1- Explanation sought: Court summons premier’s adviser on aviation
The Supreme Court has summoned Adviser to Prime Minister on Aviation Shujaat Azeem to explain his position on his dual nationalities, court martial by PAF and shares in a firm involved in the new Benazir Bhutto International Airport project near Islamabad.
A three-judge bench – headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry – expressed dissatisfaction over the written responses submitted by Additional Attorney General (AAG) Shah Khawar on behalf of the Aviation Division. Azeem was directed to appear before the court on Thursday.
2- PML-N hopes for smooth sailing in the polls
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has no worries to get its presidential candidate Mamnoon Hussain elected despite the fact that 42 seats of the national and provincial assemblies are still vacant.
A senior PML-N official told The Express Tribune that they needed around 354 votes which they could manage comfortably. “Our candidate can win the election from our votes of the National, Punjab and Balochistan assemblies,” he added.
Sindh’s former Governor Mamnoon Hussain has filed his nomination papers as candidate of the PML-N. Other major contenders for the office include Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Senator Raza Rabbani and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Justice (retd) Wajihuddin Ahmed.
3- Pak-China expedition scales 7,546-metre peak
A Pak-China Friendship Expedition successfully climbed the 7,546-metre Muztagh Ata Mountain in China’s Xinjiang Autonomous Region on Wednesday, according to the Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP).
The expedition was launched by the ACP in collaboration with the Chinese Mountaineering Association to pay tribute to the two Chinese mountaineers – Yang Chunfeng and Rao Jianfeng – who were among the 10 foreign climbers killed by terrorists at a Nanga Parbat base camp on June 22.
The Pakistani team had left for China on July 4 and expected to return by August 1.
4- Unprecedented attack: Coordinated assault on ISI Sukkur office
Suicide gunmen and car bombers mounted an unprecedented attack on the local office of the country’s premier intelligence agency in the otherwise sleepy town of Sukkur Wednesday evening, sparking a shootout that killed eight people and injured over three dozen.
Although there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the brazen attack on the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) office in the upscale Sukkur Barrage Colony, it is likely to revive fears that the reach of militants is spreading in the country.
The Sukkur Barrage Colony is a high security zone where offices of top government officials – including Commissioner House, DIG House, Sindh Rangers Headquarters and Judges Lodges – are situated.
5- Murder of IG’s daughter-in-law: Committee rules out suicide as cause of death
An inquiry committee has concluded the daughter-in-law of former Islamabad inspector general police Bani Amin did not commit suicide but died of suffocation, The Express Tribune learnt on Wednesday.
The committee had been formed on the instructions of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Secretary Muhammad Shehzad Arbab. Officials privy to the matter said the inquiry has almost reached its final stages and a report will soon be forwarded to the authorities for further action.
6- SC orders presidential election on July 30
The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to hold the presidential election on July 30 with a new schedule.
A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and comprising Justice Jawwad S Khawaja and Justice Sheikh Azmat Seeed, heard the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) petition, seeking a change of date for the presidential election on July 30 instead of August 6.
7- Terrorists storm ISI headquarters in Sukkur
Five suicide bombers stormed the regional headquarters of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), killing at least two officials and injuring 35 others in the Barrage Colony, shortly after Iftar here on Wednesday. An ISI official and an employee of the Commissioner House were killed in the attack.
Sources said that a suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden vehicle into the gate of the ISI headquarters while two others detonated explosives rigged to their bodies inside the office.They said that an alleged bomber was arrested following the explosions, which damaged several vehicles and buildings and left a deep crater near the ISI headquarters.
8- Mamnoon, Rabbani, Wajih among 24 in the running
Mamnoon Hussain, Raza Rabbani and Justice (retd) Wajihuddin Ahmed are among the 24 candidates who have submitted their nomination papers for the presidential election while 19 candidates failed to mention their proposer or seconder in their papers.
In the federal capital, Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice (CJ) Muhammad Anwar Khan Kasi, being one of the presiding officers for the upcoming presidential election, received 19 nomination papers of nine candidates here on Wednesday.
9- The numbers game favours PML-N
The ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), which has started its campaign for the presidential election, is likely to have a smooth sailing to build upon a solid bloc of its 282 votes in the Electoral College comprising the National Assembly, Senate and four provincial assemblies.
Facing it is the PakistanPeople’s Party (PPP), which began hectic lobbying with its 119 votes before all other competitors. The third contender, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which has 57 votes, is unlikely to get the support of any parliamentary party and it is not desirous of such backing. It is on a solo flight.
10- PPP says SC decision on presidential poll date one-sided
The Pakistan People’s Party has criticised the Supreme Court’s decision to allow the government to hold the presidential election on July 30 instead of August 6, saying it was evaluating whether it should contest the election.
“We are consulting our partners to boycott the presidential election and if we and our partners boycotted, then this election would become a meaningless exercise,” said the opposition leader in the Senate Aitzaz Ahsan while addressing a press conference along with PPPP president Makhdoom Amin Faheem, opposition leader in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah and PPP’s presidential candidate Mian Raza Rabbani here on Wednesday.
The Supreme Court has summoned Adviser to Prime Minister on Aviation Shujaat Azeem to explain his position on his dual nationalities, court martial by PAF and shares in a firm involved in the new Benazir Bhutto International Airport project near Islamabad.
A three-judge bench – headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry – expressed dissatisfaction over the written responses submitted by Additional Attorney General (AAG) Shah Khawar on behalf of the Aviation Division. Azeem was directed to appear before the court on Thursday.
2- PML-N hopes for smooth sailing in the polls
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has no worries to get its presidential candidate Mamnoon Hussain elected despite the fact that 42 seats of the national and provincial assemblies are still vacant.
A senior PML-N official told The Express Tribune that they needed around 354 votes which they could manage comfortably. “Our candidate can win the election from our votes of the National, Punjab and Balochistan assemblies,” he added.
Sindh’s former Governor Mamnoon Hussain has filed his nomination papers as candidate of the PML-N. Other major contenders for the office include Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Senator Raza Rabbani and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Justice (retd) Wajihuddin Ahmed.
3- Pak-China expedition scales 7,546-metre peak
A Pak-China Friendship Expedition successfully climbed the 7,546-metre Muztagh Ata Mountain in China’s Xinjiang Autonomous Region on Wednesday, according to the Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP).
The expedition was launched by the ACP in collaboration with the Chinese Mountaineering Association to pay tribute to the two Chinese mountaineers – Yang Chunfeng and Rao Jianfeng – who were among the 10 foreign climbers killed by terrorists at a Nanga Parbat base camp on June 22.
The Pakistani team had left for China on July 4 and expected to return by August 1.
4- Unprecedented attack: Coordinated assault on ISI Sukkur office
Suicide gunmen and car bombers mounted an unprecedented attack on the local office of the country’s premier intelligence agency in the otherwise sleepy town of Sukkur Wednesday evening, sparking a shootout that killed eight people and injured over three dozen.
Although there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the brazen attack on the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) office in the upscale Sukkur Barrage Colony, it is likely to revive fears that the reach of militants is spreading in the country.
The Sukkur Barrage Colony is a high security zone where offices of top government officials – including Commissioner House, DIG House, Sindh Rangers Headquarters and Judges Lodges – are situated.
5- Murder of IG’s daughter-in-law: Committee rules out suicide as cause of death
An inquiry committee has concluded the daughter-in-law of former Islamabad inspector general police Bani Amin did not commit suicide but died of suffocation, The Express Tribune learnt on Wednesday.
The committee had been formed on the instructions of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Secretary Muhammad Shehzad Arbab. Officials privy to the matter said the inquiry has almost reached its final stages and a report will soon be forwarded to the authorities for further action.
6- SC orders presidential election on July 30
The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to hold the presidential election on July 30 with a new schedule.
A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and comprising Justice Jawwad S Khawaja and Justice Sheikh Azmat Seeed, heard the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) petition, seeking a change of date for the presidential election on July 30 instead of August 6.
7- Terrorists storm ISI headquarters in Sukkur
Five suicide bombers stormed the regional headquarters of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), killing at least two officials and injuring 35 others in the Barrage Colony, shortly after Iftar here on Wednesday. An ISI official and an employee of the Commissioner House were killed in the attack.
Sources said that a suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden vehicle into the gate of the ISI headquarters while two others detonated explosives rigged to their bodies inside the office.They said that an alleged bomber was arrested following the explosions, which damaged several vehicles and buildings and left a deep crater near the ISI headquarters.
8- Mamnoon, Rabbani, Wajih among 24 in the running
Mamnoon Hussain, Raza Rabbani and Justice (retd) Wajihuddin Ahmed are among the 24 candidates who have submitted their nomination papers for the presidential election while 19 candidates failed to mention their proposer or seconder in their papers.
In the federal capital, Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice (CJ) Muhammad Anwar Khan Kasi, being one of the presiding officers for the upcoming presidential election, received 19 nomination papers of nine candidates here on Wednesday.
9- The numbers game favours PML-N
The ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), which has started its campaign for the presidential election, is likely to have a smooth sailing to build upon a solid bloc of its 282 votes in the Electoral College comprising the National Assembly, Senate and four provincial assemblies.
Facing it is the PakistanPeople’s Party (PPP), which began hectic lobbying with its 119 votes before all other competitors. The third contender, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which has 57 votes, is unlikely to get the support of any parliamentary party and it is not desirous of such backing. It is on a solo flight.
10- PPP says SC decision on presidential poll date one-sided
The Pakistan People’s Party has criticised the Supreme Court’s decision to allow the government to hold the presidential election on July 30 instead of August 6, saying it was evaluating whether it should contest the election.
“We are consulting our partners to boycott the presidential election and if we and our partners boycotted, then this election would become a meaningless exercise,” said the opposition leader in the Senate Aitzaz Ahsan while addressing a press conference along with PPPP president Makhdoom Amin Faheem, opposition leader in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah and PPP’s presidential candidate Mian Raza Rabbani here on Wednesday.
