Category: ENGLISH

Dawn ISLAMABAD: Pakistan expects the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to regain pace after a visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan to Beijing next month with the signing of a framework agreement on industrial zones, progress on agricultural cooperation and addition of a social sector joint working group. A senior government official told Dawn on Monday that notwithstanding adverse commentary in the US and western media, the prime minister’s visit to China would reinvigorate the CPEC implementation that had slowed down over the past several months owing to political transition in…

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Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday held a meeting with Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Joseph Dunford at the PM House in Islamabad. Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa were also present in the PM’s meeting with the US delegation. Following the meeting, Pompeo and company left for India, where the US delegation is scheduled to hold a more elaborate round of talks. ‘I decided against raising the $300m issue’: Qureshi “The Pakistani…

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Prime Minister Imran Khan visited the General Headquarters, Rawalpindi on Thursday morning for a security briefing, the army’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said in a tweet. “Prime Minister Imran Khan arrived to visit GHQ. Received on arrival by COAS [Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa]. PM being briefed on defence, internal security and other professional matters,” ISPR said. “Ministers of Defence, Foreign Affairs, Finance, Information and Minister of State for Interior are accompanying the PM,” it added. The Thursday meeting follows PM Khan and Gen Bajwa’s first-ever…

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PM-elect Imran Khan has taken oath as the 22nd prime minister of Pakistan at a ceremony being held at the President House. Khan, who outvoted opposition and PML-N candidate Shahbaz Sharif in the PM’s election on Friday, was administered his oath by President Mamnoon Hussain. The oath-taking ceremony, which was scheduled to begin at 9:30am, started a little after 10am. Clad in a black sherwani, the prime minister-elect arrived at the Aiwan-e-Sadr (the President House) in Islamabad from his Banigala residence. His wife Bushra Imran had already arrived for the ceremony. The ceremony commenced…

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The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Wednesday took former president Asif Zardari’s close aide and Omni Group Chairman Anwar Majeed into custody outside the Supreme Court, where he and his family appeared today after repeated absences from hearings of a case pertaining to money laundering through fake bank accounts. Majeed and his family had been summoned to court on Aug 13 for the previous hearing of the case, but had not appeared before the three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar. The CJP had then rejected the Majeed…

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Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s (PTI) Asad Qaiser was sworn in as National Assembly (NA) speaker on Wednesday, beating out the candidate fielded by a fragile opposition alliance, PPP stalwart Khursheed Shah, in a secret ballot. Qaiser, the former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly speaker, received 176 votes to Shah’s 146 votes. Eight votes were rejected. Following the announcement, Sadiq administered oath to Qaiser among loud chants of vote ko izzat do by opposition lawmakers. Qaiser, after the announcement, made a round of the opposition benches and shook hands with opposition leaders seated in the front row…

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The first day of Eidul Azha will be celebrated across Pakistan on August 22, Central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee Chairman Mufti Muneebur Rehman announced on Sunday following the sighting of the Zilhaj moon. The announcement was preceded by meetings of the moon-sighting committee and other zonal committees in all provincial capitals of the country. The Islamic month of Zilhaj will commence on August 13. Meanwhile, Haj will be observed in Saudi Arabia on August 20. Muslims across the country celebrate the annual festival of Eidul Azha, or the Festival of Sacrifice, which…

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At least three policemen were martyred and two others sustained injuries when unidentified gunmen opened fire on a police checkpost in Kargah Nala area of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) early on Saturday, police said. Five or six militants attacked the Kargah Police Checkpost in Joot area, some 40 kilometres from Gilgit, at around 5am, superintendent of police (SP) Gilgit Tanvirul Hassan told DawnNewsTV. Twelve police personnel were present at the checkpost at the time of the attack. Three foot constables (FC), namely Nawaz, Fazal and Wakeel were martyred in the firing. FC Zeshan…

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ISLAMABAD: The caretaker government has ordered prison authorities to shift former premier Nawaz Sharif to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) after his health deteriorated on Sunday, interim information minister said. Doctors conducted a check-up of the former premier after he complained of chest pain and advised that he be shifted to a coronary care unit (CCU) immediately, sources said. Following this, the jail superintendent contacted the additional chief secretary. “In light of the additional chief secretary’s report, the caretaker government decided to shift Nawaz to PIMS,” sources in the…

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Unofficial and unconfirmed results of a large number of provincial assembly seats have been received as more are pouring in. Chief Election Commissioner Muhammad Raza Khan congratulated the people of Pakistan for participating in a “democratic polling process”, and expressed gratitude for the polling staff across the country as well as the security personnel deployed on Wednesday. Unofficial results of provincial assembly seats are as follows: Punjab PP-200 (Multan-VII) Winner: Riaz Ahmed, PML-N (43694 votes) Runner-up: Waheed Asghar, PTI (39315 votes) PP-201 (Sahiwal) Winner: Murtaza Iqbal, PTI  (44221 votes) Runner-up:…

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The battle is set to come down to three parties: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI). While polling stations officially opened for voting at 8am, enthusiastic citizens queued up outside their respective stations as early as 7am. PML-N Chief Shahbaz Sharif was among the first people to cast his vote, according to DawnNewsTV. Speaking to the media outside the polling station in Model Town, Lahore, he requested that people come out and vote for PML-N. July 25 was earlier declared a public holiday by the ECP, as an effort…

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ISLAMABAD: Firefighters are working to extinguish a fire which engulfed Sasta Bazaar in Sector H-9 in the federal capital on Wednesday. Over 100 stalls have been gutted in the raging fire till now. It is feared that the fire will not be doused easily as the market contains garments and other goods that easily catch fire. Over 20 fire tenders are dousing the flames. Capital Development Authority (CDA), Bahria Town and Rescue 1122 are also engaged in rescue efforts. Meanwhile, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said that Pakistan Navy’s tankers and…

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Caretaker Prime Minister Nasirul Mulk on Sunday visited slain Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) leader Nawab Siraj Raisani’s family to condole his death in a suicide attack targeting an election gathering in Mastung on Friday. The prime minister, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party Chairman Mahmood Khan Achakzai and Balochistan interim Chief Minister Alauddin Marri all gathered at Sarwan House to offer fateha for Raisani and the others who lost their lives in the Mastung attack. On Saturday, the federal government declared Sunday a day of national mourning over the recent terrorist attacks…

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The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa leg of PPP’s election campaign suffered a major blow on Saturday when the party was forced to scrap its planned rallies in Peshawar and Malakand due to the mounting security threats in the aftermath of the recent wave of terrorist attacks, DawnNewsTV reported. With its chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in KP on a two-day visit, the PPP had planned to stage public gatherings in Peshawar but especially Malakand — a district it has historically done well in and whose NA-9 constituency he will be contesting the July 25 polls too. Bilawal was scheduled…

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