ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s privatization drive for its state-owned power distribution companies cleared its first major hurdle, with the government reporting a dozen expressions of interest from investors seeking to take control of Faisalabad Electric Supply Co., one of three regional utilities up for sale in the country’s most ambitious power-sector overhaul in decades.
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Nepra approves 75-paisa-a-unit tariff increase for August bills as fuel costs rise
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s power regulator signed off on an additional 9.8 billion-rupee charge for electricity users in August, after trimming a bigger request from the country’s power purchasing agency and setting up a fresh round of scrutiny over how utilities manage output during the country’s fastest-growing hours for rooftop solar.
Family blocks exhumation of Karachi businessman Mir Raza Ali over medical board dispute
KARACHI: The exhumation of a 25-year-old Karachi businessman whose body was found dumped in bushes last month was called off on Friday, after his family refused to allow a hastily reassembled medical board to carry out the procedure.
Kashmir election watchdog pulls plug on Poonch and Sudhnoti polls amid security fears
MUZAFFARABAD: The election authority in Azad Kashmir has abandoned plans to hold polling across two entire districts on Sunday, citing fears for the safety of voters in a region shaken by nearly two months of deadly unrest.
Ten militants killed in South Waziristan and Dir operations, ISPR says
ISLAMABAD: Ten militants were killed in two separate counterterrorism operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Thursday, the military’s media wing said on Friday, as Pakistan continues to grapple with a sustained rise in violence along its western border.
Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey sign mutual defence pact as Gulf reels from Iran conflict
ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey signed a landmark joint defence agreement in Mecca on Friday, binding together three of the Muslim world’s most powerful states as they seek to shore up their defences against a regional conflict that has sent missiles raining down on Gulf oil producers.
Petrol down Rs3.19, diesel Rs1.50 for Friday
ISLAMABAD: The government cut petrol and diesel prices on Thursday, trimming petrol by Rs3.19 a litre and high-speed diesel by Rs1.50, under a daily pricing mechanism adopted last month to keep pump prices in step with volatile international oil markets.
Court orders exhumation of Mir Raza’s body for second autopsy
KARACHI: At 9am on Friday, workers will open the grave of Mir Raza Ali, a 25-year-old business graduate whose death has split Karachi’s police force against itself.
Pakistan gives state farewell to Broad Peak victims as repatriation begins
GILGIT: Pakistani military helicopters on Thursday airlifted the bodies of five more climbers off the slopes of Broad Peak, nearly a week and a half after an avalanche tore through a ten-member international expedition led by the celebrated mountaineer Nirmal Purja, in what the Alpine Club of Pakistan has called one of the country’s deadliest mountaineering disasters.
Sons of jailed Imran Khan say they have had no word on his health for seven months
ISLAMABAD: Imran Khan’s sons have said they have been left “more in the dark than we’ve ever been” over their father’s wellbeing, as the jailed former Pakistani prime minister marked three years in custody this week.