Page 93 - Pakistan

Who is Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, the caretaker Prime Minister of Pakistan

Senator Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar was named caretaker Prime Minister by Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Opposition leader Raja Riaz on August 12

We came to power through constitutional means: Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif

Shehbaz Sharif had come to power in April last year after the then-opposition ousted Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan from office through a no-confidence vote

China engineers attacked in Pakistan, two militants killed: Report

No injuries were reported within the convoy, China's Global Times said, citing unidentified "Chinese personnel" in Gwadar

Senator Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar to be Pakistan's caretaker Prime Minister

Senator Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar was on Saturday picked as Pakistan's caretaker Prime Minister to govern the cash-strapped country and oversee general elections later this year. Outgoing Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the Leader of Opposition Raja Riaz finalised his name after two rounds of deliberations over the matter. Kakar, a lawmaker belonging to Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), will lead a caretaker government until a new election later this year. Prime Minister Sharif recommended the dissolution of the National Assembly on August 9, three days before the mandated term, therefore, according to the Constitution, the next general elections will be held in 90 days. The polls are expected to be delayed for a couple of months as new census results have been approved by the outgoing government, which makes it a constitutional obligation to carry out delimitation before elections.

Imran Khan to get medical facilities at Attock jail, allowed meetings

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Saturday directed the Attock Jail administration to provide former prime minister Imran Khan with appropriate medical facilities and allow him to meet his friends and family according to law. He (the former prime minister) may also be provided with the prayer mat and English version of the Holy Quran, Dawn News quoted the court as saying.

Dispute in Pak over authenticity of source document of US media report

The authenticity of the purported text of a secret diplomatic cable, detailing a meeting held last year between Pakistan's then-ambassador to the US and senior State Department officials, seems to have become a massive bone of contention, a media report said on Saturday. While Pakistan's Foreign Office has refrained from commenting on the leaks, an artfully diplomatic comment by US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller during a recent briefing has piqued interest in the question of the purported leak's provenance. US-based news outlet The Intercept, which earlier this week reproduced what it claimed was the cipher in question, said in its report that the document was provided to it by an anonymous source in the Pakistani military who said that they had no ties to Imran Khan or Khan's party. However, many people mostly Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party chief Imran Khan's critics insist that the leak could only have come from the PTI. Khan, 70, is currently serving a three-year

Weeks after Delhi floods, Hindu refugees from Pak await help, face woes

Eighteen-year-old Anita, a Hindu refugee from Pakistan, points to a mound of bricks -- once a part of her home but now a reminder of the devastation caused by the Yamuna's floodwater that submerged large swathes of Delhi last month. While the floodwater has since receded, the Hindu refugees from Pakistan living near the riverbank in Manju Ka Tila continue to reel from the financial and health burden it caused. Unable to afford immediate repairs, many of these refugees continue to live in their damaged homes -- some with collapsed walls and broken doors. Many of them are bedridden after hurting themselves in the rush to evacuate to safety. "The walls collapsed and the doors broke and we have to live with that. Our financial condition is such that we cannot immediately get the broken doors repaired," Anita told PTI. Following heavy rain in its upper catchment areas, the Yamuna in Delhi flowed above the danger level -- smashing the all-time record set 45 years ago by a significant ...

Name of caretaker premier to be finalised by Saturday, says Pak PM Sharif

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Friday the name of the caretaker premier would be finalised by Saturday, as the country's president wrote to him and the opposition leader to propose a "suitable person" for appointment by August 12. Prime Minister Sharif told journalists in Islamabad that he and opposition leader Raja Riaz would finalise the name by Saturday and the former coalition parties would also be taken on board for political consultations. Coalition partners will be taken into confidence over the matter before taking a final decision, he said. Sharif said the Constitution provided eight days for the appointment of the caretaker premier after the dissolution of the National Assembly (NA), the lower house of Parliament. According to the Constitution, the premier and the outgoing opposition leader in the NA have three days to decide the name of the interim prime minister. In case the two fail to agree on a name, the matter would be referred to a parliamentary ..

Nawaz Sharif will return to Pak next month to face court cases: PM Sharif

Pakistan's outgoing Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that his brother and former premier Nawaz Sharif will return to Pakistan next month to face his pending court cases and lead the party's campaign for the general election. Nawaz Sharif, 73, has been living in self-imposed exile in the UK since November 2019. He was convicted in the Al-Azizia Mills and Avenfield corruption cases in 2018. He was serving a seven-year imprisonment at Lahore's Kot Lakhpat jail in the Al-Azizia Mills case before he was allowed to proceed to London in 2019 on "medical grounds". In an interview with Geo News on Thursday, Shehbaz Sharif, 71, said he would travel to London to meet his elder brother Nawaz Sharif as soon as the caretaker government took charge in the country. Shehbaz Sharif reiterated that his elder brother would be Pakistan's prime minister for the fourth time if the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) won the next election to be held later this year. His statement came as the proce

Vital medicines' import from India allowed: Pak's drug regulatory authority

Cash-strapped Pakistan's drugs regulatory watchdog has said that hospitals and common citizens can import vital medicines, including anti-cancer drugs and vaccines, from India for their use, a media report said on Friday. The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) said on Thursday that there was no restriction on hospitals or the common man on importing vital medicines (anti-cancer drugs and vaccines) from India for their own use under the Import Policy Order 2022 after obtaining no objection certificate (NOC) from the authority, The News International newspaper reported. The statement of the DRAP officials came during a session of the Senate Standing Committee on Health when Senator Professor Mehr Taj Roghani raised the issue of the unavailability of several essential medicines in the country amidst a financial crisis. In view of (the) unavailability of some essential medicines in Pakistan, common people and hospitals can apply for a NOC to directly import medicines from Indi

Pak cricket team at ICC World Cup to be treated like any other team: MEA

India on Friday said the Pakistani cricket team will be treated just like any other squad participating in the upcoming ICC World Cup in the country. India is hosting the tournament from October 5. "The Pakistan cricket team will be treated just like the cricket team of any other country participating in the ICC World Cup," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said. On Pakistan seeking better security for its team, he said the questions should be better directed towards the security agencies or the organisers. "Of course, we would hope that all necessary security will be provided not just to them but to all other participating teams." "I hope that there is a good match and I hope this is not war as it seems to be made out to," Bagchi said when asked about Pakistan foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari's reported comments that Islamabad does not mix sports with politics and that was the reason why it decided to send the team to the tournament and defeat India in

The boys played well

The military's crackdown on Imran Khan and his supporters is anti-democratic, and will further reduce Pakistan's chances of normality and growth

Pak's prez asks PM Sharif, oppn to propose caretaker premier's name by Sat

Pakistan's President Arif Alvi on Friday asked outgoing Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and outgoing Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Raja Riaz to propose a name for the appointment of caretaker premier by Saturday. The premier and opposition parties began rounds of meetings to pick a caretaker prime minister following the dissolution of the National Assembly on August 9. As many as six names were discussed in the meeting on Thursday, the Dawn newspaper reported, adding that Sharif and Riaz were expected to meet again on Friday for another round of deliberations. In a letter written to Sharif and Riaz, the president recalled that he had dissolved the National Assembly on the prime minister's advice on August 9. Under Provision of Article 224 (1A) of the Constitution, the president appoints the caretaker prime minister in consultation with the [outgoing] prime minister and leader of the opposition in the outgoing national assembly," the letter said, adding that both t

Pak President Alvi dissolves National Assembly at PM Sharif's advice

Pakistan President Arif Alvi dissolved the National Assembly on Wednesday at outgoing Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's advice, marking an end to the current government's tenure and paving the way for next general elections. The notification for the dissolution of the assembly was issued by the Aiwan-i-Sadr, which said the National Assembly was dissolved under Article 58 of the Constitution. Pakistan Prime Minister Sharif on Wednesday wrote to President Alvi and sought dissolution of the National Assembly three days before the end of its five-year constitutional term. President Arif Alvi dissolved the National Assembly at midnight on Wednesday at outgoing Prime Minister Sharif's advice, the Dawn newspaper reported. With the dissolution of the lower house, the current government's tenure will also end prematurely. Later, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Murtaza Javed Abbasi said in a statement that the elected government has completed its five-year term, and his ministry had forwarded

Pakistan's manifest destiny

Uncertain poll timetable points to more instability

Pakistan International Airlines may suffer Rs 11200 crore loss in 2023: CEO

Pakistan's cash-strapped national carrier PIA is expected to suffer a loss of Rs 112 billion this year and running the airline on a public-private partnership model is the only solution to turn it into a profitable organisation, its CEO has said. During a press briefing, Pakistan International Airlines' CEO Air Vice Marshal Amir Hayat pointed out that the national carrier sustained a total loss of Rs80 billion in 2022 because of old loans and interest payments, the Express Tribune reported. He said that the PIA had a debt of Rs 742 billion passed on to its current management. Hayat warned that if the airline was not restructured, its annual loss would reach Rs 259 billion (USD 900667) in 2030. We have drawn up a roadmap for this purpose, he said. He maintained that running the PIA on a public-private partnership basis was the only solution to turn the airline into a profitable and international standard organisation. The PIA CEO claimed that maximum reforms had been made in the .

IMF seeks explanation from Pakistan for not imposing tax on big shops

Pakistan's Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) chairman confirmed that the IMF sought an explanation for not imposing a tax on big shops

Pakistan Senate passes resolution urging ECP to hold timely elections

The resolution presented by JI Senator Mushtaq Ahmad also asked all the state institutions to assist the ECP in holding the polls in every possible manner

US State Department encouraged Pakistan to remove Imran Khan as PM: Report

One month after the meeting with US officials was revealed in the Pakistan government's document, a no-confidence vote was held in Parliament, resulting in Khan's ouster from power

Soldiers are vigilant, well prepared to counter drone threats from Pak: BSF

Pakistan has been using drone technologies with a view to intensifying its proxy war with India. The process currently focused on infiltration of narcotics and weapons into India