HYDERABAD: Adeel Siddiqui, President of Hyderabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HCCI), has urged the prime minister to focus on coal-based power generation for overcoming the never-ending energy crisis. In a statement issued on Saturday, he said more initiatives like Thar coal should be launched within a specific timeline to lessen reliance on LNG and oil-based generation to rid Pakistan …

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s trade deficit ballooned to an all-time high of $48.66 billion in the outgoing fiscal year from $30.96bn a year ago, indicating an increase of 57 per cent on the back of higher-than-expected imports, provisional official data showed on Saturday. The trade deficit reached such an alarming level despite a ban imposed on more than 800 items in May. The coalition …

LAHORE: The country has started importing coal from Afghanistan and supplying it to the coal-fired power plants in different cities, an official told Dawn on Saturday. “Coal from Afghanistan has started coming in a couple of days ago after the government directed the departments concerned, especially the Pakistan Railways, to make certain arrangements for a safe and rapid coal transport operation,” the …

KARACHI: Worried by the downward trajectory of the country’s economy, business leaders and captains of industry have warned that the rising costs of doing business could render Pakistan unable to compete with other countries in the region. They term rising interest rates, the uncertain situation of the US dollar, sky-rocketing fuel prices, higher gas and power tariffs, and — perhaps …

Indian police made fresh arrests in the case of the execution of a Hindu tailor in Rajasthan, a murder that stoked unease between the Hindu majority and Muslim minority, leading to a clampdown on protests and the internet to prevent tensions from escalating. Three senior police officials said on Saturday that two Muslim men based in the northwestern state were held for …

Nearly 3,000 Afghan religious scholars, at the conclusion of a three-day meeting on Saturday in the capital Kabul, declared the militant Islamic State group and others’ armed resistance against the Taliban government as “rebellion” and said the country was duty-bound to repel such elements. A joint declaration issued after the conclusion of the grand moot said: “We call on the nation that …

MADRID: Demonstrators held rallies in several Spanish cities and in Rabat to protest over the deaths of 23 African migrants who died in a crush trying to enter the Spanish enclave of Melilla in northern Morocco. Thousands of protesters gathered in Barcelona, Malaga, Vigo and San Sebastian and in Melilla itself to denounce migration policies and the “militarisation of borders”. …

TRIPOLI: Libya’s rival leaders were under growing street pressure on Saturday after protesters stormed parliament in the eastern city of Tobruk, ransacking its offices and torching part of the building, as anger exploded over deteriorating living conditions and political deadlock. Libyans, many impoverished after a decade of turmoil and sweltering in the soaring summer heat, have been enduring power cuts …

NEW YORK: The New York state passed a law on Friday banning guns at many public places, including Times Square, and requiring gun-licence applicants to prove their shooting proficiency and submit their social media accounts for review. The law, passed in an emergency legislative session, was forced by a landmark US Supreme Court ruling last week that struck down New …

KYIV: Blasts shook Ukraine’s southern city of Mykolaiv on Saturday as Russia’s artillery helped grind out gains in the east, after a week when the civilian death toll from Russian missile strikes climbed in urban centres well behind the frontline. “There are powerful explosions in the city! Stay in shelters!” Oleksandr Senkevych, mayor of the Mykolaiv region which borders the …