LAHORE: The Punjab government may not be able to complete various development schemes under the Annual Development Programme (ADP) by December this year – the first half of the ongoing fiscal year 2021-22) – as it has yet to release funds allocated in this regard. Though the finance department has partially released funds to some new and those ongoing schemes …

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka have added spinner Akila Dananjaya, batter Pathum Nissanka, and seamers Lahiru Kumara and Binura Fernando to their revised 15-man squad for the Twenty20 World Cup, the country’s cricket board said on Sunday. The quartet replaced all-rounders Lahiru Madus­hanka and Kamindu Men­dis, spinner Praveen Jayaw­ic­krama and veteran fast bow­ler Nuwan Pradeep. Mad­ushanka missed out after fracturing his collarbone …

LAHORE: In what was a disastrous National T20 Cup campaign for them, Southern Punjab signed off in style on Sunday. Last year’s runners-up humbled holders Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by 11 runs at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium. With the semi-final lineup almost decided, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa afforded a fourth loss on Sunday. At the time of filing this report, Balochistan were in dire straits …

ISLAMABAD: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved technical assistance to Pakistan for reforming state-owned enterprises and supporting the government in high priority areas included in the draft SOE (Governance and Operations) Bill, 2021, and the new SOE Ownership and Management Policy currently being developed. The ADB technical assistance will help improve the corporate governance and performance of 212 state-owned …

LAHORE: Claiming that the Punjab government has accepted two of its four demands, the Pakistan Flour Mills Association (PFMA) has withdrawn its call for a strike, earlier scheduled from Tuesday. PFMA Punjab chapter chairman Tahir Hanif Malik shared on Sunday a notification issued by Food Secretary Ali Sarfraz Hussain dated Sept 19, 2021, but signed on Oct 9 (Saturday) wherein …

A former tehsil of Gujranwala, Hafizabad district spans over 2,367sqkms and is located 109km away from Lahore. It comprises a flat alluvial plain suitable for most agricultural crops and is divided between low-lying alluvial fans and an uplands area. Tube-wells are a major source of irrigation, while a minor chunk of land is watered by the Lower Chenab canal. Owing …

ADEN: Six people were killed on Sunday in a car-bomb attack targeting the governor of Aden, the seat of Yemen’s internationally recognised government, security sources said. Aden, in southern Yemen, is home to a separatist movement that last year precariously integrated into the central government, and both have long been aligned against Iran-aligned Houthi rebels in a grinding civil war. …

ISLAMABAD: The issue related to fee regulation of private schools is still undecided as operators of some schools have obtained stay orders against a government policy notified in August. The Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority (Peira) is supposed to regulate the fees of all private schools in Islamabad but so far it has failed to do so. On the other …

Talks between Indian and Chinese army commanders to disengage troops from key friction areas along their border have ended in a stalemate and failed to ease a 17-month standoff that has sometimes led to deadly clashes, the two sides said on Monday. The continuing standoff means the two nations will keep troops in the forward areas of Ladakh for a second consecutive …

WASHINGTON: As a US government agency probes claims that former Afghan president Ashraf Ghani took with him $169 million while fleeing Kabul, a senior member of his security staff said on Sunday that he has video proof of the alleged theft. Brigadier General Piraz Ata Sharifi, who headed Mr Ghani’s bodyguard, said in an interview that he not only saw …