Lahore, Nov 5: Setting up tandoors on roadsides is a lucrative business in Lahore these days, especially after the launch of the “Sasti Roti” scheme by the Punjab government. Under the scheme, those running tandoors or road-side dhabas would get a 20-kg bag of flour at Rs 250.

After the launch of the scheme, the number of registered tandoors and hotels in Lahore has reached almost 3300, against around 1450 till one and-a-half months back.

Washington, Nov 5: Pakistan embassy in the US has reportedly said that there was no “secret agreement” achieved between the two countries regarding Predator bombings in Pakistan’s tribal areas, as being reported in a section of the American press.

A portion of the US media had repeatedly carried reports recently that Islamabad and Washington had agreed to a secret pact, according to which the former would continue to publicly protest against the US drone strikes on its tribal areas, “but privately would have no objection”.

Reacting to such reports in the American press, a spokesman at the Pakistan embassy said that the understanding between the two countries was “open and public”, reported the Daily Times.

Karachi, Nov 5 : A 20-year-old Karachi girl who ran from pillar to post for months together in getting her jailed parents in India released, died after she consumed an overdose of intoxicating drugs here Monday evening. The dead girl Saba’s parents are presently lodged in Jodhpur Jail after they were caught by Indian authorities from the Attari Border while returning to their home.

The parents - father Mohammad Hussain and her mother Yasmin - were arrested on the charge of tampering with their passports.

Over the past few months, Saba contacted Pakistani authorities and even the media to highlight her plight. But, she decided to take the extreme step of ending her life after she failed to convince any of the authorities to come to her help.

Islamabad, Nov 5: Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has appealed to the next US President to halt missile strikes on suspected Taliban targets in northwest Pakistan or risk failure in efforts against terrrorism.

Gilani said that visiting US General David Petraeus ‘looked convinced’ when he warned him the strikes were inflaming anti-American sentiment within Pakistan, but that he got no guarantee that they would end.

Islamabad - Thirteen Taliban militants and three security personnel were killed Tuesday in aerial strikes by government forces and attacks by Islamist insurgents in north-west Pakistan, officials and media reports said.

A suicide bomber ploughed his explosive-laden car into a security wall around an army post, located in Doaba town in the restive Hangu district of North West Frontier Province.