Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Friday affirmed that pension is a vested constitutional right and not a bounty or something given out of generosity by the employer. The employee earns these benefits through long, continuous, faithful and unblemished service, observed Justice Muhammad Shafi Siddiqui in a six-page judgement that upheld the right of a former civil servant to receive pension benefits despite the fact that he had applied for pension 13 years after his resignation. Justice Siddiqui was a member of a three-judge SC bench headed by Justice Naeem Akhter Afghan, which also comprised Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb. The bench had taken up an appeal filed by Muhammad Usman against the July 3, 2024 rejection of his plea by the Federal Service Tribunal (FST). Sets aside ruling of service tribunal on plea by ex-auditor The appellant was a former senior auditor (BS-11) in the office of the Military Accountant General, Rawalpindi. He was held disentitled to pension benefits on the grounds that he had tendere...

ISLAMABAD: Despite over 35 years of ‘reforms’ and policy interventions, Pakistan’s power sector remains incapable of instilling confidence in the country’s economic growth and in consumers’ trust, leading to gains secured from power producers through renegotiations evaporating amid unending inefficiencies. This charge sheet has been framed by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) against the policymakers and power sector managers in its flagship ‘State of the Industry Report 2025’, while conceding that regulatory powers for correction had been diluted through administrative and legal challenges. It said the inefficiencies of the distribution companies (Discos) contributed around Rs400 billion to the circular debt, while law-abiding consumers paid around Rs235bn in debt servicing surcharge (DSS) in 2024-25, not due to normal business practices but to inefficiencies. It said that despite some structural and policy-level interventions, “overall progress remained limited and insufficient to ins...

Pakistan’s ICC U19 Cricket World Cup campaign got off to a disappointing start on Tuesday as England dismantled the Green Shirts’ top order, taking six wickets for 86 runs to seal a 37-run victory. Winning the toss at the Takashinga Sports Club in Harare, Pakistan U19 team captain Farhan Yousuf elected to field first — a decision that turned out to be in the team’s favour as it bowled out England for just 210 in a fifty-over match. English batter Caleb Falconer scored 66 runs, for which he also got the Man of the Match award later, aided by Ben Dawkins’ 33 and Ralphie Albert’s 25. With the help of the commanding spells by Pakistani bowler Ahmed Hussain, who took three wickets, and Ali Raza, Abdul Subhan, and Moshin Qamar, who grabbed two wickets each, Pakistan established their position, booming in the first innings. While chasing the target, howeve, Pakistan’s top order could not stand England’s Alex Green and James Minto’s bowling attack, as both took a couple of wickets each. Six of Pakistan’s batters were...

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ISLAMABAD - Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication, Shaza Fatima Khawaja on Friday announced the launch of Indus AI Week 2026, a flagship national initiative on artificial intelligence, scheduled to take place from 9 to 15 February 2026.

ISLAMABAD - Federal Minister for National Heritage and Culture Division Aurangzeb Khan Khichi, has assured that the Ministry would extend full cooperation to literary organizations across the country.

ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Friday ruled that pension is neither a concession nor charity but a constitutional and legal right of a government employee, which cannot be denied merely on the grounds of delayed application or resignation.

LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Friday expressed deep grief over the martyrdom of SHO Sub-Inspector Aamir Rizwan, who was martyred during an alleged police encounter in Sargodha.

Terrorists’ design to create hostage situation at a police station was thwarted: ISPR.

ISLAMABAD - The newly elected member of the Senate Abid Sher Ali of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) Friday took oath as Senate.

ISLAMABAD - National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq on Friday formally notified PkMAP chief Mehmood Khan Achakzai as Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly.