Pakistan

“National security” — a term abused so frequently by successive governments in Pakistan that it would be better off archived. Over the years, the term has been stripped of its true essence — devolved to an enervating level of widespread dismissal among many of us; mutated into an ugly weapon and spiked with alarmingly sweeping conditions. From the deepest recesses …

PTI Senator Shibli Faraz was appointed the new opposition leader in the Senate on Monday. Former prime minister and PTI founder Imran Khan had nominated Faraz for the position last week and he was widely seen to take the role with the endorsement of 21 senators. According to a notification issued by the Senate Secretariat, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, …

The Punjab government on Monday announced a local holiday on April 23 (Tuesday) in the Lahore district to avoid inconvenience to the public ahead of the visit of foreign dignitaries, including Iranian President Dr Ebrahim Raisi. The Iranian president is currently in Pakistan on an official trip from April 22 to April 24 (Wednesday). The Foreign Office had said that …

The ruling PML-N on Monday emerged victorious in by-elections held on 21 national and provincial seats, according to provisional results released by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). On Sunday, by-polls were held across the country amid allegations of “record rigging”, temporary suspension of cellular services in specific districts of Punjab and Balochistan and multiple incidents of violence, leading to the death of a PML-N …

Eleven terrorists were killed by security forces in two separate operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail Khan and North Waziristan districts, the military’s media wing said on Monday. A press release from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that the operations took place last night. It said that an intelligence-based operation was conducted in Dera Ismail Khan district on the reported presence …

QUETTA: Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti on Saturday allotted portfolios to cabinet members who took oath the other day, more than a month after the formation of the provincial government. According to an official notification issued by the Services and General Administration, the chief minister allocated portfolios to 13 ministers and four advisers to chief minister. The portfolios of finance, …

QUETTA: JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman once again “rejected” the February 8 general elections, vowing that his party will not let the existing government function as it was “fake” and a product of rigged polls. Addressing a public meeting at the Taj Lala Stadium in Pishin on Saturday, he said: “Our anti-government movement will spread across the country, and nobody …

LAHORE: The agriculture is again facing hard times as farming community is experiencing a double jeopardy; on the one hand, cost of production has doubled since 2023 and, on the other, commodity prices of major crops (wheat, cotton and maize) have slid by 25 per cent on an average basis. Khalid Mahmood Khokhar, president of Pakistan Kissan Ittehad (PKI), said …

LAHORE: Emphasising protection of the identity of rape victims and their family while writing judgements by the trial judges, the Lahore High Court has also ordered the federal government to ensure effective implementation of the Anti-Rape (Investigation and Trial) Act 2021. “Child sexual abuse is a deeply traumatic and sensitive issue that demands that the justice system handle these cases …

PESHAWAR: With nea­rly two dozen lives lost in a single day, death toll from the inclement wea­ther in Khyber Pakhtun­khwa climbed to 59 on Saturday, according to the provincial disaster management authority (PDMA). Officials and rescue sources said life came to a standstill in some areas as the current spell of rains continued to wreak havoc on the fourth consecutive day, claiming …