Pakistan

KARACHI: The Sindh Assembly on Tuesday adopted a resolution unanimously calling upon the provincial government to take measures to rein in population growth in Sindh. Two members of the religious parties opposed the resolution, moved by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan’s Rana Ansar, during the debate. However, they were absent in the house when Speaker Siraj Durrani placed it for voting …

PESHAWAR: Deputy Commissioner Peshawar Dr Imran Hamid Shaikh on Tuesday banned the use of plastic shopping bags in megamalls and medical stores. Through an executive order, the deputy commissioner set a deadline for them to dispose of their present stocks within seven and 15 days, respectively, according to a statement issued here. Mr Shaikh has directed the megamalls to use …

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Tuesday directed its monitoring wing, comprising teams identified as “members of inspection team” (MIT), to file a consolidated statement of rape cases pending in courts across the province till Jan 31. A two-judge SHC bench headed by Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar issued the directive during hearing of a petition filed by Kainat Soomro and …

PESHAWAR: Afghan Ambassador Shukrullah Atif Mashal on Tuesday claimed that Kabul and Islamabad had agreed to work out a mechanism for swapping prisoners, who had either completed their prison terms or were granted bail but couldn’t be freed due to certain reasons. Addressing refugees here, the ambassador said the prisoners’ issue had come under discussion during a recent visit of …

ISLAMABAD: A high alert has been declared at Pims to deal with any untoward situation. The hospital spokesman, Dr Wasim Khawaja, told Dawn: “The step was taken in view of an alert issued for Punjab by the inspector general of the provincial police.” All necessary measures mentioned in the standard operating procedure (SOP) have been adopted, Dr Khawaja said. Under a …

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court will take up on Jan 21 appeals filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against the acquittal of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in the Flagship Investment reference and for enhancement of his sentence from seven years to 14 years in the Al-Azizia reference. A two-judge IHC bench comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Mohsin …

ISLAMABAD: Two Capital Development Authority (CDA) directorates are at loggerheads over who is responsible for controlling unauthorised construction in the city. More than a hundred housing societies are operating illegally in Islamabad, and most of them have taken over land reserved for graveyards, schools and other civic amenities, creating problems for people who have built homes there because timely action …

ISLAMABAD: Terming the existing SDG (Sustainable Development Goal) targets unrealistic, a ruling party’s parliamentary secretary advocated binding all provinces to agree and deliver on improving basic health and human conditions in the light of local conditions. Speaking to a group of journalists on Monday, Kanwal Shauzab, the parliamentary secretary of planning and development, said the 18th Constitution Amendment did not …

Writers, journalists and civil society activists gathered outside the Lahore Press Club on Monday in protest against the ban on Nandita Das film Manto. “Manto was screened all over the world and it won an award in Bangladesh but it was banned in the writer’s own country,” lamented journalist and secretary general of Manto Memorial Society Saeed Ahmed. He said …

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development joined the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration in an operation to retrieve 102 kanals in Valley Zone V belonging to the Overseas Pakistanis Foundation (OPF) that had been occupied since 1999. Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis Syed Zulfikar Bukhari supervised the operation alongside Deputy Commissioner Hamza …