ECC raises price of sugar by Rs7 per kg

The ECC, presided over by Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin, also approved re-lending of foreign loans to provinces on original terms, a mechanism for support and intervention prices of crops and allowed Passco to export rice. - File photo

ISLAMABAD: The government approved on Tuesday duty- and tax-free import of 1.25 million tons of refined sugar to overcome shortage, but increased its price for Utility Stores by 18.5 per cent, or Rs7 per kg.
The decisions were taken at a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee of the cabinet, presided over by Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin.
The ECC also approved re-lending of foreign loans to the provinces on original terms, Rs10 billion bailout package for loss-making Pakistan Steel Mills, a mechanism for support and intervention prices for crops and a standardised security package for development of hydropower projects.
The meeting also allowed export of goods manufactured at the Risalpur export processing zone to Afghanistan through land route in order to revive the REPZ and fix a minimum export price for rice.
Mr Tarin told Dawn after the meeting that 500,000 tons of the 1.25 million tons of refined sugar would be imported by the Trading Corporation of Pakistan before April while the remaining 750,000 tons by the private sector before June.
The import, he added, would be exempted from sales tax and other duties to ensure that landing cost of imported sugar ranged between Rs50 and Rs51 per kg and retail price between Rs54 and Rs55. The finance minister said the ECC had increased the USC price of sugar to Rs45 per kg from the existing Rs38. It is being sold at Rs65 per kg in the open market.
He said about 1.2 million tons of sugar would be sold through the USC. The Pakistan Sugar Mills Association will supply 900,000 tons to the USC under a commitment it had made with the Supreme Court to provide at least 30 per cent of its produce at a price lower than the market.
Mr Tarin expressed the hope that sugar would be available to consumers at Rs54-55 per kg in the open market.
BAILOUT PACKAGE: The ECC approved a Rs10 billion bailout package for Pakistan Steel Mills to overcome its “acute financial crunch”. The package includes a term loan facility of Rs8 billion to be arranged by the National Bank for five years on sovereign guarantee of the federal government. Another running finance facility of Rs2 billion, renewable on a yearly basis, would also be provided by banks led by NBP on government guarantee.
LOAN RE-LENDING: The meeting approved revision of the re-lending policy for foreign loans. Under the policy the provinces will get foreign loans on same terms and conditions on which these were obtained by the federal government.
The provinces would be allowed to issue their own bonds to repay these loans to the centre. The federal government used to get foreign loans at two to five per cent interest rate, but re-lend the provinces at a mark-up rate as high as 18 per cent.
CROP POLICY: The ECC approved a strategy for food security under which timely announcement of support price for wheat and intervention or indicative price for other crops would be ensured. The strategy will also ensure timely availability of farm inputs at affordable prices with special emphasis on water conservation and its judicious use.
The policy will set area and production targets of major and minor crops in consultation with stakeholders and to enhance farmers’ access to modern crop varieties and new technologies.
Besides, the government will promote adoption of good agricultural practices to boost production, improve marketing systems and maintain buffer stocks for essential food commodities.
RICE EXPORT: The ECC allowed Passco to export, through qualified agents and brokers, its stock of super basmati to the Middle East, Iran, Europe or any other market on a government-to-government basis at a minimum base price of $900 per ton within five per cent limit of broken rice.
POWER PROJECTS: The meeting approved standardised security agreements for hydropower projects under the Policy for Power Generation 2002. The Private Power and Infrastructure Board has been authorised to approve any project-specific amendment to the agreements required during negotiations provided obligations or liabilities of the government are not increased.

India: Kill A Pastor For $250

Money, food and alcohol are being offered by Hindu extremist groups to people willing to murder Christians and destroy their homes.
This violence is not new to Orissa, India where India’s Communist Party estimates that more than 500 Christians have been killed by Hindu mobs since August.  This figure is twelve times greater than official government claims of only 40 homicides.
The stakes are higher now and pastors have a bounty on their heads.  Chairman of Good News India, Faiz Rahman said Hindu militants are targeting Christian leaders according to the Christian Post.  “The going price to kill a pastor is $250,” he said.



Rahman told the UK based Release International, “All of the pastors are high value targets.”  “We’ve got to get them out of the refugee camps.”

According to Rahman 250 Christian leaders are still in shelters and he alone has helped over 25 pastors to leave refugee camps.  Rahman is the head of several orphanages in Orissa State.
“People are being offered rewards to kill, and to destroy churches and Christian properties.  They are being offered foreign liquor, chicken, mutton and weapons.  They are given petrol and kerosene,” according to an All-India Christian Council spokesman.
On August 24 one official said he personally authorized “cremation of more than 200 bodies” found in jungles after Christians were blamed for the death of Hindu leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati.  The persecution continues after Maoists openly admitted to murdering Saraswati.
Mission Network News estimated 5,000 Christian homes have burned and 200 churches ruined and 50,000 Christians have been forced to flee the violence.  Around 30,000 people remain in government operated refugee camps and tens of thousands are living in forests with several seriously wounded according to the Christian Post.



Christians remain in hiding said Father Manoj whose office is at the archbishop’s in Bhubaneshwar.  “They are to scared to go home.  They know that if they return to their villages they will be forced to convert to Hinduism.”  Barnabus Fund religious rights group told the group Hindu militants “forced” Christians in Orissa to “convert” to Hinduism by threatening them with rape if they refused.
Neighbors reportedly gang-raped a Hindu woman after her Christian uncle refused to renounce his faith, according to reports.
Gang-raped was reported by neighbors of a Hindu woman after her Christian uncle refused to renounce his faith.  Jaspina, a Christian woman was told by neighbors, “If you go on being Christian, we will burn your house and your children in front of you.”  She and her family were forced to eat cow excrement to “purify” them selves of Christianity.  It was reported that other Christians were doused with gasoline and were told to take part in conversion ceremonies or be lit on fire.
The deadline according to Hindu extremists has been set for the capture of Saraswati’s murderers.  The killers must be caught by December 15 or a promise of a massacre will begin on Christmas day, December 25th.
Orissa’s Catholic bishops wrote an ominous letter to the state’s chief minister according to the latest report.  “This conflict is a calculated and pre-planned master plan to wipe out Christianity from Kandhamal in order to realize the hidden agenda of establishing a Hindu nation.”

Balochis Raise Star And The Crescent Despite Terrorist Warnings

PESHAWAR, Pakistan—The BLA terrorists supported by foreign powers in Afghanistan have forced patriotic Pakistani Balochis to remove Pakistan’s flag in some areas of southwestern Pakistan.  The terrorists of Akbar Bugti and his Kabul-based grandson Brahamdagh threaten the people of elimination if they wave the Pakistani flag on the nation’s 62^nd Independence Day.  But patriotic Pakistanis in Balochistan are waving the Green and the Crescent despite BLA threats to their lives.  This is slap from the people of Balochistan on the face of these terrorists

The national flag flies on a laborer’s handcart, as he transports fruit to the market in Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, where separatist groups have waged a bloody insurgency in recent years.  Pakistan celebrates its 62^nd Independence Day on August 14 (Friday) with traditional zeal and fervor.  (APP)

Quaid-e-Azam’s Words Live On, Not Brahamdagh Bugti’s

By HUMAIRA NAZ from BRASSTACKS
Wednesday, 5 August 2009.
WWW.AHMEDQURAISHI.COM

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—“Pakistan is in sight and Balochistan will be a part of it,” said Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s on May 20, 1947, three months before Pakistan’s independence from Britain.

“Pakistan’s strength lies in unity, whatever the cost of our bread and butter, we share it.”  That is how the Baloch express their love to people of the twin cities.

The Baloch are strong patriots of Pakistan. They remember the June 29, 1947 brief of the Assistant Governor-General on referendum, which said:

“Shahi Jirga met with elected members of Quetta Municipality … The present members voted unanimously for Pakistan.”

The elders in Pakistan’s Balochistan stress that is how a British-occupied Balochistan with British-appointed tribal sardars became free and chose to be a part of Pakistan.  In March 1948 the Khan of Kalat, Ahmad Yar Khan and his confederate chiefs, acceded to Independent Pakistan.

This federation of Pakistan shall stay forever despite foreign intrigues.
Quaid-e-Azam is not with us today but his words live on.

Balochistan is Pakistani soil and will remain so.  We will not let the enemy make use of the imbecilities of the previous Pakistani quasi-democratic governments. The enemies of Pakistan, the Indians and those who are supporting them, have revived Soviet-era terror groups in the area for the consummation of their despicable designs.

The enemies are using the same tactic as the British imperialists did in the past by retaining tribal chiefs and paying them.  Does any one of you Pakistanis believe that the major powers around Pakistan and the self-styled champions of democracy will like to see Pakistan strengthen its economy and defense in the global village?

Never.

The Indian-backed Harbyar Marri is conspiring to declare the independence of Balochistan on 11 August 2009 and anti-Pakistan countries are planning to publicly accepting it.  The propaganda is on its peak.  We warn these elements to stay away from our homeland.

We are also watching our government in this case.  If it fails to defend Pakistan’s interests, Pakistanis will rise for the protection of Pakistan.

Sumaira Naz is part of the BRASSTACKS think tank.  She can be reached at info@brasstacks.biz

Iraqi women prisoners got rape by american soldiers

During the last week of April 2004 nine allegedly bogus images depicting the brutal rape of two Iraqi women surfaced on an Arab web site. Within days the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal exploded into the headlines. Americans were shocked by PG-13 images of abuse and "The Taguba Report" was made public. This left me to ask, "Is this just coincidence or damage control?"
Amnesty International seems to feel the Taguba Report was never meant for the public but was partially released as digital images found it's way into the "public domain". They said, in an open letter to President Bush,
"Amnesty International is concerned that the Taguba report was not intended for public release, and that the administration's current response has only come once the report and the photographic evidence came into the public domain."

WORLDNETDAILY

WorldNetDaily reported that the Iraqi rape pictures were bogus because they could be found on the porn site "Iraqi Babes". Although Linda MacNew, the owner of the porn site admitted in the WND story that she couldn't tell if the images were fake or real.
"MacNew told WND she was not able yesterday to verify conclusively that the photos, which she said were produced by the Hungarian "Sex in War" site, were legal or illegal -- meaning whether the women involved were without question porn actresses or were actually raped on camera"
Of course if the images were real a good form of damage control, from a Military Intelligence point of view, would be to have them turn up on a porn site as porn.
These pictures are not typical of most porn. The women are wearing no make up. They appear truly distressed and good acting is not a trademark of porn.
At that time I paid to join "Iraqi Babes" to see for myself and found an accompanying video clip which depicted comical looking "Iraqi soldiers" being forced to watch the rape. I never saw the "Iraqi soldiers" in the same frame as the women and they were probably spliced in to give the video the "cheesy" look of real porn. The video also showed the young girl penetrated anally with only some spit from her rapist for lubrication. The soundtrack consisted only of loud rock music.

WATER BOARDING?

This picture undeniably depicts the use of water torture although it was taken before "The Taguba Report" and torture stories were made public. It shows an interrogation that is too close to the more commonly used and officially authorized "water boarding" to be mere coincidence in my opinion.
From the Taguba Report:
"When he returned later, Wisdom testified: I saw two naked detainees, one masturbating to another kneeling with its mouth open..."

The following image seems to show a technique taken right from the above quote in the Taguba Report. The technique of dehumanizing a prisoner by making him (or her) kneel naked as an open mouthed "receptacle".
These pictures have haunted my conscience for five years. I believe they are most likely real. But even if they are fakes they are well done enough to illustrate the horrors of torture.
It would be disingenuous to say that releasing torture photos to the American public would endanger the lives of U.S. personnel. The Iraqis know better than us what we are doing there. They don't need pictures to know their neighbors and relatives are being arrested, interrogated and humiliated.
President Obama now wants to ban the publishing of POW torture photos. Is this so he can hide his own possible future war crimes?
No nation that calls itself civilized would even have to debate whether the use of torture is justified. Left unopposed it's use only gets progressively more brutal and more frequent. What we should all consider seriously is that minds that can justify torture's use overseas can just as easily justify it's use here at home.

In a report issued by the International Red Cross:
It said some coalition military intelligence officers estimated "between 70 per cent and 90 per cent of the persons deprived of their liberty in Iraq had been arrested by mistake."










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46 target killings in 4 days in Karachi

 KARACHI: At least 11 more persons were killed by unknown assailants during last 24 hours here in Karachi, taking the total target killing tally to 46 in last 4 four days, Geo news reported.

According to the details of recently occurred incidents, unidentified gunmen opened fire on Aamir son of Abdul Rasheed and Syed Jamsheed Hussain killing former on the spot and injuring later one in FC area of Liaquatabad.

According to police sources, the other incident took place in Lions area where armed motorcyclists gunned down two persons and wounded another two who remained unidentified.

Two unnamed corpses were recovered from Malir Naddi locality who were also killed by shooting while resident of Khamosh Colony – Syed Ikhlaq – was shot dead who was officially declared the activist of a political party, police sources said.

Five more persons fell victims to target killings in separate areas including Purana Haji Camp, Eid Gah, Lyari, Surjani Town and Kala Koat, police sources further said.

Meanwhile, the crisis management cell set up by the interior ministry to investigate the recent target killing spree in Karachi recorded statements of the relatives of 45 victims.

The cell, which started its initial work in Pakistan Barrack, was presented a record of 31 activists of ANP by Amin Khattak; while the MQM also presented a record of its 14 murdered activists.

Talking to journalists on the occasion, Amin Khattak demanded cleansing Karachi of all weapons, and punishing those involved in target killings.

Breaking News : 6 killed in Karachi explosion

 KARACHI: Six people have been killed and many others injured in an explosion occurred in a house located in Balida Town area of Karachi on Friday.

DIG West Abdul Majeed Dasti has confirmed the killing of six people. The bodies are still trapped under the rubbles of the part of the house that caved-in due to explosion as bomb disposal squad is searching for more explosives.

Police and Rangers have cordoned off the area. Two hand grenades, a suicide jacket and a Kalashnikov recovered from the blast site.