February 21, 2006	Tuesday	Muharram 22, 1427

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Settlement plan in 10 days: Erra ISLAMABAD, Feb 20: The Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (Erra) will present a comprehensive housing plan along with the schedule for payment of instalments to the prime minister within 10 days....		Benazir wants more women in leadership positions ISLAMABAD, Feb 20: Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto has said that “to build stronger democracies” the US and the Muslim countries must promote women rights. “As the first woman ever elected...
22 booked for burning churches, school SUKKUR, Feb 20: Police have registered cases against 22 people on charges of setting fire to two churches and a school building during protests in Sukkur following reports of desecration of the Holy Quran....		Islamabad protesters released: Sherpao LAHORE, Feb 20: Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao announced on Monday release of political leaders and workers arrested in Islamabad during protests against the publication of blasphemous cartoons in some European newspapers....
Sunday’s protest: 216 sent to Adiala jail RAWALPINDI, Feb 20: As many as 216 people, out of about 270, arrested from various parts of Rawalpindi and Islamabad in connection with the Sunday’s violent anti-cartoon protests were sent to jail on Monday, police sources said....		Release of political detainees urged ISLAMABAD, Feb 20: Pakistan People’s Party Chairperson Benazir Bhutto has condemned the arrest of political workers during the last few days as well as continued incarceration of political leaders....
USAID gives $2.7m for Aids prevention ISLAMABAD, Feb 20: The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has awarded a grant of $2.7 million for HIV/Aids prevention programme in Pakistan....		Islamabad, Beijing sign 13 accords BEIJING, Feb 20: Pakistan and China have signed 13 bilateral agreements and memoranda of understanding (MoUs) covering trade, defence, health and energy and Beijing has agreed to provide Islamabad a soft...
Opposition criticizes govt’s handling of cartoon issue ISLAMABAD, Feb 20: The second all-party opposition conference on Monday blamed the government for what it termed its failure to properly reflect people’s sentiments against the publication of blasphemous cartoons in...		‘PFC award draft to be in cabinet in two weeks’ LAHORE, Feb 20: Punjab finance minister Hasnain Bahadur Dareshak on Monday said the draft of the provincial finance commission award will be sent to the cabinet within two weeks....
WTO fails to lessen woes of cotton pickers ISLAMABAD, Feb 20: Pakistan’s entry into the quota-free WTO Agreement on Textile and Cotton (T&C) a year ago has failed to lessen the hazards woman cotton pickers of Sindh and Punjab face in their work....		‘Steps being taken to help special persons’ ISLAMABAD, Feb 20: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz Monday said government is taking several steps to help vulnerable sections of the society including special persons, handicapped children, widows and senior citizens to enable them lead a respectable life in the society....
Faiz’s legacy endures and is cherished ISLAMABAD, Feb 20: Those who love Urdu poetry continue to cherish the legacy of poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz (1911-1984). This sentiment echoed in a meeting organized by the Pakistan Academy of...		‘9,271 seminaries registered’ ISLAMABAD, Feb 20: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz was informed on Monday that the process of seminary registration was continuing and so far some 9,271 seminaries had been registered....
Wapda denies report LAHORE, Feb 20: A Wapda spokesman has contradicted a news item carried by a section of the press on Feb 20 in which the Sindh Chamber of Agriculture at a meeting...		Gujar Khan council okays over Rs17m budget GUJAR KHAN, Feb 20: Gujar Khan town council on Monday approved Rs17.9million budget for 2005-6 with 69.48 per cent earmarked for the development projects. The budget was approved in a special...
Dadu council condemns blasphemous cartoons DADU, Feb 20: The Dadu district council has passed a unanimous resolution against publication of blasphemous cartoons and demanded from the government to sever relations with European countries where the cartoons had been published....		Schoolteachers want service regularized GILGIT, Feb 20: More than 300 schoolteachers of community schools staged a seven-hour sit-in in the central education directorate here on Monday to protest against what they termed the indifferent attitude of authorities towards their problems....
80 get bail by juvenile court PESHAWAR, Feb 20: About 80 underage suspects arrested in connection with last week’s riots were granted bail by two juvenile courts here on Monday. Both the courts accepted their bail applications...		Body set up to monitor reconstruction PESHAWAR, Feb 20: The NWFP government has set up a Provincial Advisory Forum (PAF) to monitor the activities of the Provincial Earthquake Reconstruction Agency (PERA) in the five quake-affected districts of the province, sources said....
Jirga for tribal reconciliation LAKKI MARWAT, Feb 20: Elders of the Marwat tribe have authorised the Marwat Qaumi Jirga to initiate reconciliatory efforts for ending enmity with the Mastikhel clan of Bhetanni tribe in the Frontier Region of the district....		Bara peace body member abducted LANDI KOTAL (Khyber Agency), Feb 20: Armed men, allegedly supporters of Mufti Munir Shakir, on Monday kidnapped a member of the Bara Peace Committee. The BPC member from Akkakhel tribe, Maroof...
Development schemes approved MIRPURKHAS, Feb 20: The Mirpurkhas District Council on Monday approved new schemes under the Annual Development Programme amidst protest by some members. Dr Zafar Kamali presided over the session....		Dam on Nai Gaaj opposed DADU, Feb 20: Leaders of the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum have rejected construction of a dam on the Nai Gaaj saying it will stop Manchhar lake from getting rainwater....
ANP criticises MMA over protest violence MARDAN, Feb 20: ANP provincial Secretary-General Mian Iftikhar Hussein has deplored the violent protests in Peshawar and termed it a failure of the MMA government....		Community centres illegally occupied GUJRANWALA, Feb 20: As many as 178 community centres which had been constructed for mass welfare in remote areas of the district some years ago, have been occupied by influential people....
Rs1.9bn for Multan ring road MULTAN, Feb 20: District Nazim Mian Faisal Mukhtar has announced here on Monday that the provincial government has allocated Rs1.9 billion for the construction of much-needed ring road for Multan....		Peaceful protests held in Punjab towns GUJRANWALA, Feb 20: Rallies, strikes and closure of businesses continued but no untoward incident was reported from any part of the province on Monday....
Agri research for poverty alleviation stressed FAISALABAD, Feb 20: Punjab Governor Khalid Maqbool has stressed the need for linking agricultural research with poverty alleviation by increasing farm production....		PM directs police to recover abductee FAISALABAD, Feb 20: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has reportedly directed the police to recover Zahid Saleem, who was abducted to pile pressure on his family to pardon a convict....
UAE-based airline, SIAL sign accord SIALKOT, Feb 20: The UAE-based international airline APA and the Sialkot International Airport Limited (SIAL) on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding regarding early provision of cargo facilities and passenger services at the airport....		Vani in true perspective MIANWALI, Feb 20: The tradition of Vani is in the limelight as a favourite subject of human rights’ activists and their organizations. The melodrama is overshadowing the truth about the tradition and is thriving on twisted facts....
Livestock development project in Kasur KASUR, Feb 20: The European Union Commission has launched a special project for development of livestock in the district....		Teacher blackens students’ faces NAROWAL, Feb 20: The district administration has ordered a probe into the conduct of a female teacher who allegedly blackened the faces of three students and sent them back to their homes in the same condition at Bola Bajwa village....
Pest control must to overcome food shortage LAHORE, Feb 20: The three-day 34th Pakistan Saarc countries science conference on ‘sustainable pest management in modern agriculture’ opened at the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS) here on Monday....		SCBA divided over Sherpao’s visit: Last-minute venue change LAHORE, Feb 20: Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao was prevented from addressing the Supreme Court Bar Association members at the Karachi Shohada Hall of the Lahore High Court Bar Association here on Monday due to a rift among lawyers....
India offered auditors’ training LAHORE, Feb 20: The Pakistan Audit Department has put forward a proposal to their Indian counterparts for creating a ‘professional neighbourhood’ in the areas of training and research....		SPs told to ensure ban on kite flying LAHORE, Feb 20: City police chief DIG Khwaja Khalid Farooq on Monday ordered an inquiry into the killing of a minor girl whose throat was slit open by a kite string on Sunday....
Uniform class-V exams from this year LAHORE, Feb 20: The Punjab Education Commission (PEC) will begin its operations by holding a uniform class-V examinations all over the province from this year. Under the PEC, a uniform question paper will be distributed in all schools of the province....		Protests affecting relief work PESHAWAR, Feb 20: Protests against blasphemous cartoons are adversely affecting relief and rehabilitation activities in the quake-affected region of the NWFP, health officials told Dawn on Monday....
Rs693m budget for Chitral CHITRAL, Feb 20: The annual budget of Chitral district council for the year 2005-06 was presented in the house by District Nazim Haji Maghfirat Shah here on Monday....		UC nazim remanded into judicial custody PESHAWAR, Feb 20: An anti-terrorism court sent to judicial remand a union council nazim who had been detained for a day in connection with recent acts of violence....
Girl ‘forced into vice racket’ to stay in prison PESHAWAR, Feb 20: A local court on Monday declined to release a victim of a childhood marriage who was forced into prostitution by a gang trafficking in women....		Wireless phone exchange in village HARIPUR, Feb 20: Minister of State for Finance Omar Ayub Khan has said that Rs1.34 billion has been spent on uplift projects in his constituency during the last three years while...
MQM activist shot dead KARACHI, Feb 20: An activist of the Muttahida Quami Movement was shot dead in North Karachi late on Monday night. Ashfaq Ahmed, 32, a worker of the Muttahida Quami Movement in...		Journalist dead QUETTA, Feb 20: Senior journalist and former president of the Quetta Press Club Ikram Ahmed died in Karachi after a protracted illness. He was 47. He leaves behind his wife, three sons, parents, brothers and sisters....
Blast probe statements recorded KOHAT, Feb 20: Three witnesses of the Pass Kalay area of Hangu recorded their statements here on Monday before the inquiry commission probing into the Feb 9 bomb blast....		Bahawalpur ZC tax-free budget presented BAHAWALPUR, Feb 20: A Rs3.2 billion tax-free budget for the fiscal year 2005-06 has been presented in the district council meeting. The council will discuss the budget for two days....
Nominations of two PPP candidates accepted LAHORE, Feb 20: Accepting appeals of two PPP-P nominees from Punjab, the Election Commission has set aside returning officer’s orders rejecting their candidatures for Senate polls to be held on March 6....		PPP meeting today LAHORE, Feb 20: The Punjab PPP executive committee is due to meet here on Tuesday to discuss matters concerning the forthcoming Senate elections and the general situation in the country....