DINA for the issue of December 16, 2013

	December 16, 2013 | Safar 12, 1435
The DAWN Internet News Alert (DINA) is a free daily news service from Pakistan’s largest English language newspaper, the Daily DAWN.
Punjab CMs set Pakistan, India agenda By Jawed Naqvi NEW DELHI, Dec 15: If India-Pakistan talks appear to have hit the doldrums, the chief ministers of Punjab provinces on both sides would have none of it. They issued instead a joint statement on Sunday that, in a limited sense, goes beyond the stymied ambitions of their national bureaucracies, possibly even their political masters.	For suggestions and comments: Email: webmaster@dawn.com Website: http://dawn.com Fax: +92(21) 35693995
TNFJ leader shot dead in Lahore By Our Staff Reporter LAHORE, Dec 15: Prominent Shia scholar Allama Nasir Abbas was gunned down near the FC College here on Sunday night. He belonged to the Tehreek-i-Nifaz-i-Fiqh Jafaria (TNFJ).
Mandela laid to rest amid vows to pursue his ideals QUNU (South Africa), Dec 15: Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s first black president, was laid to rest on Sunday after a state funeral filled with tearful eulogies and strident vows to pursue his ideals of equality and justice. Mandela’s casket was buried at a family plot in his rural boyhood home of Qunu, watched by his widow Graca Machel, ex-wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, other family members and around 450 selected guests.
Nadra to be under ECP control for three months: Nisar By Iftikhar A. Khan ISLAMABAD, Dec 15: In order to complete the process of verifying thumb impressions of voters in a transparent manner, the government has decided to place the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) under the administrative control of the Election Commission of Pakistan for three months. Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said at a press conference on Sunday that the decision had been approved by the prime minister. A legal framework will be prepared in consultation with the ECP and formal orders will be issued on Monday (today). The ECP should now find out if magnetised ink has been obtained and their batches inspected to see if these meet the required specification and places where it cannot be used.
PTI wins assembly seat in by-election By Irfan Mughal DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Dec 15: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s Ikramullah Khan Gandapur won the by-election held on Sunday for PK-67 Dera Ismail Khan constituency of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly by a margin of 13,087 votes. According to unofficial results, Mr Gandapur bagged 28,073 votes, defeating independent candidate Sardar Fatehullah Khan Miankhel who got 14,986 votes.
Final draft of security policy ready, says Nisar By Our Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, Dec 15: Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has said the final draft of national internal security policy is ready and will be presented before the cabinet committee on national security, most likely to meet on Tuesday, and later to the cabinet for approval. He said at a press conference on Sunday that there would be three components of the time-bound policy. Two of the components will be strategic and operational while the third will be confidential.
Accord for Balochistan solar power plant signed By Saleem Shahid QUETTA, Dec 15: The Balochistan government signed on Sunday an agreement with a Korean company to set up a 300 megawatt solar power plant at a cost of $700 million. Work on the project will start next year and complete by 2017.
Bilawal invites Sharif, Imran to Sindh festival By Saher Baloch KARACHI, Dec 15: PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari invited on Sunday all political rivals, including the prime minister, to an “apolitical” Sindh Festival to be held in February. “I invite the prime minister, his daughter Maryam Nawaz Sharif, Imran Khan, among others, to participate in our Sindh Festival. All Pakistanis are invited,” he said at an event while unveiling plans for the festival.
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