Pakistan

LAHORE: After some back and forth over the issue, the Punjab government has decided not to allow the celebration of Basant this year, acknowledging that it is not fully prepared to make the event a safe activity in terms of the threat to human life and the damage to civic infrastructure that have occurred in the past. The government plans …

KARACHI: In an assertive policy statement made during the Sindh Assembly’s session on Tuesday, Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah counterattacked his detractors in the house and their leadership ruling Islamabad by saying that Sindh would resist attempts by the federal government to “usurp” its rights. He said his name was put on the Exit Control List (ECL) as a …

ISLAMABAD: The opposition in the Senate on Monday rejected the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) over the Sahiwal tragedy as a mere smokescreen and called for swift action to punish all those responsible for the killings. Speaking on an adjournment motion, the Senators observed that even if the victims were terrorists — as claimed by the Punjab government — they deserved the due …

ISLAMABAD: The French government has decided to provide a soft loan of 130 million euros (Rs19.5 billion) for the Peshawar Sustainable Bus Rapid Transit Corridor Project. Economic Affairs Divi­sion Secretary Noor Ahmed, Ambassador of France Marc Barety and Country Direc­tor of the French Development Agency (AFD) Jacky Am­prou signed the credit facility agreement here on Tuesday. The Executive Commit­tee of …

ISLAMABAD: A Senate committee has decided to consider abolishing special courts and merging them with normal courts to avoid controversies. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Special Committee on Law Reforms that was presided over by its convener Farooq H. Naek and held in the Parliament House on Tuesday. It was attended by senators Rana Maqbool Ahmed …

KARACHI/MINGORA: The administrative judge of antiterrorism courts on Tue­s­day remanded a Pakhtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) activist in police custody for questioning till Jan 25. Police produced Alamzeb Mehsud before the court and contended that he along with around 15 nominated and over 250 unknown accomplices had allegedly used provocative language against state institutions during their speeches at the behest of …

LAHORE: Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif on Tuesday approached the Lahore High Court for grant of bail in the Ashiyana-i-Iqbal Housing Scheme case, 47 days after an accountability court sent him on judicial remand. Under the law, a suspect can seek bail soon after being sent on judicial remand by the trial court. Mr Sharif was …

KARACHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday imposed a complete ban on conversion of residential and amenity plots into commercial spaces in Karachi and directed the authorities concerned, including cantonment boards, to review all such conversions allowed by them in the provincial capital. A two-judge SC bench headed by Justice Gulzar Ahmed also barred the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) from …

PESHAWAR: Awami National Party’s parliamentary leader in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Sardar Hussain Babak on Tuesday asked the government to investigate the alleged harassment of a family by security personnel in Khaisor village of Mirali tehsil in North Waziristan. Mr Babak, who is provincial general secretary of the party, submitted a call-attention notice to the KP Assembly, drawing the attention …

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Tuesday formed a combined investigation team (CIT) to probe alleged ‘fake’ bank accounts and money laundering suspicions against top Pakistan Peoples Party leadership, bankers and players in the real estate business. The CIT, which is an internal NAB mechanism, was formed by the bureau’s chairman, retired Justice Javed Iqbal, in a high-level meeting held at …