Page 46 - Pakistan

Seven Indian fishermen died in Pakistani jails since May last year

Seven Indian fishermen have died in Pakistani jails since May last year with the latest case of death being reported three days back, authoritative sources said on Monday. The total number of Indian fishermen in Pakistan's custody is 209, they said. Out of these, 181 fishermen have already completed their six-month sentence period and their nationality has been confirmed by India, the sources said. Their repatriation to India is still awaited. Some of them have been in Pakistan's custody since 2021, they said. The consular access for 28 fishermen are still awaited from Pakistan, the sources said. The latest case of death of an Indian fisherman was reported on October 25. He has been identified as Hari, they said. No further details about him are immediately available. In September too, another Indian named Serash died of cardiac arrest at a Pakistani jail, the sources said. While Serash's mortal remains were sent to India on October 11, the body of Hari is yet to be dispatched,

Delhi's AQI woes: Why's Pakistan blamed for Delhi-NCR's pollution crisis?

Delhi's air quality remains dire, with an Air Quality Index of 328, despite ongoing pollution mitigation efforts like banning firecrackers and road watering

Pak starts new polio vaccination drive as virus detected in 16 districts

Pakistan on Monday started its third nationwide polio campaign to vaccinate 45 million children against the crippling disease as the virus was detected in the environmental samples from 16 districts. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif inaugurated the campaign during a ceremony at the Prime Minister's House on World Polio Day last week, the Dawn newspaper reported. He also administered polio drops to children there. The week-long vaccination campaign, which will run till November 3, aims to tackle the alarming spread of polio in the country, which has reported 41 cases this year. During the drive, special teams of health departments will go door to door to inoculate more than 45 million children. Children will also be given Vitamin-A supplements during the campaign for additional immunity, according to the report. The launch coincided with the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health confirming the detection of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1)

Pakistan launches vaccination drive amid rising polio cases nationwide

Pakistan began a nationwide vaccination campaign on Monday to protect 45 million children from polio after a surge in new cases that has hampered years of efforts to stop the disease in one of the two countries where it has never been eradicated. Pakistan regularly launches such campaigns, but violence targeting the health workers and police assigned to escort them is common. Militants falsely claim the vaccination campaigns are a Western conspiracy to sterilise children. The campaign is the third this year and will continue until Sunday in response to the alarming increase in polio cases, said Ayesha Raza Farooq, the prime minister's adviser for the polio eradication programme. We are re-energised in our efforts to combat polio, she said in a statement. During the door-to-door campaign, children younger than 5 will be vaccinated and given drops of Vitamin A supplements to enhance their immunity. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif recently met with front-line health workers, urging the

Pakistan seeks additional 10 billion yuan loan from China: Report

Pakistan has requested an additional 10 billion yuan (USD 1.4 billion) loan from China as the cash-strapped country has already used the existing 30 billion yuan (USD 4.3 billion) Chinese trade facility, a media report said on Sunday. Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, who met with China's Vice Minister of Finance Liao Min on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the IMF and the World Bank in Washington, requested the Chinese side to raise the limits under the currency swap agreement to 40 billion yuan, a statement issued by the Finance Ministry late on Saturday said. If Beijing accepts, the total facility will reach approximately USD 5.7 billion, The Express Tribune newspaper reported. This is not the first time Pakistan has requested an increased debt limit, however, Beijing has declined all such past requests. This latest request comes less than two weeks after China extended the current USD 4.3 billion (30 billion yuan) facility for another three years. Pakistan and China

Former Pak senator Saleh Shah's guesthouse blown-up by suspected militants

A guesthouse belonging to a former senator has been blown-up by suspected militants in Pakistan's restive northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, police said. No loss of life was reported in the incident. The guesthouse of former senator Saleh Shah, located in South Waziristan district's Tiarza tehsil, was completely levelled in the explosion late on Friday night after unidentified attackers reportedly planted explosives at his residence. I have been receiving calls for extortion from unknown people who have been threatening me and my family of dire consequences, the former lawmaker told police. No casualties have been reported so far, though the blast was powerful enough to collapse the structure entirely. Security forces cordoned off the area and initiated a search operation to apprehend the suspects. The region has witnessed periodic unrest and security forces are on high alert. Shah, who previously played a key role in mediating talks between the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)

Pakistan ranked 3rd worst country in law and order by World Justice Project

The report not only depicts the deteriorating law and order in the state but also depicts the breakdown of trust in the government, whose work is to uphold the integrity of the nation

Despicable yet predictable: India slams Pak at UN for raking Kashmir issue

Remarks came after Pakistan's representative in his remarks during the UNSC debate made references to Jammu and Kashmir

Farooq Abdullah urges Pakistan to stop violence, form friendship with India

National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Friday said attacks like the one in Gulmarg would continue to occur until India and Pakistan found a way to be friends and that would end Jammu and Kashmir's troubles. Two soldiers and two Army porters were killed on Thursday after terrorists ambushed a force vehicle near Gulmarg in north Kashmir's Baramulla district. Another soldier and a porter were injured in the attack. "Such attacks will continue to take place in this state. You know where they come from and it will not stop until some way is found to get out of this trouble. I have been witnessing it for the last 30 years, innocent people are getting killed," Abdullah told reporters. "We are not going to become a part of Pakistan. So, why are they doing this? To disrupt our future? To make us poorer?" he asked. The former chief minister of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state said rather than fomenting trouble in the Union Territory, Pakistan should look towards its own plight

Law enforcement agencies kill 10 TTP militants in Pakistan's Punjab

At least 10 militants from banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group were killed by law enforcement agencies in Punjab province of Pakistan on Thursday, police said. "A covert operation was launched in the hilly Malakhel area of Mianwali city based on intelligence reports about the presence of 10 to 15 terrorists. A fierce exchange of gunfire ensued between the police and the terrorists," a CTD spokesperson said. During the exchange, 10 terrorists were killed while all CTD and Elite Force officers and personnel remained unharmed, the spokesperson added. Punjab Inspector General of PoliceUsman Anwa praised the CTD team, the Mianwali police chief, and their forces for their significant success against the terrorists. The Punjab Police is on high alert and we will not rest until we crush the nefarious plans of these terrorists, Anwar said. The spokesperson said the terrorists were planning a large-scale sabotage in Punjab. A search operation is ongoing in the area and efforts to

Pakistan logs 40th polio case in 2024: Why it fails to curb this endemic?

An infectious disease, Polio can cause crippling paralysis among young children. It has been virtually eradicated from the world, except for Pakistan and Afghanistan

India-Pakistan reconciliation only way to stop terror attacks: PDP chief

Days after the Ganderbal terror attack, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday said Jammu and Kashmir is bearing the brunt of the animosity between India and Pakistan, and reconciliation between the two is the only way to stop such incidents. Seven people a local doctor and six non-local labourers were killed and five injured when terrorists attacked their camp in Gund in Ganderbal district on Sunday. The labourers were working on a tunnel project. "The people of J&K are stuck in the animosity between the two countries. Their lives and their property are getting destroyed because the two countries are fighting each other. "J&K is bearing the brunt and the poor non-local labourers are also suffering because of that," Mehbooba told reporters after visiting the residence of Dr Shahnawaz Dar, who was killed in Sunday's attack, in Naidgam village of Budgam district. The former chief minister said Dar was serving the people and was an honourable man but suffered because of the ...

Lahore declared the world's most polluted city as smog crisis deepens

Lahore's alarming pollution crisis is primarily driven by crop residue burning and industrial emissions

Pakistan's FM Aurangzeb sees 'encouraging' reply from China debt talks

Pakistan is seeing a period of stability after securing a new $7 billion loan program from the IMF

Army launches search op along LoC following Pak drone movement in Poonch

The security forces launched a search operation in forward areas along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district following a brief firing by the army troops at a suspected Pakistani drone on Tuesday, officials said. The drone, however, returned to the Pakistan side after briefly hovering over the Indian territory in Mandhar area, they said. The officials said the security forces launched a search operation in the forward area due to apprehension of any material being dropped from the drone.

Polio resurgence in Pakistan: Over 1 million children missed vaccines

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries where polio remains endemic, according to the World Health Organization (WHO)

No talks should be held with Pak till it stops terror attacks: Farooq

Former chief minister and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Monday lashed out at Pakistan for perpetrating terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, saying Islamabad will have to stop terror incidents here if it wants to have friendly relations with India. Abdullah said there can be no talks between New Delhi and Islamabad till the neighbouring country stops killings in Jammu and Kashmir. "I do not know what action India should take, that is the domain of the central government. It is a problem for us and we have been going through it for years now. I have been seeing it for 30 years now. I have told them many times to stop it but their thinking is like that only. "How can there be talks? You kill our innocent people and then you call for talks. First stop the killings," Abdullah said while commenting on the terror attack at a construction site in Ganderbal district on Sunday. The former chief minister said the attack was a painful incident as it led to killing of poor ..

Pak trying to kill innocent people to disrupt peace: LG on Kashmir attack

A day after seven persons were killed in a terror attack in Ganderbal, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Monday said Pakistan was still trying to kill innocent people and disrupt peace in Jammu and Kashmir. Sinha asked the police to investigate the Ganderbal terror attack so that justice is done to the victims and their families. "Yesterday, an unfortunate incident happened in Ganderbal. I urge the police and other authorities to look into it so that justice is done to the victims and their families," Sinha said at the Police Martyrs' Day function here. On Sunday, a doctor from Kashmir and six non-local labourers were killed while five people sustained injuries in the terror attack at an under-construction tunnel at Gund in Ganderbal district. "We won't forget yesterday's dastardly attack," Sinha said. The LG said the there was still a threat from the "neighbouring country's on India. "It's still trying to kill innocent people in this region and to destabilise peace here," he ...

Vistara flight denied Afghan airspace after bomb scare, returns to Delhi

When Afghan airspace officials were notified of the 'non-specific' bomb threat, they refused permission for the Vistara flight to pass through

Pak parl passes constitutional amendment bill capping chief justice's term

Pakistan's National Assembly passed the controversial 26th Constitution Amendment Bill, capping the chief justice's tenure for three years, early on Monday following an overnight debate, the country's media reported. During the voting in the 336-member National Assembly, 225 members supported the bill, the Dawn reported. The government needed 224 votes to pass the amendment. The Senate voted 65-4 on Sunday to approve the amendment with the required two-thirds majority. The ruling coalition needed the support of 64 members in the upper house of the parliament. Following its passage in both Houses of parliament, the bill will be sent to the president for his assent under Article 75 of the Constitution, according to Geo News. The bill, approved by the cabinet on Sunday with the consensus among the ruling coalition partners, was presented in the Senate by Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar. The bill included 22 clauses of amendments. The upper house passed the bill clause-wise and all cla