Pakistan

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) has approved $250 million for a flagship adaptation programme aimed at building resilient water and agriculture systems for vulnerable communities in the glacier-dependent regions of Central Asia, the South Caucasus, and Pakistan, a press release issued on Wednesday said. Led by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the ‘Glaciers to Farms’ programme covers nine ADB developing member countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, which all rely on glacier and snow-fed rivers for agriculture, domestic water, and electricity generation. The programme will focus on four glacier-fed river basins — the Naryn and Pyanj in Central Asia, the Kura in the South Caucasus, and the Swat in Pakistan — covering roughly 27m hectares, the ADB said in a press release. The handout added that the GCF approved its concessional funding for the programme at its 43rd board meeting on October 29. It said that around 13m people, incl...

Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar said early on Wednesday that the latest round of talks between Islamabad and Kabul in Istanbul “failed to bring about any workable solution”, adding that Pakistan would continue to take all possible measures to protect its citizens from terrorism. After days of fighting along the Pak-Afghan border and strikes by Islamabad on Gul Bahadur group camps in Afghanistan, the two countries had come together for a dialogue in Doha which had resulted in a temporary ceasefire, as well as a commitment to reconvene in Istanbul to work on mechanisms for lasting peace and stability between the two countries. Last week, the second round of talks between the two sides had begun in the Turkish capital. In a post on social media platform X early on Wednesday, the information minister said that Pakistan had repeatedly engaged with the Afghan Taliban regarding “persistent cross-border terrorism” by Indian-abetted Fitna-al-Khawarij and Indian proxy Fitna-al-Hindusta...

ISLAMABAD/RIYADH - Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud on Tuesday agreed to launch a comprehensive Economic Cooperation Framework aimed at elevating Pakistan–Saudi Arabia relations into a new era of strategic economic.

AMERICAN technology giant Meta has introduced, or perhaps one should say, unleashed AI on speakers of the Urdu language. At a Monday event in Islamabad, the tech company said it was expanding its artificial intelligence language capabilities to better serve users in Pakistan who wished to interact with AI in Urdu. The announcement was both exciting and unsettling. “The introduction of Urdu for Meta AI is a milestone in making technology more inclusive and accessible for our people, ensuring that no one is left behind in our digital transformation,” the federal IT minister said on the occasion. While the intent should be appreciated, we must also worry whether there has been enough discourse in Urdu regarding the dangers and shortcomings of AI and how users must protect against them. There is no denying that AI models that are accessible in ordinary users’ mother tongues can open up whole new worlds of possibilities in a society like Pakistan, where social inequalities often limit who gets to benefit from mode...

Lender bases assessment on simulation data; Floods in Punjab deepen rural household losses

PM urges North-South synergy on tech

Istanbul talks collapse as Taliban remain intransigent

Politicking in overdrive as AJK PM's fate hangs by a thread

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Tuesday said that a decision on sending Pakistani troops for the Gaza peace force was still being finalised and “it is in process”. A cornerstone of the US-brokered Gaza Peace Agreement is the establishment of the International Stabilisation Force (ISF), composed mainly of troops from Muslim-majority countries. According to officials close to the discussions, an announcement is expected soon from the federal government regarding the decision. Officials familiar with the deliberations, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said discussions within the government and military establishment were at an “advanced stage”. According to them, the tone of internal consultations suggests that Islamabad is inclined to take part in the mission. Questioned whether any such move was in the offing or not in an interview on Geo News show ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’, Asif said: “This thing has to be finalised [and] it is in process. The government will take a dec...

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Tuesday said that an agreement was about to be reached with Afghanistan, but Afghan negotiators backpedaled after contacting Kabul during the negotiations. A second round of talks between the two sides had begun on Saturday in Istanbul. The Qatar talks had come after days of fighting along the Pak-Afghan border and strikes by Islamabad on Gul Bahadur group camps in Afghanistan. The agreement reached in Doha extended an initial 48-hour truce and resulted in a temporary ceasefire, as well as a commitment to reconvene in Istanbul to work on mechanisms for lasting peace and stability between the two countries. Speaking on Geo News programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada ke Saath’, the defence minister stated that negotiators had backpedaled on an agreement “four or five times” after receiving instructions from Kabul. “Whenever we got close to an agreement — either in the last four days or last week — when negotiators reported to Kabul, then there was intervention and the agreement was wit...

The United Nations’ migration agency on Tuesday said that 18 people were killed when a wooden vessel carrying dozens of migrants capsized off the coast of Libya on Tuesday, while 64 people — including 12 Pakistanis — were rescued. The vessel “capsized only a few hours into its journey due to high waves”, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said in a statement, adding that the accident had occurred off the coast of Surman, Libya. “Among the survivors are 29 Sudanese men, one Sudanese woman, and one Sudanese child; 18 Bangladeshi men; 12 Pakistani men; and three Somali men,” it said. No information was yet available about the nationalities of those who died. “This latest shipwreck is a stark reminder of the grave dangers faced by people undertaking perilous sea journeys in search of safety and opportunity,” the IOM said. It said the central Mediterranean route from northern Africa across to Europe remained “one of the world’s deadliest migration corridors”. The agency said its Missing Migrants Pr...

The Sindh government has introduced a new e-challan system that aims to improve the city’s traffic while minimising the traffic police’s interaction with the public. Under the new system inaugurated recently, at least 5,500 challans have already been issued to traffic rule violators throughout the city. Here is what you need to know about the system. What is the e-challan system? Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Admin Karachi Traffic Police Kashif explained that the system has been introduced as part of the Karachi Safe City Project. A total of 1,076 cameras have been installed on main thoroughfares in the first phase. When phase 2 and 3 of the initiative are completed, up to 12,000 cameras will have been installed in all areas of Karachi as well as on toll plazas. Once a challan is initiated, it will be sent via Pakistan Post to an address linked to the number plate issued by the Sindh Excise and Taxation Department. While the total time to pay off the challan is 21 days, if it is paid within 14 days, t...

ISLAMABAD - Lt Gen (R) Nazir Ahmed Butt is trying to flip the script on the National Accountability Bureau, and the numbers he’s putting up are hard to ignore.

ISLAMABAD - General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, NI, NI (M), Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC), while on an official visit to Bangladesh, called on General Waker-Uz-Zaman, Chief of Army Staff of Bangladesh Army, at Army Headquarters, Dhaka, a statement from ISPR said yesterday.

Baku, Islamabad - Chairman Senate Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, arrived in Baku today to attend the International Parliamentary Conference dedicated to the 30th Anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

ISLAMABAD - The matter of appointing the leader of opposition in the national assembly, slot vacant for the last two months, has become controversial after the nomination of PkMAP chief Mehmood Achakzai by the opposition.

RAWALPINDI - Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi here on Tuesday once again returned without holding a meeting with incarcerated Imran Khan, founder of Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI), despite having directions from Islamabad High Court (IHC).

ISLAMABAD - The latest scandal engulfing the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) has exposed the entrenched institutional corruption, poor oversight and a lack of resolve of a state institution to tackle the growing threat of online crime.

Peshawar - Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Faisal Karim Kundi on Tuesday said that the province is rich in valuable mineral resources, and if the mining and gemstone industry is developed on modern lines, it can play a vital role in strengthening both the provincial and national economy.

Peshawar - Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Muhammad Sohail Afridi welcomed the inclusion of 94 lawyers from the Justice Lawyers Forum into the Insaf Lawyers Forum, terming it a positive step toward strengthening the movement for the rule of law.