Pakistan

LAHORE: A former Lahore Development Authority (LDA) chief engineer, who previously became an approver of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in a reference to the Ashiana-i-Iqbal Housing Scheme against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and others, retracted his prior statement on Tuesday. “My prior statement was made under duress,” Israr Saeed responded to PM Shahbaz’s counsel’s inquiries during the cross-examination before …

An anti-terrorism court in Peshawar on Wednesday acquitted social activist Gulalai Ismail’s parents in a case registered by the counter-terrorism department on the charges of sedition, terror financing and facilitation. Pronouncing the reserved verdict, ATC Judge Fazal Sattar declared that charges against Professor Mohammad Ismail and his wife could not be proven. Talking to Dawn.com after the judgment was issued, Prof Ismail …

LAHORE: PML-N chief organiser Maryam Nawaz has alleged that Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan is making efforts to return to power “riding the judiciary”. “Imran Khan is desperate and he wants to return to power riding the judiciary. Imran again needs crutches to come to power,” Ms Nawaz said while talking to the party’s young leaders in Model Town …

LAHORE: A “consultative meeting” between Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman and officials of the Election Commission on Tuesday failed to agree on a date for elections to the Punjab Assembly, as they decided to approach the Lahore High Court for “clarification and interpretation” of its ruling pertaining to immediate elections in Punjab. The high court, which had asked ECP to consult …

Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial on Wednesday asked why the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) was consulting with the governor on dates for the Punjab Assembly elections as the court heard petitions filed by dissident PTI MPAs against their disqualification. The ECP had disqualified 25 dissident MPAs of the PTI on May 20, 2022 on the grounds that they had voted for PML-N’s Hamza Shehbaz …

ISLAMABAD: Amid an objection by a ruling coalition lawmaker to the ‘clarification’ issued by the Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP), the Senate on Tuesday continued to reverberate with the controversy over the remarks by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial that “the country just had one honest prime minister”. At the outset of the proceedings, Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar tried to bring …

An Islamabad Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) rejected on Wednesday PTI chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan’s request for an extension in his interim bail. The plea was made in a case pertaining to a protest outside the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) following its decision in the Toshakhana case. The verdict was announced by Judge Raja Jawad Abbas Hassan on the grounds …

Pakistan plans to quadruple its domestic coal-fired capacity to reduce power generation costs and will not build new gas-fired plants in the coming years, Energy Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan told Reuters on Monday, as it seeks to ease a crippling foreign-exchange crisis. A shortage of natural gas, which accounts for over a third of the country’s power output, plunged large areas into …

ISLAMABAD: The parliament’s joint sitting on Monday witnessed a threadbare debate on the resurgence of terrorism, but the government failed to provide any framework or strategy to resolve the issue. While the second joint sitting within a week focused security and terrorism, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah was conspicuous by his absence amid queries of lawmakers. Some of the members wanted …

ISLAMABAD: With the holy month of Ramazan only weeks away, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif while ordering availability of essential items and edibles round the clock during the fasting month on Monday called for using technology to control the rates. PM Sharif, who is being criticised for unbridled price hike in the country, asked the provinces and administrative units to submit …