India’s main opposition Congress party filed a complaint to the Election Commission on Monday accusing Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “blatantly targeting” minority Muslims in a campaign speech. The world’s most populous country is constitutionally secular and its election code bans canvassing based on “communal feelings”. Modi’s muscular Hindu-first politics is a key part of his electoral appeal …

ISLAMABAD: A Saudi national was kidnapped from F-8 sector while the body of a woman was found in the jurisdiction of Industrial Area police station. According to the FIR registered with Margalla police station on April 18, Saudi diplomat Badar Al Haribi informed the police that a Saudi citizen, Hannan Abdullah, was kidnapped from F-8 sector in Islamabad. The diplomat …

ISLAMABAD: Comsats University Islamabad (CUI), which has been functioning under an interim arrangement, is embroiled in an alleged controversy as a clause of its statute was recently changed by the university syndicate headed by the rector who is working on a look-after basis. In July last year, following the acceptance of the resignation of rector Dr Mohammad T. Afzal, chancellor …

WASHINGTON: Finance Minister Muhammad Aurang­zeb has stated that the process of privatising PIA will be finalised by the end of June or early July, with Islamabad airport potentially following suit shortly after. “The government has no business being in business,” the minister declared at a Saturday afternoon news briefing, explaining the government’s plan to divest from state-owned enterprises (SOEs). “We …

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: At least three people, including two Customs officials, were slain in an attack near Bannu Road late on Saturday, according to police. This was the second attack on Customs officials in Dera Ismail Khan in five days. A police spokesman said the Customs officials were travelling in a vehicle when armed assailants opened fire near Yarik Toll …

Iran and Pakistan have decided to increase the trade volume between the two countries to $10 billion, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said on Monday, adding that the existing volume was “not acceptable”. Raisi — who is currently on a three-day visit to Pakistan — made the remarks during a joint press conference alongside Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif after the two …

“National security” — a term abused so frequently by successive governments in Pakistan that it would be better off archived. Over the years, the term has been stripped of its true essence — devolved to an enervating level of widespread dismissal among many of us; mutated into an ugly weapon and spiked with alarmingly sweeping conditions. From the deepest recesses …

PTI Senator Shibli Faraz was appointed the new opposition leader in the Senate on Monday. Former prime minister and PTI founder Imran Khan had nominated Faraz for the position last week and he was widely seen to take the role with the endorsement of 21 senators. According to a notification issued by the Senate Secretariat, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, …

The Punjab government on Monday announced a local holiday on April 23 (Tuesday) in the Lahore district to avoid inconvenience to the public ahead of the visit of foreign dignitaries, including Iranian President Dr Ebrahim Raisi. The Iranian president is currently in Pakistan on an official trip from April 22 to April 24 (Wednesday). The Foreign Office had said that …

The ruling PML-N on Monday emerged victorious in by-elections held on 21 national and provincial seats, according to provisional results released by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). On Sunday, by-polls were held across the country amid allegations of “record rigging”, temporary suspension of cellular services in specific districts of Punjab and Balochistan and multiple incidents of violence, leading to the death of a PML-N …