Kayani, Pasha acted illegally, says Gilani

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani once again on Monday took what appeared to be a potshot at the military when he said affidavits submitted to the Supreme Court by the Chief of Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and ISI chief Lt Gen Ahmad Shuja Pasha on `memogate` were `unconstitutional and illegal`.

In an interview with the People`s Daily Online of China, which was released by the official Associated Press of Pakistan news agency, Mr Gilani said since the COAS and ISI DG had submitted their replies to the court without seeking approval of the competent authority under the rules of business, the statements carried no legal import.

`No summary seeking approval of the competent authority was initiated by the ministry of defence nor was any approval obtained fromthe defence minister,` the prime minister was quoted as saying by the APP.

The media wing of the prime minister`s secretariat confirmed the statement.

Soon after the APP released excerpts of the interview, it was picked by major news search engines and online editions of newspapers all over the world.

Some saw it as an obvious reference to the ongoing tension between the government and the military establishment. …

Read more » DAWN.COM

http://www.dawn.com/2012/01/10/army-isi-chief-statements-to-sc-not-approved-by-govt-pm.html

Pakistan – Government formally admits before the Supreme Court that it has no control over Army and the ISI

MoD reply: We only handle administrative matters of ISI, not operational

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Director General Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lt General Shuja Ahmed Pasha filed their written replies to the Supreme Court over the Memogate scandal late on Wednesday night, Express News reported.

According to details, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) in its written reply said that it was not in a position to comment on the operational details of either the army or its intelligence wing since it had no control over the army or ISI. It further added that the MoD only tended to the administrative matters of the armed forces. Attorney General of Pakistan confirmed the submission of the replies. ….

Read more » The Express Tribune

For more details » BBC

If and when security establishemnt is ready, MFN will move forward …

Pak’s turnaround on MFN: PM says status not granted to India

Islamabad, Nov 5: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has made it clear that Pakistan has not granted the Most Favoured Nation status to India, saying the Commerce Ministry has only been tasked to move forward on the issue in bilateral negotiations. …

Courtesy: http://news.oneindia.in/2011/11/05/paistan-on-mfn-pm-says-status-not-granted-to-india.html

Pakistani Beer tasted better than German, Scandinavian, British and American beers

– Pakistan overturns ban on booze . . . for export

IT IS an Islamic republic where alcohol is forbidden to 97 per cent of the population and drinkers can face 80 lashes of the whip under holy law – but in a move set to anger religious conservatives, Pakistan is poised to become an exporter of beer.

An official in the Ministry of Commerce in Islamabad told The Times that a ruling this month by its Economic Committee on Trade would allow Pakistan to export beer and spirits from next year.

“India would be the largest market for our alcoholic products. ….

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/business/alcohol-is-forbidden-for-its-own-people-but-pakistan-is-set-to-become-a-beer-exporter/story-e6frfm1i-1226171580996#ixzz1bXDVGY00

 

FBR confirms 24,000 containers missing from Karachi Port

by Ansar Abbasi

ISLAMABAD: Thousands of Nato, ISAF and US Military containers have reportedly gone missing inside Pakistan during the last four years amid serious fears that many of these may have contained arms and ammunitions, which may have gone to terrorists.

Almost corroborating the grave charges levelled by PPP leader Dr Zulfiqar Mirza that a senior minister of MQM was responsible for these missing containers being in-charge of Ports and Shipping Ministry, sources in the Federal Board of Revenue say in addition to more than 24,000 missing containers of Afghan Transit Trade Commercial side, thousands of the unchecked containers belonging to Nato, ISAF and US Military had left the Karachi Port, but did not cross the Pak-Afghan border during the last four years. The sources, ….

Read more → The News

Chief Justice (R) Sajjad Ali Shah Exposes Pakistan Judiciary Corruption

Ethnic Discrimination in Pakistan Judicial System. The language of the interview is urdu (Hindi).

Courtesy: → Meher Bokhari via → Chagataikhan → YouTube

Army’s one-day spending equivalent to one-year education ministry budget – The News

by Umar Cheema

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan spends Rs1.35 billion per day over the three armed forces just under the head of salaries and operating expenses only, Rs8.60 million daily on the president and prime minister, Rs7.8 million per day on the Senate and National Assembly but a paltry amount of three lakh rupees per day to take care of human rights, show the budget documents.

It further discloses that the Army’s one-day spending is equivalent to the running year’s total allocation for education ministry, and the air-force’s per day expenditures far exceed what was allocated to the health ministry for running the financial year ending this month.