LHRpages 17-11-2011_Layout 1 11/17/2011 2:21 AM Page 1
Gilani tells PML-N to ditch en masse resignation mantra
‘It’s a girl!’: Aishwarya gives birth to daughter
PAGE 04
rs15.00
PAGE 19
pakistantoday.com.pk
vol ii no 142 32 Pages lahore edition
thursday, 17 november, 2011 Zul-Haj 20, 1432
haqqani offers to resign
Gilani steps in for damage control ISLAMABAD
A
KARACHI: A view of the vehicle that was blown up by suspected suicide bombers when they were stopped by police near Sea View. At least two policemen and four attackers were killed in the incident. oNliNE | stoRy PAgE 24
Drone attack kills up to 18 Taliban MIRANSHAH AFP
A major salvo of US missiles on Wednesday destroyed a Pakistani Taliban base on the Afghan border, killing up to 18 militants including possible al Qaeda fighters, local officials said. Five US drones fired up to 10 missiles into a sprawling compound in the Baber Ghar area of South Waziristan, killing 15 to 18 fighters in the deadliest American strike reported by Pakistani officials in three months. Five US drones carried out the attack, one of the officials told AFP in the heaviest coordinated strike in northwest Pakistan since a similar strike killed 21 fighters in the Afghan Taliban Haqqani faction on August 10. “The target was a base of Pakistan Taliban. We have reports that 16 to 18 militants were killed,” the official told AFP. Another official said there were reports that “some foreigners” were also killed. 6 KILLED IN TIRAH: Elsewhere in the tribal belt on Wednesday, five men and a 12-year-old boy were killed when a remote-controlled bomb exploded near a passenger van in the troubled Tirah valley of Khyber district, local official Mutahir Zeb said. He said that most of the passangers in the van belonged to the Kukikhel tribe, which is opposed to local militant group Lashkar-e-Islam. Nine people, including two women, were also wounded, Zeb added.
4% power tariff hike on the cards ISLAMABAD AMeR SIAL
A huge increase of four percent in the power tariff is expected within the next 48 hours to help the government save Rs 15 billion per year under the power differential subsidy, a move that will further burden consumers. An official source told Pakistan Today that the notification for increase in power tariff was ready for promulgation and the only delay was the approval of the prime minister, who was said to have tacitly given a go-ahead earlier. A summary for increase in power tariff was earlier sent to the premier for approval but he directed the ministry to get approval from the ministerial committee on energy issues. “We are awaiting an official communication from the prime minister to notify the increase in the power tariff,” the official said. It has been learnt that the prime minister had agreed to allow an increase of four percent in the tariff. The permission from the prime minister was sought as the increase is likely to cause a politi-
cal backlash to the government under the current political scenario. Another increase of 10 percent in the power tariff will be made in the coming months to offset the estimated Rs 40 billion tariff differential subsidy during the current fiscal year. To completely reduce the tariff differential subsidy, the government plans to ensure full cost recovery by increasing the power tariff by 14 percent during the current fiscal year. This will allow complete offset of tariff subsidy by the start of the next fiscal year. The government is under immense pressure from international financial institutions to eliminate the subsidy to get $2 billion in assistance for power sector restructuring. The financing is required to upgrade the power transmission and distribution network, which has massive and chronic line loss issues that amount to 24 percent of the total production. The tariff for domestic consumers using 1-100 units per month will increase by 17 paisas per unit, followed continued on Page 04
RPPs ‘a scam’ as NEPRA admits non-transparency ISLAMABAD MASood ReHMAn
Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on Wednesday observed that the rental power projects (RPPs) were a scam after the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) admitted in the Supreme Court that the RPPs contracts were not awarded transparently and it was up to the court to cancel the projects or give guidelines to make them transparent. Appearing on notice, NEPRA’S lawyer Najmul Hassan Kazmi contended before the court that orders of his client were not implemented in the matter of RPPs by the Water and Power
Ministry. He was arguing before a twomember Supreme Court bench of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, which was hearing a suo motu case along with two identical petitions filed by Housing Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat and PMLN MNA Khawaja Muhammad Asif against alleged corruption in the award of RPP contracts. Kazmi said according to NEPRA record, there was not a single power project which had commissioning date (CoD). The chief justice noted that now it had been proven that the projects were not transparent, adding that criminal cases should be registered against those responsible. He said it was unfortunate that
there existed a status quo in the country and no one was ready to present himself for accountability. He said it seemed as if everyone had come here from abroad just to pass some time. “Some people have been keeping their briefcases with them and as soon as their matter will come to an end, they will leave the country,” Justice Khilji Arif Hussain said. NEPRA’S counsel told the court that Walters Power International, a rental power company partnered by Iqbal Z Ahmed, used the same machinery for Guddu and Naudero-II rental power plants, however, took separate mobilisation advances of Rs 1.25 billion each for the projects. continued on Page 04
SHAIq HuSSAIn
MIDST speculations rife about escalating tension between the civilian and military leadership over the alleged memo sent to Washington by President Asif Ali Zardari to prevent an army coup, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Wednesday tried to defuse the tension by holding a crucial meeting with President Asif Ali Zardari and Army Chief General Ashfaq Kayani at the Presidency. “Prime Minister Gilani called on President Asif Ali Zardari at Aiwan-e-Sadr. Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Kayani was also present in the meeting,” said a brief statement issued by the president’s office after the troika meeting. It said, “The current security situation in the country was discussed during the meeting. The president also hosted a dinner for them.” However, an official privy to the consultations of the troika meeting said the three leaders focused on one issue – the secret memo being linked to the Presidency, which was allegedly sent through a Pakistani-American business
g
PM, president assure army chief govt will conduct thorough enquiry into memo controversy
tycoon, Mansoor Ijaz, to Admiral Mike Mullen seeking help against a military coup in the wake of American raid in Abbottabad on May 2 that killed al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden. He said, “You can say it was a sort of mediation on part of the prime minister to reduce the tension between the Presidency and the army leadership, as the president has not yet removed Pakistani ambassador in Washington Hussain Haqqani, who is suspected by the army leaders for giving the memo to Ijaz.” He said the president and prime minister assured the army chief that the government would conduct a thorough inquiry into the episode and whosoever was found involved in the memo controversy would not be spared. continued on Page 04
Haqqani in trouble over memo controversy | Page 24