Pakistan

QUETTA: Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti on Saturday allotted portfolios to cabinet members who took oath the other day, more than a month after the formation of the provincial government. According to an official notification issued by the Services and General Administration, the chief minister allocated portfolios to 13 ministers and four advisers to chief minister. The portfolios of finance, …

QUETTA: JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman once again “rejected” the February 8 general elections, vowing that his party will not let the existing government function as it was “fake” and a product of rigged polls. Addressing a public meeting at the Taj Lala Stadium in Pishin on Saturday, he said: “Our anti-government movement will spread across the country, and nobody …

LAHORE: The agriculture is again facing hard times as farming community is experiencing a double jeopardy; on the one hand, cost of production has doubled since 2023 and, on the other, commodity prices of major crops (wheat, cotton and maize) have slid by 25 per cent on an average basis. Khalid Mahmood Khokhar, president of Pakistan Kissan Ittehad (PKI), said …

LAHORE: Emphasising protection of the identity of rape victims and their family while writing judgements by the trial judges, the Lahore High Court has also ordered the federal government to ensure effective implementation of the Anti-Rape (Investigation and Trial) Act 2021. “Child sexual abuse is a deeply traumatic and sensitive issue that demands that the justice system handle these cases …

PESHAWAR: With nea­rly two dozen lives lost in a single day, death toll from the inclement wea­ther in Khyber Pakhtun­khwa climbed to 59 on Saturday, according to the provincial disaster management authority (PDMA). Officials and rescue sources said life came to a standstill in some areas as the current spell of rains continued to wreak havoc on the fourth consecutive day, claiming …

KARACHI: While investigators are unable to find a breakthrough in the probe into Friday’s suicide bombing in the metropolis, they are focussed on finding those who facilitated the gruesome attack, it emerged on Saturday. Five Japanese travelling in a van escaped the suicide attack but their private security guard was killed in Landhi’s Mansehra Colony. The investigators said that the police had …

ISLAMABAD: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) on Saturday demolished some structures at a tennis club – named after slain prime minister Benazir Bhutto – located on Embassy Road, prompting a strong response from the PPP which claimed that the civic body violated the stay order of the court. The civic agency claimed that as per the directions of the Islamabad …

CHAKWAL: A neck-and-neck contest is likely to be witnessed in PP-22 (Chakwal-cum-Talagang) between candidates of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) in the by-election on Sunday (today). PP-22, a sub-constituency of NA-59, was won by PML-N candidate Sardar Ghulam Abbas who was also victorious in NA-59 in the Feb 8 polls. Mr Abbas, …

Polls are under way on 21 national and provincial seats as cellular services were temporarily suspended in “specific districts” of Punjab and Balochistan to “safeguard” the electoral process. According to a statement issued by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) on Saturday, “cellular services will be temporarily suspended in specific districts of Punjab and Balochistan during the by-elections” on April 21 …

The Foreign Office (FO) said on Sunday that Iranian President Dr Ebrahim Raisi would undertake an official visit to Pakistan from April 22 (Monday) to April 24 (Wednesday). In a statement, the FO said this would be the first visit by any head of state to Pakistan after the February 8 general elections. “The Iranian president will be accompanied by his …