislature. The list of candidates released by the Zardari House indicates that the PPP has recognised services of former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani since his two sons and a brother have got the tickets. They will contest for National Assembly constituencies in Multan.
An old warrior still leads the pack By Cyril Almeida SIALKOT: In a sprawling home opposite the golden arches of McDonald’s, the man with the golden touch in this northern Punjab city is quietly and confidently preparing for electoral battle yet again. Khwaja Asif, the silver-haired PML-N impresario with the signature country drawl, has never lost an election in this wealthy, modern export hub with a politics rooted in the old ways of biradirism.
Musharraf admits to secret deal on drones ISLAMABAD, April 12: Retired Gen Pervez Musharraf has acknowledged his government had secretly cleared US drone strikes, becoming the first serving or former Pakistani official to publicly admit that the country had a deal on attacks by the CIA-operated spy planes. Gen Musharraf said there was no blanket agreement with the US on the controversial drone campaign and that his government had cleared missile attacks “only on very few occasions where the target was absolutely isolated and [the drone strike] had no chance of [causing] collateral damage”.
FIA told to seize record of licences for CNG stations By Our Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, April 12: The Supreme Court ordered the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Friday to seize the record of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) relating to applications and marketing licences pending since 2008, for setting up CNG stations. A three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, is hearing a suo motu case about the issuance of CNG station licences during the tenures of former prime ministers Yousuf Raza Gilani and Raja Pervez Ashraf and former petroleum minister Dr Asim Hussain.
Militants retake area in Tirah valley By Our Correspondent LANDI KOTAL, April 12: Three militants and two members of a pro-government armed group were killed when Lashkar-i-Islam militants retook control of Sandana area in Tirah valley on Friday. Sources said that LI militants pushed pack security forces and volunteers of Tawheedul Islam, the pro-government group, in a pre-dawn offensive and re-established their control over Sandana area in Sipah.
Militancy-hit people to get basic facilities: Kayani seeks elders’ help to restore peace Dawn Report KHAR / MINGORA, April 12: Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has said that security forces are committed to providing basic facilities to the people of militancy-hit areas in Fata and urged tribal elders to cooperate with the forces for maintaining peace and upholding the writ of government in the region. Talking to elders of Tharkani and Uthmankhel tribes during a visit to Bajaur Agency on Friday, he said peace is necessary for development and prosperity in the region.
PTI terms scrutiny process flawed By Khawar Ghumman ISLAMABAD, April 12: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) criticised on Friday the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for what it called the commission’s hasty retreat against tax evaders, non-filers of tax returns and loan defaulters in the run-up to the general elections. Talking to Dawn, the PTI’s information secretary, Shafqat Mehmood, said: “We had heard a lot that the ECP had set up a special committee comprising representatives of departments like the Federal Board of Revenue, the State Bank of Pakistan and Nadra who will carry out merciless scrutiny of candidates. But on the face of it, all that is missing.”
Pakistani executed in S. Arabia RIYADH, April 12: Saudi authorities executed on Friday a Pakistani man convicted of rape and murder, in the northwestern town of Tabuk, the interior ministry said. Amjad Ali Kol was convicted of raping and strangling a woman, before stealing her money, the ministry said in a statement.
US ends counter-insurgency assistance By Our Correspondent WASHINGTON, April 12: The United States is ending the assistance it was providing to Pakistan under the Counter-insurgency Capability Fund, says a senior State Department official, confirming that it’s not included in the Obama administration’s budget requests for 2014. “So, PCCF [Pakistan Counter-insurgency Capability Fund] is one of those programmes that we’re ending in the ’14 budget. We’re actually ending it,” he said. “It’s a programme that we were beginning to wind down even as early [as] in the 2012 budget, in part because there were issues of implementation.”
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