Pakistan

LAHORE/GUJRAT: Punjab Information Minister Azma Bukhari has dismissed the allegations made by KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi regarding jail meeting permissions, stressing that Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has no role whatsoever in arranging or influencing meetings between prisoners and visitors. In a detailed response, Ms Bukhari said that the chief minister “never interferes in the work of any government official,” and that all meetings inside jails were strictly governed by established prison rules. She said that political meetings were categorically prohibited under jail regulations, and the jail superintendent was the “final authority” on all such matters. She explained that prison officials only facilitate meetings between inmates and their immediate family members and that the list of approved visitors was provided by the prisoner himself. “If an inmate does not wish to meet someone, jail authorities cannot forcibly arrange such a meeting,” she added. Suggests KP CM to study the law; Kundi again rules o...

PESHAWAR: Ahead of 11th National Finance Commission (NFC)’s inaugural meeting scheduled for December 4, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has said that it is focusing on financial merger of the merged areas into federal divisible pool. Earlier on Friday, KP chief minister Muhammad Sohail Afridi in a media interaction in Islamabad told reporters that he intended to attend NFC inaugural meeting. He said that he was going to attend the meeting as it was a matter of provincial rights and that the Centre should pay Rs3 trillion of liabilities. On Saturday, KP adviser to chief minister on finance Muzzammil Aslam in a social media post stated the shared a range of items which the province was expecting from the 11th NFC Award. Province seeks to align Award with ‘ground realities’ He said that the KP was looking towards the financial merger for erstwhile Fata into federal divisible pool. “Currently, merged area gets special grants from federal government. This will pass on the burden on provinces and relief to federa...

Polling is being held today for by-elections in six National Assembly (NA) and seven Punjab Assembly (PA) constituencies.

Punjab police have finalised a comprehensive security plan for the by-elections being held in national and provincial constituencies across the province on Sunday (today).

KARACHI: Dumper Truck Owners Association President Liaquat Mehsud managed to escape the premises of City Courts after a sessions court dismissed his pre-arrest bail application in a rioting case on Saturday. Mehsud, along with his other associates, has been booked in a case pertaining to opening fire on people protesting against a fatal accident involving a dumper on the night between Nov 3 and Nov 4 in the Nishtar Road area. On the next day, the suspect had moved the court and got interim pre-arrest bail. On Saturday, Additional District and Sessions Judge (South) Irshad Hussain rejected the pre-arrest bail application and also recalled his interim bail after hearing both sides and examining the record. The court noted that the act of indiscriminate firing on people by a guard of the applicant was an act of terrorism and the case should be exclusively tried by an anti-terrorism court. The suspect appeared in court and as soon as the order was announced he managed to escape from the court premises and police ...

PM Shehbaz receives a presentation on initiatives to improve Pakistan Railways.—APP • ADB approves $10m for railway improvement project • PM for adopting public-private partnership for rail land ISLAMABAD: With the Asian Development Bank (ADB) approving $10 million in assistance for preparing the Railway Improve­ment Project, Pakistan Railways is moving to outsource 11 more trains, a step expected to generate an additional Rs8.5bn for the country’s largest state-owned rail operator. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired a meeting on Pakistan Railways on Saturday, where he was informed that tenders had been floated for outsourcing the eleven passenger trains to the private sector. Pakistan Railways has already outsourced four trains. The meeting was also informed that railway hospitals in Lahore, Karachi, Multan, Peshawar, Quetta and Sukkur were being outsourced, while the outsourcing of railway schools, colleges and rest houses was already underway. Similarly, dry ports in Islamabad, Lahore and Azakhail were ...

LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Saturday granted post-arrest bail to incarcerated PTI Punjab Pre­sident Dr Yasmin Rashid in a case of bur­ning police vehicles near Mug­halpura during the May 9, 2023 riots. ATC-I Judge Manzer Ali Gill heard the bail petition during a hearing held at Kot Lakhpat jail. Barrister Taimur Malik argued on behalf of the petitioner and referred to the rule of consistency applied to other accused people, including PTI founder Imran Khan, former senator Ejaz Chaudhry and former governor Umar Sarfraz Cheema by the courts granting bail to them in similar cases. The judge approved the bail for Dr Rashid in the case, subject to furnishing surety bonds worth Rs100,000. However, he adjourned the hearing of the PTI leader’s bail petitions in three other cases till Nov 25. In a statement, Barrister Malik said his client should be granted bail in the remaining cases as well on the same legal principle. He added that later if the high court accepted her suspension applications, she could...

• Bombardment in Central Gaza, Rimal claims 21 lives • Drone attack on Lebanon leaves one dead, five hurt • Canadian PM, UAE president back comprehensive Palestinian peace plan • Hamas says ‘escalating violations’ place a responsibility on mediators and US CAIRO: Israel continued its deadly assault blatantly violating ceasefire agreements on two fronts with airstrikes on Saturday that killed at least 21 people in Gaza and one in southern Lebanon, despite assurances from Palestinian resistance groups that they remain fully committed to the accord. Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip killed at least 21 people and wounded several others, local health authorities said, posing a further test to the six-week-old ceasefire. Witnesses and medics said the initial attack struck a car in the densely populated Rimal neighbourhood, setting it ablaze. It was not immediately clear whether the five dead were passengers in the vehicle or included passersby. Dozens of people rushed to extinguish the fire and rescue the victim...

RECENTLY, I attended the press conference for the Adab Festival, an event that features prominently on the nation’s cultural and literary calendar. I’m always glad to see regional and provincial languages promoted at our literary festivals, and this year at Adab, one of the languages of Gilgit-Baltistan — Burushaski to be precise — was included in a mushaira in which poets Ahmed Ali Jan and Qamar Kazmi participated. This inclusion resonated with me this year because I’ve been teaching expository writing at the AKU’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences this semester, and many of my students come from Gilgit-Baltistan, Chitral, Hunza, Kohistan. They’ve left their homes up in the mountains to seek knowledge in the big bad city of Karachi, but they’re also educating everyone here about themselves, their land, culture, norms and values, and their dreams and hopes for the future. At first I had no idea of Gilgit-Baltistan’s Buddhist history, or how Sufi preachers brought Islam to Baltistan from Persia and Central Asia. No...

PRIVATE schools realise that due to the subpar quality of state schools, families will do all they can to ensure their wards attend private institutions. This has resulted in the total commercialisation of education, with private schools burdening parents with unreasonable costs. Taking note of parents’ complaints, the Competition Commission of Pakistan has issued notices to 17 private school systems to inquire into alleged non-transparent selling practices, such as forcing parents to purchase mandatory branded school books, stationery and uniforms. Parents had also complained of arbitrary price hikes. Many schools disallow the purchase of cheaper generic notebooks. In August, the Senate Standing Committee on Education had also taken note of complaints that many private schools were hiking annual fees beyond the legal limit. As per the law, schools can only increase fees by 5pc every year. When asked about the CCP’s concerns, a representative of a private schools’ association observed that the “topic needs so...

• Farmers face financial strain amid limited storage, low prices • Firms cut purchases by 23m kg in four years SWABI: Tobacco purchasing companies have slashed their demand for the 2026 crop by 13.183 million kg, marking the fourth consecutive year of reduced requirements. This cutback is expected to result in significant financial losses for local tobacco farmers, sources told Dawn on Saturday. Tobacco experts noted that while multinational and national firms have the capacity to store large quantities of tobacco, growers face major challenges due to limited financial resources and storage options. The inability to store crops like Virginia and White Patta tobacco means any surplus must be sold quickly, leaving growers at the mercy of fluctuating market demand. For 2026, the total demand from tobacco companies is set at 61.627m kg, with 58.184m kg of flue-cured Virginia (FCV) tobacco, 0.360m kg of dark air-cured tobacco, 1.342m kg of White Patta, 1.381m kg of burley, and 0.360m kg of sun-cured tobacco. This ...

Dear Auntie, I am writing to seek advice as I am quite frustrated. I have always been close to my mother as, growing up, I was very lonely. I was shy and got bullied at school. Let’s just say my childhood ended early. We’ve always tried our best to be open and keep a healthy relationship, but communication started getting harder for me the more I grew up. Now, I am 16 and we fight a lot. I know this is mostly because our opinions differ greatly. My family has always been religious and stubborn with certain rules. My brother and I share different values and beliefs from our families, which is hard for them to grasp. Despite the differences, I want to get along with my mother and to compromise on things peacefully. I feel my relationship with her is only getting worse and one major reason for my chronic stress and anxiety is my declining relationship with my mother. I see myself becoming more and more like my father every day, unable to control my irritability and temper. I am scared of turning into him. I want...

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K-P CM commits to NSC participation 'for peace'; Rejects allegation; Says all issues solvable through negotiations

PML-N eyes big win in by-polls today

Six-member bench set to hear IHC judges' appeal tomorrow

Raise serious questions about the very legitimacy of the FCC

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Accusations, politics and public outrage reshape contest's future

Singer says 'Eternal Sunshine' tour will serve as a 'last hurrah' before a prolonged hiatus