Faced with a non-bailable arrest warrant against Makhdoom Shahabuddin, its first choice for prime minister's post, ruling Pakistan Peoples Party on Thursday fielded senior leader Qamar Zaman Kaira at the last minute besides a "covering" candidate.
Sharif, the three-time former premier, said that there is a need for all the political parties to sit together and form a government to pull Pakistan out of its difficulties.
"The performance of the public part of the (PPP) project should be subject to proper scrutiny but obviously where the private sector (is given) flexibility ... you cannot subject that to CAG scrutiny," Montek Singh, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman said when asked whether there is case for CAG scrutiny of PPP projects.
The PPP model for CIL was first mooted by the Planning Commission.
Pakistan's newly-elected President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday announced that he would not draw any salary during his tenure as part of his bid to help the cash-strapped country face the challenging economic hardship.
Reversing its earlier stand in an apparent bid to provide stability, Nawaz Sharif's PML(N) on Sunday decided to join the PPP-led coalition government and the two parties agreed to re-instate all the judges sacked by Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf within a month of assuming power. The long-time foes clinched a power-sharing deal etching the contours of the new government at a one-to-one meeting between PPP chairman Asif Ali Zardari and Sharif.
The Pakistan prime minister will be from Pakistan People's Party, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz joint secretary Siddique-ul Farooq said on Friday.
The high-level committee comprising five senior railway officials would examine threadbare the report of the six-member committee that was submitted on February 7, railway sources said.
Glimpses into the life of Aseefa Bhutto Zardari, who at 31, is Pakistan's youngest first lady.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Thursday launched the Pakistan People's Party's election campaign in a low-key manner, invoking the legacy of the Bhutto family and calling on people to back the party in the May 11 election. Addressing a gathering of hundreds of PPP leaders and workers in the Bhutto family's traditional stronghold of Naudero in Sindh province, Bilawal listed the achievements of his grandfather Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.
'They think quick fixes like internship in the private sector will help. 'In fact, internships have been going on for the last one decade.' 'In 2014-2015 itself, we had a ministry of skill development. None of the programmes have yielded results, still they are continuing with such schemes under some other name.' 'We don't see any seriousness on the part of the government to attack the problem of unemployment.'
The ruling Pakistan People's Party on Saturday unveiled a package of sweeping constitutional reforms aimed at curbing President Pervez Musharraf's powers, including those of dissolving parliament and appointing the chiefs of the armed forces. The party, however, remained mum on reinstating judges sacked by Musharraf during emergency last year, an issue that has strained ties with coalition partner Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League N, which quit the cabinet.
President Asif Ali Zardari's son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has quietly stepped in to assume a larger role in the affairs of the ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP) as his father recovers from a heart condition in a hospital in Dubai.
Pakistan's election commission has formed a high-level committee to probe the explosive allegations levelled by a senior bureaucrat that widespread rigging aided by the judiciary and the top election body happened against jailed former prime minister Imran Khan's party in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf believes that the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) will part ways because of several insurmountable issues. However, Musharraf's main ally, the PML-Q, holds the opposite view.
Pakistan's ruling coalition's charge-sheet against President Pervez Musharraf will be backed by evidence of the "horrendous" crimes allegedly committed during his regime that could lead to an open trial and make him liable to impeachment "several times", PPP has said.
Suspense over Pakistan's next prime minister continued with the Pakistan People's Party, which will head a planned coalition government, on Thursday delaying a decision on its nominee amid differences over the frontrunner Makhdoom Amin Fahim.
Pakistan People's Party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari has said that the office of President of Pakistan was the 'right' of his party and the Sindh province. He added that a dedicated worker of slain former premier Benazir Bhutto's party would soon be installed at the post.''I know it very well that there are some remnants of dictatorship, who want to destabilise the coalition government,'' he said without naming President Pervez Musharraf and his political allies.
'Outrage will take place sooner than later, because it's not only that their mandate has been stolen, but the most important issue right now is the sinking economy in Pakistan.' 'Inflation is 26%-27%. It is backbreaking inflation.' 'Food, energy, education, health, which are the primary things that every family requires, is going beyond the reach of the masses.'
Haryana tops the list of states that have witnessed maximum number of public-private-partnership (PPP) projects in the area of urban development, with a share of 85 per cent worth Rs 66,800 crore as on August 2012, a study has said.
Bhutto said militancy has grown so strong in Pakistan that it posed a challenge to the unity of the country.
'There was a strong undercurrent of deprivation, and also frustration against misuse of power and authority.' 'This election was an opportunity for the manifestation of this discontentment.'
Under the new norms, if a developer is bidding for a PPP project worth Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion), it should have a record of executing projects worth Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion), or at least double the cost of the new project. Earlier, to qualify, a developer needed to have executed projects one-and-a-half times the cost of the proposed project in the last five years.
About Rs 2,280 crore (Rs 22.80 billion) unaccounted income being allegedly routed through Private Placement Programme (PPP) has been detected by economic intelligence sleuths.
The lawmakers expressed concerns about "pre- and post-poll rigging in Pakistan's recent parliamentary elections" and urged the US Congress to "withhold recognition of a new government in Pakistan until a thorough, transparent, and credible investigation of election interference has been conducted".
Pakistan's main opposition parties Pakistan Muslim League-N and Pakistan People's Party on Tuesday jointly mustered a simple majority in the new Parliament, local TVchannels said.
The result is a big blow to the military establishment, revealing the limits of 'political engineering'. It reflected the anger of the electorate, especially its younger voters, who have spoken decisively against the persistent harassment and victimisation of Imran Khan's political party, asserts Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RA&W.
Among the political parties, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) emerged as the largest party, winning 227 seats, followed by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) with 160 seats.
The ambitious Rs 50,000 crore (Rs 500 billion), 3,289 km Dedicated Freight Corridors are a case in point. Although the project started under former railway minister Lalu Prasad and was renamed Diamond Rail Corridors by incumbent Mamata Banerjee, not a single project has been awarded yet.
Senior Pakistan People's Party leader Syed Talib Husain Shah was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Gujrat district of Punjab province, police officials said on Wednesday.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has snapped informal talks with the ruling Pakistan People's Party, following its co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari's stinging comments describing him as a 'relic of the past and an unelected and non-democratic President', Pakistani TV news channels reported on Friday. During his interview with PTI, Zardari described Musharraf as a relic of the past, who was standing between the people of Pakistan and democracy.
Pakistan People's Party parliamentarians on Wednesday backed party chief Asif Ali Zardari for the post of President but he said a decision would be made only after consulting all members of the ruling coalition.
With Pakistan Muslim League-N chief Nawaz Sharif sharpening his rhetoric against Pervez Musharraf, the ruling Pakistan People's Party said that it was waiting for an opportune moment to offer an exit to the embattled President."Pakistan People's Party will be the one that sends President Pervez Musharraf home," its co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari said on Sunday night. Zardari's comments came in the wake of a demand by his Sharif for Musharraf to be made accountable for actions.
Former Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Monday resigned from both Parliament and the ruling Pakistan People's Party and launched a scathing attack on President Asif Ali Zardari, saying he had "sold" out his values to cling to power.
Will be given choice of govt and privately funded modes to put highway projects that didn't get bids under PPP model.
Addressing a crowded press conference, Bilawal, flanked by Zardari and Fahim, said that he would continue the struggle to restore democracy in Pakistan with as much vigour as his mother desired. Now that he was the leader, PPP's "long and historic struggle for democracy will continue with new vigour," Bilawal said, adding, "My mother always said that democracy is the best revenge".
Railways have to commit approximately Rs 8,000 crore (Rs 80 billion) per annum for these three projects -- an electric multiple unit/coach factory at Kanchrapara, diesel locomotive factory at Marhora and electric locomotive plant at Madhepura -- for assured purchase orders.
Shehbaz, 72, who was the consensus candidate of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), received 201 votes, 32 more than what was required to become leader of the House in the 336-member Parliament.
Unfazed by the demands from the estranged ally PML-N and the influential lawyers movement, Pakistan's ruling PPP has decided against re-instating deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar M Chaudhry to his previous post and said he will have to work under the incumbent if re-appointed.
The contract is characterised by a minimum revenue guarantee and a cap on the firm's revenues.
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