KARACHI: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has issued a show cause notice to K-Electric (KE) after the power distribution company failed to submit a satisfactory reply over discriminatory policies over loadshedding in Karachi. Nepra had earlier taken seriousnoticeof alleged excessive and persistent loadshedding during summers, and directed KE to end consumers’ miseries. In a letter to the KE …

QUETTA: Six people were killed and seven were injured after a passenger bus caught fire after colliding with a loader rickshaw carrying petrol on the Western Bypass in Quetta, police said on Monday. Fatal road accidents on highwaysoccur frequentlyin Pakistan, mainly due to overspeeding, hazardous overtaking and disregard for traffic rules. According to Shalkot Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Athar …

ISLAMABAD: PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Monday vociferously condemned the USstrikeson Iran’s nuclear sites, noting that the Israeli government was forcing the American public into a war that the people do not support. “This is done through the same lie that was peddled to the American public before the Iraq war in 2003. Now it has been claimed that Iran …

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Min­ister Ali Amin Gandapur on Monday accused the Centre of conspiring aga­inst the provincial admin­istration, asserting that they would not be allowed to topple the KP government. Speaking during abudgetsession of the KP Assembly, chaired by Speaker Babar Saleem Swati, CM Gandapur alleged that the Centre was deliberately trying to delay the KP budget in an …

MUZAFFARABAD: The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly met on Monday to discuss the approved budget estimates for the upcoming fiscal year and revised figures for the current year, triggering a sharp debate over the legality of holding such discussions after formal passage of thebudget. The session was marked by the absence of opposition lawmakers. A three-member ministerial committee …

LAHORE: Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan on Monday declared as unlawful the carrying of placards inscribed with slogans or protest by members in the House. When the House resumed discussion on theBudget 2025-26, opposition PTI lawmakers entered there, raising slogans. Speaker Khan, who was chairing the proceedings, said he was giving a ruling on the protest in the …

ISLAMABAD: Speakers from various labour unions, advocacy groups, and policy think-tank expressed concern over the continued marginalisation of Pakistan’s 76 million-strong labour force inBudget 2025-26, calling for urgent reforms and a unified national strategy to secure their rights. The speakers, gathered at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) seminar criticised the budget for ignoring labour rights. Editor Publications at SDPI …

LAHORE: Incarcerated PTI leaders have said that Defence Minister Khawaja Asif’s calling the current dispensation a “hybrid model” speaks volumes about the “sham democracy” in Pakistan. “Khawaja Asif’s statement about the hybrid regime is a slur on democracy,” said a joint letter written by former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, former Punjab ministers Dr Yasmin Rashid and Mian Mahmoodur Rasheed, …

ISLAMABAD: The Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Associations (FAPUASA) and All Government Employees Grand Alliance (AGEGA) on Monday strongly condemned the federal government’s proposal to abolish the25pc tax rebatefor teachers and researchers, calling it “a deliberate and destructive blow to Pakistan’s higher education and research system”. Addressing a joint press conference at the National Press Club, FAPUASA President …

UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan joined China and Russia in circulating a draft resolution at the UN Security Council demanding an immediate ceasefire, the protection of civilians and a return to diplomacy following US airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities. The strikes, which targeted Iran’s Fordow — where uranium is enriched to 60 per cent — and two other facilities have been described …