MQM joins Sindh govt, ministers take oath

KARACHI: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement on Tuesday joined the Sindh Government with two MPA's being sworn in as ministers at the Sindh Governor House.

Rauf Siddiqui and Dr. Sagheer Ahmed were sworn in as provincial ministers at the ceremony held at the Governor House.

Sources add that two MQM members will be appointed as 'Advisor to the Sindh Chief Minister' while one member will be appointed as a Special Advisor,.

MQM joins coalition govt in Sindh

KARACHI: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has quit its role as opposition in Sindh and joined the government as a coalition partner of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).
Two MQM nominees took oath on Tuesday as ministers in the provincial government headed by Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah.This was the seventh time the MQM has joined the government as a junior partner in Sindh and the third time it has joined the cabinet with the PPP under Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah.

The Muttahida this time too nominated its trusted and experienced party men to the cabinet who served as ministers in the last government in the province. Both parties were engaged in negotiations for a year on forming a coalition and finally the talks were successful on Monday.

Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah and Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad decided the date for the oath-taking of the MQM ministers.The governor administered oath to the newly-inducted ministers on Tuesday evening at the Governor’s House and the leaders of both the parties as well as prominent citizens and senior officials were there to witness the occasion.

The MQM left the government in 1988 after differences with the PPP on the issue of military operation. However, the MQM this time joined the government with the PPP when the operation was going on in Karachi and the MQM claimed that its workers and supporters were being targeted in the operation.

Two days ago, the MQM claimed that its 47 workers had been kidnapped, others killed and hundreds jailed in addition to scores detained under the PPO without any reason.The MQM is the second largest party in Sindh and its leader Faisal Sabswari was nominated as the leader of the opposition in the House. However, the MQM changed its mind and now two of its nominees – Dr Saghir Ahmed and Rauf Siddiqi – have taken oath as ministers. The party expects more ministries in the second phase.

Portfolios for these two ministers would be announced later. The MQM demanded the major portfolio of local government and excise during the talks. The party expected the same portfolios that it held during the 2008 to 2012 governments. However, the PPP leadership has some reservations on the demand but Asif Ali Zardari has reportedly directed his party and the chief minister to accommodate the MQM at all costs.

MQM joins Sindh govt, ministers to take oath today

KARACHI: Sindh Governor House spokesman has confirmed the news of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) joining the provincial government, Geo news reported.

According to the spokesman, MQM members of the assembly will be sworn in as ministers later this evening at the Governor House.

Faisal Subzwari will be sworn in as Minister for Youth affairs, Rauf Siddiqui will get the Commerce ministry and Dr. Sagheer Ahmed will be given the health ministry, the spokesman said.

Adil Siddiqui and Abdul Haseeb would be appointed as advisor to the chief minister, he added.

UK submarine joins MH370 plane hunt

 

AP Royal New Zealand Air Force flight Sgt. Chris Poole on board a P-3 Orion, flicks switches on an instrument panel in the cockpit during an operation to find missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 in the southern Indian Ocean.

The prolonged search for the crashed airliner continued on Wednesday as a British nuclear submarine joined the multinational hunt in the Indian Ocean, ahead of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s visit to Perth, Australia.

Mr. Razak will visit the RAAF Pearce air base — the departure point for the seven-nation search for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 that went mysteriously missing on March 8 after its take-off from Kuala Lumpur with 239 people on board.

According to media reports here, Britain’s Royal Navy submarine HMS Tireless arrived in the search area about 1,500 kilometres northwest of Perth this morning. The personal jet of Peter Jackson — Oscar-winning New Zealand movie director — is also being used in the hunt.

Up to 10 planes and nine ships will assist in Wednesday’s search for the Boeing 777-200, a new Joint Agency Co-ordination Centre (JACC) here managing the search said in a statement.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority has determined a search area of about 2,21,000 square kilometres, 1,504 kilometres northwest of Perth.

Nine military planes will assist in the search, while one civil jet will provide a communications relay. The first aircraft departed for the search area at 6am local time.

Nine ships have been tasked for the search that entered its 25th day on Wednesday.

The weather forecast for today’s search is for marginal conditions, with areas of broken cloud, sea fog and isolated thunderstorms, reducing visibility, the statement said.

Retired Australian Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, heading the JACC, yesterday said it was the most challenging search and rescue operation he had ever seen and warned efforts to trace the wreckage could take time.

He said the task was “very complex”, “very demanding” because the teams had no hard information to work from.

Chiklis joins 'Coven' principals for next 'Horror'

LOS ANGELES: Michael Chiklis is ready to freak out.

The actor is joining the "American Horror Story" family for the anthology series' fourth season, subtitled "Freak Show." The Emmy-winning star of "The Shield" will portray the ex-husband and father of characters played, respectively, by Kathy Bates and Evan Peters.

The Chiklis casting announcement came during the "American Horror Story: Coven" event that served as closing night of PaleyFest, which over 16 days presented casts and crews of past and present TV series, attracting thousands of fans to the Dolby Theatre.

"Coven," which aired from October 2013 to January 2014 on the FX channel and revolved around witches in a New Orleans boarding school, made for the highest-rated of the three "Horror Story" seasons.

The series' stars present for the PaleyFest panel were surprise attendee Bates, as well as previously announced Peters, Angela Bassett, Jamie Brewer, Frances Conroy, Denis O'Hare Sarah Paulson, Emma Roberts and Gabourey Sidibe.

Actress "Jessica (Lange) is on spring break with her grandchildren," noted series co-creator Ryan Murphy, who later revealed more season-four casting news:

Lange and "every person on this stage is coming back in some capacity," he said.

Murphy explained the setting for the upcoming series "is not a circus and is not carnival, it's a freak show," adding that it was Lange who came up with idea of her character.

Lange will play a German expat in 1950s Jupiter, Fla., who is a "collector of freaks," said Bassett, who continued, "(She) will do anything - and I don't know what 'anything' might be - to keep this dying cottage industry alive just a little bit longer."

All actors queried said they knew little about "Freak Show," except the premise. But, Paulson, for one, clearly can't wait to get back to work in New Orleans, which, this time, will double for Jupiter.

"All I want is a peg leg and a black tooth ... and a hunchback," Paulson said, laughing.

"American Horror Story: Freak Show" is set to debut this fall.

Veena Malik to enter politics, joins PTI

 

LONDON: Veena Malik has announced that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) will be her party of preference when she joins practical politics in Pakistan.
The actress and commentator, who is in London these days with her husband Asad Khan Khattak, said this during a meet the press here organised by the leading organisation of Pakistani newsmen in Britain- Pakistan Journalists Association (PJA).

She was all the praise for Imran Khan’s party and said that she believes efforts should be made to get Pakistan rid of corruption and the PTI has that programme against corruption. PJA’s President Wajahat Ali Khan moderated the question and answer session in which a large number of leading Pakistani community figures also participated.

One of the reasons why Veena Malik has fondness for the PTI is the fact that her hubby is a long-standing PTI supporter. “Asad has always been part of the PTI family and I now I am also part of the same extended family. This is the platform for us. I come from a military background but my father always wanted me to enter politics. My father-in-law is also of the same view, he is a supporter of Imran Khan too. So the whole family is basically the PTI family.”

She announced that she would be travelling to Pakistan in the end of March and the couple would meet the veteran Rawalpindi politician Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed for tea. “Sheikh Rasheed sb is also part of the PTI family so it will be good to have tea with him.”

Asad Khattak quipped that since Sheikh Rasheed had extended invitation to Veena Malik for tea several years ago — which the actress had then reportedly turned down — meeting the fiery politician will make his wish come true.

When questioned about wearing Pakistan’s traditional scarf — Dupatta style — Veena Malik said that she had decided to take scarf out of her personal choice and nobody had forced her into it. “Those who know me know that Veena Malik cannot be forced or coerced into doing things against her will. This is a personal decision and it doesn’t mean that I am making a political statement or want to send out a message. It’s true that my family and friends have supported me in many decisions that I have made in my life. Now I am married and living a happy life. I am a Pakistani Muslim and I am proud of my identity. I have always supported Pakistan whether in India or elsewhere and I will always do that.”

She revealed that it’s her desire to masters in Islamic studies. “I have told Asad that I want to do Masters in Islamic studies and that he should help me get admission so that I could do my Masters degree.”

Ex-Indian army chief joins opposition party

NEW DELHI: A former Indian army chief who resigned from the military following a controversy over his age Saturday announced he had joined the Hindu nationalist opposition ahead of looming elections.
India's massive armed forces normally stay out of politics, but retired General V.K. Singh had been tipped to enter the arena since resigning as the head of the army in May 2012 after being accused of fudging his birth date to extend his service term.
Singh said he was joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) -- tipped to sweep the polls due by May -- to "elect a stable, powerful government that can take decisions in the national interest".
The ex-army chief had been expected to become a BJP member after appearing last year at a rally with the opposition party's prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, where they addressed retired soldiers.
BJP backers are hoping Singh's support will bring votes from India's million-strong defence forces, an important constituency.
Several other former defence officers joined the BJP with Singh, who sought to rally the crowd with cries of "Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan" -- "hail soldier, hail farmer".
Singh's relations with the scandal-tainted Congress government, which is struggling in opinion polls, were soured by the row over his birth date.
In an unprecedented move by a serving army chief, Singh dragged the government to the Supreme Court in a bid to prolong his tenure by nearly a year.
The trouble sprang from two sets of birth records held by the army for the former general. The court sided with the government in its view that the birth date, which made Singh older, should prevail.
After retiring from his post, Singh blamed the government for a host of problems during his two years as army chief including rows over dilapidated weaponry.
In his address at the BJP's headquarters in New Delhi on Saturday, Singh accused the government of failing to ensure the security of India's armed forces.