Uttar Pradesh hopeful of surplus power next year

LUCKNOW - Uttar Pradesh is all set not only to achieve self-reliance in power, but if top officials are to be believed, it would also generate surplus energy.

Zardari- Sharif talks on cards to pull crisis-hit Pak out of quagmire

ISLAMABAD - The bitter relationship between Pakistan President Asif Ali and the Pakistan Muslim League -Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif seems to be improving, as both the leaders are expected to meet to discuss the grave issues facing the country currently.

Imran Khan criticizes Sindh govt. for Swat immigrant ban

LAHORE - Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chief Imran Khan has criticized the Sindh government for its decision to ban the entry of Swat immigrants to the province.

Zardari stayed in a 4.1 lakh per night room in Washington

WASHINGTON - President Asif Ali Zardari was put up in a 5,000 dollar per night (approximately Rs 410,000) presidential suite at sixth floor of the Willard Intercontinental Hotel in Washington and did not share the floor with other highly protected Pakistani VVIPs.

‘30 percent’ chance of coup in Pakistan

WASHINGTON - A top private risk analysis firm gave embattled Pakistan a three-in-ten chance of a military coup even before the latest offensive by Taliban rebels, according to a noted US analyst.

US wants to see Sharif as Pak PM, Zardari, President, claims PPP leader

LAHORE - : The United States wants the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif to become Pakistan’s Prime Minister and President Zardari to continue on the post, a top Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader has claimed.

PML-N refuses to join Pak Govt., but offers outside support

LAHORE - The Pakistan People’s Party and the Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz have decided to remain coalition partners in Punjab, while both have failed to reach a consensus on joining the federal government.

Pakistan arrests sixth suspect in Mumbai attacks

LAHORE - Pakistan has arrested a sixth suspect in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks and is conducting a ’sincere investigation’ into the carnage, the country’s interior minister says.

Pak religious parties demand Sharia in NWFP

WASHINGTON - With the Pakistan Government giving its nod to the Taliban demand for Sharia courts in the Malakand region of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), various religious parties are demanding the imposition of Islamic laws across the province.

Pak PM denies presence of Osama in Balochistan

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has rejected the presence of al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in Balochistan.

Z.A. Bhutto murder trail could be reopened: Gilani

ISLAMABAD - Terming the hanging of late Pakistani leader Zulfikar Ali Bhutto as a ‘judicial murder’, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani Tuesday said the government was consulting legal experts on whether his trial could be reopened.

Pak Taliban declares economic support under BISP to women as ‘haram’

KHAR - The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Bajaur Agency has declared that the money provided by the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) to women as “haram and un-Islamic”.

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s 30th death anniversary observed

ISLAMABAD - The 30th death anniversary of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Pakistan’s first elected prime minister, was observed Saturday with special prayers and memorial meetings across the country and especially in his home province Sindh.

Criminal negligence led to Lahore terror attacks, says Shahbaz

LAHORE - Salman Taseer, the governor of Pakistan’s Punjab province, may be living on borrowed time with Shahbaz Sharif, who has just got back as chief minister, accusing the administration of ‘criminal negligence’ in not being able to prevent two terror attacks here last month.

Gilani invites PML-N to rejoin his government

ISLAMABAD - Efforts to persuade opposition leader Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML) to rejoin the federal cabinet received a major boost Wednesday with Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani formally inviting the party to return.

‘Influential capitals’ backing Sharif’s return to power: report

ISLAMABAD - If certain “influential capitals” have their way, opposition leader Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) could soon return to the federal coalition of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, a media report Wednesday said.

Late night calls from US, UK made Zardari a peacemaker

ISLAMABAD - Late night calls from the United States and UK helped President Asif Ali Zardari to bring sanity to the troubled political proceedings in Pakistan during his address to the joint sitting of Parliament.

Sharif offers full cooperation to PPP

LAHORE - Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif said on Monday that his party is ready to cooperate with Pakistan People Party (PPP) for bringing a real change in Pakistan.

Zardari’s spokesman offered to resign during political crisis

ISLAMABAD - During last week’s political crisis in Pakistan, Presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar had offered to resign.

Gilani, Nawaz come together, agree to resolve issues

LAHORE - Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani Sunday stressed the need for joint efforts toward tackling the ‘daunting challenges of terrorism and economic downturn’ in the country after reconciliatory talks with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif.

Army must accept Pak Parliament’s sovereignty: PML-N

ISLAMABAD - While the political chaos in Pakistan may have died for the time being, the political fraternity of the country has now demanded that the Army, which regularly downed speculation of taking over the reigns during the turmoil, must accept the sovereignty of Parliament.

Sherry urges Gilani to take government, PPP along

KARACHI - Pakistan’s former Information and Broadcasting Minister Sherry Rehman on Friday said that the PPP-led Government was passing through a difficult phase and it was the responsibility of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to take the government and the party along.

Undue interference in my work forced me to resign : Sherry Rehman

KARACHI - Former Pakistan Information and Broadcasting Minister, Sherry Rehman has said that she resigned from the post due to the excessive interference of some ministers in the work of her ministry.

Nawaz says PML-N will help Gilani get PM’s powers

LAHORE - Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif has said that his party will work closely with Yousuf Raza Gilani to restore the powers of the prime minister.

No foreign pressure on PPP Govt. to restore judges: Kaira

ISLAMABAD - Information Minister Qamar-uz-Zaman Kaira has said that Pakistan People’s Party led government had fulfilled promises made by its slain leader Benazir Bhutto, and rejected the impression that there was foreign pressure on the government for the reinstatement.

Pak minister Rehman’s resignation drama refuses to die down

LAHORE - The drama behind the resignation of Information Minister Sherry Rehman is not going to die down easily, as there are very few takers for the explanation given by Pakistan People’s Party stalwarts about the circumstances leading to her exit from the office.

Sedition case against Sharif brother’s filed in Sindh High Court

KARACHI - The former Pakistan Prime Minister and PML-N chief, Nawaz Sharif and his brother, sacked Punjab Chief Minister, Shahbaz Sharif may have garnered huge public support against the PPP led government and especially against President Asif Ali Zardari, but their voracious verbal attack on Zardari and continuous call to defy the government’s orders has now seen a case filed against them in the Sindh High Court (SHC) on charges of orchestrating a mutiny.

Adamant Zaradri says restoration of deposed Chief Justice not possible

ISLAMABAD - Addressing a high-level meeting at the presidency, President Asif Ali Zardari has described the lawyers’ Long March and sit-in as political moves and made it clear that political matters would be tackled politically, refusing to heed to the advice of Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani.

Zardari’s aides force Sherry Rehman to resign

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan’s Information Minister Sherry Rehman resigned following differences over government’s handling of the electronic media and insistence by President Asif Zardari and his close aides to impose further restrictions on private news channels.

US, UK and Saudi Arabia move to sort out Pakistan’s political crisis

ISLAMABAD - In a bid to broker a truce between the PPP-led Government and the PML-N and end the ongoing political turmoil that has alarmed the international community, US and British diplomats have spoken to top Pakistani leaders.