February 17, 2006	Friday	Muharram 18, 1427

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Industrial zones to be set up in border areas: Karzai for boosting trade ISLAMABAD, Feb 16: Pakistan and Afghanistan will jointly establish qualified industrial zones (QIZs) in border areas in an effort to reduce poverty and eradicate the menace of extremism....		UAE to make investment in power sector ISLAMABAD, Feb 16 : The United Arab Emirates, (UAE) will invest millions of dollars in power sector in Pakistan. This was stated by the UAE Minister of Energy Muhammad bin Dha‘er...
Pakistan seeks reports from three countries: Fear of locusts attack ISLAMABAD, Feb 16: Pakistan has sought reports from India, Afghanistan and Iran about the breeding of desert locusts in these countries following a recent warning from the UN Food and Agriculture...		Payment of cotton premium begins ISLAMABAD, Feb 16: Minister for Textile Industry Mushtaq Ali Cheema has said that the cotton production reached to 12.06 million bales up to January 31, 2006 as against the target of 12.7...
TCP holds over 0.2m tons of sugar KARACHI, Feb 16: The Trading Corporation of Pakistan holds around 202,019 tons of white refined sugar which will be sold through the Utility Stores Corporation (USC) and the Central Stores Department (CSD) at cost price....		High liquidity hits interest rates KARACHI, Feb 16: The overnight rate has further dropped despite huge outflow of liquidity from the market. The State Bank on Thursday picked up Rs23.5 billion through the open market operation...
Index loses 83 points on profit-selling KARACHI, Feb 16: After a strong opening, stocks on Thursday finished lower on profit-selling at the inflated levels owing to fears of violence in the backdrop of protest rallies called by the religious parties against the blasphemous cartoons....		Listless trading on cotton market KARACHI, Feb 16: Cotton market on Thursday stayed dull as both sellers and buyers kept to the sidelines fearing law and order situation in the back drop of protest rallies against the blasphemous cartoons....
Hubco announces 12.5pc dividend KARACHI, Feb 16: Hub Power Company Limited (Hubco) announced an after tax profit at Rs1,267 million for the six months period ending December 31, 2005. The earnings represented a 52.5...		MOL profits up by 40 per cent ISLAMABAD, Feb 16: MOL, one of the largest oil and gas group of the central and eastern European region, which operates in Pakistan through its subsidiary MOL Pakistan Oil and Gas, has declared an operating profit of $1.5298...
Associated Group to bid for SSGC KARACHI, Feb 16: Associated Group (AG), the holding organization of Jamshoro Joint Venture Limited (JJVL) and producer of LPG, is collaborating with its American, Middle Eastern and Far Eastern associates for the acquisition of Sui Southern Gas Company Ltd (SSGC)....		Oil prices rebound LONDON, Feb 16: World oil prices recovered slightly on Thursday after striking two-month low points the day before on data that revealed healthy stockpiles of US energy, analysts said....
Employment ratio in farm sector declines ISLAMABAD, Feb 16: The employment ratio in the agriculture sector has declined to 44 per cent of the total employed labour-force during the current fiscal year as against 48.4...		Pak Suzuki to boost production KARACHI, Feb 16: Pak Suzuki Motor Company Limited (PSMCL) will increase its production by 30 per cent to 110,000 vehicles in 2006 to meet the rising demand in the market....
China urged to take more currency steps WASHINGTON, Feb 16: Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said on Thursday China should take more steps to make its currency flexible and decouple the yuan from the dollar....		Commodity markets LAHORE, Feb 16: The following were Thursday’s upcountry commodity market rates in rupees. Foodgrains (per 40 kg): Wheat 480; Jowar 400 to 700; Maize 400 to 480; Bajra 540 to 560; Barley 460 to 520....
Karachi Port operations KARACHI, Feb 16: Berthing activity at the wharves on Thursday was maintained on the higher side where a dozen ships were berthed to unload general cargo, soyabean meal and cars, according to KPT sources....		Port Qasim KARACHI, Feb 16: A record cargo volume of 0.110 million tons comprising 0.096 million tons of import and 0.014 tons of export tonnage was handled during the last 24 hours, said a PQA press release on Thursday....
Asian stocks close higher HONG KONG, Feb 16: Asian stocks closed mostly higher on Thursday after overnight gains on Wall Street and reassuring comments on the US economy from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke....		European stock markets higher LONDON, Feb 16: European stock markets rose on Thursday, lifted by a bumper set of earnings reports and overnight gains from Wall Street, dealers said. London’s FTSE 100 index of leading shares won 0.16...
Gold prices steady LONDON, Feb 16: Gold prices steadied in Europe on Thursday as buying resurfaced after active selling overnight on a firm dollar and easing oil prices, dealers said....		Palm oil up KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 16: Malaysian crude palm oil futures recouped early losses to end marginally higher on Thursday as players took the market a step closer to the long-defended resistance of 1,500 ringgit a ton....