Islamabad, Nov 11 : Former Pakistan prime minister Shaukat Aziz made as many as 50 foreign visits between 2004 and 2007, costing the national exchequer more than Rs one billion (Rs 100 crores).
Details of Aziz’s foreign visits provided by the country’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi show that in 2004, the former prime minister visited 11 countries – Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, UAE, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Maldives, India and China – that cost the national kitty Rs 92.02 million. With 81 people making up his entourage and a bill of Rs 24.57 million, the five-day visit to China proved to be the costliest for the year.
Khar, Nov 11: Around 13 Taliban fighters were killed and several injured in a Pakistani Army operation in Swat and Bajaur on Monday.
According to official sources, five of the Taliban, including a local commander, were killed in clashes in Moragai and Shalkho areas of Matta tehsil, while another two were killed in a separate clash in Swat’s Kabal tehsil.
Islamabad, Nov 11 : Pakistani security forces retrieved all the 15 trucks which were hijacked by the Taliban earlier on Monday while they were en route to Afghanistan to deliver goods to US-led coalition forces.
At least two Taliban fighters were killed in the operation carried out to retrieve the trucks. “We have successfully recovered all the trucks ... two militants were killed and five wounded in the operation,” a foreign news agency report quoted official Rahat Khan as saying.
13 of the trucks contained wheat and two were carrying military vehicles. The trucks were seized at four places along a road leading to the Afghan border, the Daily Times quoted official sources as saying.
Lahore, Nov 11: PCB Director General Salim Altaf has been appointed as the new Chief Operating Officer of the Board. He replaces Shafqat Naghmi who was sacked last month.
In other important PCB appointments after new PCB chief Ijaz Butt took over, former Test opener Aamir Sohail was appointed as the National Cricket Academy (NCA) director, replacing Mudassar Nazar who left for a coaching post with the International Cricket Council (ICC) last month.
Lahore, Nov 11: A few Afghan-based money exchange firms are facilitating illegal export of US dollars from Pakistan to Afghanistan, thus causing a massive devaluation of the Pakistani rupee against the US dollar, said State Bank of Pakistan Governor Shamshad Akhtar in a communiqué to the country’s Interior Adviser Rehman Malik.
She requested to investigate the matter and ensure that more vigilance was exercised on currency smuggling.
According to rough estimates, some 4-5 million dollars per day are being smuggled to Afghanistan, while the rising demand of the dollar has also increased its value against other currencies.
Lahore, Nov 11: Pakistan is learnt to hav
Khar, Nov 11: Around 13 Taliban fighters were killed and several injured in a Pakistani Army operation in Swat and Bajaur on Monday.
Lahore, Nov 11: PCB Director General Salim Altaf has been appointed as the new Chief Operating Officer of the Board. He replaces Shafqat Naghmi who was sacked last month.
