ISLAMABAD: A journalist on Monday questioned the Supreme Court office decision to return his petition challenging the National Accountability (Second Amendment) Ordinance, 2019. On Dec 30 last year, Farrukh Nawaz Bhatti had challenged the NAB amended ordinance on the grounds that it created an exception by giving relief to the bureaucrats and businessmen. But the SC registrar office returned the …

PESHAWAR: Of the 10 power projects, the PTI government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has completed only one in the last six years during which 11 energy and power secretaries were changed, the provincial assembly was told on Monday. During the question hour, the government informed the house that those projects would cost around Rs82 billion with the hydel and solar ones …

RAWALPINDI: Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan said on Monday that the government has taken a number of steps to improve the economy and tourism by promoting regional connectivity through the aviation sector. He was speaking at a ceremony held at a hotel in Islamabad to issue a ‘Tourism Promotion and Regional Integration (TPRI)’ licence aimed at promotion of tourism …

ISLAMABAD: While the competition over the test trial of fifth generation (5G) mobile technology is heating up between Jazz and Zong, the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication has formed a committee for the auction of 5G spectrum in the country. The committee, which is expected to be announced in the upcoming days, will be headed by the member IT …

LAHORE: The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) has expressed concern over the manner in which extension in the tenure of services chiefs is being given through parliament. “Giving extensions to incumbents in any institution creates perception of indispensability and weakens institutions. Personality-specific legislative and policy measures go against the spirit of a representative democracy. Transitions are important for institution building and …

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan needs to focus more on 40 super high-risk polio-endemic union councils and planning for an integrated package of service delivery. This was stated by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza on Monday at a consultative workshop to review the polio situation, organised by the Ministry of National Health Services in collaboration with the …

ISLAMABAD: In a major development, the centre on Monday claimed to have secured a broad agreement with the Sindh government for introduction of a significantly higher weighted average cost of natural gas and imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) in future to streamline supplies. At the same time, Minister for Energy Omar Ayub Khan and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister …

KARACHI: The opening ceremony of the sixth bilateral “Exercise Sea Guardians 2020” between Pakistan Navy and China’s People’s Liberation Army (Navy) was held at the Pakistan Navy Dockyard here on Monday, said a statement issued by the navy’s media wing. The Deputy Commander of Southern Theatre Command PLA (Navy) Vice Admiral Dong Jun graced the occasion as the chief guest. …

ISLAMABAD: In order to ensure ease of doing business, Prime Minis­ter Imran Khan on Sunday directed the cabinet division to devise separate mechanisms or standard operating procedures (SOPs) for regulatory authorities to ensure easy and time-bound issuance of licences, permissions or no objection certificates (NOCs) to the applicants. The prime minister asked the cabinet division to take necessary action in …

ISLAMABAD: To ensure a belated compliance with the targets of International Monetary Fund (IMF), the government is set to recover additional cost of losses from consumers by imposing new surcharges aimed at financing power sector loans and generate more than Rs250 billion in annual revenue. As a first step, a meeting of the Economic Coordina­tion Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet …