2. Railways Minister Ghulam Ahmed Bilour has informed the NA that discussions were on with China for establishing a rail track with that country.  China has offered a USD 6 billion loan for this project but the Pakistan Railways had rejected it and asked China to provide logistic support instead. (Urdupoint)

AFGHANISTAN
1. For the first time, a major rail service has begun in Afghanistan. This new cargo rail service will help bring cargo from North Afghanistan and will also promote trade with Uzbekistan. (Nawa-i-Waqt)

INDIA
1. JuD chief Prof. Hafiz Mohammad Saeed said a huge Dafa-e- Pakistan conference will be held in Rawalpindi on January 13th. It will be similar to the rally staged at Lahore’s Minar-e-Pakistan. He said nation-wide protest will continue against NATO attacks and against giving MFN status to India. He asked people to boycott Indian products. He said that we will not take cheap electricity from India but will take back Pakistan’s water from India. (Daily Pak)

2. Nawa-i-Waqt editorial criticizes the government coming to an agreement with India to import energy and petroleum. It questions why the government is making a trade agreement with the country’s enemy when Pakistan could import gas from Iran. (Nawa-i-Waqt Edit)

UNITED STATES-TALIBAN
1. Speaking to Nawa-i-Waqt, defence experts Gen. (Retd) Rahat Latif and Gen. (Retd) Mohammad Yusuf said that in the name of dialogue with Taliban, the US wanted to bring in its own Taliban into Afghanistan. They said Pakistan should set-up a cell consisting of senior officers who keep in touch with Taliban. They also said that if the real Taliban are angry with Pakistan, Pakistan will have to appease them. (Nawa-i-Waqt)

2. Pakistani security sources have rejected US allegations of explosive material used in landmines in Afghanistan is being smuggled from Pakistan. They said that the US has ignored the fact that a large amount of ammonium nitrite was produced in Afghanistan’s neighbours like Iran, Uzbekistan and China as well as Central Asia. (Nawa-i-Waqt)

3. Brigadier (Retd) Shaukat Qadir said Mullah Omar and the Haqqani Network would not have any negotiations with the US without Pakistan and that the US will have to turn to Pakistan for a safe departure from the region. (Ummat)

4. Jasarat editorial on US Vice President Joe Biden’s statement about the Taliban not being America’s enemy says that the White House has given its nod to Biden’s statement. This indicates that the reports about ongoing secret negotiations between the US and Taliban, were true. It seems the US is positive about the outcome of these negotiations. (Jasarat Edit)

5. Editorials in Daily Intekhab and Ummat on Biden’s statement about the Taliban not being America’s enemy say that considering America’s plan to pull out of Afghanistan by 2014, it is essential for the US to be polite to the Afghan Taliban to avoid any future problems, even if the Taliban comes to power. It says if the US really wants peace in Afghanistan, it would not be possible with the help of a puppet government. (Daily Intekhab Edit, Ummat Edit)

ARMY/POLICE/ISI
1. In his column, Hamid Mir said that he was getting threatening messages after his critical show on the security establishment. He said that the security establishment should be held responsible if he was targeted. He said that he received an SMS terming him an agent of RAW, Mossad and CIA. He also said that he had forwarded the messages to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CJP) in New York. (Jang)

TERRORISM & EXTREMISM
1. PTI Chief Imran Khan said that the reason why terrorist attacks have stopped is a dialogue between the Army and Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Khan said all matters are in control of the Army and the Rangers. He said that if PML-N wanted to remove corrupt leadership, it should resign from the assemblies. (Jang)

2. Law Minister Rana Sanullah informed that that the police have arrested terrorists involved in kidnapping of Shahbaz Taseer and a US national. Both are held in a region near the Pak-Afghan border and negotiations are being carried out to get them released. (Khabrain, Daily Pak)

POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS
1. In his article, Hassan Mohabati says Zardari’s psychological problems were a result of cruelty at the hands of Pakistan government and security agency. Zardari had kept on with his treatment at a New York clinic even after becoming President; a source in the clinic told the writer that Zardari used to visit the clinic with only his aides, but ISI men would routinely extract information concerning his treatment. Mohabati says that Zardari is still on medication. He says that Benazir Bhutto would accompany Zardari for his treatment and she had been very concerned about the psychological health of her kids, especially of Bilawal. He says that Pakistan’s establishment has not only been killing the Bhutto family for the past four decades, it has also killed them psychologically. Mohabati goes into great details, elucidating Zardari’s current psychological pressures with him having to bow down in front of the ‘killers’ of her wife. Branding the establishment as the force that will not hesitate to kill a journalist who writes against it, Mohabati says that if Najam Sethi is right, Zardari has been given two options on the Memogate issue – be ready for action under Article 6 or leave the country forever. He also says that meetings have taken place for formal training to Bilawal Bhutto and these meetings have included Hussain Haqqani, his wife and some close aides of the President House. (Ibrat, 21 December)

2. A statement issued from the PM House denies any core committee meeting having taken place under the PM to discuss developments relating to Memogate issue. However, TV reports insist that a strategy has been worked out regarding Zardari’s filing his reply in SC. If the Attorney General is able to finalize the draft today, then the replies of federal government and the President would be submitted in the SC today itself. The major focus of the reply would be that instead of politically, the Memogate issue be defended legally. (Kawish)  

3. Rumours are doing rounds that on December 27th, the death anniversary of Benazir Bhutto, President Zardari as the Supreme Commander of Armed Forces may announce the removal of some people from their posts. PM Gilani’s statement about all being alright between the Army and the government was not true and that the next 10 days were very crucial. (Jasarat)

4. Talking to a TV channel, PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif has opposed the role of establishment in politics. About the Memogate issue, he said that a case shouldn’t have been registered with the judiciary had the parliament been a sovereign body. (Jinnah)

5. PTI Vice President Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that if PM Gilani was truly disturbed by the state of democracy, he should hold fresh elections.  He said that if PML-N resigned from the NA, it would pressurize the government. Qureshi said that though the PM has said memo-gate is a non-issue, the Army Chief has given affidavits on the issue to the apex court. (Ibrat)

6. Former Law Minister Iftekhar Gilani is the latest to join PTI. Important PPP leaders like Nafis Siddiqui may also join PTI. (Ibrat, Jinnah)

7. Political leaders Ejaz Hashmi, Ejaz Chaudhary and Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that if PML-N wanted fresh elections, their demand is not unconstitutional, but PML-N first needed to resign from the assemblies, in order to make elections necessary. Jamshed Cheema, Hafiz Abdul Gaffar Ropdi, Farid Paracha and other leaders supported PML-N’s demand for fresh elections. (Nawa-i-Waqt)

8. Leaders of religious parties including Syed Munawar Hassan of JI, Prof Sajid Mir of Jamiate Ahle Hadis and Hafiz Husain Ahmed of JUI said that the current government had completely failed and that fresh elections should be held. Leaders from PTI have also demanded fresh elections. PML-Q information secretary Kamil Agha said that the party was against fresh elections. (Daily Pak)

9. Former AJK Premier Sardar Atiq Ahmad Khan said Musharraf would return to Pakistan before March 2012 and will play a crucial role in Pakistan’s politics. He criticized PML-N Chief Nawaz Sharif and Sardar Ataullah Mengal for calling the Pakistan Army ‘Punjabi’ and said that those who brought a fistful of Indian soil to Raiwind could not even speak against India. (Daily Dharti)

10. Jang editorial says that confrontation between political parties is not wrong but those aspiring to continue the democratic process shouldn’t get so vengeful that non-political forces get a chance to take over. Edit writes that though Nawaz Sharif and other leaders have been asking for fresh elections, elections will be difficult since the voters list is incomplete. It advises all political parties to sit together on this issue and frame an election schedule. (Jang Edit)

ELECTION COMMISION
1. Supreme Court has said refused to grant extension to the EC for preparing the voters’ list and has given it a February 25th deadline. (Ibrat)

2. More than 15 lakh Pakistanis hold dual citizenship. They include politicians, MNAs and even bureaucrats and government employees. (Daily Pak)

3. Election Commission’s former Secretary Kunwar Muhammad Dilshad has alleged that the government is a huge hurdle in the preparation of the electoral list.  He said that the EC was pressurized to do a laidback job with regard to the list. He also claimed that the EC could call for elections in just 20 days, if allowed to do so. (Ummat)

4. Ausaf editorial on  Election Commission’s decision to bar individuals with dual nationalities from contesting elections says that there has always been a demand such  a ban but since the people with dual nationalities are powerful, the demand was rejected in the past.. Edit notes that the ban will have a long lasting influence on the country’s politics. (Ausaf Edit, 21 December)

ECONOMY-WATER- ENERGY
1. Sindh CM said that there is no need for the Kalabagh dam on the Indus and that three provinces have strongly opposed it. He said that the world is now advocating small dams, instead of large ones, due to shortage of water. (Kawish)

2. Development Committee of the AJK cabinet, in its meeting approved five development projects worth Rs. 14.5 billion, two of which belong to the energy sector. Rs. 7488 million has been approved for the Nakdar Power project to produce 35 MW of electricity, which will be completed in four months in the Neelum district. Another power project in Neelum is the Dwarian hydropower project worth Rs. 6236 million. (Baad-e-Shimal, Daily Dharti)

3. Thousands of WAPDA activists staged a sit-in in front of the NA building against the privatization of electricity companies and dissolution of PEPCO. A sit in was also staged at the Railways headquarters. (Jinnah, Khabrain, Nawa-i-Waqt, Daily Pak)

KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWAH (NWFP/FATA)
1. 25 militants were killed in an operation in the Orakzai Agency. (Ibrat)

PUNJAB
1. Punjab government has sought reports from secret agencies on 50 officers who have been recommended for promotion to a higher grade; this includes officers promoted to grade 19, 20 and 21. Their names are being sent to the Punjab selection broad. (Nawa-i-Waqt)

SINDH
1. Sindh High Court has prevented PTI from holding a rally within the compound of Qaid-e-Azam’s tomb. (Nawa-i-Waqt, Jinnah)

2. A bullet-proof Land Rover has been arranged for Imran Khan during his Karachi visit as a part of security drill. (Nawa-i-Waqt)

BALOCHISTAN
1. Unidentified militants have blown up the gas pipeline from well no. 15 to the Pir Koh gas plant at Dera Bugti. (Ibrat)

POK/ G-B NEWS
1. Foreign company Mohsin Industries has closed its Country President’s office and dismissed over 40 employees. In next few days, more employees will be laid off. The Mohsin Industries was given license to explore gold despite protests from media, religious and political leaders and local people. (Baad-e-Shimal)

2. Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Wazir Shakeel informed assembly members that contractors working on disaster projects will be paid their dues within a month, and that the verification in this regard will be completed within 20 days. He said that Rs.1 billion had been spent during the restoration job, Rs 76 crore on workers and Rs.24 crore on restoration of power department.  (Baad-e-Shimal)

3. Gilgit-Baltistan legislative assembly has decided to regulate contract workers step-by-step. (Ausaf, 21 December)

4. Tehrik Kashmir Banega (Kashmir will Form Movement) Saudi Arabia chief Gulshir Khan said that the Sheikh Zaid Hospital in Rawalkot should be either given to the Pakistan Army or to Saudi Arabia or UAE to maintain it. He added that the Pakistan Army had a good medical unit and could run the hospital properly. (Daily Dharti)

5. Police have arrested 30 people arrested from Ashkuman on charges of stopping water supply to power house, burning police vehicles and attacking the magistrate during protests against load-shedding in Ashkuman. The arrested were presented before the court. (Ausaf, 21 December)

6. Load-shedding has intensified in AJK and people are hitting the streets in protest. (Daily Dharti)  

7. Daily Dharti edit lauds AJK government’s decision to start training programmes for skilled and unskilled workers to help them become eligible for government jobs. (Dharti Edit)

8. Baad-e-Shimal has welcomed the government decision to make employees permanent on merit basis and in a phased manner. (Baad-e-Shimal Edit)

Baad-e-Shimal editorial says the Attabad affected people have not yet been rehabilitated, causing them extreme hardship. Further, the material imported from China worth crores of rupees has not reached Gilgit as ferry services are closed down. (Baad-e-Shimal-Edit)