Pakistan

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New dress code to take effect from Feb 23; educators reject decision

Authorities seize chemical solution capable of producing 50k litres of fake milk

A 5.9-magnitude earthquake jolted parts of KP on Friday, the Pakistan Meteorological Department said. The earthquake struck at 6:09pm at a depth of 101 kilometres, with its epicentre located in the Hindu Kush region in Afghanistan, the department said. According to DawnNewsTV, tremors were felt in Shangla, Swat, Mardan, Swabi and Nowshera. In Shangla, tremors were felt at the time of Iftar, prompting people to rush out of their homes. No casualties or damages were reported from the district. Pakistan falls on three major tectonic plates — the Arabian, Euro-Asian and Indian — which create five seismic zones under the country. The intersection of multiple fault lines means that tectonic movements remain a frequent occurrence in the region. Earlier this week, a 5.6-magnitude earthquake was recorded 86km northeast of Balochistan’s Khuzdar. Last month, an earthquake of magnitude 5.8 jolted parts of Pakistan, including Gilgit-Baltistan, Peshawar and adjacent areas of KP. The same month, another 5.8-magnitude earthq...

WASHINGTON: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday, with the two sides discussing cooperation in critical minerals, energy, counter-terrorism and prospects for increased American investment, according to a State Department statement. The State Department said the US secretary thanked Pakistan for supporting Trump’s Gaza peace plan and for joining the first meeting of the “Board of Peace” as a founding member. He also offered condolences over the Jan 31 attacks in Balochistan and the Feb 6 bombing in Islamabad and reaffirmed the importance of continued partnership in counter-terrorism. The talks covered Pakistan’s participation in the recent Critical Minerals Ministerial in Washington, with the United States welcoming Islamabad’s engagement and discussing cooperation in developing Pakistan’s energy and mineral resources, as well as commercial opportunities for American companies. Separately, as per a press release issued by the Press Information Department (PID), during...

When the Shibuya Arc concluded with Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 in late 2023, it posed many questions. What did Kenjaku really do? What were his true intentions? What would happen now that thousands of sorcerers were awakened? This article will be a comprehensive guide to all these answers and everything else you need to know before diving into the third and latest season of Jujutsu Kaisen. By neutralising Gojo Satoru within the prison realm, Kenjaku (or faux Geto) was free to set his master plan into motion — unleashing the age of cursed energy. Using Mahito’s “Idle Transfiguration” technique, Kenjaku altered two groups of people he had previously marked. The first group rapidly awakened innate cursed techniques and became jujutsu sorcerers, while the second had been fed sealed cursed objects over the years. When Kenjaku released the seals at the end of the Shibuya Arc, these humans’ bodies were permanently overtaken by the ancient entities inhabiting them, essentially reviving elite sorcerers from hundreds of y...

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) stayed on Friday a trial by the court of an additional district judge in Lahore in a RS10 billion defamation suit filed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif against PTI founder Imran Khan. In his suit filed in 2017, PM Shehbaz said Imran levelled baseless allegations against him. He sought a decree for the recovery of Rs10bn as compensation from the defendant for the publication of defamatory content. The defamation suit said Imran wrongly accused PM Shehbaz of offering Rs10bn to the latter through a common friend in exchange for withdrawing the Panama Papers case. The PTI founder had contended in his reply that he had disclosed the alleged incident for the consumption of the public at large, and an act in the interest of the public good did not constitute any defamation. He maintained that he did not specifically attribute any statement to the PM Shehbaz while narrating the incident. A three-judge SC bench, headed by Justice Ayesha A Malik and including Justices Muhammad Hashim ...

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said on Friday that the Green Shirts would tour Bangladesh in March for a three-match One Day International (ODI) series. In a press release, the PCB said, “Pakistan men’s cricket team will tour Bangladesh for a three-match ODI series, the Bangladesh Cricket Board confirmed on Friday.” It said that the team would arrive in Bangladesh on March 9 and hold a training session the next day, ahead of the opening ODI against the hosts on March 11. The board added that the second ODI would be played on March 13, while the third and final match was scheduled for March 15. It added that all three matches would be played at the Shere Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka. “This will be Pakistan’s second tour of Bangladesh since July 2025. Pakistan last toured Bangladesh for a three-match T20I series in July, which the hosts won 2-1. Meanwhile, Bangladesh toured Pakistan for a three-match T20I series in May/June last year, which the Salman Ali Agha-led side won 3-0,” the PCB said. The ...

The government has resolved to summon a joint sitting of Parliament on March 2 to formally inaugurate the new parliamentary year.

The PTI on Friday criticised Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for attending the inaugural meeting of the Board of Peace, and reiterating its objection to Pakistan joining the board without consultation. The Board of Peace — formally established last month after being proposed in September 2025 and originally meant to oversee peace in Gaza — held its inaugural meeting on February 19, attended by several world leaders, including PM Shehbaz. In a statement posted on X, the party said it once again expressed “grave concern over the government of Pakistan’s decision to join the Board of Peace without transparency, parliamentary debate, or consultation with major political stakeholders of the country”. “Decisions of such international significance must be rooted in constitutional procedure, democratic oversight and national consensus,” it said. The party maintained that it did not recognise the legitimacy of the present Parliament, formed after the “manipulated 2024 elections”. “Nevertheless, even this Parliament was ...

LAHORE: The Punjab home department on Friday issued a list of 89 proscribed organisations and unregistered charitable institutions, warning citizens that giving charity to these entities would be treated as a crime under the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997. According to a statement issued by the Punjab Home Department spokesperson, anyone assisting the banned organisations involved in terrorism or anti-state activities “will face legal action” as it was a crime under the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997. The spokesperson said that charitable organisations in Punjab must be registered with the Punjab Charity Commission, adding that citizens should donate their zakat, charity, and contributions only to registered organisations. “All registered institutions can be verified through the QR code printed on their certificates. Citizens should ensure that their donations reach the rightful beneficiaries rather than terrorists,” he said. The department urged residents to lodge complaints against organisations involved in fraud, terr...

Former captain Michael Vaughan has urged the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to “act fast” on reports that Pakistani players will be overlooked by Indian-owned teams in the domestic Hundred competition. Longstanding political tensions between India and Pakistan have led to the border rivals only playing each other in international cricket events, although their recent Colombo showdown at the ongoing T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka only went ahead after Pakistan called off a boycott. It has been claimed that politics has also led to an effective ban on Pakistani players participating in the Indian Premier League, world cricket’s most lucrative T20 franchise competition. And with several IPL owners now owning teams in several different countries, opportunities for Pakistani cricketers to participate in various leagues are in danger of being reduced further. The BBC has now reported that the issue could be a factor during next month’s player auction for English cricket’s Hundred, a 100 balls-per-side ...

KARACHI: Police on Friday arrested the builder in connection with the deaths of 15 people in a building collapse triggered by a gas explosion in Soldier Bazaar a day earlier. Soldier Bazaar Station House Officer (SHO) Rizwan Patel confirmed that the owner-cum-builder Mohammed Irshad had been arrested after the registration of a first information report (FIR). He said the held suspect had rented out the building to the victims. The FIR, a copy of which is available with Dawn, was registered on the complaint of sub-inspector Khalid Mehmood at the Soldier Bazar police station under sections 322 (punishment for qatl-bis-sabab), 288 (negligent conduct with building), 285 (negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible matter), 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees) and 337-A (punishment of shajjah) of the Pakistan Penal Code. According to the FIR, police received information on early Thursday morning about the collapse of a building in Gul Rana Colony, in which several people were kille...

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has directed more than 14 categories of businesses to implement compulsory Point of Sale (POS) systems and connect to its real-time online monitoring network in a bid to strengthen tax compliance.

With the arrival of Ramazan, both local and international carriers have sharply increased ticket prices for Umrah travel, citing a spike in pilgrim bookings.

The Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Lahore (BISE Lahore) has unveiled major changes to its examination framework, introducing centralised assessment for 9th-grade practical exams and launching a technology-driven e-marking system to enhance transparency and eliminate malpractice.

The Punjab Home Department has published a revised roster of outlawed organisations and unregistered charities, cautioning residents that extending financial or material support to such entities constitutes a punishable crime under the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.

The Punjab government has launched a Rs3 billion programme to deploy 30 state-of-the-art fog cannons mounted on electric trucks as part of an intensified drive against worsening smog and air pollution in major cities and industrial hubs.

LAHORE: The Punjab government has directed all teachers working in public sector schools across the province to wear black gowns during school hours while performing academic duties, introducing a standardised dress code aimed at promoting uniformity and professional identity. A notification issued by the Punjab School Education Department on February 19, available with Dawn, stated that the new dress code will come into effect from February 23 (Monday). The department directed all chief executive officers (CEOs) of district education authorities (DEAs) to ensure the implementation of the directives across Punjab. The notification said that teaching was a profession that commanded respect, authority and moral leadership in society, and the dignity and credibility of teachers was reflected through their “conduct and appearance”. It stated that a “well-defined dress code” would enhance respect for teachers among students, parents and the community, while also promoting discipline, equality and a focused learnin...

The United States is in “active negotiation” over the sale of Venezuelan oil to India, to help India diversify its sources of crude oil, US Envoy Sergio Gor said on Friday. The US has made diversification away from Russian crude a condition for cutting tariffs on goods imported from India, the world’s third-biggest oil importer and consumer. “The Department of Energy is speaking to the Ministry of Energy here, and so we’re hoping to have some news of that very soon,” Gor told reporters on the sidelines of an event in New Delhi where India joined the US-led Pax Silica initiative aimed at building a silicon supply chain for high-tech products. US President Donald Trump this month agreed to cut tariffs on Indian goods to 18 per cent under an interim trade deal. He also removed a 25pc punitive levy after India agreed to end the purchase of Russian oil, which the US said helps fund Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said India would buy more oil from the US and potentially Venezuela. A final trade deal with India wi...