Office | Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Even though the country’s electronic media regulator has been without a chairperson since October, a summary for the appointment of Ambreen Jan as head of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) has been pending with the Prime Minister’s Office for over a month. Ms Jan, a former federal secretary for information, was selected by the parliamentary panel as Pemra chairperson. If her appointment is approved, she will be the first woman to head the authority. According to a reliable source, Ambreen Jan’s confirmation has been held up due to “objections regarding security clearance”. Ms Jan is a former Grade-22 officer and has served as information secretary, the director general of Radio Pakistan and as managing director of PTV. She also served as press counsellor in Bangladesh from 2011 to 2018, when Islamabad-Dhaka ties were under strain. She was among the five shortlisted candidates considered for the Pemra job, along with retired Brigadier Anwar Ahmed, journalist Mateen Haider, I...

ISLAMABAD: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) told the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday that its recent tree-cutting drive in the capital was conducted on the direct instructions of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). The statement was part of a written report submitted to the court in response to a petition challenging the CDA’s tree-cutting drive, which had drawn significant public criticism. Recently, large-scale tree removal took place in at least three locations in Islamabad, including acres of tree cover around Shakarparian, drawing criticism alleging large-scale environmental damage. However, authorities have maintained that only Paper Mulberry trees were cut down as they were a major cause of allergies. In its submission, the CDA defended the campaign as a “well-planned operation” aimed at removing Paper Mulberry trees, which it described as a major source of pollen allergies and asthma in Islamabad. The authority cited scientific research, including a study published in the Journal of Global...