LONDON: Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood has said that a national curriculum developed with the input of all stakeholders will be implemented across private and public schools as well as madressahs. In a conversation with Dawn here on Thursday, Mr Mahmood hailed madressah reform as a historic step and said having a centralised curriculum across schools and seminaries would …

ISLAMABAD: Ahead of a meeting of the Central Sel­ection Board (CSB) sche­duled to be held on Jan 27 to consider promotion from BS-18 to BS-20, a former bureaucrat has challenged in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) the promotion rules recently introduced by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government. The IHC after a preliminary hearing of his petition issued notices to the …

QUETTA: Balochistan Assembly Speaker Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo on Friday submitted three privilege motions in the assembly secretariat against Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan Alyani, Finance Minister Mir Zahoor Ahmed Buledi and Senator Ahmed Bugti. In the privilege motions, Mr Bizenjo accused Mr Alyani, Mr Buledi and Mr Bugti of passing uncivilised and unparliamentarily remarks about him. He said that …

KARACHI: Despite multiple reminders, the Karachi University (KU) is yet to show compliance with the Sindh government’s directives under which the higher education institution is required to open and maintain its accounts in the Sindh Bank, it emerged on Friday. According to sources, as per government policy, all departments, autonomous bodies, authorities, boards and institutions under the administrative control of …

KARACHI: Sindh’s first Women on Wheels (WOW) graduation ceremony and issuance of driving licences saw the Arts Council of Pakistan auditorium packed with so many women, especially young women cheering for each other on Friday. Shaheen Sultan was not sure where she was supposed to go when she reached the Arts Council gates. “You know, I’m going to receive my …

LAHORE: Accusing Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry of indulging in “attention-seeking histrionics”, Punjab Information Minister Fayyazul Hassan Chohan reminded on Friday his party colleague to “mind his own business”. Mr Chohan settled the score with Mr Chaudhry in a news channel talk show when the host asked him to comment on Mr Chaudhry’s consistent criticism of Chief …

Chief US diplomat for South Asian affairs, Alice Wells, appreciated the steps taken by Pakistan to advance the Afghan peace process. The US diplomat, in a media briefing after her visit to three South Asian nations — Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka — said, “Pakistan has important leverage to promote lasting security and stability in Afghanistan.” She said that she held several meetings in …

A man suspected to have contracted the coronavirus has been admitted to the Nishtar Hospital in Multan, the National Institute of Health (NIH) stated in a press release issued on Saturday. According to Multan and South Punjab’s Focal Person for Epidemic Diseases Dr Atta ur Rehman, a 40-year-old Chinese man, Feng Fen, was shifted from the Chinese camp in the …

Senior Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leader Jahangir Tareen sent out defamation notices worth Rs1 billion each to anchorpersons Shahzeb Khanzada and Waseem Badami for making “false imputations” in their news programmes that have or are likely to cause “serious harm and injury to his reputation”. According to the notice sent to him, Khanzada in his programme Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath, which aired …

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan on Saturday filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the Islamabad High Court’s decision of declaring Akbar S. Babar a part of PTI and reverting the case regarding the party’s foreign funding back to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). A long-winding case — filed by Babar and others — regarding the scrutiny of …