ISLAMABAD: Justice Athar Minallah has asked the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to satisfy the Supreme Court that the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) was excluded from the electoral process legitimately, thereby forfeiting its claim to reserved seats. As a member of the full-court bench of the Supreme Court hearing the Sunni Ittehad Council’s (SIC) appeal against the denial of reserved seats for women and minorities, …
China on Friday hosted an international conference in Beijing to mark the 70th anniversary of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence with experts applauding the spirit and value of these propositions amid a turbulent world. The five principles include mutual respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty, non-aggression, non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful co-existence. …
LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has directed the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to issue instructions to all civil and military agencies, including the Intelligence Bureau and Inter-Services Intelligence, against contacting or approaching “any judge” or member of their staff. Justice Shahid Karim issued the directions in a written order — which emerged on Saturday — on a complaint filed …
LAHORE: Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan barred 11 opposition members from attending the next 15 sittings of the house for resorting to “rowdyism” during the speech of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz in the house on Friday. An annoyed speaker also put off the discussion on supplementary budget for Saturday, contrary to the agreed schedule. The suspended MPAs belonging …
ISLAMABAD: The government has extended exemptions in specific sectors while announcing new tax measures in several areas to generate additional revenue in the coming fiscal year to meet the International Monetary Fund’s criteria. Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb announced the new measures in the National Assembly on Friday. These include introducing a capital value tax on property in Islamabad and implementing new tax measures on …
WASHINGTON: Pakistan’s envoy to the US, Masood Khan, has urged Washington to provide small arms and modern equipment to the country to ensure the success of Operation Azm-i-Istehkam, a newly approved counter-terrorism initiative. The federal government recently greenlit the reinvigorated national counter-terrorism drive, however, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif clarified that this initiative would not be a large-scale military operation and would …
ISLAMABAD: A day after Omar Ayub Khan stepped down as PTI’s secretary general, the party’s top leaders reposed confidence in him and urged him to continue in the role. A meeting of PTI’s parliamentary party on Friday “unanimously” expressed confidence in Mr Ayub, who is also the opposition leader in National Assembly. “The parliamentary party unanimously resolves that his resignation may not …
ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office on Friday announced the appointment of Rizwan Saeed Sheikh as the new ambassador to the United States and Asim Iftikhar as Pakistan’s additional permanent representative to the United Nations in New York. “The Government of Pakistan has decided to appoint Additional Foreign Secretary (Middle East and SIFC) Ambassador Rizwan Saeed Sheikh as Pakistan’s new ambassador to …
ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly on Friday passed a resolution with a majority vote terming the June 25 resolution adopted by the US House of Representatives — seeking probe into the alleged irregularities in the Feb 8 elections — “an interference” in Pakistan’s internal affairs amid noisy protest by the opposition PTI members who voted against it. After passage of the resolution, the treasury …
BEIJING: The Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence were proposed 70 years ago. Having emerged in a complex historical context, the five principles have been gradually accepted by countries worldwide and become fundamental norms for maintaining international peace and security and promoting friendly relations among nations. At a commemorative conference marking 70 years of the principles, held by China on Friday, …