The Express Tribune Newsletter: July 31, 2012

Today's Headlines New beginnings, new rules: Pakistan, US set to sign NATO supply deal today Kamran Yousaf Closing the chapter on weeks of hard-talk and gruelling negotiations, a new agreement on Nato supplies through Pakistan is to be signed today (Tuesday) in Islamabad by senior officials from Pakistan and the US. Contempt of court act: SC shoots down govt request for more time Qamar Zaman After an exhaustive hearing of over 20 petitions challenging the new contempt law, it is now the government's turn to defend it. Ephedrine scam: UN drug regulator to come knocking for answers Arif Rana An international watchdog on illicit drug trade has unilaterally announced that its delegation will visit Pakistan from September 10 to 15 for verification of investigations into the politically-explosive ephedrine drug quota case. Abuse of grants: $61m spent on vocation or vacation, asks PAC Shahbaz Rana The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Monday sought a report on the utilisation of $61 million allotted for human resource development in the bureaucracy – but which allegedly ended up financing "pleasure trips" of senior bureaucrats.   Business Mergers and acquisitions: Lucky Cement led group buys ICI Pakistan for $152m Farooq Tirmizi The Yunus Brothers Group has bought out a 75.8% stake in ICI Pakistan from the Dutch paints giant AkzoNobel for Rs14.4 billion ($152.5 million), beating out two other bidders for the prized chemical company. Time is up: Government to wipe out CNG sector gradually Our Correspondents Minister for Petroleum Dr Asim Hussain, while terming the compressed natural gas (CNG) promotion policy by the previous government as a false step, has aimed to phase-out the CNG sector gradually throughout Pakistan in coming years to save the industrial and domestic sector from gas curtailments in future. _______________________________________________ Sports Hockey: Greenshirts salvage a draw in opener Fawad Hussain Pakistan bounced back from warm-up defeats to hold Spain to a 1-1 draw and earn a point on the opening day of the men's field hockey competition that kicked off at the Riverbank Arena in London. Swimming: Next target, Rio 2016, says Anam Banday Natasha Raheel Anam Banday has taken her Olympics heartbreak in her stride, preparing herself for the next edition already and looking forward to putting in 30 hours of pool time and 10 hours of gym every week. _______________________________________________ Life & Style Will Tele-Dramas Be The Death of Pashto Cinema? Rafay Mahmood The real charm of cinema for a viewer lies in the theatrical and congregational experience; a large screen, high-quality audio, movie popcorn and a crowd of people are essential to movie enjoyment. Sanki King's graffiti knows no boundaries Saadia Qamar Abdullah Ahmed Khan aka Sanki King, is a 22-year-old self made graffiti artist in Pakistan. A member of an old-school American graffiti crew in New York, Beyond Mankind Krew (BMK), some would go as far as saying that Sanki is the pioneer of graffiti art in the country. _______________________________________________

Opinion The consequences of hate Feisal H Naqvi This Ramazan, everyone is a beggar Tazeen Javed Talking Burma Ayesha Siddiqa Losing war against polio to 'counter-insurgency' Naveed Hussain A truly democratic future Farahnaz Isaphani   Blogs Buckle up: Women can drive too! Jibran Khan Pakoras galore: Let the Ramazan feast begin! Yousuf Bawany Will England be annihilated again by South Africa? Dr Amyn Malik Let's Love Pakistan – a New Resolution (IV) Saad Zuberi Poll Do you think televising religious conversions is ethical? No (76%, 305 Votes)  Yes (24%, 94 Votes)  Total Voters: 399 Links Contact us Tribune on Facebook Tribune on Twitter About us RSS Feed Subscribe to the Paper Careers Copyrights Jobs Classifieds

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