Pakistan

PESHAWAR / ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan has stopped his party’s lawmakers from appearing before National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf for confirmation of resignations. “We have already resigned and an announcement [in this regard] was made on the floor of the National Assembly, there is no need to go there [to the house] for confirmation of resignations,” …

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday issued notices to the police and complainant — a representative of the Judge Advocate General (JAG) branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces — in a case against activist and lawyer Imaan Mazari-Hazir for allegedly “abusing and defaming the senior command of the Pakistan Army”. A first information report (FIR) was registered against Mazari-Hazir …

A grand tribal jirga arrived in Kabul on Wednesday morning to join the ongoing talks between the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Pakistan government to press for an agreement to end years of violence. Former governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Shaukatullah Khan, who is part of the jirga, told Dawn.com that the jirga’s role is “very important” in view of tribal traditions that are …

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikander Sultan Raja on Wednesday said that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is “always ready for elections” as he stressed it will continue to make decisions without fear. “The election commission makes its decisions fearlessly and it will continue to do so. If anyone is displeased by or disagrees with the decisions, it’s their problem,” …

The PTI moved the Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday to direct the federal government and other relevant authorities not to use “coercive measures or intimidating tactics”, resort to violence or create hindrances for party activists and leaders who intend to participate in the party’s second march on Islamabad, which they describe as an “upcoming peaceful assembly”. The PTI made the …

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday said Pakistan “genuinely and seriously” wanted to boost bilateral, trade and cultural ties with Turkey as he made the case for the Turkish business community to invest in Pakistan. “Suffice to say, we are here to convey this message to our Turkish brothers and sisters, President Tayyip Erdogan and his team, and to the …

Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Athar Minallah on Wednesday said that none of the amendments made to the Elections Act, 2017 by the incumbent coalition government deprived overseas Pakistanis of the right to vote. He made the observation while hearing a petition filed against the passage of the Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2022 which disallows overseas Pakistanis from voting electronically. The …

ISLAMABAD: A team has been constituted to investigate a case registered against rights activist advocate Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir, police said on Monday. The team, comprising SP Saddar Zone, SDPO, women police station SHO and an inspector, was formed to investigate the case on merit, they said. The case was registered against Ms Mazari-Hazir, daughter of former human rights minister Shireen …

LAHORE: A counsel for Farah Khan, a close friend of former prime minister Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi, submitted a reply to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in the corruption allegations against her. The NAB is probing Farhat Shahzadi alias Farah Khan/Gogi and her husband in the income beyond means case. “A huge turnover amounting to Rs847 million has been …

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s directive that there should be no cut in the budget of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) on Monday brought a sigh of relief to vice chancellors (VCs) of public-sector universities. Following reports that in the upcoming fiscal year 2022-23, the finance ministry would allocate only Rs30 billion to the HEC against its demand for Rs104 …