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Gilani offers to resign: report

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Monday offered to resign shortly after the Supreme Court served him a notice for contempt of court for failing to reopen graft cases against the President, according to a media report.

Gilani told a meeting of top leaders of the Pakistan People’s Party and its partners in the ruling coalition that he was ready to quit if the step strengthened the government and Parliament, ARY news channel quoted its sources as saying.

PPP leader Qamar Zaman Kaira, Religious Affairs Minister Khursheed Shah and Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi of the PML-Q, a key partner in the coalition, were being considered as possible replacements for Gilani in the event of his resignation.

Gilani convened the meeting of the PPP and its allies hours ahead of a crucial session of Parliament that will vote on a resolution to shore up the civilian government.

President Asif Ali Zardari too joined the meeting.

Other sources told PTI that the PPP’s top leadership had discussed the premier’s resignation as a possible measure to ease the government’s standoff with the judiciary and the military.

The judiciary has been pressuring the government to reopen cases of alleged money laundering against Zardari since December 2009, when it struck down a graft amnesty issued by former military ruler Pervez Musharraf.

The apex court has also accepted the military’s request for ordering a probe into the alleged memo that had sought US help to stave off a possible coup in Pakistan after the killing of Osama bin Laden in May last year. — PTI

Nuclear weapons only for strategic deterrence: Army chief

New Delhi: India has rejected Pakistan's continuing veiled threats of using tactical nuclear missiles in the battlefield to deter Indian forces, holding that no one should be foolish enough to think of nuclear weapons as war-waging weapons. "Let's be quite clear on it... Nuclear weapons are not for war-fighting. They have got a strategic significance and that is where it should end," said Army chief General V K Singh, speaking on the sidelines of the 64th Army Day on Sunday.

Asked about reports that both Pakistan and China were fast bolstering their nuclear arsenals, Gen Singh said, "I and my Army are not bothered about who has nuclear weapons. We have our task cut out and we will progress along that."

The bail pleas of former union minister Sukh Ram, whose interim bail is expiring on January 16 in a 1993 telecom scam, and two others will be taken up in the Supreme Court on Monday. A bench headed by justice P Sathasivam, would also hear the bail plea of the veteran politician's co-accused former bureaucrat Runu Ghosh and Hyderabad-based businessman P Rama Rao. 

EC to send all-women's team of observers to Goa

New Delhi: With male officers treating election duty in Goa as an all-expenses paid fun trip, the Election Commission has for the first time decided to send an all-women team of general observers for poll duty in the sunshine state.

EC officials said that in the past, there were complaints against male officers sent on election duty to Goa. These included drinking during office hours and partying in clubs while supposedly being on duty. There were also allegations that in some cases, candidates were bearing the cost of entertainment of officials. In a few cases, the allegations were made by poll candidates.