PESHAWAR: The health department has expressed concern over the employees’ failure to comply with its instructions regarding the submission of details regarding the use of official vehicles and has reminded them to do so by the end of the month, failing which, such vehicles will be considered illegal. The department has informed all relevant officials in a letter that they will not receive reimbursement from the government for the costs of gasoline, oil lubricant (POL), and maintenance and repair, and that the excise and taxation department will be asked to retrieve any such vehicles that are not listed in the…
Author: Raja Zahid Khanzada
KARACHI: The Sindh government has assigned 37 MPAs from both the ruling and opposition parties to oversee 94 public schools in their constituencies in Karachi, Hyderabad, Thatta, and Sujawal. This is a first for Sindh. The 94 state funded schools — 74 in Karachi, 11 in Hyderabad and nine in Thatta and Sujawal – have been given over to the more than three dozen legislators, a staggering greater part of them have a place with the resistance Muttahida Qaumi Development Pakistan, under a school reception program started by Training Clergyman Syed Sardar Ali Shah. The initiative, according to a spokesperson…
• Officials link the move to the PTI, and today’s student protests are planned. • WhatsApp disruptions were reported, and Section 144 was in effect for two days. • About 380 people were held after the agitation in Rawalpindi. LAHORE/RAWALPINDI: The Punjab government has closed all educational institutions and banned all public gatherings throughout the province in response to the double challenge of a possible agitation by the PTI and the students’ protest today. While the protest against the alleged rape of a female college student in Lahore by students continued for the fourth day on Thursday, the PTI has…
KHUZDAR/QUETTA: On Thursday, a political and tribal jirga was held in Khuzdar to review the government’s efforts to normalize the situation and discuss Balochistan’s security concerns, rising terrorist attacks, pressing issues affecting citizens, such as health, education, unemployment, and administrative challenges. Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti, Commander of the 12 Corps Lt Gen Rahat Naseem Khan, tribal elders, political party leaders, and members of civil society were among the high-ranking officials who attended the jirga. In addition, ministers, the chief secretary, and other high-ranking government officials were present. Various issues were brought up by participants, one of which was the root…
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan finally issued an order on Thursday to close the Prime Minister of Pakistan Diamer-Bhasha and Mohmand Dams Fund, which was established in 2018 to raise money for the construction of massive Pakistani dams. The account had Rs23.6 billion as of October 4, the majority of which was the markup paid by the federal government. According to the Supreme Court’s order, the amount in the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) account will be transferred to the Public Account of the Federation in accordance with Article 78(2)(b) of the Constitution before the account is closed. The…
• Tarrar accuses PTI of “kidnapping its own members.” ISLAMABAD: Leaders of PTI and JUI-F say lawmakers and their families are being intimidated by authorities and offered exorbitant sums to vote in favor of the amendment. • Qaiser questions the need for forceful actions when the parliamentary panel is making progress toward consensus. Individuals from resistance groups in the two places of parliament on Thursday censured the supposed badgering of their legislators, with the PTI guaranteeing that its individuals were being presented to Rs3 billion for their help to an administration proposed dubious revision bill, pointed toward carrying exceptional changes…
QUETTA and ISLAMABAD: Thursday, the leadership of the Balochistan National Party condemned a late-night “raid” on the residence of party chairman Sardar Akhtar Mengal at the Parliament Lodges in Islamabad. They also said that the authorities had kidnapped the sons of party senators to get the BNP to support a proposed constitutional amendment that was supposed to limit the powers of the judiciary.
LAHORE: According to Nawaz Sharif, president of the PML-N, there is a possibility that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, will meet soon, and that talks between the two countries may resume. During a conversation on Thursday with Indian journalists who were in the country to cover the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit, the elder Sharif made this statement. Maryam Nawaz, the chief minister of Punjab, was also at the event. According to senior Indian journalist Smita, “Nawaz Sharif hoped that there would be an opportunity in the near future for the prime ministers of the…
ISLAMABAD: The Special Rapporteur of the United Nations on the independence of judges and lawyers has urged Pakistan’s government to reconsider the proposed 26th constitutional amendment. Margaret Satterthwaite expressed her concern in a letter that she sent to the federal government on October 14 that the proposed constitutional package might actually put a real threat to the independence of the judiciary as well as to individuals’ rights to a fair hearing by a competent, independent, and impartial tribunal, which are guaranteed by Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. In order to ensure that the proposal…
JERUSALEM: Concerns have been raised that Israel’s claim on Thursday that it carried out an operation in Gaza that resulted in the death of Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar may impede ceasefire efforts and escalate the Middle East conflict. On Wednesday, Mr. Sinwar was said to have been “eliminated by IDF soldiers,” according to the Israeli military and the country’s foreign minister. Hamas, on the other hand, did not immediately confirm his passing. The New York Times reports that Israeli police issued a statement in which they stated that they had initially matched Mr. Sinwar’s fingerprints and information regarding his dental…
