ISLAMABAD: The board of Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), the government’s social safety net, has decided to adopt an international system of assessing performance of its employees in order to encourage them to improve work and get rewarded accordingly. Called as the ‘Bell Curve Concept’, the new Performance Management System (PMS) was approved at a meeting of the BISP board …

ISLAMABAD: Though the recent rains brought the temperature down to 22°C, there was no let-up in dengue cases as 214 patients surfaced in the twin cities on Tuesday. Islamabad reported over a 100 cases of dengue fever for the third time in the current season. According to District Health Officer (DHO) Islamabad Dr Zaeem Zia, 113 people contracted dengue fever …

KARACHI: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday informed the Sindh High Court that it had directed the Sindh government to provide requisite data for delimitation and amend the local government law within a month. The ECP said that it issued such directives through an order dated Oct 6 in a case filed before it regarding a delay in …

WASHINGTON: Pakistan played a key role in evacuating an interpreter from Afghanistan who had rescued Joe Biden and two other US senators from a snowstorm 13 years ago, diplomatic sources told on Tuesday. The Human First Coalition, a US-based NGO run by two Americans of Afghan origin, supervised the evacuation. “We are grateful to Prime Minister Imran Khan for his …

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has summoned senior vice president of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and Railways Minister Azam Khan Swati to appear before the ECP on October 21 and explain his caustic remarks against the commission. Informed sources told Dawn that the decision was taken at an ECP meeting held here, with Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja in …

ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi in consultation with National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Javed Iqbal has appointed the bureau’s Director General (Operations) Zahir Shah as deputy chairman of the anti-graft watchdog, said a notification issued by the law ministry on Tuesday. Mr Shah has been serving with NAB for almost two decades and has held key positions in the organisation. …

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday questioned the government over its reluctance to disclose details of the gifts presented to Prime Min­ister Imran Khan since August 2018 when he assumed office. The Pakistan Information Commission (PIC) had earlier accepted an application on the matter and directed the Cabinet Division to “provide the requested information about the gifts received by Prime Minister …

Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry on Wednesday said the process of consultation between Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa over the appointment of the new director general of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) “has been completed”, and that the process of a fresh appointment “is underway”. Chaudhry’s update on the matter came a day after …

Zakir Jaffer and Asmat Adamjee, parents of Zahir Jaffer, who is the prime suspect in the Noor Mukadam murder case, approached the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday seeking annulment of the sessions court’s order to indict 12 suspects in the murder case on Oct 14 (Thursday). The petitioners are currently incarcerated at the Central Jail, Adiala Road, Rawalpindi. Last …

Dallas police briefed City Council members Tuesday about a plan to warn supervisors about officers whose actions strayed from typical personnel patterns. Top police officials said the new early warning system, which could launch next month, is meant to help officers become more productive without punishing them, and to restore community trust by identifying officers who may need leadership supervision before they …