Category: Pakistan

LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has inaugurated a “Parwaz Card” initiative aimed at providing financial support and employment opportunities to skilled youth. Addressing graduates of technical training institutes, she said 250,000 young people had completed technical training, while over 114,000 had secured employment, including 97,000 within Pakistan and 33,000 abroad. She also launched three initiatives — Creative Hands, Rah-e-Rozgar, and a Skill Development Portal — to strengthen the province’s skills ecosystem. Under the Parwaz Card programme, the chief minister announced interest-free financial assistance of up to Rs300,000 for skilled youth,…

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HARIPUR/ISLAMABAD: Friction between the federal and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa governments over the Tirah Valley situation continued unabated on Wednesday as the former maintained that no operation was being carried out while Chief Minister Sohail Afridi stuck by his claims. Thousands of families remain displaced from Tirah Valley in Khyber district as the K-P government oversees their relocation amid worsening security and heavy snowfall. According to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority, the evacuation began on January 10. So far, 11,400 families have been registered, with more than 10,000 relocated to safer areas, including…

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ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday emphasised that the government was taking practical steps through a comprehensive strategy and an effective team to completely eliminate polio disease from Pakistan at the earliest. He was talking to Global Development Gates Foundation President Dr Chris Elias who along with his delegation called on him at the PM House. The prime minister expressed the government’ resolve that Pakistan will continue its efforts, with the support of trusted partners like the Gates Foundation, until the complete eradication of polio from the country. “The…

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ABBOTTABAD: The Peshawar High Court (PHC)’s Abbottabad Bench on Tuesday set aside an order of the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC), Hazara Division, which had refused further police remand of the accused in the murder case of Dr Wardah Mushtaq, holding that the trial court failed to apply the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 correctly. The judgment was delivered on January 26, 2026, by Justice Aurangzeb, who allowed a criminal revision petition filed by the State against the ATC’s earlier orders. The case arises from FIR No 1265, dated December 5, 2025, registered at…

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IBA’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Centre (IBA-ADRIC) successfully conducted an International Mediators’ Training Programme from January 19 to 23, 2026, at the Islamabad High Court Bar Association (IHCBA), Islamabad. The five-day intensive programme was organised in collaboration with the Islamabad High Court Bar Association and the Judiciary of Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK), and conducted in partnership with Essential Mediation Solutions (EMS), United Kingdom. It brought together a diverse cohort of judges, lawyers, business professionals, government officials, and students, marking the largest mediation training cohort in Pakistan to date. The training…

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ISLAMABAD: The Embassy of Japan in Pakistan, in collaboration with The Japan Foundation, hosted a successful screening of the 2022 Japanese (sub-titled in English) comedy/science fiction film ‘Mondays: See You ‘This’ Week!’ at the Embassy premises. The film follows employees at a small advertising agency trapped in a repeating work week, delivering clever wit and a relatable take on breaking free from life’s “daily loop.”

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Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal said on Wednesday that Pakistan’s mineral exports could reach between $6 billion and $8 billion annually within this decade if the country focuses on value addition rather than raw extraction. Addressing the Pak-China Mineral Cooperation Forum in Islamabad, Iqbal said Pakistan aims to move “decisively beyond extraction” by developing mineral processing plants, smelters and refining facilities. He said the country also wants to establish mineral-based industrial clusters linked with Special Economic Zones, according to Radio Pakistan. The minister said transforming Pakistan’s mineral economy…

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ISLAMABAD: The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) has given the first big relief to the federal government by upholding Section 4(b) and 4(c) of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 which is estimated to add Rs310 billion in public revenue. A three-member FCC bench led by Chief Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan has issued a short order after 17 hearings in the super tax case. Earlier, the Supreme Court’s Constitutional Bench led by Justice Khan had conducted more than 50 hearings. Later the matter was transferred to the FSC after the new court was…

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ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court’s Justice Muhammad Hashim Khan Kakar has remarked that civil servants are not bound to follow illegal orders even if they come from the prime minister. Justice Kakar made this remark on Tuesday while heading a three-member bench hearing the review petition filed by former minister for petroleum and natural resources Anwar Saifullah Khan in the Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) illegal recruitments case. Anwar was convicted by a trial court, an order that the Lahore High Court (LHC) set aside in 2002. However, the SC…

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ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday said the government was pursuing a comprehensive strategy, backed by an effective team, to eradicate polio from the country at the earliest. He made the remarks during a meeting with Dr Chris Elias, president for global development at the Gates Foundation, who called on him at the Prime Minister’s House along with a delegation. “Pakistan would continue its efforts, with the support of trusted partners such as the Gates Foundation, until the disease is completely eradicated from the country,” the prime minister said.…

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