Lahore: President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday blamed national and international forces for his Pakistan Peoples Party defeat in the May 11 polls while the party's losing candidates held former premiers Yousuf Raza Gilani and Raja Pervez Ashraf responsible for the debacle. In a meeting with PPP ticket-holders of Punjab province at his private residence here, Zardari claimed some "international forces" did not want the party to come to power again.
"These forces were not happy with the (outgoing) PPP government's agreements with the countries in the region," he said. PPP leaders believe that the US was not happy over the previous government's agreements for a gas pipeline and the management of Gwadar Port with Iran and China, respectively. Zardari said the mandate of the PPP had been "stolen" but it would play an effective role at the centre as an opposition party. He said he would actively participate in politics after completing his tenure as President in September.
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01:05 AM, May 21, 2013
No Mercedes or BMW here. Actress and TV host Mandira Bedi surprised onlookers as she drove to an event in a TATA Nano. The event was organised by People Magazine and had Deepika Padukone, Huma Quereshi and other film stars as part of the guest list. We think Mandira opted for the small car to beat Mumbai's traffic. Also, it was nice to see a celebrity having the 'courage' to...
11:32 AM, May 20, 2013
Burdwan: West Bengal Agriculture Minister Malay Ghatak on Saturday said he has received a letter threatening to kill him and his family unless he resigned from the Cabinet and quit Trinamool Congress. "I saw the letter this evening. It was sent by post from Kharagpur in West Midnapore district on May 13 by N Rama Rao of Indian People's Liberation Army," Ghatak told reporters. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the...
07:59 AM, May 19, 2013
Nawaz Sharif's PML-N bagged 125 of the 272 directly elected seats in Pakistan's National Assembly but fell short of a majority and is poised to form a government with support of independents and smaller parties. ...
11:47 AM, May 18, 2013
Islamabad: Nawaz Sharif's PML-N has emerged as the single largest party in Pakistan's landmark General Elections with 123 of the 272 Parliamentary seats but fell short of a majority and would form a government with support of independents and smaller parties. The PML-N's two closest rivals the Pakistan People's Party and Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf lagged far behind with 32 and 27 seats, respectively. Earlier, trends from the counting of...
08:50 PM, May 14, 2013
Bhopal: A private medical college is under scrutiny for selling seats. The Health Ministry and Medical Council of India have cracked down on the People's Medical College in Madhya Pradesh. The college had illegally admitted over 240 students between 2009 and 2012, openly flouting MCI norms. What's more is that in 2012, it had refused to admit students under merit quota, after which the state government had moved court. The...
01:18 PM, May 14, 2013
Lahore: Former premier Yousuf Raza Gilani on Monday resigned from the post of vice-chairman of the Pakistan People's Party, accepting responsibility for its resounding defeat in the general election. "I am tendering the resignation on the basis of the election results," Gilani told a news conference in his hometown of Multan. "The PPP did not want to contest the May 11 elections but President Asif Ali Zardari did not let...
11:13 PM, May 13, 2013
New Delhi: The Assam government on Monday stepped up security on the North East Frontier Railway (NEFR) after a threat issued by a tribal group to disrupt traffic. The group, called the Adivasi People's Army, issued a threat to disrupt rail traffic at Srirampur and Kokrajhar in Assam. Kokrajhar in Assam is a sensitive area that witnessed violent clashes between different groups in 2012. Four Bodoland Territorial Administered Districts (BTAD)...
05:33 PM, May 13, 2013
Islamabad/Lahore: Party-wise National Assembly results: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) - 125 (Unofficial, Geo News) Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf (PTI) - 31 (Unofficial, Geo News) Independent - 31 (Unofficial, Geo News) Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) - 32 (Unofficial, Geo News) Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI) - 10 (Unofficial, Geo News) Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) - 3 Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PKMAP) - 3 Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) - 17 Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) - 2 National Party...
07:57 AM, May 13, 2013
Millions of Pakistanis will go to the polls on Saturday to vote for a landmark democratic transition of power after a bloody campaign marred by Taliban violence, that killed over 100 people, forced key parties to abandon rallies and large gatherings. ...
11:50 PM, May 10, 2013
Millions of Pakistanis will go to the polls on Saturday to vote for a landmark democratic transition of power after a bloody campaign marred by Taliban violence, that killed over 100 people, forced key parties to abandon rallies and large gatherings. ...
11:16 PM, May 10, 2013
Karachi: An independent candidate was on Friday shot dead, while a Pakistan People's Party nominee went missing in the port city of Karachi. Three people, including MQM (Haqiqi)-backed independent candidate Shakeel Ahmed, were killed in the shootout between two rival groups, police said. Shakeel had earlier filed nomination papers as a MQM (Haqiqi) candidate, but his papers were rejected by the Election Commission. He filed an appeal and was allowed...
11:12 PM, May 10, 2013
Islamabad: Millions of Pakistanis will go to the polls on Saturday to vote for a landmark democratic transition of power after a bloody campaign marred by Taliban violence, that killed over 100 people, forced key parties to abandon rallies and large gatherings. Sixty three-year-old Nawaz Sharif-led PML-N is widely tipped to emerge as the single largest party in the polls. He could end up becoming a premier for the third...
10:39 PM, May 10, 2013
Islamabad: Former Pakistan cricket star Imran Khan's party was enjoying a late surge of support on Friday, the eve of a landmark election, raising the prospect of a fragmented Parliament that could lead to weeks of haggling to form a coalition government. The failure of the major parties to capture a commanding lead raises the risk a weak government will emerge, clouding optimism over the first transition between civilian governments...
02:34 PM, May 10, 2013
Beijing: China on Wednesday accused the United States of sowing discord between China and its neighbours after the Pentagon said Beijing is using espionage to fuel its military modernisation, branding Washington the "real hacking empire". The latest salvo came a day after China's foreign ministry dismissed as groundless a Pentagon report which accused China for the first time of trying to break into US defence computer networks. The Pentagon also...
11:32 AM, May 08, 2013
Washington: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi are among 16 Indians who have found a place in the prestigious Foreign Policy magazine's list of the 500 most powerful people on the planet. Apart from them, Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Defence Minister AK Antony and External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid are also in the list. Indian spiritual leaders Baba Ramdev and Sri Sri Ravishankar are also in the...
04:45 PM, May 01, 2013
Beijing: China on Sunday took note of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's remarks over PLA's incursion into the Depsang Valley and said that it is willing to work with New Delhi to deal with differences while maintaining peace at borders and forging strategic cooperative partnership. "We have noted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement," a statement by the Chinese Foreign Ministry said. "The two sides have been in communication through the working...
07:25 PM, Apr 28, 2013
Islamabad: The first general elections in Pakistan that will usher in a smooth democratic transfer of power in 66 years is likely to go down to the wire with no party expected to get a majority. With less than two weeks to go for the landmark election to choose the 342-member National Assembly, two-time former premier Nawaz Sharif appears to have an edge over others and his group may emerge...
01:03 PM, Apr 28, 2013
Rome: Italian centre-left politician Enrico Letta said on Saturday he had won support of other parties to form a coalition government that will include one of former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's closest allies as deputy prime minister. Letta met President Giorgio Napolitano after talks with Berlusconi and leaders of his centre-right People of Freedom (PDL) party to confirm that he had reached an accord which would clear the way for...
11:10 PM, Apr 27, 2013
New Delhi: It is still not clear whether the flag meeting India requested China to resolve the impasse will take place on Friday or not. But China does seem to be softening its stand and is talking about the need for friendly relations between neighbours. "I would also like to stress that China and India are neighbours. Since the border line is not drawn, problems of one kind or another...
08:21 AM, Apr 26, 2013
