Page 86 - Pakistan

Pakistan sets Nov 1 as deadline for illegal immigrants to leave country

Bugti further said that a task force has also been constituted which will take action against illegal immigrants. "Pakistan is the only country permitting people's entry even without a passport"

10 terrorists gunned down by soldiers in Pakistan's Khyber: Official

At least 10 terrorists were killed during an operation by the Pakistani soldiers in the country's restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, an official statement said on Tuesday. The intelligence-based operations were conducted by the Pakistani soldiers after receiving information on the movement of the militants in the province's Tank district. "The security forces on Monday shot dead ten terrorists during an intelligence-based operation on the reported presence of terrorists in the restive district bordering Afghanistan," ISPR, the media wing of the Pakistani Army, said. During the operations, intense fire exchange took place between the troops and terrorists which resulted in the death of ten terrorists. The slain terrorists remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities against security forces as well as extortion & killing of innocent civilians. A large cache of arms, ammunition and explosives was also recovered during the operation, the statement said.

Pakistan sets November 1 deadline for illegal immigrants to leave country

Pakistan's caretaker government has set November 1 as the deadline for thousands of illegal immigrants to leave the country or face deportation as the government intensified its crackdown against those involved in militancy and smuggling, Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti said on Tuesday. Speaking at a press briefing after a high-level meeting of the Apex Committee chaired by caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar and attended by Army Chief General Asim Munir among others, Bugti said that soon law enforcement agencies will get directions against the illegal immigrants. He said that the meeting held at the PM House took the decision to remove illegal residents under the National Action Plan which was devised in 2015 to deal with the threat of militancy. "The first decision taken is about our illegal immigrants who are living in Pakistan through illegal means. We have given them a deadline of November 1 to willingly return to their countries and if they don't, all law enforcement .

IMF mission to arrive in Pak by late October for economic review: Report

The IMF will send its delegation to Pakistan in the last week of October to review the cash-strapped country's economic performance in the first three months of the current fiscal year, according to a media report on Tuesday. Quoting sources in the Ministry of Finance, The Express Tribune newspaper said that during the meeting with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission, the caretaker government will also discuss reforms in various sectors, including taxes and energy. The report said once the economic review is successfully completed, Pakistan will receive the next installment of USD 700 million from the IMF after its board's approval. The Washington-based global lender transferred USD 1.2 billion to the cash-strapped country in July, as part of the USD 3 billion bailout programme for nine months to support the government's efforts to stabilise the country's ailing economy. Although essentially a bridge loan, it offered much respite to Pakistan, which was battling an acute .

Pakistan's inflation rises to 31.4% in Sept amid high energy prices

Interest rates also risen to their highest at 22%, and Pak rupee hit all-time lows in Aug before recovering in Sept to become best performing currency following clampdown on unregulated FX trade

Nawaz Sharif books flight tickets to return Pak from UK on Oct 21: Report

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has reportedly booked flight tickets to return from the UK to the country on October 21, ending a four-year "self-imposed exile", a media report said Monday. Nawaz, 73, recently said that he is excited to return to Pakistan on October 21 to lead his party in the election likely to be held in January 2024. Citing a source, Samaa TV reported that Nawaz, who is currently in the UK, will land at the Abu Dhabi International Airport on October 21. He is scheduled to fly to Lahore from Abu Dhabi on the same day. He has booked a business class ticket on flight EY243 of Etihad Airways in advance, sources said. They further said the Etihad Airways flight will land at the Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore at 6:25 p.m. Those accompanying Nawaz will reportedly be his staff members, personal advisers, Dr. Adnan and Senator Irfan Siddiqui. According to sources, several PML-N leaders and former lawmaker

Pakistan launches anti-polio vaccine drive targeting 44 mn children

Pakistan launched its second nationwide anti-polio campaign of the year Monday in an effort to inoculate 44 million children under the age of 5 amid signs the country was close to eradicating the disease. Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul-Haq-Kakar launched the five-day vaccination campaign in the capital, Islamabad, and urged parents in a televised address to cooperate with the 350,000 health workers who are going door-to-door to administer vaccine drops to children. The campaign was taking place under heavy security. The government deployed police and security forces to ensure the safety of the inoculation drive workers. Vaccine providers and the police assigned to protect them have been attacked during past anti-polio campaigns, which militants falsely claimed were a Western conspiracy to sterilise children. Pakistan has registered two new polio cases since January, a blow to the goal of eradicating a disease that affects the nervous system and can cause severe paralysis in ...

China's 2024 lunar mission Chang'e-6 to carry payload from Pakistan

China's next lunar mission scheduled for 2024 will also carry a payload from Pakistan, the country's space agency has said, as the two all-weather friends step up their cooperation in the space sector. The Chang'e-6 lunar mission is currently undergoing research and development work as planned, state-run news agency Xinhua reported on Friday quoting China National Space Administration (CNSA). The Chang'e-6 mission, with the launch scheduled for around 2024, is tasked with bringing back samples from the far side of the moon. To date, all 10 lunar sampling missions conducted by humans have taken place on the near side of the moon, The Global Times newspaper reported. The far side is generally older and contains the Aitken Basin, one of the three major lunar landforms, making it of significant scientific value, the report said, quoting CNSA. The Chang'e-6 mission aims at landing the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the far side to explore and collect lunar samples from different regions and

Pak Caretaker PM summons Apex Committee Meeting to discuss law and order

According to the details, the meeting will be held in Islamabad and will be attended by civil and military top brass

Pak Army chief vows to eliminate menace of terrorism after suicide attacks

Pakistan's Army chief General Syed Asim Munir has vowed to eliminate the menace of terrorism from the country through unabated military operations against militants following Friday's twin suicide attacks that have killed 65 people. A total of 60 people were killed and more than 60 others were injured in a grisly suicide blast on Friday in Balochistan that targeted a procession to celebrate Prophet Muhammad's birthday near the Madina Masjid in Mastung, an official said. In the second bomb attack that took place in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Hangu, targeting a police station's mosque, five people were killed, and 12 others were injured as the mosque's roof collapsed in the explosion's impact, it said. The Chief of Army Staff visited Quetta on Saturday where he was briefed on recent terrorist attacks, the Army's media wing said in a statement on Saturday night. Munir said that the heretics who have nothing to do with Islam were carrying out such attacks with the backing of state sponsors o

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52 dead in Balochistan blast; here's a look at recent terror attacks in Pak

Pakistan has witnessed several severe terrorist attacks in the recent past. The presence of al-Qaeda and Taliban terrorists constitutes an existential threat to Pakistan's stability

At least 50 people killed, over 50 injured in suicide blast in Pakistan

At least 13 people were killed and 70 others injured on Friday when a powerful bomb exploded near a mosque when people were gathering for a rally to celebrate the birthday of Prophet Muhammad in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province, according to media reports. The explosion occurred in the Mastung district, Geo News reported. An official said that the explosion took place near the mosque where people were gathering to mark Eid Miladun Nabi, the birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad. Mastung Assistant Commissioner Atta Ul Munim said that the explosion, which seems to be of a "massive" nature, took place near Madina Mosque. At least 13 people were killed and 70 others injured in the blast, the Dawn newspaper reported. Station House Officer (SHO) Javed Lehri said that the wounded are being shifted to a medical facility while an emergency has been imposed in the hospitals. "Some of the injured are in critical condition," the administration added.

Pak seeks $11 bn aid from China, Saudi to keep IMF programme on track

Cash-strapped Pakistan is seeking around USD 11 billion from China and Saudi Arabia as part of efforts to fill external and domestic resource gaps so that the IMF bailout programme remains on track to ensure economic stability until an elected government is formed in the country, according to a media report on Friday. It comes amid the caretaker government's push for expanding the tax net effectively to retail, agricultural and real estate sectors while continuing a crackdown on illegal currency movements. The Dawn newspaper reported that this information was part of a detailed policy statement issued by caretaker Finance Minister Shamshad Akhtar before the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue, presided over by Senator Saleem Mandviwalla in Islamabad on Thursday. She said the government was currently working on an economic revival plan that would be presented to the caretaker prime minister Anwar ul Haq Kakar soon and shared with the Senate Standing Committee on ...

Oman to host hockey Olympic Qualifier in place of Pakistan, says FIH

Oman will now host one of the men's hockey Olympic Qualifiers after the world body (FIH) withdrew the tournament from Pakistan due to infighting between the national federation and the country's Sports Board. The International Hockey Federation announced that tournament will be held in Muscat from January 15 to 21 next year. The other three FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers will be played in China (women's - January 15-21 2024) and Spain (women's and men's - January 13-21). "Following FIH's decision to withdraw the hosting of one of the Men's FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers from Pakistan due to the recent developments in the governance situation of the Pakistan Hockey Federation, this event will now be hosted by another Asian nation, namely Oman, which had already expressed an interest to bid at an early stage, during the bidding phase," the International Hockey Federation said in a statement. Six women's and as many men's teams will qualify for Paris Olympics through these Olympic ...

Pak's Election Commission releases report on delimitation of constituencies

However, on September 1, the ECP had announced squeezing timelines of the delimitation exercise by 14 days to complete the process on Nov 30, instead of the scheduled Dec 1, Dawn reported

India flags atrocities against minorities in Pakistan at 54th UNHRC

Pakistan has failed miserably in protecting the rights of its ethnic and religious minorities, including Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, Ahmadiyas, and Shia Muslims, said India

Volleyball at Asian Games: India lose 0-3 to Pakistan, finish sixth

The Indian men's volleyball team finished sixth at the Asian Games after going down 0-3 to arch-rivals Pakistan here on Tuesday. The Pakistani team dominated all three sets and outplayed India 25-21 25-20 25-23 in just one hour and 14 minutes. It was a mixed campaign for the men's team, who had topped their pool after beating Cambodia by 3-0 and stunning 2018 silver medallist South Korea 3-2. India also defeated 2018 bronze medallist Chinese Taipei in the top 12 match by 3-0. However, in the top six match, India lost to Japan 0-3 and was knocked out of medal contention. In the previous edition in Jakarta, India had finished in 12th place. The Indian women's team will begin its campaign against North Korea on Saturday.

China refuses to further expand cooperation with Pak in energy under CPEC

China has refused to further expand cooperation in the areas of energy, water management, and climate change under the multi-billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), it emerged on Tuesday, signalling a strain in the 'ironclad' friendship between the two all-weather allies. Cash-strapped Pakistan also gave up its opposition to setting up a new imported coal-fired power plant in Gwadar in Balochistan province and agreed to a number of Chinese demands to address Beijing's concerns, The Express Tribune newspaper reported, citing the signed minutes of the 11th Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) of the CPEC. The JCC is a strategic decision-making body of the CPEC and its 11th meeting was held virtually on October 27 last year on the insistence of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)-led government that wanted to showcase some progress. However, the minutes of the meeting were signed almost a year later on July 31 during the visit of Chinese vice premier He Lifeng, ...

Imran Khan still in Attock Jail despite orders to shift him to Adiala

According to Dawn, the main reasons behind this were security concerns and the absence of a written letter