News Updates Pk

Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman on Tuesday gave the government 10 days to abolish the petroleum levy and provide meaningful relief to the inflation-hit public, warning that his party would resume its long march towards Islamabad in mid-November if its demands were not met. Rehman issued the ultimatum after meeting Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the Prime Minister’s House in Islamabad, where the JI delegation pressed the government to scrap the levy and address the rising cost of living. “The government has promised that relief will be provided. The question is not whether relief will be given, but how and when,” Rehman said after the meeting. He said the prime minister had assured the party that technical committees would be given eight to 10 days to work out proposals for providing relief. He maintained that the talks had not ended in failure, as both sides had agreed on the need to ease the burden on the public. Read: JI launches third phas...

Minister for Energy (Power Division) Sardar Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari on Tuesday said that the government was working on a system to provide electricity relief to consumers based on poverty rather than consumption of up to 200 units, while efforts were underway to increase the existing threshold to 250 units. Speaking during a Senate session, Leghari said that wealthy consumers were installing solar panels to reduce their electricity consumption below 200 units and subsequently benefit from relief intended for lower-income households. He said the government was working on a plan to provide relief specifically to people living below the poverty line. According to Leghari, the number of electricity consumers using up to 200 units had reached 20 million, with most of them using solar energy. He stressed that electricity tariff slabs needed to be determined appropriately to prevent such problems in the future. Turning to the power sector's financial situation, Leghari said circu...

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan called for the immediate resumption of meetings with party founder Imran Khan on Tuesday, saying restrictions on access to him had continued for 375 days. Speaking to the media outside the Parliament, Gohar said the restrictions on meetings with Imran should be lifted immediately, as Tuesday was a designated day for such meetings. “Today is the day for meeting the PTI founder, and the meeting should take place,” he said. He said keeping Imran in jail without allowing him to meet his family is “inhuman treatment”. Gohar further maintained that the political situation could have improved if meetings with the PTI founder had been held regularly. He said restrictions on meetings had created complications in political affairs, while political tensions and political victimisation continued to increase. چیئرمین پاکستان تحریک انصاف بیرسٹر گوہر خان آج پارلیمنٹ ہاؤس کے باہر میڈیا سے گفتگو کر رہے ہی...

Once familiar visitors to Pakistan’s sandy shores, Olive Ridley sea turtles have all but vanished from the country’s recorded nesting grounds. Now, the discovery of a dead turtle on Clifton Beach has brought an old ecological mystery into focus: if these turtles still inhabit the Arabian Sea, where have the breeding females gone? The turtle’s death has no confirmed explanation. It may have become entangled in a fishing net, collided with a vessel or fallen victim to marine pollution. But its appearance on Karachi’s shoreline has renewed concern over a far bigger disappearance - the collapse of Olive Ridley nesting along Pakistan’s coast. According to WWF-Pakistan technical adviser Muhammad Moazzam Khan, these turtles were once found in significant numbers at Sandspit, Hawke’s Bay, Manora, Sonmiani Beach and other coastal locations. Historical research cited by experts recorded more than 500 Olive Ridley nests along Karachi’s beaches durin...

Lahore ranked second among the world's most polluted major cities on IQAir's live air quality tracker on Monday, recording an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 199, as pollution remained a concern across Punjab ahead of the peak winter smog season. The city's position and pollution reading fluctuated during the day. IQAir's Lahore city page recorded an AQI of 139 at 3pm on October 26, with fine particulate matter (PM2.5) identified as the main pollutant at 51 micrograms per cubic metre. The reading placed Lahore in the unhealthy-for-sensitive-groups category on the US AQI scale. The Punjab Environmental Protection Agency's monitoring data also showed considerable variation in air quality across the province. Pakpattan recorded an AQI of 210, followed by Multan at 204 and Sargodha at 195. Vehari registered 178, Kot Addu 176, Dera Ghazi Khan 165 and Khushab 160. PUNJAB AQI UPDATE 26 OCTOBER Average AQI: 144 (Moderate) Highest : D.G. Khan 213 Lowest: Talla Ganag 96...

Pakistan on Monday rejected what it called “baseless and unsubstantiated allegations regarding civilian casualties attributed to its counter-terrorism operations”, reaffirming its right to take necessary measures to defend its sovereignty and protect its citizens against terrorism originating from Afghan soil. Last month, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar stated that Pakistan had carried out “precision” aerial and drone strikes against 10 locations in Afghanistan after drones launched from Afghan territory entered Pakistani airspace, describing the strikes as a response to a “deliberate and unlawful incursion”. The development came amid fighting ​between Pakistan and Afghanistan that started in October 2025. Islamabad accuses the Afghan Taliban of harbouring ⁠militants ​who launch attacks in Pakistan, ​although Kabul denies this, calling the militancy its neighbour's domestic problem. In a statement posted on X, the Foreign Office ...