Category: Pakistan

President Asif Ali Zardari, who is on a four-day official visit to Iraq, visited on Monday prominent religious shrines in Baghdad and prayed for peace, unity and security of the Muslim Ummah, as Islamabad and Baghdad seek to deepen bilateral cooperation. During the visit, the president paid respects at the shrines of Hazrat Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jilani, Imam Musa al-Kazim and Imam Muhammad al-Taqi al-Jawad, where he offered nawafil, met the shrine administrators and recorded his remarks in the visitors’ books. He also visited the shrine of Imam Abu Hanifa…

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LAHORE: A court cancelled the bail of DSP Usman Haider, who is accused of killing his wife and daughter and ordered that he be taken back into custody. Following significant progress in the investigation by police, sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence) of the Pakistan Penal Code have been added to the case, police officials said. Investigators said fresh evidence had strengthened the prosecution’s case, prompting the court to revoke the accused’s bail. After the court order, DSP Usman Haider was taken into custody once again. SSP…

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ISLAMABAD: A trial court on Saturday found former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, guilty in a corruption case stemming from violations of state gift repository — Toshakhana — rules and sentenced each to 17 years in prison. The court also imposed a fine of Rs16.5 million on each of the convicted persons — a failure to pay this fine will result in an additional imprisonment of six-month each. Islamabad Senior Special Judge Central Shahrukh Arjumand unveiled the 59-page judgment in a courtroom inside Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail…

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ISLAMABAD: Although sacked judge Tariq Mahmood Jahangiri retains the right to appeal before the newly established Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) against the Islamabad High Court (IHC) order that removed him from office, the prevailing circumstances indicate that his prospects of securing substantive relief in the near future are slim. Since the passage of the 26th Constitutional Amendment in October last year, the judicial terrain has shifted fundamentally as the executive has increasingly gained the reins to assert its weight over the judiciary in multiple ways. Litigants with grievances against state…

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ISLAMABAD: As the National Finance Commission award politics heats up, the federal government on Saturday said that it has disbursed Rs7.8 trillion to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in the past 15 years, including Rs1.4 trillion over and above the NFC share. There are no outstanding liabilities of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government towards the Center and the latest tranche of Rs46.5 billion under the NFC was disbursed on December 17, said the Ministry of Finance. “The federal government releases provincial NFC shares on a fortnightly basis, and no outstanding liabilities exist in this regard,” said…

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HYDERABAD: The prolonged delay in announcing the results of Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and Senior Secondary Certificate (SSC) Part-I examinations has cost the Chairman of the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) Prof Dr Shuja Ahmed Mahesar his position. The Sindh Secretary of the Universities and Boards Department on Friday suspended Mahesar and simultaneously ordered an inquiry against him. In the meantime, Chairman BISE Sukkur Dr Zahid Ali Channar has been given the interim charge of BISE Hyderabad, with explicit instructions to ensure the pending results are announced within…

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Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar, during a meeting with Tajikistan’s Culture Minister Sattoriyon Matlubakhon Amonzoda, reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to expanding cooperation with Tajikistan in digital media. Amonzoda is in Islamabad for the two-day Pakistan-Tajik Cultural Festival at Lok Virsa from December 19 to 20. Tarar said digital media was an important tool for public engagement and cultural outreach. Both sides stressed the need to further promote cultural and media cooperation and to strengthen people-to-people exchanges between the two countries. They also agreed to work on formal cultural cooperation…

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LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday directed the Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) to submit a comprehensive policy report on the restoration and rehabilitation of parks at the next hearing while taking up petitions related to smog mitigation. Justice Shahid Karim was hearing petitions filed by citizen Haroon Farooq and others, seeking effective measures to curb air pollution in the provincial capital. During the proceedings, a member of the Judicial Commission informed the court that the EPD had launched a crackdown on heavy vehicles contributing to air pollution.

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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday accused India of deliberately manipulating river flows in violation of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), warning that New Delhi’s actions threaten regional stability, international law and the livelihoods of millions of people downstream. Addressing diplomatic corps in Islamabad, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Ishaq Dar said India’s decision earlier this year to hold the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance amounted to a “gross contravention” of international law, including the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. He said Pakistan was now witnessing “material…

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