OKARA: A Christian man was booked for his alleged botched plan to set the Holy Quran on fire to take revenge on his two siblings, thinking the angry Muslims would lynch them. As per the first information report (FIR), a City A Division police team, headed by a Sub-Inspector Haider Ali, was on patrol on Sunday night. It found six …

LAHORE: PML-N President Nawaz Sharif on Monday “directed” the governments of his younger brother Shehbaz Sharif and daughter Maryam Nawaz in the Centre and Punjab, respectively, to take the party on board in the decision-making on important issues. During a maiden meeting after becoming the party’s president on Monday, the elder Sharif made it clear that both governments should be …

ISLAMABAD: An independent panel of experts is believed to have raised red flags last year about the headrace tunnel (HRT) of the Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project, as well as recommending preventive measures that were not implemented before the 969-megawatt project, valued at over Rs500 billion, was shut down last month. The shutdown of the Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project, which officially ceased operations on May …

SWAT: An anti-terrorism court on Monday remanded the 23 accused arrested in the Madyan lynching case to police for 10 days. Shaukat Ahmad Khan, Special Judge of ATC-I Malakand division, pronounced the judgment. The Madyan police had requested the court for a 30-day physical custody of the accused. The accused were booked under sections 302, 326, 353, 436, 427, 460, 341, 186, …

ISLAMABAD: Lawma­k­ers belonging to the PPP, a key partner in the ruling coalition, during their speeches in the National Assembly on Monday not only made a scathing attack on the tax-laden and ‘dir­e­ctionless’ federal budget, but also targeted the ruling PML-N, claiming that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had lost popularity among the masses. Despite expressing serious reservations over the budget, the …

ISLAMABAD: The opposition and treasury benches on Monday locked horns over the plan to launch a fresh military operation, with Leader of the Opposition Syed Shibli Faraz voicing concern over the Azm-i-Istehkam operation and saying the word Istehkam (stability) has political connotations. Mr Faraz was of the view that stability would remain a pipe dream sans supremacy of the Constitution, rule of …

Three of the 10 men abducted last week by unknown armed men from Shaban — a picnic point on the outskirts of Quetta — returned home on Tuesday, officials said. According to officials, a large number of people went to the Shaban area for picnic last Thursday, during which a group of armed men had encircled the mountains and started …

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said in the National Assembly (NA) on Tuesday that next year’s fiscal budget will aim to reduce fiscal deficit by focusing on measures that enhance the government’s revenues and reduce unnecessary expenditures. Aurangzeb presented the budget on June 12 in the National Assembly, after which the lower house of parliament mulled over the financial plan for …

An Islamabad district and sessions court on Tuesday reserved its verdict on petitions requesting suspension of sentences given to former premier Imran Khan and his spouse Bushra Bibi in the iddat case. On Saturday, while resuming the hearing for pleas seeking suspension of sentences, additional district and sessions judge (ADSJ) Afzal Majoka asked Zahid Asif — the counsel for Bushra Bibi’s ex-husband, Khawar …

Following full-throated criticism from opposition parties, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday clarified that the proposed counterterrorism campaign originally titled Operation Azm-i-Istehkam but rebranded as Vision Azm-i-Istehkam would entail intensifying ongoing intelligence-based operations (IBOs) rather than a “new and organised” military offensive. The clarification comes after the PM’s Office (PMO) last night stated that the campaign would not be a kinetic large-scale military operation, …