Pakistan

PESHAWAR: The Bannu district police have registered a case against the local leaders and organisers of Pakistan Democratic Movement’s rally held on Wednesday at the sports complex in Bannu. According to the FIR registered by SHO Imranullah Khattak of the city’s Saddar police station, organisers of the rally forcibly entered the sports complex and demolished its backside wall to make …

KARACHI: The Sindh Assembly on Thursday passed a bill enhancing privileges and allowances of the provincial parliamentary secretaries, including ‘special allowance’ of Rs 50,000, use of a car, house rent and sumptuary allowance. Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Mukesh Kumar Chawla, who presented The Sindh Parliamentary Secretaries (Salaries, Allowances and Privileges) (Amendment) Bill, 2021, said that the privileges and perks of …

ine ISLAMABAD: As over 17,000 out of 18,000 volunteers have been vaccinated, Pakistan is expecting to complete the clinical trial of a Covid-19 vaccine in the current week. While critics said the country should have pre-booked the vaccine, some experts are of the opinion that by the end of the first quarter of the year, tens of options will be …

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its ruling on a set of review petitions instituted by the Punjab government and some mentally sick death row prisoners against execution of convicts suffering from mental illnesses, including schizophrenia. Before closing the proceedings, however, a five-judge Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Manzoor Ahmad Malik solicited opinion of all the provincial governments …

ISLAMABAD: New Ruet-i-Hilal Committee Chairman Maulana Abdul Khabir on Thursday expressed his willingness to use scientific knowledge in moon sighting within the limits of Shariah in order to end repeated controversies surrounding religious festivals such as Eids. His remarks came during a meeting with Minister of Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry. The minister informed him that observatories were being set …

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s 20.76 million workforce suffered livelihood losses due to coronavirus-related lockdowns and a large majority of them got back to work after July 2020, an official survey reveals. The Planning Commission on Thursday said the country’s 35 per cent (about 55.74m) population of 10 years and older was working before the onset of Covid-19, but due to closure of …

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday once again appealed to the Hazara community to bury those killed in the attack in Balochistan’s Mach area, calling on them to refrain from “blackmailing the premier”. Speaking at the launching ceremony of the Special Technology Zones Authority in Islamabad, he said that the government had assured the protesters that they will be compensated. “We have …

ISLAMABAD: In a significant development, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday directed its scrutiny committee auditing accounts of three major political parties — the PTI, PML-N and PPP — to meet thrice a week to complete the process at the earliest. Informed sources told Dawn that the commission, which met here with Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja in the …

ISLAMABAD: The Central Selection Board (CSB) on Wednesday recommended promotion of officers of various cadres and ministries in BS-20 and BS-21, including those belonging to top spy agencies Inter-Services Intelligence and Intelligence Bureau. A meeting of the CSB, headed by Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) chairman retired Capt Zahid Saeed, considered the promotion of officers of the ministries of defence, …

KARACHI: While the members of Balochistan’s Shia Hazara community refused to bury the bodies of the miners killed in a brutal attack in Mach demanding visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan, sit-ins in Karachi continued for the fourth consecutive day and organisers further expanded them to other parts of the city. The demonstrators called for immediate action from the federal …