ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday reaffirming his commitment to gender equality said women’s empowerment could only be achieved by providing them an equal access to education, skill development and employment opportunities. “It’s our mission and an unwavering commitment to ensure emancipation of the country’s female population,” he said in his address here at an event of International Women’s …
ISLAMABAD: China has extended the repayment period of a $2 billion loan to Pakistan by one year, offering crucial financial relief to the country, the finance ministry confirmed on Saturday. The loan was originally due for repayment on March 24, but China has agreed to defer it to support Pakistan’s economic stability and recovery efforts, the ministry said in a …
ISLAMABAD: Senate Chairman Yousuf Raza Gilani on Saturday expressed his displeasure as only PTI Senator Aon Abbas Bappi was presented in the parliament, despite him also issuing production orders for incarcerated PTI Senator Ejaz Chaudhry, and referred the matter to the Privileges Committee. Chairman Gilani had issued production orders for senators Bappi and Chaudhry yesterday, instructing authorities to ensure their …
ISLAMABAD: As part of the government’s plan to repatriate all illegal foreigners, March 31 has been officially set as the deadline for Afghan Citizen Card (ACCs) holders to leave Pakistan voluntarily, with a renewed warning by the interior ministry that mass deportations would commence afterwards. A leaked document indicated ACCs staying in Islamabad and Rawalpindi would be moved out and …
ISLAMABAD: The federal government on Friday assigned portfolios to the cabinet inductees sworn in at the end of February while also reassigning the portfolios of serving federal ministers, according to notifications issued by the Cabinet Division. In an expansion on February 27, 12 federal ministers and nine ministers of state were sworn in by President Asif Ali Zardari. In addition, …
KARACHI: A federal anti-corruption court in Karachi acquitted Senate Chairman Yousaf Raza Gilani in three cases pertaining to the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) on Friday. Gilani and around 25 others were indicted in around two dozen identical cases over the multi-billion rupee trade subsidy scam on March 29, 2018. All the accused pleaded not guilty to the charges …
ISLAMABAD: The government has sought more time from the Supreme Court to ratify a mutual legal assistance agreement with Kenya in journalist Arshad Sharif’s murder case as the constitutional bench took up the hearing on Friday. Sharif was shot in the head when Kenyan police opened fire on his car in October 2022. He had left Pakistan in August 2022 …
ISLAMABAD: Two judges of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), Justice Babar Sattar and Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz, have separately expressed concerns over a recent practice of demanding gratuity by the court staff and changes to the rules that stripped the senior puisne judge of their powers. In a letter issued to the secretaries of the acting chief justice and all …
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) stated before the Constitutional Bench (CB) on Thursday that the provisions of the Pakistan Army Act (PAA) 1952 being deliberated upon today had already been upheld by earlier courts which found them to be within the framework of the Constitution and therefore cannot now be termed unconstitutional or illegal. At the same time, …
ISLAMABAD: After a strong protest by the opposition, the Senate was informed on Thursday that PTI lawmaker Aon Abbas Bappi had been arrested on charges of illegally poaching Chinkara deer in Cholistan. The issue of Mr Bappi’s arrest and alleged manhandling was raised by Leader of the Opposition Syed Shibli Faraz, who termed the move part of “fascist” steps being …