Pakistan

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif, in a heartfelt message on International Blood Donor Day, lauded voluntary blood donors as heroes not just for individuals but for the whole society.

Israel’s strikes on Iranian nuclear and military facilities constitute a “grave danger and a serious threat” to the peace, security, and stability of the entire region and beyond, Pakistan told the United Nations Security Council during an emergency session convened on Friday, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported. Israel on Friday launched widescale strikes on Iran, claiming that it targeted nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories, and military commanders. Iran’s ambassador told the UN that 78 people had been killed and 320 wounded in the first wave of strikes by Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attacks were the beginning of a prolonged operation to prevent Tehran from building an atomic weapon. Iranian media and witnesses reported explosions, including at the country’s main uranium enrichment facility at Natanz, Reuters reported. Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards corps said its top commander, Hossein Salami, was killed, and state media reported the unit’s headquarters i...

India’s government is urgently inspecting all Boeing 787s after a devastating Air India crash that claimed at least 279 lives this week, the country’s aviation minister said on Saturday, adding that the authorities were investigating all possible causes. The aviation regulator on Friday ordered Air India to conduct additional maintenance checks on its Boeing 787-8/9 aircraft equipped with GEnx engines, including assessments of certain take-off parameters, electronic engine control tests and engine fuel-related checks. “We have also given the order to do the extended surveillance of the 787 planes. There are 34 in our Indian fleet,” aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu told a media briefing in New Delhi, without saying if the checks will apply to all Indian airlines. “Eight have already been inspected and with immediate urgency, all of them are going to be done.” Air India operates 33 Boeing 787s, while rival airline IndiGo has one, according to data from Flightradar24. The planes, however, have not been grounded...

The residence of Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Tribal Affairs MNA Mubarak Zeb’s residence in Bajaur was targeted with a rocket in the wee hours of Saturday, according to police. Last month, an improvised explosive device (IED) had detonated outside the residence of MNA Zeb, partially damaging the house, police had said. Bajaur District Police Officer Waqas Rafique, told Dawn.com that the rocket was fired at the residence of MNA Mubarak Zeb in Bajaur. “However, it struck the MNA’s neighbour’s house, resulting in damage to the house walls and gate,” he added. The MNA confirmed the attack in a post on X as well, adding that there were no casualties in the attack. DPO Rafique added that there were no human casualties. He said that miscreants had attacked the MNA’s house for the second time in the last two months. He said that a search operation is underway in the area to track down the terrorists who launched the rocket at Zeb’s house. Zeb was one of the PTI-backed independent candidates that the party d...

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government on Friday presented a Rs2,119 billion surplus budget for the fiscal year 2025–26, announcing a 10% increase in salaries and a 7% raise in pensions for government employees, with no new taxes introduced.

ISLAMABAD: The pri­ces of petrol and diesel are estimated to increase by ab­­­­out Re1 and Rs5 per lit­re, respectively, for the next fortnight ending June 30, owing to higher international market prices. Based on existing tax ra­­­­tes, informed sources said the ex-depot price of petrol was estimated to go up by about Re1 per litre depending on final calculation on June 15, followed by Rs5 per litre increase in high-speed diesel (HSD). The ex-depot petrol price currently stands at Rs252.63 per litre. Petrol is mostly used in private transport, small vehicles, rickshaws and two-wheelers and has a direct bearing on the budget of middle- and lower-middle class. The ex-depot price of HSD stands at Rs254.64 per litre. Most of the transport sector runs on HSD. Its price is considered inflationary, as it is mostly used in heavy transport vehicles, trains, and agricultural engines, such as trucks, buses, tractors, tube wells, and threshers, and particularly adds to the prices of vegetables and other food items. Tran...

• Rs100m allocated for K-IV; S-III gets Rs450m in next budget • Rs8.288bn kept for nine ‘ongoing mega schemes’ in metropolis • Murad mentions plan to bring 500 e-buses to Karachi • Says Sindh govt provided Rs26bn to KMC in outgoing fiscal year KARACHI: Although the Sindh government has been undertaking multiple infrastructure projects in Karachi for years, for the third consecutive year, it has not announced any new “mega development scheme” for the country’s commercial capital in the provincial budget for financial year 2025-26. Budget documents show Karachi gets no new infrastructure development scheme in the head of “Mega Schemes for Karachi City” in the Annual Development Programme for 2025-26. However, unlike the previous budget when the provincial government had allocated just Rs1.389 billion for 11 ongoing “mega schemes”, this time Rs8.288bn has been earmarked for nine “ongoing mega schemes” in the metropolis. Of the Rs8.28bn, the biggest allocation of Rs1.89bn has been made for the construction of a j...

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtun­khwa government on Friday presented a Rs2.119 trillion budget for the upcoming fiscal year, featuring a record Rs547 billion development outlay, a projected cash surplus of Rs157bn and a hike in the minimum wage to Rs40,000. The budget also includes a 10 per cent increase in salaries of government employees and a 7pc rise in pensions. The budget session, however, was marred by an unusual stand-off between the provincial government and Governor Faisal Karim Kundi, who did not return a summary to call the budget session, forcing the government to convene the session through a requisition instead — perhaps for the first time in the province’s parliamentary history. KP’s newly appointed finance minister, Aftab Alam Afridi, presented the tax-free budget, which projects federal receipts as the main revenue source, totalling Rs1.506tr. This includes Rs1.147tr from the federal divisible pool, Rs137.9bn under the one per cent share for the war on terror, Rs57.11bn in straight transfers, Rs...

The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has forecast the arrival of a pre-monsoon weather system in eastern Sindh starting Saturday evening, while extreme heat continues to scorch large parts of the country.

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur on Friday opposed any move by the federal government to bring the erstwhile provincially and federally administered tribal areas into the tax net and warned his government would “hamper” tax collection by the federal government in ex-Fata and ex-Pata. During the provincial assembly’s budget session with Speaker Babar Saleem Swati in the chair, the chief minister said that he had made it clear in a meeting attended by Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir that the provincial government would never accept imposition of tax in ex-Fata and ex-Pata. “We [KP government] are neither imposing any taxes in the erst while provincially and federally administered tribal areas nor will we play any role in tax collection by the Centre. Instead, we’ll act as an obstacle to tax collection there,” he said. Mr Gandapur said that it was the provincial government’s “political and moral” right to discuss budgetary proposals with the...

• Civic body says 181 kanals, and not 510 kanals, in illegal possession of housing society • Spokesperson terms latest demarcation unjust ISLAMABAD: At a time when Bahria Town management is facing tough scrutiny by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), it got some relief from the Capital Development Authority (CDA) in the illegal land possession case. The CDA in its new demarcation pointed out that only 181 kanals of land of the civic agency was under illegal possession of Bahria Enclave contrary to the previous report of 2018, which had stated that 510 kanals of CDA land was in its possession. After the demarcation report of 2018, the CDA had conducted an anti-encroachment operation of a few days and retrieved some land. But the operation was stopped as Bahria had contested the demarcation report. The new demarcation report dated May 12, 2025, signed by Naib Tehsildar CDA Azhar Mehmood and Naib Tehsildar ICT, pointed out that 181 kanals and 16 marlas of CDA land was in possession of Bahria Enclave, on wh...

LAHORE: The Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) and the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf have rejected the proposed Punjab Public Awareness and Dissemination of Information Bill 2025, terming it an attempt to gag journalists by denying them the right to question. Speaking to Dawn, CPNE President Kazam Khan said the proposed law was an attempt to give legal protection to lavish public money spending for personal publicity. “The proposed law, after enactment, will allow the rulers to use public money for political gains and even launch unelected politicians’ advertisement campaigns,” he observed. Mr Khan said the proposed law would be in conflict with the Supreme Court decisions and impact the proceedings of cases in courts. Commenting on the provision of lodging complaint with the Director-General of Public Relations (DGPR) and further appeal before the Punjab information secretary, the CPNE president said how the DGPR, who is the authority to allow launch of any advertisement campaign, can hear a complaint a...

Pakistan has called on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to immediately halt Israel’s military strikes on Iran and hold Tel Aviv accountable for what it termed “unjustified and illegitimate aggression.

• Urges nations to take ‘all measures necessary’ to exert pressure on Israel • World body says Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has failed in its mission UNITED NATIONS: The UN General Assembly has adopted a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and urging nations to take “all measures necessary” to place pressure on Israel. Following the United States’ veto of a similar push in the Security Council last week, the General Assembly on Thursday adopted the non-binding resolution by a vote of 149-12, with 19 abstentions. The text demands “an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire” in Gaza, as well as the immediate and unconditional release of all prisoners. However, it goes further than the US-vetoed text, taking direct aim at Israel over its impeding aid deliveries into the Gaza Strip. It “demands that Israel, the occupying Power, immediately end the blockade… and ensure that aid reaches the Palestinian civilian population throughout the Gaza Strip,” which after more than 20 months of war is...

ISLAMABAD: Barbs flew in the Senate on Friday with PTI and PML-N accusing each other of being involved in corruption. The two parties also held each other responsible for the economic mess the country was facing. Opening the budget debate in the House, Leader of the Opposition Syed Shibli Faraz said the government had set wrong priorities of public sector development. He said that while an allocation of Rs135 billion was proposed for water it was Rs227bn for roads. He alleged that it was because it was an easy way to make money. He said that the proposed federal budget for the next year had become controversial in the beginning as questions were being raised about the apparently fudged economic figures presented in the budget. “The sanctity of the budget and the numbers in the budget document appear to be compromised,” he said, adding that the budget is a manipulation of figures as serious objections have been raised over it for the first time. He underlined that agriculture contributed 24 per cent to GDP, wh...

• Antiterrorism experts join investigation process • Govt considers ‘grounding’ Boeing-787 fleet; regulator orders safety checks • One black box found from building’s rooftop • New Delhi-bound flight makes emergency landing in Thailand after bomb threat AHMEDABAD: The investigation into the Air India plane crash that killed more than 240 people is focusing on the engine, flaps and landing gear, a source said on Friday, as the aviation regulator ordered safety checks on the airline’s entire Boeing-787 fleet. The Boeing 787-8 Drea­m­liner with 242 people on board bound for Gatwick Airport south of London began losing height moments after take-off over a residential area of the western city of Ahmedabad and erupted in a huge fireball as it hit buildings below. Only one passenger survived and local media reported that as many as 24 people on the ground were also killed as the plane crashed onto a medical college hostel during the lunch hour. It was the world’s worst aviation disaster in a decade. On Friday, a sou...

• Tax relief for low-income salaried individuals reversed by cabinet, says FBR chief • PIA re-enters privatisation process, confirms finance minister • Tax on Google, YouTube services increased from 10pc to 15pc • 4pc tax on commercial rental income deferred ISLAMABAD: The National Assem­bly’s Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue has approved an increase in the minimum threshold for daily cash withdrawals, raising it from Rs50,000 to Rs75,000 while rejected a separate proposal to impose an additional 2 per cent sales tax on online purchases, signalling resistance to new digital levies amid growing e-commerce activity. Chaired by MNA Naveed Qamar, the committee also gave its nod to increasing the withholding tax rate on cash withdrawals — from 0.6pc to 0.8pc. However, the committee struck down a parallel proposal to raise the tax from 15pc to 20pc on loan profits earned by banks. Among other decisions, the committee endorsed the government’s proposal to increase the tax on services provided by digital pla...

ISLAMABAD - The head of the Pakistan parliamentary delegation and former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari called on the international community Friday to engage with India and emphasize that military confrontation is not a solution to the Kashmir dispute or terrorism, stressing that dialogue is the only way forward.

• 12pc salary hike for BS-1 to BS-16 employees • 10pc raise for BS-17 to BS-22 officers; 8pc jump in pensions • Education sector allocation increased to Rs523.7bn KARACHI: Amid noisy protests by opposition lawmakers, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Friday presented a deficit budget of Rs3.451 trillion for the fiscal year 2025-26 in the provincial assembly — a 12.9 per cent increase over last year’s budget of Rs3.056tr. The chief minister announced a 12pc salary increase for provincial government employees in grades BS-1 to BS-16, and a 10pc raise for officers in grades BS-17 to BS-22, alongside an 8pc increase in pensions. He also revealed that the salaries of Sindh Assembly members would be brought in line with those of legislators in other provinces starting in July. “We are introducing a Finance Bill that abolishes and reduces certain taxes and levies rather than increasing them,” Mr Shah said. Taxes that will be abolished include professional tax, entertainment duty, drainage cess, cotton fees...

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan yesterday strongly condemns unjustified and illegitimate aggression by Israel against Iran.