Category: ENGLISH

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s (PTI) Asad Qaiser was sworn in as National Assembly (NA) speaker on Wednesday, beating out the candidate fielded by a fragile opposition alliance, PPP stalwart Khursheed Shah, in a secret ballot. Qaiser, the former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly speaker, received 176 votes to Shah’s 146 votes. Eight votes were rejected. Following the announcement, Sadiq administered oath to Qaiser among loud chants of vote ko izzat do by opposition lawmakers. Qaiser, after the announcement, made a round of the opposition benches and shook hands with opposition leaders seated in the front row…

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The first day of Eidul Azha will be celebrated across Pakistan on August 22, Central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee Chairman Mufti Muneebur Rehman announced on Sunday following the sighting of the Zilhaj moon. The announcement was preceded by meetings of the moon-sighting committee and other zonal committees in all provincial capitals of the country. The Islamic month of Zilhaj will commence on August 13. Meanwhile, Haj will be observed in Saudi Arabia on August 20. Muslims across the country celebrate the annual festival of Eidul Azha, or the Festival of Sacrifice, which…

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At least three policemen were martyred and two others sustained injuries when unidentified gunmen opened fire on a police checkpost in Kargah Nala area of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) early on Saturday, police said. Five or six militants attacked the Kargah Police Checkpost in Joot area, some 40 kilometres from Gilgit, at around 5am, superintendent of police (SP) Gilgit Tanvirul Hassan told DawnNewsTV. Twelve police personnel were present at the checkpost at the time of the attack. Three foot constables (FC), namely Nawaz, Fazal and Wakeel were martyred in the firing. FC Zeshan…

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ISLAMABAD: The caretaker government has ordered prison authorities to shift former premier Nawaz Sharif to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) after his health deteriorated on Sunday, interim information minister said. Doctors conducted a check-up of the former premier after he complained of chest pain and advised that he be shifted to a coronary care unit (CCU) immediately, sources said. Following this, the jail superintendent contacted the additional chief secretary. “In light of the additional chief secretary’s report, the caretaker government decided to shift Nawaz to PIMS,” sources in the…

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Unofficial and unconfirmed results of a large number of provincial assembly seats have been received as more are pouring in. Chief Election Commissioner Muhammad Raza Khan congratulated the people of Pakistan for participating in a “democratic polling process”, and expressed gratitude for the polling staff across the country as well as the security personnel deployed on Wednesday. Unofficial results of provincial assembly seats are as follows: Punjab PP-200 (Multan-VII) Winner: Riaz Ahmed, PML-N (43694 votes) Runner-up: Waheed Asghar, PTI (39315 votes) PP-201 (Sahiwal) Winner: Murtaza Iqbal, PTI  (44221 votes) Runner-up:…

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The battle is set to come down to three parties: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI). While polling stations officially opened for voting at 8am, enthusiastic citizens queued up outside their respective stations as early as 7am. PML-N Chief Shahbaz Sharif was among the first people to cast his vote, according to DawnNewsTV. Speaking to the media outside the polling station in Model Town, Lahore, he requested that people come out and vote for PML-N. July 25 was earlier declared a public holiday by the ECP, as an effort…

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ISLAMABAD: Firefighters are working to extinguish a fire which engulfed Sasta Bazaar in Sector H-9 in the federal capital on Wednesday. Over 100 stalls have been gutted in the raging fire till now. It is feared that the fire will not be doused easily as the market contains garments and other goods that easily catch fire. Over 20 fire tenders are dousing the flames. Capital Development Authority (CDA), Bahria Town and Rescue 1122 are also engaged in rescue efforts. Meanwhile, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said that Pakistan Navy’s tankers and…

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Caretaker Prime Minister Nasirul Mulk on Sunday visited slain Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) leader Nawab Siraj Raisani’s family to condole his death in a suicide attack targeting an election gathering in Mastung on Friday. The prime minister, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party Chairman Mahmood Khan Achakzai and Balochistan interim Chief Minister Alauddin Marri all gathered at Sarwan House to offer fateha for Raisani and the others who lost their lives in the Mastung attack. On Saturday, the federal government declared Sunday a day of national mourning over the recent terrorist attacks…

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The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa leg of PPP’s election campaign suffered a major blow on Saturday when the party was forced to scrap its planned rallies in Peshawar and Malakand due to the mounting security threats in the aftermath of the recent wave of terrorist attacks, DawnNewsTV reported. With its chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in KP on a two-day visit, the PPP had planned to stage public gatherings in Peshawar but especially Malakand — a district it has historically done well in and whose NA-9 constituency he will be contesting the July 25 polls too. Bilawal was scheduled…

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QUETTA/BANNU: Around 132 people were killed and 180 injured in two separate terrorist attacks during election-related activities in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Friday. Nawabzada Siraj Raisani, Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) candidate for a Provincial Assembly seat, was among 128 people killed in a shocking suicide attack on an election gathering in the Mastung area, some 60km south-west of Quetta. As many as 150 people were injured in the tragic incident. The suicide bombing came hours after Akram Khan Durrani, Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal candidate from NA-35, survived an attack when a…

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At least four persons including Awami National Party (ANP) leader Haroon Bilour were killed in a suspected suicide blast which targeted an election gathering of ANP in Yakatoot area of Peshawar on Tuesday night, DawnNewsTV reported. Initial reports reveal that more than a dozen people have been injured in the explosion, who have been shifted to nearby Lady Reading Hospital. The blast took place when Haroon Bilour, who was contesting elections from PK-78 constituency, arrived at the site where the ANP workers had gathered for a party meeting. Bilour suffered serious injuries…

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KARACHI: Despite the incident of stone-pelting on the opening day of Pakistan Peoples Party’s election campaign, people of Lyari are seemingly little moved to go for another political choice in the coming vote as the congested neighbourhood is getting adorned with the flags of the PPP along with the ongoing World Cup’s South American favourites Brazil. Though almost all parties and individuals have their share in expressing themselves through banners and flags, the banners carrying pictures of PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and South American football heroes are generally seen together…

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ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has directed the media not to announce election results before 7pm on July 25. The polling time is from 8am to 6pm and the ECP has also asked the media to observe its code of conduct. Chairman of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) Salim Beg called on Chief Election Commissioner Sardar Mohammad Raza on Thursday. The meeting, also attended by ECP secretary Babar Yaqub Fateh Mohammad, was informed that to facilitate media, mainly electronic media, the ECP has for the first time established…

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ISLAMABAD: In their separate remarks, both the chief justice of Pakis­tan and the chairman of the anti-corruption watchdog said on Sunday that they didn’t have anything to do with the July 25 elections. Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar said he was not facilitating anyone in the elections while National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman retired Justice Javed Iqbal rejected allegations of pre-poll rigging levelled by some political parties. “I am not running the campaign of any political party,” CJP Nisar said during a visit to the under-construction 400-bed Rawalpindi Child and…

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