Pak names squad for ODI series against Australia

LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced a team for one-day series against Australia. Shoaib Akhtar is also included in the team.

The chief selector of PCB selection committee Abdul Qadir has announced the team during a press conference here.

A five matches series will be played in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. First and second match of the series will be played in Dubai on April 22 and April 24 respectively.

Three matches will be played in Abu Dhabi on April 27, May1 and May3. The team is as follows:

Younis Khan(captain), Salman Butt, Nasir Jamsheed, Misbahul Haq, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal(wicket keeper), Shoaib Akhter, Umer Gul, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Sohail Tanveer, Yasir Arfat, Fawwad Alam, Ahmad Shahzad and Saeed Ajmal.

KSE-100 Index surges above 7500 level

KARACHI: Investors buying continued at Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) on Monday, pushing the benchmark KSE-100 Index up by 86 points to close at 7,518.

Selling pressure was witnessed at the beginning of today’s trade but later buying in banking and energy stocks switched the share market in positive mode. At the end the major Index gained 86 points to 7,518.

Trade volume was recorded at 380 million shares which is highest in the last 12 months.

NIB bank was today’s volume leader which gained paisas 40 to close at Rs6.25.

Clinton says U.N. should take strong NKorea position

WASHINGTON: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday said North Korea's weekend missile launch had "grave implications" and the first response should be a forceful position taken at the United Nations.

The U.N. Security Council had held an emergency session on Sunday, but the 15 members agreed only to further discussions after North Korea launched a Taepodong-2 rocket.

"It's a provocative act that has grave implications. North Korea ignored its international obligations, rejected the unequivocal calls for restraint, and further isolated itself from the community of nations," Clinton told reporters.

She said U.S. officials were in active consultations with members of the U.N. Security Council and countries engaged in six-party talks over North Korea's nuclear program.

"We know that working out the language is not easily done overnight but we remain convinced that coming out with a strong position in the United Nations is the first and important step that we intend to take," Clinton said.

Six-party talks among the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States have been stalled since December.

"North Korea has to know that any efforts to obtain the objectives it set forth as desiring in the six-party talks are put at jeopardy. But we're going to take this one step at a time," she said.

Govt to draft comprehensive policy to curb terrorism

ISLAMABAD: A comprehensive and integrated policy involving all stakeholders will be devised to completely eradicate the scourge of terrorism and extremism from the soil of the country, Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani said Monday.

He stated this while chairing a high level meeting on national security specially convened here at the Prime Minister Secretariat in the wake of recent increase in the incidents of terrorism in the country.

During the meeting various preventive measures to effectively combat the scourge of terrorism were discussed at length.

The meeting decided that the existing Parliamentary Committee on National Security in its report shall also incorporate the root causes of extremism as well as assess the present threats, prepare a draft national policy to handle this extraordinary state of insurgency, devise a de-radicalization program to bring the religious elements into mainstream, devise ways and means to bring the Madaris to the mainstream and enhance capacity building of law enforcement agencies.

In the preparation of its report, the Parliamentary Committee shall also co-opt Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira, Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Hamid Saeed Kazmi, Secretary Interior, Chief Secretaries and IGPs of the four provinces, Chief Commissioner and IGP of ICT, AJK and NAs, all home secretaries and DG FIA.

The committee will finalize its report within two weeks time.

The Prime Minister stressed that all provincial governments, FATA administration and law enforcement agencies should enhance vigilance and ensure protection and security of citizens as it is the basic responsibility of the government to maintain law and order.

The Prime Minister further said that the time has come when all segments of the society should come forward and join hands to substantiate government’s efforts to curb extremism, militancy, intolerance, sectarian violence and terrorism as the enemies of the state are bent upon eroding the very foundations of our country and challenging the integrity, security and national cohesion.

He said that his government would deal sternly with these threats.

During the meeting, it was decided that the provincial governments should monitor activities of banned organizations, misuse of loudspeakers and spread of hate literature.

Monday’s meeting was attended by the Prime Minister of AJ&K Sardar Mohammad Yaqoob Khan, Federal Minister for Defence Ahmad Mukhtar, Federal Minister for Information & Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira, Interior Advisor Rehman Malik, Chief Minister Punjab Mian Mohammad Shahbaz Sharif, Chief Minister Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah, Chief Minister NWFP Mir Amir Haider Khan Hoti, Chief Minister Balochistan Nawab Aslam Raeesani, Secretary Interior, Chief Secretaries and IGPs of all the four provinces, Chief Commissioner and IGP of ICT, DG FIA and DG IB.

Gates presses for more 50 unmanned Predators

WASHINGTON: Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Monday outlined plans to "profoundly reform" US military spending, urging a scaling back of major weapons programs while boosting funds for counter-insurgency warfare.

Gates said he was proposing halting production of F-22 fighter jets, canceling a new presidential helicopter and delaying ship building plans, while bolstering funding for surveillance drones and other resources for campaigns against insurgents like the ones in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In hardware, the plan calls for more unmanned Predator drone aircraft, which have been increasingly used under the Obama administration to strike at terrorist camps in the remote Afghanistan-Pakistan border regions.

"If approved, these recommendations will profoundly reform how this department does business," Gates told a news conference.

The defense secretary said he had tried to balance the need to combat immediate threats posed by insurgents linked to terror networks, with more traditional threats associated with conventional warfare.

"Collectively, they (the recommendations) represent a budget crafted to reshape the priorities of America's defense establishment," he said.

The budget was designed to help "fight the wars we are in today and the scenarios we are most likely to face in the years to come," said Gates, whose proposals will likely face stiff opposition from some members of Congress.

In an unusual step, Gates said he briefed lawmakers about his recommendations before making his proposals public.

"The president agreed to this unorthodox approach ... because of the scope and significance of the changes," he said.

The move suggested Gates and President Barack Obama were bracing for a political battle with lawmakers and influential defense industry contractors, who have often rebuffed past attempts to slash mammoth weapons projects.

The Pentagon chief said he recommended ending production for the F-22 Raptors, saying there was no need to greatly expand the aircraft fleet beyond the already approved production of 187.