ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s parliament pushed through sweeping changes to the country’s military command structure on Thursday, passing legislation that formally hands the newly created post of Chief of Defence Forces sweeping powers over the armed services, hours after the bills cleared the federal cabinet and over strong objections from opposition lawmakers in both houses.
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Govt risks contempt of court as deadline passes to move Imran Khan to hospital
ISLAMABAD: The government was on Thursday night facing accusations of contempt of court after it failed to move jailed former prime minister Imran Khan to a private hospital in Islamabad, hours before a Supreme Court deadline was due to expire.
Pakistan opts for tender test before committing to sugar exports
ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee stopped short of authorising sugar exports on Wednesday, choosing instead to test international demand through a tender for 108,000 tonnes — a hedge that reflects the government’s wariness of repeating a costly cycle of trade reversals that has rattled consumers and strained its International Monetary Fund program.
Pakistan slashes diesel price by record 32.63 rupees as refineries yield to government pressure
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan cut the price of diesel by the widest margin in months on Wednesday, delivering relief to a transport and power sector squeezed by months of war-driven volatility in Middle East energy markets, even as petrol costs edged higher for consumers.
Pakistan presses US for $10 billion currency backstop, eyes September decision
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has formally asked the United States for a $10 billion facility designed to shore up confidence in the rupee, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said, as Islamabad tries to convince investors it no longer needs the emergency bilateral support that has propped up its reserves for years.
PPP and PTI agree to renew parliamentary contact – but Bhutto Zardari warns coalition support is conditional
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s political landscape shifted on two fronts on Wednesday, as the Pakistan Peoples Party moved to repair ties with the opposition even as it sharpened its warning to its own coalition partner, the PML-N.
PML-N govt moves to block Imran Khan’s hospital transfer, calls Supreme Court order “discriminatory”
ISLAMABAD: The federal government has asked the Supreme Court to overturn its own ruling ordering the transfer of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan to a private hospital in Islamabad, setting up a fresh legal confrontation just a day after the original order was issued.
Pakistan refiners agree to cut diesel price by up to Rs32 a liter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s oil refiners agreed to cut diesel prices by more than Rs30 to Rs32 a liter, Petroleum Minister Ali Pervez Malik said Wednesday, delivering relief to consumers after months of price increases tied to the war in the Middle East.
Pakistan summons US envoy over ambassador’s Kashmir remarks
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan lodged a formal protest with the United States on Wednesday, summoning the American charge d’affaires in Islamabad to convey what the Foreign Office described as a “strong demarche” after the US ambassador to India referred to Jammu and Kashmir as part of India during a visit to the disputed territory.
Pakistan launches app-based tax scheme to bring small traders into the net
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan rolled out a mobile application on Wednesday to formalize its Fixed Tax Asaan Scheme, a bid to draw millions of small traders into the tax system through a simplified, app-based filing process that officials say removes the friction that doomed past efforts.