Pakistan

Internet outages, power failures disrupt judicial processes across district courts

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Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday congratulated the nation on the completion of Pakistan International Airlines’ (PIA) privatisation as he, alongside Chief of Defence Forces and Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir, witnessed the signing of documents pertaining to the transaction. The documents were signed by the government and a consortium led by Arif Habib Corporation Limited at a ceremony in Islamabad, where several federal ministers were also present. The Arif Habib-led consortium had won the auction for 75 per cent shares of PIA in December last year, making a winning bid of Rs135 billion. After the documents were signed, PM Shehbaz said, “I want to congratulate the entire nation from the bottom of my heart on the completion of PIA’s privatisation, the process for which began a month ago.” He commended Arif Habib and his team, terming them “committed business ambassadors of Pakistan”. “Their performance in the industrial growth and progress of Pakistan is very prominent,” he added. He said as Habi...

Saim Ayub gave an outstanding all-round performance, taking two wickets after a blistering 40-run knock as Pakistan defeated Australia by 22 runs in the first Twenty20 International at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium on Thursday. This is Pakistan’s first T20I victory against Australia in more than seven years. Winning the toss and batting first, Pakistan scored 168 runs at the loss of eight wickets in the allotted overs. Despite Sahibzada Farhan’s duck in the first over, Saim and skipper Salman Ali Agha managed to anchor Pakistan’s innings with a 74-run partnership. Returning to Pakistan’s T20 side after a troubled Big Bash League season, Babar Azam could score only 24 runs before losing his wicket to Adam Zampa. For Australia, spinner Adam Zampa grabbed four wickets, including the crucial ones of Babar, Saim, and Salman. Xavier Bartlett and Mahli Beardman also took a couple of wickets each for Australia. While defending the target, Pakistan’s decision to include four spinners proved to be vital in dismantling the A...

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Thursday confirmed that incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan underwent a medical procedure for an eye ailment last week at a hospital in Islamabad. Speaking to Geo News, Tarar said the former premier, who is imprisoned at Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail, was taken to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) in Islamabad for a “20-minute” medical procedure on the night of January 24. “Eye experts examined him in Adiala jail, after which they recommended that it was necessary to take him to Pims for a small medical process. Last Saturday night, he was taken to Pims on the recommendation of these eye doctors and experts,” Tarar said. He added that at Pims, Imran’s “eyes were further examined, and after his written approval, a 20-minute medical procedure was performed”. The ex-premier was then taken back to the Adiala jail with “important instructions”. “During the medical procedure, his vitals and everything were stable. He’s absolutely healthy,” Tarar stated. The ministe...

ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office (FO) on Thursday stated Pakistan did not “subscribe to the opinion” of the judge — who convicted lawyer Imaan Mazari-Hari and her spouse, Hadi Ali Chattha — on “terrorist states”. In his verdict, Additional District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka had noted: “Currently there are four countries designated as terrorist states, which are Cuba, the Democratic Republic of Korea, Iran and Syria.” Asked about that judgment during his weekly press briefing in Islamabad on Thursday, FO spokesperson Tahir Hussain Andrabi said, “This judgment […] is the view of the learned judge. Pakistan, of course, does not subscribe to this opinion. “And frankly, this kind of designation does not exist either under the United Nations (UN) or under international law,” he said. Judge Majoka had made the observation while noting that Pakistan was “not included in the list of terrorist states”. It is worth mentioning that the UN does not maintain a list of “terrorist states”. The United Nations Secu...

Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon on Thursday announced that a judicial inquiry will be conducted into the Gul Plaza fire. “To further probe this and to promote departmental transparency, the sub-committee decided … a letter is being penned to the honourable Sindh High Court (SHC) chief justice,” Memon told a press conference in Karachi. He added that the SHC top judge will be requested to appoint a serving judge to “review everything and decide on it”. A cabinet sub-committee — chaired by Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and including ministers Memon, Nasir Hussain Shah, Saeed Ghani, and Ziaul Hassan Lanjar — reviewed a report submitted by a two-member team. “The meeting with the chief minister went on for four to five hours and important decisions were made in light of the commissioner and additional IG’s report,” Memon noted. The senior minister then listed the decisions taken by the sub-committee. He observed that the Civil Defence department conducted fire safety audits of Gul Plaza and other buildi...

India’s chief economic adviser proposed age-based limits on access to social media platforms he said were “predatory” in their approach to keeping users online, signalling a potential blow to Meta and YouTube in their largest user market. Such a shift would pull India in line with a growing global trend, after Australia became the first nation last year to ban social media for children younger than 16. On Monday, France’s National Assembly backed legislation to ban children under 15 from social media and Britain, Denmark and Greece are studying the issue. The adviser, V. Anantha Nageswaran, recommended in India’s annual economic survey that families promote screen-time limits, device-free hours and shared offline activities. “Policies on age-based access limits may be considered, as younger users are more vulnerable to compulsive use and harmful content,” he wrote in the survey, which was published on Thursday. “Platforms should be made responsible for enforcing age verification and age-appropriate defaults.”...

Pakistan Navy has assumed command of Combined Task Force-150 (CTF-150) for the 14th time during a change of command ceremony held at the headquarters of the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) in Bahrain.

The Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt to Pakistan called on the Federal Minister for Health, Syed Mustafa Kamal, to discuss matters of mutual interest with a particular focus on cooperation in the health sector.

WITH the threat of a new American attack on Iran persisting, many of the Islamic Republic’s neighbours have said they will not allow their territory to be used against Tehran. This is significant as a number of Iran’s neighbours host thousands of American troops, and these states realise that if their territory is used to mount fresh aggression, regional US bases will become targets for Iran. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian have discussed the situation, with the latter saying that Iran welcomes any process that will avoid war. The prince, on the other hand, reiterated that Saudi territory will not be used against Iran. Earlier, the UAE had also said that it will not allow its facilities to be used against its neighbour across the Gulf. Meanwhile, the Turkish foreign minister has observed that a new American war would be “wrong”, while calling for a diplomatic resolution of the crisis. But diplomacy does not seem to be on top of US President Donald Trump’s agenda,...

Pakistan’s benchmark KSE-100 index remained under pressure on Thursday, closing in the red at 182,338.12 points, a sharp slip of 6042.26 points, or 3.21 per cent, from its previous close of 188,380.38. Trading activity hit a volume of 413.82 million shares and a total traded value of Rs52.45 billion. All commercial banks, fertiliser, automobile assemblers, close-end mutual funds, leather and tanneries, oil and gas exploration companies, synthetic and rayon companies, tobacco, transportation, vanaspati and allied industries, along with woolen industries, were trading in the red. Maaz Mulla, vice president equity sales at Topline Securities, noted that “the sharp decline was primarily triggered by Fauji Fertilizer Company Limited’s result, which disappointed the market as earnings came in below industry expectations due to lower-than-anticipated gross margins”. Top decliners included Kohinoor Power Company Limited, which dropped to Rs44.60 followed by Said Textile Mills Limited, which fell to Rs36.61, and Kohin...

Adviser to the Finance Minister Khurram Schehzad has said that global investors are showing strong confidence in Pakistan, highlighting a record level of participation in a recent virtual investor roadshow.

PESHAWAR: At least three terrorists were killed on Thursday after security forces launched a large-scale operation in the Domel tehsil of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bannu district. A police statement said several terrorists were also injured in clashes with security forces. The operation was launched in the tehsil’s Sperka and Kotka Akbar Ali Khan area. During the operation, security forces have targeted militant hideouts with more than 25 quadcopter strikes, while a heavy exchange of fire continues in the area. The operation is being supervised by senior police and security officials who are also present in the field. Security forces have cordoned off the area and launched a search operation to arrest terrorists attempting to flee, which is still ongoing. Continuous surveillance by drones and helicopters is being carried out in the region, indicating the sensitive nature and importance of the operation. The objective, security forces said, is to completely clear the area and restore law and order. Meanwhile, local...

Pakistan has clarified that it has no links with the Abraham Accords and has no intention of becoming part of the initiative, Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Hussain Andrabi said on Thursday.

The legal counsel for PTI founder Imran Khan has approached the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Rawalpindi, seeking permission for a medical examination of Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday that he wanted to build a “sophisticated relationship” with Beijing to boost growth and security, signaling a reset after years of strained ties. On the most important day of his four-day visit to China, the first by a British prime minister in eight years, Starmer held an 80-minute summit with Xi at the Great Hall of the People before they lunched together. He will later meet Premier Li Qiang. “China is a vital player on the global stage, and it’s vital that we build a more sophisticated relationship where we can identify opportunities to collaborate, but of course, also allow a meaningful dialogue on areas where we disagree,” Starmer told Xi at the start of their meeting. Xi said ties with Britain had gone through “twists and turns” that did not serve the interests of either country and that China stood ready to develop a long-term strategic partnership. “We can deliver a result that can withstand the test of history,” the Chi...

KARACHI: Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori, in a letter to the Chief Justice of Sindh High Court Justice Zafar Ahmed Rajput, has sought the constitution of a judicial inquiry commission in relation to the devastating Gul Plaza blaze in Karachi, it emerged on Thursday. The development comes amid growing calls from the opposition parties to form an inquiry commission in response to preliminary findings on the incident, which suggested that the fire was caused accidentally by a minor son of the owner of a flower shop. Jamaat-i-Islami also questioned the probe’s credibility and asked for an independent judicial commission. The deadly inferno, which erupted on the night of January 17 at the mall and took nearly two days to be fully extinguished, has claimed at least 73 lives and left over 1,100 shops in ruins. In his letter — dated January 27 and available with Dawn — the Muttahida Qaumi Move­ment-Pakistan (MQM-P) leader requested the SHC CJ to constitute a judicial inquiry commission to “investigate the Gul Plaza fir...