Pakistan

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikander Sultan Raja on Wednesday said that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is “always ready for elections” as he stressed it will continue to make decisions without fear. “The election commission makes its decisions fearlessly and it will continue to do so. If anyone is displeased by or disagrees with the decisions, it’s their problem,” …

The PTI moved the Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday to direct the federal government and other relevant authorities not to use “coercive measures or intimidating tactics”, resort to violence or create hindrances for party activists and leaders who intend to participate in the party’s second march on Islamabad, which they describe as an “upcoming peaceful assembly”. The PTI made the …

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday said Pakistan “genuinely and seriously” wanted to boost bilateral, trade and cultural ties with Turkey as he made the case for the Turkish business community to invest in Pakistan. “Suffice to say, we are here to convey this message to our Turkish brothers and sisters, President Tayyip Erdogan and his team, and to the …

Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Athar Minallah on Wednesday said that none of the amendments made to the Elections Act, 2017 by the incumbent coalition government deprived overseas Pakistanis of the right to vote. He made the observation while hearing a petition filed against the passage of the Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2022 which disallows overseas Pakistanis from voting electronically. The …

ISLAMABAD: A team has been constituted to investigate a case registered against rights activist advocate Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir, police said on Monday. The team, comprising SP Saddar Zone, SDPO, women police station SHO and an inspector, was formed to investigate the case on merit, they said. The case was registered against Ms Mazari-Hazir, daughter of former human rights minister Shireen …

LAHORE: A counsel for Farah Khan, a close friend of former prime minister Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi, submitted a reply to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in the corruption allegations against her. The NAB is probing Farhat Shahzadi alias Farah Khan/Gogi and her husband in the income beyond means case. “A huge turnover amounting to Rs847 million has been …

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s directive that there should be no cut in the budget of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) on Monday brought a sigh of relief to vice chancellors (VCs) of public-sector universities. Following reports that in the upcoming fiscal year 2022-23, the finance ministry would allocate only Rs30 billion to the HEC against its demand for Rs104 …

RAWALPINDI: The Punjab government has decided to put in place unprecedented security measures – double to those made during Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI)’s ‘Haqiqi Azadi March’ on May 25. The move came about after former prime minister Imran Khan and Khyber Pakhtunkhawa (KP) Chief Minister Mehmood Khan approached the Supreme Court seeking permission for a fresh march to Islamabad. Although it …

ISLAMABAD: The Senate on Mon­day condemned the Israeli forces action against innocent Palestinians in Al-Aqsa mosque compound and Pakistan Television (PTV) terminated the services of an anchorperson who recently visited Israel. The controversy about the recent visit to Isreal was raised in the upper house of parliament by Jamaat-i-Islami Senator Mushtaq Ahmed who dema­n­d­­ed that the nationality of those expatriates …

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan has said that when PTI chief Imran Khan calls another protest march in the vein of the party’s Azadi March, he will use his province’s “force”. “When Imran Khan again gives a call [for another march] I am telling you that I will use Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s force,” the chief minister warned at a lawyer’s …