Obama Takes Oath As First Black US President

WASHINGTON: Barack Hussein Obama on Tuesday took the oath as 44th, but the first black, President of the United States of America, in a historic swearing-in ceremony at Capitol Hill attended by an exuberant crowd of hundreds of thousands of people.

Obama Arrives For Historic Inauguration

Updated : Tuesday January 20 , 2009 9:02:17 PM
WASHINGTON: US president-elect Barack Obama with outgoing President George W Bush has reached the Capitol Hill for his historic swearing-in that will give him the status of 44th, but the first black, President of the United States of America.Earlier, the US president-elect Barack Obama reached White House Tuesday barely two hours before his swearing-in, and have a brief, symbolic goodbye coffee hosted by outgoing President George W. Bush.Obamas and Joe and Jill Biden separately arrived at the White House to have coffee with President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and their wives. President Bush and first lady Lara Bush greeted the two couples.Earlier on Tuesday, Obama and his family attended a private service at St. John's Episcopal Church, a tradition for those about to become president. The family of Vice President-elect Joe Biden also attended.Barack and Michelle Obama waved to bystanders, then entered the church to applause from about 200 people. The choir and congregation began singing the hymn, "O God Our Help in Ages Past."

Nation must choose hope over fear, says Obama

Updated : Tuesday January 20 , 2009 10:25:12 PM
WASHINGTON: Stepping into history as America's first black president, Barack Hussein Obama said in his inaugural address Tuesday that the nation must choose "hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord" to overcome the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.In frigid temperatures, an exuberant crowd of more than a million packed the National Mall and parade route to celebrate Obama's inauguration in a high noon ceremony. Cheering and waving, spectators stretched from the inaugural platform at the U.S. Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial far in the distance."Our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions — that time has surely passed," Obama said in an undisguised shot at Bush administration policies. "Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and begin the work of remaking America."He said it was a moment to recall "that all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness."Obama called for a political truce in Washington to end "the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics."He said that all Americans have roles in rebuilding the nation by renewing the traditions of hard work, honesty and fair play, tolerance, loyalty and patriotism."What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility, a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.""The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works," the new president said.

Michelle Obama wears gold sheath for inauguration

Updated : Tuesday January 20 , 2009 10:19:47 PM
WASHINGTON: Michelle Obama wore a sparkling gold sheath dress with matching coat by Cuban-born American designer Isabel Toledo on the day of her husband's inauguration as president.Barack Obama wore a red tie and white shirt with his suit.Toledo, who just a few years ago unsuccessfully tried to infuse more modern style into the venerable Anne Klein label, is considered among the more avant-garde U.S. designers.Michelle Obama has been noted for choosing unexpected fashion designers, including Narciso Rodriguez, Zero and Maria Cornejo and Chicago designer Maria Pinto.

Pakistan win first ODI against Sri Lanka

Updated : Tuesday January 20 , 2009 7:19:54 PM
KARACHI: Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka by 8 wickets in first one-day international here Tuesday, reported ARY OneWorld.Earlier, Pakistan paceman Rao Iftikhar returned career-best figures of 4 for 42 and Umar Gul took three wickets to help bowl out Sri Lanka for 219 runs in the first ODI.The performances of Iftikhar and Gul, who took three for 30, overshadowed the return of fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar to the one-day team after a gap of 14 months. Shoaib did not take a wicket in his seven overs.Sri Lanka got off to a fast start, reaching 71 from 53 balls with openers Tillakaratne Dilshan (42) and Sanath Jayasuriya (38) in fine form.But Gul removed both openers and later Iftikhar derailed the innings with a double strike in the 35th over when he got the key wickets of Kumar Sangakkara (49) and the hard-hitting Thilan Thushara for a duck.Sri Lanka, after winning the toss and chosing to bat first, lost wickets at regular intervals to some loose shots and were indebted to resolute knocks from Chamara Kapugedera (27) and Nuwan Kulasekara (24).

Stocks fall but hopes high as Obama gets office

Updated : Tuesday January 20 , 2009 7:37:55 PM
WASHINGTON: Barack Obama takes over as U.S. president on Tuesday with hopes riding high he can conjure up a rescue that will jolt the world's biggest economy back to life and contain the financial crisis ravaging global markets.The first African-American to become U.S. president will take his oath against the backdrop of plunging world stock markets, prospects of a drawn-out U.S. and global downturn, a trillion dollar federal deficit and fears of more crippling bank losses.Underscoring the dire state of the world economy, Japan reported consumer confidence plunged to a record low last month in yet another sign of deepening recession.Asian stock markets dropped sharply on Tuesday in the wake of European losses after Britain's multi-billion-pound bank rescue unveiled on Monday failed to assure investors and main markets in Europe were expected to keep falling."For the next two to three months, hopes for economic steps by Barack Obama will surface from time to time," said Yoshinori Nagano, chief strategist at Daiwa Asset Management. "But once equity markets recover some ground on those hopes, they are bound to face grim reality again."Obama's team has vowed to make its bailout funds work harder to get credit flowing again to cash-starved consumers and companies and is expected to announce soon changes to the second half of Washington's $700 billion bank rescue scheme.

Abu Dhabi to keep investing in solar energy

Updated : Tuesday January 20 , 2009 11:05:52 AM
ABU DHABI: Oil-rich Abu Dhabi said it will press ahead with plans to develop solar energy, shrugging off a huge drop in oil prices which is cutting the emirate's revenues."The current economic situation has no impact on Masdar's intended and planned projects," said Sultan al-Jaber, chief executive of Masdar, the government-owned Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company charged with developing clean energy.The company's most prestigious project is developing Masdar City in Abu Dhabi -- a 22-billion-dollar cluster city that is to have zero carbon emissions."We still have an appetite to look for further opportunities," Jaber told reporters on the sidelines of the World Future Energy Summit 2009 in the United Arab Emirates' capital."We are looking beyond the current economic terms," he said in reference to the global economic crisis which has reduced demand for oil.The UAE has the world's largest ecological footprint, consuming more natural resources per capita than any other nation, according to a 2008 report by the World Wide Fund for Nature.

Oil prices mixed in Asian trade

Updated : Tuesday January 20 , 2009 10:42:13 AM
SINGAPORE: World oil prices were mixed in Asian trade Tuesday in a market plagued by weak global demand, analysts said.New York's main contract, light sweet crude for February delivery, plunged 2.12 dollars to 34.39 dollars a barrel.Brent North Sea crude for March delivery rose 30 cents to 44.80.A large stockpile of oil in the United States has caused the New York contract to "become disconnected" from the rest of the market, said Victor Shum of Purvin and Gertz international energy consultants in Singapore.Shum added that the higher March Brent price was more representative but said the weak global economy was having a negative impact."The global economy is now the main driver of oil... The macroeconomic outlook is bleak, with no signs of a turnaround in the global economy," he said.

Panic selling weakens Karachi Stock Exchange

Updated : Monday January 19 , 2009 6:38:43 PM
KARACHI: Panic selling has eroded values of leading scrips at Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) Monday, as 100-Index lost 231.18 points to close at 5280.75, dealers said.The turnover volume was low at 75.985 million shares as 184 scrips sustained losses and 60 recorded gains while 8 remained unchanged.A dealer at a leading brokerage house said that market was under pressure since the start and lower locks were exercised within one hour of the opening of trading.The market capitalization was eroded by Rs 66 billion to Rs 1.677 trillion.Mybank Ltd was the volume leader with a turnover of 7.803 million shares followed by NIB Bank 7.459 million shares, PTCL 7.045 million shares, OGDC 6.635 million shares and Zeal Pak 4.941 million shares.NIB Bank closed at 4.41, PPL 126, PTCL 13.01, OGDC 46.93, WorldCall Telecom 3.51, Mybank Ltd 3.42, Zeal Pak 48 paisa and Bosicor Pakistan 5.79 and TRG Pakistan 2.33.Unilever Pakistan recorded the highest gain of Rs 87.66 to close at 1963.61 followed by Service Indus which went up by Rs 1.77 to 57.90 while Wyeth Pak dipped by Rs 130 to 2470 and Rafhan Maize went down by Rs 96.98 to 1842.72.

Pakistan urges US to halt drone attacks

Updated : Tuesday January 20 , 2009 2:07:26 PM
ISLAMABAD: Chief of US Central Command General David Petraeus held separate meetings with President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani on Tuesday and discussed regional security issues with them.General David Petraeus exchanged views on Pak-India tension escalated after Mumbai terroist attack, ongoing war on terror and Pak-Afghan border situation in his meetings with Pakistani officials. Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani and US Ambassador to Pakistan Anne W. Peterson were also present during Centcom chief's meeting with President Zardari.In the meeting President Zardari stressing the need to halt US drone attacks on Pakistani tribal areas, urged the US to enhance intelligence sharing betweent the two countries.He said Pakistan want to re-initiate the process of composite dialogue with India as the tension between the two countries is just in favor of terror elements.General Petraeus also called on Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and discussed the regional situation.

China forex reserves at 1.95 trillion dlrs

Updated : Tuesday January 13 , 2009 3:46:34 PM
BEIJING: China's foreign exchange reserves, already the world's largest, totalled 1.95 trillion dollars by the end of December, up from 1.91 trillion dollars three months earlier, the central bank said on Tuesday.

World stocks sink on US corporate earnings concerns

Updated : Tuesday January 13 , 2009 7:00:51 PM
LONDON: World markets sank Tuesday amid ongoing fears about the financial health of leading U.S. businesses after aluminum company Alcoa Inc. kicked off the fourth quarter earnings season in disappointing fashion.Alcoa reported after Wall Street closed Monday a quarterly loss of US$1.19 billion. The bigger than expected loss came only days after the aluminum giant announced job and production cuts due to sinking prices and weaker demand.In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 91.51 points, or 2.1 per cent, at 4,334.68, even though shares of the country's biggest supermarket chain Tesco PLC rose more than three per cent after it revealed in-line sales growth during the crucial Christmas trading period and indicated it would recruit some 10,000 people this year.Meanwhile Germany's DAX fell 98.21 points, or 2.1 per cent, to 4,621.41. Metro AG shares were down around 1.5 per cent after the German retailer reported lower-than-expected sales and profits.

Karachi Stock witnesses mix trend

Updated : Tuesday January 13 , 2009 5:45:27 PM KARACHI: A mixed trend was witnessed at Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE), as 100-Index managed to gain 17.65 points to close at 6059.09 on Tuesday, dealers said.The turnover volume was improved to 165.311 million shares as 147 scrips sustained losses and 100 recorded gains while 10 remained unchanged.A dealer at a leading brokerage house said that market was under pressure since morning due to selling and Index went below 6000 level.However, some buying on the back of NIT intervention improved values of leading scrips before close of trading session.The market capitalization was improved by Rs 2.222 billion to Rs 1.905 trillion.WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with a turnover of 26.885 million shares followed by OGDC 13.230 million shares, TRG Pakistan 8.515 million shares, Zeal Pak 7.783 million shares and PTCL 7.249 million shares.

Gas-starved EU nations seek end to energy crisis

NOVO-OGARYOVO:Leaders of gas-starved European nations pressed Ukraine and Russia to restore supplies immediately Wednesday as the EU threatened both with legal action for ripping apart the continent's winter heating plans.But the natural gas drought persisted along with virulent mutual recriminations between Russia and Ukraine.Prime Minister Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of holding Europe hostage, while Kiev said Russia was deliberately erecting technical obstacles to delivering gas to Europe through Ukrainian pipelines.European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso called the situation "unacceptable and incredible.""If the agreement is not honored, it means that Russia and Ukraine can no longer be considered reliable partners for the European Union in matters of energy supply," Barroso told the European Parliament.

US failed in fulfilling promises: Musharraf

MICHIGAN: Former President Pervez Musharraf said US has not fulfilled the promises made with Pakistan.Addressing the annual dinner of World Affairs Council, Musharraf said Pakistan is doing all that it can against terrorism."Pakistan is a victim of terrorism and Pakistani government is trying to cope up with terrorism, “ he added.

Britain's Miliband said 'war on terror' was wrong

Updated at: 0706 PST, Thursday, January 15, 2009 LONDON: British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Thursday the notion of a "war on terror" was "misleading and mistaken", in an outspoken critique of a key policy of outgoing US President George W. Bush. Writing in a newspaper, Miliband said the phrase gave the idea of a unified enemy where none existed, and also encouraged a primarily military response to problems that top generals admitted the West could not "kill its way out of". The article appears to be a comprehensive attempt to discard what was a defining mission of the Bush administration, which comes to an end on Tuesday. "The idea of a 'war on terror' gave the impression of a unified, transnational enemy, embodied in the figure of Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda," wrote Miliband, who is currently in India. "The reality is that the motivations and identities of terrorist groups are disparate."He added: "The more we lump terrorist groups together and draw the battle lines as a simple binary struggle between moderates and extremists, or good and evil, the more we play into the hands of those seeking to unify groups with little in common."Miliband rejected the notion that fighting violent extremism could only be done by military means.

Moody's expects US companies default rate to triple in 2009

Updated at: 1949 PST, Wednesday, January 14, 2009 KARACHI: Moody's Investors Service said the global default rate on junk-rated debt quadrupled by the end of 2008 to 4% and will likely triple this year as the economic slowdown further pressures those already struggling firms.Corporate defaults were at historic slows in 2006 and 2007, but have begun moving back toward more normal levels as the credit crunch and other woes have pressured results of companies and inhibited the ability of some to refinance debt.Default rates are now expected to spike further. Kenneth Emery, director of Moody's corporate default research, said global economic conditions "are now substantially weaker and more perilous" than the two previous downturns of the early 1990s and 2000s. The rate peaked at 12% in 1991.Moody's is expecting some 300 junk-rated companies to default this year, compared with 104 in 2008. Of that, 22 occurred in December, led by Tribune Co. through its bankruptcy filing and GMAC LLC because of its $38 billion note exchange. Only 18 such defaults occurred in all of 2007.The U.S. junk-rated default rate is seen jumping to 15.3% by year's end, compared with 12% on a global basis. The European rate is expected to fare even worse, surging to 18.3%. The U.S. rate ended 2008 at 4.4%, compared with 1% at the end of 2007.Moody's projected the consumer transportation sector would be the most troubled in the U.S., while durable consumer goods would likely lead increases in Europe.

Pak-Sri Lanka series schedule revised again

Updated at: 1446 PST, Wednesday, January 14, 2009 KARACHI: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has revised again the schedule of the One-day International series on request from Sri Lanka.As per the new schedule, two one-dayers will now be played in Karachi.The PCB spokesman said that change has been made in the schedule on the request from Sri Lanka.According to the revised schedule, first two matches will be played in Karachi on January 20 and 21 while the third and the final match will be held in Lahore on January 24. Earlier, the three One-day Internationals were scheduled to be played on January 21, 24 and 27.

SBP mops up Rs85 bln in open market operation

Updated at: 2108 PST, Wednesday, January 14, 2009 KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Wednesday mopped up Rs85 billion by issuing Treasury Bills of 3, 6 and 12-month tenors.Commercial banks offered Rs190 billion for purchasing the T-Bills yesterday.The Repo rate has slipped below even 1 per cent to 0.75 per cent due to excess liquidity in the banking system.

Oil prices sink with US inventories bulging

Updated at: 0155 PST, Thursday, January 15, 2009 COLUMBUS: Oil prices fell Wednesday with a government report showing that U.S. crude inventories continued to grow, suggesting that demand for oil and gasoline will not rebound anytime soon. Light, sweet crude for February delivery fell 50 cents to settle at $37.28 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after trading as high as $39.45. Prices have fallen from as high as $50.47 just last week with evidence growing that a weakened global economy has eaten away at energy demand. The Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said crude inventories grew by 1.2 million barrels for the week ended Friday. That was below the expectation of 3 million barrels, according to the average of estimates in a survey of analysts by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos. Yet the department said in last week's report that oil stocks jumped 6.7 million barrels the previous week, meaning less and less crude is being used. Gasoline inventories rose by 2.1 million barrels, 300,000 barrels ahead of analyst estimates, and distillates increased by 6.4 million barrels compared with the estimate of a gain of 1.7 million distillates. Crude appears to be headed back to the levels it reached nearly a month ago when it fell to $33.87 a barrel, the lowest mark since2004.

KSE trade week begins in upbeat mood

Updated at: 1747 PST, Monday, January 05, 2009 KARACHI: Pakistan shares gained for a second straight trading session on Monday, adding 2.14 percent as investors eagerly await the launch of a government market bailout fund, dealers said.The Karachi Stock Exchange's benchmark KSE-100 index gained 123.83 points to close at 5,917.4. At mid-session, the index had gained 162 points before dropping back.Volume was 210.11 million shares, almost on par with Friday's level and near the average 250 million shares that changed hands daily in 2007, when the market was tipped as one to watch among developing economies.Shares have rebounded since Thursday's close. At that point, the market had lost 37 percent of its value since December 15, when regulators removed a "floor" imposed in August to stop heavy losses on the KSE-100.Investor confidence has been on the rise since the government announced last week that the state-owned National Investment Trust-State Enterprise Fund (NIT-SEF) would soon be launched, perhaps as soon as this week.The entity, funded by state institutions and a consortium of banks, will invest 20 billion rupees (250 million dollars) in eight selected stocks, and then resell them to overseas Pakistanis, in a bid to prop up the market.Analysts said the package could be launched at any time this week, but dealers were already in high spirits.

Former English captains back Pietersen

Updated at: 1049 PST, Monday, January 05, 2009 LONDON: Three former England captains believe that Kevin Pietersen will win his power battle with coach Peter Moores. “It’s a bit of a mess but I’ve got a feeling Kevin Pietersen will get his way,” David Gower said. “Hugh Morris has an interesting task on his hands to mediate between the two if he can. If he can’t, then he’s got not much time to start the process of working out who is going to coach England.” After the Caribbean tour starting later this month, England faces the West Indies again at home and then will focus on trying to regain the Ashes from Australia later in the year. The team comes off two lost series against South Africa and India and can’t afford instability at the helm. “He is a fantastic player. He has the chance to be a good captain. He is still learning that trade, as we know, he’s far from being a great captain yet. I think they are going to have to back their captain.” Alec Stewart, captain 15 times between 1992 and 98, said that, even if Pietersen and Moores had disagreements, they should not allow them to become public. “It is vital that a healthy working relationship between these two is in place even if socially they don’t mix,” the former captain and wicketkeeper told local daily.“Pietersen is a strong individual who likes to lead from the front and I have no problem with this. Moores must strike a happy medium as to who runs things where and when.”

Lahore police directed to act promptly in Moharram

Updated at: 1847 PST, Monday, January 05, 2009 LAHORE: CCPO Lahore, Pervez Rathor Monday directed the police to respond immediately to the information received from the people during the holy month of Moharram-ul-Haram.The CCPO appealed to the people to extend their complete cooperation towards pre-empting any terrorist activity in the city. He urged people to report immediately if they witness any suspected people, vehicles and/or abandoned things.

Country’s adversity due to breach of promises: Nawaz

Updated at: 1328 PST, Saturday, January 03, 2009 LAHORE: Muslim League-N Quaid, Mian Nawaz Sharif said that it was being discussed today as to whether Pakistan would exist or not and lamenting he added “How good it would have been, if these days were better than our past years, we are lacking in all respects.”Addressing on the eve of the ML-N Foundation Day here, he said that his May 28 nuclear blast was the second happy day after the creation of Pakistan, as this day the situation in the region had changed. As Pakistani, if we view as to why our every passing day was on the way to deterioration, it would emerge that the country’s adversity was the result of the breach of promises. “The man, who broke the constitution, dismissed the elected government and ambushed the judiciary was given the guard of honour”, he recalled. He further said that Pakistani fighters and gunship were targeting their own citizens. The government says that we would not tolerate the foreign attacks, but they kept bearing it. Nawa Sharif said, “We should ponder over that Mujibur Rahman, who was the follower of Quaid-e-Azam, why he raised the slogan of Bangladesh or why East Pakistan ceded.” Today, the prevalent situations in Sindh, Balochistan and Frontier were similar to those of the then East Pakistan”, he said.

Hand over Mumbai attack masterminds: Manmohan asks Pak

Updated at: 1247 PST, Saturday, January 03, 2009 NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday asked Pakistan to hand over the masterminds behind the November 26 Mumbai terror attack so that they can be tried in India. "War with Pakistan is no solution but Pakistan should hand over the perpetrators of the Mumbai attack for trial in India," the prime minister said at a press conference here. Manmohan Singh said the two biggest challenges facing India were "the global slowdown and the menace of terrorism".

World stocks cheer in new-year

Updated at: 1249 PST, Saturday, January 03, 2009 NEW YORK: Global stocks was seen skyrocketing at the onset of the new-year, as investors seemed bolstered and went on brisk trading. At the end of the first trading week of 2009 amid investor hopes for a brighter year ahead after a horrendous 2008 that hacked down stock markets around the world, Dow Jones and Nasdaq surged by over 6 percent and Dow Jones breached 9000 marks. Besides, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and India’s BSC Sensix-30 rose by 6.83 percent and 6.8 percent respectively. Japan’s Nekkie-225 increased by 1.52 percent, however, China’s Shangjai index went down by 1.35 percent. European markets also remained upbeat, as Europe’s largest economy Germany’s Dex and France’s KCAC-40 surged by 6.7 percent, while Britain’s Fortse index up by 8.18 percent topped the list.

BD team on its poor performance risks its test status

Updated at: 1537 PST, Saturday, January 03, 2009 DUBAI: Bangladesh cricket team thus far has played 58 tests out of which it could bag only one victory, which ICC taking notice of its disappointing performance, has risked it test status.ICC meeting this month slated at Perth will be reviewing the performance of Bangladesh cricket team, which was given the test status in 2002, for which, PCB, Sri Lankan Cricket Board and the then ICC president Jagmohan Dalmia had played the pivotal role.

Lahore still in grip of fogs, life paralyzed

Updated at: 1135 PST, Saturday, January 03, 2009 LAHORE: Lahore is still in grip of fogs, which has left the life paralyzed, while the citizens are facing severe difficulties in performing their daily chores.A spate of fog for the last few days has taken over the city in its grip hitting the transportation system most, while the schedules of flights and trains have also been thrown in disarray, as most the flights and trains are delayed and Lohore Motorway is kept closed in the night.

Larkana tense following arrest of SNF leader

Updated at: 1413 PST, Saturday, January 03, 2009 LARKANA: Situation was tense in many cites of the province after the arrest of Sindh National Front (SNF) leader Sardar Mumtaz Bhutto on Saturday.Bhutto was put under house arrest in Mirpur Bhutto for allegedly ordering his workers to attack on the office of a Sindhi newspaper in Karachi.He is being shifted to Karachi where he will be interrogated.

Gas crisis hits over 2500 factories

Updated at: 1053 PST, Saturday, January 03, 2009 KARACHI: Gas crisis in the country continued unabated, as the supply and demand gap has widened up to 700mmcfd (million, million cubic feet per day).The intensifying shortage of gas supply has now hit over 2500 industrial units in Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan and other cities/towns, whose supplies remain severed for the last several days and were forced to lockout, which has severely hit the production process resulting difficulties in meeting the export orders deadline and rendering the workers to unemployment in large numbers. The domestic customers in Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad and other towns are hard hit due to low pressure of gas, especially in those areas where biting winter raging. People in several areas have switched over to fuel wood, which might raise an environment concern. Sui Northern Gas sources said that the company on the whole was short of 700 mmcfd of gas due increasing use of heaters and geysers. Gas consumers have demanded from the government immediate resolution of the low pressure of gas menace.