Category: FEATURED

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Tuesday announced the men’s squad for the upcoming tour of New Zealand – Salman Ali Agha will be captaining the T20 International team while One Day International (ODI) captain, Mohammad Rizwan, will continue to lead the team in that format. However, a notable change in the T20 team is the exclusion of the country’s star batter Babar Azam and wicketkeeper Rizwan. Pakistan will play five T20s and three ODIs during the tour. The team announcement comes amid widespread criticism of the national team’s poor performance in the…

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LAKKI MARWAT / NORTH WAZIRISTAN: Three policemen and a soldier were martyred and six wounded in Karak and North Waziristan over the past two days. On Wednesday night, terrorists attacked a police post in Bahadarkhel area of Karak, a police official confirmed, adding that the assailants used light and heavy weapons during the attack. He added that cops were deployed at the post loca­ted in the mountainous area on the Bannu-Hangu border. They “responded effectively and engaged the militants for two hours”. According to the official, the assailants atta­cked from…

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ISLAMABAD: In order to address climate change and mobilise finance, experts have called for reforms in the public and private sectors to rake in much-needed funds req­uired to address climate change, particularly adaptation. On the first day of DawnMedia’s Breathe Pakistan International Climate Change Confe­rence, World Bank Global Director for Climate Change Valerie Hickey underscored the need for the removal of superfluous subsidies through policy reforms, such as mobilising domestic finance through taxes and expenditure. “…the mother of all policy reforms that will mobilise climate finance for which plumbing is absolutely critical is…

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ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has devised a new strategy to ‘register’ Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) after its previous efforts to ensure compliance failed to yield the desired results. The regulator has decided to introduce a new licensing category under which companies can apply for permits to provide VPN services. The move would eventually address the problem of what officials call unregistered VPNs, as all but those proxies provided by licensed companies would be dee­med unregistered and blocked. With licensed service providers, authorities would be able to monitor the VPN traffic, as anonymity…

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KURRAM / PESHAWAR: At least 39 people, including seven women and a nine-year-old girl, were killed and 28 others injured when a convoy of passenger vehicles was ambushed in Lower Kurram on Thursday, officials confirmed, fearing that the death toll may rise further. The attack occurred in the Mandori Charkhel area, a region with a history of sectarian tensions and land disputes. Deputy Commissioner Javedullah Mehsood said the convoy, consisting of some 200 vehicles, was on its way from Parachinar to Peshawar when it came under heavy gunfire. Twelve injured passengers,…

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GUJRAT: After PML-N launched its election campaign from Okara earlier this week, party supreme leader Nawaz Sharif made his first appearance on the campaign trail on Thursday, vowing to make Pakistan “stand on its feet again”. Addressing a public gathering in Hafizabad — where he arrived in a helicopter from Lahore — organised at the sports stadium, the former prime minister said it was his mission to revive the economy and end unemployment. “Had I not been removed, not one person in Hafizabad would have been unemployed,” he said. “If I was…

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ISLAMABAD: The Islam­abad High Court (IHC) on Thursday again scrapped the cipher trial proceedings by setting aside the special court’s Dec 14 order sanctioning in-camera hearings. IHC Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb also declared the testimonies of nine witnesses recorded before the special court illegal. The IHC was addressing an appeal challenging Special Court Judge Abual Hasnat Mohammad Zulqarnain’s Dec 14 decision, which had sanctioned a closed-door trial for former prime minister Imran Khan at the prosecution’s request. This directive also involved orders to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority and the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority to…

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ISLAMABAD: Amid the ongoing judiciary-executive tussle on the issue of Punjab polls and demands from ruling coalition lawmakers, National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf on Wednesday wrote a letter to Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, conveying “profound concerns” of the elected representatives over recent Supreme Court orders and some comments by judges, terming them an “encroachment” on parliament’s domain. Through the five-page letter, released to the media by Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, the speaker asked the apex court to “as far as possible, avoid getting involved in the political…

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ISLAMABAD: An eight-judge Supreme Court bench, headed by the chief justice, will take up a set of three petitions challenging a pending legislation meant to clip CJP powers, on Thursday. However, the legal fraternity has opposed the apex court’s move to take up the petitions against an as yet proposed law, and the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) has called on lawyers across the country to boycott courts on Thursday (today) to protest the formation of a “one-sided and controversial bench” to take up the issue “prematurely”. In addition to CJP, the bench…

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ISLAMABAD/LAHORE: Annoyed by their persistent absence, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday issued bailable arrest warrants for PTI Chairman Imran Khan and senior party leader Fawad Chaudhry in a case pertaining to contempt of the ECP and chief election commissioner (CEC). Separately, Lahore police registered another case against senior PTI leaders for delivering incendiary speeches and accusing the state of hatching conspiracy to assassinate Imran Khan. A four-member ECP bench headed by member from Sindh Nisar Durrani noted that the former prime minister was not appearing before the…

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ISLAMABAD: In a split verdict on Wednesday, the Supreme Court directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to consult with President Arif Alvi for polls in Punjab and Governor Ghulam Ali for elections in KP, so that elections could be held within the stipulated timeframe of 90 days. The verdict of three to two cautioned Governor Ali that he was in breach of his constitutional responsibility since he did not announce the date for elections after the provincial assembly was disbanded. As it set aside the Feb 20 decision of…

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LAHORE / ISLAMABAD: As he finally appeared before a two-member bench after a day-long drama and multiple sessions of the court, the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday granted interim protective bail to PTI Chairman Imran Khan till March 3 in a case pertaining to an ‘attack’ on the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) building. After an ultimatum by the high court to appear before the bench by 5pm, the PTI chairman left his Zaman Park residence and took at least one hour to reach LHC. Accompanied by hundreds of supporters gathered…

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KARACHI: Citizens continued to complain of the unavailability of fuel at pumps across the country on Wednesday, even as a cabinet minister warned hoarders of “dire consequences”, and the regulator sought strict action against such practices, Dawn.com reported. The fuel situation is particularly troubling in some major cities, including Lahore, Guj­ranwala, Faisalabad, Khane­wal, Sialkot and Peshawar. Citizens took to social media to complain about petrol pumps that have either meagre or no supply of petrol for the last several days, allegedly due to a supply squeeze from oil marketing companies…

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PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) police chief Moazzam Jah Ansari on Thursday vowed to avenge the death of more than a hundred people in the Police Lines bombing, saying that law enforcement agencies were closing in on the militant network behind the attack. Speaking at a press briefing here to share developments from the probe into the suicide bombing that ripped through a mosque located within the police compound on Monday, he said that the bomber — clad in police uniform — had been identified. At least 101 people, including one…

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LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chair­man Imran Khan on Monday expressed distrust in his ally Punjab Chief Minister Parvez Elahi, saying allegations of corruption worth billions against the PML-Q leader were apparently affecting his popularity. “I cannot stand such allegations against my coalition government in Punjab,” Mr Khan said in a meeting with the party’s senior leaders. The former premier asserted that all PTI legislators in the Punjab Assembly should persuade Mr Elahi to take a vote of confidence and dissolve the assembly. The remarks made by the PTI chairman prompted…

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