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28th Amendment can be introduced if there is consensus: Sanaullah

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Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah on Monday said that a 28th Constitutional Amendment, dealing with “public issues”, could be introduced if there is political consensus. Last week, President Asif Ali Zardari gave his assent to the contentious 27th Constitutional Amendment, enacting it into law. Speaking to reporters in Chiniot, the PM’s aide said that the amendment would deal with “public issues, such as local bodies, population, the National Finance Commission … health-related issues”. “There is a need to review how we can better serve the people according to the present needs of the provinces and the Centre,” Sanaullah stated. “This is being debated and if there is any consensus, then we can bring the 28th Amendment forward,” said the PML-N leader. Referring to the recent resignations by judges of the Supreme Court and LHC, the PM’s aide said that “those who stepped down did so due to their personal motives”. He maintained that the parliament ha...
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The unassailable uptake of digitalisation

Pakistan, and its financial services industry, suffers from a reputation problem when it comes to digitalisation on the customer end. Anecdotally, it often seems that people aren’t too satisfied with the products and user experience, especially in areas like onboarding, dispute resolution, and overall seamlessness. Yet, one look at the payments report suggests none of it is really deterring the uptake. Almost every data point exhibits a high growth trajectory, even if people may not appreciate its extent at times. As of FY25, Pakistan boasts more than 123 million registered digital platform users across mobile, internet, branchless and other wallets . For context, that’s slightly more than half of all registered deposit-taking accounts in the country. This is not a mean feat by any stretch of the imagination, because not too long ago, Pakistan ranked at the bottom of most rankings. Usage has been even more explosive, with mobile banking alone processing a throughput of Rs83.2 trillio...
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Maiden session of 11th National Finance Commission delayed again

• Move comes amid downward revision in growth forecast to 3.5pc for current fiscal • Calls from IMF, armed forces, others to re-balance transfer of resources to provinces go unheeded • Centre ‘backs off’ from changes to award after deal with PPP ISLAMABAD: The inaugural session of the National Finance Commission (NFC), constituted three months ago, is not in sight, as the proposed date of Nov 18 has also been postponed amid a downward revision in the economic growth forecast by up to 0.7 per cent to 3.5pc for the current fiscal year. Informed sources said told Dawn that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif wanted to set the ball rolling at the political level on key Centre-provincial matters before opening the debate for financial rearrangements at the technically-constitutional forum of NFC. The 11th NFC was constituted on Aug 22 to give a fresh award for the sharing of federal divisible resources among the Centre and the provinces. The first meeting was originally called for Aug 27 ...
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Pilgrims with certain diseases, health conditions to be barred from performing Haj in 2026

The Saudi government has imposed a restriction on pilgrims with certain health conditions, including chronic and infectious diseases, from performing Haj next year, according to a notice on the Ministry of Religious Affairs website. The notice, citing the Saudi health ministry, lists organ failure such as kidney diseases requiring dialysis, heart diseases in cases where patients are not capable of even slight exertion, chronic lung disease with patients requiring intermittent or continuous oxygen and liver failure or liver cirrhosis as conditions that do not meet the criteria for Haj. The list also includes those suffering from neurological or cognitive disorders that affect memory, dementia and severe physical disability. Moreover, aged individuals with Alzheimer’s or suffering from tremors, as well as pregnant women in their last trimester or with complications, would also face restrictions. Furthermore, those with infectious diseases that pose a risk to others in large gathering...
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Palestinians cautioned against ‘displacement networks’

GAZA STRIP: Palestinians, especially those in the Gaza Strip, must be wary of networks that se­­­­ek to remove them from their homes in line with Israeli interests, the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has warned. The warning came a day after 153 Palestinians, who left Gaza without knowing their final destination and without proper paperwork, arrived in South Africa on board a flight from Kenya on Fri­day and were held up for 12 hours as authorities investigated the issue. South Africa gave the war-ravaged Palestinians 90-day visas, Al Jazeera reported. The Palestinian ministry on Saturday expressed “deep appreciation” for the support from the South African authorities and people. The Palestinian embassy in Pretoria said it is working to assist the travellers who have “endured over two years of Israeli genocidal war, killing, displacement, and destruction”. Gaza health ministry receives 15 more bodies But it warned that companies, unofficial entities and...
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Govt keeps petrol price unchanged, hikes high-speed diesel by Rs6

The federal government on Saturday kept the price of petrol unchanged, but increased the price of high-speed diesel by Rs6 per litre for the next fortnight. According to a notification from the Finance Division, the new HSD price is Rs284.44 per litre. The prices will come into effect on November 16. “The government has revised the prices of the petroleum products following input from the Oil & Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) and the relevant ministries.” Most of the transport sec­tor runs on HSD and its price is considered inflationary as it is mostly used in heavy transport vehicles, trains and agricultural engines like trucks, buses, tractors, tube-wells and threshers and particularly adds to the prices of vegetables and other eatables. Petrol is primarily used in private transport, small vehicles, rickshaws, and two-wheelers, and directly impacts the budgets of the middle and lower-middle classes. The government charges about Rs99 per litre on both petrol and diesel. ...
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Ethiopia confirms outbreak of deadly Marburg virus: Africa CDC

Ethiopia has confirmed an outbreak of the deadly Marburg virus in the south of the country, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said on Saturday. The Marburg virus is one of the deadliest known pathogens. Like Ebola, it causes severe bleeding, fever, vomiting and diarrhoea and has a 21-day incubation period. Also like Ebola, it is transmitted via contact with bodily fluids and has a fatality rate of between 25 and 80 percent. The head of the World Health Organization, Ethiopia’s Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, confirmed on Friday that at least nine cases had been detected in southern Ethiopia, two days after Africa CDC was alerted to a suspected haemorrhagic virus in the region. “Marburg virus disease (MVD) has been confirmed by the National Reference Laboratory (in Ethiopia),” Africa CDC said. “Further epidemiological investigations and laboratory analyses are underway and the virus strain detected shows similarities to those previously identified in Ea...
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