Poor infrastructure making Pakistan’s South Punjab plum picking for Talibanisation

October 5th, 2009 ISTANBUL - Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has announced that India would be an active partner in South-South experience exchange facility and would soon be making a contribution to this facility. He was speaking at a function on Innovative Development: South-South Opportunity here late last night.

September 22nd, 2009 NEW YORK - Former US president Bill Clinton has promised to help Pakistan secure much-needed foreign investment for its economic growth and the well-being of its people. At a meeting here with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari Monday, the former US president, who heads the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), said his organisation would work with Pakistans private and public sectors in furthering those objectives, APP news agency reported.

September 20th, 2009 LONDON - Late former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto had asked the country's now-disgraced nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan to provide nuclear weapon know-how to Iran, a British newspaper reported Sunday.

September 17th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has provided $150 million loan to Pakistan to carry out developmental works in the country's Punjab province, the Online news agency reported Thursday. Punjab is the most populous province in the country.

August 24th, 2009 Sargodha (Punjab, Pakistan), - Six suspected militants were arrested in Sargodha in Punjab, Pakistan's most populous province, on Monday. A Sargodha district police officer said a number of explosives-laden jackets and other weapons were also recovered from the militants.

June 27th, 2009 LAHORE - Governments in Pakistan's Punjab and Sindh provinces have been placed on terror alert amid fears that the Taliban could take refuge in the southern part of the country after fleeing from Waziristan and Swat. Interior Minister Rehman Malik disclosed that his department had recorded 1,148 terrorist threats during last four months.

June 25th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan wants the world at large and the US in particular to play a role in resolving its disputes with India, including that of Kashmir, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said Thursday. The resolution of Pakistans core issues would help it focus on the war against extremism and terrorism on its western border to ensure peace and stability in South Asia, APP news agency quoted Gilani as saying when visiting US National Security Advisor James Jones called on him here.

May 28th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - About 10,000 security personnel are guarding Pakistans nuclear arsenal and Western fears about the safety of the weapons are unfounded, a senior official has said. Air Commodore Khalid Banuri, director of arms control and disarmament affairs at the Strategic Plans Division (SPD), said that Pakistans command and control structure for the weapons was better than that of many other nuclear-armed states, and many countries had officially acknowledged this, DawnNews reported Thursday.

May 19th, 2009 LAHORE - The governor of Pakistan's Punjab province has said there is no danger of Talibanisation in the area. Governor Salman Taseer said the situation in Punjab is under control and there is no danger of Talibanisation in the province, the Online news agency reported Tuesday.

May 12th, 2009 LAHORE - While Pakistan is facing one of its worst crises in history, top political leaders of the country are planning on a 'vacation' abroad. President Asif Ali Zardari is in the United States, and has extended his stay abroad.

April 28th, 2009 LAHORE - Differences have surfaced during the recent Pakistan Muslim League-N Central Working Committee (CWC) meeting chaired by former premier Nawaz Sharif over support to the PPP-led Government to protect the interests of Pakistan while others have advocated for solo flight. According to well-placed sources, a number of party loyalists tried to convince Sharif to heed to the voices of US President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown Administrations that eagerly want an alliance between PML-N and PPP in Centre as well as Punjab to deal with the internal and external crisis.

April 25th, 2009 World Bank to aid poor countries with public worksWASHINGTON — The World Bank said Saturday it would provide poor countries with more than $55 billion for public work projects left in limbo when the recession dried up capital investment. The goal is to create jobs and lay the foundation for future economic growth and poverty reduction.

March 31st, 2009 LAHORE - Salman Taseer, the governor of Pakistan's Punjab province, Tuesday announced compensation of Rs.20 lakh each for the families of the eight policemen killed in the terror attack on the Manawan training academy near here, even as 50 people have been arrested for their suspected role in the assault. This apart, the salary and other benefits would be paid till the time they would have otherwise retired, he said after attending the funeral prayers of the slain policemen.

March 21st, 2009 LAHORE - Jamaat-e-Islami's (JI) Pakistan Punjab province chief Liaquat Baloch on Friday said the Pakistan Muslim League-Q and PML-N are going to form government in Punjab. Talking to reporters here in Okara, Liaquat Baloch said he sees rise in conspiracies against democracy in case PML-Q joins Pakistan People's Party in order to form government in Punjab.

January 29th, 2009 LAHORE - The future of Pakistan-India relations depends on the investigation into the Mumbai attacks, a senior official of the South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) said here Friday. Imtiaz Alam, secretary general of SAFMA, said the objective of a Peace Mission’s visit to India was aimed at restoring the broken ties between the two neighbors.