Pakistan

The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) has officially released the schedule for the MDCAT 2025, announcing that the nationwide exam will be held on October 5.

A devastating fire broke out at a garment factory in Karachi’s Landhi Export Processing Zone on Thursday, leading to the collapse of a five-storey building and raising serious concerns over workplace safety.

The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Thursday notified a decrease of Rs1.89 in the uniform tariff for the next three months. A notification dated August 7 and available with Dawn.com said that the authority “decided to allow the application of instant quarterly adjustments on the consumers of K-Electric as well, with the same applicability period. “Accordingly, the instant quarterly adjustment of negative Rs1.8881/kWh (per kilowatt hour) shall also be charged from the consumers of K-Electric except life line and prepaid consumers, to be recovered in a period of three months [from] August 2025 to October 2025.” Nepra stated that this discount will be applied to bills for the applicable period issued before the notification, adding that distribution companies (Discos) will comply with court orders. Meanwhile, Nepra also notified a negative fuel cost adjustment (FCA) of Rs0.78 per unit for consumers of all ex-Wapda distribution companies (XWDiscos) except for K-Electric (KE) in their bills...

United States trade partners such as Switzerland, Brazil and India were still scrambling to get a better deal on Thursday as President Donald Trump’s higher tariff rates on imports from dozens of countries kicked in, raising the average US import duty to its highest in a century. The US Customs and Border Protection agency began collecting the higher tariffs of 10 per cent to 50pc at 12:01am EDT (09:01am PKT) after weeks of suspense over Trump’s final tariff rates and frantic negotiations with major trading partners that sought to lower them. The leaders of Brazil and India vowed not to be cowed by Trump’s hardline bargaining position, even while their negotiators sought a reprieve from the highest tariff levels. The new rates will test Trump’s strategy for shrinking US trade deficits without causing massive disruptions to global supply chains or provoking higher inflation and stiff retaliation from trading partners. After unveiling his “Liberation Day” tariffs in April, Trump has frequently modified his plan...

The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) on Thursday issued a warning for heavy rain across Azad Kashmir and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and advised citizens to stay alert. Monsoon rains fall across the region from June to September, offering respite from the summer heat and are crucial to replenishing water supplies. However, heavy downpours also trigger deadly floods, landslides and displacement, particularly in vulnerable, poorly drained, or densely populated areas. In a post on X, the PMD said at 3:30pm that a “rain-bearing weather system” was forming in the Poonch, Bagh, Haveli and Sudhnoti areas of Kashmir. According to the post, the system was likely to cause “heavy rain with strong winds and thunderstorms” during the next 2-5 hours in the above-mentioned areas as well as Azad Kashmir’s Muzaffarabad, Kotli, Rawalakot, Bhimber, Mirpur and Neelum Valley. Other areas that could come under the rain spell were KP’s Mansehra, Abbottabad, Haripur and Kohistan, along with Murree, Galyat, and surrounding areas. The ...

Pakistan is set for an extended holiday next week, with Independence Day and Chehlum of Hazrat Imam Hussain (RA) likely to occur on consecutive days.

The National Assembly passed the Pakistan Land Port Authority Bill 2025 on Thursday to facilitate the movement of goods and people across border crossing points. With the bill’s approval, Pakistan would become the third South Asian country, after Bangladesh and India, to have a land port authority. The Bangladesh Land Port Authority was created in 2002, while India did so in March 2012. “The House discussed and passed the Pakistan Land Port Authority Bill, 2025,” the NA’s official X account said. The bill was moved by Minister of State for Interior Tallal Chaudhry on behalf of Interior Minister Mohsin Raza Naqvi. Once approved by the Senate and signed by President Asif Ali Zardari, the bill will establish the Pakistan Land Port Authority, which would function as a statutory body responsible for inter-agency coordination to facilitate the movement of goods and people across border crossing points. As MNA Ali Zahid, who was chairing the session, ordered the clause-by-clause reading of the bill, PPP’s Syed Navee...

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) maintained its record-setting spree for a fifth consecutive session as it gained over 550 points on Thursday. The benchmark KSE-100 index rose by 992.53 points (0.68 per cent) to reach an intraday high of 146,081.02 points at 12:37pm, from the previous close of 145,088.49 points. However, the shares soon declined slightly, standing at 145,613.09 points at 3:09pm, gaining 524.60 points (0.36pc) from yesterday. Witnessing fluctuations throughout the day, the index finally closed at 145,647.13 points, gaining 558.64 (0.39pc) from yesterday. Awais Ashraf, research director at AKD Securities, told Dawn.com: “Investor interest in companies posting strong corporate results or anticipated to report robust profitability has propelled the index to a new record high. “Additionally, the recent imposition of an additional 25pc tariff on India has further bolstered market sentiment,” he added, referring to the United States’ recent levy on New Delhi, which will raise duties on some Indian ...

Pakistan Navy, in collaboration with Anti Narcotics Force and Joint Maritime Information and Coordination Centre (JMICC), seized approximately 1100 kilograms (kg) of Hashish, 50 kg of Ice, and 100 kg of Heroin near the coast of Pasni.

Minister of State for Finance Bilal Azhar Kayani says Pakistan foreign exchange reserves have exceeded twenty billion dollars.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister (DPM/FM), Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, on Thursday, underscored the urgency of adopting structural reforms to safeguard the energy sector’s viability.

The federal government has unveiled a comprehensive plan to privatise 24 state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in three phases over the next five years.

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday chaired a high-level meeting to review challenges arising from Pakistan’s rapidly growing population and emphasized the urgent need for a comprehensive national strategy to address related socio-economic issues.

Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab on Thursday announced that the newly constructed Hub Canal, capable of supplying 100 million gallons of water per day (MGD), will be inaugurated on August 13.

In a groundbreaking development aimed at enhancing transparency and customer satisfaction in electricity consumption, over one million users across Pakistan have embraced the self-meter reading initiative.

The Kremlin said on Thursday that a summit between Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin was set for the “coming days”, with the two sides already having agreed the venue “in principle”. The summit would be the first between sitting United States and Russian presidents since Joe Biden met Putin in Geneva in June 2021, and comes as Trump seeks to broker an end to Russia’s military assault on Ukraine. Three rounds of direct talks between Moscow and Kyiv have failed to yield any progress towards a ceasefire, with the two sides appearing far apart in their demands to end the more than three-year-long conflict. Trump said on Wednesday he was likely to meet Putin face-to-face “very soon”. “At the suggestion of the American side, an agreement has been reached in principle to hold a bilateral summit in the coming days,” Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov was quoted as saying on Thursday by Russian state news agencies. “We are now starting to work out the details together with our American colleagues,” Ushakov said. The K...

A bomb explosion occurred near a railway track in Balochistan’s Sibi district, narrowly missing the Jaffer Express.

Two people were killed while 20 others were injured in a bomb blast targeting a police vehicle in the Wana tehsil of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Lower South Waziristan district on Thursday. Pakistan has witnessed a surge in terrorist attacks, especially in KP and Balochistan, predominantly targeting the police, law enforcement agencies’ personnel, and security forces. Attacks increased after the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) broke a ceasefire agreement with the government in 2022. “The blast was caused by a remote-controlled explosive device planted near a police vehicle [in the Rustam Bazaar],” Deputy Superintendent of Police Imranullah was quoted as saying by the Associated Press of Pakistan. Data from the incident report from the Wana District Headquarters Hospital showed two dead with 12 people with major injuries and eight with minor injuries. A list of casualties issued by South Waziristan police spokesperson Anayat Khan identified two wounded policemen as Zubair Salaam Khan from the district’s Dabko...

The Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Yahya Afridi, has said that the district judiciary remains central to the ongoing priority agenda, as it serves as the primary forum for the public to access Justice.

The Pakistan Navy and the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) on Thursday seized about 1,250 kilogrammes of illicit drugs worth $38 million from smugglers near Balochistan’s Pasni coast, the navy’s media wing said. The navy and ANF have previously worked in several intelligence-based joint operations to counter unlawful activities along the coast. “The value of the seized consignment in the international market is approximately $38 million,” a press release from the navy said. “The consignment was being smuggled via the Arabian Sea to international destinations.” It added that the seized items, comprising 1,100kg of hashish, 50kg of crystal meth, and 100kg of heroin, have been handed over to the ANF for further legal proceedings. “This successful operation by the Pakistan Navy and ANF, resulting in [the] seizure of a large quantity of drugs, is a testament to PN’s resolve to fight against illegal activities as a national obligation,” the statement said. “Pakistan Navy will continue to shoulder its responsibility to es...