ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered the suspension of eight hospital and government officials on Saturday and directed that criminal charges be filed against them, after an official inquiry into a nursery fire that killed 14 newborns found the hospital lacked basic fire alarms, a workable evacuation plan, and had ignored warnings from a nearly identical fire just weeks earlier.
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Judge opens inquiry into Mir Raza Ali’s death as police file charges against protesters
KARACHI: A Sindh High Court justice opened the first hearing Friday in a judicial inquiry into the death of Mir Raza Ali, a 25-year-old businessman whose family has insisted for a month that he was murdered, even as police in a separate action filed charges against roughly 100 people accused of blocking one of the city’s main thoroughfares during a nightly vigil demanding answers in the case.
Minister Kamal calls health system ‘rotten’ after deadly Pims fire
ISLAMABAD: The health minister told lawmakers on Friday that “no one will be spared” in the aftermath of a nursery fire that killed 14 infants at a government hospital here, as members of parliament from across the political spectrum demanded an independent accounting of how flames were able to sweep through a neonatal ward at the country’s most prominent medical facility.
Pakistan pulls telecom land-access bill after backlash over property rights
ISLAMABAD: The government withdrew legislation that would have granted telecommunications companies broad authority to install infrastructure on private and public land, bowing to criticism that the measure trampled constitutional property protections and opened the door to forced entry onto private premises.
Azad Kashmir swears in new premier after contested nomination, narrow party revolt
MUZAFFARABAD: Barrister Syed Iftikhar Ali Gillani, a 46-year-old lawyer whose political career has been defined as much by sudden reversals as by steady ambition, was sworn in on Friday as prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, capping a 15-year rise that included an unlikely by-election upset, a cabinet post, an electoral defeat, and finally a phone call from the top of his party that few had seen coming.
Fesco draws 10 bidders as Pakistan presses ahead with power privatisation
ISLAMABAD: The government cleared 10 companies to bid for control of Faisalabad Electric Supply Co. after the country’s only privately run utility withdrew from the contest and a Chinese firm was disqualified on a technicality, advancing Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s push to sell off state power distributors.
Pakistan warns of ‘profound consequences’ as India keeps water treaty frozen
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s top diplomat delivered a pointed warning to an international audience on Friday, cautioning that any effort to strip his country of water it is owed under a six-decade-old treaty with India would carry grave consequences for peace across South Asia.
PM Sharif orders independent audit of tax overhaul
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered tax authority to submit its restructuring program to independent third-party audits, adding a layer of external scrutiny to an overhaul that has already reshaped how the government collects revenue and polices smuggling.
Pakistan cricket board threatened Lord’s Test boycott over Imran Khan interview
LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board came close to pulling its team off the field during the second Test against England at Lord’s this week, after Sky Sports broadcast an interview with Imran Khan’s sons in which they spoke of fearing for their father’s life.
Power regulator threatens to block industry tariff deal without consultation
ISLAMABAD: The power regulator said it won’t approve a special industrial tariff incentive package unless the government first consults with industry, adding a new obstacle to energy policy as consumers brace for a fresh round of fuel-cost increases tied to expensive liquefied natural gas imports.