LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Asim Munir on Saturday inaugurated an ambitious agriculture initiative to irrigate barren land in Punjab’s Cholistan area. Under the initiative, farmers would be provided with high-quality seeds, fertilisers, modern machinery and scientific support to increase the yield of their crops, says a press release issued by …
ISLAMABAD: The lower house of the parliament on Tuesday passed the Members of Parliament Salaries and Allowances (Amendment) Bill 2025 — already approved by the Senate — with a majority vote, increasing the salary of the parliament members. Brushing aside criticism over a proposed increase in their salaries, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif approved a major raise for parliamentarians last month. …
ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office (FO) on Thursday said that Pakistani forces conduct “operations in border areas to protect the people of Pakistan from terrorist groups”, a day after the Taliban administration accused the country of carrying out an airstrike on its territory. Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have been strained due to frequent border skirmishes and Islamabad repeatedly demanding Kabul …
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court constitutional bench on Friday took up a 2016 suo motu case related to the issuance of arrest warrants by former federal ombudsperson Yasmin Abbasi against Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, who was the senior puisine judge of the Lahore High Court at the time. Headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan, the six-judge bench intends to determine whether …
ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office (FO) on Thursday dismissed reports of Beijing pushing Islamabad to join security efforts in Pakistan, terming them as “speculations […] motivated by an agenda to create confusion”. The statement by Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch comes amid heightened security concerns, with China’s envoy recently expressing frustration over the attacks, which Baloch said were “perplexing” remarks. …
Chinese President Xi Jinping will travel to Lima from November 13 to 17 to attend the 31st APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting and will pay a state visit to Peru at the invitation of Peruvian President Dina Ercilia Boluarte Zegarra, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying announced on Friday. President Xi will then travel to Rio de Janeiro from November 17 to …
QUETTA: Nine people, including five children, were killed in Mastung district on Friday while 29 were injured in a bomb blast, drawing condemnation from Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti who lamented that terrorists had now started targeting innocent children along with poor labourers. State broadcaster PTV News quoted Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif as saying that the explosion occurred at a …
LAHORE: Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) Ishaq Dar on Tuesday said that no conclusive decision was taken yet on the government’s recent move to ban the PTI and such a step would only be decided by the leadership and its allies. In its latest attempt to suppress the PTI, the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif-led federal government on Monday announced that it had decided …
ISLAMABAD: The opposition and treasury benches on Monday locked horns over the plan to launch a fresh military operation, with Leader of the Opposition Syed Shibli Faraz voicing concern over the Azm-i-Istehkam operation and saying the word Istehkam (stability) has political connotations. Mr Faraz was of the view that stability would remain a pipe dream sans supremacy of the Constitution, rule of …
ISLAMABAD: Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar on Thursday said that the federal government would place a letter from six judges of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) alleging interference in judicial affairs by the country’s intelligence apparatus for consideration before the federal cabinet to constitute an inquiry commission. Tarar was addressing a press conference in Islamabad following a meeting today between …