Pakistan

LAHORE/BAHAWALPUR: Heirs of a 29-year-old woman passenger have accused a railway police official of pushing her to death from the moving train, Faisalabad-bound Millat Express, on April 7. The death of the woman, identified as Maryam Bibi of Jaranwala, gained public attention after a viral video showed railway constable Mir Hassan abusing her and her children aboard the Millat Express. …

ISLAMABAD/KARACHI: PPP’s Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari on Monday made her debut in parliamentary politics by taking oath as a member of the National Assembly amid noisy protest by opposition members who were protesting against the speaker for omitting their agenda items from the orders of the day issued for the sitting. The opposition members had requisitioned the session to discuss the issue …

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday directed authorities concerned for robust renewable energy management to cut the country’s $27 billion oil import bill and improve the country’s existing electricity distribution system. “Ultimately, we have to move to renewable energy. The oil import worth billions of dollars can be controlled by using alternative resources like solar, wind and hydel. Make …

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday disposed of a petition filed by ex-premier Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi seeking her transfer from her Banigala residence, which had been declared a sub-jail, to Adiala Jail. Justice Miangul Hassan Aurang­zeb disposed of the plea due to Bushra Bibi’s lawyers failing to appear before the court. The former first lady was taken …

RAWALPINDI: Five firms have qualified to take part in the bidding process to repair the metro bus elevated track from Saddar to Faizabad next month. Punjab Masstransit Authority has released Rs740 million for the repair of the elevated road from Saddar to Faizabad. The cost of the repair work is estimated to be Rs625 million with the remaining budget allocated …

ISLAMABAD: Delaying his parliamentary address, President Asif Zardari has now summoned a joint sitting of both houses of parliament on April 18, as the National Assembly Secretariat on Sunday issued a six-point agenda for the sitting on Monday (today), which includes the laying of an ordinance promulgated by the caretaker government and a calling attention notice on the issue of …

TAXILA: Several thousand Sikh devotees performed ‘Bhog’, the main ceremony of the Baisakhi festival, at Gurdwara Punja Sahib in Hassanabdal on Sunday, as the temple echoed with Sikh religious slogans. Baisakhi, or Vaisakhi, is celebrated on the first day of the month of Vaisakh and also marks the beginning of the harvest season. The festival was celebrated at Gurdwara Punja …

KARACHI: A Saudi delegation, led by Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, will tour Pakistan from April 15 to 16. The delegation consists of Saudi Minister of Water and Agriculture Abdul Rahman Abdul Mohsen Al-Fadley, Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Ibrahim Al Khorayef, Deputy Minister of Investment Badr Al Badr, the head of Saudi Special Committee, …

LARKANA: As a multi-party opposition alliance geared up its protest against the coalition government, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Sunday warn­ed against the ‘politics of sit-ins’ and advocated for reconciliation instead. Speaking at a public gathering to mark the 45th death anniversary of PPP founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh, Mr Bhutto-Zardari said “some people” were trying to …

GUJRAT: All nine victims of Friday’s Noshki attack were laid to rest on Sunday in their native areas in central Punjab districts. The men, hailing from Wazi­rabad, Gujranwala and Mandi Bahauddin, were abducted from a Taftan-bound bus and shot dead by Balochistan Liberation Army gunmen. Their bodies were later dumped under a bridge in a hilly area of Noshki. The bodies of …