The crisis encircling Pakistan's fragile ruling coalition reached a boiling point on Sunday with the Pakistan People's Party refusing to comply with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz's demand on reinstating sacked judges within a deadline and the ally also not enthusiastic about supporting Asif Ali Zardari for presidency.
The Pakistan Peoples' Party-led coalition government has sent an unambiguous message to the United States that any mess with the newly elected democratic dispensation by President Pervez Musharraf will not be tolerated. The PPP leadership, however, held out a categorical assurance to the Bush administration that the new government would not create a situation leading to the unceremonious exit of Musharraf.
We have brought about a slew of reforms that would help improve governance and also facilitate industrial growth, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje tells Sahil Makkar.
This is the second project in the country in which a metro rail project is being undertaken through a PPP model after the 71-kilometre Hyderabad metro project was won by Maytas Infrastructure. According to industry sources, infrastructure major Larsen & Toubro had also initially shown interest for the project, but backed out finally.
Decks have been cleared for setting up of 20 new IIITs in the country after differences between industry bodies and the government, over the issue of autonomy, were sorted out.
Zubaida Jalal, a former minister in Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's cabinet, was defeated in Monday's parliamentary polls, television channels reported.
In a major initiative to pump prime the economy through public expenditure, the government has decided to inject a whopping Rs 50,000 crore (Rs 500 billion) for funding infrastructure projects.
That it has been threatening to review this rule for a while is old hat anyway.
Sharif, who forced the PPP to reinstate judges sacked during the 2007 emergency by leading a massive protest on the issue earlier this week, said the government should also look into a Supreme Court judgment that barred him and his brother Shahbaz Sharif from electoral politics.
20 new industrial clusters will be developed in 2014-15.
Sanjeev Vashishta, chief executive officer at SRL Diagnostics, talks to Deepak Patel about expansion plans and regulations for the sector.
CAG may not be the cure-all for the ills that afflict PPP projects and is perhaps a sub-optimal solution to the problem.
Pakistan's ruling Pakistan People's Party chief Asif Ali Zardari appears set to sweep Saturday's presidential poll and would be expected to tackle problems like rising militancy and economic malaise after his election.Sources said that Zardari expects to poll over 60 per cent of the 700 members in the electoral college, in an election necessitated by former President Pervez Musharraf's resignation on August 18.
'My elephants saved my life.' 'They love me more than my family members who only love my property.'
Amidst growing divisions in Pakistan's fragile ruling coalition, former premier Nawaz Sharif-led Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz's top leaders are meeting on Monday to decide on pulling out of the alliance led by the Pakistan People's Party.
The US may not want to interfere in the impeachment process against President Pervez Musharraf terming it an internal affair, but is apparently willing to help ensure "full indemnity" and "honourable stay" in Pakistan for its key ally in the war on terror should he agree to quit.
Nuclear weapons will not be used, in case, a war breaks out between Indian and Pakistan, said Pakistan Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar on Tuesday.This was reported by a Pakistani website.
There is a need to set up independent regulatory authorities on energy, transport and urban infrastructure at the state level to ensure smooth implementation of infrastructure projects, especially those which are taken up on the PPP (public private partnership) model, said Vinayak Chatterjee, co-chairman of the CII National Council on Infrastructure and chairman of Feedback Ventures Limited.
The distribution of ministries and parliamentary committees was discussed by top leaders of the PPP and PML-N in Islamabad on Thursday, though the final decision on the government is expected to be announced only on March 17, shortly before the first session of the new National Assembly. Sources said the two parties were yet to decide about key ministries like interior, finance, foreign affairs and defence.
Within the next two years the national capital will have its own IT hub aiming to foster industry-institute partnership in the areas of advanced technology research in the city.
The PPP and PML-N, in a charter signed two years ago, had committed to setting up a commission to review the Kargil conflict. Musharraf claimed that Sharif, the then prime minister, was aware of the Pakistan army's advances into Kargil. Sharif has denied the charge, and is seeking a probe to fix responsibility for the war.
Mulk, 67, is likely to be sworn in on Friday, June 1.
Court documents show that the Kerala government, whose case was treated as the 'lead case' among all the petitions filed against Adani, made four allegations to convince the court to cancel the contract for the Thiruvanathapuram airport. The state's legal team couldn't substantiate most of these allegations with documentary proof and its self-defeating arguments in court failed to convince the judges to cancel the contract given to Adani. The battle for the Thiruvananthapuram airport between the Communist-led Kerala government, the Adani group and the Modi government over the past year hasn't had a dull moment since the proceedings began. Claims of a smoking gun turned out to be a damp squib, says Sai Manish.
The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, which is being developed by GMR on the outskirts of Hyderabad, will be the first greenfield public-private partnership (PPP) airport to be operational in March 16.
As the spurt in terror incidents threatens to overshadow the upcoming talks, senior Pakistan People's Party leader Makhdoom Amin Fahim on Thursday suggested that some elements may be trying to 'sabotage' the improvement of Indo-Pak ties which the two countries should not allow.
The Pakistan Muslim League-N, headed by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, has decided to pull out of the coalition government in Pakistan over the judges row.Several rounds of talks between the PML-N and the Pakistan People's Party, which heads the coalition government, have hitherto failed to resolve the issue of restoration of judges, sacked by President Pervez Musharraf during last year's emergency. However, Sharif added that the PML-N would remain in the coalition.
The stage is set for talks between Asif Ali Zardari and Pakistan Muslim League - N chief Nawaz Sharif on a draft parliamentary resolution for reinstating judges, sacked last year by Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, with the arrival of the Pakistan People's Party co-chairman in London on Thursday. Besides the question of judges' restoration, the two leaders will also review national and political developments.
Some promises made in Benazir Butto's new manifesto strike at the very root of Musharraf's power base while others -- including handing over control of the Military Initelligence and the nuclear arsenal to the prime minister -- go even beyond that.
With the 30-day deadline for restoring the judges expiring on Wednesday, senior leaders of the two parties, including Sharif and PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, are trying hard to sort out their differences on modalities. Some progress was made during the talks, but there were unresolved issues, Sharif said adding, he expects the negotiations to conclude on Thursday.
The redevelopment of stations is good news for construction companies.
We have decided to provide good quality food to our passengers and for that we have decided to have base kitchens at several places so that fresh food can be picked up at every two-hours of travel," Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said at a round table conference on catering in New Delhi.
The PPP's presidential candidate had been advised much earlier to move to the prime minister's house but was reluctant to do so. However, after a security breach at his residence, the PPP chief decided to shift residence
Undeterred by the government's ban on public meetings under emergency rule, former premier Benazir Bhutto-led Pakistan People's Party on Wednesday vowed to go ahead with a planned rally in the nearby garrison city of Rawalpindi on Friday.
Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia made a case on Wednesday for setting up a credible regulatory environment to attract funds for infrastructure development in the country. There are opportunities for private sector participation in infrastructure projects, which are being developed under the PPP mode, like on roads, ports and power, Ahluwalia told global investors.
With pressure piling up on Pakistan's embattled President Pervez Musharraf, the former military ruler has decided in principle to quit and will announce his decision in this regard on the country's Independence Day on August 14, a media report has said.
Big challenge to garner sizeable additional resources.
Former Prime minister Nawaz Sharif-led PML-N said four of its leaders --- Ahsan Iqbal, Sardar Mahtab Abbasi, Rana Tanveer Hussain and Khawaja Saad Rafique -- would rejoin the PPP-led cabinet.
'The fatal mistake for the USSR was the invasion of Afghanistan.' 'Quite possibly the fatal mistake for the Chinese empire is the assault on Ladakh,' observes Rajeev Srinivasan.
Paksitan's People's Party nominee Fehmida Mirza, a loyalist of slain former Premier Benazir Bhutto, was on Wednesday elected the first woman Speaker of Pakistan's National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament. 51-year-old Mirza, who has been thrice elected to Parliament, won 249 of the 324 votes cast by the newly-elected members of the National Assembly.
Twenty-six people were killed when a bomb went off in the parking lot of the Federal Investigation Agency office, while four people, including two children, were killed in a separate blast in Lahore's Model Town residential area.Hours later, unidentified gunmen opened fire at a passenger train here, killing four persons and injuring three others, police said.
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