Karachi

Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Naveed Ismail has said that electricity supply to Dhabeji Water P

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Islamabad

The Islamabad Traffic Police (ITP) issued ticket to son of the prime minister for violating traffic rules on Sunday night, the source

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ISLAMABAD: In a shocking development, intelligence agencies have declared the deputy inspector-general (Security Division), Inayat Ullah Farooq, a ?se

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Pakistan News

WASHINGTON: US special envoy Richard Holbrooke left here Tuesday to head for Pakistan and Afghanistan on a trip set to focus on the plight of internal refugees, a White House spokesman said.

“Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke is traveling to Pakistan July 21 through 23 and then subsequently to Afghanistan,” spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

“We”re still trying to work through his schedule in Afghanistan and to a couple of the other stops, and we”ll get that information to you soon as we have it available.”

During his stay in Islamabad, Holbrooke would “focus on a range of economic and security issues, in particular, the situation of the internal refugees and reconstruction plans for their return to their home.”

He plans to hold talks with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, as well as Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, army chief General Ashfaq Kayani, the head of the intelligence services General Ahmad Shuja Pasha.

Holbrooke also plans to meet with representatives of those people displaced by fighting against Taliban militants in the northwest of the country.

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LONDON: Andrew Flintoff took five wickets as England finally ended their 75-year wait for an Ashes victory at Lord?s with a 115-run win over Australia

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Pakistan News

A few months ago, Pakistan looked as though it was falling apart. The Taliban were solidifying their hold on territory in the north and staging shocking attacks deeper and deeper in Pakistan’s heartland.

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ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari today asked the business and industrialist community to join hands with the government in a partnership for ridding the country of the problem of power shortage and outages, once and for all.

The persistent and long hours of load-shedding in the hot summer has tested the patience of the people to its limits, the President said, adding, ?let us together-the government and the private entrepreneur-take the bull by the horns.?

The government has already embarked upon rental power projects to meet urgent energy needs but we also need to think of some out of box solutions for a long term solution, he said.

The President said this during a brainstorming meeting on the energy issues in the country that was participated by Ministers and senior officials and half a dozen leading entrepreneurs of the country.

The meeting was attended by Makhdoom Amin Faheem, Minister for Commerce, Mian Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo, Minister for Industries Production, Senator Waqar Ahmed Khan, Minister for Investment, Rana Farooq Saeed Khan, Minister for Textile, Raja Pervez Ashraf, Minister for Water Power, M. Salman Faruqui, Secretary General, Dr. Asim Hussain, Advisor to PM on Petroleum and federal secretaries.

The private entrepreneurs who attended the meeting included Tariq Saigol, Mian Mohammad Mansha, Razaq Dawood, Bashir Ali Mohammad, Arif Nazami and Tariq Mahmood, Chairman, APTMA.

Briefing the media about the meeting the Spokesperson to the President Farhatullah Babar said the President suggested some innovative solutions to the problem and invited the private sector to consider the suggestions.

The President suggested that a company be formed collectively by energy investors which should offer shares to the general public through the stock exchange to raise capital.

He said that the government had already prepared feasibilities for dozens of small hydel projects which can be shared with the private energy producers to jump start the private power projects.

Farhatullah Babar quoted the President as saying that raising capital through stock exchanges by the conglomerate of private producers and the assistance rendered by the government by providing feasibility studies and needed facilities, can prove to be a very successful model.

The President invited the participants to give the suggestion a serious thought and take it up with the government if they found it workable and worthwhile.

The President said that the energy crisis was the result of criminal neglect during the past decade on the one hand and the chasing and hounding of IPPs before that on the other. However, the challenge is now before us and we have to find a solution rather than continue the blame game, he said.

A number of private entrepreneurs speaking on the occasion offered suggestions on issues ranging from circular debt to solar energy to hydel generation.

?We have the political will to try out of box solutions,? the President said and advised the private entrepreneurs to also meet the Prime Minister and discuss these suggestions.

The spokesman said after the private investors? meeting with the Prime Minister this week another meeting will be held in the Presidency with both the PM and President presiding to consider some out of box solutions in addition to the ongoing projects aimed at adding another 3000 MW to the national grid by the end of the year.

The meeting that will also be participated by private investors and relevant officials is likely to be held at the end of the week or early next week, he said.

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US special envoy Richard Holbrooke left here Tuesday to head for Pakistan and Afghanistan on a trip set to focus on the plight of internal refugees, a White House spokesman said.

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KARACHI: Pakistan?s sugar producers are asking the government today (Tuesday) to allow import of raw sugar to meet an expected shortfall of 800,000 to

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KARACHI: The benchmark KSE-100 Index recorded an increase of 72 points to close at 7,782 on the back of buying in various stocks at Karachi Stock Exchange on Tuesday.

The market opened upbeat today but witnessed fluctuations throughout the session. However, the share market managed to gain 72 points to close just below 8,000 level.

Investors were seen taking fresh positions on good corporate results and expectations of reduction in the discount rate.

The market turnover was registered at 140 million shares today.

World Call was today?s star performer in terms of volume which closed at Rs3.92 with an increase of paisas 31.

KSE-30 Index advanced by 92 points to peg at 8,383.

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Pakistan News