PESHAWAR: Spotlighting a trillion rupees ‘historic and tax-free’ budget, Chief Minister Mahmood Khan said government will initiate mega projects to make the province self-sufficient in food and no longer reliant on others for wheat. “This is going to be a historic budget and we are going to spend big,” a relaxed chief minister told a pre-budget media briefing here on …

ISLAMABAD: The Government and the opposition held each other responsible for the country’s economic woes as the discussion on the budget for the next fiscal year opened in the Senate on Monday. Opening the discussion, leader of the opposition in the house Yousuf Raza Gilani stressed that the goal of economic stability could never be achieved without political stability. Wondering …

KARACHI: An antiterrorism court awarded on Monday death sentence “twice” to two clerics for murdering a 15-year-old boy kidnapped for ransom in 2016. Qari Ahsan Ali and Qari Abdul Majeed were found guilty of kidnapping Abdul Moiz for ransom, killing him and dumping his body parts in different areas of Brigade police station in June 2016. On Monday, the ATC-XX …

ISLAMABAD: While around one million people have been declared Covid-19 positive through lab tests, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) lacks a clear policy regarding vaccination of those who have contracted the virus. On the other hand, as the demand for the Pfizer vaccine increased, the government has decided to administer the vaccine only to immuno-compromised persons. Moreover, the …

ISLAMABAD: In an unprecedented move, treasury members on Monday stopped opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif from opening up a general debate on federal budget, declaring that government would not allow him and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari to speak in the National Assembly without first having a ‘written guarantee’ that they would hear speeches of Prime Minister Imran Khan …

ISLAMABAD: The COVID-19 has claimed 59 more lives taking the nationwide tally of fatalities to 21,782 on Tuesday, while less than 1,000 people tested positive, the lowest in the third wave of the pandemic.  According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) data, the country’s caseload climbed to 943,027 after 838 more people tested positive for the deadly virus during this …

ISLAMABAD: The Board of Investment (BoI) on Monday launched three platforms to provide local and foreign investors ease of online registration for zone enterprises as well as a comprehensive database of existing and potential investors that will promote business activities. The three platforms — Pakistan Regulatory Modernization Initiative Strategy (PRMI), Special Economic Zone Management System (SEZMIS) and Investor Relationship Management …

There is a lot of buzz in the air about the upcoming film from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Black Widow, these days. The Marvel film is set to get a dual release on July 9 as the film will  premiere in theatres and on the OTT platform Disney+ with Premier Access. The 36-year-old actress, Scarlett Johansson,  plays an iconic female superhero, …

NAYPYIDAW: The trial of deposed Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi got under way on Monday, more than four months after a military coup, with junta witnesses testifying the Nobel laureate flouted coronavirus restrictions and illegally imported walkie-talkies. Near daily protests have rocked Myanmar since the generals’ Feb 1 putsch. A mass uprising has been met with a brutal military …

Beijing on Tuesday accused Nato of exaggerating the threat from China and “creating confrontation”, after a vow from the Western allies to work together to counter the “systemic challenges” posed by its policies. Nato leaders made the commitment on Monday, as US President Joe Biden renewed Washington’s transatlantic ties at his first summit with the allies. In a broad statement of intent, …