April | Pakistan

Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Irfan Nawaz Memon on Sunday dismissed as fake on Sunday a notification announcing that all public and private offices in the federal capital and Rawalpindi would remain closed from April 20 until further notice. In a social media post on X, Memon said, “Citizens are requested to refrain from sharing unverified or fake news. Please rely only on official handles of the district administration, Islamabad, for authentic updates.” However, a late-night Cabinet Division notification said that all ministries, divisions and other federal government establishments located in Islamabad’s Red Zone should adopt a work-from-home arrangement on April 20. “All officers and secretarial staff shall remain at the station and be prepared to attend office when required at a short notice,” the notification said. Similarly, a notification by the Islamabad district magistrate said that entry into Red Zone would remain suspended on April 20, and in view of the development, all public and private offices...

The first Hajj flight from Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore is scheduled to depart for Saudi Arabia on April 18, a spokesperson for the Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) said on Monday.

LAHORE - First Hajj flight from Lahore Airport will be operated on April 18, Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) spokesperson announced, here on Monday.

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) on Monday forecast rain-wind/thunderstorms, accompanied by isolated heavy falls and hailstorms, in the upper parts of the country from April 16 to 19 under the influence of a westerly wave expected to enter northwestern regions on April 16.

The Pakistan Meteorological Department has issued a fresh weather advisory predicting widespread rainfall, strong winds, thunderstorms, and possible hailstorms across the country from April 16 to 19.

The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) on Monday said that the upper parts of the country were expected to receive rain and thunderstorms from April 16 to 19. In a press release, the PMD said a westerly wave was likely to approach the country’s northwestern parts on April 16 (Thursday) and likely to persist in the upper parts till April 19 (Sunday). Under the influence of the weather system, rain-windstorm/thunderstorm with isolated heavy falls were likely in areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). In KP, rain-windstorm/thunderstorm with isolated heavy falls/hailstorm (snowfall over mountains) was expected in Chitral, Dir, Swat, Kalam, Shangla, Buner, Kohistan, Malakand, Battagram, Mansehra, Abbottabad, Balakot, Haripur, Mardan, Nowshera, Peshawar, Bajaur, Mohmand, Swabi, Charsadda, Kohat, Kurram, Khyber and Hangu from the evening of April 16 to April 19 with occasional gaps. “Light rain wind/thunderstorm is likely at isolated places in Orakzai, Karak, Bannu...

ISLAMABAD: First Lady Aseefa Bhutto Zardari has urged public cooperation as the nationwide anti-polio campaign is set to begin from April 13. The week-long campaign aims to vaccinate over 45 million children under the age of five across all provinces and regions as part of the ongoing efforts to eradicate polio. In a statement released on Sunday, Aseefa called on families and communities across Pakistan to fully cooperate with the upcoming nationwide polio vaccination campaign to ensure that every child is protected from the crippling disease. Pakistan, she said, stood at a “critical juncture” in its fight against the virus. “Years of sustained effort have brought the country closer to eradication, with the coming phase representing the final stretch where reaching every child is essential,” she stated. “From April 13 to 19, frontline health workers will conduct door-to-door visits, covering urban centres as well as remote communities. “In addition to administering polio drops, children will also receive Vita...

The Rawalpindi Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education on Thursday postponed the matric examinations scheduled to be held on April 10 (Friday) — when the federal capital will be abuzz with diplomatic activity during talks between the US and Iran. In a statement, it said that the exams at 64 examination centres across the city had been postponed. However, it said that exams in other districts of Rawalpindi Division would continue as per the schedule announced. According to a statement issued by the Rawalpindi BISE, the postponed exams included compulsory Urdu and geography. A new date for the postponed papers would be announced later, and the candidates would be duly informed, the statement said. The district authorities of the twin cities have declared two local holidays in Islamabad and Rawalpindi on April 9 (today) and April 10 (Friday) to ensure security for the scheduled peace talks between Iran and the United States. Due to the sensitivity and importance of the talks, comprehensive security measure...

District administrations of Islamabad and Rawalpindi have announced local holidays in the twin cities on April 9 (Thursday) and 10 (Friday). In a post on the social media platform X, Islamabad Deputy Commissioner (DC) Irfan Nawaz Memon said, “Local Holidays Announced in Islamabad – 9th & 10th April.” He also shared the notification by the office of the Islamabad district magistrate. However, he added, essential services will remain operational. According to the official, these included the Capital Development Authority, the Islamabad Capital Territory Administration, Islamabad police, the Islamabad Electric Supply Company, the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Ltd and hospitals. “Citizens are advised to plan their activities accordingly. Thank you,” he said. Separately, a notification issued by Rawalpindi DC Hassan Waqar announced a local holiday in the territorial jurisdiction of Rawalpindi on April 9 and 10. “However, all emergency dealing departments/ institutions/ authorities shall remain operational,” the notif...

Pakistan on Wednesday announced that the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America, along with their allies, had agreed to an immediate ceasefire, including in Lebanon, effective immediately, and invited their delegations to Islamabad on April 10 for talks aimed at reaching a lasting settlement of disputes. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced the ceasefire in an early-morning post on X, welcoming the move and extending his “deepest gratitude” to the leadership of both countries. Both sides have displayed “remarkable wisdom and understanding” and remained constructively engaged in furthering the cause of peace and stability, the prime minister said, expressing hope that the ‘Islamabad Talks’ would succeed in achieving sustainable peace and that more positive developments would follow in the coming days. The prime minister, who helped mediate the ceasefire, also invited delegations from both countries to Islamabad on April 10 to “hold further negotiations towards a conclusive agreement to se...

Pakistan repaid $1.43 billion in external debt, including a $1.3 billion Eurobond maturing on April 8, Adviser to the Finance Minister Khurram Schehzad said on Tuesday. “As part of its routine course of external debt management, Pakistan has repaid its $1.3bn Eurobond maturing on April 8 — on schedule and in full,” he said in a post on the social media platform X. “Alongside, the country has also met $126.125 million in coupon obligations on other Eurobond issuances,” he said, adding that this brought total payments on Tuesday to “over $1.426bn”. “Debt servicing continues to be executed as a non-event — reflecting consistency, discipline, and strengthened capacity,” he said. “The seamless execution of large external repayments underscores both capacity and consistency — reinforcing Pakistan’s credibility across global investors and financial institutions,” he said. The development follows Pakistan’s decision to return $3.5 billion in debt to the UAE before the end of this month. According to a senior Pakistan...

The Board of Secondary Education Karachi (BSEK) on Sunday announced that Secondary School Certificate (SSC) exams in Karachi were being rescheduled and would now commence on April 10. The BSEK had earlier announced that SSC annual examinations would be held from April 7 to May 2 in the Karachi Division. A press release issued by the BSEK on Sunday said citing the board’s controller of examinations that the board was currently transitioning from a manual to a digital system. “Therefore, the software application was overloaded and faced temporary disruption. The IT team is working to resolve the issue,” the press release said. In view of the situation, the SSC examinations were being rescheduled to begin on April 10, 2026 to ensure that they were conducted in an “organised … and transparent manner,” the press release said. It further said that a revised examination schedule would be issued soon, while students were to sit their exams at centres already allotted to them.

Pakistan is expected to witness a spell of heavy rains, beginning from Sunday night in Balochistan and lasting till April 9 in the upper parts of the country, according to the Met Office. In a weather advisory issued on Saturday, the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) said it predicted that “another western disturbance is likely to approach western parts of Balochistan” on Sunday evening and was likely to persist in the upper regions till April 9. Under the influence of the weather system, showers with isolated heavy falls or hailstorms were likely in various areas of all provinces, as well as Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). In Balochistan, rain-windstorm/thunderstorm with isolated heavyfalls/hailstorm was expected in Quetta, Chaman, Chagai, Dalbandin, Kharan, Ziarat, Pishin, Qila Abdullah, Qila Saifullah, Nushki, Harnai, Zhob, Kalat, Khuzdar, Barkhan, Mastung, Sibi, Kohlu, Nasirabad and Loralai from Sunday night to the morning of April 7 (Tuesday) with occasional gaps. The same ...

The Supreme Court has fixed the hearing of Zahir Jaffer’s review plea in the Noor Mukadam murder case for Wednesday, April 8. Noor, aged 27 years, was found murdered at Zahir’s Islamabad residence in July 2021, with the probe revealing she was tortured by him before being beheaded. Zahir’s death sentence by the trial court had already been upheld by the Islamabad High Court (IHC), but he had sought a review of the verdict in July of last year. The convict, Zahir, seeks a review of his conviction in the 2021 murder case. In a cause list published online by the SC on Saturday, the date for Zahir’s hearing was fixed for April 8. The 47-page review petition was filed by Advocate Khawaja Haris on behalf of Zahir under Article 188 of the Constitution (review of judgments or orders by SC). The state and Noor’s father, Shaukat Ali Muqadam, were made the respondents. The petition contended that the issue of Zahir’s alleged “unsoundness of mind or mental capacity” that was raised before the SC in an application had not...

• City breaks 41-year-old rain record with 38.7mm downpour in 24 hours • Mercury drops to ‘lowest ever’ night-time temperature in April • Met official warns of two more rain spells KARACHI: Several cities in the province set new records for heavy rains and lowest night and daytime temperatures for the month of April, the Met Office said on Friday. According to the Met department’s data, Karachi saw 38.7 millimetres of rain within 24 hours on Friday — the heaviest rain ever recorded in the month of April in the city. Previously, the highest rainfall for April in a 24-hour period in Karachi was 37mm, which was recorded on April 2, 1985. In the rural parts of the province, light to moderate showers were observed with Dadu seeing 23mm rain in 24-hours, breaking its earlier record of 22mm set on April 14, 2017. The cities which set records in the lowest daytime temperature were: Badin, Dadu, Hyderabad, Jacobabad, Larkana, Mirpurkhas, Padidan, Sakrand, Shaheed Benazirabad and Tandojam. Karachi, however, set a recor...

ISLAMABAD: The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) on Tuesday notified a whopping 35 per cent increase in Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) rates, jacking up the cost of an 11.8kg domestic cylinder by Rs924 for April as a consequence of a surge in the global market In a notification, the authority set the price of LPG at Rs304.15 per kg for April against Rs225.84 per kg in March. As such, the price of an 11.8kg domestic cylinder was set at Rs3,588.60 for April against Rs2,664.88 in March. As per the Ogra calculation, the producer price of LPG (which comprises 40pc propane and 60pc butane) was determined at Rs262,817.53 per tonne for April against Rs184,537 per tonne in March. The new price included an excise duty of Rs85 per tonne. Therefore, the producer price for an 11.8kg cylinder was worked out at Rs3,101.25 for April against Rs2,177.54 in March. This also included a petroleum levy of Rs4,669 per tonne and 18pc general sales tax (GST) at Rs40,091, which was Rs26,552.94 in March. For the consumer price, an...

Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon announced that all educational institutions across the province will resume in-person classes starting April 1.

Schools in Sindh and Balochistan will resume classes from April 1 (Wednesday) and follow a five-day working week amid the fuel crisis, the provincial governments said on Tuesday. On March 9, the Balochistan provincial government had announced that educational institutions, including schools, colleges and universities, would remain closed from March 10 to March 31 due to the global fuel crisis triggered by the US-Israel war on Iran. According to a notification posted on the provincial government’s X account, it was announced that “all schools (public and private) in Balochistan shall re-open with effect from April 1 (Wednesday)”. However, it added that due to the current fuel situation, “all schools (public & private), the provincial directorate, divisional directorates and the district offices of the School Education Department shall observe a five-day working week (Monday to Friday)”. Saturday and Sunday will remain off, the notification said. “All examinations/assessments shall be conducted as per the notif...

GILGIT: The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has warned about a risk of glacial lake outburst floods (Glof), flash floods, and landslides in areas of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from April 1-10. According to an alert issued by the NDMA, there was an “increased risk” of Glof, flash floods, mudslides and landslides in the vulnerable areas of GB and KP and the surrounding regions, particularly near the glacier terminus, due to the “expected widespread weather spell, especially from April 1 to 10”. “Over the past few days, temperatures over the northern mountainous regions remained above normal,” it pointed out. The NDMA advised local communities to remain vigilant, while the relevant authorities were requested to take precautionary measures to safeguard lives and infrastructure. In light of the prevailing situation, it urged all federal ministers and departments, provincial governments and their departments, as well as district and municipal administrations, to proactively monitor a...

The Sindh government has announced a province-wide public holiday on April 4 in remembrance of former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.