RjNews

Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori on Thursday assured the parents of a boy missing since last week that he would be recovered soon as the Karachi police continued their investigation of a recent string of child kidnappings. Three children were recently kidnapped from the city, which prompted the Sindh chief minister and home minister to take notice and order the police to take practical measures for their immediate recovery. Two children were abducted by a couple riding a motorcycle in Garden on Tuesday while a third one was kidnapped from North Karachi on January 7 for whose release, ransom has reportedly been demanded from the family. South Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Syed Asad Raza had told Dawn.com that two children — five-year-old Aliyan, aka Ali, and six-year-old Ali Raza — were playing on Siddique Wahab Road in Garden West when a couple riding a motorcycle took them away on Tuesday around 1:30pm. Meanwhile, the third child, seven-year-old Mohammed Sarim, has been ...

ISLAMABAD: Both the Foreign Office and military, on Wednesday, rebuked statements by Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Army Chief Gen Upendra Dwivedi as “politically motivated” and “fallacious”, warning that such rhetoric poses a serious threat to regional peace and stability. The FO’s sharp response underscored the irony of India’s accusations, given its own well-documented history of state-sponsored terrorism and subversive activities on foreign soils. “Instead of levelling baseless allegations against others, India must introspect and address its own documented involvement in orchestrating targeted assassinations, acts of subversion, and state-sponsored terrorism in foreign territories,” the FO statement noted. In remarks delivered during the 9th Armed Forces Veterans’ Day celebrations at Akhnoor in India-held Jammu, Mr Singh asserted, “Land of PoK (a reference to Azad Jammu and Kashmir) is being used to run dangerous and treacherous business of terrorism. … Pakistan ...

The federal government on Wednesday hiked the petrol price by Rs3.47 per litre and that of high-speed diesel (HSD) by Rs2.61 per litre for the next fortnight. The new petrol price is Rs256.13 per litre and that of HSD is Rs260.95. “Ogra has worked out the consumer prices of petroleum products in view of fluctuations in international market in the last fortnight,” said a press release from the Finance Division. It did not mention changes in the prices of kerosene and light diesel oil. Informed sources had earlier said the ex-depot petrol price was estimated to go up by Rs5-6 per litre depending on the final calculation. Kerosene and diesel prices were expected to rise by about Rs3 and 2 per litre, respectively. The estimates for higher prices of petroleum products stemmed after bulls retur­ned to the international market last week following US President-elect Donald Tru­m­p’s threats of strict sanctions on Russian oil and energy exports. The Brent prices have risen by up to $1-2...

KURRAM: A convoy of 25 trucks carrying essential supplies arrived in Parachinar on Tuesday, marking the second such delivery since the partial reopening of the Thall-Parachinar road last week. The prolonged closure of the road after deadly clashes left residents struggling for basic necessities and facing severe hardships. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif informed federal cabinet members that the situation in Kurram had shown significant improvement, with some security pickets removed and the supply of essential items restored. “All stakeholders will maintain peace,” he said, adding that such incidents would never happen again. “Bunkers, which were once established, have been demolished,” he said, adding that food and other supplies were being delivered to the residents of the district. Kurram Deputy Commissioner Ashfaq Ahmed told Dawn the authorities were taking steps to provide relief to the district. “Twenty-five trucks have successfully reached Parachinar after dep...

The federal cabinet on Tuesday approved the power division’s recommendation to revise the negotiated settlement agreements with 14 independent power producers (IPPs) aimed at reducing electricity costs and saving Rs1.4 trillion for the national exchequer. In October, the government prematurely terminated power purchase agreements with five of the oldest IPPs with the move projected to save Rs411 billion. This was followed by settlement agreements in December with eight IPPs running on bagasse, aiming to reduce electricity tariffs and save around Rs240bn for the national exchequer. The government has undertaken extensive power sector reforms, including suspending gas supply to captive power plants, fast-tracking the Competitive Trading Bilateral Contract Markets and renegotiating contracts with IPPs. These steps aim to curb the growth of circular debt in the power sector and reduce the burden of capacity payments on the government and consumers. A meeting of the federal cabinet ...

SRINAGAR: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a strategic Himalayan road tunnel on Monday, pushing all-weather access northwards towards contested high-altitude border zones with China and Pakistan. The Z-Morh or Sonmarg tunnel, stretching 6.4km beneath a treacherous mountain pass cut off by snow for between four to six months a year, is part of a wider infrastructure drive in border zones. It helps connect India-held Kashmir with Ladakh, acting as a stepping stone in opening the Srinagar-Leh Highway all year round. “With the opening of the tunnel here, connectivity will significantly improve,” Modi said, wrapped in a jacket from the freezing cold after cutting the ribbon on the $313 million project that has taken a decade to construct. India and China, the world’s two most populous nations, are intense rivals competing for strategic influence across South Asia, and their 3,500km shared frontier has been a perennial source of tension. Their troops clashed in 2020, killi...