Pakistan

RAWALPINDI: The twin cities saw a sharp increase in dengue cases in the last few days as 157 patients were admitted to hospitals on Wednesday. In the garrison city, 99 patients landed in three hospitals. Though the Holy Family Hospital, District Headquarters Hospital and Benazir Bhutto Hospital have established special dengue wards, Cantonment General Hospital failed to allocate beds and …

ISLAMABAD: Capital police have announced that they have started a crackdown on illegal weapons. Addressing a press conference at Rescue 15 on Wednesday, DIG (Operations) Afzaal Ahmed Kousar said he had directed the officials concerned to launch a crackdown on people possessing illegal weapons, adding that law breakers created law and order situation, harassed public and played with the lives …

KARACHI: A reputable international watchdog has criticised the government’s new draft media law and pointed out that if passed without changes it would lead to imposition of a tribunal capable of issuing arbitrary decisions with no possibility of appeal. In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said that along with its Pakistani partner, the Freedom Network, …

ISLAMABAD: Justice Yahya Afridi withdrew himself from a three-judge bench on Tuesday while expressing his inability to hear suo motu cases unless proper rules are framed by the Supreme Court aimed at regulating the exercise of powers under Article 184(3) of the Constitution. Headed by Justice Maqbool Baqar, the bench, consisting of Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Qazi Mohammad Amin …

LAHORE: While the number of Covid cases is on the gradual decline, the dengue virus is spreading fast in Punjab. The Wednesday’s official figures showed the infectivity ratio of the coronavirus which was reported above 10 per cent during the last five days or so in Lahore, has dropped to 7.8pc during the last 24 hours. Similarly, the Covid positivity …

LAHORE: PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif says Prime Minister Imran Khan has destroyed the country as well as its culture and politics with his abusive language. “It was a grave misfortune for Pakistan that this person was brought and placed in government’s highest office,” he said. Addressing his party leaders and workers from Lahore division through video-link from London on Wednesday, …

KARACHI: The weather scenario for both Sindh and Balochistan remains critical as remnants of Cyclone Gulab currently existing in the form of a well-marked low pressure area over Indian Gujarat head towards the Arabian Sea where they might intensify and turn into Cyclone Shaheen by Friday, a meteorological department official stated on Wednesday. The system is likely to emerge in …

A Pakistan Army captain was martyred during an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in Tank, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa against Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorists, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Thursday. In a statement, the military’s media affairs wing said that security forces conducted an operation after receiving information about the presence of terrorists in the area. During the exchange of fire, Captain …

Prime Minister Imran Khan assured on Thursday of expeditious progress on projects falling under the umbrella of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), despite some relevant departments having faced difficulties due to the Covid-19 pandemic in the past. The prime minister, who was addressing a ceremony held in Islamabad to mark the inauguration of a 600 kilovolt (kV) transmission line running …

ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser on Wednesday referred seven bills, including two controversial electoral reforms bills and the one to provide right of appeal to Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav, to the joint sitting of parliament after approval of the motions by the house amid the opposition’s boycott. The seven bills had been passed by the National Assembly but could …