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LAHORE: A newborn was recovered from a plot and hospitalised with some health complications on Thursday. A passerby had spotted the crying baby at Ashiana Road and alerted the police. A police official said a team reached the site along with Rescue 1122 ambulance and shifted the baby to the hospital after providing first aid. The condition of the baby was stated to be stable. Police are looking into the matter. Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2025 from The Dawn News - Home https://ift.tt/Xmtwap5

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...

The death toll in the Los Angeles wildfires rose to 24 on Sunday, as the LA County coroner’s office said it is investigating at least two dozen deaths related to the two massive wildfires ravaging southern California. Officials said 16 deaths were attributed to the Eaton fire and eight were linked to the Palisades fire. Those numbers are expected to rise, as the medical examiner said they cannot confirm human remains until they are processed at their facility. More than 150,000 residents have been evacuated, with another 87,000 in evacuation warning zones. More than 12,000 homes and businesses have been burned to the ground, with the wildfires so far scorching over 155 square kilometres. “Initial aerial assessments estimate 5,316 structures for the Palisades Fire and over 7,000 structures destroyed from the Eaton Fire,” the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said in a statement. “These initial numbers make the Eaton and Palisades fires likely the seco...

PESHAWAR: Nine terrorists were killed in two encounters with security forces in North Waziristan district on Sunday, the military’s media wing said. The terrorists, according to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), were killed during intelligence-based operations (IBO). Security forces effectively engaged the terrorists’ hideout killing six of them while two others were arrested in the Dosalli area. The other IBO was carried out in the Esham area, it said, adding that three terrorists were killed while two others injured in the gunfight. Security forces recovered weapons and ammunition from the deceased who, acco­rding to the ISPR, remained involved in numerous terrorist activities against security forces besides killing innocent civilians. Militants focusing their activities in KP’s southern districts, security briefing told The statement read that sanitisation operations were being conducted to eliminate any other outlaws found in the area, as th...

Joshua Zirkzee scored the winning penalty for 10-man Manchester United against Arsenal after their hectic FA Cup third-round tie finished 1-1 after extra time at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday. Arsenal’s Kai Havertz was the only one of the first four penalty takers to miss, denied by a brilliant stop from Altay Bayindir before Zirkzee, booed off in a defeat by Newcastle United last month, stepped up to win the shootout 5-3. After an underwhelming first half, United took the lead in the 52nd minute through Bruno Fernandes’ curling effort from just inside the box after a great run by Alejandro Garnacho. The game turned on its head 10 minutes later though, as United’s Diogo Dalot already booked for a wild challenge on Myles Lewis-Skelly received a second yellow card for a reckless tackle on Mikel Merino. Two minutes later, Bayindir’s poor attempted punch fell at the feet of Gabriel, whose shot took a wicked deflection off Matthijs de Ligt and in to put the Gunners in charge of the tie...

GUJRAT: At least six people lost their lives and seven others sustained inj­uries when the roofs of two houses collapsed following a fire caused by explosive materials in Kot Phuley Shah village of Mandi Bahauddin on Saturday. According to rescue and police officials, the tragedy unfolded at the house of Khalid Khokhar, who was reportedly involved in manufacturing fireworks for weddings and celebrations in the area . The stored explosive materials ignited during the night while the family was asleep, triggering a massive explosion. The blast caused the roof of Mr Khokhar’s house to collapse, with debris also causing the roof of a neighbouring house to cave in. The deceased were identified as Sameera Bibi (40), Haram Fatima (7), Imran (41), Rimsha Bibi (39), Iqra Bibi (34), and Pakeeza (22). The injured include Farhan Khalid (27), Hashim Ali (15), Raza Bibi (30), Mohammad Qasim (5), Mohammad Musa (3), Arooj Fatima (5) and Ayesha Fatima (10). The incident occurred in the jurisdiction...

AS much mistrust marks Pakistan’s relations with the Afghan Taliban, Kabul’s rulers are reaching out to regional states in order to break out from their isolation and deepen economic ties. While no one has formally recognised the Taliban regime, states are doing business with Kabul just short of recognition. In a significant development, the Taliban foreign minister met the Indian foreign secretary in Dubai recently, with the Afghan side describing India as a “significant regional and economic partner.” Trade relations were apparently the key area of discussion. It should be remembered that India was a major player in Afghanistan before the 2021 Taliban takeover. According to media reports, New Delhi had pumped $3bn into Afghanistan for ‘reconstruction’ projects, and the erstwhile Northern Alliance members had warm relations with India. The Indians have reacted cautiously with the Taliban, but matters are proceeding nonetheless. The Taliban also maintain significant links with C...

It was, by many measures, a trial like New York had definitely seen before — a panel of citizen jurors finding a real estate mogul guilty of business fraud. But it was anything but ordinary because when it comes to Donald Trump, the average routinely turns surreal. His criminal sentencing after a conviction on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records caps a roller coaster of delays and legal proceedings that began when the Republican was a former president and ended on Friday just 10 days before he retakes the White House. What once had the potential to be one of the more dramatic sentencings in modern United States history ended with a tone of banality — via video chat, with Trump calling in from Florida, showing his age by leaning into the camera. Ultimately, Trump’s re-election to lead the nation’s highest office spared him potential prison time, leaving him a convicted felon in name only. He was ever-defiant as dozens of journalists, court staffers, the prosecution ...

Exactly five years after the Covid-19 pandemic upended the world, concerns have once again risen over the spread of a flu-like virus in China and other neighbouring countries. Beijing has recently reported a surge in cases of the human metapneumovirus or HMPV, a respiratory infection, with the government attributing it to a seasonal spike. Social media is abuzz with images of hospitals overrun with masked patients. But medical experts say the situation is different and less worrisome this time. Here’s what we know of the virus so far. What is HMPV? According to Dr Fyezah Jehan, head of Paediatrics and Child Health at the Aga Khan University, HMPV is known to cause upper respiratory tract infections and has flu-like symptoms such as cough, nasal blockade, wheezing, and fever. However, it could increase risks or lead to serious complications such as pneumonia among the elderly, young children, and immunocompromised people. She explained that HMPV was less severe. “We are only measu...

• Power minister stresses need for bold decisions to address inefficiencies • Says govt has right to terminate projects that haven’t reached financial close • Competitive electricity market to be operationalised in March ISLAMABAD: Claiming over Rs1.1 trillion in savings in revised contracts with existing independent power producers (IPPs), the government on Thursday announced a series of major decisions for reducing electricity rates, including the rejection of about 10,000MW of upcoming IPPs for being expensive and unaffordable. Speaking at a seminar on hydroelectric power in Islamabad, Power Minister Awais Leghari emphasised the need for bold decisions to address inefficiencies in the energy sector. He criticised K-Electric’s proposal for a Rs10.5 per unit tariff increase over the next seven years and ruled out power generation from projects such as the $14 billion Diamer-Bhasha Dam, citing their high costs to consumers. The minister also hinted at changing the taxation struct...

Twelve miners were trapped on Thursday after an explosion caused a coal mine outside of Quetta to collapse, authorities said. Speaking to Dawn.com , Chief Mines Officer Abdul Ghani Baloch said that a gas explosion caused a coal mine in the Sanjdi area to collapse from the inside. “An operation has been launched to extract the miners. Efforts are being made to pull all the miners out alive,” he said. After three hours, Baloch provided an update to Dawn.com stating that no miner had been pulled out, but efforts to extricate them were ongoing. Meanwhile, in an official statement, Balochistan government spokesperson Shahid Rind acknowledged the collapse and said that rescue teams had arrived at the site. “There are reports of twelve workers being trapped in the mine,” Rind added. Balochistan Minister for Mining and Minerals Mir Shoaib Noshirwani ordered Chief Mines Officer Baloch to send two more teams to participate in rescue operations. “If prevailing mining procedures were violat...

IT is unfortunate that, instead of taking ownership of important decisions, our officials usually seem keener to make even the good ones appear to be the result of some unavoidable obligation to the country’s foreign creditors. This constant shifting of responsibility, or rather, blame, to external stakeholders has meant even necessary changes in state-level policy come to be seen publicly as the result of interference by unforgiving and unsympathetic foreign lenders rather than necessary steps that must be taken in the country’s best interests. Take, for example, the finance minister, who, in a recent press conference on government rightsizing , seemed to be at pains to explain that the decision to reduce the size of our arguably bloated government had to be taken because of structural benchmarks set by the IMF. Though the minister admitted that the measure was also in Pakistan’s best interests, one wonders why it was made to sound like an IMF prescription rather than a willingly em...

A protest sit-in against the power crisis in Hunza district’s Aliabad area came to an end on Wednesday with the Karakoram Highway (KKH) restored for traffic as the government accepted the locals’ demands. Protests had erupted in several parts of Gilgit-Baltistan on Friday as residents decried over up to 22 hours of daily power outages amid harsh winter conditions and snowfall. The sit-in in the Aliabad area — the district headquarters of Hunza — caused difficulties for locals and travellers, with heavy traffic remaining suspended and an alternative route open only for light traffic. Vehicles loaded with goods imported from China via Khunjerab Pass also remained stranded at the protest venue. A statement issued today by GB government spokesperson Faizullah Faraq said that Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political and Public Affairs Rana Sanaullah chaired a meeting in Islamabad today, attended by the GB chief minister and chief secretary as well, that accepted the 14 demands of the ...

SOMETHING is afoot in Islamabad, but few seem willing to venture a guess about what is really going on. It is curious that both the PTI and the government seem much more elastic than at any point since the former’s banishment from the corridors of power. Officially, the two are engaged in negotiations ; however, there has been little by way of tangible progress in their talks, with matters still stuck on what the PTI’s formal demands are and the PTI’s insistence on unrestricted access to its incarcerated founder-leader. Meanwhile, there has been a constant cycle of speculation and denial about back-channel talks between the PTI and the military establishment. Whatever the truth of those may be, it is widely understood that no talks can progress unless there is some sort of understanding between the two, especially given the latter’s expanded involvement in running the affairs of the state. The distrust between the PTI and the incumbent regime has grown into a chasm over the last few...

• Convoy laden with essentials stranded in Thall after attack on DC • Three held for attack; as many elders detained for spurning peace accord KURRAM: The people of Parachinar spent another day waiting for the relief convoy — currently stalled in Thall, on the border of Kurram district — as talks between the government and protesters to ensure safe passage for the vehicles remained inconclusive. After months of violence that killed more than 130 people , a peace agreement was signed between the warring sides on Jan 1. But despite a lull in fighting, the route connecting Parachinar with the rest of the province remains blocked. On Saturday, a government convoy came under attack near the Bagan area, in which the deputy commissioner of Kurram also sustained injuries. Since then, the convoy has been stranded. In response to the attack, the government rounded up three suspects who were nominated in the FIR, in addition to three elders who refused to sign the peace agreement to end th...

• PTI negotiators not satisfied after meeting party chief in jail, demand ‘unmonitored access’ • Barrister Gohar plays down need to submit demands in writing, asks govt to move forward • PTI founder moves court against denial of basic facilities by jail admin ISLAMABAD: Amid no headway in talks between the government and the opposition, the sister of PTI founder Imran Khan on Tuesday claimed that the former prime minister was offered a deal by the authorities regarding his transfer from Adiala jail in Rawalpindi to his residence in Banigala. After a meeting with Imran Khan in jail, Aleema Khan told media persons outside the prison that her brother received several offers through Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur. She claimed that her brother was continuously getting such offers with a suggestion that he should remain silent, but asked how he could agree to house arrest after spending so much time in jail. Last week, both the government and the PTI denied that any...

Three soldiers were martyred and 19 terrorists were killed in three separate engagements in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the military’s media wing said on Tuesday. A statement from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that in the first instance, eight terrorists were “sent to hell” after an intelligence-based operation (IBO) was conducted in Peshawar’s Matani area, where the terrorists were engaged at the location. Eight more were neutralised in an IBO in Mohmand district’s general area of Baizai and three more in Karak district, the ISPR said. It added the operations were conducted between Monday and Tuesday. The ISPR said that Lance Havaldar Abbas Ali, 38, resident of Ghizer district; Naik Muhammad Nazir, 37, resident of Skardu district and Naik Muhammad Usman, 37, resident of Attock district, “fought gallantly” during the intense exchanges of fire and were martyred. Sanitisation operations were being conducted to eliminate any other terrorists, the statementsaid. “Security f...

DR Manmohan Singh, who passed away at 92 last week, will be remembered in contrarian ways. As finance minister and as prime minister, he condemned ‘left wing extremism’ as the biggest internal security threat to India. The sahukar-backed right wing agreed. Consequently, too many leftist intellectuals and academics are in jail over unfounded claims that they posed a threat to Indian democracy. By the time it was Singh’s turn to hand over the baton to Narendra Modi, which he grudged but refused to see as a logical outcome of his economic policies, Singh was warning that Hindutva posed the real threat to India. In the end, it was too late to heed the corrected warning. The threat to Indian democracy was either posed by the left or by the right. It couldn’t be coming from both, unless they had ganged up as they did self-servingly against Indira Gandhi’s brief recourse to emergency. Dr Singh is thus hailed as India’s economic Prometheus, after the Greek legend who defied the Olympian...