Pakistan

Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir and US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin discussed “areas of mutual interest as well as recent regional developments” in a telephone conversation, the US Department of Defence has said. “Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III spoke by phone today with Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir,” it said in a press …

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday said the hearing of PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s bail plea in the cipher case would be held in an open court, but would be in-camera when “sensitive information” is discussed. The decision came as the IHC disposed of the application filed by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) seeking in-camera proceedings of the PTI chief’s bail plea in the case. …

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) will take up for hearing next week a petition seeking removal of “biased” members of the federal cabinet to ensure the conduct of free, fair and transparent general elections. The petition, filed by Advocate Syed Azizud Din Kaka Khel and seeking the removal of caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar and some other …

KARACHI: The Sindh Health Department has issued an advisory regarding the potential spread of the dangerous “Nipah” virus, which has affected numerous individuals in India. In the advisory, the medical superintendents, directors, and livestock departments have been advised to exercise caution in a letter sent by Sindh’s director of health to hospitals around the state. The Nipah virus is known …

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court was on Monday informed that there were over 50,000 proclaimed offenders (POs) in the province and 23,000 of them belonged to Larkana division alone. Sindh Inspector General of Police (IGP) Riffat Mukhtar appeared before a two-judge bench, headed by Justice Mohammad Karim Khan Agha, and filed a report about fugitives in the province. The number …

PESHAWAR: The federal government has decided about the re-verification of mobile phone SIM cards issued across the country. The exercise will start from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including its tribal districts on the Pak-Afghan border, official sources told Dawn. They said the decision about re-verification of SIMs was made during last week’s meeting of the apex committee here. Besides caretaker Chief Minister Mohammad …

PESHAWAR: Government schools in Kafoor Dheri area on the outskirts of the provincial capital have recorded massive dropout rates due to the frequent armed clashes between two groups over a land dispute during the last several months, teachers insist Schoolteachers along with education department officials and local elders on Monday met leaders of the warring parties as a jirga and …

ISLAMABAD: The prediction by a Dutch research organisation of a powerful tremor that may hit Pakistan soon has not only taken social media by storm, but even authorities seem to be taking it seriously. But even as the scientific community insisted that it was not possible to predict earthquakes this way, Iranian media reports suggest that the prediction is being …

ISLAMABAD: The Elec­tion Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday justified the wide variation in the population of various constituencies in the preliminary delimitation scheme, saying parity only had to be maintained between populations of constituencies within a district, not the province. Referring to an analysis by Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen), without naming the organisation, the election watchdog said the analysis regarding the preliminary …

Vice Admiral Naveed Ashraf was on Tuesday appointed as the next Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), according to state-run Radio Pakistan. Quoting a spokesperson of the Pakistan Navy, it said the change of command ceremony will be held in Islamabad on Saturday (October 7). Vice Adm Ashraf will replace incumbent Naval Chief Adm Amjad Khan Niazi, who took charge of the Pakistan Navy in 2020. …