Category: Featured

IMF cuts power subsidies to Rs893b

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ISLAMABAD: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has slashed Pakistan’s power subsidies by Rs143 billion and set a strict target of limiting the flow of circular debt to Rs400 billion this year, the renewed goals that will require improving poor performance rather than continued reliance on taxpayers’ money. However, contrary to the IMF’s new target of adding only Rs400 billion to the circular debt flow, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet approved a higher flow target of Rs522 billion for the current fiscal year. The ECC approved the target…

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Army focused on hostile hybrid campaigns: CDF

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RAWALPINDI: Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) and Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) Field Marshal General Syed Asim Munir on Saturday said “Pakistan Army remains fully focused on both internal and external challenges, including hostile hybrid campaigns, extremist ideologies, and divisive elements seeking to undermine national stability”. According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the CDF made the remarks while visiting the Gujranwala and Sialkot garrisons, where he was “briefed on the formation’s operational readiness and key initiatives for strengthening combat preparedness”. The field marshal witnessed field training exercise and…

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Norway defends envoy’s presence at SC hearing

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Norway has defended the presence of its ambassador at a Supreme Court hearing in Islamabad as perfectly “in line with international law”, days after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a demarche to the envoy of the Scandinavian country. The case pertains to the hearing of the husband-and-wife lawyer duo, Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and Hadi Ali Chattha. Norwegian Ambassador Per Albert Ilsaas attended the case proceedings on Thursday, causing a stir in court and on social media. The Foreign Office had summoned the Norwegian envoy and urged him to “adhere…

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Judge likely to appear before IHC

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ISLAMABAD: At the upcoming hearing of a petition accusing Islamabad High Court (IHC) judge Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri of holding an invalid law degree, the judge is likely to appear in person before a division bench that on Tuesday sought a reply from him. According to source, Justice Jahangiri will come to the IHC’s Courtroom-1 where Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar and Justice Muhammad Azam Khan will resume proceedings on Mian Dawood Advocate’s quo warranto petition tomorrow (Monday). Last week, on December 9, the bench had declared the petition maintainable.…

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Govt-backed group cements its hold on PBC

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ISLAMABAD: The federal government-backed Independent Group has consolidated its influence within the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC), securing a majority in the apex regulatory body of lawyers for the next five years in an election that carries far-reaching institutional and political implications. Led by Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar and Ahsan Bhoon, Independent Group is a vocal supporter of the 26th and 27th constitutional amendments. Its dominance is also being viewed as a shot in the arm for the nascent Federal Constitutional Court, which is navigating an early phase marked by…

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RT India retracts post on Shehbaz-Putin meeting

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RT India has taken down a social media post that claimed that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was “waiting to meet” Russian President Vladimir Putin, conceding that the claim “may have been a misrepresentation of events”. In a clarification issued late on Friday night, the outlet said: “We deleted an earlier post about Pakistani Prime Minister Sharif waiting to meet Vladimir Putin at the Peace and Trust forum in Turkmenistan. The post may have been a misrepresentation of the events.” According to Indian media reports, the original RT India post had…

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Russia sentences ICC judges

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MOSCOW: Russia on Friday sentenced top International Criminal Court (ICC) judges and its chief prosecutor to jail terms, in a retaliatory move after the court issued an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin over the Ukraine war. In 2023, prosecutor Karim Khan charged Putin with illegally deporting children from Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine. Moscow responded by opening a case against him. The Moscow city court found that “ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan unlawfully prosecuted Russian citizens in The Hague” and that the ICC “instructed the judges of the chamber to issue…

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Turkmen president hints at reforms

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ASHGABAT: Turkmenistan’s president hinted at possible political reforms on Friday ahead of a rare international meeting he is hosting with the attendance of counterparts from Russia, Turkey, Iran and elsewhere. President Serdar Berdymukhamedov, whom critics say presides over an autocratic and opaque system, made the comments in state newspaper Turkmenistan Today in honour of the 30th anniversary of the former Soviet nation’s declaration of neutrality. “We are carrying out extensive work aimed at transforming our neutral country into a powerful, democratic, and rule-of-law state where citizens live happy lives,” Berdymukhamedov…

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Government plans to raise petroleum levy to Rs85 per litre to settle Rs1.7tr gas debt

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ISLAMABAD: The government is planning to increase the petroleum levy to Rs85 per litre to raise an additional Rs540 billion, use dividends of the state-owned companies (SOEs) and savings from diversion of imported cargoes to settle Rs1.7 trillion worth of gas sector circular debt. The plan, which has been discussed in depth at the level of the Minister for Finance Muhammad Aurangzeb this week, involves imposing an additional Rs5 per litre petroleum levy on petrol and high-speed diesel to raise money through 2031 to retire the debt, according to government…

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