Today's Special

Pakistan, Japan ink 233-million-dollar soft loan agreement

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Japan on Friday signed an agreement under which Japan would provide a soft loan of US $ 233 million for development projects in Pakistan.

The signing ceremony was held at the Economic Affairs Division.

The agreement was signed by Sibtain Fazal Halim, Secretary Economic Affairs Division and Chihiro Atsumi, Ambassador of Japan to Pakistan.

Under the arrangement, Japan will provide a soft loan of US $ 233 million of which $60 million and $173 million would be for budgetary support and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Rural Road Project respectively.

This support is out of a total of $500 million pledged by Japan during the Pakistan Development Forum 2010.

Japan is providing these loans on highly concessional interest rate of 0.01 per cent per anum and to be remmitted over a period of 40 years including a grace period of 10 years.

On the occasion, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and EAD also signed the loan agreement for the budgetary support of $60 million.

The loan agreement for KP Rural Road Project will be signed after the approval of the project by the Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC) and the Cabinet.

The objective of the budgetary support is to help smooth the process of flood disaster restoration by providing import financing for goods and services essential to the recovery and reconstruction, thereby contributing to normalising and stabilising the living of flood victims and reviving the economy of the country in a timely manner.

Speaking on the occasion, the Secretary EAD thanked the government of Japan for their continued assistance to Pakistan for the socio-economic development of the country. He said that this assistance would also help further enhance the bi-lateral relations between the two friendly countries especially in the economic field.

In his remarks, the Japanese ambassador to Pakistan assured the support of his country to Pakistan for the socio economic development of the country and the people of Pakistan.

He further expressed hope that this assistance would help the government of Pakistan work effectively on rehabilitation and reconstruction of the flood-affected areas and would further strengthen the existing
friendly relations between the two countries.

Committee formed to resolve KESC issue

KARACHI: Chief Minister Sindh Qaim Ali Shah on Friday formed a four member committee headed by provincial minister Shazia Marri in order to resolve the issue of the sacking of 4,000 employees by the Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC).

A protest by the sacked employees was still going on outside the KESC head office adjacent to the Gizri grid.

The demonstration had started Thursday morning when hundreds of sacked employees erupted into protest shocked by their dismissal. Some of them vented their anger on KESC officials and property.

Earlier, reacting to the sacking of more than 4,000 employees by the KESC, MQM chief Altaf Hussain warned the power utility to reinstate them or face a ‘peaceful movement’.

North Waziristan tribesmen rally against US drone strikes

MIRAMSHAH: Some 2,000 Pakistanis in the North Waziristan tribal region pummelled by US missile strikes demonstrated Friday, calling for an end to the attacks and the arrest of the US officials behind them.

The covert, CIA-run missile program is a source of deep resentment in Pakistan, where many believe large numbers of civilians are killed and maimed in the drone-fired strikes. US officials insist the strikes are precise and kill primarily Taliban and al Qaeda militants hiding along the Afghan border.

The northwest tribal region is said to be home to several militant groups focused on attacking US and Nato forces in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Shop owners, students and other residents shouted anti-American slogans, and called for US Defence Secretary Robert Gates and the former CIA station chief in Islamabad to be brought to justice.

”They should be arrested and punished by the courts in America,” said Abdul Khan, a student leader.

Reportedly, around 150 armed Taliban militants watched the rally in North Waziristan’s main town of Miramshah. It was not immediately clear whether they had helped organise it.

Pakistan officially protests the strikes as violations of its sovereignty, but Pakistani security agencies are believed to secretly cooperate with the program. Last year, the US fired around 115 missile strikes into Pakistan in a major escalation of the campaign.

World ‘running out of Internet addresses’

SYDNEY: The world will run out of Internet addresses “within weeks”, according to one of the founding fathers of the web, a report said Friday.

Vint Cerf, who helped create the web by connecting computers using Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, said it was his “fault” that the 4.3 billion addresses created were running out, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

“I thought it was an experiment and I thought that 4.3 billion would be enough to do an experiment,” Cerf, who is Google’s vice president and “Chief Internet Evangelist”, was quoted as saying in an interview.

“Who the hell knew how much address space we needed?”

In 1977, Cerf created the web protocol IPv4, which connects computers globally, as part of an experiment while working with the US Department of Defense. He said he never expected his experiment “wouldn’t end”.

“It doesn’t mean the network stops, it just means you can’t build it very well,” Cerf said.

IP addresses are the unique sequence of numbers assigned to each computer, website or other internet-connected devices. They are not the same as website domain names.

The overwhelming number of devices now accessing the internet means the addresses are running out fast.

To resolve the crisis, an updated protocol for the Internet, IPv6, currently being planned by the industry, will create trillions of addresses.

As Google vice president Cerf, who was in Australia to address a conference, said he thought the new chief executive of the California-based giant, Larry Page, was ready to lead the company into the future.

In a surprise move, Google announced on Thursday that co-founder Page would replace Eric Schmidt as chief executive in April.

Schmidt, 55, a former chief executive of Novell, will remain with Google as executive chairman, focusing on deals, partnerships, customers and government outreach, Google said.

He will also act as an adviser to Page, 37, who served as CEO previously, from 1998 to 2001.

Cerf said Schmidt had been chief executive for 10 years – “a nice round number” – and Page was ready to lead the company into the future.

“Larry and Sergey are 10 years older than they were when they thoughtfully hired Eric to be the CEO… so everybody’s growing up,” Cerf said.

Google has grown over the past decade from a start-up battling other Internet search engines into a technology giant with nearly 25,000 employees and annual revenue of nearly $30 billion.

The company meanwhile reported its fourth-quarter net profit increased to $2.54 billion from $1.97 billion a year ago, while revenue rose 26 per cent to $8.44 billion.

World Bank approves loan, grant for Pakistan

WASHINGTON: The World Bank has approved a $250 million loan and a $35 million grant for Pakistan to help vulnerable communities in areas rocked by conflict.

The loan announced Thursday aims to bolster Pakistan’s recovery efforts in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata).

The grant, meanwhile, will be co-financed by the Multi-Donor Trust Fund (MDTF), the Washington-based international development lender said.

“This combined support comes at a critical juncture in order to assist the poor and vulnerable households to cope with income shock due to militancy crises in KP and Fata,” the bank added.

These areas have been hit by conflict for about a decade between the Pakistan army and militant groups believed close to al Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban.

LHC adjourns hearing in petition against Latif Khosa’s appointment

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday adjourned the hearing of the petition challenging Sardar Latif Khosa’s appointment as Punjab governor to January 28, DawnNews reported.

During today’s hearing, the petitioner’s counsel argued that Khosa was removed from the position of Attorney General Pakistan due to corruption allegations and therefore he was not qualified to hold the position of the governor.

Justice Umar Ata Bandial subsequently remarked that there were allegations against Khosa which have not yet been proved.

Seeking assistance of the additional advocate general and deputy attorney general on the case, the court later adjourned the hearing to January 28.

Khosa’s appointment as Punjab governor was challenged in the LHC on January 12 by one Nawaz Cheema.

Six killed as gunmen attack oil company convoy in Kohat

PESHAWAR: Gunmen attacked employees of a Hungarian oil and gas company returning from work in northwest Pakistan on Thursday, killing two of them and abducting two others. Four soldiers guarding the convoy were also killed, a top official said.

All those killed and seized in the incident in Kohat region were Pakistani nationals, said the area’s top administrator, Khalid Umerzai.

He said the victims were working for MOL Pakistan, a subsidiary of the MOL Group.

A receptionist at the company’s headquarters in Islamabad said the offices were empty late Thursday. The company’s website said it was developing oil and gas blocks in the Kohat area.

Kohat is a dangerous region close to the Afghan border where militants and criminal gangs are active.

The two-car convoy was being guarded by the Frontier Constabulary when it was attacked, said Umerzai. Four of its officers were killed, along with a driver and a worker, he said. Two other employees were abducted by the attackers, he said.

Pakistan has significant oil and gas reserves in the south and northwest, but exploiting them is risky given the precarious security situation. Militants have attacked employees of foreign and local companies before, leading many of them to scale back operations.

In 2009, a Polish geologist working for an oil and gas company in the northwest was kidnapped by militants and later beheaded. A Chinese engineer kidnapped in a separate incident was released unharmed after six months in captivity.

American Idol’ returns, with J.Lo but not Cowell

It’s a kinder ”American Idol” without Simon Cowell. Television’s top show returned with a makeover for its 10th season on Fox. Cowell, everyone’s favorite villain, is gone as a judge. So are Kara DioGuardi and Ellen DeGeneres, replaced with the star power of Jennifer Lopez and Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler. Original judge Randy Jackson remains. The first, two-hour episode accentuated the positive, an indication that producers are setting a different tone.

Past audition shows have seemed a procession of train wrecks, narrated by Cowell’s biting putdowns. But the first three contestants shown all made it through to Hollywood.

And the New Jersey auditions ended with two emotional stories: the daughter of a cancer survivor from Staten Island and a boy from the Bronx who kept to his dreams despite time spent living with his family in a homeless shelter. Both are only 16, and both were given go-aheads by the judges.

J.Lo in particular had a difficult time becoming J.No. She seemed in agony the first time she was shown rejecting a contestant.

”Oh, my God, I hate this!” she complained. ”Why did I sign up for this? I want to go home.” She got up to hug a contestant who was crying upon meeting her.

When the theatrical Ashley Sullivan auditioned, Jackson voted no. But when the tears started flowing, Lopez and Tyler overlooked their reservations to keep her in the competition.

”It’s our 10th season, and everything feels brand new,” host Ryan Seacrest said, adding that it was ”the most fun we’ve ever had.”

It’s all a gamble for ”American Idol,” no longer as dominant in the pop firmament as it once was. Last season’s finale was seen by 24 million people, down 5 million from the big night the season before.

The show’s offseason turmoil was dismissed in a two-minute review at the show’s beginning.

”Forget what you think you know,” the show proclaimed, ”because the best is yet to come.”

And the show quickly signaled what producers have been saying, that they want more emphasis on the contestants’ stories.

”This isn’t our story,” Seacrest said. ”It’s yours.”
Tyler easily played the part of the rakish rock star, taking quick notice of the appearance of several female singers and being bleeped for off-color remarks twice in the first six minutes.

”Just the right amount (of leg) shows,” the 62-year-old rocker said, looking at the dress of an energetic 16-year-old contestant.

Your ticket to the Golden Globes ceremony

68th annual ceremony is unfolding at the Beverly Hilton Hotel’s International Ballroom, where hundreds of stars, from Sandra Bullock to Michael Douglas are taking part in one of Hollywood’s hottest parties of the year. Here’s a running view from inside the festivities, where some of the most colorful moments happen.