February 19, 2006	Sunday	Muharram 20, 1427

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US pledges $1.5bn aid: Social uplift, governance BHURBAN, Feb 18: The United States will provide more than $1.5 billion in development assistance to Pakistan over the next five years to improve education, health, governance and economic growth....		ARD convenes all parties conference on 27th ISLAMABAD, Feb 18: The Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) has called an all parties conference (APC) here on February 27 to discuss the prevailing political situation in the country and to finalize future strategy regarding launching of anti-government movement....
ARD leaders meet McKinnon ISLAMABAD, Feb 18: Commonwealth Secretary-General Donald McKinnon said on Saturday that his organization would play its role to ensure that the general election due in 2007 was held in a free and fair manner....		2 gas plants closed after attacks QUETTA, Feb 18: Two major gas plants were shut down on Saturday after saboteurs blew up several pipelines and disrupted gas supply from wells, officials said....
Waste lands to be reclaimed: Ata ISLAMABAD, Feb 18: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) will collaborate in the massive salinity management programme with the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) to bring vast areas of salinity-hit waste lands into productive use....		UK, Pakistan sign protocol on children ISLAMABAD, Feb 18: The UK-Pakistan Judicial Forum on Child signed an understanding on the ‘UK-Pakistan Protocol on Children Matter’ following negotiations between the delegations from the two sides on Saturday....
‘Ummah should have taken a joint stand’ LAHORE, Feb 18: Former foreign secretary Shamshad Ahmad Khan has termed Muslim world’s reaction to blasphemous cartoons inadequate and improper....		Hunt for opposition leaders continues LAHORE, Feb 18: The government is continuing hunt for opposition leaders all over the province active in anti-cartoons protest as the MMA vows to hold a rally in Islamabad on Feb 19 (today) despite a ban imposed by the district magistrate....
Employment plan for women okayed ISLAMABAD, Feb 18: The National Steering Committee on Women’s Employment has approved a plan to promote decent employment opportunities for women in the country....		Siamese twins brought to Pims ISLAMABAD, Feb 18: Mir Zaman felt lucky when his wife gave birth to triplets. But from the concern that now reflects from his face, it seems as if his worries outweighed his joy....
Drug smuggling bid foiled, two arrested RAWALPINDI, Feb 18: Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF)’s special cell arrested two persons, including an Airport Security Force (ASF) official, on Saturday for their alleged involvement in an attempt to smuggle heroin to Manchester, airport sources said....		Legislation to streamline functioning of NGOs soon ISLAMABAD, Feb 18: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has asked the Ministry of Social Welfare and Special Education to come up with legislation to streamline functioning of local, foreign and international NGOs....
MMA leader warns against banning rally TAXILA, Feb 18: Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) MPA from Wah Cantonment Mohammad Waqas Khan on Saturday said the government would have to face dire consequences if it barred people from holding protests on February 19 in the federal capital....		‘Sugar crisis a conspiracy to jolt economy’ ISLAMABAD, Feb 18: The government has failed to check the rising sugar prices in the country, said Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) President Abdul Rauf....
2 nominated to PBC board ISLAMABAD, Feb 18: The government has nominated Ejaz Hussain Rathore and Faseih Iqbal as members of board of directors of the Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation....		Seema new ambassador to Poland ISLAMABAD, Feb 18: Pakistan on Saturday announced the appointment of Seema Ilahi as ambassador to Poland. Ms Ilahi holds master’s degree in English literature and public administration....
ADB to fund water sector projects in provinces ISLAMABAD, Feb 18: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has decided to provide funding to the provinces to help complete their projects in the water sector....		PM urges bold decisions on Kashmir ISLAMABAD, Feb 18: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz Saturday said Pakistan and India needed to demonstrate stronger will and passion to solve the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir as the resolution...
Erra chief seeks to prioritise targets ISLAMABAD, Feb 18: The newly appointed chairman of the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (Erra) Altaf Saleem has stressed the need for prioritizing targets in order to carry out relief and rehabilitation work in the earthquake-hit areas....		MMA calls for severing ties with Denmark ISLAMABAD, Feb 18: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal said on Saturday that the temporary closure of the Danish embassy and recall of Pakistan’s envoy from Copenhagen would not dampen protests over blasphemous cartoons....
‘Poppy cultivation in 10 districts stopped’ QUETTA, Feb 18: Poppy cultivation was halted in 10 of the 14 districts in Balochistan where the plant was cultivated in previous years, Regional Director of the Anti-Narcotics Force Brig Anwarul Haq said here on Saturday....		ANP organises hunger strike camps PESHAWAR, Feb 18: The Awami National Party on Saturday organised hunger strike camps at district level in the NWFP to protest against the blasphemous cartoons published in some European newspapers....
Nazim refuses to sign NoC for water plan HARIPUR, Feb 18: District Nazim Yousaf Ayub Khan has declined to give a no-objection certificate for a gravity flow water supply scheme upstream on Dour river in Abbottabad and vowed to fight for the rights of the district....		Rs90bn promised for new varsities ISLAMABAD, Feb 18: The government has decided to provide incentives and financial and physical infrastructure to help the country’s engineering industry strengthen its technology and increase exports from the sector, Higher Education Commission Chairman Dr Attaur Rehman told Dawn on Thursday....
Kidnap victims yet to be located LANDI KOTAL (Khyber Agency), Feb 18: The political administration has failed to locate the whereabouts of primary schoolboy Nauman and the principal of the Government Degree College Kohi, Sabir Shah....		Probe into Hangu blast opens KOHAT, Feb 18: A Peshawar High Court judge has formally begun an inquiry into the Hangu bomb attack and the sectarian violence that followed the incident at a camp office established in the Kohat Circuit House....
APNS condemns sacrilegious cartoons KARACHI, Feb 18: The All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) has strongly condemned the publication of blasphemous caricatures by Danish and European newspapers and termed it an abuse of freedom of press and expression which is a cardinal principle governing civilization....		Criteria set for new schools, colleges GILGIT, Feb 18: The education department has laid down the criteria for opening new primary and higher secondary schools, colleges and upgrading intermediate-level colleges in the Northern Areas....
Procession against caricatures in Swat SWAT, Feb 18: Thousands of people took out a procession in Mingora on Saturday to protest against the publication of sacrilegious images in European newspapers....		Demonstration in Bajaur KHAR (Bajaur Agency), Feb 18: Tribesmen took out a procession in the Salarzai area near Afghan border on Saturday to protest against the publication of blasphemous caricatures in some European newspapers....
Excesses being committed against Balochs: minister HYDERABAD, Feb 18: Balochistan Minister for Local Bodies and Information Technology Hafiz Hussain Ahmad Sherodi has alleged that ever since the inception of Pakistan, excesses have been committed against the people of Balochistan....		Plan to improve farm extension wing HYDERABAD, Feb 18: The agriculture department of the government of Sindh is considering to restructure the agriculture extension wing under the Agriculture Sector Programme Loan-II (ASPL-II) with a purpose to disseminate the latest crop production technology among farmers....
22 booked for stealing water KHAIRPUR, Feb 18: The Thari Mirwah police booked eight growers here on Saturday on charges of issuing threats to a farmer, Imam Bux Shar, and demolishing a watercourse....		Two rival groups end feud DADU, Feb 18: A dispute between two rival groups was resolved in a jirga held at the circuit house here on Friday. Sindh Minister for Zakat and Ushr Mir Manzoor Panhwar was Amin....
Four of a family die in accident HYDERABAD, Feb 18: Four members of a family were killed and four others injured in a head-on collision between a coach and a van on the National Highway near Hatri on Saturday morning....		Four protesters injured in police firing CHINIOT, Feb 18: Four youngsters were injured seriously when police opened fire on protesters at Rajao Chowk in the suburban Shah Nawaz Colony area here on Saturday....
Blast at judge’s residence FAISALABAD, Feb 18: One of the rooms of official residence of Tandlianwala additional district and sessions judge was totally damaged in a bomb explosion on Saturday....		Embezzlement: ACE team seizes RTA record GUJRANWALA, Feb 18: An Anti-Corruption Establishment team, probing a Rs70 million embezzlement, on Saturday raided the Regional Transport Authority office and seized its record....
Rebate on ‘bogus’ invoices GUJRANWALA, Feb 18: The sales tax department unearthed a scam of tax evasion and rebate of millions of rupees in fake export items and arrested on Saturday two executives of four companies and their adviser....		BVH medical superintendent suspended BAHAWALPUR, Feb 18: Punjab Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi on Saturday paid a surprise visit to the Bahawal Victoria Hospital and suspended its medical superintendent Dr Fazal Mahmood Khan for dereliction and not ensuring cleanliness....
Mild flu breaks out in Lahore LAHORE, Feb 18: The recent weather change has reportedly caused an outbreak of mild flu in the city and its surrounding ares. Medical superintendents of different state-run hospitals in the city...		SCBA for release of arrested leaders LAHORE, Feb 18: The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) has condemned the arrest of PML-N, MMA, ARD leaders, lawyers and workers in Lahore, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Multan and other cities and demanded their immediate release....
Body to assess damage to property LAHORE, Feb 18: Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi has set up a committee with Chaudhry Zaheeruddin as its convener which will determine the extent of damage caused to the public and private property by the Tuesday violence....		Rangers’ stay extended LAHORE, Feb 18: The Rangers would continue to assist police in maintaining law and order in the city for the time being. This was reportedly decided at a Punjab home department...