SOURCE: Ausaf, Ummat, Daily Pak, Nawa-i-Waqt, Urdu Point, Daily Jinnah, Awami Awaz, Daily Dharti, Jasarat, Kawish, Daily Intekhab, Daily Times, Jang, Ibrat, Khabrain, Roznama Dunya, Hizb Media, Al Qalam Weekly, Baad-e-Shimal, Bang-e-Sahar.

CHINA
The Chinese Committee on Gwadar Port said master plan for developing Gwadar is ready. Gwadar – Quetta and Gwadar – Naudero roads will be constructed by the end of this year besides two dams to provide uninterrupted water supply to these cities. (Daily K2, Baad-e-Shimal
UNITED STATES
1. The US Congress has opposed granting an aid of 90 crore USD to Pakistan saying Pakistan supports terrorists who have targeted American forces in Afghanistan. (Jang)
2. The State Department spokesperson has asked Pakistan to do more against terrorism. (Roznama Dunya)
AFGHANISTAN
1. India has announced that it will build military hospitals in Jalalabad and Kabul. Afghanistan is slipping out Pakistan’s hands and Indian influence is increasing. India is constructing a medical complex in Kabul. It will result in the reduction of dependence of the Afghan patients on Pakistan. (Ummat)
2. In a fierce fight in Kunduz, 15 US troops and 10 Afghan troops have died. Taliban has lost eight of its men but destroyed three enemy tanks. (Ummat)
INDIA
1. By blocking its NSG bid, China has reminded India that the US is not the whole world. In addition the Chinese Foreign Ministry has cautioned New Delhi that India’s backing by the US and the Western countries is leading to a negative impact on the international relations. (Jasarat)
2. Nazir Naji pokes fun at India’s bid for NSG membership. India thought that the US alone matters. Now it has learnt a bitter lesson that countering China and depending on the Western countries does not pay dividends. (Roznama Dunya)
3. Sheikh Hasina, PM of Bangladesh, is pressurizing traders to boycott the Pakistani products and has given contracts to the Indian traders. Furthermore, her government is not issuing visas to Pakistani businessmen. (Jasarat)
ARMY/SECURITY FORCES
1.Writing under the heading ‘bye-bye to secret wars now’, analyst Imtiaz Alam makes out a case for ending secret wars pointing out that the Army Chief has himself acknowledged that these secret wars are largely responsible for instability in the region. General Raheel Sharif’s statement comes at a time when it is distinctly clear that Pakistan is isolated in the region. Though Sartaj Aziz has rejected this impression, the Inter-Services Public Relations Director General, Major General Asim Salim has very clearly stated that Pakistan is isolated in its war against terror. Secret wars are not new to this region. India and Pakistan have been locked in secret wars ever since Partition in 1947. On the one hand India has not accepted the partition, and on the other hand Pakistan is sending militants to Kashmir to complete the unfinished agenda. If Ayub Khan had helped the Kashmiris in their separatist movement, India helped the Bengalis of East Pakistan in theirs. Likewise, the Afghan authorities, along with India support the Pashtunistan movement. Both India and Pakistan should refrain from the deadly games against each for sake of economic progress of the region. Pakistan’s security priorities should be within its own boundaries. Instead of laying rights over Pakistan territories, Afghanistan should better insist on peace and reconciliation process. India should improve its relations with the neighbours to play big role in region. Without mutual co-operations, India cannot get an access to the Middle East and Iran. (Awami Awaz)
TERRORISM & EXTREMISM
1. Tehreek Labaik Ya Rasool Allah, (TLYR), Chief, Allama Farooq Al-Hasan said a seminar on 20th August at Minar-e-Pakistan will chalk out its future strategy. Pakistan has been created in the name of Islam but the enemy elements are creating hurdles in imposing the Islamic Sharia in the country. Dance and music are allowed but use of loudspeaker from mosques is considered as anti-social. The government hanged Mumtaz Qadri for killing a blasphemer in the dead of night whereas criminals like Uzair Baloch are living freely under the government care. Unless Sharia is enforced, situation in Pakistan will not improve and people will not come out of their apathy. Farooq Al-Hasan added that Ulema in religious parties will soon decide on participating in the next general election with moon crescent moon as their symbol. The TLYR is ready to support the dejected Muslims of Myanmar and Bosnia. It wants to bring 15000 refugees from Turkey to Pakistan. (Daily Pak)
2. The Hangu police arrested a former local Taliban commander Asif, along with his three companions. (Ummat)
3. JuD Chief Hafiz Saeed sees the Turkey attacks as a conspiracy to allow chaos in the Muslim countries. Since an alliance of 34-nations was formed under the leadership of Saudi Arabia, the international powers have stepped up hatching internal and external conspiracies against the Muslim nations. (Khabrain)
4. Jamaat-e-Islami’s Al Khidmat Foundation has distributed Eid packages amongst 90 widows and poor people in Charsadda. (Ummat)
POLITICAL SCENE
1. Leader of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islami, Maulana Sami-ul-Haq has rejected the criticism against KP government’s Rs 30 crore grant the Darul Uloom Haqqania. The Madrasa management also pooh-poohed the criticism and dubbed the critics as stooges of the West. (Ummat)
2. Jamia Naeemia Chief Raghib Hussain Naeemi has termed the KP grant to Darul Uloom Haqqania as a political gesture. It is not an aid given in the name of religion. PTI Chief Imran Khan seems to be planning to pit Maulana Sami-ul-Haq against the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islami (F) Chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman, he said but the Sunni Ittehad Council Chief Sahibzada Hamid Raza said funding a madrassa associated with terrorists is akin to promoting terrorism, a betrayal of the martyrs and a political bribe. Peer Afzal Qadri commented that the Haqqania seminary is getting aid from across the globe and Imran Khan approving such an exemplary amount for the Haqqania has proved his roots. (Daily Pak)
3. Secretary General of Jamaat-e-Islami, Liaqat Baloch, has cautioned that forcible return of the Afghan refugees will affect Pakistan negatively. (Jasarat)
4. A MQM activist, Mohammad Ali alias Chingari, has made very shocking revelations before the Joint Investigation Team (JIT). “I killed 30 political and religious activists on the orders of sector and unit in charge of the MQM”, he stated. His victims include activists of the PPP Aman Committee in Lyari and the cadres of Sunni Tehrik in the old city. He was given weapons to shoot at a rally held by Bashir Qureshi, a Sindh nationalist leader, in Karachi about five years ago. Chingari is associated with MQM since 2004. The JIT has since declared him a dreaded militant. (Awami Awaz)
5. MQM leader, Farooq Sattar, says his party has paid a heavy price despite cooperating with the Police for the sake of peace in Karachi. This is nothing new. We are being targeted for the past seven decades. Many MQM activists are missing and many more are killed in extra-judicial killings. Karachi is getting step-mother treatment. (Awami Awaz)
6. All four provinces of Pakistan have rejected the Sharif government’s plan to make Arabic a compulsory language in the schools. It will be an unnecessary burden on students. (Nawa-i-Waqt)
7. Hamid Mir blames Turkish President for the terrorist attack on Istanbul Airport. Turkey is making the mistake that Pakistan had committed – providing a base to the US against other Muslim countries. (Jang)
8. Awami Awaz in its edit on terror attacks at the Istanbul airport says peace has now become a global pursuit, be it Turkey, Pakistan, the US or Syria. Media will have to play a very balanced role in covering terrorism. A spade has to be called a spade and militancy has to be seen as militancy. If the world looks at it from different angles, all those big comments and opinions against terror will continue to fall flat even as terrorism will go on unabated across world. (Awami Awaz Edit)
9. Ibrat edit on the state of the nation laments that good governance remains a distant dream in Pakistan. It is all because politics has become vehicle for creating personal fiefdoms and luxurious life style. Democracy has no importance in such an atmosphere. More than 40 per cent of the population have no food, live below the poverty line, have no drinking water and medical facility and their wards instead of going to schools have to work in garages to make the ends meet at home. Neither the ruling party nor the opposition has any concern for the people. Though it is the holy month of Ramzan, there is no one to raise their voice against the long power cuts in this month. The PML-N had promised to end power cuts within six months of assuming power but even after its 3-year plus rule, the power curse continues. (Ibrat Edit)
POK/G-B NEWS
1. The Chief Secretary of Gilgit-Baltistan has awarded a Rs.15 crore contract to a Chinese company for the construction of Naltar water channel even as local contractors are ready to do to execute the project at just Rs.2 crore. The Public Works Department has already advanced half of the project cost to the Chinese company. The local contractors have staged a protest demonstration demanding an inquiry into the deal. (Baad-e-Shimal)