Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday directed the authorities concerned to formulate proposals for reducing government expenditures and overhauling the country’s economic structure. He also directed the authorities to immediately initiate the process of complete digitisation and automation of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), which he himself would oversee. Presiding over a high-level meeting at the Prime Minister …

KARACHI: The Pakis­tan Tele­communication Authority (PTA) has conceded that the Ministry of Interior had issued instru­c­tions to suspend mobile phone services on Feb 8, the polling day. In its reply submitted before a Sindh High Court (SHC) bench on Tuesday, the authority asserted that it was bound to follow the directions on the interior ministry and was merely the implementing agency. Separately, …

QUETTA: A shutter-down strike was observed in Quetta city on Tuesday in protest against the raid on the residence of Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) Chairman Mehmood Khan Achakzai. The strike call, initiated by PkMAP leaders, received a robust response from the business community in Quetta, prompting the closure of business establishments throughout the day. All shops, markets, shopping plazas, and business …

ISLAMABAD: After successful elections of the National Assembly speaker, deputy speaker and the prime minister, the PPP and the PML-N — the two major partners in the eight-party ruling alliance — are now busy finalising their strategy for the upcoming presidential election. In this connection, a delegation comprising representatives of both parties met the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) leaders in Islamabad late …

RAWALPINDI: Under the Nighaban Ramazan package of the Punjab government, free food bags were home delivered to 1,200 houses in Rawalpindi division on Tuesday on a trial basis. The programme would formally be launched on the second day of the holy month of Ramazan in all districts during which dry rations would be provided to registered households by March 15. …

ISLAMABAD: The PML-N has become the largest political party in the National Assembly, with the number of its MNAs surging by 16 to 123 following the distribution of reserved seats — denied to the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) — among three political parties. The PML-N initially won a total of 75 general seats and was joined by nine independents. With the allocation …

ISLAMABAD: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur on Tuesday visited Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi where he met the incarcerated PTI’s founding chairman Imran Khan and discussed with him the formation of provincial cabinet. While talking to Dawn, spokesperson for the former prime minister Raoof Hasan said, “Mr Gandapur met incarcerated leader Imran Khan and during the meeting, along with other …

The Supreme Court on Wednesday observed that the trial under the 1979 judgment that sent former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto to the gallows did not meet the requirements of a “fair trial and due process”. Headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, a nine-judge bench announced its much-anticipated opinion on the long-pending presidential reference to answer whe­ther it can revisit …

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur has picked his new cabinet comprising 15 ministers and five advisers. A summary regarding the appointment of the provincial cabinet — a copy of which is available with Dawn.com — was sent to KP Governor Haji Ghulam Ali today. The summary was subsequently approved and the appointment of the ministers was notified. Cabinet members …

KARACHI: A young man was found shot dead in his apartment in DHA on Monday evening, police said. They said that his wife was “missing” and it appeared that she fled after allegedly murdering her husband. DIG-South Syed Asad Raza said that the body of Jehanzeb Malik, 34, was found at the 20th-storey flat in a DHA high-rise apartment complex. …