Stocks at KSE gain 28% in 2010

Pakistan`s main stock market closed out 2010 with a 28 percent annual gain, driven by foreign buying mainly in the energy sector, despite concerns about thecountry`s macroeconomic indicators after summer floods

Written on January 1, 2011 | Posted in 2010, Pakistan, UN, floods, unlmitie

US, India sign nuclear reprocessing pact

WASHINGTON: The United States and India signed an agreement Friday enabling the Asian power to reprocess American nuclear material, a key requirement under their landmark atomic energy pact. So far, Washington has reprocessing deals only with European Union members and Japan. The arrangement with India reflects President Barack Obama’’s “strong commitment to building successfully on the landmark US-India Civil Nuclear Cooperation Initiative and is a prerequisite for US nuclear fuel suppliers to conduct business with India,” a statement from the State Department said. The reprocessing agreement was signed in Washington by US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Bill Burns and Indian envoy to the US Meera Shankar. The United States and India signed their nuclear agreement in 2008, part of the deepening relationship between the world’’s two largest democracies. But US companies have yet to benefit from the agreement because of lingering technicalities. In the meantime, Russian and French rivals have been making headway in India’’s growing market. India is to reprocess the US spent nuclear fuel at a new facility to be established under International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards, the statement said. Arrangements under the pact signed Friday “will facilitate participation by US firms in India’’s expanding civil nuclear energy sector,” it said. The civil nuclear agreement has opened significant new commercial opportunities for the United States across India’’s multi-billion-dollar nuclear energy market. They include the designation of two nuclear reactor park sites for US technology in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, the statement said. “Increased civil nuclear trade with India will create thousands of new jobs for the US economy while helping India to meet its rising energy needs in an environmentally responsible way by reducing the growth of carbon emissions.”

Written on July 31, 2010 | Posted in America, Economy, ISI, International, USA, aid, cia, europe, fair, india, jobs, technology, trade

US hopes for nuclear talks with Iran, other powers

WASHINGTON: The United States said Wednesday it hoped for high-level talks in the coming weeks with Iran and five other world powers that are working with Washington to try to curb Tehran’’s nuclear ambitions. US optimism for such talks came after Iran vowed Tuesday to press ahead with its atomic program in the face of tough new EU sanctions while at the same time expressing readiness to resume nuclear talks. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said “we hope to have the same kind of meeting in the coming weeks that we had last October,” in which Iran was urged to accept a nuclear fuel swap as a confidence building measure. “There have been contacts between Iran” and the European Union’’s high representative, Catherine Ashton, about a “prospective meeting,” he said. “I”ve got nothing to announce here but… we obviously are fully prepared to follow up with Iran on specifics regarding our initial proposal… involving the Tehran Research Reactor” and related issues. Under the deal from last year, Iran would ship most of its low-grade uranium to France and Russia so that it could be further enriched and returned to the Tehran Research Reactor to make medical isotopes. The deal, backed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), would buy time amid US concerns that Iran seeks to enrich uranium to levels needed for a nuclear bomb — even though Iran insists its program is peaceful. Crowley did not say specifically why he was optimistic about the holding of a meeting among senior officials from Iran, the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany. However, he said the United States had received a copy of a letter from Iran given in the last few days to the IAEA, the UN nuclear watchdog, and said US officials were reviewing it.

Written on July 29, 2010 | Posted in International, Iran, News, aid, china, cia, europe

Qureshi gives go-ahead to IAEA for nuke plants inspection

MULTAN: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said Pakistan entered two nuclear power plants with China to steer Pakistan out of energy crisis and the agreement with Iran is in line with the same perspective, Geo News reported Thursday. He said this while addressing a ceremony in connection with inauguration of Muslim Commercial Bank’s new premises here and later on talked to media. Pakistan is a responsible country and no such incident ever happened with regard to its nuclear program that could risk human life, Qureshi said adding Pak-China power plants are open to International Atomic Energy Agency’’s (IAEA), whenever they want they may inspect them. He observed the agreement of Afghan Transit Trade entered between Pakistan and Afghanistan is 45 years old, adding a new treaty is in the offing to be entered with Afghanistan, for which an inter-ministerial committee is working and 90 percent work has been completed in this regard. Similarly, a cargo train is being mulled over to run between Islamabad and Turkey, for which experiment has been conducted and Pakistan Railways are being upgraded for the purpose, he informed.

Written on July 1, 2010 | Posted in ISI, International, Iran, News, Pakistan, Politics, afghan, afghanistan, aid, ban, china, cia, islam, islamabad, media, trade

UAE ”taking action” to maintain nuclear security

ABU DHABI: The United Arab Emirates is “taking action” to maintain nuclear security, its envoy to the atomic watchdog said on Tuesday after a reported UAE crackdown on Iranian firms dealing in dangerous materials. The UAE was “taking action to ensure that nuclear security is maintained and also countering any potential threats that would be utilised for any non-peaceful purposes,” said Hamad al-Kaabi, the ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). “As a result of the implementation of UN Security Council resolutions, the UAE forces have stopped activities that fall under banned activities under these international instruments,” Kaabi told reporters after a two-day meeting of members of the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism (GICNT). About a week ago, the vice-president of the Iranian Business Council in Dubai, Morteza Masoumzadeh, told AFP that Iranian trade in the Gulf state “are observing a very strict application of the UN sanctions against Iran.” However, the Emirati ambassador insisted that Iranian shipments were not the only ones targeted. “There were multiple shipments held to multiple destinations, so it’’s not one shipment going to one country or another,” he said. Last week, Gulf News quoted an unnamed UAE official as saying the emirate has closed down 40 international and local firms as part of a crackdown on companies that violate UN sanctions on Iran. These companies have been dealing in “dual-use and dangerous materials banned under UN resolutions and the nuclear non-proliferation treaty,” the official said. “What we do on export control is being affected by our policy but also an implementation of the international obligation that the UAE is obligated to… the UN Security Council resolutions in this regard,” Kaabi said. On June 9, the UN Security Council slapped a fourth round of sanctions on Iran over its controversial nuclear drive, this time tightening the noose on military and financial transactions. The resolution bans the sale to Iran of eight new types of heavy weapons and applies new restrictions on Iranian investments abroad.

Written on June 30, 2010 | Posted in IPL, International, Iran, News, Terrorism, aid, ban, banned, cia, dha, export, military, trade

Nuke deal with China strictly in accordance with IAEA rules, insists Pak

Pakistan has reiterated that its civil nuclear deal with China is in accordance with the norms set out by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Written on June 28, 2010 | Posted in International, Pakistan, china, unlmitie

New Iran sanctions could hit Pakistan: US

ISLAMABAD: The US warned Pakistan that a recently signed gas pipeline deal with Iran could run afoul of new sanctions being finalized in Congress, the US special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan said Sunday. Richard Holbrooke delivered the message during a visit to Pakistan, his first since Iran inked a contract earlier this month to export 21.5 million cubic meters (760 million cubic feet) of gas per day to Pakistan beginning in 2014. “We cautioned the Pakistanis to try to see what the (Congressional) legislation is before deciding how to proceed because it would be a disaster if … we had a situation develop where an agreement was reached which then triggered something under the law,” said Holbrooke. The US Congress is currently finalizing a new set of sanctions largely aimed at Iran’’s petroleum industry. Both houses have passed versions of the sanctions and are working to reconcile their differences. While US officials have expressed opposition to the Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline deal, the issue is complicated by Washington’’s reliance on Pakistan’’s cooperation to fight al-Qaida and the Taliban. The US also acknowledges that Pakistan faces a severe energy crisis and has made aid to the energy sector one of its top development priorities. Electricity shortages in Pakistan cause rolling blackouts that affect businesses and intensify suffering during the hot summer months.

Written on June 20, 2010 | Posted in ISI, Iran, News, Pakistan, Politics, War, afghan, afghanistan, aid, ban, cia, export, industry, islam, islamabad, live, taliban

France ready to start Iran talks at IAEA: Sarkozy

ST PETERSBURG: France is ready to start talks with Iran over its nuclear programme at the International Atomic Energy Agency “without delay”, French President Nicolas Sarkozy told Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Saturday. The talks would be held “on the basis of Brazilian and Turkish efforts and the response sent out by Russia, France and the United States (on June 9)”, a spokesman for Sarkozy’s office said. “Sarkozy reminded that we also would like a revival of negotiations with the Six (group of world powers) and with Iran on the whole of the nuclear issue,” the spokesman added.

Written on June 20, 2010 | Posted in International, Iran, aid

Pakistan defends nuclear cooperation with China

Islamabad, June 18, IRNA — Pakistan on Thursday defended its civilian nuclear cooperation with China and said the program is under the safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Written on June 18, 2010 | Posted in International, Pakistan, aid, china, islam, islamabad, unlmitie

China defends Pakistan nuclear cooperation as ”peaceful”

BEIJING: China on Thursday defended its nuclear cooperation with Pakistan as peaceful after the United States announced it had sought clarification from Beijing on the sale of two reactors to Islamabad. “China and Pakistan have maintained cooperation in recent years in the civilian use of nuclear energy,” foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters when asked about the US reaction to the deal. “This cooperation is in line with our respective international obligations and totally for peaceful purposes, and has International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards and supervision.” The state-run China National Nuclear Corporation has agreed to finance two civilian nuclear reactors in Pakistan’’s Punjab province. The deal comes after China in 2004 entered the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), a group of nuclear energy states that forbids exports to nations lacking strict International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards. On Tuesday, US State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters the United States had asked China to clarify details of the deal, which he said must be approved by the NSG.

Written on June 17, 2010 | Posted in ISI, International, News, Pakistan, aid, china, export, islam, islamabad

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