The Express Tribune Newsletter: June 21, 2012 ~ Mera Pak Watan

The Express Tribune Newsletter: June 21, 2012

Today's Headlines

Gilani's replacement: PPP picks Makhdoom Shahabuddin for top slot

Irfan Ghauri / Zia Khan

The nominations are out, and the leading party seems poised for a showdown with the judiciary.

Fazal Khaliq

A day after Yousaf Raza Gilani was disqualified in a contempt case, opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)'s chief hit out at the Pakistan Peoples Party, and said "they reaped what they sowed by clashing with the judiciary."

Not to be sidelined: PML-N reaches out to JUI-F, MQM

Qamar Zaman

Still in the process of finalising its exact strategy for the election of the leader of the house, the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is expected to put forward a candidate for the race.

Dr Aafia still alive: US prison spokesperson

Huma Imtiaz

An official for the holding facility where neuroscientist Dr Afia Siddiqui is being kept, has denied rumours of her death.

Business

Gas wars: Govt to press ahead with energy-efficiency audit

Zafar Bhutta

Setting aside concerns of fertiliser companies, the government has decided to press ahead with plans to conduct an energy-efficiency audit in order to provide gas to efficient units on a priority basis.

Next loan programme: High defence spending to come under spotlight

Shahbaz Rana

Pakistan's defence budget will come under scrutiny in any future arrangement with the International Monetary Fund, as it will be difficult for the IMF to present a case in its board where defence spending is higher than development expenses, says a former IMF official.

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Sports

Cricket: Whatmore has hurt the team's progress, says Mohsin

Fawad Hussain

Former Pakistan coach Mohsin Khan has criticised current coach Dav Whatmore, holding him responsible for 'hurting the team's progress and balance' before adding that the team would have shown better results if he was allowed to continue.

PCB announces Rs700m deficit budget

Nabeel Hashmi

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has approved a deficit budget of Rs700 million for the fiscal year 2012-13 in its recent Governing Board (GB) meeting chaired by the board's chairman Zaka Ashraf.

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Life & Style

Zain Mustafa: 'It's time to slay the dragons'

Maha Amin

After settling in Dubai in 2003, Zain Mustafa began to establish a niche for himself as an up and coming interior designer. Although he had no plans to move back to Karachi, his hometown, returning to the city to meet with a potential client two years ago suddenly made him change his mind and he decided to stay. Mustafa moved back into his childhood home which he redecorated to better suit his unique taste — avant garde, mercurial and in-your-face refreshing.

Khumariyaan: The sound of intoxication

Rafay Mahmood

When you run a search for 'Khumariyaan' on Facebook's search tab, images of whiskey bottles will pop up. This is because the Pashto word khumariyan in English translates to intoxicants. But if you look a little harder online for the page dedicated to the Peshawar-based instrumental band Khumariyaan, their smooth blend of the rabab and keyboards with a dash of the guitar will send you in a trance. They could very well be the next big musical sensation in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

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Opinion