Page 6 - Pakistanis

On the cusp of elections, Pakistan needs to get past 'lock him up' politics

The generals should also have learned by now - from Sharif's longevity, if nothing else - that you only further boost a Pakistani leader's career by trying to remove him or her from political process

Economic pessimism hits record in Pakistan ahead of election on Feb 8

Some 70 per cent of Pakistanis said the economic situation around them is getting worse, the highest level in the 18 years that Gallup has been polling them

Nawaz Sharif supporters bring lion & tiger at Lahore rally, click selfies

Scores of PML-N supporters took selfies with the lion and tiger locked in iron cages. The wild animals have been brought to multiple PML-N public gatherings in the past

Pakistan's former PM Sharif to launch election campaign as front-runner

Analysts believe the South Asian nation's powerful military has thrown its backing to Sharif, 74, after it was locked in a standoff with former cricket star Khan, 71

Bomb explosion kills 6 Pak policemen going to escort polio vaccination team

A bomb explosion targeted policemen going to provide security for polio vaccination workers in Pakistan's restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Monday, killing six of them and injuring 22 others. The incident occurred in the Mamund tehsil of Bajaur district in the province bordering Afghanistan. The police personnel had just boarded a van to join security duty with polio vaccination teams when the explosion occurred. The injured have been shifted to a nearby hospital, where an emergency was declared. Six policemen were killed and 22 others injured in the explosion. The police spokesperson said all the casualties were of police personnel. Caretaker Chief Minister KPK Arshad Hussain condemned the attack and said the war against terrorism would go on till the elimination of the last terrorist. Polio teams are often targeted by militants in Pakistan due to opposition to the vaccine. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack but Islamist militants, including the

Who is Saveera Parkash, first Hindu woman to contest elections in Pakistan?

Saveera Parkash is also the first woman from Buner to submit nomination papers for the upcoming elections on a general seat

Pakistan's EC extends deadline for filing nomination papers by two days

Pakistan's election commission on Friday extended the deadline for filing nomination papers for the February 8 general elections by two days till Sunday after major political parties sought more time to complete the time-consuming exercise. According to the schedule issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), potential candidates are required to file nomination papers from December 20 to 22. The top election body began accepting nomination papers from prospective candidates on Wednesday. The deadline for the filing of papers was set to expire at 4:30 pm on Friday. However, in a press release on Friday morning, the electoral watchdog announced that nomination papers can now be filed till Dec 24 (Sunday). It said the decision was taken in response to requests from political parties and to facilitate the candidacy process. Political parties must submit priority lists for specific seats to returning officers within the stipulated time, it said. With little than over a month l

Bumpy road! Pakistan car sales continue to fall; 6,200 units sold in Oct

Motorcycle sales in Pakistan have declined by around 10% in the first four months of the financial year, which is largely due to the decreasing purchasing capacity among the common masses

Nationwide protests in Pak gain momentum against inflated electricity bills

Protests against the exorbitant electricity prices have spread across the entire nation, from Karachi to Khyber, and some protests are now turning violent

Investigations underway, says MEA on Pakistani national Seema Haider

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday said investigations are underway on the matter relating to Pakistani national Seema Haider, who crossed over to India over two months ago. Thirty-year-old Haider, who hails from Sindh province in Pakistan, entered India illegally along with her four children in a bus via Nepal on May 13. "We are aware of this matter as she has appeared in court. She has been granted bail. She is free on bail. The matter is being investigated," MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said. "We will let you know more when there are developments. It is a judicial matter and investigations are underway and I would not like to say anything more," he said. Bagchi was responding to media queries on the case at his weekly press briefing. Haider says she had come to live with his Indian lover Sachin Meena who stays in Rabupura area of Greater Noida. While Seema was arrested on July 4 for illegally entering India without a visa via Nepal with her four children, al

Viral blue-eyed chaiwala from Pak now owns a cafe in London, details here

Arshad Khan who became an instant sensation for his striking looks and blue-eye gaze in 2016, has opened 'Cafe Chaiwala' on East London's Ilford Path

Pak collects DNA samples from 200 families of those missing after boat sank

Pakistan has collected DNA samples from more than 200 families following last week's sinking of an overcrowded smuggling vessel off Greece that left more than 500 migrants missing, including scores of Pakistanis, authorities said Thursday. The families had approached authorities, saying they suspect their loved ones were on the boat, spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch of the Foreign Ministry told a news conference in the capital of Islamabad. Pakistani police, meanwhile, arrested 10 more suspected traffickers, bringing the number of traffickers detained in the nationwide crackdown to 17, she said. Nearly three dozen other suspects have also been taken into custody in connection with the case. However, she said the government still cannot verify the number of Pakistanis among the dead or missing from the sinking. The crackdown followed orders from Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif for security forces to dismantle human smuggling networks in the country. The overcrowded fishing trawler ..

300 Pakistanis dead as boat capsizes in Greece: Here's what happened

Between 400 and 750 people were believed to have been aboard the vessel, when it sank about 80 km off the southern Greek town of Pylos

India sets free 22 Pakistani nationals after completion of jail terms

The Indian government on Friday set free 22 Pakistani prisoners following the completion of their sentences, officials said here. They were handed over to the Pakistani Rangers at the Joint Check Post (JCP) at the Attari-Wagah border by Border Security Force personnel, they said. All of them crossed over to Pakistan on the basis of 'Emergency Travel Certificates' issued by the Pakistani High Commission in Delhi since none of them had any kind of travel documents on the at the time of arrest, the officials said. Of the 22, nine were fishermen brought here from the Kutch prison in Gujarat, 10 from the Amritsar Central Jail and three from other prisons, they said, adding that the fishermen had been nabbed by the Indian Navy.

High inflation, lower-demand drive car sales in Pakistan down by 84% YoY

For April 2023, only 2,844 units were sold against 18,826 units sold in April 2022

Bomb targeting Pakistani police vehicle kills 4, wounds 15, says official

A roadside bomb targeting a police vehicle in volatile southwestern Pakistan on Monday killed at least four people and wounded 15 others, mostly civilian pedestrians, a government spokesperson said. The attack happened in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province, said Babar Yousafzai, a spokesman for the provincial government. He said the dead included two officers and two civilians. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but suspicion fell on the Pakistani Taliban, who have stepped up attacks across the country since November when they ended a monthslong cease-fire with the government. Pakistan has also been battling an insurgency in Baluchistan for more than a decade, with separatists in the province demanding complete autonomy or a larger share of the province's gas and mineral resources. In a statement, provincial chief minister Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo condemned the attack and ordered authorities to provide the best possible medical care to the wounded. The

Over 10 mn Pakistanis lack safe drinking water after 2022 floods: Unicef

More than 10 million people, including children, still lack access to safe drinking water after the catastrophic floods hit Pakistan from June to October last year, the Unicef said

Pakistan PM's office demands hike in budget defying cost-cutting policies

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's office has sought PKR 75 million or 16 per cent additional budget for allowances, fuel, and food rather than placing a cut on the expenses

Food supply at risk as banks in Pak reluctant to open letters of credit

Amid the shortage of wheat, the banks in Pakistan remain hesitant in opening letters of credit (LCs) for the import of necessities, posing threat to the food supply, reported The News International

Nearly 8 mn Pakistanis still displaced after summer floods, says diplomat

Khalil Hashmi told a press conference that there was an urgent need for housing, and that flood damage had impacted agriculture, and people's livelihoods, Xinhua news agency reported