More than seven per cent of all deaths in 10 of India’s biggest cities are linked to air pollution, a large study said on Thursday, leading researchers to call for action to save tens of thousands of lives a year. Smog-filled Indian cities including the capital Delhi suffer from some of the world’s worst air pollution, choking the lungs of residents and posing a rising threat to health still being revealed by researchers. For the new study, an Indian-led team looked at the levels of cancer-causing microparticles known as PM2.5 pollutants in the cities of Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad,…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
ISLAMABAD: A five-judge Supreme Court bench will take up today (Thursday) the appeal of the Election Commission of Pakistan to settle a raging controversy over who should appoint tribunals to decide election disputes, the commission or the Lahore High Court (LHC). Earlier on June 20, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa had ordered placing the ECP’s appeal before the special committee under the Practice and Procedure Act, 2023, for constitution of the five-judge larger bench. However, the CJP then had ignored the ECP’s request to overturn the May 29 LHC order. Headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi…
ISLAMABAD: Police on Wednesday claimed to have foiled a major terrorism plan in Islamabad. According to police, it has recovered a Kalashnikov rifle, two hand grenades, safety fuse wires, two detonators, ball bearings, and empty shells in Sangjani area from the accused, who fled during an operation. A press release said that Islamabad police are conducting daily intelligence-based search and combing operations in the federal capital Islamabad in view of security during Muharram-ul-Harram. During the search operation in the Sangjani police station area, unknown accused fired at police teams. The police retaliated in self-defense, but the accused took advantage of…
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan could expect much higher foreign exchange proceeds from the sale of the Roosevelt Hotel — an upscale property in New York’s Manhattan district — with an improved mix-use sell-off transaction proposed by US advisers. But pre-qualified bidders for Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) have expressed concerns over the European Union’s ban on Pakistani airlines, which could affect the bid price for the national flag carrier that is currently up for sale. This was the crux of a news briefing on Wednesday, led by Privatisation Minister Abdul Aleem Khan and federal secretaries of the privatisation division and privatisation commission, Jawad Paul and Usman Bajwa,…
ISLAMABAD: PML-N parliamentary leader in the Senate and chairman of Senate standing committee on foreign affairs, Senator Irfan Siddiqui, on Wednesday highlighted importance of modernising diplomatic practices to face contemporary challenges. Talking to foreign secretary Cyrus Sajjad Qazi, who called on him here at Senate Secretariat, Senator Siddiqui said that effective diplomacy has evolved into a sophisticated science. He held out an assurance that the Senate committee would actively support the Foreign Office and it would act as a think-tank to foster strategic and informed diplomatic initiatives. Highlighting that moving from aid to trade to achieve the goal of self-reliance…
KHYBER: Police were placed on high alert throughout the Khyber district while additional checkposts were established on different routes after receipt of secret information about possible attacks from the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan on different police stations. Sources in Tirah said TTP had prepared at least three teams each comprising 10 fighters under the collective command of commander Abuzar with two groups assigned the task of carrying out attacks in parts of Tirah, while the third was dispatched to Bara for possible attacks on Meelwat and Bara police stations. It was also learnt that TTP commander for Akkakhel area in Tirah…
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association (PPDA) on Wednesday announced that its talks with provincial and federal governments and other stakeholders had hit a deadlock, leaving them with no option but to go for a nationwide closure on July 5 (tomorrow). “They asked us to call off strike and promised to resolve the issue, but we cannot postpone the strike on mere assurances,” PPDA chairman Abdul Sami Khan said while speaking to Dawn. He explained that he met almost every stakeholder in the government, including those he could not name, besides the finance minister, chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue, Oil and…
LAHORE: A petition has been filed in the Lahore High Court challenging the exemption from income tax on property sales granted to retired and serving army personnel and bureaucrats in the budget for fiscal year 2024-25. The petition filed by citizen Mashkoor Hussain through Advocate Nadeem Sarwar pleaded that the tax exemption given to the bureaucrats and military personnel was in violation of the equality clause of the Constitution, which stated “all persons are equal before law and are entitled to equal protection of law”. The petitioner argued that the impugned tax exemption amounted to exploitation of people as the ruling elites…
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday met Russian President Vladimir Putin, his Tajik counterpart Qohir Rasulzoda and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, seeking to expand bilateral ties, especially economic cooperation, with the three countries. While PM Shehbaz called President Putin to boost trade ties with Pakistan, he offered the Tajik leader to use Karachi port for the purpose. During their meeting, President Mirziyoyev and PM Shehbaz committed to expand mutually beneficial cooperation in trade, connectivity, defence, security, culture and people-to-people contacts. The prime minister is on a two-day visit to Astana to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Council, Heads of…
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday raised the issue of terrorism as a major concern for member states at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit and called for “meaningful” engagement with the Afghan Taliban government. PM Shahbaz arrived in Kazakhstan’s capital of Astana on Wednesday for a two-day official visit, representing Pakistan at the SCO meetings where leaders and diplomats from countries including China, India, Turkiye, Iran, Azerbaijan, and Kyrgyzstan have gathered to discuss economic and security cooperation. During his official speech on Thursday, the prime minister emphasised the importance of maintaining peace in the region as a precondition for…
