KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Wednesday announced that Saudi Arabia had extended the term for a deposit of $3 billion to Pakistan for one more year. “The Saudi Fund for Development (SFD), on behalf of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, has extended the term for the deposit of $3bn, maturing on December 5, for another year,” the …
ISLAMABAD: A sessions court rejected on Wednesday former prime minister Imran Khan’s request for acquittal in the intimidation of a female judge case. Civil judge Muhammad Mureed Abbas’s ruling came as he presided over the case’s hearing, in which prosecutor Rizwan Abbasi completed his arguments. At the last hearing, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief’s lawyer, Salman Safdar, had completed his arguments. …
ISLAMABAD: In a massive relief for the PML-N, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday acquitted former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in the Avenfield reference. The verdict was announced by a two-member bench comprising IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb on Nawaz’s appeal against his conviction in the case. In July 2018, an accountability court had …
ISLAMABAD: In 2024, countries with more than half the world’s population—over four billion people—will send their citizens to the polls. But many elections are not fully free and fair. Some of these will have no meaningful influence on governments. Economist Intelligence Unit grades countries out of ten according to the state of their democracy and categorizes them from authoritarian regimes to …
KARACHI: The benchmark index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) continued its record-breaking rally and crossed the 61,000 milestone on Wednesday. According to the PSX website, the KSE-100 index struck 61,412.41 points at 10am, up 682.15 or 1.12 per cent from the previous close of 60,730.26. According to analysts, the rally in stock prices witnessed since the beginning of 2023-24 …
ISLAMABAD: In a first, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) has formally inaugurated a mediation centre — a forum for Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) — that would not only reduce the backlog of 18,500 cases in the IHC and over 52,000 cases in the district courts but also provide swift and inexpensive justice to litigants. The inaugural ceremony was held at …
LAHORE: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has intensified its election groundwork nationwide, opting to entrust election campaigning responsibilities to the youth and minority communities, as announced by the party’s leadership. PML-N Senior Vice President and Chief Organiser Maryam Nawaz has directed the Muslim Students Federation (MSF) and Minority Wing of her party to intensify the campaign nationwide for the upcoming …
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court has scheduled PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif’s appeal against his conviction in the Avenfield Apartments and Al-Azizia Steel Mills corruption cases as well as those filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for hearing on Wednesday (today). An IHC division bench comprising Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb will hear them. In July …
ISLAMABAD: In a rather surprising development, former prime minister Imran Khan on Tuesday picked Barrister Gohar Khan as his candidate for the post of chairman in the intra-party polls – a role he has held since the party’s formation over two decades ago. The announcement came late in the day after much confusion and a sense of conflict creeping into …
BEIJING: In August, amid heavy rains, I traveled to the residence of Leena-Kaisa Mikkola, the Finnish Ambassador to China, for an interview. Recent downpours across China have heightened public attention on climate change, underlining the relevance of our discussion that day. Upon entering, I was immediately drawn to a photo of the ambassador’s sons playing in a vast field, illustrating …