MULTAN: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Sunday the notification to scrap the powers of the south Punjab secretariat was a conspiracy against the Punjab government as neither the chief minister nor the provincial ministers hailing from the region were aware of it. Talking to the media here, Mr Qureshi said he would demand that the chief minister hold …

ISLAMABAD: The new Senate which emerged last month after the much-hyped election is set to begin its first session on Monday (today) with a strengthened coalition government facing a divided opposition. After struggling for nearly two and a half years as a minority government in the Senate, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) is now in a much better position in the …

ISLAMABAD: After a controversy over the scope of audit of Prime Minister’s flagship Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Programme, the Ministry of Climate Change has finally agreed on an special audit to be conducted by the office of the auditor general of Pakistan. Earlier, due to “technical reasons” the ministry had requested the auditor general of Pakistan not to carry out …

LARKANA: Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has announced that the PPP is prepared to fight against the ‘selected’ government even if it would have to do opposition without the support of some other parties. “PPP is not only ready to do opposition along with other parties but is also prepared to fight alone, as the party is sure that …

KARACHI: Although no case of UK Covid-19 variant has been reported so far this year in Sindh, which is conducting highest number of tests, the World Health Organisation has recommended the provincial health system to increase its testing capacity and also develop the capacity to test Variants of Concern (VoC) including the B.1.1.7, which are being reported in other parts …

LAHORE: PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz Sharif has chided Prime Minister Imran Khan for saying that he goes to office daily to wage jihad (against corruption). “You wake up in the morning not to go for jihad (but) to rob the masses of their right. You go to snatch roti from the mouth of the poor and medicine from the ailing. …

ISLAMABAD: As number of active cases of coronavirus has surpassed the figure of 60,000 first time since July last year with record number of patients in hospitals since the outbreak in the country, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Sunday decided to ban inter-provincial transport on weekends from April 10. Eighty-one patients died while 5,020 more persons contracted …

Five suspects were arrested on Monday in connection with the killing of a Swat anti-terrorism court judge and his family members, police said. A day earlier, Judge Aftab Afridi was travelling to Islamabad from Peshawar when his car came under fire at the Swabi Interchange on the Islamabad-Peshawar Motorway. Afridi, his wife Bibi Zainab, daughter-in-law Kiran and three-year-old grandson Mohammad Sanan died …

The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) has served show cause notices to the PPP and the ANP (Awami National Party), it emerged on Monday. The development was confirmed by PDM secretary general and PML-N stalwart Shahid Khaqan Abbasi. It was not yet clear on what grounds the notices were issued, but earlier this week it was reported that they would be sent for …

Easter didn’t feature bright blue skies. But the grey clouds didn’t hamper our warm up as temperatures rose to the mid 70s by late afternoon. As expected, all rain showers remained south of Waco. Skies will gradually clear out overnight. This next week will be dry with a significant warming trend. Highs will be in the 80s. Gusty west winds …