Pakistan

RAWALPINDI: A monument is being constructed in Baggi (horse carriage) Park at Kutchery Chowk in front of Fatima Jinnah Women University, and is expected to complete in the first week of May. The Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) has been assigned the task to establish the Marka-i-Haq Monument on The Mall. “It is a replica of the monument in H-8 Islamabad. However, Marka-i-Haq Monument is unique as it is being constructed in an established park and additional land will not be acquired for it,” said a senior official of the district administration while talking to Dawn. He said the project was likely to complete before May 10, the first anniversary of the Maraka-i-Haq. He said the monument was being constructed on the direction of the provincial government which provided funding for the project. Structure being set up on direction of Punjab govt which has provided fund for project, says official “The main purpose of this project is to commemorate victims and honour the sacrifices of martyrs and ghazis of the op...

The court has approved bail for Aliya Batool, directing her to submit an assurance bond of Rs1 million in a case related to alleged forged documents.

LAHORE: The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) on Saturday forecast hot and dry weather across most districts of Punjab on Sunday and warned that temperatures might remain above normal, particularly in the central and southern plains. According to the latest weather outlook, a shallow westerly wave that previously affected upper parts of the country has weakened, leaving little chance of rain. As a result, dry and humid conditions are expected to dominate across the province. The PMD said that unlike Saturday — when isolated areas such as Kashmir, Murree and the Galliyat experienced partly cloudy weather with chances of light rain — Sunday will see no significant rainfall even in these upper areas. This shift indicates a further increase in heat intensity. In plains, especially across central and southern Punjab, daytime temperatures are expected to remain 3 to 5 degrees Celsius above normal, adding to the discomfort citizens already facing due to rising heat levels. Recent weather data highlights the i...

KARACHI: As the city has been facing a shortage of 250 million gallons per day (MGD) due to the replacement of a main line, the Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation (KWSC) announced on Saturday night that it had restored the supply of 100MGD to minimise the shortfall. On Saturday, the water utility started final interconnection work on a new transmission line at the Dhabeji Pumping Station and took offline nine pumps. It had said that 250MGD water shortfall would persist for two days as seven pumps would be restored by April 27, while two will remain offline for five more days to finish technical work. However, a KWSC spokesman said that four of the nine pumps had been restored late on Saturday night. He said that water supply from the K-3 pumping house at Dhabeji had been resumed after technical restoration work. “With four pumps now operational, the system has added nearly 100 MGD back into Karachi’s distribution network, easing pressure on the city’s water supply,” he added. The spokesperson added that o...

LAHORE: Punjab will export livestock and meat as the provincial government on Saturday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with seven institutions, including a Chinese company, for the purpose. A video link meeting in this regard was presided over by Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz. Under the agreement one million livestock will be exported. The meeting was informed that China’s Global Meat Company would install a boiler unit in collaboration with the government-owned Punjab Agriculture and Meat Company in the province. “The boiler unit will prepare boiled meat on a large scale for export. Meat companies will import the meat of 300,000 animals ready for export. A target is set for fattening 300,000 buffaloes and cows, and 300,000 sheep and goats. Some 100,000 goats and sheep will be raised for export.” “The state-of-the-art veterinary hospitals will be established in every tehsil of the province. Four mobile veterinary dispensaries will operate in each tehsil to provide door-to-door animal treatment.” The ...

• National immunisation week begins amidst challenges • Experts call for local vaccine manufacturing to cut reliance on imported drugs KARACHI: Seventy-one children, including 40 in Sindh, have already lost their lives to measles in the first four months of this year as the provincial government held a series of public awareness activities on Saturday in connection with World Immunisation Week. The week 2026 — being observed globally from April 24 to April 30 — is dedicated to the theme ‘For Every Generation, Vaccines Work’ — aims to create public awareness and increase rates of immunisation. According to official data, of the 71 children died of measles across the country Sindh topped the list with 40 deaths followed by 12 each in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and four in Balochistan in the first four months. Sources said a total of 4,541 confirmed measles’ cases were reported in the first quarter of this year in the country with 1,712 in KP, 1,198 in Punjab, 1,183 in Sindh, 197 in Balochistan, 151 in Azad J...

LAHORE: The public at large, trade unions, associations and civil society groups have widely criticised the government for once again increasing the petrol and diesel prices and sought withdrawal of the decision with immediate effect. They also expressed concerns over the increasing price hike of commodities, transportation and other charges due to repeated increases in the petroleum prices. “With this increase of nearly Rs27 per litre, petrol has now crossed Rs393, almost reaching Rs400. So how can common people, who are already passing through immense financial stress, survive in such a terrible situation,” commented a motorist while talking to Dawn at a petrol pump in Gulberg. “We were expecting a reduction in the POL prices but the increase surprised us. This is highhandedness with the public at large,” he deplored while lashing out at the government. Fresh increase challenged in high court On Friday, the government announced a hike in the prices of petrol and high-speed diesel (HSD) by Rs26.77 each due t...

• CKD imports surge to $1.47bn in 9MFY26 • Vendors slam low local parts use KARACHI: New auto players appear reluctant to share the localisation in their vehicle assembly operations, while local vendors continue to complain about the negligible localisation by the new entrants. As the current auto policy is expiring on June 30, vendors claim that the new entrants have not given any clear signal about future local assembly of parts, while some big vendors might have inked deals with them to assemble a few parts. Some assemblers already have parts-making factories, utilise their parts for their own vehicles, and sell parts to other assemblers. According to official data, imports of semi- and completely knocked-down (SKD/CKD) components by assemblers have surged by 116 per cent to $1.47bn in 9MFY26 year on year (YoY), while the import bill for auto accessories from FY22 to 9MFY26 has crossed $6bn, suggesting lukewarm efforts towards higher localisation. As new entrants did not respond to the request of sharing l...

KARACHI: It appears that the financial market is certain that the interest rate is bound to see a rise in the next monetary policy scheduled for Monday. At the same time, most experts believed that it was not inflation but the growing fears in the region, including Pakistan, due to the Gulf war, that would determine the direction of monetary policy. “The risks in the Gulf war are unseen and so uncertain that nobody can claim that the economy of Pakistan and other countries like it would remain in the same shape as it is now,” said a financial expert. He added that inflation could entirely change the economy, with greater uncertainty, in the form of a sharp decline in manufacturing and a further increase in existing poverty. Experts see 100bps hike in SBP committee’s meeting on Monday The short-term inflation hit 14 per cent during the week that ended on April 23, reflecting the mood of headline inflation. The government has again increased diesel and petroleum prices, an approach to shield against possible fu...

• Iran asks US to lift blockade, warns of response if ‘piracy’ continues • Macron wants full reopening of strait in ‘coming days and weeks’ • Turkiye, Germany agree to de-mining missions TEHRAN/ANKARA: As a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz by the US and Iran led to energy shortages, efforts were afoot to restore freedom of navigation in the vital maritime route, with multiple countries offering to de-mine the strait once peace was restored. After the US and Israel attacked Iran on Feb 28, Tehran responded by shutting down the strait and later announced it would charge vessels using the maritime route. The US earlier this month blockaded Iranian ports to stop its oil exports and returned over 30 ships leaving Iranian ports. Despite an extension in a recent ceasefire between the two, Hormuz remained a flashpoint, proving a major hurdle in the resumption of talks. Iran’s military said it would respond if the US maintained its blockade of Iranian ports, calling it “banditry” and “piracy”. In a statement carried b...

ISLAMABAD: A recent survey titled “Cybersecurity in the Workplace: Emp­loyee Knowledge and Behaviour” shows that 39pc of professionals in Pakistan consider their company’s cybersecurity rules excessive or not fully appropriate, while 8pc say their organisations either lack such rules or they are unaware of them. The survey, conducted by cybersecurity company Kaspersky, highlights a disconnect between corporate policies and emp­loyee adherence, underscoring risks link­­ed to shadow IT and unmanaged device usage. According to the report, 38pc of respon­dents said there are no policies governing the use of non-corporate devices. Mean­while, 17pc admitted they can use personal devices to access business information if these have some form of cybersecurity protection, even consumer-grade software. On the positive side, 16pc said personal devices must pass stringent corporate IT security checks before use, while 29pc reported that only company-issued devices are permitted for work. The situation is relatively bette...

MOSCOW - Consultations on the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s international activities and regional security were held at the level of Deputy Foreign Ministers of SCO member States in Moscow, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.

An Iranian delegation led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi left Islamabad on Saturday after meeting with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) and army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir. However, Iranian state media said Araghchi will head back to Pakistan after visiting Oman. The IRNA news agency, citing the foreign ministry, reported that Araghchi “is scheduled to visit Pakistan again after completing his trip to Oman and before travelling to Russia”. Part of his delegation had returned to Tehran, it added, “to consult and obtain the necessary instructions on issues related to ending the war, and is scheduled to rejoin Araghchi in Islamabad on Sunday night”. At the same time, US President Donald Trump cancelled the visit of US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who were expected to depart for Pakistan later in the day for talks with Iran. Araghchi’s meetings The Iranian foreign minister termed his visit to Pakistan “very fruitful”. In a post on X, he said, “Very fruitful visit ...

Four dead as Lebanon truce crumbles

• Scraps US team trip to Pakistan • Says cancellation does not signal return to fighting • Traffic through Strait r

Twin cities roll again as travel curbs end

PM Shehbaz vows to leave no stone unturned for US-Iran peace

K-P CM tells AJK rally this time the entire Pakistan will come out against govt policies

Satellite successfully enters its planned orbit

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