Hotel Marriott Islamabad

Hotel Marriott Islamabad







Islamabad Marriott Hotel bombing

The Islamabad Marriott Hotel bombing occurred on 20 September 2008, when a dump truck filled with explosives detonated in front of the Marriott Hotel in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, killing at least 54, injuring at least 266 and leaving a 60 ft (20 m) wide, 20 ft (6 m) deep crater outside the hotel.The majority of the casualties were Pakistanis; although at least five foreign nationals were killed and fifteen others reported injured. The attack occurred mere hours after President Asif Ali Zardari made his first speech to parliament.The Marriott was the most prestigious hotel in the capital, located near government buildings and diplomatic missions. It was popular with foreigners and the Pakistani elite. The hotel had previously been the target of militants. In 2007, a suicide bomber killed himself and another person in an attack at the hotel.




Attack

The blast caused a natural gas leak that set the top floor of the five-story, 258-room hotel on fire, police said. The massive explosion was heard 15 kilometres away. blaze that followed quickly engulfed the entire structure of the hotel.About two-thirds of the building caught fire as a result of the explosion after a natural gas pipe was blown open, and the reception area was completely destroyed.

The owner of the hotel, Hashoo Group,owned by Sadruddin Hashwani, who is an Ismaili Muslim,[said the truck carrying the bomb had been stopped at the front barrier. "Some shots were fired. One of our guards fired back, and in the meantime he detonated all the explosives. All the guards on the gate died," said hotel owner Sadruddin Hashwani.

Most of the dead were Pakistani, but foreigners also died. Two American military personnel and a Danish intelligence agent were killed, and a U.S. State Department employee was missing and presumed dead.The Czech ambassador to Pakistan, Dr. Ivo Žďárek, also died in the ensuing fire along with his Vietnamese companion. Although Žďárek had survived the initial blast, he returned to the hotel to help in the rescue effort but was trapped in the burning building.In addition, six Germans, four Britons and a Filipina receptionist from the hotel were among the injured.

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Islamabad Supreme Court

Islamabad Supreme Court



The Supreme Court (Urdu: عدالت عظمیٰ) is the apex court in Pakistan's judicial hierarchy, the final arbiter of legal and constitutional disputes. The Supreme Court has a permanent seat in Islamabad. It has number of Branch Registries where cases are heard. It has a number of de jure powers which are outlined in the Constitution. Through several periods of military rule and constitutional suspensions, the court has also established itself as a de facto check on military power.




Constitutional Authority

Part VII, chapter 2 of the Constitution (articles 176 through 191) deals with the powers, composition, rules, and responsibilities of the Supreme Court. Here is a summary:

• Article 176 - composition of the Court
• Article 177 - appointment and qualifications of the Chief Justice
• Article 178 - oath of office
• Article 179 - retirement
• Article 180 - vacancy, absence, or inability of Chief Justice
• Article 181 - vacancy, absence, or inability of other judges
• Article 182 - ad hoc judges
• Article 183 - location of Court
• Article 184 - jurisdiction in dispute between two or more Governments
• Article 185 - jurisdiction to hear and determine appeals
• Article 186 - if requested, advise the President on important matters of law
• Article 186A- authority to transfer venue
• Article 187 - orders and subpoenas
• Article 188 - power to review its own judgements and orders
• Article 189 - Supreme Court's decisions binding on all other Pakistani Courts.
• Article 190 - all executive and judicial authorities in Pakistan are bound to aid the Supreme Court.

In addition to the above, the Constitution makes numerous references to the Supreme Court in other chapters and sections. An important function of the judiciary branch is to provide checks and balances to the power of the other branches of government. The Supreme Court under Pervaiz Musharaf took oath not on the constitution of Pakistan but on a Legal Framework Order made by the military.





Supreme court Islamabad t evening time and in the mix lighting of sunset as well as its own lights at its base. Law authority has beautiful building I wish the face of law should also be beautiful in our country

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Islamabad market

Islamabad Market



“Itwar Bazaar” or Sunday market emerged as an open air market for vegetables, fruits and poultry in Islamabad to cater to low income groups living in Islamabad. The Sunday mart was expanded to three days of week i.e. Friday, Sunday and Tuesday at three different parts of Islamabad.

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Islamabad City

Islamabad City



Islamabad (help·info) (Urdu: Pashto: Punjabi: اسلام آباد) Islām ābād (Meaning "Abode of Islam" or Abode of Peace) is the capital of Pakistan, and is the tenth largest city in Pakistan with an estimated population of 1.74 million in 2009.The Rawalpindi/Islamabad Metropolitan Area is the third largest in Pakistan, with a population of over 4.5 million inhabitants.

Islamabad is located in the Pothohar Plateau in the north of the country, within the Islamabad Capital Territory. The region has historically been a part of the crossroads of Punjab and North-West Frontier Province, Margalla pass being a gateway to the North-West Frontier Province.The city was built during the 1960s to replace Karachi as Pakistan's capital. However, the capital was not moved directly from Karachi to Islamabad. It was first shifted to Rawalpindi and then to Islamabad after all the developmental works were finished.

Islamabad is one of the greenest and most well-planned cities of South Asia.According to a survey, Islamabad is considered the cleanest city in Pakistan.The city is well-organized and divided into different sectors and zones. Islamabad was ranked as a Gamma world city in 2008.The city is home to Faisal Mosque, the largest mosque in South Asia and the sixth largest mosque in the World. Islamabad has the highest literacy rate in Pakistan.The top ranked university in Pakistan, Quaid-i-Azam University, is located in Islamabad. The top two engineering universities in Pakistan, Pakistan Institute of Engineering & Applied Sciences and National University of Sciences and Technology are also located here.Allama Iqbal Open University in Islamabad is the world's second largest university by enrollment.




Recent history

Since its establishment it has attracted people from all over Pakistan making it the most cosmopolitan city in the country.As the capital city it has hosted a number of important meetings, such as the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation summit.In October 2005, the city suffered some damages due to the 2005 Kashmir earthquake having a magnitude of 7.6.Islamabad has also undergone a recent series of terrorist incidents including the July 2007 Siege of Lal Masjid (Red Mosque), June 2008 Danish embassy bombing, and the September 2008 Marriott bombing.




Climate

Islamabad features an atypical version of a humid subtropical climate, with long and very hot summers accompanied by a monsoon season followed by short and mild winters. The hottest months are from May to July, where average highs routinely exceed 38 °C (100.4 °F). The monsoon season occurs July through September, with heavy rainfalls and evening thunderstorms. Winters occur from October to March with temperatures variable by location, with mild temperatures in the city and sparse snowfall over the hills. The weather ranges from a minimum of 3.9 °C (39.0 °F) in January to a maximum of 46.1 °C (115.0 °F) in June.The average low is 2 °C (35.6 °F) in January, while the average high is 40 °C (104.0 °F) in June. The highest temperature recorded was 48 °C (118.4 °F) in June, while the lowest temperature was −4 °C (24.8 °F) in January.[25] On 23 July 2001, Islamabad received a record breaking 620 mm of rainfall in 10 hours. It was the heaviest rainfall in Islamabad in 100 years.

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Islamabad Stock Exchange

Islamabad Stock Exchange



Islamabad Stock Exchange is one of the three stock exchanges of Pakistan and is located in the capital of Islamabad. It was incorporated on October 25, 1989 and it became fully operational on August 10, 1992. Islamabad Stock Exchange is centrally located in Anees Plaza, Fazal ul Haq Road, Islamabad. A new development project is underway to establish a new building for the exchange.

At present there are 119 members out of which 93 are corporate bodies including commercial and investment banks, DFIs and brokerage houses. The other 26 Members are individual persons who are well educated, enterprising and progressive minded. The affairs of the Exchange are governed by the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors consists of ten directors, of which five are elected member directors and four are non-member directors nominated by the SECP while the managing director by virtue of his office is the tenth director of the Board . In order to protect the interest of the investing public, an Investors Protection fund has been established by the Exchange.

Since the inception of automated trading system (ISECTS), the trade volume has been multiplying day by day and the average daily turnover has now crossed the figure of 1 million shares. Now all the listed securities are traded through the ISECTS. The system of physical handling of shares and securities has been phased out and majority of the scrips are settled through Central Depository Company of Pakistan Limited.

At the moment there are 262 companies/securities listed on the Exchange with an aggregate capital of Rs. 389.512 billion. The market capitalization stood at Rs. 2,275.00 billion as on 04-04-2007 . The pace of listing has remained slow as the economy of the Country is under consistent pressure due to internal as well as external factors.

In comparison with major financial markets around the World, the functioning of capital market in Pakistan is still very much in its infancy and lacks advanced technology. In this context efforts are being made to edited by khalid shah ciit

The Islamabad stock exchange is going to be shifted to its new home in a few year, as the new Islamabad Stock Exchange is currently under construction in the capital.

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Faisal Mosque

Faisal Mosque



The Faisal Mosque in Islamabad is the largest mosque in Pakistan and South Asia and the sixth largest mosque in the world. It was the largest mosque in the world from 1986 to 1993 when overtaken in size by the completion of the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca, Morocco. Subsequent expansions of the Masjid al-Haram (Grand Mosque) of Mecca and the Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Prophet's Mosque) in Medina, Saudi Arabia during the 1990s relegated Faisal Mosque to fourth place in terms of size.

Faisal Mosque is conceived as the National Mosque of Pakistan. It has a covered area of 5,000 m2 (54,000 sq ft)[citation needed] and has a capacity to accommodate approximately 300,000 worshippers (100,000 in its main prayer hall, courtyard and porticoes and another 200,000 in its adjoining grounds). Although its covered main prayer hall is smaller than that of the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca (the world's third largest mosque), Faisal Mosque has the third largest capacity of accommodating worshippers in its adjoining grounds after the Masjid al-Haram (Grand Mosque) of Mecca, the Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Prophet's Mosque) in Medina. Each of the Mosque's four minarets are 80 m (260 ft) high (the tallest minarets in South Asia) and measure 10 x 10 m in circumference.

The Faisal Mosque is named after the late King Faisal bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia, who supported and financed the project.



History

The impetus for the mosque began in 1966 when the late King Faisal bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia supported the initiative of the Pakistani Government to build a national mosque in Islamabad during an official visit to Pakistan. In 1969, an international competition was held in which architects from 17 countries submitted 43 proposals. After four days of deliberation, Turkish architect Vedat Dalokay's design was chosen. Construction of the mosque began in 1976 by National Construction of Pakistan, led by Azim Borujerdi, and was funded by the government of Saudi Arabia, at a cost of over 130 million Saudi riyals (approximately 120 million USD today). King Faisal bin Abdul Aziz was instrumental in the funding, and both the mosque and the road leading to it were named after him after his assassination in 1975. The mosque was completed in 1986, and used to house the International Islamic University. Many conservative Muslims criticised the design at first for its non-conventional design and lack of the traditional dome structure, but virtually all criticism was eventually silenced by the mosque's scale, form, and setting against the Margalla Hills upon completion.






Design

The Faisal Mosque is the work of famous Turkish architect, Vedat Dalokay who won the Aga Khan Architectural Award with this project. The mosque's relatively unusual design fuses contemporary lines with the more traditional look of an Arab Bedouin's tent, with its large triangular prayer hall and four minarets. However, unlike traditional masjid design, it lacks a dome. The minarets borrow their design from Turkish tradition and are thin and pencil like. The interior of this prayer hall holds a very large chandelier and its walls are decorated with mosaics and calligraphy by the famous Pakistani artist Sadequain. The mosaic pattern adorns the west wall, and has the kalimah writtern in early Kufic script, repeated in mirror image pattern.

The mosque's architecture is a departure from the long history of South Asian Islamic architecture. It is one of the most outstanding and modern Islamic architecture examples in the world.




















Location

The mosque is located in the capital of Pakistan, Islamabad. It is situated at the north end of Faisal Avenue, putting it at the northernmost end of the city and at the foot of Margalla Hills, the westernmost foothills of the Himalayas.






U.S. National Security Advisor General James L. Jones Meets With Pakistani Leaders

June 25, 2009

Islamabad - National Security Advisor (NSA) General James L. Jones USMC (Retired) completed two days of scheduled meetings with Pakistan's top civilian and military leadership that focused on implementing President Obama's comprehensive regional engagement strategy while strengthening the U.S. - Pakistan bilateral relationship.

"The United States is committed to a long term partnership between the American and Pakistani governments and people. Together, the U.S. and Pakistan are enhancing border cooperation, trade, energy, and economic development to help Pakistanis face the challenges posed by extremists," as General Jones said. "Terrorism is not simply the enemy of America - it is a direct and urgent threat to the Pakistani people."

During the two-day visit, NSA General Jones met with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, Chief of Army Staff, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, as well as provincial and federal government officials to discuss current challenges facing Pakistan and to coordinate efforts with the Pakistan Government in implementing the new shared comprehensive strategy. NSA Jones also discussed the urgent situation affecting internally displaced persons and ongoing U.S. assistance effort. Jones had the opportunity to visit Islamabad's landmark Faisal Majid - among the world's largest places of worship -- where he was briefed on the mosque's key architectural elements and history.

General Jones' visit to Pakistan is part of a three-country regional visit that includes stops in Afghanistan and India.

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