20 August 2004 Friday 03 Rajab 1425 'Negative politics' rejected: Aziz ISLAMABAD, Aug 19: Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz, who is set to become prime minister next week, said on Thursday that by electing him with a thumping majority from Attock and Tharparkar, the people "have rejected the opposition's politics of negativism." ... Arbab urges Aziz to retain Sindh seat KARACHI, Aug 19: Sindh Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim has said that he would strongly advise Mr Shaukat Aziz, who has won both the National Assembly seats he contested in Wednesday's by-elections, to retain the Tharparkar seat instead of that of Attock. ... PML-N leader criticizes PPP's Attock campaign ISLAMABAD, Aug 19: The Pakistan Muslim League-N is unhappy with the way the People's Party Parliamentarians (PPP) conducted the campaign for ARD candidates in the by-election for the National Assembly seats in Attock and Tharparkar, PML-N sources told Dawn here. ... Fight against dictatorship to go on: PPP RAWALPINDI, Aug 19: Pakistan People's Party (PPP) on Thursday said it took part in the by-polls as part of its struggle against dictatorship that would continue till revival of a genuine democracy in the country. ... MMA offers conditional support to ARD ISLAMABAD, Aug 19: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) has once again offered its conditional support to the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) for the forthcoming election to the office of prime minister in the National Assembly ... Govt serving US interests: Qazi PESHAWAR, Aug 19: Chief of the Jamaat-i-Islami Qazi Hussain Ahmad has accused the military establishment of serving the interests of the United States. He said that the Pakistan army lacked the capability to counter threats from India and the US. ... Speaker reserves decision ISLAMABAD, Aug 19: National Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain on Thursday reserved his decision on privilege motions separately moved by MMA legislators Liaqat Baloch and Mohammad Laeeq Khan. ... PPP disputes govt claim on Surrey Palace ISLAMABAD, Aug 19: The People's Party Parliamentarians has expressed ignorance about the reported acceptance by Mr Asif Ali Zardari of the legal ownership of the Rock wood Estate, commonly known as Surrey Palace. ... Big turnout due to high profile bout: minister KARACHI, Aug 19: Sindh Revenue Minister Imtiaz Ahmed Shaikh said on Thursday that the big turnout witnessed in Tharparkar by-election was due to its being a high-profile contest for which the PML had mobilized all its resources. ... MMA assured of action against police FAISALABAD, Aug 19: Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal leaders have said that some elements in the fold of government are out to create anarchy in the country by harassing and killing religious leaders. ... Rights body concerned death of Qari Noor LAHORE, Aug 19: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has expressed concern at the death of MMA activist Qari Noor Mohammad due to torture at Kotwali police station in Faisalabad. A press release issued on Thursday said the HRCP had already expressed alarm over the lack of transparency and failure to follow the rule of law in ongoing actions against so-called militants. ... Adjournment of Balochistan PA session criticized QUETTA, Aug 19: The provincial assembly session was adjourned due to lack of quorum, but the opposition members accused the speaker of being partisan and of 'killing' the resolution on the NFC award that was on the agenda for the day. ... Bugti criticizes army operation HYDERABAD, Aug 19: Jamhoori Watan Party chief Nawab Mohammad Akbar Khan Bugti has said people of Balochistan are being politically and economically exploited for 55 years and their patience has now exhausted. ... Wasim Akram withdraws petition KARACHI, Aug 19: A division bench of the Sindh High Court, comprising Chief Justice Saiyed Saeed Ashhad and Justice Syed Zawwar Hussain Jaffery, on Thursday dismissed as withdrawn a constitutional petition filed by Wasim Akram. ... Machine-readable passports from September ISLAMABAD, Aug 19: Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat told the National Assembly on Thursday that the government would start issuing machine-readable passports by mid-September. ... WLL to revolutionize telecom sector: PTA ISLAMABAD, Aug 19: The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has completed the process of bidding for 14 telecom regions for the grant of Wireless Local Loop (WLL) licences with the conclusion of the auction of spectrum in Southern Telecom Region- V (STR-V) ... HEC to set up seven libraries in Islamabad ISLAMABAD, Aug 19: Higher Education Commission (HEC) Chairman Dr Attaur Rehman on Thursday ordered establishment of seven libraries in different sectors of the federal capital. ... AIOU to establish research complex ISLAMABAD, Aug 19: Allama Iqbal Open University plans to establish a research complex at a cost of Rs50 million to provide modern research facilities to the scientists. ... Allegations of cross-border infiltration rejected ISLAMABAD, Aug 19: Pakistan on Thursday rejected allegations of cross-border infiltration made recently by some "responsible members" of the Indian government. ... Glacial lake spill not to affect Pakistan LAHORE, Aug 19: Spilling of a glacial lake in Tibet into the Sutlej river will not affect Pakistan, as water can be absorbed in an Indian dam on the river or over its Himachal Pradesh province. ... Sindh files objections to contracts for water studies ISLAMABAD, Aug 19: The Sindh government has filed written objections to the federal government on the award of contracts to two joint ventures to conduct studies on water requirement downstream Kotri and its environmental impact. ... Liberalization of trade regimes stressed ISLAMABAD, Aug 19: A three-day conference on WTO ended on Thursday on a positive note that South Asia had good options to get maximum benefits from the multilateral trading regime in the times to come but the region will have to open up and liberalize its respective trading regimes. ... Monitoring of uplift projects urged ISLAMABAD, Aug 19: The National Assembly Standing Committee on Planning and Development has stressed maintenance of high quality standards, speedy implementation and strict monitoring of development projects. ... Senate's HR body visits Okara farms OKARA, Aug 19: The Senate's sub-committee on human rights has visited the Okara military farms and talked to the law-enforcement agencies and tenants about the issue. ... Security beefed up along tracks, says railways IGP SUKKUR, Aug 19: Railways inspector general of police Ahmed Nasim has said that security along tracks, from Karachi to Sukkur, has been beefed up to avert any mishap ... US assault on Najaf condemned PESHAWAR, Aug 19: The Shia Action Committee on Thursday called upon people to unite against the fascist policies of the US administration and its lackeys in Muslim countries, and defend their holy places across the Muslim world. ...

© The DAWN Group of Newspapers, 2004