IHC directs ECP for fresh delimitation in eight districts

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Tuesday turned down the delimitation of constituencies in eight districts and directed Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to conduct fresh delimitation there in accordance of law.Justice Aamer Farooq of IHC heard the case and announced the judgment in more than 40 identical petitions raising objections over delimitations.The court declared null and void the delimitations of eight districts including Bahawalpur, Chakwal, Rahimyar Khan, Jhang, Jehlum, Toba Tak Sing, Lower Dir and Batgaram and ordered the ECP to conduct fresh delimitations in accordance of rules.The court directed the ECP to conduct delimitation in above districts keeping in view the ratio of their populations and disposed off the 40 identical petitions.It may be mentioned here that a total of 108 petitions were under process with the IHC regarding the objections over delimitation.

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NSC expresses satisfaction over reforms in FATA, Gilgit-Baltistan

ISLAMABAD: The National Security Committee (NSC) Tuesday observed that Pakistan would continue to make diplomatic and political efforts for peace and stability in the face of geopolitical situation which was evolving rapidly.Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi chaired the meeting which reviewed in detail the recent global and regional developments and their implications for Pakistan.For this purpose, the committee emphasised the need for a much more proactive diplomacy, PM office media wing said in a press release.The National Security Committee condemned the reign of terror unleashed by Indian occupation forces on innocent Kashmiris and resolved that Pakistan would continue to play its role in realizing the right of the people of Kashmir to self-determination.The committee also condemned the brutal repression of the Palestinians by the Israeli state and reaffirmed Pakistan’s support for the people of Palestine in their just cause.Expressing satisfaction over the transformational reforms introduced by the government with regard to FATA and Gilgit-Baltistan, it observed that the mainstreaming of FATA and its merger with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the grant of the same rights under the Government of Gilgit-Baltistan Order 2018 to the people of Gilgit-Baltistan as are available to the people in the rest of the country have gone a long way in fulfilling the aspirations of the people of these regions with far-reaching outcomes for national life.The meeting was attended by the Minister for Interior Ahsan Iqbal, Minister for Defence & Foreign Affairs Khurram Dastgir Khan, Minister for Finance, Revenue & Economic Affairs Miftah Ismail, Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi, Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Mujahid Anwar Khan, Director General ISI Lt Gen Naveed Mukhtar, National Security Adviser Lt Gen (R) Nasser Khan Janjua and senior civil and military officials.The Ministry of Interior briefed the committee on the basic features of the new visa policy aimed at making Pakistan a tourist and business friendly country.While appreciating the efforts of the ministry, the committee observed that it must also be ensured that all supportive systems, databases and verification networks were in place and fully operational, in view of which it was agreed that the ‘visa on arrival’ facility should be initiated as a pilot project in the first instance.

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MMA constitutes parliamentary board for awarding tickets to aspiring candidates

PESHAWAR: Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), an association of religious parties, Tuesday announced constitution of parliamentary board for awarding tickets to candidates aspiring to contest 2018 general election from MMA platform.According to a press statement issued here, MMA will finalize names of its candidates till June 5, next.The parliamentary board of MMA will be jointly headed by Maulana Fazlur Rehman, chief of JUI(F) and Liaqat Baluch of JI.In the parliamentary board, leaders of all the member political parties of MMA have been given representation.The other members of the board included Senator Siraj-ul-Haq, Professor Sajid Mir, Allama Sajid Ali Naqvi and Pir Ejaz Ahmad Hashmi.The central parliamentary board will take decision while taking review of recommendations made by district and provincial boards.The MMA will also made seat adjustments with other political parties and alliances formed for contesting general election, adds the press statement.A meeting of the Supreme Council of the coalition has been called for taking decision regarding alliance with other political parties besides finalization of names of candidates.The MMA will also reserve five percent quota for female candidates in allocation of general seats, the statement continued.

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Pakistan, India DGMOs agree to fully implement 2003 ceasefire agreement

RAWALPINDI: Pakistan’s director general of military operation established a hotline contact with his Indian counterpart on Tuesday and discussed border situation along the Line of Control (LoC).A special hotline contact was established between military officiers of Pakistan and India,” ISPR reported. “Both DGs MO reviewed the prevailing situation along the line of control and working boundary and mutually agreed to undertake sincere measures to improve the existing situation ensuring peace and avoidance of hardships to the civilians along the borders,” it said.Both the DGs agreed to fully implement the ceasefire understanding of 2003 in letter and spirit forthwith and to ensure that henceforth the ceasefire will not be violated by both sides.They also agreed that in case of any issue, restraint will be exercised and the matter will be resolved through utilisation of existing mechanisms of hotline contacts and border flag meetings at local commander's level.Scores of Pakistani civilians have been killed in cross-border firing by Indian forces in recent months. 

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Mind-Reading Headsets And Other Amazing Tech Breakthroughs

By T. S. Obiech,Scott Laffey,Andres Diplotti  Published: May 29th, 2018 

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5 Terrifying Plots That Turned Into Goofy Disasters

By Alex Hanton  Published: May 29th, 2018 

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5 Dumb Typos That Resulted In Total Anarchy

By Cedric Voets  Published: May 28th, 2018 

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Maleeha Lodhi pays homage to Pakistan's female peacekeepers

Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations, Dr Maleeha Lodhi has brought to light the colossal role being played by Pakistani women in international peacekeeping. Commemorating the International day of United Nations Peacekeepers on May 29th, Dr Lodhi turned to Twitter to highlight the role of Pakistan in maintaining peace and security, paying her accolades to not only the male troops but also the female security personnel of the country stationed around the world.“We are proud that Pakistan’s female service personnel also serve on the front lines of UN peacekeeping. As doctors and staff officers they are deployed today in the Democratic Republic of Congo , South Sudan and Darfur”, stated her tweet, along with pictures of resilient female troops of the Pakistan army performing their duties in harsh conditions to maintain the peace on international levels.Regarding the UN Peacekeepers Day she went on to add “29 May is International day of UN Peacekeepers.On this day we remember and pay tribute to the 156 Pakistani peacekeepers who made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty. We will never forget the courage and sacrifice of our Shaheeds.”

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Sikh trader shot dead in Peshawar

PESHAWAR: Unknown gunmen shot and killed a Sikh trader in Peshawar on Tuesday, police said. The gun attack took place near Scheme Chowk, Budhbir area. The victim was identified as Charan Jeet Singh.According to the police, Charan Jeet Singh was sitting in his shop when gunmen opened fire on him and escaped. Officials say they have launched murder investigations after lodging a case at Inqalab Police Station. Two Sikhs traders were gunned down in separate incidents of violence in Peshawar in 2014. 

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I cannot comment on matters of national security: PM

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Tuesday refused to comment about the outcome of National Security Committee, saying he was bound by his oath. Briefing media about the power projects undertaken by the PML-N government, Prime Minister Abbasi said that more than 11, 000 megawatts of electricity was added to the national grid over the last five years. “We have been producing surplus electricity in 2018. And overall, power generation went up by 35 percent,” he said. Yesterday, the demand in power supply rose to 24, 800 MW which was a new record, he said, adding there was a shortfall of 400 megawatts. Pakistan now has the capacity to generate 28, 400 MW, he said.He said that Pakistan had consumed 6.3 billion electricity units in 2013 while in 2018 it was recorded at 9.2 billion units. The prime minister said that power generation was reduced to half due to shortage of water reservoirs. “There will be no electricity shortfall in June or July if water level goes up in reservoirs.” PM Abbasi claimed that 90 percent of consumers were getting electricity this year. He further added that big dams could not be built in the country as long as a national consensus was reached among all stakeholders. He concluded that there would be no power outages by 2015 if all the projects were completed. 

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Internet rejoices as man who beat his daughter gets hauled by policewomen

DERA GHAZI KHAN: An exceptionally powerful picture is making rounds on social media showing a man being hauled by female police officers, for beating his daughter in Dera Ghazi Khan.Footage of a man beating his daughter had gone viral last week and had caused a major social media uproar, with several people online demanding justice be served to the culprit. The racket had soon reached Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sahrif’s Strategic Reforms Unit (SRU) that acted on getting the perpetrator hauled to court and that too by female police officers.The official twitter of the SRU had posted the image stating: “The culprit who abused a girl has been taken to court by female police officers. This is an example for those who think they can abuse women and get away with it. No more. #Punjab will never let that slide. #WomenProtectionBill.”The image of four women taking the man into custody has acquired colossal admiration and reverence for the CM’s SRU online and has become a symbol of empowerment for women.

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PM Abbasi opens Havelian-Thakot motorway under CPEC

HAVELIAN: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi Tuesday said the PML-N has successfully completed hundreds of development projects across the country, in an unprecedented feat in history, as it sincerely believed in serving the masses.Inaugurating the 120-km long, Havelian-Thakot Motorway, an important section of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the prime minister said the party in pursuance of the vision of Nawaz Sharif has delivered on all its promises as it believed in the progress and prosperity of the country.He said the PML-N throughout its five-year tenure remained committed and worked with dedication to bring about a real change by focusing on the under developed and remote areas of the country.He said the PML-N does not believe in politics of sit-ins and use of foul language and has brought decency to politics. He said the people of Pakistan were a witness to the development undertaken by the Pakistan Muslim League and on July 25, would decide about their future, whether they want more progress, or they want to merely live on empty statements and hollow 100 day plans.He said the project would connect the area with motorway network, opening a new era of public prosperity. He said the government has completed the project at a cost of Rs.142 billion and said it was not an ordinary feat to undertake such a huge project. He said owing to some technical difficulties the work on completion of the section up to Manshera has been delayed till November, however hoped that it would be completed by the next deadline.He said the PML-N earlier completed 550 kms of motorways during its previous tenure and now it was undertaking work on 1700 kms of six lane international standard roads that would link Gwadar to Khunjerab and Peshawar to Karachi. He said this would drastically cut down on the travel time and bring speed and efficiency and open doors of prosperity to the underdeveloped areas of the country.He said apart from roads, the government in past five years completed projects on electricity, natural gas, universities and infrastructure and if voted to power, it would carry on its charter for taking Pakistan into the list of developed countries of the world.He regretted that the previous governments failed in their obligations to serve the people and pushed the country back.Prime Minister Abbasi unveiled the plaque for the inauguration of the project.Earlier the Prime Minister was informed that the project starting from Havelian would pass through Abbottabad, Manshera, Shinkiari and terminate at Thakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.The project has been divided into three packages: Havelian-Abbottabad, Abbottabad-Mansehra, and Mansehra-Thakot. The work on Havelian-Thakot section began in 2017, and was scheduled to be completed by February 2020.Work on Khunjerab-Raikot 335 km long section has already been completed, while work on 144 km Raikot-Thakot section was in progress at a rapid pace.The Hazara Motorway from Hakla (M-1) to Shah Maqsood Interchange has already been completed and opened. He was also informed that a link from Khujerab to M-1 was being completed gradually. Completion of the project would pave the way for agricultural and industrial development and open up new avenues of economic uplift and generate new opportunities of employment.

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Project Officer (American Refugee Committee) - Lahore

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Three-month honorarium issue referred to federal cabinet for approval

ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs Rana Muhammad Afzal Khan Tuesday informed the National Assembly that the summary regarding payment of honorarium equivalent to three basic pay to all federal government employees has been sent to Federal Cabinet for re-consideration and approval.Replying to a Calling Attention Notice in the National Assembly, moved by Shaikh Salahuddin of MQM, the minister said that after the decision of Supreme Court, Prime Minister has no powers to award honorarium to employees.The issue of honoranium has been referred to the federal cabinet for consideration.In the light of Supreme Court’s decision, Rana Afzal Khan said that federal cabinet is authorized to approve or reject the honorarium.

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