News ki dunya

GWADAR: Two security personnel were martyred and four others injured in an attack at a bomb disposal squad of Pakistan Army in the Ankara Dam area on Sunday, officials said. The bomb disposal team of Pakistan Army was busy clearing landmines in the Ankara Dam area of Gwadar district when unidentified armed men opened indiscriminate fire on them. Two soldiers were martyred on the spot receiving multiple bullet injuries and four others got injured. “The firing incident took place some 25km from the port city [Gwadar], which claimed two lives and injured four others,” said Gwadar SSP Mohsin Zohaib, adding that after the incident the bodies and the injured were shifted to GDA hospital. The deceased were identified as soldiers Zahoor and Altaf while the injured were Havildar Sajid Huss­ain, Sepoy Tajamul Huss­ain, Sepoy Ibrar Ahmed and Sepoy Gul Haider. Security forces have laun­ched a sea­rch operation in the area to trace the attackers. Published in Dawn, April 1st

ویب ڈیسک: تخت بھائی میں نامعلوم موٹر سائیکل ملزمان نے فائرنگ کرکے تاجر کو قتل کردیا ۔ پولیس ذرائع کے مطابق واقعہ تخت بھائی ملاکنڈ روڈ پر علی خان پلازہ کے قریب پیش آیا جہاں ہنڈا 125 موٹر سائیکل پر مزید پڑھیں The post تخت بھائی میں نامعلوم ملزمان کی فائرنگ سے تاجر قتل appeared first on Mashriq TV. http://dlvr.it/T4tPlP

Awami National Party (ANP) leader Zahid Khan has criticised PTI’s Asad Qaiser for advising his party’s chief minister in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to snap all ties with the federal government. On Friday, the PTI central leader advised KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur to snap all ties with the federal government as the Centre would not accept his demands. The advice had come a day after Gandapur met Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi in Peshawar and discussed a joint strategy to fight terrorism. “This is my advice to the KP chief minister that he should end all contact with the federation as it [the federal government] will not accept any of his demands,” said Qaiser in a statement. “They have not appoi­nted a single officer on your [the CM’s] demand and neither there has been any progress on the issue of the payment of the arrears to the province,” said Qaiser, who had served as the National Ass­embly speaker under the previous PTI government. “This is the time for resistance and n

PALSP claims over 25,000 MT rebars, steel materials dumped across Panjgur border to smuggle during Eid holidays http://dlvr.it/T4sbr8

KARACHI: As many as 646 qualified teachers, or about 16pc of around 4,000 candidates, have cleared their test to get a teaching licence in compliance with the Sindh Teaching Licence Policy 2023, it emerged on Saturday. Around 4,000 BEd or MEd/MA qualified teachers from both government and private sector took the first-ever licensing exam conducted by the Sukkur Institute of Business Administration (SIBA) Testing Services in January. The result of the test was officially announced on Saturday under which 646 teachers, or 16.15 per cent, cleared the exam and secured an elementary (Class 1-8) teaching licence. Some 3,023 in-service government teachers took this test and only 445 of them, or 14.7pc, teachers passed. The number of private schoolteachers who took the test was 977 and 201 of them (20.6pc) passed. The government teachers, who have secured this licence, will be eligible for promotion into BPS-16 teaching posts while successful candidates from the private sector

ISLAMABAD: Internal divisions within the PTI amid the incarceration of its founding chairman, Imran Khan, have become a matter of embarrassment for the party, particularly evident in the discord over the distribution of parliamentary and general body tickets. Party leaders, while acknowledging such rifts as common in political entities during ticket allocations, express that the absence of Mr Khan has exacerbated these issues. They lament that party leaders don’t have access to Mr Khan, imprisoned in Adiala Jail, whereas the lawyers who are allowed to meet him allegedly give either partial messages or twist messages according to their own interests. Considering the situation, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan has issued a notification, appointing Raoof Hasan as the “exclusive spokesperson” to streamline communication on policy matters. Party names Raoof as ‘exclusive spokesperson’ to streamline communication on policy matters The friction within the PTI became star

Alleges hurdles aimed at hindering his candidacy http://dlvr.it/T4rYvF

Retired Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, a former chief justice, was on Saturday appointed the head of the inquiry commission that will investigate charges of interference into judicial independence by the intelligence apparatus. On Tuesday, six Islamabad High Court judges — out of a total strength of eight — wrote a startling letter to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) members, regarding attempts to pressure judges through abduction and torture of their relatives as well as secret surveillance inside their homes. A day later, calls emerged from various quarters for a probe into the investigation, amid which Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa summoned a full court meeting of the Supreme Court’s judges. After a meeting between CJP Isa and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday, the duo decided to form a commission to investigate the concerns of interference in judicial affairs following the cabinet’s approval. According to the Terms of Reference (TORs) for th

Premier identifies areas of energy, trade and investment for further Pak-Russia cooperation http://dlvr.it/T4qggj

RAWALPINDI: A member of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) cabin crew on a flight from Lahore to Canada has been suspended after she was briefly detained by customs authorities on arrival in Toronto for carrying the passport of an unrelated person. Hina Sani was detained along with two other crew members who were also on duty with her on flight PK-789. However, the three crew members were later freed and allowed to travel back to Pakistan following investigations. Later, the PIA management suspended Ms Sani and announced it would take further action in line with the Canadian customs’ investigation report. It is against international law to carry someone else’s passport while traveling abroad. PIA spokesman Abdullah Hafeez Khan said the airline management was in touch with the Canadian authorities and cooperating with them in the case. He said the suspended crew member would face further departmental and legal action in the light of the Canadian authorities’ inquiry r

ISLAMABAD: Ahead of Eidul Fitr, the petrol price is estimated to go up by about Rs10-11 per litre on Sunday (March 31) for the next fortnight, owing mainly to higher import premiums and global prices. However, the price of another key fuel, high-speed diesel (HSD), is likely to drop by up to Rs2 per litre. Given petrol’s current ex-depot price of around Rs280 per litre, the coming review may take its rate beyond Rs290. Informed sources said the import price of petrol has increased by about $4 per barrel, and its import premium has further gone up to $13.5 per barrel from $12.15 a fortnight ago because of the geopolitical situation. As a result, the price of petrol is estimated to rise by Rs10-11 per litre, depending on the final exchange rate calculation. Price of high-speed diesel expected to drop by up to Rs2 per litre On the other hand, the HSD price was down in the international market, and the import premium paid by Pakistan State Oil (PSO) remained unchange

In a first, the foreign minister has been included in the Council of Common Interests (CCI) while the finance minister has been excluded, it emerged on Friday. According to a notification from the CCI Secretariat, dated March 25, President Asif Ali Zardari constituted the council on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s advice with effect March 21. The newly constituted council includes the premier, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, Minister of States and Frontier Regions Amir Muqam, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti. Notably absent is Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb. He was also initially excluded from the composition of the Economic Coordi­nation Committee last week before PM Shehbaz decided to hand over the committee’s chairmanship to Aurangzeb. Dar is also heading the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation.

Workers and office staff will be back to work after short suspension, says office order from Chinese construction firm http://dlvr.it/T4nMyF

Pakistan and Afghanistan reached certain agreements during trade talks in Kabul, including beginning negotiations on a revised transit trade agreement and implementing a temporary admission document (TAD) for trade vehicle drivers, officials said on Friday. Talks were held amid tensions following Pakistan’s March 18 airstrikes in Afghanistan’s Patika and Khost provinces in “intelligence-based anti-terrorist operations”, which Afghan authorities said killed eight people. The Foreign Office had confirmed the strikes, saying they were aimed at the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group, which was responsible for multiple terrorist attacks inside Pakistan, including one on security forces in North Waziristan that martyred seven soldiers. On Thursday, Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said in a weekly press briefing that Commerce Secretary Mohammad Khurrum Agha visited Afghanistan from March 24-27 to discuss bilateral trade and transit with his Afghan counterpart Nooruddin Aziz

ویب ڈیسک: خیبرپختونخوا حکومت نے غیر ملکی فنڈڈ منصوبوں میں بھرتیوں پر عائد پابندی ختم کردی ہے۔ وزیر اعلیٰ خیبرپختونخوا علی امین گنڈا پور کی منظوری کے بعد محکمہ منصوبہ بندی و ترقی نے باقاعدہ اعلامیہ جاری کردیا۔ اعلامیہ میں مزید پڑھیں The post خیبرپختونخوا :غیر ملکی فنڈڈ منصوبوں میں بھرتیوں پر پابندی ختم appeared first on Mashriq TV. http://dlvr.it/T4n30f

• Commission irked at provincial assembly speaker’s refusal to administer oath to members elected on reserved seats • Former caretaker prime minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar among nine senators elected unopposed from Balochistan ISLAMABAD: The controversy over a delay in the oath-taking of Khyber Pakhtun­khwa Assembly members took a new turn on Thursday, as the Election Commission of Pakis­tan (ECP) hinted at postponing Senate elections if the provincial assembly speaker keeps on dragging his feet on administering the oath to MPAs elected on reserved seats. The order was issued by a five-member ECP bench led by Chief Election Commi­ssioner Sikandar Sultan Raja. The bench deliberated on several petitions urging the KP Assembly speaker to perform the oath-taking ceremony for members allocated reserved seats for women. “Under Article 17 of the Constitution, every citizen has the right to vote to participate in the governance of the country through their chosen representatives,” the

Sindh Inspector General of Police (IGP) Ghulam Nabi Memon took notice after videos of aerial firing allegedly by the son of a high-ranking Karachi police official surfaced on Thursday. Videos shared on social media allegedly showed the son of Karachi East Deputy Inspector General of Police Azfar Mahesar firing a pistol and rifles into the air while travelling in a luxury car. In one such video, policemen were also purportedly visible. Footage of the alleged incidents went viral on social media. A statement issued today from the Sindh police said IGP Memon ordered an inquiry against the DIG East and directed Karachi’s additional IGP to carry out the investigation. The statement added that departmental action would be initiated upon the inquiry’s completion. It said the investigation would also probe whether the weapons used in the incident were officially issued or not. “No one will be allowed to spread fear and chaos like this,” IGP Memon vowed. Meanwhile, DIG Mahesar

Apex court order only applies to prisoners liable for release before Eid http://dlvr.it/T4kgqR

British High Commissioner to Pakistan Jane Marriott talks to PPP leaders Faryal Talpur and Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari at Bilawal House on Wednesday.—PPI KARACHI: British High Commissioner to Pakistan Jane Marriott on Wednesday spent a busy day in Karachi as she met political leaders and government officials and discussed with them matters of mutual interest, bilateral relations and their role to bring Pakistan out of recent challenges being. The top British diplomat in Pakistan first drove to Bilawal House where she met with Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) women wing president Faryal Talpur and Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari. Deputy High Commissioner Sarah Mooney and Deputy Political Counsellor Mark Bailey accompanied the British high commissioner. A brief statement issued by the Bilawal House after the meeting said that Sindh Local Government Minister Saeed Ghani and Sindh Irrigation Minister Jam Khan Shoro were also present on the occasion. “The meeting focused on dis

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court on Wednesday wondered why the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) was probing former prime minister Imran Khan and foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi for not returning the diplomatic cipher, while sparing other recipients who did the same. Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb — a member of the IHC division bench headed by Chief Justice Aamer Farooq — made the observation during the hearing of appeals filed by Mr Khan and Mr Qureshi against their conviction in the cipher case. Defence counsel Barrister Salman Safdar argued that the confidential diplomatic cable, at the heart of the cipher trial against the two PTI leaders, was sent to eight top offices, including the president, PM’s principal secretary, foreign secretary, army chief, director general of Inter-Services Intelligence, chief justice of Pakistan and cabinet secretary. Justice Aurangzeb wonders why ‘pick and choose’ approach applied, other recipients of cipher not issued notices by

QUETTA: A Levies Risaldar was martyred, and three other soldiers were seriously injured in an exchange of fire with an alleged criminal gang, also involved in terrorism in Pishin district on Wednesday. Security forces launched an operation after the firing incident and arrested two dozen suspects, including proclaimed offenders, and recovered stolen items, including motorcycles and illegal arms. Officials said the encounter between Levies Force personnel and suspects in the Killi Manzari area of Pishin left four Levies officials injured. They added that Levies Force rushed to the site soon after receiving information about the fire exchange and shifted the injured to the district hospital in Pishin, where one of the Levies officials died during treatment, while the other three were shifted to the Civil Hospital in Quetta. “Levies Force arrested 24 suspected criminals who were also involved in terrorist activities,” Deputy Commissioner Pishin Capt (retd) Jumma Dad Mandok

A day after six people, including five Chinese nationals, were killed in a suicide bombing in Bisham, Information Minister Ataullah Tarar said that a joint investigation team (JIT) would be formed to investigate the incident. On Tuesday, six people, including Chinese nationals working on the Dasu dam project, perished in a suicide bombing in Shangla District’s Bisham when a suicide bomber rammed into the bus transporting the Chinese staff. The attack prompted China to demand a thorough probe into the deadly blast and security for its citizens. In response, Islamabad announced a swift probe to hold the “perpetrators and accomplices” accountable. According to police, the bus was travelling from Islamabad to Kohistan when it came under the attack on Karakoram Highway. “It was a suicide attack on the Chinese convoy and an explosive-laden vehicle approaching from Kohistan hit the bus,” Bisham Sub Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Juma Rehman told Dawn. SDPO Rehman said that followin

Army chief among top security, government officials in attendance http://dlvr.it/T4gyB2

Move comes just days after SC deemed removal of ex-IHC Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui as illegal http://dlvr.it/T4gbbx

ISLAMABAD: Meta — the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp — has been asked to lift a ban on the use of the Arabic word shaheed (meaning martyr) on its platforms, though the restrictions on describing “terrorists” as such will continue. Meta’s Oversight Board, which is funded by Meta but operates independently, said in its advisory opinion that the policy to refer the term shaheed to individuals designated under its dangerous organisations and individuals policy disproportionately restricts free expression. The board has suggested that Meta’s current policy was unnecessary, and that the company should end this blanket ban. The ruling comes after years of criticism of the company’s handling of content involving the Middle East, including in a 2021 study Meta itself commissioned that found its approach had an “adverse human rights impact” on Pales­tinians and other Arabic-speaking users of its services. Those criticisms have escalated since the onset of hostilit

ISLAMABAD: A Joint Investiga­tion Team (JIT), which was formed to probe a data leak from the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra), has told the Interior Ministry that the particulars of as many as 2.7 million citizens had been compromised between 2019 and 2023. Sources told Dawn the JIT, headed by a senior officer of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and comprising representatives from various intelligence agencies, had completed its probe and subsequently submitted a report to the ministry. The JIT found that Nadra offices in Karachi, Multan and Peshawar were allegedly involved in the data leak and recommended action against various officials. Sources said that, according to the report, there was evidence of Nadra data surfacing in Argentina and Romania. JIT submits report on Nadra data leak to interior ministry A source said Nadra has already taken numerous steps to deliver its services in an improved manner, ensuring the optimal security of its

QUETTA: The Zamindar Action Committee of Balochistan has expressed concern over a reduction in power supply hours to all agriculture feeders resulting in insufficient water supply for livestock and crops, and termed it an attempt to destroy the agriculture sector of the province. Committee’s chairman Malik Nasir Ahmad Shahwani and general secretary Haji Abdul Rahman Bazai said on Monday that the Quetta Electric Supply Company (Qesco) had decided to cut power supply hours for the agriculture sector to three hours instead of ending the prolonged loadshedding which has already broken the back of the people affiliated with the agriculture sector in the province. “The power supply to agriculture feeders is reduced to three hours from March 2, which is a great injustice to the people of Balochistan who are already facing a serious financial crisis,” they said. They said that an agreement was signed with the previous government three months ago to increase power supply hours for B

Kakar took oath earlier this month as the acting chief justice of the Balochistan High Court http://dlvr.it/T4cygw

Establishes committee to probe reasons behind track and trace system's failure http://dlvr.it/T4cyFz

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif while taking notice of delays in the implementation of Trace and Track System (TTS) in tobacco, sugar, cement and fertilizer industries on Monday ordered immediate action against tax defaulters and evaders. The premier issued directives to the authorities concerned to form a committee to identify the hurdles in the implementation of TTS and those involved in tax theft within seven days. A statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Off­i­ce (PMO) stated that the meeting was also attended by federal ministers Muh­a­mmad Aurangzeb and Ahad Cheema, Planning Commission Deputy Chai­rman Jehanzaib Khan, FBR Chairman Malik Amjad Zubair Tiwana and other senior officials. The prime minister asked the officials about the reasons for the delay and said the system should have been made functional in major industries in the last two years. Says track and trace should have been enabled in large industries two years ago He said all legal im

PESHAWAR: More than a dozen candidates belonging to the main opposition parties in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, who were notified by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on reserved seats, have urged the Peshawar High Court (PHC) to ensure they are administered oath of office before the upcoming Senate elections. Six women MPAs-elect of the JUI-F on Monday filed a writ petition asking the PHC to declare the non-administration of oath to them “illegal, unlawful and unconstitutional”, while eight returned candidates of the PML-N and PPP challenged the same in a joint petition. As the PPP had also filed a similar petition last Friday, the PHC is expected to club all the petitions together at its hearing, scheduled for today (Tuesday). The petitions have been filed after the KP Assembly Secretariat declined to hold the sitting, despite an order issued by the governor to convene a session on March 22. On behalf of JUI-F MPAs-elect Aiman Jalil, Madina Gul, Rabia Shaheen, Neelofar Beg

The Supreme Court on Monday sought details of the military trials of civilians for their alleged involvement in the violent events of May 9. A six-member bench — led by Justice Aminuddin Khan and including Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Syed Azhar Hasan Rizvi, Justice Shahid Waheed, Justice Musarrat Hilali and Justice Irfan Saadat Khan — heard a set of intra-court appeals (ICAs) against its Oct 23 unanimous ruling nullifying the military trials of civilians. The case pertains to the trial of 103 civilians for their alleged role in attacks on army installations during the riots that followed ex-premier Imran Khan’s arrest on May 9 last year. In a widely praised ruling last year, a five-member SC bench — comprising Justices Ijazul Ahsan, Munib Akhtar, Yahya Afridi, Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi and Ayesha Malik — had unanimously declared that trying the accused civilians in military courts was ultra vires the Constitution. The apex court had declared that the accused wou