Pakistan

PESHAWAR - An oath taking ceremony was held on Monday at Courtroom No.

LONDON: In a revealing interview with The Sunday Times, former UK Chancellor Sajid Javid reflected on his life journey from a childhood marked by poverty, domestic violence and racism to a career as a multimillionaire, cabinet minister, and home secretary. He also discussed his family’s complex past and integration in Britain and modern immigration policy. Among the most striking revelations, British Pakistani Javid admitted that under the existing immigration rules, he “wouldn’t allow either his unskilled father or his non-English speaking mother entry today”. “The biggest block to good community cohesion is English. We should have set a requirement that if you want to settle in the UK, you should be able to speak fluent English. We should have done that ages ago,” he said. Javid’s parents arrived from Pakistan in the early 1960s. His father, arriving with just £1, worked as a bus driver, mill worker and shop owner, while his mother who was uneducated and initially unable to speak English, struggled to adapt...

KARACHI: While seeking a single-digit interest rate, businessmen have rejected the State Bank’s decision to maintain interest rates at 10.50 per cent, terming it disappointing and counterproductive at a time when industrial revival and a boost in exports are the need of the hour. The SBP’s cautious approach is baffling, given the ground realities – with core inflation stabilised at around 5 per cent over the past many months and major economic indicators pointing to the need for growth. However, the status quo in interest rates at 10.5pc will continue to hamper the industry’s access to finance, local businessmen said. In contrast, Overseas Investors Chambers of Commerce and Industry Secretary General M. Abdul Aleem told Dawn that the State Bank’s decision to retain the interest rate without a prudent reduction may have surprised many who were looking for a minor cut. However, these are decisions made on economic fundamentals, not on the wishes of some key stakeholders, he said, adding that the economy is doin...

• TTAP may announce ‘Jail Bharo Tehreek’, urges people to keep their shutters closed • Forms 10 bodies at international, national and provincial levels to ensure success of strike • JUI-F to stage public gathering in Rawalpindi ISLAMABAD / RAWALPINDI: Opposition parties have chalked out plans for Feb 8 to protest against the alleged rigging in the 2024 general elections, with Tehreek Tahafuz Ayeen-i-Pakistan (TTAP) hinting that it may announce a Jail Bharo Tehreek (court arrest movement) and urging people to keep their shutters closed, while the JUI-F has decided to stage a public gathering in Rawalpindi. TTAP chief Mehmood Khan Achakzai on Monday said that the call for a countrywide protest on Feb 8 — the second anniversary of the 2024 general polls —would not be withdrawn under any circumstances. He urged the masses to shut down everything on that day, which falls on a Sunday. Suggesting that the alliance might announce a Jail Bharo Tehreek, he said it would be just the beginning and that more moves would f...

KARACHI: Mega Motor Company (MMC), in partnership with the world’s leading new energy vehicle (NEV) manufacturer BYD, has recently unveiled two electric sport utility vehicles (SUVs), the BYD Sealion 7 and the BYD Atto 2, at a dealership event in Lahore. Addressing the launch event, Lei Jian, Country Head of BYD Pakistan, said the introduction of these vehicles underscored the company’s commitment to transforming Pakistan’s automotive landscape by bringing globally proven technology and innovation to local customers. “We are excited about the future of mobility in Pakistan, which is forward-looking, electric, and built for the long term,” added Danish Khaliq, Vice President — Sales and Strategy at BYD Pakistan — MMC. In a bid to promote sustainable transportation, BYD-MMC, in collaboration with HubcoGreen, is building Pakistan’s first nationwide NEV charging corridor spanning approximately 1,300 kilometres from Karachi to Peshawar, covering major cities and motorways. Published in Dawn, January 27th, 2026

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Monday maintained its key policy rate at 10.5 per cent. Brokerage house Topline Securities noted that this “came as a surprise” as a majority of their participants were expecting a rate cut. According to the Monetary Policy Statement released after a meeting of the SBP’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), while headline inflation was 5.6pc in December 2025, core inflation steadied around a higher level of 7.4pc. The external current account posted a deficit of $244 million in December 2025, leading to a $1.2 billion deficit during the first half of FY2026. Weak exports were driven by a sharp drop in food exports, particularly rice, while high-value-added (HVA) textile exports remained resilient. However, sustained growth in workers’ remittances and ICT services helped in containing the current account deficit. As a result of this, the MPC noted that inflation and the current account were broadly unchanged, while the outlook for economic growth had improved. Based on this, the...

QUETTA: Four bogies of the Quetta-bound Jaffar Express train coming from Peshawar were derailed in a blast on the railway track linking Sindh to Balochistan on Monday night. Railway officials in Sultankot confirmed that the blast occurred on the railway track between Sultankot and Jacobabad in Sindh. “Four bogies have derailed after a blast that damaged the track,” a senior official of the Pakistan Railway told Dawn, adding no deaths or injuries were reported in the blast. The railway officials added that repair on the track had begun after the area was cleared. They said a relief train had also reached the site to resume railway traffic on the main line. The Jaffar Express has come under attack several times over the past year. Last November, it had escaped an ar­­m­­ed attack in the Bolan Pass area of Kachhi distr­i­­ct, Balochistan. The same month it also escaped a bomb attack in Balochistan’s Nasirabad district. In October 2025, at least seven people were injured after a blast on a railway track derailed ...

LAHORE - The Punjab government has approved a Rs47 billion Ramazan Nigehban Package, described as the province’s largest-ever Ramazan relief initiative, aimed at benefiting around one crore people during the holy month.

ISLAMABAD - Federal Minister for Climate Change Dr Musadik Malik on Monday urged the leaders of Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI), to focus on addressing governance issues in Khyber Pakhtunkhawa.

ISLAMABAD - Though parliamentary proceedings rarely witness a day without hullabaloo, protests, and differences of opinion, a rare show of unity between the treasury and the opposition was recently observed on the issue of ‘disclosing financial asset details’.

ISLAMABAD - President Asif Ali Zardari arrived in Abu Dhabi on a four-day official visit to the United Arab Emirates on Monday.

Peshawar - Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sohail Afridi, has written a detailed letter to the Prime Minister of Pakistan expressing grave concern over the persistent failure to release constitutionally mandated federal transfers, which has resulted in an acute fiscal and governance crisis for the province.

KARACHI: Roads leading to the Karachi Press Club (KPC) were blocked for hours on Monday as lawyers, human rights activists and civil society members staged a protest against the conviction of Imaan Zainab Hazir-Mazari and her husband, Hadi Ali Chatta. The closure of roads slowed down the movement of traffic on several arteries affected by the move, causing inconvenience for commuters. Police barred several protesters, including activist Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Junior, from reaching the press club — a move that KPC President and journalist Fazil Jamili called a violation of the fundamental right to peaceful assembly. “The siege of the Karachi Press Club today is a blatant assault on democratic freedoms. By cordoning off the KPC and barring citizens, including Zulfiqar Bhutto Jr., from protesting the sentencing of Imaan Mazari, authorities are violating the fundamental right to peaceful assembly,” he posted on social media platform X. Lawyer and human rights activist Jibran Nasir posted on social media platform X t...

President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday night arrived in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for a four-day official visit. According to a handout from the Presidency, the president was received by UAE Justice Minister Abdullah bin Sultan bin Awad Al Nuaimi at Zayed International Airport in Abu Dhabi. It said that First Lady Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi were accompanying the president on the trip, adding that Pakistan’s Ambassador to the UAE Shafqat Ali Khan was also present on the occasion. Shortly after arriving, he held a meeting with the UAE justice minister at the presidential flight terminal at the airport. A statement released by the Foreign Office earlier in the day said that the president, accompanied by a high-level delegation, will undertake the visit from January 26 to 29. “During the visit, the president will hold high-level meetings with the UAE’s leadership to review the full spectrum of bilateral ties, especially on the domains of trade and economic people-to-people ties,” ...

A US naval strike group led by an aircraft carrier has deployed to Middle Eastern waters, the United States said on Monday, as Tehran warned it was ready to hit back at any American attack launched in response to a crackdown on anti-government protests. The protests started in late December, driven by economic grievances, but turned into a mass movement against the Islamic Republic, with huge street demonstrations for several days from January 8. But rights groups have accused authorities of quelling the movement with unprecedented violence, shooting into crowds of protesters under the cover of an internet shutdown that has now lasted 18 days — the longest Iran has ever imposed. US President Donald Trump has previously threatened to step in, saying last week that Washington was sending a “massive fleet” to the region “just in case”. The deployment of the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group dramatically boosts American firepower in the region. The United States backed and briefly joined Israel’s 12-day wa...

KARACHI: The Karachi police on Monday constituted a special team to make “all-out efforts” to arrest suspects in the Gul Plaza fire and to conduct an impartial probe into the incident. An order issued by the office of South Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Syed Asad Raza stated that the five-member team was constituted for the “arrest of involved accused person(s) and impartial investigation” into the case. “The investigation team shall make all-out and diligent efforts to arrest the accused person(s) by utilising all available resources,” read the notification, a copy of which is available with Dawn. In a first information report (FIR) of the incident, dated January 23, the Karachi police said the fire was an “outcome of negligence and carelessness”. The case was registered against unknown persons as the police have not nominated anyone in the case. The special team will comprise the Garden Sub-divisional police officer (SDPO), the Kharadar investigation deputy superintendent of police (DSP), the head of the G...

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has approved the rollout of a comprehensive Ramadan relief initiative, including the launch of a ration card system and the Nigehban Dastarkhwan scheme, aimed at supporting underprivileged families across the province during the holy month.

LAHORE: With the festival of Basant drawing closer, the Punjab government on Monday imposed a ban on the manufacturing and use of kites bearing images of any political party’s flag for 30 days. In the notification seen by Dawn, the Punjab Home Department notified the imposition of Section 144 prohibiting the purchase and use of kites bearing images of any person, holy scripture, religious place, country’s flag or that of a political party in an effort to “avoid any discrimination or disruption of public order”. The department said that it had been reported that to disrupt the festival, miscreants may use images of holy scripture, religious places and flags of countries and political parties. “Only plain, uni-coloured or multi-coloured kites (i.e. gudda or patang) shall be allowed during kite flying in the district of Lahore from February 6 to 8,” the department said. It asserted that the government had permitted kite flying solely for “recreation and festivity”, while banning “the manufacturing, trade, transp...

President Asif Ali Zardari has enacted a landmark amendment to Pakistan’s domestic violence laws, formally criminalising physical abuse, intimidation, and threats of a second marriage against a spouse.

NA panel backs ending dual citizenship Ban proposed to include judges too Final decision expected by February 16