ISLAMABAD: Only 23,620 pilgrims will be allowed to perform Haj under the private Haj scheme, according to a notification issued by the religious affairs ministry on Thursday. Haj, one of the fundamental pillars of Islam, is performed each year by millions of Muslims worldwide. Pakistan receives one of the highest Haj quotas from Saudi Arabia. In January, Pakistan and Saudi …
ISLAMABAD: The government will publish an advertisement next week to attract new bidders for the privatisation of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), the privatisation ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. The government’s failed first attempt to privatise PIA cost the national exchequer $4.3 million, the National Assembly Standing Committee on Privatisation was informed on February 26. Last month, Privatisation and …
RAWALPINDI: A soldier was martyred in an operation which left four terrorists dead in Kyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail Khan district, the military’s media wing said in a statement on Thursday. Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in terror activities, especially in KP and Balochistan, after the proscribed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) ended its ceasefire with the government in November 2022. According to …
RAWALPINDI: The bodies of the eight nationals killed in Sistan-Baluchestan province of Iran were repatriated to Pakistan on Thursday, the military’s media wing said in a statement. Pakistan on Sunday sought Iran’s “full cooperation” in investigating the “inhumane and cowardly” killing of eight of its nationals, the Foreign Office said. A spokesperson for the banned outfit, the Balochistan National Army …
ISLAMABAD: The National Emergencies Operation Centre (NEOC) on Thursday forecasted that heavy rainfall, strong windstorms, thunderstorms, and isolated hailstorms were expected on Friday and Saturday evenings in various parts of the country, including Rawalpindi and Islamabad. At least three people were killed in Rawalpindi and Gujar Khan yesterday after an intense hailstorm, accompanied by heavy rain and gusty winds, battered …
ISLAMABAD: Hungary and Pakistan agreed on Thursday to mutually lift the visa requirement for diplomatic passport-holders in each other’s countries as its foreign minister visited Islamabad. According to the Foreign Office (FO), Hungary’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó was on a one-day visit to Pakistan on the invitation of his counterpart Ishaq Dar. He is accompanied by …
QUETTA: Sardar Akhtar Mengal, chief of his faction of the Balochistan National Party (BNP-M), announced on Wednesday an end to his party’s 20-day-long sit-in at the Lakpass area of Mastung district against the arrest of Baloch activists, adding that they would launch a public outreach movement instead. The BNP-M had begun a “long march” from Wadh to Quetta on March …
KABUL: Pakistan and Afghanistan are holding key talks on security and border issues in the 7th session of the Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Coordination Committee (JCC), set to take place in Kabul, officials said on Wednesday. The meeting comes in the light of rising tensions between the two countries, with Afghan refugee deportations, skirmishes along the border, and the increased activity of …
ISLAMABAD: Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar of the Supreme Court’s constitutional bench has acknowledged the difficulty the bench faced in identifying any violation of due process in the conviction of civilians by military courts for their involvement in the arson attacks and violence on May 9, 2023. “Nothing is before the court to consider whether violation of due process of law …
LAHORE: The Punjab Police have failed at their primary duty of providing security to the international food chain businesses across the province as religious zealots attacked another international fast-food outlet franchise, this time in Sheikhupura, where they allegedly murdered its employee and vandalised the property. The unfortunate incident took place on April 14. Sheikhupura Regional Police Officer (RPO) Athar Ismail …