Pakistan

Direct air travel between Pakistan and Bangladesh is set to resume today after a 14-year hiatus, marking a major step forward in bilateral relations between the two countries.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday said Pakistan was committed to working closely with the European Union (EU) on mutually beneficial trade enhancement initiatives, especially through the GSP+ status. According to a handout by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), PM Shehbaz made these remarks while meeting the EU’s Ambassador to Pakistan Raimundas Karoblis, who called on him in Islamabad. According to the EU, GSP+ status is a special incentive awarded to developing countries to “pursue sustainable development and good governance” in exchange for cutting import duties to zero on two-thirds of the tariff lines of its exports. Governments with this status need to implement 27 international conventions on human rights, labour rights, good governance and the environment. According to the handout issued on Thursday, the premier welcomed the ambassador and reaffirmed “Pakistan’s commitment to further strengthen cooperation with the EU in all areas of mutual interest, particularly trade, investment, development,...

LAHORE: Police on Thursday arrested all three people nominated in the first information report (FIR) report registered after a woman and her minor daughter died after falling into an under-construction sewer line a day earlier. The FIR was filed by the woman’s father and named the construction project’s manager and safety management. The FIR — available with Dawn — was filed at the Bhatti Gate police station under Section 322 (manslaughter) of the Pakistan Penal Code. In the complaint, the deceased woman’s father stated that his son received a call from his son-in-law informing him about the incident. “Upon receiving this information, I, my son … my son-in-law … and my friend … reached Data Darbar at about 2:30am,” the complainant stated in the FIR. “There, my son-in-law … informed us that his wife … and his daughter … had fallen into the said manhole.” The FIR noted the woman’s husband added that her body had been recovered, but at the time, the daughter’s body was still missing. The complainant named three ...

Accused convicted in banned medicines case after forged death certificate exposed

Five students killed in road crash

CJ says trial court approval needed after bureau drops case

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Seeks asset details of 48 individuals, including current and former RDA DGs

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.”...