RjNews

ISLAMABAD: The government on Friday reduced the prices of all petroleum products by up to Rs5.31 per litre with immediate effect for the next fortnight ending March 15. On the other hand, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) notified a decrease in the price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) by Rs6.15 per kg for March. In a late-night an­­nouncement, the Ministry of Finance said Ogra had reviewed and adjusted prices for petroleum products in view of the fluctuations in the international market. The ex-depot price of high-speed diesel (HSD) was decreased by Rs5.31 (2 per cent) to Rs258.64 per litre for the next fortnight from Rs263.95. Most of the transport sector runs on HSD. Its price is considered inflationary as it is mostly used in heavy transport vehicles like trains, trucks, buses, tractors, tube wells and threshers and particularly adds to the prices of vegetables and other eatables. Transport fares seldom come down despite lower diesel rates. The ex-depot petrol price...

Four people, including a 10-year-old, were killed, while one was injured in three separate accidents across Karachi, police said on Friday. Rules restricting the movement of heavy vehicles were recently implemented in the metropolis amid rising traffic accidents involving dumpers and tankers and protests over the deaths of citizens. Earlier this month, the provincial government banned the entry of heavy vehicles into the city during the daytime, only allowing them to operate from 11pm to 6am. Exemptions, however, were granted to trucks carrying water, petroleum products, medicines, meat and other essential goods. The Sindh government has also made it mandatory for all heavy vehicles in Karachi to have a physical fitness certificate amid the rising number of traffic accidents involving dumper trucks. According to Aziz Bhatti police Station House Officer (SHO) Saeed Ahmed Dharejo, a man was killed, and his friend was injured when a water tanker hit them on main University Road ne...

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday said that Pakistan, in collaboration with China, will send its first space manned mission to China’s space station. Addressing a ceremony in Islamabad after witnessing the exchange of a cooperation agreement between Pakistan’s Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (Suparco) and China Manned Space Agency (CMSA), the prime minister said that this was yet another wonderful gesture from the Chinese government to further deepen bilateral cooperation in this field. He emphasised that under the “dynamic leadership” of Chinese President Xi Jinping, “Not only is this programme underway speedily … but also CPEC, which has really transformed Pakistan’s economic conditions.” PM Shehbaz highlighted that Pakistan’s participation in the China Space Station (CSS) programme reflected the deep-rooted ties between the two countries and would contribute to mutual knowledge-sharing and the broader vision of peaceful space exploration. ...

LONDON: Alarm is rising over Washington’s potential withdrawal from global institutions, including the Inter­national Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB), with the no-show of US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent at G20 meetings adding to anxiety. So what would happen if Washington pulls out from these two institutions? To understand this, one has to go back in time, as both institutions were formed in the ashes of the Second World War to encourage global integration and forestall future wars. The IMF is often called a lender of last resort for countries in trouble. A swathe of emerging market countries rely heavily on the IMF: Argentina could not pay government workers without it, and others from Senegal to Sri Lanka also currently count on its cash. Pakistan, of course, has participated in more than 20 IMF programmes since 1958, including the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and Extended Credit Facility (ECF), Standby Arrangements (SBA) and one Structural Adjustment Facility Com...

Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Inspector General of Police (IGP) Rana Abdul Jabbar on Thursday ordered the arrest of a policeman booked for the alleged sexual harassment of a British-Kashmiri woman and constituted a team of senior officers to conduct a transparent investigation into the allegations. According to a statement by the police department spokesperson, the IGP directed Poonch Deputy Inspector General of Police Chaudhry Sajjad to ensure a fair inquiry and personally oversee the case to its logical conclusion. However, Thothal Station House Officer Chaudhry Imran Ahmed, who was suspended on Tuesday, had already obtained pre-arrest bail from the district court earlier today and subsequently went into hiding The IGP ordered the police to locate and detain him without delay, the spokesperson said. Demand of judicial inquiry The woman rejected the police inquiry committee, insisting on a judicial investigation by a high court judge. At a press conference in Mirpur, accompanied...

THE gap is huge, to say the least. And those who own Pakistani banks, and the bankers who work for them, do not seem to be cognisant of — let alone prepared for — the challenges being unleashed by rapid tech disruptions led by the emergence of AI. Not that they do not see what is coming — it is just that the banking model that makes them colossal profits through risk-free lending to the sovereign or a few scores of large corporations has made them complacent. But for how long can they survive by sticking to this model, and refusing to adjust to new socioeconomic realities? While industry leaders focused on the massive tax burden of 54pc on the banks and the billions of rupees taken from them by the FBR in the name of windfall levy at the recent Pakistan Banking Summit in Karachi, others kept reminding them how destructive it could be for the banking industry to delay the adoption of digital technology and AI, as well as investments in human resource, infrastructure, and product develo...

A Lahore sessions court sentenced a man to death on Wednesday for committing blasphemy against the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him), other Islamic figures and religious rituals. The first information report (FIR) — a copy of which is available with Dawn.com — of the case was filed at the Shahdara Town police station on September 29, 2020, by a member of the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan party under Sections 295A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and 295C (use of derogatory remarks, etc, in respect of the Holy Prophet [PBUH]) of the Pakistan Penal Code. “I was informed that for the past several months [the convict] … has been mocking the Holy Prophet [PBUH] and burning religious symbols and images of religious sites,” the FIR said. “When I met the man, he used blasphemous words in my presence.” The FIR said the man also disrespected Islamic rituals and obligations. According to the court o...

WASHINGTON: Pakistan and New York City officials are set to begin negotiations regarding the future of the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan, after the city’s mayor anno­unced the early termination of an agreement that repurposed the prime property into a shelter for refugees . The hotel, which opened in 1924, is named after former US President Theodore Roosevelt. It is located next to the Grand Central Terminal, the main train station in the Big Apple. In 2023, Pakistan Interna­tional Airlines (PIA) — which owns the iconic property —signed a three-year lease with the city, worth around $220 million. Under the lease, the city was to have control of the hotel until June 2026, after which it would be returned to PIA. The arrangement was initially made to accommodate the increasing number of migrants arriving in New York due to the humanitarian crisis at the US-Mexico border. Mayor Eric Adams says facility housing migrants to close in June this year; authorities set to hold talks with Pa...

Several parts of Karachi on Tuesday witnessed serious traffic, law and order issues mainly due to protests against ongoing work on water and power infrastructure with authorities fearing an escalation in public anger, according to officials. Citizens are likely to suffer a water crisis till Friday mainly due to the disruption of the water line on University Road near old Sabzi Mandi during ongoing construction activity for the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system. Residents of the metropolis faced difficulty in reaching their homes as both tracks of several roads in various areas were blocked by protesters, forcing traffic authorities to divert traffic on alternative routes where slow movement of vehicles was reported, as per updates from the Karachi Traffic Police (KTP). According to a statement from the KTP spokesperson, there were several protests and sit-ins on main roads across the city. Barring main MA Jinnah Road where retired employees of Karachi Metropolitan Corporation held demo...

QUETTA: Eight people, including six security personnel, were injured in a bomb attack on a truck convoy guarding the copper project in the Mangochar area of Kalat district on Monday. According to officials, a convoy of 29 trucks, transporting blaster copper from the Saindak project to Karachi, was targeted on the Quetta-Karachi National Highway in Mangochar. Unknown armed men planted an improvised explosive device in front of the Nadra office on the main highway, and when the convoy, guarded by personnel from the FC, reached the site, a powerful explosion occurred, hitting a security vehicle. A heavy exchange of gunfire ensued and continued for some time. As a result of the blast, eight security personnel and a truck driver were injured. “A total of six security personnel and a civilian driver have been injured in the blast,” a senior official of the Kalat administration told Dawn, adding that security personnel transferred the injured to the district hospital in Kalat. The offici...

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Monday said that the country was “peacefully and very ably” hosting the Champions Trophy as he rubbished Indian media reports of an alleged terror threat to foreigners travelling to Pakistan. Earlier today, a report by Indian media outlet News18 said: “Pakistan’s Intelligence Bureau issued a high alert on Monday, warning the country’s security forces about an alleged plot by ‘active covert groups’ to abduct foreign guests attending the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 for ransom.” It reported that sources told the outlet about an alert issued against several terror outfits, including the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, Islamic State and other Balochistan-based groups. “In response to the intelligence warning, Pakistan’s security forces have deployed high-level protection teams, including rangers and local police, to ensure the safety of players and their accompanying staff,” it added. Another report by India Today singled out the Islamic State...

KURRAM: Police and law-enforcement agencies arrested 20 more people, including suspected terrorists and their facilitators, during an ongoing operation in Kurram district on Sunday. On Monday (Feb 17), over 30 trucks carrying food supplies to Kurram were looted while 19 trucks were set on fire after a convoy came under an attack at the Bagan, Charkhel, Ochat and Mandori areas. Several people, including security personnel and drivers, lost their lives in the incident. According to the Regional Police Officer (RPO) Kohat, Abbas Majid Marwat, the operation against terrorists continued at Charkhel, Ochat, Bagan, Mandori, Dad Kamar and adjacent areas and 20 more suspected insurgents and their facilitators were arrested, raising the number of detained militants to 85. A statement issued from the RPO office stated that heavy weapons and looted items were also recovered from the arrested terrorists. The recovered weapons included 81 SMGs (submachine guns), 2 HMGs (heavy machine guns)...

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday he was willing to give up his position if it meant peace in Ukraine, adding that he could exchange his departure for his country’s entry into the Nato military alliance. “If [it means] peace for Ukraine, if you really need me to leave my post, I am ready,” an irritated-looking Zelensky said when asked during a press conference whether he was ready to leave his post if it meant securing peace. “I can exchange this for Nato (membership), if that condition is there, immediately,” the president added. US President Donald Trump has pushed for elections to take place in Ukraine, having branded Zelensky a “ dictator ”, an apparent reference to the Ukrainian leader’s official five-year term running out in 2024. Russia has cited this in the past to assert that he is an illegitimate leader. Ukrainian legislation prohibits holding elections during a state of martial law, which Ukraine declared the day Russia invaded in February 2022. Trum...

ISLAMABAD: Pakis­tan has reported another case of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1), taking the total to three cases in 2025. According to an official of the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Era­d­i­cation, the case has been reported from Larkana, Sindh. The official said that the victim is a 54-month-old girl. This is the second polio case reported from Sindh this year, with the third one detected in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa . Pakistan is facing a res­u­r­gence of poliovirus, as 74 cases were reported in 2024. Of these, 27 were from Balochistan, 22 from KP, 23 from Sindh, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad. This year’s first nationwide polio vaccination campaign was held earlier this month. It was followed by a fractional IPV-OPV Polio [injectable polio vaccine] campaign in Quetta and Karachi on Feb 20 and 22, respectively. Around one million children were targeted for vaccination in this campaign, according to the officials. Moreover, a vaccination campaign in 104 uni...

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa authorities arrested a suspect allegedly involved in trafficking human organs in Peshawar, according to a statement from the provincial excise department on Saturday. According to the KP Excise Department, joint operations with other institutions to curb smuggling are ongoing “against the illegal spectrum” on the instructions of the provincial apex committee. “An operation was conducted under the command of Narcotics Control Excise Taxation Officer Faisal Khursheed at the Joint Check Post on the M-1,” the statement reads, adding that a gang involved in removing and selling human organs, including kidneys, was arrested“. The statement said that the suspect brought two people from Multan to Peshawar, where he allegedly removed their kidneys. It did not elaborate on when this took place. “The rate for selling the kidneys of both the individuals was fixed at Rs280,000,” the department said. “The gang takes advantage of struggling people, removes their organs and is i...

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan on Saturday criticised the sealing of an Islamabad building related to the civil society organisation Pattan. A press release issued a day ago by the organisation said the residence of Pattan National Coordinator Sarwar Bari was sealed and his family evicted. Earlier this month, Pattan had published a report on the general elections and described them in a statement as “unprecedentedly rigged” with “vote-rigging, fraud and manipulation”. The findings were similar to its observation last year. The press release said: “Since the launching of Pattan’s report on Pakistan general elections, Islamabad police have visited residence of Sarwar Bari, our national coordinator, twice in two weeks. On February 21, more than a dozen of police officials along with two magistrates searched his residence and later sealed it. His wife along with her 90-year-old aunt were forced to leave the home. “As usual, the pretext that is being used to punish Pattan for...

IT has now come to this: five judges versus the president, the federation, the Judicial Commission, the registrars of the Supreme Court and the high courts of Sindh, Punjab, Balochistan and Islamabad, and three of their fellow judges. The five, who are “serving confirmed judges” of the Islamabad High Court, have formally challenged the manner in which three justices were recently transplanted to the IHC from other high courts, how the IHC’s seniority list was subsequently changed, and how far more senior, confirmed IHC judges were summarily replaced on important committees by the freshly transferred judges. The petitioners have called on the apex court to exercise its original jurisdiction under Article 184(3) to hear their pleas, as they believe what happened at the IHC is tantamount to a “dismantling of the salient features of the Constitution”; specifically, “the independence of judiciary, separation of powers and federalism”. They seem to have made a strong case. It may ...

KARACHI: The Pakis­tan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) has announced a new undersea fibre-optic cable, set to come online by 2026. The Africa-1 Submarine Cable will be connected to PTCL’s landing station at Karachi Seaview today (Saturday), the company said in a notice to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX). The $59.5 million project, approved in Nov­ember 2020, will take another year before it becomes operational for end users. “The initiative is designed to enhance connectivity between the UAE, Europe, and Africa, featuring multiple landing stations along the route.” According to sources, after the landing, it will take approximately one more year to develop the necessary internet infrastructure within the country to make the cable operational. This includes the installation of various equipment and the construction of supporting facilities, they said. The project will be “ready for service” in the first quarter of 2026, said the PTCL notice. This is the second cable to...

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Secretary Shahab Ali Shah said on Friday that as many as 48 “miscreants” allegedly involved in recent acts of violence and instability in Kurram district have been arrested so far in action against disruptive elements. Since October last year, 189 people have died in various clashes, and a peace agreement was signed as a result of the government’s efforts to bring the situation under control. A total of nine convoys comprising 718 vehicles carrying essential goods have been sent to the area while attacks and ransacking of convoys have continued unabated. On Monday, over 30 trucks carrying food supplies to Kurram were looted while 19 trucks were set on fire after the convoy came under an attack at the Bagan, Charkhel, Ochat and Mandori areas. Several people, including security personnel and drivers, lost their lives in the incident. At least 30 miscreants and facilitators were rounded up during an operation launched by the security forces in Lower Kurram on Th...

THOUGH Donald Trump has not been able to fulfil his promise of ending the Ukraine conflict “24 hours” after taking office, the American president is clearly not interested in pumping more US funds into this war. Moreover, his overtures to Russia — and use of scathing language to target the Ukrainian president — have sent shockwaves through Kyiv and European capitals. Mr Trump is not a man known to indulge in diplomatic niceties, but the language he has used for the Ukrainian president has been unforgiving. He has termed Volodymyr Zelensky a “dictator” and a “moderately successful comedian” intent on keeping the American “gravy train” going. This is as clear a signal as any that the flow of American funds and weapons to Kyiv is coming to an end. In fact, the Russian foreign minister and his American counterpart met in Riyadh on Tuesday to restart bilateral engagement, which had practically come to a stop under the Biden administration. All this signals that US involvement in t...

A man was arrested and detained for impersonating an officer of a law enforcement agency to seek personal favours at the Senate Secretariat, the police said on Thursday. A first information report (FIR) was registered at the Secretariat police station on January 23 on the complaint of Senate Joint Secretary Hyder Ali under Sections 170 (personating a public servant), 171 (wearing garb or carrying token used by public servant with fraudulent intent) and 419 (punishment for cheating by personation) of the Pakistan Penal Code. The FIR, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com , said the suspect was impersonating a “serving officer of the law enforcement agency” and had visited the Senate Secretariat numerous times over the past few days seeking “personal favours through criminal intimidation”. The FIR added that an inquiry revealed that the person was using a fake identity to gain “unlawful favours”. It requested the police to investigate the matter and take legal action against the ...

The provincial government on Thursday announced approaching the Sindh High Court (SHC) against alleged irregularities conducted by an anti-terrorism court (ATC) judge in the Mustafa Amir murder case. Amir, a 23-year-old, was kidnapped and allegedly murdered by his friends in Karachi’s Defence Housing Authority (DHA) on January 6. According to the police, the youth’s friends stuffed his body in the trunk of his car and torched it in the Hub area of Balochistan. Earlier this month, police arrested Armaghan for injuring policemen in an attempt to resist his detention in connection with Amir’s kidnapping case. Another suspect, Armaghan’s friend Sheraz aka Shavez Bukhari, was remanded in police custody by an ATC last week. Sindh Acting Prosecutor-General Muntazir Mehdi had filed revision applications in the SHC, challenging the ATC orders denying the police Armaghan’s physical custody and sending him on judicial remand instead. Another application was also filed against an ATC order on ...

LAST month’s $420m current account deficit reflects the pressure of debt payment and a rising import bill on Pakistan’s balance-of-payments position, amid drying up foreign loans and falling foreign private investment. This gap most likely marks a temporary reversal of the earlier trend of continuous surplus posted for five consecutive months — August to December — on account of a substantial boost in remittances from overseas Pakistanis. The remittances have recorded a surge of $5bn between July and January from a year ago. The January gap slashes the accumulated current account surplus from $1.2bn to $628m — still significant progress from the deficit of $1.8bn posted in the same period last year, spawning hopes that the current account surplus/ deficit will remain range-bound between +0.5pc and -0.5pc of GDP during FY25. The gap in the current account is not surprising, given the 38pc decline in foreign loan inflows to $4.58bn in the first seven months of the present fiscal year fr...

AS bodies continue to fall in Kurram despite a state-sanctioned ceasefire , one wonders how long local militants’ challenges to the state’s writ will be tolerated before a full-throttled response is launched. Another spate of attacks on an aid convoy, which eyewitnesses said was instigated by locals, has threatened to undo the attempts to stabilise the region. Shortly after noon on Monday, the aid convoy, which was destined for Parachinar, came under attack in Lower Kurram. A firefight ensued, which continued for two hours, leaving a Pakistan Army soldier martyred and seven others injured. A few hours later, there was an attempt to loot the stranded trucks, triggering another gunfight between the security escort and looters. Five Frontier Corps personnel were left injured. Finally, another couple of hours later, an FC Quick Response Force dispatched to rescue the injured was ambushed near a local government school. Four FC personnel were martyred in the attack. Kurram District ha...

ISLAMABAD: A day after a controversial move to block the passage of the State Bank of Pakistan (Am­e­ndment) bill, moved by a PTI lawmaker, acting Senate Chairman Syedaal Khan Nasar on Tuesday sus­pended three PTI lawmakers for the current session. The decision followed hullabaloo over Mr Nasar’s move to withhold the result of a vote count on Monday, on a motion seeking the immediate consideration of Senator Mohsin Aziz’s bill. The bill had already been passed by the Senate Standing Committee on Finance. Syedaal Khan annou­nced the decision before abruptly adjourning the House to meet on Friday, just after Question Hour, while a noisy protest by the opposition saw calls for his resignation. He also ordered the sergeant-at-arms to expel senators Aon Abbas Buppi, Humayun Moh­mand and Falak Naz from the House. These members are considered suspended for the remaining sittings of the (ongoing) session, the acting chairman said after taking a sense of the Senate thro­ugh a voice vote,...

A POLICE commando stands guard outside the National Bank Stadium in Karachi on Monday, where the first match of the ICC Champions Trophy will be played between hosts Pakistan and New Zealand on Wednesday.—AFP RAWALPINDI: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has announced special charter flights for fans and teams participating in the ICC Champions Trophy , starting from February 19. The event, featuring eight teams, will be held in Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi and Dubai till March 9. Pakistan, Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand and South Africa will participate in the event. All matches, except those featuring India, will be held in Pakistan. India will play its games in Dubai. A PIA spokesman said the airline would facilitate international teams’ travel between the three cities in Pakistan. The airline, in collaboration with the Pakistan Cricket Board, has arranged special charter flights for domestic transportation of cricket teams participati...