LAHORE: The Punjab Standing Committee of Cabinet on Finance and Development has allowed a hefty monthly honorarium of Rs1.2 million for retired Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed to head the Punjab Commission on Irregular Housing Schemes, rejecting the Punjab Local Government and Community Development (LG&CD) department’s recommendation of offering honoraria at the rate of (minimum) pay scale MP-I. Justice Saeed was …

YANGON: A US journalist imprisoned in Myanmar since May was pardoned and deported on Monday, a day before he was due to face terror and sedition charges that could have jailed him for life. The military has squeezed the press since taking power in a February coup, arresting dozens of journalists critical of its crackdown on dissent, which has killed more than …

LAHORE: Untested fast bowler Shahnawaz Dahani along with Imran Butt and Haris Rauf were excluded to include opener Imam-ul-Haq, middle-order batter Kamran Ghulam and off-spinner Bilal Asif as the national selection committee on Monday announced the Pakistan Test squad for the two-match series in Bangladesh starting later this month. The first Test will be held in Chittagong from Nov 26 …

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has lowered its Covid-19 travel risk advisory to “Level One: Low” for Pakistan, India, Japan, Liberia, Gambia and Mozambique after a drop in coronavirus infections in the six countries. In August this year, the CDC had issued a “Level 2 Travel Health Notice” for Pakistan, indicating a moderate level of Covid-19 in the …

NEW DELHI: India’s Supreme Court told authorities on Monday to shut offices in the capital and nearby cities, allowing millions to work from home as officials seek ways to reduce hazardous air pollution that led to the closure of schools. Its action came after city authorities in New Delhi, which has been battling a toxic haze since early Nov­ember, took emergency measures …

Next year’s Twenty20 World Cup will be held across seven venues in Australia, officials confirmed on Tuesday, with Sri Lanka and the West Indies forced to play for a place in the Super 12. The tournament, which was supposed to be held Down Under in 2020 but was pushed back two years due to the coronavirus, will take place between October 16 …

US President Joe Biden pressed his Chinese counterpart on Beijing’s human rights practices, in an over three-hour call on Monday, while Xi Jinping warned that China would respond to provocations on Taiwan, officials said. The closely watched conversation between the leaders of the world’s biggest economies was described by both sides as frank and direct as the two sides tried …

ISLAMABAD: Pointing out the non-serious approach of the government in holding local government (LG) elections in Islamabad, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday stated that if required data and notifications are not provided to the commission within 10 days for delimitation of new union councils (UCs), the commission shall initiate the delimitation process on already notified UCs. The …

ISLAMABAD: Heads of the component parties of the opposition Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) on Monday directed the steering committee of the alliance to propose a strategy for challenging the controversial bills before the Supreme Court and finalise the date for the anti-government long march to Islamabad. The PDM leadership has directed the former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association …

ISLAMABAD: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) on Monday said that last week it had briefed a Senate committee about the poor performance of the Quality Enhancement Cells (QECs) of universities, not the overall working of the universities. On the other hand, the chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Federal Education Senator Irfan Siddiqui said HEC officials had briefed the …