CJ wary of potential politicising of judges’ appointments

Statesman Report

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said Murree and Chhanga Manga are the ground realities of politics in the country, where ministries have to be gifted to court political support, Geo News reported Thursday. Justice Chaudhry said this while heading a 17-member larger bench hearing constitutional petitions filed against Eighteenth Amendment in the Constitution. Wasim Sajjad, the counsel of the federal government continued his arguments Thursday, saying the Chief Justice has precedence in the new procedure of appointments of the judges, as he heads Judicial Commission instituted for the purpose. Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday asked as to why the modus operandi was altered, if the powers are the same as before.

KP govt okays Rs6m for rescue operation

Iftikhar appeals affectees to leave homes at earliest

PESHAWAR: The provincial government has approved Rs6 million for carrying out a grand rescue operation in the flood-affected parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where scores of people have been killed so far in rain and flood related incidents. This was stated by Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain during a press conference here Thursday.  Speaking on the occasion, Mian Iftikhar said that the government had already declared emergency in the province and a massive rescue operation would be launched for which funds had been approved. He further said that flood affectees would not be left in the lurch and would be provided full assistance despite financial constraints, saying that special teams had been formed to effectively run the rescue campaign. 

Floods in AJK, Punjab and Balochistan

LAHORE: Torrential rains continue to wreak havoc as numerous reports of severe damage are coming in from across the country. Seven people died and as many went missing in land sliding and other rain-related incidents. People living around the River Jehlum are being shifted to temporary camps while the water level in the river is feared to cross the level 2,000 cusecs in the next few hours. At least ten villages near the River Jehlum have been evacuated. In a separate incident, a man was killed and seven others are missing when a Rawalpindi-bound passenger van fell into a stream due to slippery road conditions. The van was coming from Muzaffarabad. In Patika and Jehlum, four people drowned in the river, while two people were also reported to have drowned in Pindi Ghaib.

BD court bans religion in politics

DHAKA: Bangladesh’s Supreme Court has reinstated a ban on religious political parties in the latest blow to religious hardliners in the impoverished South Asian country, a minister said Thursday. In a detailed, 184-page verdict released late Wednesday, the Supreme Court scrapped the bulk of the 1979 fifth amendment, including provisions that had allowed religious political parties to flourish and legalised military rule. “Secularism will again be the cornerstone of our constitution,” law minister Shafiq Ahmed told AFP on Thursday. Religious parties, which were banned in the original 1971 constitution but legalised by the 1979 amendments, are now banned again, said Ahmed. “Islamic parties cannot use religion in politics any more,” he said.

Morgan ton puts England on top against Pakistan

NOTTINGHAM, England: Eoin Morgan's maiden Test hundred was key to England's revival against Pakistan as they made 331 for four by stumps on the first day of their series opener at Trent Bridge on Thursday. Former Ireland left-hander Morgan was 125 not out, having never even made a fifty in his previous two innings at this level, both against Bangladesh earlier in the English season. Together with Paul Collingwood (81 not out), he shared an England record fifth wicket stand against Pakistan of 213 unbroken, surpassing the 192 put on by Trevor Bailey and Denis Compton at Trent Bridge back in 1954. Middlesex middle-order batsman Morgan reached his hundred in style with a straight driven six against off-spinner Shoaib Malik as he completed a 151-ball century,

Banks to recover billions from borrowers: PAC informed

ISLAMABAD: Special Committee of the Public Accounts Committee of National Assembly on Thursday was briefed about the non-recovery of loans worth billions of rupees by different sectors functioning under Ministry of Finance and directed to speed up the recovery process so as to bring back the borrowed money in national exchequer.

The meeting which was convened under the chairmanship of Zahid Hamid reviewed the audit reports of Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL), Small and Medium Enterprises Bank (SME), House Building Finance Corporation (HBFC) and Industrial Development Bank of Pakistan (IDBP) for the audit year 2001-2002.

                                                                  more news

Today's Broadsheets

Page 2

Page 3

Page 4

Page 8

Page 9

Page 10

Page 11

s

• The monsoon deluge

• Vanishing professionalism in KP bureaucracy

• Rush for arms licences

• Seamy side of Afghan war

• Pabbi blast

• Wikileaks has exposed US crimes and designs

• The extension syndrome

• Drying of Kazakhstan’s Lake Balkhash

• America’s undeclared war on Pakistan

Afghanistan does it yet again

Afghanistan's persistent hostility towards Pakistan is well-established. Only last year, Hamid Karzai had more than once threatened to attack Pakistan on one pretext or other. Now,

                               More Letters