Pakistan Parliament Made History

The historic, last session of the National Assembly on Thursday witnessed remorse, suggestions, criticism, and praises by the legislators, who shared their experience of being members of the House all these five years, across the political divide.

Parliament made history by becoming the first one in the country to complete a full term in office, dissolving in a low-key session that paves the way for elections. Perhaps, considering it the ‘last’ opportunity to express their emotions, a large number of lawmakers, who had hardly pressed the buzzer to take the floor in any piece of legislation or a debate, were kept waiting for their turn till the last minute of the around six-hour session. The session that started on February 18, 2013 has prorogued on completion of its business,” said Yasmeen Rehman of the PPP, reading out a letter from President Zardari.

Some Opp lawmakers expressed annoyance over failures to pay heed to the matter of Kala Bagh Dam, proper legislation on new provinces, law and order situation and power crisis. Besides, four resolutions, including the one moved by the JUI-F chief calling on the UN to help the Kashmiris get their right to self-determination, were unanimously passed. “India should stop brutal actions against the Kashmiris and atrocities inflicted on people who are protesting the execution of Afzal Guru,” read the resolution. The three other resolutions passed were about condemning the practice of discouraging girl child education, paying rich tribute to Benazir Bhutto for her innumerable sacrifices and services to the people of Pakistan, and acknowledging extraordinary work of the Women Parliamentary Caucus. The PM was among the very few lawmakers who turned out for the last session of the 13th National Assembly, consisting mostly of farewell speeches.

Taliban Militant Commander Killed In Fire Exchange In Karachi City Coastal Area of Pakistan

A commander of the banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Qari Bilal was killed in a shootout with security forces on Thursday in port city of Karachi, local media reported.

Qari Bilal was involved in the murder of Parveen Rehman, a social worker who was gunned down in Karachi on Wednesday, according to senior police officer Javed Odho.

A targeted operation led by Rangers personnel took place in Karachi’s Korangi industrial area’s Mehran Town locality, during which 26 suspected militants, including three activists of proscribed outfits were taken into custody.

Rangers siege Mehran Town at 4:00 in the morning and blocked its entry and exit points.

They refused to let people enter the area and also imposed restrictions on anyone leaving.

Later, they conducted house-to-house searches in the locality.

Sources said several suspects, including some from banned groups, were detained during the operation. Moreover, caches of weapons were recovered during the raids.

Over 1,000 Rangers were involved in the operation.

Separately, four people were reported killed in incidents of violence.

Two bodies bearing torture marks were recovered from the city’s Malir River. Police said the bodies were of two brothers who had been kidnapped a day earlier from Khokhrapar.

Another body was also found near the city’s Ahsanabad area.

Moreover, one person was killed in a firing incident in Karachi’s Malir Town’s Model Colony.

Trade Balance Gap of Pakistan Between Exports & Imports Narrows

ISLAMABAD: The trade deficit contracted 10% to $13.26 billion in the first eight months of the current fiscal year on the back of healthy growth in exports and a continuous decline in imports.

Compared to the country’s exports worth $15.9 billion in July-February 2012-13, the import bill stood at $29.1 billion, according to figures released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics here on Tuesday.

This resulted in trade deficit – imports exceeding exports – of $13.2 billion, but it was 10.1% lower than the trade gap of $14.7 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year.

In July-February of the current fiscal year, exports grew 5% or $756 million than the previous year. On the other hand, imports dropped 2.4% or $719 million compared to a year earlier.

As a developing nation, a reasonable growth in trade deficit is considered a reflection of a growing economy. But despite deterioration in international trade, shrinking foreign loans and plunging investments, there seems to be no urgency in relevant quarters to take required policy actions.

Over the last five years, foreign investment has decreased dramatically. In 2008, foreign investment stood at $5.5 billion, which has plunged to just $684 million in the first half of the current fiscal year.

Similarly, inflows of loans are much lower than the amount being paid to retire principal loans and make interest payments.

In February alone, the trade figures depicted a somewhat depressing trend as both exports and imports contracted and trade deficit widened 6.6% over the same month of previous year.

In the month, exports dropped 8.7% year-on-year as goods worth $1.84 billion were shipped, $175 million less than exports made in February 2012, according to the PBS. Imports shrank 2.3% in the previous month to $3.4 billion, $79 million lower than the import bill in February last year. As a result, the trade gap increased 6.6% to $1.55 billion over a year ago.

The Asian Development Bank has cautioned Pakistan that the country immediately needs a $9 billion relief package from the International Monetary Fund to avert a balance of payments crisis, which is already setting in.

However, economic managers insist that they have a substantial foreign exchange cushion that can finance three months of imports, an assessment made without taking into account forward contracts where the State Bank of Pakistan has pledged over $2 billion.

On month-on-month basis, exports and imports slowed down at almost the same pace in February over January. Exports dipped 9.3% while imports fell 10%, with the deficit narrowing by 11%.

Commander of Taleban Killed In Afghanistan's Nangarhar

A local Taliban commander has been killed in a joint military operation by Afghan security forces and US-led soldiers in Afghanistan’s eastern province of Nangarhar.

According to a statement released by the US-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) on Tuesday, “An Afghan and coalition security force killed Taliban leader, Hamza, during an operation in Khugyani district, Nangarhar Province, yesterday.”

“Hamza was responsible for coordinating and conducting attacks against Afghan and coalition forces in Khugyani district,” the statement added.

On February 12, a senior Taliban commander was killed in a joint military operation carried out by Afghan forces and the US-led soldiers in Afghanistan’s southern province of Kandahar.

Following the operation, ISAF issued a statement saying that “Tor Jan, also known as Graan, was a Taliban leader and facilitator who organized attacks against Afghan and coalition forces...The security forces conducted a precision strike, killing him.”

European First TBM Interceptor Missile System

French/Italian SAMP/T surface-to-air missile system successfully engaged and destroyed a theatre ballistic missile target in a live-fire test at the French Firing Range in Biscarrosse and proved its ability to work with NATO’s interim Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) command and control system.


After several successful tests conducted with the NATO BMD Integration Test Bed, this live firing event linked the actual SAMP/T system to the NATO BMD chain of command. It was the final test of the SAMP/T system’s capability and interoperability with NATO command and control ahead of the planned adding of the system to the inventory of NATO missile defence assets in late 2013.

The SAMP/T is already in operations with the French Air Force and the Italian Army in an air defence role and is planned to reach its missile defence initial operational capability in 2013.

The system is part of the French and Italian contribution to the NATO theatre missile defence architecture. It is the first European-made interceptor system that is going to be available.

“This successful test is a milestone as it broadens the range of capabilities available for use in NATO’s missile defence,” said Alessandro Pera, Director of the Ballistics Missile Defence Programme at the NATO Communication and Information (NCI) Agency, “The link and data transfer between the NATO command and control centre in Air Command Ramstein and the SAMP/T system worked very well.”

Falklands Islands Referendum

Residents of the Falkland Islands voted overwhelmingly to remain part of Britain in a referendum Monday, adding to the heated territorial dispute between Argentina and Britain about the remote islands.

The official count showed that nearly 100 percent of all votes cast approved the question for the self-governing island to remain an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom, with only three "no" votes cast. Officials say 92 percent of the island's 1,650 eligible voters cast a ballot in the referendum.

The vote was never in doubt, with islanders wearing outfits resembling the red, white and blue British Union Jack flag in the capital of Stanley.

Residents hope the vote will send a signal not only to Buenos Aires, but the rest of the world, about their wishes to remain under British rule.

"There's been an extremely high turnout of people and the vote is surprising, even to me," said Nigel Haywood, Falkland Islands governor. "Its absolutely positive and I think the message that it sends out is to countries around the world that, when Argentina comes talking to you and saying, 'Look, we have a claim on the islands', those countries can say, well, 'Stop.'"

But Argentina has dismissed the referendum as illegitimate. Alicia Castro, Argentina's ambassador to the United Kingdom, told an Argentine radio station that although Buenos Aires respects the islanders' "way of life" and their identity as British subjects, the island itself is belongs to Argentina. Castro says the issue must be resolved directly between Britain and Argentina.

Argentine President Cristina Kirschner has become increasingly vocal in expressing her country's claim of sovereignty of the remote islands, called Malvinas in Spanish. Argentina's military government invaded the Falklands in 1982, but lost control after a brief war with Britain that left more than 900 people dead.