Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: A day after meeting the minister for parliamentary affairs, National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaisar on Friday sought the opposition’s cooperation in formation of much-awaited standing committees and smooth running of the house’s business. The speaker met leaders of two main opposition parties — the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) — and assured them that …

UNITED NATIONS: The president of the UN General Assembly will visit Pakistan from Jan 18 to 22 at the invitation of the government, according to the spokesperson for the UNGA president. This will be the first official visit to the Asia-Pacific region by the president of the UN General Assembly since María Fernanda Espinosa assumed office in September. A statement …

QUETTA: The federal government has assured the Balochistan government that it would be taken on board while taking decisions on exploration and development of natural resources and it would be given share from the resources. The decision was taken in a meeting on Friday which was attended by Chief Minister of Balochistan Jam Kamal Khan Alyani, Fed­eral Minister for Petroleum …

PM Imran’s sister Aleema Khan owns Rs450 million property in US: report Aleema Khan, the sister of Prime Minister Imran Khan, owns an expensive property in the northeastern US state of New Jersey is worth more than Rs 450 million, according to a report in local media. The property, which remained undeclared till 2017, was bought in 2004, it was …

KARACHI: Some 1,750 dock workers of the Port Qasim Authority on Thursday took out a peaceful rally from Regal Chowk to the Karachi Press Club to highlight their issues with their employers for which they have been protesting for the last 108 days. Social workers, human rights activists and trade unionists also joined in the rally to show their solidarity …

LAHORE: Gas supplies to industrial, fertiliser and power sectors was restored on Thursday after the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited teams repaired damaged portion of the 36 inch diameter pipeline at Bhong, near Sadiqabad (Rahim Yar Khan), about 650km away from here. Since the miscreants had blown up the pipeline early Wednesday, the SNGPL’s teams rushed to the spot and …

MITHI: Prime Minister’s Spe­cial Assistant on Power Shahzad Qasim on Thursday visited Thar coal power project’s block-II and received a briefing on the laying of a 143km-long railway track from the site to the nearest main railway line. The aim of laying the new track is to facilitate transportation of coal to the lignite-fired power plants in Jamshoro and certain …

MUZAFFARABAD: The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) capital witnessed a complete shutter down strike on Thursday against the environmental issues caused by the diversion of Neelum River for commissioning Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project (NJHP). The strike call was given by an alliance of civil society activists who include lawyers, traders, political workers and students under the banner of “Darya Bachao, Muzaffarabad …

ISLAMABAD: Civil society groups campaigning against smoking on Thursday presented a new tobacco tax reforms model, and decried the tax collecting body for surrendering to the multinational cigarette manufacturers. The new taxation model was presented by Malik Imran Ahmad belonging to ‘Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids’ in collaboration with Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC), …

KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Thursday informed the Sindh Assembly that the Sindh Revenue Board (SRB) had collected Rs44.36 billion in the first six months of the fiscal year 2018-19. Answering lawmakers’ queries during Question Hour in the assembly, he said that the SRB had collected Rs38bn during the same period in 2017. The CM, who …