Category: ENGLISH

Top-level military officials in a Corps Commanders Conference at General Headquarters took stock of the geo-strategic security environment, with a special focus on recent interactions with Afghan and United States authorities, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Thursday. Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa presided over the 205th conference in which the internal security situation, progress on ongoing counter-terrorism operations and the army’s projections for achieving enduring peace and stability were discussed, an ISPR handout said. “The forum concluded that [the] security apparatus shall continue to perform its…

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An accountability court on Thursday rejected a fresh application for Finance Minister Ishaq Dar’s exemption from court proceedings, upholding his bailable arrest warrants in a corruption reference filed against him by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for owning assets beyond his means. The court today also endorsed NAB’s move to freeze Dar’s assets and properties based in Pakistan. As soon as proceedings on the reference began, junior counsel Ayesha Hamid — who appeared in court instead of senior counsel Khawaja Haris — filed an application exempting Dar from appearing before…

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Muhammad Imran Dawn: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday accepted a petition moved by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to club together three separate accountability references pending against him, ordering an accountability court which had dismissed the request earlier to consider the case again. In doing so, the IHC set aside the October 19 decision of the accountability court to turn down the petition. Sharif’s lawyer, Azam Nazir Tarar, said today that the accountability court had not provided any reasoning for the rejection of Sharif’s earlier petition; therefore, the IHC should…

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Nadir Guramani Dawn A day after lawmakers slammed US President Donald Trump’s new South Asia policy, Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif assured the Senate that their concerns had been heard and Pakistan’s foreign policy would be devised keeping their guidelines in mind. Beginning his speech with an acknowledgement of Trump’s assertion that “things have started getting better” in US-Pakistan relations, and thanking the American president for the endorsement, Asif reiterated that Pakistan wishes for a regional solution to the Afghan problem. “The entire region has a role to play in the…

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Tariq Naqash Dawn MUZAFFARABAD: The Pakistan Army on Friday said it had shot down an Indian ‘spy drone’ along the Line of Control (LoC) in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) as tensions continued to flare between the two countries amid unrelenting ceasefire violations at the heavily-militarised de facto border. “Indian quadcopter spying across LoC in Rakhchikri sector shot down by Pakistan Army shooters,” tweeted Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor, Director General of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). The Rakhchikri sector falls in AJK’s Poonch and Haveli districts. The ISPR chief also…

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The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday dropped two contempt petitions against Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan after accepting a written apology for his past statements in which Khan had accused the commission of bias. The PTI chief had finally appeared before the commission today to come clean — nearly two weeks after his non-bailable arrest warrants were issued — in connection with two contempt petitions filed against him. PTI counsel Babar Awan, Secretary General Jahangir Tareen and leaders Shafqat Mehmood and Naeemul Haque accompanied Khan at the ECP, DawnNews reported. The…

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US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is in Pakistan to deliver a tough message on the importance of fighting extremists and driving them from hideouts on Pakistani territory. Tillerson arrived in Islamabad on Tuesday, a day after traveling to Iraq and Afghanistan in conditions of strict secrecy. He met with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Foreign Minister Khwaja Mohammad Asif and the heads of the army and intelligence services. Tillerson told Abbasi that Pakistan is “so important regionally to our joint goals of providing peace and security to the region…

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ISLAMABAD: Amid growing concerns over the alleged disappearanceof a number of social media activists linked to the ruling party, Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal on Tuesday announced plans to formulate a framework to monitor social media in order to prevent it from being used as a tool to malign national institutions and spread anarchy or extremism in the country. “The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has been directed to formulate a framework for social media monitoring in consultation with all stakeholders,” the interior minister said at a press conference. Responding to a question…

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ISLAMABAD: The Fore­ign Office on Saturday reje­cted as speculative the reports that India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in her introductory meeting with the Pakistani ambassador to Delhi had called for Islamabad to review its position in convicted Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav’s case. “During this interaction, no specific case came under discussion. Therefore, the reports appearing in the Indian media are speculative,” the FO said in response to reports about the meeting held earlier this week. Pakistan’s High Commis­sioner to India Sohail Mahmood assumed the charge of his assignment last month. Therefore,…

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PPP Senator Sherry Rehman on Friday filed an adjournment motion in the Senate Secretariat seeking a discussion on irregularities worth Rs400 billion in projects initiated under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The motion states that the Auditor General of Pakistan has found “massive irregularities” in the Federal Government’s road projects. “What is most shocking is that these projects were initiated under CPEC,” the motion says. It further calls on the government to “initiate a full-fledged investigation to reveal a clearer picture of this serious issue.” The motion seeks that the…

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Two coal miners lost their lives after a coal mine collapsed in Balochistan’s Harnai district on Thursday night. Seven others are still missing. The bodies of two coal miners were retrieved from the debris, while Levis sources told DawnNews that a search operation was still underway for the seven missing miners. Rescue workers and district administration officials are taking part in the operation. Poor working conditions inside coal mines in Balochistan claim the lives of miners on almost daily basis in Harnai, Sowrange, Dukki, Mach and other parts of the province, but often…

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