Continued here:
US to help increase farmers’ incomes

Read more from the original source:
Chinese company sets up camp in Dera

Continue reading here:
Market watch: Bourse follows global peers downward

Here is the original post:
Flight of capital: Lotte disengages Pakistan plant expansion

Original post:
Masood Sadiqui appointed OGDC managing director

View original post here:
PPL violates policy and pays Rs72m in donations, sponsorships

Excerpt from:
Islamic finance expo: Asset management companies steal the show

Read more from the original source:
Removing hurdles: Planning Commission carves way for chief economist

US lawmakers vented their frustration on Friday with the closure of Nato supply routes by Pakistan as they debated an annual defence policy bill that seeks $642.5 billion in military spending for fiscal 2013.

House of Representatives lawmakers debating the National Defence Authorisation Act voted almost unanimously (412 to 1 votes) for an amendment that could block up to $650 million in proposed payments to Pakistan unless Islamabad lets coalition forces resume shipment of war supplies across its territory.

Pakistan, for the current fiscal, has budgeted $1.34 billion, or Rs118.7 billion, on account of Coalition Support Fund (CSF) reimbursement – but the US has not released the amount yet. Outstanding CSF dues at present amount to $2.5 billion.

Pakistan had closed down the Nato supply routes in reprisal for a US air raid on border posts that had killed two dozen Pakistani soldiers in November, last year.

Officially, the Pakistani government denies any agreement on the reopening of the vital land routes, but diplomatic sources say Islamabad and Washington have almost clinched a deal.

In the wake of the amendment, CFS will be released if the US defence secretary certifies that “Pakistan has opened the ground lines of communication, is allowing the transit of Nato supplies through Pakistan into Afghanistan, and is supporting the retrograde of US equipment out of Afghanistan.”

The amendment was introduced by Representative Gerald Connolly.

The Media has learnt that following the passage of the amendment, Pakistan’s Ambassador in Washington Sherry Rehman had a series of meetings with senior Republican and Democratic leaders in the Congress.

She told the Congressional leaders that the amendment “would not help bring the (Pakistan-US) relationship back on track”. She told them that Pakistan “stood to gain more from peace and stability in Afghanistan, and it is therefore incorrect to blame Pakistan for the difficulties in Afghanistan”.

Among others, Ambassador Sherry is said to have met with Nancy Pelosi, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Senators John Kerry, Dianne Feinstein and Carl Levin.

Criticism of Afghan war

While debating the defence policy bill, war-weary Democrats nudged President Barack Obama to speed up the withdrawal of US forces from the war zone, but Republicans blocked a debate on the issue ahead of a weekend Nato summit in Chicago to chart a way forward in the decade-long conflict.

Lawmakers debated more than 140 amendments to the policy bill, which seeks $554 billion in base defence spending for the 2013 fiscal year beginning in October and $88.5 billion for the Afghan war and other overseas operations.

The measure has drawn a veto threat from the White House because it would overturn many cuts sought by Defence Secretary Leon Panetta in order to achieve congressional budget targets set last year with the goal of cutting $478 billion in projected military spending in the next decade.

While the authorisation act sets spending limits, it does not actually appropriate funds for defence.

The pressure for an accelerated withdrawal from Afghanistan came ahead of the two-day Chicago summit starting on Sunday where leaders will discuss the final transition to Afghan security control and the withdrawal of international forces by the end of 2014.

Earlier this week Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen invited Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari to the key gathering of world leaders which will discuss the Afghan endgame. Rasmussen had earlier hinted that Islamabad would be invited only if it unblocked the Nato supply routes.

Rohrabacher’s amendment vetoed

In a related move, the Congress overwhelmingly voted out the Pakistan Terrorism Accountability Act 2012 bill moved by Congressman Dana Rohrabacher.

Three hundred and thirty-five lawmakers voted against, while 84 voted in favour of the bill introduced a week earlier in the Congress.

The bill asked the US administration to provide $50 million each to American citizens “killed as a result of actions of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) or support provided by the ISI to other organisations or individuals, including the Haqqani Network”.

The bill also stated that the $50 million per victim be withheld from US assistance to Pakistan.

It further asked the defence secretary to certify every month how many US citizens had been killed as a result of support by the ISI to the Haqqani Network and other organisations.

(With additional input from REUTERS)

Published in The Media, May 19^th, 2012.

source

CHICAGO:?The Obama administration may be not be able to strike a long-awaited agreement with Pakistan to help supply Western soldiers in Afghanistan as hoped in time for a major Nato summit in Chicago this weekend, a US official said.

“There’s a distinct possibility that we may not see an agreement before the end of this weekend,” the US official said on condition of anonymity. “But talks are progressing and we do expect to reach a deal in the near future.”

Earlier this week, as Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari accepted a last-minute Nato invitation to the May 20-21 summit, many US officials were optimistic they could finally make a deal to reopen key Nato ground routes into Afghanistan. Pakistan shut the routes in protest when US aircraft killed 24 Pakistani soldiers along the Afghan border in November.

Zardari’s appearance at the summit was seen as a potential breakthrough after the border deaths plunged perennially poor US-Pakistan ties into a deep freeze for months.

Now, as the two countries continue to disagree about details of a possible deal, that optimism appears to have faded.

Nato nations, grappling with severe fiscal pressure at home, are anxious to reach an agreement under which Pakistan would allow Nato trucks to once again travel on Pakistani roads, in part because shipping supplies into land-locked Afghanistan from the north is much more expensive.

Being able to transit across Pakistan becomes even more important as US commanders prepare for the monumental logistical task of withdrawing most of the 128,000 Nato soldiers in Afghanistan – and the equipment they have accumulated since 2001 – by the end of 2014.

Negotiations between US and Pakistani officials in Islamabad have dragged on.

From the beginning, Zardari’s government has demanded a high-level apology for the border deaths, which Nato said were accidental but which enraged Pakistanis.

The Obama administration, loathe to expose itself to further Republican criticism, has refused to apologise.

The US official said a “wide gulf” remained on the amount Nato nations would be charged for transporting equipment into Afghanistan, the central stumbling block in those talks.

Pakistan says its roads require millions of dollars in repairs after years of Nato trucks going back and forth on it. The amount that Pakistani officials believe should be charged is far higher than what US officials have offered.

“The fees proposed by the Pakistanis are unacceptable, not just to the United States but to our NATO allies,” the official said.

Lack of an agreement could add strains to interactions between President Barack Obama and other senior US officials and Pakistani leaders during the summit. US officials have long complained that Pakistan has failed to act sufficiently against militants fighting US troops in Afghanistan.

The White House said on Thursday that Obama had no plans for a one-on-one meeting with Zardari.

Still, Zardari’s government supports reopening the supply routes once a deal can be reached that satisfies both sides. For that reason the Obama administration expects to ultimately find an arrangement on the supply routes and on the precise amount of US military assistance Washington owes Pakistan.

source

He said that there are several internal, regional and international factors that have halted the peace process in South Asia; however until and unless Pakistan resolves its internal issues it will not be at peace with other South Asian players.

Malik emphasised on the need to look for commonalities between different players, particularly arch-enemies India and Pakistan to build a bridge of friendship and tolerance.

He argued that it is time to promote common threats the region faces today instead of pivoting one nation against the other. He further said that Pakistan needs to “develop its own height” by strengthening relations with its neighbours as foreign governments are not interested in solving our problems.

He concluded on a positive note, “Peace in the region is not only possible it is indispensable.” However, he warned, “If we do not follow the peace route, a time will come when peace will no longer be possible.”

Others participants at the roundtable included Lt Gen. (retd.) Saleem Haider and senior fallow Brig. (retd) Bashir Ahmad.

Published in The Media, May 19^th, 2012.

source

Professional & Technical Training Minister Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada took action after Planning Commission (PC) Member Infrastructure Ghulam Mohyuddin Marri wrote a letter on May 14 asking him to take action or risk suspension of funds to the project.

Marri also threatened to resign from the NEF board of governors (BoG) if the ministry remained silent over irregularities and illegal promotions in the NEF-run Basic Education Community Schools (BECS) project, which is funded by the PC.

The minister called an emergency meeting with senior NEF officials, after which a probe committee headed by Ghulam Mohyuddin Marri was constituted.

A statement issued by the ministry stated that the minister met with Naser Hayat, a joint secretary who also has the additional charge of NEF managing director. The statement took strong notice of illegal promotions of NEF officers and suggests they were clandestinely manoeuvred by outgoing BECS Project Director Brigadier Sirajuddin by using backdating.

The minister and senior ministry officials had been aware of these illegal promotions and other irregularities for a while, but no action was taken until PC member’s letter arrived, said an official source. Brig Siraj himself was recently expelled from the NEF after a similar letter was written by Marri.

NEF project officers cannot be promoted under laws governing project employees, yet six were promoted from grade 17 to 18 and on to grade 19 within one month, violating all the audit objections of the committee. The matter was kept secret by the outgoing NEF Director until those officers managed to get a stay order from the Islamabad High Court.

The letter, a copy of which is available with The Media, stated, “It is very unfortunate that important matters and issues were placed before the management of the BECS project, but did not carry any weight in the  concerned ministry; resultantly, the organisation is going from bad to worse day-by-day.”

Marri pointed out that illegal promotions were made without legal authority, but neither the PC nor the government have received any response to related queries. The administration has taken no action on any point with respect to the illegal promotions, he said in the letter.

He also enclosed order letters of the illegal promotions through which Saadia Ghuman and Abdul Hanan were promoted from BS-17 to BS-19 in under a month. Similarly, Kashif Sohail, Noreen Raza, Samara Saman Kayani and Imranullah Haq were promoted from BS-17 to 18 as deputy directors. The letter says that all these promotions were made without approvals from the competent authorities.

Marri stated, “I always tried my level best to streamline the BECS management and make BECS and NEF reputed organisations, but it could not be achieved due to non-cooperation of the concerned ministry.”

He recommended that those employees who made the NEF a “useless institution” should be terminated, made to pay back all salaries and allowances, and sent behind bars.

Published in The Media, May 19^th, 2012.

source

Alam has the distinction of being Pakistan’s first female studio potter in the early 1970s. She established LAAL, an artists’ collective, whose mission it is to educate children about their culture and heritage.

As many as 150 art pieces have been exhibited featuring various styles of glazed clay pots in vibrant colours are on display at the exhibition titled “I am the vessel, I am the vessel maker, I am the clay of the vessel”.

Alam’s art depicts her involvement with handcrafted clay objects as a long and fascinating saga which serves as a role model for ceramists today. Her work invites the viewers to explore the dramatic elements of earth, fire, water and air. She explored excavated sites in Mehergarh Moenjodaro and Harappa, studying the line and profile of the ancient pieces before setting up her own studio in Lahore.

Her forms are fluid as they express effortlessly a vibrant energy and encapsulate the essence of time standing still as it spans across thousands of years from the Indus Valley Civilization through ancient cultures and the Islamic period to the island of extremely refined sensibilities, Japan.

The display includes bowls, plates, vessels, vases and mugs which the artist created from1985 to 2011. The ancient shapes present the modifications of mystical traditions in the post-modern world. Organised in collaboration with the Ministry of National Heritage and Integration, the exhibition will continue till June 24.

Published in The Media, May 19^th, 2012.

source

“We always encourage students to participate in extracurricular activities, to help them enhance their communication skills that ultimately help them be better professionals in future,” said Babar Iqbal, coordinator of the event.

He said that the department also holds other programmes like journalistic sitting, cultural festival, job fairs, seminars, speech and writing contests to help students improve their professional skills.

Irum Shehzadi, studying in the fourth semester, said, “I am sure this tradition will go a long way and will help us in future.”

All arrangements, from decoration of the hall to competitions to radio features and documentaries, were done tastefully.

NUML Rector Maj Gen (R) Masood Hasan, NUML Director General Brig Azam Jamal, heads, deans and faculty members of various departments, students and alumni attended the festival.

Hasan said that media is the fourth pillar of the state and joining this field is both easy and difficult.

“If you want to maintain the status quo as a journalist it is too easy a profession but if you opt to bring about a positive change, it is very difficult and demanding,” he explained.

Published in The Media, May 19^th, 2012.

source

But this is not to say that their techniques are similar. They could hardly be more different from each other. While Wani’s approach is more sensitive and theme based, Khan’s is more technically inclined and experimental.

Wani explores the duality of the conditioned and unconditioned self and exalts the primal and overpowering part of human nature that socialisation tries to curb. “The fetus, for me, is the symbol of our most unconditioned self,” said Wani. She added that she believes all great art is an exploration and expression of the unconditioned self.

Her work use techniques such as linocut and chine-colle heavily which add a quality of cleanliness and focus to her work.

Khan, in contrast, borrows more from reductive and collagraphy techniques that are more experimental and overlapping. Ironically Khan uses the symbol of balance, Yin Yang, in a somewhat chaotic way — separating the two components of the symbol in some paintings while joining them together in unexpected permutations in others.

Referring to his painting “Yin Yang Bang”, Khan said, “I’m trying to show the balance and imbalance in the universe, the organised chaos that is responsible for our evolution.”

The two artists do also try to look to other sources for their paintings. Wani showcases a scene of urban life with buildings in her piece “Contrived”.

“This is a depiction of the conditioned life we all lead, it is not natural but man-made, hence the title,” said Wani.

Similarly Khan too has used the image of buildings in his “A depiction of the city Swansea in Wales”. He shares it is a collaborative piece with his teacher Sara Hopkins.

Both artists have shown their work in numerous exhibits and have done their Bachelors of Fine Arts from the National College of Arts, Lahore. The exhibition will continue at the Nomad Gallery till May 31.

Published in The Media, May 19^th, 2012.

source

Samples from Muhammad Zain, a two and a half year old boy and a resident of Kurri Road, Phagwari, have been collected by the National Institute of Health (NIH) to test him for poliomyelitis. In 2007, eight polio cases were reported from Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) and since then the region has remained polio-free.

Talking to The Media, Saeed Ahmed, Zain’s father said his son stopped walking 20 days ago. He took his son to the doctor who recommended that Zain should be tested for polio. Ahmed is employed as a driver in Islamabad and has three children. Zain is his second-born and has never missed a polio vaccine.

“I also took him to Shifa International Hospital where the doctor prescribed laboratory tests,” he said. Zain has no travel history; his movement is restricted between Phagwari and F-10 sector.

Sources in Polio Virology Laboratory at NIH said it will take around two weeks for the results to arrive. He said basic symptoms of polio virus is high-grade fever and signs of weakness or periodic paralysis in the lower limbs of the body. But it is important to note that the symptoms are similar to those of 200 diseases.

It is clinically impossible to diagnose polio and only one laboratory at NIH is equipped to detect polio cases across the country. When contacted, Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Amir Ali Ahmed expressed ignorance about the suspected case.

Poilio vaccines procurement in doldrums

Meanwhile, in a National Steering Committee (NSC) meeting held on Friday in the Committee Hall of the Expanded Programme on Immunisation, the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) expressed concern over the delay in forwarding a proposal for funding the procurement of polio vaccines by the Economic Affairs Division (EAD).

The EAD was supposed to forward a proposal of $24 million to the Islamic Development Bank to fund the procurement of polio vaccines. It is feared that this delay may cause a serious crisis of polio vaccines in 2013 in Pakistan as the government has done nothing in this regard.

The meeting was chaired by Federal Minister for Inter-provincial Coordination Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani and Secretary of Inter-Provincial Coordination Anisul Hasnain Musavi, representatives of WHO, Unicef, Jica, Rotary International and World Bank were present at the occasion.

The participants also expressed concern over the outbreak of measles in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata). Tribal representatives said five children have been severely affected with measles whose condition is serious and they are admitted in a hospital in Miramshah. They demanded the federal government to assist in launching special immunisation campaign to control the situation.

It was also highlighted in the meeting that there is an outbreak of measles in Balochistan, where eight districts have been affected and 600 cases have been reported.

Published in The Media, May 19^th, 2012.

source

The apex court directed the Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) secretary to remove the unqualified person from the post immediately.

A three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry with Justice Khilji Arif Hussain and Justice Jawwad Khawaja as its members, issued the order on a petition filed by Dr Shahnaz Riaz challenging the appointment of Atif Mahmood Kiyani, Director-General of the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE).

The petitioner contended that the respondent, who holds a bachelor’s degree, has been made head of two major educational institutions’ regulatory bodies — FDE and Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority (PEIRA) while a number of genuinely qualified and senior officials were available.

The bench quizzed CADD Secretary Imtiaz Inayat Elahi for his inaction and defending the official.

Chief Justice Chaudhry, while showing his surprise, said, “It was not expected from a person like you. Instead of following the law and taking action against him Kiyani you decided to defend an incompetent, unqualified man.”

Elahi said he was not defending the official. “The matter came to my knowledge only three days before the petition’s hearing,” he explained. “Why did you not show the illegally-appointed DG the door within five seconds?” asked Justice Jawwad Khawaja.

“What would be the future of our children if their institutions are being run by a half-literate person,” remarked Justice Khawaja, while referring to Kiyani’s qualification.

Justice Khawaja also noted that Kiyani occupies a post for which the minimum requirement is a master’s degree with 17 years of experience in education and administration.

Chief Justice Chaudhry observed that under the relevant rules, if a post is not filled in six months, it will be considered abolished. He asked Elahi how he allowed the FDE head to hold his post for 11 months.

The court when questioned Kiyani about his professional experience in the field of education, he said that he is a shareholder in different private colleges in Rawalpindi.

Justice Hussain observed that this strengthened the case for Kiyani’s disqualification, as he also holds the office of private schools regulator.

Elahi assured the court that process to fill the FDE DG seat would be initiated, but said Kiyani will remain PEIRA chairman because “Unfortunately there is no condition of qualification for PEIRA’s chairmanship and the prime minister had appointed him against this post”.

Justice Hussain observed that even for PEIRA’s head, education is also mandatory, “otherwise how can a higher education body be run”.

Kiyani assumed charge of his office as FDE director general on May 23, 2011.

Published in The Media, May 19^th, 2012.

source

KARACHI:?Two years of flooding cost Sindh more than Rs12.7 million, but the government is now warning that the upcoming monsoon may cause even more devastation.

The chief minister’s adviser on relief affairs, Haleem Adil Shaikh, said this during a press conference on Friday.

“We have national and international weather reports which predict a big catastrophe in the upcoming monsoon,” he said. “Not only should the government but other stakeholders also accelerate their efforts to deal with the situation.” Around 29 million people in the country could be affected, he warned.

Shaikh said that the people living on the left and right banks of the Indus River were still in trauma. Thousands of families lost all of their belongings, crops, livestock, infrastructure and family members in 2010 and 2011 floods.

Encroachment on natural waterways (Dhora) and in the Indus River, where people have built private dykes, are a big problem for the Sindh government. “These Dhoras were built to drain the water but the encroachments caused a lot of devastation in southern Sindh last year.”

He added that his department had begun to consult the provincial disaster management authority to speed up the preparation of a contingency plan for the districts. “The government is planning to start workshops at the grass root levels to enhance capacity building for all the stakeholders including volunteers, district-level officials and NGO representatives.”

The Sindh Assembly already passed a law in March this year to remove encroachments from dhoras but awaits the approval of the government.

However, Sheikh repeated what other leaders had said before that the encroached land will be evacuated within seven days after the law becomes applicable. Anyone found involved will be fined Rs1 million and will also face imprisonment for 10 years. “It will be a non-bailable offence.”

Talking about the reasons which kept the law from being implemented, the irrigation minister, Jam Saifullah Dharejo, seemed a bit dejected as he talked to The Media. “What can we do in a situation when the government takes action and the court gives stay orders to the encroachers?” he said. “However, we have started taking action and have spent more than a billion rupees this year to improve the drainage system.”

The minister accepted the fact that some influential people had occupied the drains and had set up buildings and towns. He said that the government was pondering on how to go about resolving the matter. “How is it possible for us to demolish the entire Jhuddo town in Mirpurkhas district which was built on a drain?”

Meanwhile, Sheikh seemed to be worried about the response of international donors after the floods in 2011 and requested the federal government to release the Rs20,000 promised to the flood survivors through their Watan/Pakistan cards.

Talking about the breach which occurred in the Rohri canal, he said that about 11,200 people had been displaced from 30 villages which were inundated. However, the breach had been plugged within 24 hours.

Published in The Media, May 19^th, 2012.

source

The comment is particularly poignant given the occasion on which the premier made it: Following a meeting with the leaders of a reportedly disgruntled coalition partner Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), which has of late been airing discontent against the government.

The prime minister travelled to Lahore on Friday for a meeting with PML-Q leaders Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi. The meeting, according to sources privy to the talks, settled all outstanding issues – the most pressing of which dealt with the release of funds for PML-Q parliamentarians.

Held at the residence of Chaudhry Shujaat, the meeting had been pending for a while. According to the sources, the prime minister had been avoiding the meeting – a delay that had irked the two Chaudhrys.

Elahi had been making public threats to leave the coalition on the premise of the acute power crisis that has crippled Punjab over the last few weeks. His threat was echoed by senior PML-Q leader Senator Kamil Ali Agha.

However, that was the public stance.

Sources said that Shujaat had protested a number of times to President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari regarding the disbursement of funds – a commitment given when the PML-Q joined the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)-led coalition government in the centre. In the last meeting between President Zardari and Shujaat a couple of weeks ago, it had been decided that the prime minister would meet Shujaat to resolve the issue.

The commitment

At the time of joining the coalition, PML-Q had, aside from ministries, been promised Rs17 billion in development funds in financial year 2011-12, according to sources. However, this commitment was not honoured. Aside from development, the funds are critical for the PML-Q given that the party is falling apart at the seams, with many defectors and many others threatening to jump ship.

The holdup is particularly damaging for parliamentarians looking to get reelected in the run-up to the next polls that could very well be this year.

According to details, out of Rs17 billion, PML-Q’s 50-plus MNAs in the National Assembly each has to get Rs100 million while each MPA has to get Rs50 million.

The sources said that Gilani in his meeting with Shujaat informed the Chaudhrys that the money would be released in June 2012.

CEC

The issue of Chief Election Commissioner was also discussed. According to sources, the Chaudhrys expressed their wish to finalise the name of Justice (retd) Sardar Raza Khan. The sources said that this issue has also been left for the return of President Zardari.

PM’s media talk

Prime Minister Gilani said that self-sufficiency in the energy sector will be ensured.

“The government has constituted an Emergency Cell and Special Cabinet Committee (SCC) to deal with the energy crisis, adding that the SCC will hold its meetings daily while the minister for Information and Broadcasting is to apprise the public of the shortfall on a daily basis”, he said while talking to reporters after the meeting with PML-Q leaders.

To a query, Gilani said the pre- and post-18th amendment scenario did not stop provincial governments from creating their own energy, stressing that the provinces should also take responsibility for overcoming the energy shortfall.

On the upcoming budget, Prime Minister Gilani said 100,000 new jobs will be created for the youth. Besides no new taxes and providing relief to the agriculture sector, he said the less-privileged urban population will also be provided financial assistance through the Benazir Income Support Programme.

He said he was least bothered by the criticism of his detractors, stressing that this would be the first-ever elected government to present a budget for a fifth straight time.

Published in The Media, May 19^th, 2012.

source

In a clearest sign as yet, the authorities opened a vital border crossing this week, albeit briefly, to allow at least four containers of ‘office supplies’ for the US Embassy in Kabul to cross into Afghanistan for the first time in six months.

The development comes as President Asif Ali Zardari left on Friday for a key Nato summit in Chicago scheduled for May 20 and 21 where the issue of blocked supplies is likely to figure prominently.

Pakistan is under intense US pressure to lift the blockade before the Chicago gathering.

A US Embassy spokesperson in Islamabad confirmed that ‘a few non-Nato containers carrying diplomatic cargo’ were allowed to cross into Afghanistan from the Torkham border.

However, Mark Stroh made it clear that the permission had nothing to do with the resumption of Nato supplies suspended since November last year following the deadly Nato air raid in Salala.

“Nato supply routes remain blocked,” he added.

But the brief opening of the land routes is being seen as a prelude to the eventual resumption of supplies for the Western forces in Afghanistan.

A Foreign Office official said that the ‘diplomatic courier’ had no linkage with the Ground Lines of Communications (GLOCs), as Nato supply routes are called in official jargon,  but acknowledged that it was a sign of easing of tensions between the two countries.

“I can’t give you the exact number but a lot more will go to Afghanistan in coming days. These all are diplomatic shipments – I mean non-Nato supplies,” a Peshawar-based official was quoted as saying by AFP.

There were conflicting accounts of when the trucks crossed, with one source saying they began moving earlier in the week and another saying they passed through on Friday.

Almost 300 containers of US Embassy supplies, including stationery, computers and printers, are understood to have been stranded in Pakistan by the blockade.

An American diplomat claimed that, under the Vienna Convention, Pakistan should not have stopped ‘diplomatic shipments’ at first place when it shut down supply lines for Nato goods.

Published in The Media, May 19^th, 2012.

source

See the original post here:
Automechanika Middle East draws more Saudi visitors

View original post here:
Etihad boosts Kabul services

Go here to read the rest:
Bahra Cables to launch automated warehousing facility

Read the original here:
World stocks erase year’s gains

View original post here:
Hyundai provides vehicles for top sports event