LAHORE: The police and district administration on Monday sealed the Hafeez Centre plaza while declaring its building ‘dangerous’ for business or other use. An action to the effect was taken on the recommendations of the 14-member committee constituted by the Punjab government for an initial probe into the horrific fire erupted early on Sunday. The committee, comprising experts from Rescue 1122, police …

KARACHI: A day after the Pakistan Democratic Movement staged a successful anti-government show at Karachi’s Bagh-i-Jinnah, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) slammed the 11-party opposition alliance for what they called neglecting the plight of Karachi’s citizens over the around 13 years of rule by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), which hosted the event. Both the parties held …

ISLAMABAD: An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) of Islamabad has decided to announce verdict on Oct 29 in a petition seeking acquittal of Prime Minister Imran Khan in Parliament House attack case. ATC Judge Raja Jawad Abbas Hassan during hearing of the application asked the defence counsel to submit written reply before the announcement of the decision. The Judge, however, separated the case …

ISLAMABAD: The head of the parliamentary committee on forced religious conversions said on Monday that most cases of forced conversion “have some degree of willingness on the part of the girl.” Senator Anwarul Haq Kakar was speaking to the press alongside committee member MNA Lal Chand Malhi and civil society activist from Tharparkar Krishan Sharma, following a recent visit by …

PESHAWAR: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz has said that the nation has rejected the opposition parties because they have looted the country’s resources, damaged all state institutions and now they are bent upon creating chaos in the country. Addressing ‘Meet the Press’ programme at Peshawar Press Club on Monday, he said that opposition parties were doing …

KARACHI: Special Assis­tant to the Prime Minister on Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection Sania Nishtar has contracted the novel coronavirus. The PM’s aide took to social media microblogging site Twi­tter on Monday to make the announcement. “I have tested positive for COVID 19 and am isolating myself,” she posted on her official handle @SaniaNishtar. “I have mild symptoms and will, therefore, …

ISLAMABAD: The chairman of Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir, Shehryar Khan Afridi, on Monday said that the leaders of the main parties in the opposition’s Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) in their tenure in office had kept the Kashmir issue on the backburner. He said these leaders had used the chairmanship of Kashmir Committee as a ‘bargaining chip’ for Maulana Fazlur Rehman, …

The Supreme Court on Tuesday formed a high-powered commission to oversee the disbursement and utilisation of funds deposited by Bahria Town Karachi and highlighted the body’s scope and mandate. The court issued the order while approving a request by the federal government for the formation of the commission to ensure transparency in the process. So far, the real estate developer …

Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar on Tuesday said people in the country were “committing a collective blunder by recklessly ignoring” all standard operating procedures (SOPs) against coronavirus, the results of which have started to show in the form of increased deaths. “Last week, daily Covid mortality [rate] was 12. This is a 140 per cent increase vs few weeks …

Lahore’s Shahdara police on Tuesday registered a case against PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz, her husband retired Captain Mohammad Safdar and other party leaders and workers for damaging public order by “causing trouble for citizens, blocking roads, unnecessarily using loudspeakers and microphones and violating coronavirus standard operating procedures (SOPs)” in the run up to the October 16 rally of the Pakistan Democratic …