newspaper world

8/14/2019 Newspaper World

1/8

WorldNews

Pakistan tosend ISI chief

to

India ISLAM

ABAD: Prime Minister Syed

Yousuf Raza

Gilani on

Friday extended Pakistans

support to India in jointly

combating extremism and

terrorism and offered to

send its intelligence chief to

help with Mumbai

investigation. Prime Minister Gilani telephoned

his Indian counterpart Dr.

Manmohan Singh and

strongly condemned the acts

of terrorism in Mumbai.

ISLAMABAD: The moon

for the month of Zilhaj was

not sighted thus Eid-ul-Azha

will fall on December 9(Tuesday).

The Central Ruet-i-Hilal

Committee met here at

Ministry of Religious Affairs

with its Chairman Mufti

Muneeb-ur-Rehman in the

chair for sighting of the Zilhaj moon. The meetings

of zonal and provincialcommittees were also held in

their respective cities.

Mufti Muneed-ur-Rehman,

on receiving no evidence of

moon sighting, announced

that the first day of Zilhaj

will fall on Sunday while

Eid-ul-Azha will becelebrated on December 9.

MUMBAI: Commandos

ended a siege of the luxury

Oberoi hotel on Friday while

other forces rappelled from

helicopters to storm a

besieged Jewish center, twodays after a chain of militant

attacks across India's

financial center left at least143 people dead and the city

in panic.

While explosions and

gunfire continued

intermittently at the elegant

Taj Mahal hotel Friday

afternoon, officials saidcommandos had killed the

two last gunmen inside the

nearby Oberoi.

``The hotel is under our

control,'' J.K. Dutt, director

general of India's elite

National Security Guardcommando unit, told

reporters, adding that 24

bodies had been found.

Dozens of people including

a man clutching a baby

had been evacuated from

Oberoi earlier Friday.

The airborne assault on the

center run by the ultra-orthodox Jewish outreach

group Chabad Lubavitch

was punctuated by gunshots

and explosions and at one

point an intense exchange of

fire that lasted several

minutes as forces cleared

it floor by floor, according to

an Associated Press reporterat the scene. By Friday

afternoon, the commandos

had control of the top two

floors.

One camouflaged

commando came out with a

bandage on his forehead,while soldiers fired smoke

grenades into the building

and a steady stream of

gunfire reverberated across

narrow alleys.

Israel's ambassador to

India, Mark Sofer, said theybelieved there were up to

nine hostages inside. Their fate was not clear. Sofer

denied reports that Israeli

commandos were taking part

in the operation.

Moshe Holtzberg, a 2-year-

old who was smuggled out of

the center by an employee, isnow with his grandparents.

His grandfather told Israel

Radio on Friday that he had

no news of Moshe's parents.

More than 143 people were

killed and 288 injured when

suspected Islamic militantsattacked 10 sites in Mumbai

starting Wednesday evening.

Security officials said their

operations were almost over.

``It's just a matter of a few

hours that we'll be able towrap up things,'' Lt. Gen. N.

Thamburaj told reportersFriday morning.

The group rescued from the

Oberoi, many holding

passports, included at least

two Americans, a Briton,

two Japanese nationals and

several Indians. Somecarried luggage with


2/8

Canadian flags. One man in

a chef's uniform was

holding a small baby. About20 airline crew members

were freed, including staff

from Lufthansa and Air

France.

``I'm going home, I'm going

to see my wife,'' said Mark

Abell, with a huge smile onhis face after emerging from

the hotel.

Abell, from Britain, had

locked himself in his room

during the siege. ``These

people here have been

fantastic, the Indianauthorities, and the hotel

staff. I think they are a greatadvertisement for their

country,'' he said as security

officials pulled him away.

The well-coordinated strikes

by small bands of gunmen

starting Wednesday night

left the city shell-shocked.

Late Thursday, after about

400 people had been brought

out of the Taj hotel, officials

said it had been cleared of gunmen. But Friday

morning, army commanders

said that while threegunmen had been killed, two

to three more were still

inside with about 15

civilians.

A few hours after that,

Thamburaj, the security

official, said at least onegunman was still alive inside

the hotel and had cut ofelectricity on the floor where

he was hiding. Shortly after

that announcement, another

round of explosions and

gunfire were heard coming

from the hotel.

Earlier Friday, Pakistan's Defense Minister Ahmed

Mukhtar, in Islamabad,

denied involvement by his

country: ``I will say in verycategoric terms that

Pakistan is not involved in

these gory incidents.''

The gunmen were well-

prepared, apparently

scouting some targets ahead

of time and carrying largebags of almonds to keep up

their energy.

` It's obvious they were

trained somewhere ... Not

everyone can handle the AK

series of weapons or throw

grenades like that,'' anunidentified member of

India's Marine Commandounit told reporters, his face

wrapped in a black mask. He

said the men were ``very

determined and

remorseless'' and ready for

a long siege. One backpack

they found had 400 rounds

of ammunition inside.

He said the Taj was filled

with terrified civilians,

making it very difficult for

the commandos to fire onthe gunmen.

``To try and avoid civiliancasualties we had to be so

much more careful,'' he

said, adding that hotel was a

grim sight. ``Bodies were

strewn all over the place,

and there was blood

everywhere.''

A U.S. investigative team

was heading to Mumbai, a State Department official

said Thursday evening,

speaking on condition of

anonymity because the U.S.

and Indian governments

were still working out final

details.

These attacks were more

sophisticated and more

brazen.

They began at about 9:20

p.m. with shooters spraying

gunfire across the

Chhatrapati Shivaji railroad

station, one of the world's

busiest terminals. For the

next two hours, there was an

attack roughly every 15minutes _ the Jewish center,

a tourist restaurant, one

hotel, and then another and

two attacks on hospitals.

There were 10targets in all.

Indian media showed

pictures of rubber dinghiesfound by the city's shoreline,

apparently used by thegunmen to reach the area.

Both the luxury hotels

targeted overlook the

Arabian Sea.

A previously unknown group

calling itself the Deccan

Mujahideen claimedresponsibility in e-mails to

several media outlets.

Survivors of the hotel

attacks said the gunmen had specifically targeted Britons

and Americans, though most

of the dead seemed to be Indians and whoever else

was caught in the random

gunfire.

One of the gunmen

``stopped once and asked,

'Where are you from? Any

British or American? Show your ID,'' Alex

Chamberlain, a Britishcitizen dining at the Oberoi,

told reporters.

Among the dead were two

Australians and Japanese,

said the state home ministry.

An Italian, a Briton and a

German were also killed,according to their foreign


3/8

ministries.

The United States, Pakistanand other countries

condemned the attacks.

KARACHI: The value of

rupee against dollar in the

inter-bank today showed

weakening trend, as dollar is

being bought at Rs78.87 and sold at Rs78.97.

Forex market dealers said

that the value of rupee was

seen lightly under pressure,

as the importers made some

purchases of dollars.

Experts said that one of the

reasons for rupee being

under pressure was theexisting low foreign

exchange reserve, although

the receipt $3.10 billiontranche of IMF loan would

help boost the reserves, but

the pre-IMF tranche

reserves amount during one

week diminished by further

$40 million.

Dollar in the open market

today is being bought at

Rs77.50 and sold at Rs78.10.

PESHAWAR: Naimat Ali

has emerged victorious inthe 14th Tour de Pakistan

International Cycle Race,

conducted from Karachi to

Peshawar.

Forty-two riders participatedin the final stage of the cycle

race, conduced from

Rawalpindi to Peshawar

today. The cyclists covered a

distance of 163 kilometers in

the last stage of the event.

Naimat Ali from Sui Southern Gas Company

(SSGC) covered the total

distance in 44 hours, 45

minutes and 55 second and

secured first position.

Runner-up Haroon-ur-

Rashid from Wapda coveredthe distance in 44 hours, 56

minutes and 32 secondswhile Sri Lankas

Mismanage Perera took 44

hours, 58 minutes and 48

seconds to complete the

distance. Perera got third

position in the competition.

Tour de Pakistan, whichcommenced from Karachi,

concluded on Friday in

Peshawar.

NEW DELHI: At least 17 foreigners died in the

militant attacks in Mumbai,

according toannouncements by officials

in India and in the victims'

home countries.

"Three of those killed were

Germans, one Japanese

national, one Canadian and

one Australian," India's Internal Security Secretary

M. L. Kumawat said onFriday.

Kumawat said the

information was based on

reports from commandos

who fought gunmen in two

Mumbai hotels and a Jewish

cultural centre.

The bodies of five Israeli

hostages were also recovered

later Friday from the Jewishcentre after it was stormed

by Indian troops, an Israeli

diplomat said.

The US State Department in

Washington said two US

citizens, a father and

daughter, were also amongthose killed in the attacks.

It identified them as Alan

and Naomi Scherr and said

they were members of the

Synchronicity Foundation, a

meditation community in

Virginia.

In Paris, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner

said in a statement that two

French nationals had died.

The Singapore foreign

ministry said Lo Hoei Yen,

28, was killed after she was

taken hostage in theOberoi/Trident hotel.

The previous day a British-

Cypriot businessman was

named by the British government as among the

dead.

Andreas Liveras, 73, was

killed hours after he gave an

interview describing how he

was trapped in the Taj

Mahal hotel.

The overall death toll stood

at least 130 on Fridayevening, but was expected to

rise as little information wasavailable about the various

scenes of carnage.

More foreign deaths were

likely to come to light as the

security operation

progressed.

Among the injured werevictims from China, Oman,


4/8

the Philippines and several

European countries,

officials said.lAHORE: Five alleged

dacoits have been killed in a

police encounter here in

Nister Colony.

Police raided Glaxo Town

on a tip-off regarding

presence of five dacoits inthe area.

Seeing the police

approaching, the alleged

dacoits opened fire at them.

The police retaliated by

returning the fire and as a

result all the five of these

dacoits were killed.

According to police, theleaders of these criminals

identified as Saeed and Asif

were wanted in 30 different

criminal cases including

kidnapping for ransom and

a killing.

ISLAMABAD: Deposedchief justice Iftikhar

Mohammad Chaudhry has

arrived back here at the

Benazir Bhutto Shaheed

International airport thismorning.

Iftikhar MohammadChaudhry was warmly

welcomed at the airport

when he returned home

after visiting the United

States.

ISLAMABAD: President

Asif Ali Zardari chaired an

important meeting at the

President House late

Saturday.

Prime Minister Syed Yousuf

Raza Gilani, Chief of Army

Staff (COAS) GeneralAshfaq Parvez Kayani and

some federal ministers

participated in the meeting.

The prevailing situation due

to the recent incidents of

terrorism in Mumbai came

under discussion. President Zardari assured India of

Pakistans full cooperation

in investigating the Mumbai

Terror attacks. But let the

evidence come to light and

investigation take its

course, he said.

The President said terrorism

is regional threat, this is aworld threat and all the

reason we have to stand up

against this threat together.

He said there was complete

unanimity of views between

Pak army and the civilian

government. Zardari said

the government had alreadytaken stern action militants

outfits being named by

India.

Indian media, analysts pourvenoms against Pakistan

KARACHI : Mumbai

carnage drop scene hasended, but the Indian media

and political analysts

without any evidence hastily

started the blame game

against Pakistan as usual

and poured venoms

polluting the atmosphere

that so laboriously had beenbuilt up after years of

confidence building measures.

National Security Guards s

commander declared the

operation completed after

over 59 hours of militants

rampant carnage all over the

vintage points in Mumbai,which left nearly 200 dead

and over 300 wounded.

However, the Indian mediatrue to its traditional hate

postures towards Pakistan

lost no time in blaring all

those scum, which pointed

fingers towards Pakistan

and holding it responsible

for the tragic incident

without any basis andevidences at all.

Indian anchors and analysts

appearing on different

channels across the country

with one voice went on

analyzing the incident

purely based on the figmentof their imaginations in a

way that could by all means give the perception of

Pakistans involvement in it.

Indian media tasked to

propagate against Pakistan

made out such fake stories

that ISI and Pak Army had

trained the militants, whowere brought to Mumbai in

a boat, while the body of one

Amar Singh Tandal was also

reportedly found in it, who

belonged to Pakistan andhad remained in Pakistan

jail for one year. Sobhaday

in Raj Deep Sir Desai showon CNN/IBN said that we

know where their campus

were.

Following Pakistan Foreign

Ministers press briefing,

one anchorman of CNN

India in his comments saidthat Pakistan was providing

cover to the involvedmilitants groups. One more

Indian channel, India TV

openly hurled blames on

Pakistan for these attacks

and dared to say without any

proof that attackers had

come from Pakistan.

Star News channel in their


5/8

run race for propaganda

against Pakistan tried to be

more creative and discovered one Chacha

Rahman as mastermind of

the attacks and

claimed that he

was Lashkar-e-

Taiyyaba

commander from

Karachi.

Zee TV also joining in the

propaganda blamed that the

militants were supplied arms

and weapons from Karachi

and in its effort to remain

one-up straightaway blamed

Pakistan Navy assistingelements involved in the

attacks.

Indian leaders problems

known to all that they are

trying to hide their

weaknesses and utter

intelligence failures and find

it safe putting blames on

Pakistan, but the Indianmedia should have behaved

responsibly in view of the

delicate situation emanating

after the attacks, which

much to the saner elementsdisappointment, it miserably

failed.

Indian Home Minister

resigns over Mumbai attacks

NEW DELHI: India's Home

Minister Shivraj Patil has

submitted his resignation in

the wake of attacks inMumbai that left nearly 200

people dead.The resignationhas been submitted to Prime

Minister Manmohan Singh,

according to media

reports.There was no

immediate word if the

resignation had been

accepted.

Pak-India border: ceasefire

holding, says Athar Abbas

ISLAMABAD ( 2008-11-30

15:17:14 ) :Military said on

Sunday the country'sceasefire with India was

holding and there was no

military build-up at the

border in the wake of the Mumbai attacks.

The military was responding

to Indian media reports that India has cancelled a five-

year-old ceasefire at theborder of the disputed

Kashmir region, as tensions

grow over accusations of

that the attackers came from

Pakistan.

"We have seen reports inmedia suggesting suspension of ceasefire (in

Indian occupied Kashmir)

and movement of troops on

the Indian side of the

border," chief military

spokesman major general

Athar Abbas told AFP.

"As far as the official

authenticated reports are

concerned there is no such

movement or mobilisation oftroops. The ceasefire is

holding."

Three security personnel

killed in Bannu attack

BANNU ( 2008-11-30

08:44:40 ) :

Three security personnel

were killed and 14 sustained

injuries as insurgents

attacked a Police Post at

Baran Pul in Bannu districtearly on Sunday.

According to security

officials, a dead body,

probably of a militant, has

been found on Bannu-

Miramshah road. However,

it is not clear that how manyattackers died in the armed

skirmish between the security personnel and law

breakers.

The Police officials

informed that the insurgentsattacked the check post late

last night and the security

personnel retaliated will fullmight.

PM takes serious note of

situation in Karachi

ISLAMABAD ( 2008-11-30

16:28:50 )

:Prime Minister Syed YousafRaza Gilani on Sunday took

a serious note of the

situation in Karachi and

sought a report from the


6/8

Advisor on Interior, within

24hours.

The prime minister also

directed the provincial

authorities to take strict

action against the law

violators and said no one

will be allowed to put at risk

the lives and property of the

people.

Tribesmen urge govt to shiftarmy, vow of protectingwestern borders

NORTH WAZIRISTAN

( 2008-11-30 17:07:55 )

: Local tribesmen, while

condemning blame game by

India against Pakistan, have

urged the government to shift the army from tribal

belt and fully concentrate on

Easter border of the country.

Addressing a joint press

conference here on Sunday,

tribal elders, elite and

Maliks assured the

government of full

protection of westernborders of by country by

three million tribesmen.

Government should rely on

tribesmen over protection of

western borders and give

them a chance to fight anyone daring to cross borderwith nefarious designs, the

tribesmen added.

Those who addressed the

press conference included

Malik Muhammad Afzal

Khan Darpakhel, Malik Gul

Akbar Khan, Malik

Habibullah, Malik Haji

Hazratullah, Malik Qismat

Khan Kabulkhel, MalikUsman and Malik Abdul

Qadir.

The tribesmen strongly

criticised India for putting

the blame of Mumbai

carnage on Pakistan without

showing any solid evidence.They said it seemed that a

conspiracy has been hatched

for blaming Pakistan and its

people.

The tribesmen assured the

government that they are

ready for rendering any sortof sacrifice for the

protection of the motherlandand will not let the nation

down in case their services

were required.

The tribesmen also

requested the government to

stop operation in Fata and

restore the confidence oftribal people on state.

The tribesmen warned India

and all those elements trying

to destabilize Pakistan thatany adventure would meet

strong resistance by Pak

army and the valiant tribesmen.

Business

Petrol price down by Rs 9,

Diesel by Rs 5

KARACHI ( 2008-11-30

18:30:36 )

:The government on Sunday

reduced petrol price by Rs 9

per litre and diesel by Rs 5.

The changed prices will be

effective from Monday, AajTV reported.

No re-finance facility for

yarn and fabrics, says

Shamshad

RECORDER REPORT

MULTAN ( 2008-11-30

05:05:08 ) : State Bank of

Pakistan (SBP) Governor Dr

Shamshad Akhtar has ruled

out the possibility of providing re-finance facility

on yarn and fabrics,

describing it harmful to

value-added industry.

She said the government

had provided financial

assistance of rupees one

trillion to textile sector to

bring it at par with themodern world.

She was speaking at a

meeting of the executive

committee of Multan

Chamber of Commerce and

Industry (MCCI), chaired by

Khwaja Muhammad Jalaluddin Roomi on Friday

night.

The SBP Governor said the

impact of global oil and

edible items' price hike

should have been passed on

to the consumers muchearlier as delay in doing so

dealt a blow to the national


7/8

economy, and added the

delay was caused by a

change of government.

She said shortfall in major

crops and rising prices of

commodities in the

international market hit

hard the national economy.

"We had no other option but

to procure wheat and oil atexorbitant prices. Dr

Shamshad dubbed the

reports of banks going

bankrupt as baseless,

claiming that the banking

sector in Pakistan was stable

and rather profitable, with

45 banks currently operatingin the country.

She said there was a steep

rise in loans advanced to the

private sector by the banks

as the total volume of these

advance payments had

touched Rs 400 billion.

Previously, the banks used to

offer loans to the largecorporate organisations

alone, but now every one

was being given loans, she

added.

The SBP Governor said a

comprehensive agenda for

the growth of financialsector had been evolved, and

"we are currently

concentrating on

development finance as 16

field offices have been set up

across the country for this

purpose, while the

government has allowedopening up of eight new

micro-finance banks thatwould initially benefit at

least 1.6 million people. The

number of beneficiaries will

increase to three million,"

she said. The SBP governor

said the Trading

Corporation of Pakistan

(TCP) had chalked out a"procurement line of

action" and the central bank

was considering the

problems and demands ofcotton ginners and rice

millers.

She said the country had to

pay 11.3 billion-dollar oil

bill in the recent past, which

proved a bane of economy.

Dr Shamshad Akhtar saidthe total volume of

agriculture loans soared to

Rs 211 billion from Rs 50

billion with a ratio of last

year's 30 per cent (annual)

increase, while the

increasing ratio from July to

November was 19 per cent.

$0.55 billion spent on wheatimport in four months

KARACHI ( 2008-11-30

04:54:18 ) :The country's

wheat imports have

witnessed a sharp jump of

some 1800 percent during

four months of the currentfiscal year due to ineffective

government policies, besides

unchecked smuggling and

hoarding of the commodity,

sources said.

They said that the previous

government's poor anduncleared policies had made

the country to spend over

$0.5 billion on wheat import

to meet the domestic

demand. Although, the

country has achieved a

production of some 23

million tons wheat during

the current year, the rising

smuggling and hoarding

trend compelled the newgovernment to import wheat

to cope with its flour crisis,

they added.

Official statistics show that

the government spent $0.55

billion for import of this

commodity during July-October of fiscal year 2009

as compared to $28.9 million

in same period of 2008,

depicting an increase of

$0.526 billion. In terms of

volume, 1.33 million tons

wheat was imported during

July-October 2009 asagainst 60,449 tons in the

corresponding period of2008, a raise of 2105

percent.

Sources said that Trading

Corporation of Pakistan has

finalised deals for import of

over 1.75 million tons red

wheat, while 0.75 milliontons white wheat deals

would be finalised soon,

following federal

government decision to

import 2.5 million tonswheat.

Although, the federal government is importing

enormous quantity of wheat

to reduce the supply and

demand gap, the price of

wheat and its flour is still at

peak level, they added. They

said that wheat is being sold

at Rs 2700 per 100 kg bagand wheat flour at Rs 30-35

per kg in the domesticmarket. However, it is likely

that after the arrival of new

crop wheat and its flour

prices would decline.

Sports


8/8

India says no decision yet on

Pakistan tour

NEW DELHI ( 2008-11-3018:55:19 ) :The Indian

government is yet to decide

whether to allow the

national cricket team to tour

Pakistan, amid serious

doubts following the attacks

in Mumbai, a governmentspokesman said on Sunday.

"Since the tour is in

January there is still some

time, we are discussing the

issue," foreign ministryspokesman Vishnu Prakash

told Reuters.

The Board of Control forCricket in India (BCCI) has

sought permission to tour

amid security concerns over

playing in that country.

Indian media quoted

unnamed cricket officials on

Sunday as saying the tour

appeared doubtful. Indianboard secretary N.

Srinivasan refused to

comment.

There have also been reports

that some England players

are reluctant to return toIndia later this week to play

a two-test series.

The Pakistan tour would

depend on a security

assessment, Prakash said.

"Before any tour is

undertaken an advance team

goes and carries out anassessment. The team has

not gone.

"We will wait for the team's

visit and its report on return

before deciding anything."

The Indian team did not goon a full tour of Pakistan for

nearly 15 years until 2004

due to political tensions

Scienceand

technology

Hepatitis C can be treated:

Expert

SUKKUR ( 2008-11-29

21:51:50 ) :Sixty to 80 percent of hepatitis-C patients,

in the world, manage to fully

recuperate after proper

treatment and this is

possible, if the disease isdetected in its early stages,

said senior physician, Dr

Shabana Solangi.

Addressing a publicawareness program here on

Saturday, she said monthly

expenses of the treatment in

Pakistan ranged between Rs.

8,000 to Rs. 11,000.

She said 35,000 cases of

acute hepatitis-C weredetected each year in the

country and that the virus

could be transmitted

through contaminated

blood, infected syringe,

surgical instrument, shaving

razor and tooth brush

respectively besides intimate

promiscuity with a hepatitis-

C patient.

Dr Shabana said that the

virus could also be

transmitted from an infected

mother to her baby,

conceived during her illness.

She said infection was seen

in two to five per cent ofnewborns of infected

mothers.

The doctor advised patients

on dialysis, persons born in

hyper- endemic areas,

injecting drug users,

pregnant women, families ofthe hepatitis-C patients and

those who had receivedunscreened blood to get their

blood screened for

the virus.

However, she said, there was

no evidence that breast

feeding, kissing, hugging,sneezing, sharing utensils or

glasses may cause HCV

transmission.

newspaper world

Documents