EOBI appointment
FFC declares 4000 appointments made byAshraf non-transparent I SLAMABAD —Fact Finding be faced. The change which Mubashar, general secretary
Insurgent killed, eight injured SIBI —A militant was killed and eight others injured in the security forces operation against insurgents here on Thursday. The security forces launched operation against miscreants involved in insurgency across Balochistan. The choppers of security forces shelled the suspected hideouts of militants in Sangan and Macch areas. As a result of operation an insurgent was killed while eight others sustained injuries besides destroying the suspected hideouts. Sources said that the security forces took action after the reports of presence of extremists involved in attacks on passenger buses and trains in the area.—INP
MNA Alizeh resigns from NA ISLAMABAD—Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) MNA barrister Alizeh Iqbal Haider has resigned and quit her National Assembly’s membership. Alizeh Iqbal was facing difficulty in continuation of Dubai’s job along with membership of National Assembly, so she decided to resign from the Parliament. Speaker of National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq has approved resignation of Alizeh Iqbal and forwarded that to the Election Commission for further action.—Online
20 meter readers arrested L AHORE —Atleast
twenty meter readers of Lahore Electric Supply Company along with their accomplices involved in power theft have been arrested by police, accused were earning millions from this business. The government of Punjab has decided to take action against power thieves present inside the department, by initiating raids against meter readers in different areas of Lahore. Police has also registered FIRs against the accused after arresting them. DIG Lahore Rai Tahir has said that operation against accused involved in power theft will continue across the board and culprits will be brought to justice as per law.—Online
Three killed in Karachi violence K ARACHI —At least three persons, including a prayer leader, were killed in firing incidents across the city while a five kilogram bomb was defused in Sohrab Goth area, on Thursday. In a firing incident, a prayer leader Mufti Nadeem Farooqui sustained severe injuries at Jamshed Road No 3. He was taken to Liaquat National Hospital but he succumbed to injuries. Two other political activists were also gunned down in Chamcha Hotel, Orangi Town. Bodies of both activists were shifted to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for autopsy.—Online
A Patriot surface-to-air missile battery is positioned in the Mediterranean coastal city of Haifa, north of Israel, amid growing expectations of a Western military strike on neighbouring Syria.
Five people swept away by flash flood in Chenab River M UZAFFARGARH —At least The sources said that wa- surrounding five members of a family were swept away by flash flood in River Chenab at Kachi Lal here on Thursday. Rescue officials reached at the scene and started search operation for recovery of missing bodies but could not find out any till filing of this report. Meanwhile, Floodwater submerged many villages in Nogoth, forcing large number of people to shift to safer places. Sources said that water level was increasing in River Indus near Dadu-Moro bridge.
Pakistan assures help to Afghans in reconciliation I SLAMABAD —Pakistan on Thursday termed the recent visit of Afghan President Hamid Karzai as successful and said it has assured Kabul of continuing help and assistance for the success of reconciliation and peace process. Foreign Office Spokesman Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry in his weekly press briefing here at Foreign Office said, “Pakistan has taken a principled stance of fully supporting the Afghan peace and reconciliation process and these sentiments were assured to President Karzai by Pakistani leadership during his recent visit to Pakistan.”—APP
ter level at the bridge was recorded 127.4 feet. The Irrigation Department said that 22 villages were also submerged in Mehr, Dadu, Sehwan and Manjhand tehseels. As many as 15 villages of the katcha areas of Dadu and Sehwan submerged in flood water on Thursday. On the other hand matured crops of cotton, rice and onion on several hundreds of acres have been completely or partially destroyed. The residents of Dadu, Sehwan and
areas have started migrating to the safer areas. Floods and heavy monsoon rains have now killed around 193 people and affected 1.5 million across Pakistan in the last few weeks. According to NDMA official, the rains had wounded 855 people, affected 5,615 villages and destroyed 20,312 houses all over the country. He said more heavy monsoon rains are expected in Pakistan next month, but the NDMA is fully prepared.—INP
President approves appointment of 11 SHC, BHC judges IRFAN ALIGI K ARACHI —President Asif Ali Zardari approved appointment of Shaukat Ali Memon, District and session Judge (D&S)Karachi (Central), Mrs. Ashraf Jehan, D&S Judge Karachi (East), Shahnawaz Tariq, D&S Judge Karachi (West), Abdul Malik Gaddi, Registrar Sindh High Court, Nazar Akber Advocate, Muhammad Junaid Ghaffar, Advocate, Zafar Ahmed Rajput, Advocate and Hassan Feroze, D&S Judge, as Additional Judges of Sindh High Court (SHC).
The Summary stated that their nominations were forwarded to Parliamentary Committee on Judges Appointment in the Superior Courts by the Judicial Commission of Pakistan. The Committee agreed to the nominations and forwarded them to the Prime Minister for advising the President to accord his approval to their appointment as Additional Judges of the High Court of Sindh for a period of one year. Acting upon the advice of the Prime Minister therefore, the Presi
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41 dead in Kenya bus disaster NAROK, KENYA—At least 41 people were killed Thursday in a bus crash west of the Kenyan capital Nairobi, the Kenyan Red Cross said. “It is a horrible scene. Bodies are strewn all over,” traffic police official Samuel Kimaru said by telephone from the scene near the town of Narok. The bus was travelling from Nairobi to Homa Bay on the banks of Lake Victoria when it flew off the road, rolled over and plunged down a hill. “It is difficult to tell exactly what happened but all indications point to speeding and possibly overloading,” he said.—AFP
Imran announces protest if polls rigging not probed L AHORE —The Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan on Thursday announced to come on the roads to protest against nonfulfilment of their demand of investigation of the elections rigging through verification of fingerprints. Addressing the party workers in PP-148 constituency here, Imran Khan said that after acceptance of his application by the Election Tribunal in the National Assembly constituency NA-122, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, the winning candidate against Imran Khan who is now speaker NA, has taken a stay order. Imran Khan said why Ayaz Sadiq was hiding behind the stay order if he has won through free and fair elections —INP
Committee (FFC) has declared 400 appointments made by former Prime Minister (PM) Raja Pervez Ashraf in respect of grade 16 to 20 employees in EOBI non transparent and worst example of nepotism. A threemember bench of Supreme Court (SC) led by Justice Anwar Zahir Jamali took up the EOBI appointments case for hearing on Thursday. Justice Anwar Zahir Jamali remarked “the way the government jobs were distributed and nepotism was practiced and norms of merit were trampled, stern action be initiated against all those found responsible therein . Justice Khilji Arif observed “ if all the institutions work within their stipulated parameters then no difficulty can
Human trafficking
Five men from Pak, Iran, Afghanistan held CANBERRA—Five men from Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan have been arrested and accused of facilitating the passage of up to 132 asylum-seekers boats in Australia’s largestever people-smuggling sting, police said Thursday. The men, an Iranian, 21, a Pakistani national, 46, and three Afghans aged 40, 34 and 33 were detained in a major nationwide operation culminating 12 months of work and seven separate probes into 132 voyages. Four of the men, described by police as “key” syn-
WASHINGTON—The intelligence linking Syrian President Bashar Assad or his inner circle to an alleged chemical weapons attack that killed at least 100 people is no “slam dunk,” with questions remaining about who actually controls some of Syria’s chemical weapons stores and doubts about whether Assad himself ordered the strike, U.S. intelligence officials say. President Barack Obama declared unequivocally Wednesday that the Syrian government was responsible, while laying the groundwork for an expected U.S. military strike. “We have concluded that the Syrian
Assad’s forces are most likely responsible while outlining gaps in the U.S. intelligence picture. Relevant congressional committees were to be briefed on that evidence by teleconference call on Thursday, U.S. officials and congressional aides said. The complicated intelligence picture raises questions about the White House’s full-steamahead approach to the Aug. 21 attack on a rebel-held Damascus suburb, with worries that the attack could be tied to al-Qaida-backed rebels later. Administration officials said Wednesday that neither the U.N. Security Council, which is deciding whether to weigh in, or allies’ concerns
would affect their plans. Intelligence officials say they could not pinpoint the exact locations of Assad’s supplies of chemical weapons, and Assad could have moved them in recent days as U.S. rhetoric builds. That lack of certainty means a possible series of U.S. cruise missile strikes aimed at crippling Assad’s military infrastructure could hit newly hidden supplies of chemical weapons, accidentally triggering a deadly chemical attack. Over the past six months, with shifting front lines in the 2 1/2-year-old civil war and sketchy satellite and human intelligence coming out of
dicate members, came to Australia on smuggling boats themselves between May 2012 and July 2013. The ring was allegedly active in the recruitment of passengers and the collection and transfer of money. Three are in immigration detention, and stand accused of orchestrating activities from Indonesia prior to their arrival. One of the men, Barkat Ali Wahide from Afghanistan, appeared briefly in court in erth, telling a magistrate he had been in immigration custody for 17 months.—AFP
OIC SG visits Al-Quds, talks to Abbass, Malki HAMEED SHAHEEN ISLAMABAD—The OIC Secretary General (SG), Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, has concluded has visited Al-Quds Sharif during his two-day visit to Palestine. He toured the precincts of the Blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque. The SG also visited the Arab Child Foundation School and Islamic Philanthropic Services Hospital there. The SG examined the conditions which contribute to the sufferings of Palestinians because of violations by Israel the occupying entity. He expressed shock over continued restrictions imposed on the city with the aim of changing its Islamic and Arab demographic character, says an
Intelligence on weapons no ‘slam dunk’ government in fact carried these out,” Obama said in an interview with “NewsHour” on PBS. “And if that’s so, then there need to be international consequences.” However, multiple U.S. officials used the phrase “not a slam dunk” to describe the intelligence picture - a reference to then-CIA Director George Tenet’s insistence in 2002 that U.S. intelligence showing Iraq had weapons of mass destruction was a “slam dunk” - intelligence that turned out to be wrong. A report by the Office of the Director for National Intelligence outlining that evidence against Syria is thick with caveats. It builds a case that
comes from blowing of wind of change causes irreparable loss not only to the institutions but also to the country. Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan while presenting stance from EOBI told the court his client had completely changed its stance as earlier it was declaring the appointments made in EOBI fair and just and his client is declaring them illegal and non transparent now. “ I have filed fact finding committee report in the court with reference to it”, he added. The learned judges remarked “ this nepotism has ruined the country. Had there been transparency, the institutions would not have been annihilated. Chaudhry Muhammad Aslam, counsel for EOBI employees and Syed
Syria, U.S. and allied spies have lost track of who controls some of the country’s chemical weapons supplies, according to one senior U.S. intelligence official and three other U.S. officials briefed on the intelligence shared by the White House as reason to strike Syria’s military complex. All spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the Syrian issue publicly. U.S. satellites have captured images of Syrian troops moving trucks into weapons storage areas and removing materials, but U.S. analysts have not been able to track what was moved or, in some cases, where it was relocated.—AP
emailed message to Pakistan Observer here Thursday. It is the first ever visit to Al-Quds Sharif by any Secretary General of OIC. The Secretary General’s visit to Al-Quds comes at a time when unrest witnessed by several Middle Eastern States, distracted attention from Palestine. He was shocked to see continuous violations of human rights of the Palestinians and changing the Arab character of the heart of Islam – Al-Quds Sharif. In his meeting with Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbass, at his office at Ramallah District Headquarters he discussed the latest developments of the Palestinian issue especially the international efforts to resume the peace process. During the meeting, Ihsanoglu expressed OIC support to the steps taken by the State of Palestine and its political options towards the restoration of its legitimate rights and the establishment of its independent state with Al-Quds Asharif as its capital. Earlier the SG held talks with Palestinian Foreign Minister, Riyadh Malki, in which he dealt with means of cooperation between the OIC and the State of Palestine and mechanisms for coordination between the two sides on common issues with the aim of supporting the Palestinian cause particularly Al-Quds Asharif. The OIC Secretary General underlined the need to take practical and implementable measures to provide support to the city’s inhabitants.
EOBI Trade Union while giving arguments said in the court “ now the EOBI management is admitting its incompetence but no responsibility has been fixed in this report. The court directed them to obtain report of fact finding committee and file your reply before September, 12 and court will render decision after reviewing them. Deputy Attorney General Ali Zai told the court with reference to daughter in law of former PM Raja Pervez Ashraf that he had not only resigned but also World Bank has accepted the resignation. The court while adjourning the haring of the case till September, 12 made it clear that no further adjournment will be allowed.—Online
Govt to bring new law to curb extortions: Qaim STAFF REPORTER K ARACHI —Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah said on Thursday that the Sindh provincial government would table a bill for the elimination of the extortion from the province after which the cases of the extortion would be tried in the anti-terrorism courts. He stated this while talking to a high level delegation of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry here. The delegation comprised eminent businessmen Siraj Kassam Teli, Sindh Investment Board chairman Zubair Ahmed Motiwala, Haroon Agar and others. Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Enam Memon, Sindh Chief Secretary Muhammad Ejaz Chaudhry, Inspector General of Police Sindh Shahid Nadeem Baloch, Additional IGP Ghulam Qadir Theebo, Sindh Industrial Trading Estate Ltd Managing Director Sajjad Hussain Abbasi, special Secretary Muhammad Abbas Baloch also attended. The delegation demands that government should immediately launch a decisive operation against the extortionists, target killers, hardened criminals and others involved in heinous crimes. They also assured the CM of full cooperation in this regard from the business community. The CM said that the Sindh government was fully aware of the problems faced by the traders and the businessmen of the city and had taken steps for the resolution of their problems and would not leave any stone unturned.
PSM not being privatized: Senate told I SLAMABAD —Minister for Industries and Production Ghulam Murtaza Jatoi has told Senate government has no plan to privatize Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) and all the reports about its privatization are baseless and unfounded. Replying to call attention notice of PPP Senator Mian Raza Rabbani he said ministry of Industries and Production has sent a summary on comprehensive bail out package for PSM and it will be placed in ECC meeting for further action.—Online