NEW DELHI: India itself has received more than a third of the nearly 28 million Indian-made AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine doses delivered so far by the global programme for poor countries, according to data from Umicef and a source. The revelation that the largest allocation of doses India has supplied to the Covax programme never actually left the country could add …

ISLAMABAD: Head of the Scrutiny Committee of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has defended the decision to keep the PTI’s financial documents secret, saying the petitioner has to prove his case on the strength of his evidence. In a report submitted to the commission, he referred to an ECP order rejecting the PTI’s plea for secrecy in the foreign …

ISLAMABAD: The Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) told the Supreme Court on Tuesday that the government had not yet released a staggering Rs240 billion for equity injection on part of the authority for construction of much-needed Diamer Basha and Mohmand dams. Despite earlier undertaking given to the Supreme Court on Feb 20, 2020, the Power Division had not released …

ISLAMABAD: The city managers on Tuesday approved PC-1 worth Rs15 billion for a low cost housing apartments project in Alipur Farash. The Capital Development Authority (CDA)’s Development Working Party approved the PC-1 at a meeting.Once started, the project will be completed in three years and 4,000 apartments will be constructed under three categories. The CDA board had recently approved the …

RAWALPINDI: Due to a surge in coronavirus cases, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on Tuesday notified travel restriction and standard operating procedures (SOPs) for inbound flights to Pakistan and domestic passengers besides chartered and private flights. These restrictions, effective from March 23, 2021 have been extended till April 5, 2021. “Categorised country lists conveyed on March 20, 2021 will also …

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Tuesday issued notices to the federal and Sindh health authorities on a petition seeking fair distribution and vaccination of Covid-19 vaccines. The petitioners also sought directives of the SHC to respondents for the legislation to establish a proper mechanism for import and distribution of vaccines. They submitted that the private sector had been authorised …

LAHORE: Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday denied having knowledge of any possibility of an in-house change in Punjab. In a brief informal conversation with reporters during a break in the hearing into Ashiana-i-Iqbal Housing Scheme reference by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Mr Shehbaz said he was not aware of any move of the …

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the federal government to come up with a legal instrument to justify its perceived resistance to the import of elephants for a zoological garden. A three-judge Supreme Court bench comprising Justice Mushir Alam, Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Qazi Mohammad Amin Ahmed also asked Deputy Attorney General Maulvi Ejazul Haq to furnish a …

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed on Tuesday announced a number of measures to improve Islamabad’s security system which included deployment of Eagle Squad and Tourist Police and launching of Rescue 1122 Service. Besides, the minister announced that a e-challan system was also being introduced in the capital city under which tickets issued to violators of traffic rules would be …

ISLAMABAD: The opposition parties on Tuesday called for reviewing all the agreements that had been signed by Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh as finance minister with international donors and placing his name with that of former special assistant to the prime minister (SAPM) on petroleum Nadeem Babar on the Exit Control List (ECL) to prevent them from flying abroad. The demands …