ISLAMABAD/BEIJING: In a historic first, a Pakistani satellite will orbit the moon as part of China’s Chang’e-6 lunar mission, which was launched from Hainan, China, on Friday. The mission, which aims to explore the moon’s “dark side”, will employ lunar research payloads from multiple countries, including Pakistan’s iCube Qamar satellite. The Institute of Space Technology (IST) on Tuesday said Pakistan’s “historic” …
ISLAMABAD: Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) Justice Babar Sattar on Friday dismissed a plea filed by the Intelligence Bureau (IB) in which it sought to withdraw its petition seeking the judge’s recusal from a case pertaining to audio leaks. During today’s hearing, it also emerged that the IHC had dismissed the IB’s plea seeking the judge’s recusal at the last hearing on April 29. …
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has formed a cabinet committee to ascertain the reasons for the import of the commodity during the last caretaker government. According to the Prime Minister’s Office, the PM presided over a high-level meeting on wheat on Thursday and expressed gratitude to Allah Almighty for bestowing the country with a bumper wheat crop this year. “No …
KARACHI: JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman made bold accusations on Thursday, claiming that apart from domestic reasons, external influences also played a significant role in the Feb 8 election results, alleging that his party was denied its true mandate by the establishment as the United States was angry over his engagements with Palestinian group Hamas and the Afghan Taliban. Mr …
KARACHI: The appointment of Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar as deputy prime minister has been challenged in the Sindh High Court for being “unconstitutional”. The petition, filed on Thursday by Advocate Tariq Mansoor, a regular litigant, pleaded that the appointment was unconstitutional and unlawful since there was no provision in the Constitution for the position of deputy prime minister. The petition has been …
ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar on Thursday said the government was focusing on forming a separate authority to safeguard the digital rights of people and counter propaganda and rumours on social media. Speaking at a press conference, the minister said a campaign by a section of media, intelligentsia and academia regarding online harassment and fake news was …
ISLAMABAD: The PTI has demanded the formation of a judicial commission to probe alleged irregularities in the general elections and recommend electoral reforms to ensure transparency, level playing field, and meritocracy in the electoral system to minimise opportunities for manipulation. In a ‘white paper’ issued by the leaders of the former ruling party at a press conference on Thursday, the …
ISLAMABAD: In a dramatic development, Secretary of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), Dr Syed Asif Hussain, has resigned over ‘poor health condition’ months after his appointment and his predecessor Omar Hamid Khan, who resigned weeks before general polls on similar grounds, has been re-employed on a two-year contract. “Consequent upon the resignation tendered by Dr Syed Asif Hussain, Secretary, Election Commission …
PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur on Thursday said his government wasn’t calling the provincial assembly’s sitting due to the issue surrounding the seats reserved for women and non-Muslims in the house. “We have planned legislation for good governance and professional merit, but that will happen only after the issue of reserved seats is sorted out,” Mr Gandapur told …
LAHORE: Both Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) and the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on Thursday lashed out at the Punjab government for not purchasing wheat from farmers, with the former warning it of an agitation if the decision regarding the non-procurement of grain is not revoked within four days. Speaking at a press conference at Mansoora on Thursday, JI Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman warned …