KARACHI: The moon, marking the beginning of the Islamic month of Ramzan, was not sighted on Saturday and the first day of the holy month will now fall on Monday (June 30). The announcement was made by Chairman of Central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee Pakistan, Mufti Munibur Rehman in a press conference held after the conclusion of an official meeting of the committee at the Met Office in the port city.

QUETTA: Balochistan Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch admitted to have appointed Arsalan Iftikhar, the son of former chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, to a prominent position in the Balochistan Investment Board. “I did appoint Arsalan Iftikhar to the Balochistan Investment Board,” Dr Baloch said in response to questions raised by opposition benches regarding the widely politicised appointment during a session of the Balochistan Assembly on Saturday.

ISLAMABAD: The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Saturday said that the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) commander of Miramshah, Umer was killed by security forces on the outskirts of Miramshah the previous night. In a statement issued today, the ISPR stated that the civilian population has been evacuated from North Waziristan where the Zarb-i-Azb operation is targeting local and foreign militants.

ISLAMABAD: Answering all four questions posed by Imran Khan a day earlier, Federal Information Minister Pervaiz Rasheed of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Saturday said that he advised Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to deliver a televised victory speech in the wake of May 11 polls. Speaking at a press conference, he said that he was the one who advised the PML-N chief to speak to the party workers on the night of the 2013 General Elections.

QUETTA: Chief Minister Balochistan Dr Abdul Malik Baloch has vowed to battle against the extremists and terrorists forcibly closing educational institutions in Panjgoor district of the troubled province. Politicians, educationists and members of civil society, at a seminar held here on Saturday, urged upon law enforcement agencies to protect teachers and educational institutions in Panjgoor, one of the most backward districts in Balochistan.

KARACHI: One new polio case has been detected in Karachi on Friday, taking the city’s total to seven and country’s reported total for this year to 84. The 22-month-old child, a resident of Karachi’s Landhi area is the latest victim of the debilitating polio virus in the city, where polio vaccinators have come under attack in recent years. The parents of the victim refused to allow vaccination for their child when the anti-polio campaign began in the area.

KARACHI: There is a handlebar-mustached thug in all of us – or so says local Android app developer Pawail Qaisar, the creator of a mindlessly addictive game centered around everyone’s current favourite, Shafeeq Gujjar aka Gullu Butt. “Everyone is frustrated in one way or another,” Pawail says, “There is a Gullu in all of us.”While we are hoping Pawail is wrong about there being a vandal in all of us, the 10,000 downloads of his game ‘Gullu’ trumpet the appeal of the Gullu Butt phenomenon.

PESHAWAR: At least two women were killed and a child went missing after a van travelling on Adezai bridge in Charsaddah’s Shabqadar tehsil plunged into the Kabul River. Sources said that the van, carrying 18 passengers, was enroute from Bajaur tribal region when it met with an accident. Emergency teams reached the spot and managed to rescue 15 passengers. The rescued passengers were shifted to a nearby hospital for treatment.