1. Former Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif, Daughter Arrested at Lahore Airport, Sent to Jail
Ousted Pakistani premier Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam were arrested on their arrival in Lahore on Friday night to face lengthy prison sentences in a move aimed at galvanising their beleaguered PML-N party ahead of the 25 July general elections.
After being detained within an Etihad Airways flight from Abu Dhabi by personnel from the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and Pakistan Rangers, Sharif and his daughter were put on a special flight to Islamabad in order to be moved to Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi.
The 68-year-old three-time premier and 44-year-old Maryam, his political heir, were sentenced in absentia for alleged corrupt practices linked to the acquisition of four apartments in London a week ago.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
2. 133 Killed in Suicide Bombing at Pakistan Election Rally, ISIS Claims Attack
At least 133 people, including a political leader, were killed and nearly 300 more injured in two separate bombings targeting political rallies in Pakistan on Friday, raising security fears ahead of the general elections on 25 July.
A suicide bomber detonated in the middle of a gathering of the Balochistan Awami Party in Mastung town, close to the provincial capital of Quetta, killing 128 people, including party leader Siraj Raisani, and wounding some 270 more.
The meeting was organised by Raisani, a candidate in elections to the Balochistan assembly and the younger brother of former chief minister Aslam Raisani. He succumbed to his injuries while being shifted to Quetta.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
3. If Delhi Tries to Break PDP, Outcome Will Be Dangerous: Mehbooba Mufti
Trying to quell dissent within the PDP after the BJP parted ways with her party to bring down her government in Jammu and Kashmir, former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti warned the Centre that any attempt to break the PDP will have a “very dangerous” outcome.
“My party is strong, there are differences which can be resolved… if Delhi tries to dismiss the voting rights of people as in 1987, and if it tries to create divisions, then I believe that just like a Salahuddin and a Yasin Malik were born in 1987… If they try the same thing now and interfere… if it tries to break PDP, then the outcome will be very dangerous,” she told reporters outside the Martyrs’ Graveyard in Srinagar.
(Source: The Indian Express)
4. Eye on 2019: BJP Begins Screening Process, Several MPs May Not Make Cut
Several sitting members of parliament (MPs) of the Bharatiya Janata Party may not make the cut when the party picks candidates for the next Parliamentary elections due in 2019, two party leaders familiar with the development said, putting this proportion at over 15%.
The two leaders, who asked not to be identified, explained that this is, in part, because the party has decided to use a multi-pronged strategy, including crowd sourcing feedback on its sitting members of Parliament, to decide its slate of candidates.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
5. For Any Disharmony Until 2019, Blame Congress: Nirmala Sitharaman
With less than a year left for general elections, the BJP Friday said the Opposition Congress is “playing a dangerous game… of communal politics” and will be “solely responsible if any disharmony plays out between now and the 2019 elections”.
Attacking Congress president Rahul Gandhi over an alleged remark attributed to him during an interaction Wednesday with Muslim intellectuals, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman — she told reporters she was speaking in her capacity as a party leader — said Gandhi should “clear what transpired” at the meeting.
(Source: The Indian Express)
6. Donald Trump Could Visit India in 2019
Indian and US diplomats are “in discussions” to see if US President Donald Trump could visit India in early 2019, officials confirmed, amid reports that Trump may even be next year’s Republic Day chief guest.
“We have no comments to make on this matter”, said official sources, but declined to deny a specific report on Trump having been invited for 26 January next year.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had invited Trump and his family to India, when he visited Washington in June 2017.
(Source: The Hindu)
7. Coimbatore College Student's Fall to Death During 'Drill’ on Campus: ‘Trainer’ Arrested
A man claiming to be a trainer with the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has been arrested on the charge of prodding a 19-year-old student to jump off the second floor of a college building in Coimbatore during a ''disaster management drill'', police said on 13 July.
R Arumugam was arrested based on a complaint by the student’s father and remanded in custody.
(Source: The Hindu)
8. Maharashtra Govt to Film Halls: Allow Outside Food
The Maharashtra government on Friday announced that there would be no difference in the MRP of food products sold outside and inside multiplexes in the state and viewers will be free to carry their own eatables inside the multiplex.
This was announced in the legislative council by Minister of State for Food and Civil Supplies Ravindra Chavan.
(Source: The Indian Express)
9. Waterlogging Hits Traffic Across Delhi: Desilting Claims Down the Drain on Most Rainy Day yet
As Delhi received the highest rainfall of this season so far, many parts of the city were left to reckon with knee- to waist-deep water, with traffic coming to a standstill and the Metro’s Magenta line temporarily halting.
The downpour also punctured claims by the Delhi government, the three MCDs and the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) that desilting work – meant to unclog drains in the run-up to the monsoon – was progressing as per schedule.
Safdarjung, the official Met station for Delhi, recorded 52.4 mm of rain during the day. The Ridge area received the highest rainfall at 118.4 mm, followed by Aya Nagar at 71.4 mm. While this is the heaviest rainfall Delhi has received in July so far, heavier single-day rainfall was received in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
(Source: The Indian Express)
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