German FM to visit Pakistan tomorrow
Monday, October 27, 2008
ISLAMABAD: German Deputy Chancellor and Foreign Minister Dr Frank Walter Steinmeier will arrive in Pakistan tomorrow (Tuesday) to discuss the situation in Afghanistan and various bilateral matters, the Foreign Office (FO) said on Sunday.
Dr Steinmeier will be heading a delegation comprising economic experts, businessmen and journalists, and will meet Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and President Asif Ali Zardari during the day-long visit, the FO said.
The German minister, who earlier visited Pakistan in May 2007, will be the second high profile German official, after the country’s defence minister, to visit Pakistan in the last two months.
Germany is Pakistan’s largest trading partner in Europe and the fourth largest importer of Pakistani products. Germany is also a member of the Friends of Pakistan forum. The FO said the visit was expected to enhance bilateral co-operation in various fields and was an expression of Germany’s commitment to augment relations with Pakistan.
Germany is playing a significant role in the reconstruction and rehabilitation of Afghanistan and is actively involved in several socio-economic development assistance projects in the North West Frontier Province and Northern Areas of Pakistan. Germany is also providing Pakistan’s renewable energy sector with technical expertise and funding.
A significant Pakistani community lives in Germany and a large number of Pakistani students are getting higher education in German universities.
No gas load shedding in Balochistan and Sindh: SSGC
Monday, October 27, 2008
LAHORE: The Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) will continue uninterrupted gas supply to its consumers in Sindh and Balochistan despite a shortage of gas being faced by the country, Geo News quoted SSGC spokesman Inayatullah as saying on Sunday. According to the channel, the spokesman said that if needed “the SSGC will also provide gas to the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines”, adding that all arrangements had been finalised in this regard. He clarified that the SSGC was not considering any load shedding programme for the domestic and industrial consumers of Sindh and Balochistan. He said the Karachi Electric Supply Company was not being supplied 19 million cubic feet gas owing to the annual maintenance work at the SSGC gas field. He said that the supply had been restored now.
Senate committee chief demands cut in oil prices
Monday, October 27, 2008
ISLAMABAD: Senate Standing Committee on Interior Chairman Talha Mahmood demanded on Sunday that the government reduce oil prices, as petroleum prices had fallen internationally.
He said people were already suffering due to the unbridled increase in the prices of daily necessities and massive unemployment. Talha said it was very unfortunate that the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) had failed to take any appropriate steps in this regard despite the fact that oil prices in the international market had gone down by $70 per barrel. He said price hike and inflation were adding to miseries of the people. He said OGRA should be abolished and another price control mechanism and regulatory system should be put in place immediately.
Security high alert in Capital
Monday, October 27, 2008
ISLAMABAD: Security was put on red alert in Islamabad on Sunday after a report about the entry of two explosive-laden vehicles into the federal capital, a private TV channel reported. According to the TV channel, large contingents of police had been deployed at all entry and exit points of the city after receiving information that two Mehran vehicles packed with explosives had entered the capital, adding that police had started checking vehicles following a directive from Interior Adviser Rehman Malik.
Strong quake shakes Afghanistan
Monday, October 27, 2008
KABUL/TEHRAN: A strong earthquake of magnitude 5.6 struck north-eastern Afghanistan on Sunday, but caused no casualties or damage, a government official said.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) said on its website the quake’s epicentre was at a depth of 208 km (130 miles).
The quake occurred at about 6 am local time and was also felt in the capital, Kabul, some 260 km (160 miles) from the epicentre lying to the south of the city of Faizabad of northeastern Badakhshan province.
Mountainous Afghanistan is an earthquake prone country.
Earthquakes in northern Badakhshan province killed thousands of people in the late 1990s.
In 2002 at least 1,500 people were killed when a series of quakes of between magnitude 5 and 6 struck northern Baghlan province in the Hindu Kush mountains, destroying the district capital of Nahrin. reuters
An Iranian official says nine people were wounded after an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.0 hit southern Iran.
The quake is part of a series of tremors that has jolted the area over the past months